Crossposted from Inside Transportation

by Harold S. Taniguchi, Director, King County Dept. of Transportation

Local action will continue to be our path forward on climate, sustainability, mobility and equity in King County, as we saw at the recent GoGreen Conference in Seattle. Thanks to the leadership of King County Executive Dow Constantine, we are addressing these challenges and partnering with businesses and the community for shared success on green building, wind and solar energy, transit-oriented development, and the nation’s leading commitment on electric buses.

This was the fifth year of King County’s sponsorship of the event, and I had the privilege of moderating an expert panel on “The Future of Transportation.” Our group shared the promise and progress of on-demand vehicle services, shared mobility, and vehicle electrification. While we still haven’t reached the day of flying cars and the Jetsons that we imagined as kids, our discussion highlighted the speed of change and innovation and the need for public agencies to adapt, innovate, and partner to ensure the transportation of the future works for everyone.

Read more from Inside Transportation

Crossposted from The Downstream Blog

On a gray day last month, a small group of King County and King County Flood Control District (Flood District) employees stood on the forested edge of the Tolt River upstream of Carnation.

Geologically speaking, this is a young river – sinuous, fast-moving and largely unconstrained as it courses from its headwaters in the Cascades to its confluence with the wide, slow-moving Snoqualmie River.

Chase Barton, an engineer with the King County’s River and Floodplain Management (Rivers) Section in the Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD), looked out across the swirling water. “This portion is the most rapidly migrating river of those we manage in King County,” he said.

Sometimes, the County’s goal is to use engineering tools to manage a river. “Here,” Chase said, “our goal is to get people out of harm’s way.”

Read more from The Downstream Blog

Employees are welcome to participate in a celebration focused on protecting immigrants and refugees by commemorating May Day and International Workers Day. The event will feature guest speakers, a spoken word artist and is co-sponsored by the Executive Branch, King County Office of Equity and Social Justice and members of the King County Council.

Wednesday, April 26 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Chinook Rooms 121-123

View the flyer for more information.

Crossposted from King County Parks Plog

As your King County Parks staff, our job is to keep your parks clean, safe and open. It is part of our daily routine. That said, stuff happens. Daily, if not hourly, staff can be rerouted to deal with any number of issues.

We of course handle anything we come across during our rounds, but sometimes, you visitors are onsite before we are. (Looking at you, “Training for a marathon before work,” and, “Dogs will eat my furniture if they don’t play in the field before 7 a.m.”

That’s why we have partnered with SeeClickFix – to make reporting the unexpected, inconvenient, or possibly dangerous issues easier and more efficient. This tool allows you to report what you have come across in our parks or on our trails directly from your mobile device or your desktop.

Read more at the King County Parks Plog

Luther Dean Bonner Memorial Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Station

At a ceremony Monday at King County International Airport, the new rescue and fire station was named in honor of a fallen firefighter whose act of bravery has been overlooked for decades.

In 1943, Luther Dean Bonner, a 23-year-old Seattle firefighter, died while attempting to rescue passengers and warehouse workers after a plane crashed into a plant near the airfield. Thirty-two people were killed, making it the largest loss of life from a fire in Seattle’s history, yet Bonner’s sacrifice was never properly recognized.

King County elected officials invited members of his family to the new Luther Dean Bonner Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting Station, which has a large mural that tells the dramatic story of his sacrifice.

Read more at www.kingcounty.gov.