Crossposted from Metro Matters In a surprise ceremony last Wednesday, lead mechanic Gary Archer was named Metro Transit’s 2016 Vehicle Maintenance Employee of the Year – to the smiles and applause of his coworkers and team at South Base in Tukwila. It’s the second time Gary has won the award, unprecedented in Metro’s history. Archer was selected by his peers, more than 600 vehicle maintenance workers across Metro’s seven bus bases. Gary first won the Employee of the Year award in Vehicle Maintenance in 2003. Read more at Metro Matters

Crossposted from Tails from RASKC Fireworks are beautiful to look at, but they can be scary for our pets. The bangs and booms are hard on their sensitive hearing, and even the calmest pet can get upset by the unfamiliar loud noises. To help your pet cope with the noise from fireworks, and reduce the chance that it runs away, Regional Animal Services of King County offers these tips: Keep your pet secured indoors in the quietest room of your home while fireworks are audible. You can also use soothing music or… Read More

As shared from the DNRP WTD Watermark Newsletter Jessica Tanumihardja recently joined West Point [treatment plant] as the newest process analyst. Prior to WTD, Jessica was an engineer-in-training at Northwest Water Systems and earned her graduate degree in environmental engineering from the University of Washington. Jessica first learned about WTD by meeting HR staff at a college job fair. “They were really nice and friendly so I applied for an internship  in project management.” Jessica worked with Project Manager Erica Jacobs and others during her internship. After graduating, Jessica received emails about… Read More

Crossposted from Metro Matters Metro needs your feedback to help shape the future of Access Transportation, Metro’s ADA paratransit service. We’ll reach out to the public several times this year to learn about what’s working well and how Access could be improved. Your feedback will inform Metro staff as they plan for new Access contracts that will take effect in 2018. In this first phase of outreach, we want to hear about how we’re doing with Access service, what’s most important riders, and ideas for improvements. Read more at Metro Matters

A new handheld device is helping law enforcement personnel get identification results quickly in the field, improving the safety of our communities. Handheld Mobile ID devices allow law enforcement to scan fingerprints in the field and search county, state and federal databases for matches in a matter of minutes. It’s an important tool when knowing a person’s true identity can impact critical decisions. Officer Kevin Bateman of the Kent Police Department shared one example with KCTV recently. “We had a hit-and-run, but the guy came back, and all he had was a… Read More

King County Archives, the home of thousands of official documents and photographs, has launched a new online collection search tool at http://www.kingcounty.gov/archives/search. This brief video from KCTV takes you into to the Archives vault, where we talk about the collection, research, and the new search tool. Learn more about how to access items, materials and records from as far back as the 1800s. The video features commentary from King County archivist Carol Shenk.