Issaquah mayor lauds AtWork!
October 19, 2010
Mayor Ava Frisinger has declared October as Jobs Powered by AtWork! Month in Issaquah.
The proclamation, issued Oct. 4 at a City Council meeting, commended AtWork! for supporting people with developmental disabilities in their quest to seek and maintain employment. Frisinger also commended 14 local businesses for hiring AtWork! clients.
In addition, the proclamation commended the nonprofit organization for supporting 24 Issaquah residents and AtWork! clients. The proclamation lauded the organization for empowering clients to lead productive and meaningful lives, provide support for their families and develop the skills necessary for long-term employment.
AtWork! Chief Development Officer Jane Kuechle accepted the proclamation from the mayor.
Issaquah mayor lauds AtWork! for employment efforts
October 8, 2010
NEW — 6 a.m. Oct. 8, 2010
Mayor Ava Frisinger has declared October as Jobs Powered by AtWork! Month in Issaquah.
The proclamation, issued Monday at a City Council meeting, commended AtWork! for supporting people with developmental disabilities in their quest to seek and maintain employment. Frisinger also commended 14 local businesses for hiring AtWork! clients.
In addition, the proclamation commended the nonprofit organization for supporting 24 Issaquah residents and AtWork! clients. The proclamation lauded the organization for empowering clients to lead productive and meaningful lives, provide support for their families and develop the skills necessary for long-term employment.
AtWork! Chief Development Officer Jane Kuechle accepted the proclamation from the mayor.
Mayor unveils proposed 2011 city budget Monday
October 1, 2010
NEW — 8 a.m. Oct. 1, 2010
Mayor Ava Frisinger plans to roll out a proposed 2011 city budget Monday night and outline spending priorities after a year of cost-cutting measures.
Frisinger is due to present the proposal to the City Council at 7:30 p.m. Monday. The council meets in the Council Chambers at City Hall South, 135 E. Sunset Way.
The announcement launches at least a month of deliberations between council members and city staffers to produce a final budget.
The process starts Tuesday night, as leaders from nonprofit organizations — Village Theatre, DownTown Issaquah Association, Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, Issaquah Historical Society, Issaquah Valley Senior Center and AtWork! — present requests to the council. City department chiefs present budgets to the council Oct. 13 and 20.
Issaquah sustainability ‘report card’ indicates successes, shortfalls
September 7, 2010
The inaugural sustainability “report card” from the city touted Costco carpools, a community garden and affordable-housing construction in the Issaquah Highlands as signs of progress.
The report released last week packs data about environmental, economic and social health.
The “report card” is based upon recommendations from a 16-member panel assembled in 2008 by Mayor Ava Frisinger. The group, the Sustainability Sounding Board, formed a long-term sustainability plan and then set benchmarks for the city to track progress.
Issaquah sustainability ‘report card’ indicates successes, shortfalls
September 2, 2010
NEW — 10 a.m. Sept. 2, 2010
The inaugural sustainability “report card” from the city touted Costco carpools, the Sustainable Issaquah community garden and affordable-housing construction in the Issaquah Highlands as signs of “green” progress.
The city released the report Wednesday. City staffers collected data to answer the question: How sustainable are we?
“The report shows us many positive signs — including an increase in Issaquah’s natural open spaces,” Mayor Ava Frisinger said. “Commuters are also making fewer drive-alone trips, volunteerism is strong and participation in the arts is increasing.”
Buy concert concessions to help new community group
July 20, 2010
NEW — 1 p.m. July 20, 2010
Help members of the Aktion Club — a group of civic-minded adults with disabilities — raise money for community projects at Concerts on the Green.
Aktion members will serve concessions during the 7 p.m. concert. Mr. Miyagi, a band playing ’80s and ’90s classics, performs Tuesday on the Issaquah Community Center lawn.
Aktion resulted from collaboration between the Kiwanis Club of Issaquah and AtWork! The nonprofit organization helps people with disabilities learn skills and find jobs.
