Get to know Whitney Abrams, Chief People Officer
Executive Constantine recently launched a Get to know the Senior Leadership Team video series with a video featuring Chief Performance Officer Gary Kurihara. In this second video, we spotlight Chief People Officer Whitney Abrams, what she is working on, and what brought her to King County. Click the image above to watch the video. If you missed Gary’s video you can catch it here, and look for the full series of videos over the next couple of months as we feature Budget Director Dwight Dively, Chief of Staff Rachel Smith and Chief… Read More
Celebrating summer learning
Crossposted from Best Starts for Kids Blog Robots whizzing across the floor while kids learn coding languages to control them. Creative writing exercises that become movement-based art about what it’s like to be a young person today. A youth-led book club discussing The Hate U Give, a young adult novel about the aftermath of racist police murder. These are just a few examples of the incredible summer learning opportunities we saw while celebrating Summer Learning Day last week with our partner School’s Out Washington. As part of hundreds of Summer Learning Day celebrations across… Read More
With investments by Amazon and City of Seattle, King County Metro will offer more frequent, reliable service on some of its most popular routes
King County Metro will offer more frequent and reliable bus service on some of its most popular routes beginning this fall thanks to significant investments by Amazon and the City of Seattle. Amazon’s investment will provide 22 additional weekday trips for two years across some of Metro’s busiest routes serving West Seattle, Shoreline, Ballard, and Capitol Hill. The additional service provides room for roughly 1,700 weekday boardings, and includes the RapidRide E Line and C Line, and Routes 8, 40, 62, and 63. The additional service hours will be part of Metro’s… Read More
Kudos! to Public Health’s King County Vital Statistics team at Harborview Medical Center
Catherine Hinrichsen reached out to Executive Constantine and King County on Twitter after having had a great customer experience with the Vital Stats team at Harborview Medical Center. “Wish all interactions with local govt agencies were like this. Thanks to you & staff!” Kudos, Vital Stats!
King County Community Court grand opening in Redmond
The King County Community Court in Redmond will be holding its grand opening celebration Wednesday, Aug. 1 at 1 p.m. Visit the new site and click on the infographic sample below for more information.
Proudly in defense of breastfeeding, in King County and everywhere
Crossposted from Public Health Insider Statement from Patty Hayes, Director of Public Health—Seattle & King County, responding to news that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services aggressively attempted to water down international support for breastfeeding through the World Health Organization. “The notion that any national or international health agency would not completely support breastfeeding is truly shocking. Breastfeeding is broadly endorsed by both the medical community and nutrition community – and for very good reasons. Decades of research have demonstrated benefits such as: Breast milk supplies antibodies, which lowers the… Read More
Purple Loosestrife – July’s Weed of the Month
Crossposted from Noxious Weeds Blog Although it is perhaps one of the prettiest noxious weeds, purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is widely recognized throughout North America as a highly invasive and damaging weed in wetlands and along shorelines. Vigorous perennial roots and rhizomes, combined with incredibly prolific seed production, result in one of the most successful invasive plants we have on this continent. Unfortunately, dense populations of purple loosestrife significantly reduce the habitat quality of wetlands and shorelines for waterfowl, amphibians, fish and other critters. Purple loosestrife does not play well with other plants and… Read More
One year later: Things people still don’t know about the distracted driving law
Crossposted from Public Health Insider By Lindsay Bosslet It’s been a full year since Washington’s distracted driving law went into effect, but according to a survey of 900 King County drivers, there is still plenty of confusion about what is – and isn’t – allowed. Let’s explore the misconceptions. “It’s illegal to text and drive, but it’s fine if you’re at a stop light or during standstill traffic.” It’s not fine! You can get cited for holding your phone for any reason at a stop light – and for good reason. Read… Read More
Welcome, Judge Ferguson!
King County Superior Court announced their most recent addition to the bench Monday with a tweet. PJ Laura Inveen swears in Marshall Ferguson, our newest Superior Court judge. Judge Ferguson comes with experience in real estate-related civil litigation, employment discrimination and workers’ comp. Welcome and congratulations! Welcome and congratulations, Judge Ferguson!
Who is most susceptible to heat? It could be YOU!
Crossposted from Public Health Insider By Meredith Li-Vollmer Temperatures this week are expected to rise into the low 90s, with some humidity. To my friends in Los Angeles and New Mexico, that’s scarcely hot enough to raise an eyebrow. But here in King County, most people don’t have air conditioning, so our local emergency departments see an uptick of people with serious health problems on days like this. Common ailments include heart problems, stroke, and kidney failure, as well as heat stroke. Many people don’t know that they are at risk for… Read More
Employee News 