Eat Well, Live Well this weekend at CHOMP! August 18 and 19

Crossposted from King County Parks Plog Dinner in the Park – Friday, Aug. 18: Kick-off the weekend by attending CHOMP!’s Dinner in the Park on Friday, Aug. 18 at 6:00 p.m. in the historic Willowmoor Farm area at King County’s Marymoor Park. Buy tickets today before they run out! CHOMP! – Saturday, Aug. 19: Enjoy a full day of activities at CHOMP!, King County’s celebration of local farming, food, and sustainability, on Saturday, Aug. 19 at King County’s Marymoor Park. Join King County Parks to celebrate all that is fresh, delicious, local, and sustainable at CHOMP!  from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m…. Read More

Boogie up the Block and the Off the Wall mural competition, August 19

Crossposted from Bytes and Boxes Saturday, August 19, the King County Archives will be participating in Boogie Up the Block, an all-ages urban arts festival taking place on Fir Street in Seattle’s Central Area. Hosted by 206 Zulu and Hidmo, the event will include music, dance, art, food, exhibits, and a kids corner (complete with a bouncy castle). The Archives will be featuring its Ship Canal Centennial exhibit and sharing information about its collection.

Standing up to hate, fascism and bigotry

Dear fellow King County employee, On Saturday we witnessed the ugly face of hate in our country at a rally of white supremacists, fascists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia.  A similar group gathered yesterday in downtown Seattle, and my message to these groups on behalf of the people of King County is clear: We fought a Civil War against slavery, and you lost. We fought a World War against fascism, and you lost. Today, we stand united against the hateful rhetoric you have brought to our community. And you will lose again…. Read More

The poop-loop scoop: How King County recycles waste and water 

Crossposted from Public Health Insider  Public health is committed to preventing disease and death from water-borne pathogens. Modern sanitation, including wastewater treatment, is key to keeping our waters clean and the people and animals that live here healthy. But the efficiency of modern sanitation creates an interesting problem.  Today, our waste is “out of sight, out of mind” as soon as we flush the toilet or as soon as the water disappears down the drain. We might know that dirty water goes somewhere, and it gets cleaned. What we don’t know is how… Read More

Empowering employees as innovators and change agents for equity and social justice 

Crossposted from Inside Transportation  The principle of being fair and just is incorporated into all of our work at King County, under a six-year Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan that guides how we improve practices for better outcomes. At King County DOT, we are working collectively so that each member of our agency can be an agent of advancing equity and social justice (ESJ). And we actively involved employees in designing the actions and strategies around specific goals.  DOT Director Harold Taniguchi empowered employees from each of our divisions and organizational levels to… Read More

Executive Constantine names Rhonda Berry to lead Zero Youth Detention efforts 

King County Executive Dow Constantine announced that Deputy Executive Rhonda Berry will lead inter-agency and community coordination and strategy to further reduce the number of youth in detention. “Rhonda is an effective leader able to bring people together,” said Constantine. “Her extensive experience working with all county and partner agencies that impact youth, her reputation for inclusion and effectiveness, and her established commitment to equity and social justice, will give us the best chance to make the vision of zero youth detention a reality. Her passion for youth and families led her to… Read More

DPD internship program brings on qualified, invested lawyers committed to County priorities 

With the arrival of summer comes the annual onboarding of interns in workplaces across the country. While some internships may just be grabbing coffee and making copies, King County is proud to develop interns and employees for a career in public service. One notable example is within the Department of Public Defense (DPD). Across the four divisions, DPD has expanded a program to attract third-year law students locally and across the country with the idea that they will stay on as public defenders full time after graduation. Summer internships are full time… Read More

Planning pays off: Long awaited paramedic services proving successful for residents and employees 

Since this past February, King County Medic One (KCM1) has provided ongoing, excellent paramedic services to the Vashon Island community. Long in coming, this new service delivers to residents the best in emergency response through a seamless transition from Vashon Island Fire and Rescue to KCM1. “For citizens of Vashon Island, the change will hardly be noticeable. If you call 911 and need paramedics, a medic unit will still arrive and provide excellent ALS (Advanced Life Support) care,” said Eric Timm, a Paramedic for KCM1. “The only difference is that the medic unit will be… Read More

Being prepared for the upcoming August 21 solar eclipse 

As if heat and wildfire smoke weren’t enough to raise public concern, some are not aware of the dangers of looking at the August 21 solar eclipse without special protective eyewear. Please take a moment to read this important information about protecting your eyesight. Click here.

An interview with Councilmember Larry Gossett

By Jimmy’a (jih-MY-uh) Carter, a summer intern for the Executive’s Office Customer Service team. Jimmy’a, a 16 year old who will be a junior this fall at West Auburn High School, plans to attend a four-year college and get a degree in youth counseling. She joins us from the Bridge to Prosperity mentoring program. Last month, I was so excited to do an interview with King County Councilmember Larry Gossett because I had heard he has done good things for our community, and through his policies and activism he has had a huge impact on… Read More