Featured Headlines
Holiday travel? Metro will help you get there
Emergency exercise tests communications ahead of World Cup
King County Wins 2025 Geospatial Professional Network Award for Innovative AI-GIS System
Recognizing the service of Metro veterans
News
Metro’s Operators of the Month
Did you know your bus driver’s artwork might be displayed on a Metro coach? Or that some of them enjoy working on cars and trucks, running, and biking? Or that they relax playing the stock market and working on taxes? One thing is for sure: They are as unique as the people they provide transportation to every day, and all of them love driving and giving back to their community. Meet your Operators of the Month for September and October 2022 here.
Now is the time to prioritize getting a flu shot and COVID-19 booster
With holiday gatherings around the corner, it’s important to be up to date on your flu shot and COVID-19 vaccination. King County Public Health officials are noting that respiratory viral infections have increased both locally and nationally. Getting your flu and COVID-19 vaccines now is important to protect you and your loved ones from infection before there are further increases in local respiratory viral activity. Read more from Dr. Eric Chow, Public Health Chief of Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Immunizations.
Executive Constantine on adoption of $15.8 billion biennial King County budget: A road map to our values
King County Executive Dow Constantine released a statement after the King County Council unanimously passed a $15.8 billion biennial budget that adopts major investments in his priority areas focused on battling the climate crisis and restoring our environment, ensuring every person has a home, ensuring a community where every person is safe, and uprooting racism and racial disparities. Read the full statement here.
Ask Miss Rona: Updated COVID-19 Boosters
Ask Miss Rona is a Q&A series on Public Health’s Instagram account to respond to community questions related to different topic areas of COVID-19. Questions about COVID-19 vaccines for babies and young children were submitted last week by King County residents and answered by subject matter experts at Public Health – Seattle & King County. Read more.
Mail Services HQ new location as of Nov. 16
Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 16 Mail Services will have new headquarters on the second floor of King Street Center. They are in the process of identifying a new hub location to serve the Chinook Building and Courthouse sometime early in the new year. In the meantime, Mail Services will maintain occupancy (though not always staffing) at both the current Admin Mailroom (on the fourth floor of the Admin Building) and in the Chinook Mailroom, near the Chinook Building loading dock. Mail Services assures that while much is changing, one thing that won’t change… Read More
Friday, Nov. 18, is the last day of the 2022 Annual Giving Drive
With more than 1,200 nonprofit organizations in the program and five ways to give, it’s fast and easy to support the causes you care about. The Employee Giving Program would like to thank you for continuing to support causes that are important to you, such as climate change, animal welfare, and food security. It all makes a difference. View this website for all the ways you can participate.
Vanessa Chin named chair of AAAE’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
Cross-posted from Plane Talk Vanessa Chin has been selected as the Chair of the Northwest Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives’ (AAAE) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE and I) Committee. Vanessa is Business Information Management Manager at King County International Airport. “My whole goal in serving as the chair of the DE and I committee is to establish the human and foundational work of equity and social justice and apply that at the Northwest AAAE,” Chin said. Read more.
What does it take to manage VIP visits?
Cross-posted from Plane Talk Vice-president Kamala Harris and Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS), both flew in and out of King County International Airport for visits to Seattle recently. For folks who work at the airport, VIP visits, as they are known, can bring mixed emotions and an intense workload. VIPs can include heads of state, sports teams, or other public figures such as members of Congress. It’s a unique situation that few people can say they’ve participated, but also requires the highest level of security. Read more.
2023 Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is Jan. 12
Community members and King County employees are invited to join in honoring our nation’s foremost human rights leader and King County’s namesake, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The theme for the 2023 Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is “Truth, Light and Hope” and the accompanying quote is “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The 2023 Larry Gossett Service Award nomination is now open. The Larry Gossett… Read More
Financial planning tips for the holidays
Watch this video with a My Secure Advantage (MSA) Financial Coach sharing tips for financial planning as we lead up to the holidays. My Secure Advantage (MSA) is a financial wellness program that provides King County employees with tools and coaching to help you reach your financial goals.
