Elections opens Monday

King County Elections will be closing the customer service counter at our Renton location today at noon, re-opening it at 8:30 a.m. on Monday in Tukwila at 9010 East Marginal Way S, Tukwila, 98108.

Learn more about our move…

Moving begins for elections

Elections gets moving

King County Elections is in the process of packing up and temporarily moving all operations to Tukwila. We will be operational in the new location beginning September 28. Learn more about the move…

Public Health working to track and help residents avoid West Nile virus

Residents often call King County to report dead birds in their neighborhood, which helps with tracking of West Nile virus and notifications to the public about its spread. Ever wondered what happens between the call and the notice?

Public Health – Seattle & King County recently announced that a dead crow found in Seattle’s Laurelhurst neighborhood tested positive for West Nile virus. Here’s how the process works.

West Nile virus is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Birds from the corvid family, like crows and jays, are very susceptible to West Nile virus and they tend to sicken and die quickly after infection. So an increase of dead crows in a community could indicate a recurrence of West Nile virus in the region.

The dead birds act as an early warning surveillance system that helps staff with Public Health’s Zoonotic Disease program get a jump on any potential resurgence of West Nile Virus in our area. They typically receive and collect more than a thousand dead bird reports each year from residents.

Staffers, led by the Public Health veterinarian, rely on the public to report dead birds. Throughout the mosquito season, birds are tested in all parts of King County. If there are clusters of birds dying in a particular area, staff will focus testing on specimens from that area.

It’s not a job for the squeamish: in order to be tested, the bird must be freshly dead, with no obvious signs of injury.

Health and Environment inspector swabs the inside of the dead bird's mouth to gather a specimen for testing.

After a health and environment inspector swabs the inside of the dead bird’s mouth, the swab is overnight mailed to the Washington State Animal Diagnostic Disease Laboratory in Pullman. The carcass is then double bagged and placed in the garbage for disposal.

Lab results come back in a couple of weeks. When they’re positive, Public Health notifies the public that West Nile virus could be a problem in their community.

When residents report finding a bird that has been dead too long or is too damaged for testing, they’re usually instructed to simply double bag it and dispose of it because even if it were positive, you can’t get West Nile virus from a dead bird, only from a mosquito.

Although this important disease prevention work continues, the recession and related budget impacts are having an impact. Public Health once had funds to test over 150 birds per season; this year the budget will only allow testing of about 50 birds. However, together with the dead bird reports, this limited number of tested birds provides useful information for Zoonotic Disease staff.

So far, they’ve tested only 41 birds this year and have already found a bird positive for West Nile virus in Seattle’s Laurelhurst neighborhood.

But since birds fly, everybody in King County should be careful about avoiding mosquito bites, which can transmit West Nile Virus. The infection doesn’t make most people sick, but for the unfortunate few, West Nile virus can leave them incapacitated and can even cause death.

If you find a dead bird, report it online at http://www.kingcounty.gov/health/westnile or call 206-205-4394. If the bird looks like it might be a good candidate for testing, be sure to double bag it and call Public Health as soon as possible. Learn more at www.kingcounty.gov/health/westnile.

The ballots are all locked up

Ballots are all locked up.

This morning, King County Elections certified the results of the Aug. 18 primary. Final results are available online.

Search on for owner of dog rescued after fall

Dog rescued from dam.

At 11:53 a.m. today, King County Animal Care and Control received a call from an employee at the “fish crowder” for the Howard Hanson Dam requesting assistance with an animal rescue. The facility compresses water to draw fish close together so they can be counted.  Today, the crowder was empty, which created a giant cement vault.

Staff at the crowder called Animal Care and Control after they noticed a black lab sniffing around at the top of the vault, and upon further investigation, found another dog at the bottom of the chamber, having fallen about 15 feet onto a solid concrete floor.

An Animal Control Officer arrived at the scene within an hour, donned the appropriate gear, and descended into the vault to find a very confused, but very friendly, female husky.

The officer was able to restrain the dog for safety so it could be carried by ladder out of the vault and checked for injuries.  Miraculously, after a 15 foot fall onto cement, the dog had no major injuries.

Both the lab and the husky are resting comfortably at the King County Animal Care and Control shelter in Kent tonight. They were not wearing identification and did not have microchips so King County Animal Care and Control staffers have no way of contacting their owners.

Do you know anyone missing a very friendly black lab and a white husky near the Howard Hanson dam? If so, call 206-296-PETS.

Brightwater to open in 2011

Despite mechanical issues that have idled two of the four machines boring a tunnel for King County’s Brightwater wastewater-treatment plant, the facility is on track to open in 2011.

In order to keep work on schedule, the county will begin start-up and testing of Brightwater by mid-2011using existing pipes and facilities in the regional wastewater system.

The Brightwater Wastewater Treatment System and its 13-mile-long tunnel includes a treatment plant designed to provide treatment and disinfection of wastewater, conveyance facilities made up of pipelines and pumps that carry wastewater to and from the treatment plant, and a marine outfall, which will discharge treated wastewater from the treatment plant into Puget Sound.

Planning for the system began in the 1990s when flow and population growth estimates in King County’s wastewater service area showed that the county’s regional wastewater treatment system would likely run out of capacity by 2010 (check out the tutorial).

That kicked off the intensive regional planning effort that lead to Brightwater, which is one element of a comprehensive plan to ensure high quality regional wastewater treatment services and the growth capacity those services make possible. Cool info and enough details to make your head spin here.

So here’s where things stand now. Repairs on the two idled tunnel boring machines are already under way. The first machine is expected back in service this fall, and the second by late fall or early winter with treatment plant start-up and testing scheduled to be off and running by mid-2011.

You can stay up to date on what’s happening by plugging the Wastewater Treatment Division’s newsroom page into your favorite RSS reader. Or just check back periodically.

A day at King County Elections

Elections has been processing ballots and helping voters all day. Many thanks to all election workers and voters!

Ballots fresh from the post office.

Ballot processing.

Ballot processing.

Ballots arrive at King County Elections

Elections employees from other counties tour the facilities.

Sherril Huff with Bryan Johnson with KOMO.

Party observers

Party observers play an important part in reinforcing public accountability in the elections process.

Party Observers

Both Democrat and Republican elections observers are on the King County Elections floor when ballots are being processed. In the picture below, observers are examining ballots delievred from voters overseas. From left to right below are Leona Shuler from KC Elections, Joe McCleave from KC Elections, Joe Winkler a Republican Observer, Emily Willoughby Democrat Observer and Glenn Avery Republican Observer (Susan Sheary Democratic Observer is not pictured).

Elections buzz

King County Elections Director Sherril Huff.

It’s 4:30 pm at  King County Elections and workers, voters and the media are gearing up for the first results which will be posted at 8:15 pm. Elections officials expect results from approximately 180,000 ballots will be released tonight.  

“King County Elections is full of unsung heros who are working hard to process as many ballots as possible,” says King County Elections Director Sherril Huff. 

Elections phone bank

 The elections phone bank has been busy all day as voters call to get last minute questions answered. Call 206-296-VOTE.

Julie Wise, Elections Operations Lead notes, “Many of these calls have been about updating voter registration information. Voters can also update their address/information online at www.kingcounty.gov/elections”