Crossposted from Tails from RASKC 

The holidays are a fun and festive time for everyone, including our pets. However, that good cheer could be ruined if your cat or dog ends up sick, missing, or worse. To help keep this the most wonderful time of the year, Regional Animal Services is pleased to offer the following tips adapted from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). 

Keep people food away from your pet, especially candy and chocolate, and ask your holiday guests to do the same. If you suspect your dog or cat has gotten into something they shouldn’t have, contact your veterinarian right away. 

Read more at Tails from RASKC

Crossposted from Public Health Insider 

Last year, 14,373 people died in King County. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office (MEO) investigated those deaths that were sudden, unexpected or unnatural – 2,494* in total. 

But, the count of life lost is more than a number. By tracking and analyzing different manners of death as well as trends in homicides, traffic fatalities, and drug overdose deaths, we are able to develop preventative measures and learn about emerging issues. 

Here are some key findings from 2016, as illustrated in the MEO’s recently published annual report, and steps we are taking to save lives. 

Read more at Public Health Insider

Preliminary work is about to get underway on planned upgrades to an aging and undersized regional sewer line that is a critical part of King County’s clean-water infrastructure in Bellevue and Newcastle. 

While construction on the Coal Creek Trunk sewer upgrade isn’t expected to begin until 2021, crews will begin drilling test holes in early January near Coal Creek Parkway to help determine soil conditions along the new line’s recommended alignment. 

Starting Jan. 4, crews will perform two to four days of test drilling per week at five locations along Coal Creek Parkway. 

The work is expected to take about five weeks to complete and will require travel lane, bicycle lane and sidewalk closures near drilling locations from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Some work could also occur on weekends to minimize weekday traffic impacts. 

The proposed alignment for the 2 1/2-mile-long Coal Creek Trunk replacement sewer line protects sensitive areas by moving the line out of the Coal Creek Natural Area. The preferred route for the new sewer runs west of Coal Creek Parkway Southeast between I-405 and the parking lot at the Upper Coal Creek West Trail trailhead. 

King County is committed to keeping interested citizens informed about this project: 

• Sign up for text alerts by enteringKING COALCREEKto 468-311;
  • Project updates will be posted at kingcounty.gov/CoalCreekSewer;
  • Call or email Monica Van der Vieren at 206-477-5502 or Monica.Vandervieren@kingcounty.gov. 

Crossposted from Go, Green Team! 

Easy ways to help the environment are to compost your food waste and not waste food. On average, Americans waste about 25 percent of all food and drinks we buy. That’s not only wasting food, that’s wasted money – $130 every month. By helping prevent food waste, you are also saving water, energy and fuel that are all used to produce, package, and transport food. 

Learn more at Food: Too Good to Waste. 

Recently, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) did studies in three cities- Denver, New York and Nashville – to get detailed information on why people waste food and which foods are wasted most often. An important finding is that people feel less guilty about wasting food if they compost it. But while composting is a good solution for food that can’t be eaten, it’s not at the top of the hierarchy of food recovery strategies, the first of which is to reduce food waste. How can you be part of the solution and not part of the problem 

Here are some things you can do in your school, household, and workplace: 

Read more at Go, Green Team! 

Crossposted from Inside Transportation 

King County Executive Dow Constantine is accelerating the transition to zero-emissions transportation by making one of the largest bus fleets in the US all-electric by as early as 2034. Under his leadership, and that of DOT Director Harold Taniguchi and Metro General Manager Rob Gannon, Metro is not only upgrading its fleet to battery-powered buses, we’re demonstrating that there is strong market demand for the new generation of cleaner, quieter buses that can help King County confront climate change. 

In January, Executive Constantine announced Metro’s commitment to purchase 120 battery-electric buses by 2020.  In April, he secured a deal with Puget Sound Energy, called Green Direct, which, starting in 2019, will power 98 percent of King County’s buildings and facilities in PSE’s territory, including Metro’s bus charging stations, with clean wind electricity generated by a new windfarm in Western Washington. 

Read more at Inside Transportation