What you may not know about health in the Chinatown-International District
Crossposted from Public Health Insider
We are writing a three-part series on the health of one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in our region, the Chinatown-International District (CID). With a one year nationally-funded grant, The BUILD Health Challenge has led to a robust community partnership that will take a deep look into the health and vibrancy of the CID.
To start us off, Nadine Chan, Epidemiologist from Public Health, shares some of her insights from taking a close look at what our health data can tell us about the neighborhood.
The BUILD Health Challenge grant—which funds InterIm Community Development Association’s Healthy Communities Program and its partners—selected grantees to work on “bold, upstream, integrated, local, and data-driven” solutions for healthy communities.
Read more at Public Health Insider
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Watch RASKC’s stories on Univision Seattle
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC
RASKC is excited to share the first of nine segments which Univision Seattle, KUNS channel 51, will be proudly airing each Wednesday at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Univision is the fifth largest network in the U.S. with the largest Spanish-speaking audience in the world. This amazing opportunity, which starts by highlighting RASKC’s success in saving 9 out of 10 lives, will serve as a public service announcement to engage and inform the community on the various services provided by King County’s Regional Animal Services.
Read more at Tails from RASKC
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New ‘loop’ system at Metro customer service office helps deaf or hard of hearing bus riders
Crossposted from Metro Matters
Bus riders who are deaf or hard of hearing and use cochlear implants or hearing aids now can use a newly installed hearing ‘loop’ system at King County Metro’s Customer Service Office at 201 South Jackson Street in Seattle. The induction hearing loop system allows customers who use the system to better communicate with Metro employees when they are buying or reloading ORCA cards or getting other help to better ride Metro.
Installing the induction hearing loop system demonstrates Metro’s continued commitment to accessibility for all of our customers. Loop systems help people better hear sounds at a distance and in environments where there is a lot of background noise.
Read more at Metro Matters
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Get ready to ShakeOut on October 20
King County will participate in the Great Washington ShakeOut earthquake drill on Thursday, October 20. At 10:20am, a PA announcement will go out in most County buildings, asking you to Drop, Cover, and Hold On just like you would do in a real earthquake. Expect more information about the drill in next week’s Employee News. For details about the Great Washington ShakeOut, visit www.shakeout.org/washington.
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Social Media Spotlight: EcoConsumer Twitter
The King County WA EcoConsumer public outreach program, in the Solid Waste Division, deals with the environmental impacts of our purchasing decisions and daily activities. It offers programs and resources to help King County residents balance consuming and conserving, to change their behavior and encourage others to help prevent waste.
Follow EcoConsumer on Twitter today!
Click here to view all King County social media pages.
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Sharing our know-how across the globe
Crossposted from King County Wastewater Treatment Division
URENCO staff here in Seattle are taken on a tour by King County WTD.
Many developing Asian countries face unique challenges delivering quality wastewater services. In an effort to mentor these communities, a team of Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) employees participated in information sharing with a growing utility called URENCO in Dong Hoi, Vietnam.
After visiting Vietnam, Dave Jurgens, reliability engineer, realized it’s not only an infrastructure challenge, but also one of culture. “The treatment plant is within a river delta with a lot of farmland. Waste is conveyed primarily from Dong Hoi, a fishing town of about 120,000 people,” he said.
King County WTD staff tour the URENCO facility in Vietnam.
“With just 10 percent of sewage being treated throughout the country, public awareness and regulatory oversight is still being developed. Programs like these are even more important in a region whose economy relies heavily on environmental resources… where sewer overflows can literally be within 100 feet of commercial shrimping nets.”
Read more at King County Wastewater Treatment Division
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Best Starts for Kids gets started
Joined by members of the King County Council, Executive Dow Constantine signed Best Starts for Kids. The voter-approved levy will invest nearly $400 million in child and youth development across King County over the next six years.
View the video below to watch the ceremonial bill signing.
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Kudos! Management team volunteers time to United Way Day of Caring
Shared from the DCHS Touching Base Newsletter
Members of the Department of Community and Human Services’ management team participated in the annual United Way Day of Caring on Friday, Sept. 23. The staff met at 8:30 a.m. at the Children’s Therapy Center (CTC) in Kent, WA and spent the day improving the CTC campus. Some of the team spent the day cleaning and sanitizing the children’s toys and playrooms and other interior spaces. Others worked outside to spruce up the CTC grounds, lawn mowing, weed whacking, pruning hedges, raking, seeding, and sweeping. A few sore arms and backs may have followed – but well worth the effort to see how great everything looked at the end of the day!
United Way of King County estimates they had over 13,000 volunteers working on more than 400 projects and generating over $1.8 million in volunteer labor in the United Way Day of Caring!
Pictured: Denise Rothleutner, Division Director, and Josephine Wong, Deputy Director, tame the unruly shrubs in front of the CTC building.
To learn more about what DCHS is doing in our community, read the most recent issue of the Touching Base Newsletter (on SharePoint).
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Mark Isaacson selected as Wastewater Treatment Division director
Mark Isaacson will become the Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) director beginning October 10. Mark has been the director of the Water and Lands Resources Division (WLRD) for the past 11 years, leading a large number of environmental programs and seeing the division through tough economic times and on to a period of growth.
Mark has established a very stable division with multiple revenue streams. Prior to leading WLRD, Mark was the assistant division director and prior to that worked in the WTD for three years leading the implementation of the division’s productivity initiative.
Mark is well known throughout King County and our region for his work in the natural resources field. He has strong leadership skills that will be great match for WTD and its leadership team.
WLRD Assistant Division Director John Taylor has stepped in as the WLRD interim director beginning Sept. 26.
Mark has a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Congratulations to Mark!
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Your home, your stream, your future
Join us in developing the Bear Creek Watershed Plan!
Learn about living in or near the Bear Creek Watershed and how stormwater is managed affects you, your property, and the health of Bear Creek.
The workshop will be held Thursday, October 13, 2016 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Woodinville City Hall, address is 17301 133rd Ave NE Woodinville, WA 98072.
King County and its partners are collaborating to reduce stormwater pollution and restore and protect stream habitat in the Bear Creek basin. Hear about our work over the last two years, and how this could influence watershed-wide stormwater management in the future. Come to listen, share, or ask questions. We want to hear from you!
Questions? Visit the Bear Creek Watershed Plan on the King County website or contact Jeff Burkey at 206-477-4658 or jeff.burkey@kingcounty.gov.
Employee News 