Moving history strikes back – an archival screening night at Northwest Film Forum, June 22
Crossposted from Bytes and Boxes
On Thursday, June 22, the King County Archives will be participating in “Moving History Strikes Back!”—an archival screening night at Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum, presented by Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS).
At MIPoPS’ first screening in 2013, the King County Archives contributed clips from interviews with artists participating the King County Art Commission’s 1979 Earthworks: Land Reclamation as Sculpture demonstration project and symposium.
In this screening, we will be sharing a newly digitized video from the same Earthworks collection. In this interview, New York artist Mary Miss discusses her plans for an “airport free zone” adjacent to SeaTac International Airport.
Read more at Bytes and Boxes
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No Water Taxi service during dock construction in early August; Riders encouraged to consider travel options, attend open house June 21
Crossposted from The Captain’s Blog
Riders of the King County Water Taxi will need to make other transportation plans for up to 10 days starting in early August.
Both routes of the popular foot and bike ferry service will be suspended while their crews move the Water Taxi’s float on the Seattle waterfront from the south end of Colman dock to the north end (toward the fire station and Ivar’s restaurant).
The temporary move is part of a larger project by the state to renovate Colman Dock. The Water Taxi will move back to a new and improved facility at the south end of the dock in about a year and a half.
That improved Water Taxi facility will have a weather-protected waiting area as well as elevators and a pedestrian bridge to the new Washington State Ferries terminal and its amenities.
Read more at The Captain’s Blog
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New employee discount for US Bank
Employees can now receive up to 0.25% off a loan amount and deduct it from closing costs, up to a maximum of $1,000. This offer is available to all King County employees and retirees plus their families. To learn more, please contact Eric Scofield at 855-257-4391 or eric.scofield@usbank.com and mention King County Employee Discount Program or visit usbank.com/mortgagebenefits.
See all available discounts on the Employee Discount webpage.
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Social Media Spotlight: King County International Airport Facebook
King County International Airport, known as Boeing Field, is owned by King County and managed by the Aviation Division. For more information visit www.kingcounty.gov/airport.
Follow the King County International Airport on Facebook today!
Click here to view all King County social media pages.
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Tech Tip: Keep your desktop and hard drive free of clutter
If your desktop looks like the picture to the left, then it’s time to clean things up a bit. Not only does a cluttered desktop make things harder to find. Once you’ve gotten that messy desktop under control, make it a habit of keeping it organized, and transfer those same ideas to the rest of your files and folders too. The easier it is to find what you’re looking for, the less time you’ll spend frustrated.
This Tech Tip is courtesy of Life Hacker.
<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/33081776″>Designing and Creating an Organized Desktop – Introduction</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/dachis”>Adam Dachis</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
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Yesler Bridge Rehabilitation Project: Update, June 2017
With summer just around the corner crews look forward to completing a large portion of construction activities. To carefully complete this work, nightly and full weekend closures of 4th Ave S between S Washington St and Jefferson St will be required. Contractor crews will install fascia girders, pour concrete and paint the bridge. Dates of scheduled closures and what to expect are listed below.
Nightly partial closures, with 4th Ave S reduced to one lane between S Washington St to Jefferson St will take place Monday, July 10 – Friday, July 14 from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Full weekend closures, with 4th Ave S closed between S Washington St to Jefferson St will take place Friday, June 30, 7 p.m. – Monday, July 3, 5 a.m. AND Friday, July 14, 7 p.m. – Monday, July 17, 5 a.m.
Please expect large construction vehicles, lights, noise from trucks, back up alarms and other equipment. Be aware of pedestrian, bicycle, vehicle and bus detours around full closures. Fourth Ave S will be recuced to one lane between S Washington St and Jefferson St on June 12 – June 16 and July 10 – July 14.
The Yesler Way Bridge Rehabilitation Project, which will improve safety and reliability while preserving the bridge’s historical elements, will continue through fall of 2017. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the project further, please contact YeslerBridge@seattle.gov or 206-684-8684. To learn more about the project, visit the project website.
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Pet Project: Meet and greet cat room
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC
Pictured from left: Lori Mason, who spearhead the project, and Melissa Kelly who helped in the designing of the room.
Dreams can come true! Lori Mason, Licensed Veterinarian Technician and foster coordinator, has been eager to provide a more relaxing and stress free environment for cats during their stay at Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) in Kent.
“The thing about cats is that they need more space than a kennel to show their personality. Cats are different to dogs, they are not ones to solicit attention to potential adopters who graze by the cages. Dogs will bark, jump, or even make eye contact… whereas most cats will tend to just lay in their kennels. Sure, there are cats that get adopted quickly because they will walk over to the kennel door and purr or meow. But, this room was created for the cats that don’t get adopted out as quickly because they are more timid. This spacious cozy room allows for (older) cats to relax in this stress-free environment and to be seen by potential adopters show casing their personality, and ultimately ensuring that they too get adopted soon.” says Lori Mason.
Read more at Tails from RASKC
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Kudos! Metro’s solar-lit shelters recognized by Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council
King County Metro received an Outstanding Case Study Award from the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council for the solar lighting upgrades to the County’s bus shelters. SPLC’s annual Leadership Awards program recognizes public and private sector organizations for leveraging purchasing power to advance the long-term health and vitality of society, economies, and the planet.
In January, Employee News featured Metro’s efforts in the Using the sun’s energy to illuminate bus shelters blog post.
The Outstanding Case Study Award is in recognition of the County’s contribution of a valuable case study to the library of case studies in SPLC’s online community. King County has won seven of these awards in the past three years, three of which have been won by the County’s Department of Transportation.
Case studies that meet SPLC’s Outstanding Case Study Award criteria exemplify one or more of its Principles for leadership in sustainable purchasing, and tells the story – including lessons learned – of a set of activities that led to measurable results in terms of environmental, social and economic performance of purchasing.
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Best Starts for Kids Health Survey Recognized with National Equity Award
Crossposted from the Best Starts for Kids Blog
Last fall and winter, almost 6,000 people participated in a survey to learn about the health and well-being of King County kids and families. The survey closed January 31st. Our data team has been hard at work crunching numbers and analyzing this data, and you’ll hear more about what we learned soon. However, there’s one thing we know already: the groundbreaking new methods we used in the Best Starts for Kids Health Survey lead the nation in ensuring our data reflects the strengths and needs of all King County kids and families.
A nation-wide panel of epidemiologists selected the Best Starts for Kids Health Survey for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) National Award for Outstanding Epidemiology Practice in Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities. Judges selected the Best Starts Evaluation Team’s work from over 900 applications based on its impact on efforts to eliminate health disparities, potential for creating long term change, and overall contribution to public health knowledge. Public Health’s Kristin Moore received the award at the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists’ Annual Conference last week.
Read more at the Best Starts for Kids Blog
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Record number of bidders for Fleet Administration spring auction
Crossposted from Inside Transportation 
King County Fleet Administration held its version of a spring garage sale last month, but customers weren’t shopping for gently-worn sweaters or antique dishware. Instead, bids were taken on scores of tractors, autos, vans, pickups, trucks and heavy machinery.
Fleet Administration holds two auto and heavy equipment auctions each year, one in spring and one in fall. Both are on Saturdays, and both are open to the general public as well as to nonprofits and government agencies and employees.
The 2017 Spring Auction drew a record 500 bidders on Saturday, May 20, at Harold Mather Auctioneers in Renton. These bidders submitted their best offers on Fleet vehicles and equipment that have outlived their useful life for County operations, but are still have some life left in them for a new owner.
Read more at Inside Transportation
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