Tri-demic? Time to increase protections against surging respiratory viruses
Crossposted from Public Health Insider We’ve been hearing talk of a potential triple threat of viruses or a “tri-demic” this winter – a rise in multiple types of respiratory viruses. We sat down with Dr. Eric Chow, who leads our Communicable Disease and Epidemiology Section, to learn more about what’s happening and what we can do to stay safer. We’ve heard concerns about a potential “tri-demic” this winter – high cases of COVID-19, flu, and RSV. Is this something Public Health is worried about? Yes, both locally and nationally we’re seeing a… Read More
Community Conversation Series: Indigenous Voices, Truth and Movements Amplified
King County employees and Native American Leadership Council affinity group members come together for a conversation on what Indigenous Peoples Day means to them, and how we’re not meant to celebrate on just one day or celebrate Native American Heritage Month for just one month, but all year round and for a lifetime. Your colleagues Stacey McQuade (OESJ), Katherine Festa (NALC, DCHS) and Avreayl Jacobson (NALC, DCHS) joined host Ninona Boujrada (NALC, PH-SKC) to discuss the call to action to move from the performative to transformative change in the recognition of Indigenous… Read More
Recognizing our veterans
Crossposted from Metro Matters In celebration of Veterans Day, I would like to take time to extend my appreciation and gratitude to our veterans. Veterans Day honors those have who courageously served our country in the military. As the daughter of an Army veteran, this day has always held special meaning to me and my family. This holiday initially began as a commemoration of the end of World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. It was called “Armistice Day” and was later… Read More
Community, connection, and emotional well-being for veterans
Nov. 11 is Veterans Day and Balanced You would like to thank our employees who have served and honor the continued service you provide as a King County employee. In partnership with the Veterans and Military Affinity Group and the King County Veteran Fellows Program, we would like to share resources to support emotional well-being, community and connection for our veterans and military community.
Administrative Professionals Q3 recognition
King County Administrative Professionals are a large part of King County government’s workforce and valuable contributors to the success of every department. They support and provide direct services to internal customers and the public. Administrative Professionals may include, but are not limited to, Administrative Specialists, Office Assistants, Executive Assistants, Customer Service Specialists, Dental and Medical Assistants, Court Clerks, and more. Celebrate the great work of Administrative Professionals and read about their accomplishments in the 2022 Q3 Recognitions. To show your appreciation and recognize an Administrative Professional that you’ve worked with, click here.
Get your flu shot! 10 things to know about flu season
Crossposted from Public Health Insider As fall rolls around and holiday gatherings approach, so does flu season. That means it’s time to think about another important vaccine you should get this year: your flu shot. Here are ten things to know about the flu shot and why it’s so crucial this fall. Read more.
ARFF hosts community police academy
Crossposted from the Plane Talk newsletter The Burien/SeaTac Community Police Academy visited the fire station at King County International Airport recently. The Academy is a nine-week course designed to increase the understanding between residents and their police departments through public education. Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) provided a fire truck water demonstration, an introduction to breathing apparatus equipment and a K-9 demonstration by King County Sheriff Deputy Samuel Sare and his partner, Chuck. “We all enjoyed the tour and demo,” wrote Michiko Wilson in an email thanking ARFF after the event. Wilson… Read More
People experiencing homelessness are helping restore Green River habitat
King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks’ second Jobs and Housing Program crew is helping maintain completed restoration projects and lay the foundation for future restoration successes. They are also taking the first steps toward potential careers in conservation. Read more here, and watch the video below.
Thanking our local veterans for their service
Dear fellow King County employee, For more than a century, our nation has dedicated November 11 as the day to recognize the brave members of our country’s armed forces, past and present. They placed their own lives at risk to defend freedom here at home and around the world. Veterans Day is our opportunity to honor and thank them for their service. King County is home to 115,000 veterans of all ages. More than 1,200 of our King County colleagues are veterans, working alongside us in every department and every branch of… Read More
Complete Open Enrollment by Tuesday, Nov. 15
If you haven’t already, review your benefit choices and make changes for next year. Go into Open Enrollment by signing in to PeopleSoft and selecting the Open Enrollment tile. You can go into the system as often as you need until 11:59 pm on Tuesday, Nov. 15. For hands-on help completing Open Enrollment in PeopleSoft, stop by Chinook Room 233 (Rhododendron) on Nov. 10, 14, & 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you don’t participate in Open Enrollment, your current elections automatically continue for next year—except your Flexible Spending Accounts… Read More
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