The Student News Site of Mercer Island High School

The MIHS Islander

The Student News Site of Mercer Island High School

The MIHS Islander

The Student News Site of Mercer Island High School

The MIHS Islander

Broken Clock for a Broken Town

Broken Clock for a Broken Town

The world is falling apart and everything is broken: our hearts, our city and the clock in our Town Center.

Across from the north end QFC, a large clock is seen by a multitude of citizens each day, but the time it presents is inaccurate. Broken public infrastructure conveys a sense of carelessness that reflects poorly on the culture of Mercer Island; we have the resources to fix broken systems and certainly broken clocks.

The Islander reached out to Mercer Island Deputy Public Works Director Alaine Sommargren to determine who owns the clock. Sommargren told us that the clock is on “the current site of U.S Bank” and is “not owned or maintained by the City.”

When we raided the bank for information, a representative claimed that the bank is merely a tenant and referred us to the property owners upstairs. However, the owners denied possession of the clock and referred us to the City.

We then realized that there is a fountain below the clock with a water bill that must be paid by some entity. We contacted Sommargren March. 1 to no avail.

Thus, A&E Editor Kyle Gerstel, Opinions Editor Ashwin Krishnaswamy and Guest Contributor Connor Wood decided to take the issue to the streets and film Mercer Island citizens sharing what they think should be done about the clock. This is that film.

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About the Contributors
Kyle Gerstel, A&E Team

Kyle Gerstel (he/him) is a sophomore at MIHS and this is his second year in Journalism. When not in school, you can most likely find Kyle serving as a member of the TeenTix Newsroom’s Editorial Staff, performing at Youth Theatre Northwest, or obsessing over Bo Burnham.

 
Ashwin Krishnaswamy, Opinions Team
Ashwin Krishnaswamy is a sophomore and in his second year in Journalism. He is excited to be part of the Opinions Team this year. Outside of school, Ashwin enjoys playing the piano, running, playing tennis, and reading science books.  

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    Jayce MadambaApr 5, 2023 at 12:56 pm

    I question how the town or city will respond to this. Based on the information given, it’ll be unknown what will happen to the broken clock. Thank you, Kyle, Ashwin, and Connor for going out and publishing this article to the public for us readers to see.

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