King County launches SoundGuardian to join emergency Puget Sound orca recovery effort
On the morning of Aug. 5, King County’s research vessel, SoundGuardian, departed its Seattle homeport on its way to northern Puget Sound to take part in an emergency effort to save ailing members of the endangered resident orca population. “Orcas are the Salish Sea’s most iconic residents, and we all share the responsibility of protecting these beloved animals,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “We are doing whatever we can to help the orca now, and fulfill long-term goals to improve the health of local waterways and the Salish Sea.” Operating with… Read More
Metro earns top award – best in North America
In a message to Metro’s employees, General Manager Rob Gannon shared the fantastic news that the American Public Transportation Association has recognized King County Metro as Outstanding Public Transportation System of the Year! Dear Metro colleagues, I have wonderful news to share with you: Metro has been named Outstanding Public Transportation System of the year—the best among the largest transit agencies in North America. All of you—our 4,800 employees—earned this honor through your hard work, exceptional customer service, and innovations in service and technology. I am immensely proud to be part of… Read More
Trauma-informed fitness leads to skill building for youth
Crossposted from Zero Youth Detention “Our job is to listen.” That is how Upower coaches describe their role in offering fitness classes at the King County Juvenile Detention Center. Upower offers trauma-informed fitness and wellness classes at no cost to underserved teens in King County. Their classes are fun, safe and open to all fitness levels. Upower’s sensitive approach to trauma-informed fitness means that they advocate for physical fitness and social-emotional well-being for every teen served. Upower coaches get teens moving through activities such as cardiovascular conditioning, strength training, flexibility and fun fitness games. Equally… Read More
Now recruiting Ambassador teams
Crossposted from Employee Giving Program By Junelle Kroontje Build your resume AND make a difference? Yes, you can have it all. Join our rock star Ambassador team for our 30th Anniversary year! Ambassadors are the most important element of our Employee Giving Program team. You will be the key to making sure that every King County employee has a quality opportunity to support a cause they care about through the program; literally bringing transformative moments of meaning to your colleagues. You get to: Meet new people, Advocate for your favorite cause, and… Read More
King County represents at Reebok RAGNAR Northwest Passage ‘200-ish’ mile relay
By Al Dams, Chief Deputy Assessor The King County Bureaufasts completed their third Ragnar Relay this month, coming in fifth place overall in the Corporate Division. The 200-mile relay race is always a test of determination for your King County runners, but this year proved to be even tougher than usual as the team faced very hot temperatures, an injury during the race, and other challenges. Nonetheless, the Bureaufasts endured and still managed a respectable time and a good number of “road kills” for passing other teams on the course that winds… Read More
Kudos! to Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent
The U.S. Census Bureau returned to MRJC last month to conduct a Community Survey of sampled inmates. The Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention facilities are periodically selected for the surveys, and DAJD makes special efforts to facilitate. DAJD received this written Thank You from the interviewer, a field representative from the Los Angeles Regional Office of the American Community Survey: Thank you for all your help in accomplishing the American Community Survey at MRJC today. It is always a pleasure to deal with your community of dedicated and efficient professionals. Your… Read More
Announcing Community-Designed Home-Based Programs and Practices Awards
Crossposted from the Best Starts for Kids Blog We’re thrilled to announce ten awardees for the prenatal-to-5 Community-Designed Home-Based Programs & Practices funding opportunity. With a total investment of $5,825,000 million over 2.5 years, these awards to community-based organizations will expand the availability of home-based services that draw upon local community knowledge and practice to develop approaches that are designed for and valued by specific communities, and/or addressing populations not well-served by other programs. Congratulation to our new partners: United Indians of All Tribes East African Community Services Atlantic Street Center Centro Rendu… Read More
Biosolids and digesters and sludge, oh my! Summer interns tour South Plant
Crossposted from Clean Water Stories By Isabelle Trujillo, WTD intern What do brisk walking, new facts, and interesting sites all have in common? They are all part of the South Treatment Plant tour! As a summer intern at WTD, many options are given to us to get to know the different facilities in the regional system. One of them being a tour of the South Treatment Plant located in Renton. Expanding over 80 acres and covered in patches of trees, the South Plant facility gave similar first impressions to some of the… Read More
Aw shucks! It’s pretty risky to eat raw and under-cooked oysters
Crossposted from Public Health Insider By Lindsay Bosslet As waters warm up, shellfish beds become breeding grounds for bacteria, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus or “Vibrio,” one of the most common causes of illness related to raw oyster consumption. And this year, we’re setting records. Why are so many people getting sick? We sat down with Vance Kawakami, our communicable disease epidemiologist, to better understand the risk of eating raw and under-cooked oysters. Vance, is there any safe way to eat raw oysters? Will Tabasco sauce or vodka kill the bacteria? Please say yes…. Read More
Featured Job: Transit Administrative Support Specialist III – FMLA Support (four TLT or SDA positions)
Closing: 08/13/18 11:59 PM (GMT -8:00) Salary: $26.04 – $31.48 Hourly Location: King Street Center, Seattle, WA Job Type: Special Duty Assignment or Term Limited Temporary Department: Transportation – Transit Division Job Number: 2018EM08420 Metro Transit is seeking four talented administrative specialists to join our Operations team on a temporary, six-month-pilot basis to support the processing of FMLA/KCFML and Workers Comp FMLA. These fully benefited positions may be filled either as Term-Limited Temporary or by providing a Special Duty Assignment to an existing King County career service employee who has completed their… Read More
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