When King County’s Solid Waste Division (SWD) put out a contract to build the new Shoreline Recycling and Transfer Station eight years ago, there wasn’t a specific goal or target for including small businesses in the project. “We paid a contractor $24 million, but we don’t know what went to a small firm,” said Ann McFarlane, a contract specialist for SWD. Today, King County agencies are working to make sure that there are more opportunities for small, disadvantaged, and minority- and women-owned businesses to compete for and obtain County contracts – a… Read More

To celebrate Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month Program, King County is hosting a lunch and learn discussion for employees with Bob Santos called “Community Activism and the International District.” Robert “Bob” Santos is the most publicly-recognized spokesperson and leader of the movement that began in the 1970s to preserve Seattle’s Chinatown/International District. He served as president of the Catholic Interracial Conference, HUD Regional Director, and was Executive Director of Inter*Im from 1972 to 1989, and 2002 to 2006. Santos will describe the local civil rights movement related to the Asian American Community in… Read More

On May 12 (Chinook) and May 20 (King Street Center) KCIT and DES are teaming up once again to present Service Day. Don’t miss this opportunity to talk with your internal service owners to better understand KCIT & DES internal services and rate structures. You can also get a copy of our 2015 Service Catalog and join the discussion on Mobility, the cloud, ESJ in IT, Energy Efficiency (SVE, Data Center), Bring your Own Device & Mobile Device Management, SharePoint, Unified Communications and more! May 12, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Chinook… Read More

“I am a full time UW student and busy mother of 3 small children. After the switch from DSHS medical to Apple Health, my one year old was suddenly dropped from his insurance. I have been trying for a couple weeks to figure out how to get him back on insurance without messing up the rest of the family’s insurance and having to reapply for everyone. I called and visited multiple local and state resources only to be told there was a waitlist, I couldn’t be helped, and to be hung up… Read More

On March 20, West Point wastewater treatment plant staff rescued a man who had climbed over the fence, fallen into the channel, and was carried downstream about 500 feet where the current pinned  him to equipment in the partially-treated wastewater where he was difficult to see. In an amazing twist of luck, Operator Darek Kenaston happened to see the man through a grate during his routine area check. Thankfully, the operations team pulled the man to safety and he was taken to the hospital and did not appear to be injured. The… Read More

Aaron Porter, a fifth-grade student at John Muir Elementary school, has been a participant in the Public Health SNAP-Ed Eat Better, Feel Better (EBFB) nutrition education classes for the past six years, since kindergarten. And for the past several years, Aaron’s mother Akberet Gedlu has volunteered in his classroom. She sat in during several lessons when Public Health’s EBFB nutrition educator, Nancy Tudorof, taught students about healthy eating. She appreciated that the students chopped lettuce, sampled kale, and made healthy recipes that actually tasted good! Over the years, Akberet reports that Aaron began realizing that… Read More

King County’s redeveloped Bow Lake Recycling and Transfer Station was designed and built with sustainability in mind, and the U.S. Green Building Council has now certified Bow Lake with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification. “Having a recycling and transfer station that is certified LEED platinum is an example of how our physical plants complement the work we do,” said Executive Dow Constantine. “We are more effective at protecting our environment when the facilities we operate are as sustainable as the services we provide.” The new recycling and transfer station reopened… Read More