Social Media Spotlight: Noxious Weeds Blog

Noxious Weeds Blog provides information and updates on noxious weeds and invasive plants found in King County, Washington, tips on identifying and controlling weeds throughout the year, updates on events and classes, and noxious weed news from around the state and beyond.  Our goal is to provide information that is useful for everyone impacted by noxious weeds, from homeowners and gardeners to vegetation managers, restoration workers and landscape professionals.  We also include job listings, program news, grants, and other information that we think would be useful to people working on noxious weeds.

Follow the Noxious Weeds blog today!

Click here to view all King County social media pages.

Featured Job: Industrial Maintenance Electrician

Closing Date/Time: Continuous

Salary: $40.53 – $42.50 Hourly

Job Type: Multiple job types-career service and/or temp

Location: Multiple locations in King County, Washington

Department: Department of Natural Resources & Parks – Wastewater Treatment Division

Description: This position performs a variety of highly skilled journey-level work constructing, troubleshooting, maintaining and wiring a wide variety of equipment and conducting preventive maintenance programs. This position requires the use of analytical skills in implementing various aspects of process control.

The Wastewater Treatment Division is committed to the principles of equity and social justice.  We value diverse perspectives and life experiences in our workforce, and are committed to building a culturally diverse and inclusive environment.  WTD strives to provide equitable services to residents and businesses across King County.

Learn more about this position, or view all available jobs.

Kudos! Detention Officer receives MLK Medal of Distinguished Service Award

Juvenile Detention Officer Joseph Townsend was recently awarded the MLK Medal of Distinguished Service award by Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer. The Metropolitan King County Council honor is presented annually to those who make a particularly strong impact on the County, with the hope to encourage others to renew their dedication to serve their community.

Townsend was recognized with the award for his mentorship of young people throughout South King County. He coaches the Thomas Jefferson High School baseball team, as well as the school’s nationally ranked Girls Bowling team.

Read more in the official press release.

Tech Tip: Multimedia version: Designing with scale in mind

Scale Drive PosterScale is a large part of design, sometimes literally. In a very basic definition, scale is the deliberate sizing of individual elements.

Scale can help us make sense of designs and images, but, scale doesn’t always have to be based on realism. You can size your elements dramatically large or small to create stunning effects and to signal which parts of your design are more important and which are less.

For example, check out this poster for the movie Drive. In this poster, the lead character has been scaled up dramatically, drawing attention to him first, and the other faces second. While this scale is not technically based on realism as people’s faces are generally the same size in real life, the dramatic scaling up and down of faces helps viewers to get a quick grasp on each character’s level of importance in the film, as well as making for an effective design.

This Tech Tip is courtesy of www.canva.com

Secure Your Load to prevent road debris and accidents, June 6

The old car transports a heap of rubbish

In recognition of “Secure Your Load Day” on Tuesday, June 6, a national effort championed by King County resident Robin Abel, the King County Solid Waste Division is encouraging all residents to take the time to properly secure their loads to improve road safety, avoid fees, and prevent litter. A recent study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that road debris contributes to more than 50,000 traffic crashes every year in the U.S. Of those crashes, 125 people lost their lives. It only takes a few minutes to properly secure your load to prevent auto crashes, injuries, deaths, and fines from law enforcement.

You can find more information about securing your load by visiting the Solid Waste Division website here.

Opportunities at Work: Igniting Employee Development session for supervisors and managers, June 26

We’re building a culture where all King County employees are inspired to learn, grow and thrive. Supervisors and managers play a key role in that. This special, one-time pilot session will support supervisors and managers in their role championing development for the people they lead.

This session will be held Monday, June 26 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in King Street Center, 8th Floor Conference Center. In this half-day forum, supervisors and managers will:

  • Recognize the important role they play in developing the people they lead
  • Discuss barriers and learn best practices in employment development
  • Explore skills and behaviors that enable them to better support employees in their development efforts
  • Identify development tools and resources that help meet engagement action plans and Equity & Social Justice: Workplace and Workforce goals.

To register and for more information, view the Eventbrite listing here.

PlazaFest: Food Carts are back by popular demand, June 6

Food cart vendors will be available on the Administration Building plaza Tuesday, June 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Facilities Management Division is close to finalizing a plan for food carts and other food options on a more consistent basis, through the summer months. Look for more information soon. For questions about PlazaFest on June 6, email Judy Hairston.

Lunching with Jeremy Rivera, Human Resources Division

Crossposted from Healthy Incentives 

With layers of bright vegetable colors, Jeremy Rivera’s mason jar salads inspire lunch envy whenever they appear in the HRD Administration building fridge. He shares the secrets to his healthy, filling lunch.

Jeremy has been at King County for five years, and today works as special duty assignment administrative specialist III for the Human Resources Division. He began making the salads in 2013 when he committed to a healthy habit and weight loss routine. Still committed, Jeremy does mind-body exercises, yoga, and meditation at home, and gets people’s hearts pumping for three evenings a week as a Zumba instructor at 24 Hour Fitness.

Read more at Healthy Incentives

Be safe and secure this summer

As the weather warms, there are a lot more people out and about, especially around our buildings in downtown Seattle. Your safety and security here at work are important to us, so we’d like to remind you of a few tips:

  • Plan your route, and stick to well-lit paths.
  • Be aware of your surroundings and know who is nearby.
  • Avoid looking at your mobile phone while walking, and minimize what you carry in your hands.
  • Walk with a group when possible.
  • Don’t be afraid to cross the street, return to a business, or ask for help based on a “funny feeling.” You may be right!

We have more personal safety tips on our Employees webpage. If you’re involved in an incident, make a report online or call the FMD Security Unit at 206-296-5000. And as always, in an emergency call 9-1-1 first, then make a report to FMD Security when you’re able.

Keeping people and goods moving at a “Critical Juncture”

Crossposted from Inside Transportation

Keeping communities connected is the mission for King County’s Department of Transportation, and that includes during those times when roads are blocked by natural disaster or overturned trucks. It’s impossible to predict when an emergency or disaster will occur, so its job is to be trained and prepared for when that day comes. A big part of that preparation is making sure the jurisdictions in our region are all on the same page.

That’s why DOT brought Marcus Deyerin into the Director’s Office as its Training and Exercise Program Manager for emergency management. Marcus has earned the initials CEM MEP after his name, which mean he’s a Certified Emergency Manager and a Master Exercise Practitioner.

Read more at Inside Transportation