Aktion launched last month; 12 adults with disabilities joined the group at the inaugural meeting. The organization provides members with opportunities to participate in community events and projects.
Before the school year starts, Aktion members will help Kiwanians collect supplies and stuff backpacks for needy children.
If you build it, they will come
July 13, 2010
Issaquah Flatland Community Garden proves to be a popular, helpful, healthy addition to the city
Andrew Merges (left) and his wife Angela tend to their personal bed in the Issaquah Flatland Community Garden. By Tim Pfarr
For someone who lives in an apartment or condominium, it may seem the only way to have a personal garden is to dump a bunch of soil in the bathtub, buy an ultraviolet lamp and install some tomato plants. Well, it’s time these people got word there is such a thing as a community garden, and that bathing can once again ensue.
Just a couple of blocks north of Issaquah Valley Elementary School, one can find the Issaquah Flatland Community Garden. The project came to life in May 2009 thanks to many volunteers and a partnership between Sustainable Issaquah and the company AtWork!, which helps people with disabilities be productive, integrated and contributing members of their communities.
The garden on the site of the AtWork! Issaquah office turned out to be hotter than jalapeños when it opened, its 24 beds filling almost instantly.
“The community garden kind of rose to the top as a low-hanging fruit,” said Chantal Stevens, Sustainable Issaquah co-founder. “Everybody wanted one.”
Dennis Wajda, AtWork! employment consultant and community liaison, agreed.
“We never had to go door to door or hang anything,” he said. “People just came.”
He said volunteers worked expediently in ripping out part of the AtWork! lawn, installing the garden and building a fence around it.
“Literally, in one month, it went from looking like that grass to this,” Wajda said, motioning to the garden and the grass that still surrounds it.
Each 4-by-15 bed costs $40 per year, and the cost covers watering. Gardeners must also bring their own plants. Of the garden’s 24 beds, six are designated “community impact beds,” and the produce they yield goes directly to the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank. Read more
King County honors Issaquah’s top recyclers
June 24, 2010
NEW — 6 a.m. June 24, 2010
Efforts to recycle batteries, toner cartridges, cooking oil and construction materials earned Issaquah agencies and businesses kudos from the King County Solid Waste Division.
The county has recognized the Issaquah municipal government, the Issaquah School District and three Issaquah businesses — Pogacha, Rowley Properties and Timber Ridge at Talus — as Best Workplaces for Recycling and Waste Reduction.
Who’s News
June 1, 2010
AtWork! official earns national certificate of achievement
Jane Kuechle, chief development officer for AtWork!, has been awarded a National Certificate of Achievement in Community Rehabilitation Management by the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators.
To receive the certificate Kuechle, of Issaquah, successfully completed more than 60 hours of instruction in financial management, marketing, human resources and leadership for rehabilitation programs. The Community Rehabilitation Management Certificate Series is taught by training specialists and instructors through the Center for Continuing Education in Rehabilitation at the University of Washington’s School of Rehabilitation Medicine Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center Northwest.
AtWork! is a 47-year-old private nonprofit company, based in Bellevue and Issaquah, that provides employment services to people with disabilities throughout King County, by helping them learn marketable skills; find and keep good jobs in the community; and earn wages and benefits that help them escape poverty.
Officials urge Waste Management, union to resolve garbage strike
April 21, 2010
UPDATED — 5:10 p.m. April 21, 2010
King County leaders urged a quick settlement to the strike against Waste Management by garbage haulers represented by Teamsters Local 174.
County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn sent a joint letter to Waste Management and the union Wednesday.
Waste Management trash haulers represented by the Local 174 went on strike Wednesday morning. The company picks up garbage in most of Issaquah, except for the Greenwood Point and South Cove neighborhoods. Altogether, Waste Management serves more than 1 million customers across King and Snohomish counties.
