About 200 students gathered for Prevention Policy Day on Monday, January 15 at the State Legislature in Olympia. Students from Mercer Island's Healthy Youth Initiative joined with Issaquah's Youth Opposed to Drug Abuse to advocate for youth sobriety.

MIHS senior Hannah Stewart, a recognized local leader in the healthy youth movement helped host the day's activities. "We all have a personal story of a friend or family member who has been negatively affected by drugs," she said. "We're from everywhere, from all over the state, and we all care about the same issues."

The annual event raises awareness for drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse - some key issues this year include raising the minimum age for tobacco purchasing to 21 (House Bill 1054), as well as the state's ongoing opioid crisis.

The City's Youth and Family Services Department offers a number of programs for youth including mental health counseling services in Island schools.

In September 2018, the Rainier Freeway Station on I-90 in Seattle will close for five years, while Sound Transit converts this facility into the future Judkins Park Light Rail Station.

Buses currently using that stop will bypass it, or be rerouted to surface streets such as Rainier Avenue South (with additional mitigation such as signal timing, bus priority lanes, etc).

For Mercer Island riders, the most noticeable changes will be the Route 550 not stopping at Rainier Avenue and the Route 554 exiting onto Rainie r Avenue northbound.

The Mercer Island Fire Department (MIFD) recently began contracting with EF Recovery in an effort to recover some of the costs associated with responding to expensive motor-vehicle accidents, hazardous materials spills and the like.  

 

A number of these incidents occur on I-90 and don't involve Mercer Island residents, but require MIFD to respond because it's in the City's jurisdiction.  Auto insurance companies, not individuals, are billed for the claims.

 

The new program is anticipated to generate approximately $60,000 per year for the City. It's similar to a program started a few years ago to recover costs associated with transporting patients to the hospital, under which the City recovers approximately $270,000 per year on total billing of about $500,000.   "We bill their health insurance and accept whatever they pay. There's no direct charge to the patient," says Fire Chief Steve Heitman. "Our priority is to continue to be able transport the patients who need it."

 

Only about half of local fire departments transport their residents to the hospital - a service appreciated by Mercer Island residents and their families because of the comfort and continuity of care it offers patients.

 

The Fire Department, like all City departments, continues to be tightly constrained by the City's structural budget imbalance (revenues not keeping pace with inflation or expenses).  It hasn't added staff in about 17-18 years, although call volumes grow right along with the population: up 18 percent in just the last five years alone.      

King County is working together with dozens of cities countywide, including Mercer Island, to develop a plan for how to manage garbage and recycling over the next 20 years. The plan will provide direction on how to deliver the services customers expect while keeping fees as low and stable as possible.

A draft Plan and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that evaluates the potential environmental impacts of options in the draft plan are now ready for public review and comment.  Islanders are invited to learn how King County's garbage and recycling system works and weigh in on the three big issues ahead:

• What actions are required to get from a 52% recycling rate to 70% countywide? (Note: Mercer Island homes already achieve a 65% rate)
• What are the most important services at transfer facilities?
• How should the County dispose of its garbage over the long-term?