Weekend Traffic
Happy Friday, Kent!
It was a great week with some super fun events around the city! From our annual 4th of July splash, to the kickoff of our Kent Summer Concerts, there's plenty to do in Kent this summer.
I'm excited to welcome Tim McGraw to the accesso ShoWare Center tomorrow night for 100.7 The Wolf's Throwdown!
If you have been listening to The Morning Wolf Pack, you've heard the fun lead-up to calling Kent "TimTown" for the day.
Just as a note, WSDOT's southbound State Route 167 project will have lane closures and you can expect traffic in downtown Kent this weekend.
You can read more about the SR 167 Southbound project here.
As always, hope you enjoy this week's update and have a great weekend!
Dana Ralph, Kent Mayor
Washington State Space Summit
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to join Council President Boyce at Blue Origin for the Washington State Space Summit!
Thanks to Senator Cantwell and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson for your support and dedication. The summit was focused on collaboration between NASA and industry partners as well as STEM institutions, addressing the challenges that come with the space industry, and ensuring American competitiveness.
Kent continues to lead with over half of the state’s jobs in the space sector, sustaining our city’s legacy of space innovation! Space sector growth remains strong, contributing an impressive $5 billion to our state’s economy.
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Last week, Puget Sound Regional Council held a Regional Safety Convening. We learned about best practices and national models focusing on traffic safety and the Safe System Approach to design and projects that support safety in transportation.
As chair of the Transportation Policy Board, I moderated a panel discussion of experts as they provided insight into application of these approaches in our region.
Overall, the great event reaffirming our commitment to providing a safe transportation system for pedestrians, bicycle riders and drivers.
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Back in May, I joined the Mayor's Alliance to end childhood hunger. The alliance is tapping leadership to take meaningful actions to end childhood hunger in cities nationwide.
In engaging our state leaders, federal nutrition programs can run more effectively and efficiently, reaching more kids with the food they need to grow up healthy and strong.
The Mayors Alliance achieved one of its milestones by securing a member mayor from all 50 states and the District of Columbia!
Additionally, the Mayors Alliance’s membership represents a wide spectrum of cities, including 7 with populations greater than 1 million, 105 with populations greater than 100,000, and 58 with populations less than 30,000.
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Last night we stopped in the North Park neighborhood for another Drinks in the Driveway event.
The neighborhood came ready with great questions and concerns.
We appreciate Wendy for hosting this fun evening!
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Summer Recycling Event
Each year the city of Kent hosts a number of free recycling collection events that allow residents to dispose of recyclable items not typically accepted at the curb. Instead of going to the landfill as trash, all collected items will be reused or recycled!
Here's a list of items our team will accept.
📅 Friday, July 14
⌚ 9 a.m. - Noon
📍 Glenn Nelson Park - 3216 S 268 St
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The KentWorks app lets you access information and improve your neighborhood and community by reporting non-emergency issues to the city.
You can request a service, report a problem and find information about the City of Kent all from your mobile device in just a few taps! KentWA.gov/Kentworks
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Kent Farmers Market
Is there anything better than Farmers Market season?
Living Well Kent and the Kent Lions Club have partnered to bring their Farmers Market downtown! This is a community driven market, increasing access to fresh, healthy, and culturally relevant produce to our community.
📅 Every Saturday
⏰ 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
📍 2nd Ave between Smith and Gowe
National Night Out
National Night Out is just a few weeks away!
The event is all about bringing neighbors together to enjoy food, music and fun! It is a proven crime prevention tool when we know our neighbors and watch out for each other. Let your neighbors know it's happening! There is a fillable invite on the webpage. Have a BBQ, dessert table, games, music and more!
Register your neighborhood now! Deadline is Wednesday July 26.
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Ever wonder what Kent look like over the next 20 years?
The Kent Comprehensive Plan is the city’s long-term strategy to guide decisions on where we locate housing and jobs. It also helps inform investments in transportation, utilities, parks, and other public amenities that impact daily life.
Take this brief survey to tell us about your ideas for population and employment growth patterns, places you enjoy, and new ideas for our city.
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Cajun Fest
Get ready to spice up your taste buds and experience the soul of Louisiana in the Pacific Northwest.
There will be live music and dancing throughout the day, Cajun-themed food trucks, beer/wine garden, vendors/artists, and activities for the kids.
📅 August 19
⌚ 2 - 7 p.m.
📍 Kent Burlington Green Park.
Employee of the Month
Congratulations to our June Employee of the Month, Andy Grove!
He serves as a Police Commander with the Kent Police Department and as the Professional Standards Commander, he oversees training, recruiting and hiring and other projects.
Andy earned his B.A. in Social Sciences as WSU Vancouver and recently graduated with an MA in Transformational Leadership from Seattle University.
He describes his current role an affording him the opportunity to innovate, creatively solve problems and promote projects and initiatives that help shape the future of KPD in a positive way.
Andy was nominated because of his outstanding and tireless work creating and administering Kent's unique, highly successful Community Immersion Law Enforcement Program.
The CILEP program pairs new police recruits with non-profit community based organizations to help carry out their mission in order to gain cultural awareness and develop relationships, trust and cultural awareness.
He worked through numerous challenges and demonstrated true grit and commitment to seeing this program through. He is extremely grateful for the challenges and growth opportunities he has been given and he strives to continuously make the most of them.
Outside of work, Andy enjoys traveling, surfing, paddle boarding, climbing, reading and spend time with his family. Andy continuously embraces our values, and we celebrate him as June's Employee of the Month!
Parks & Recreation Month
July is National Parks and Recreation month! Celebrate with us throughout the month of July at some fun, free pop-up events!
⚾ Kent Parks Home Run Derby
📅 Wednesday July 12
⌚ 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
📍 Kent Memorial Park - WIFFCO Field
🍿 Popcorn in the Park
📅 Wednesday, July 19th
⌚ 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
📍 West Fenwick Park
🍧Popsicles in the Park
📅 Wednesday, July 26
⌚ 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
📍 Van Doren's Landing Park
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Find an outdoor park shelter, sports field, athletic complex or indoor space for your event! Park Shelter Rentals are available through September 30. For reservations or more information, call our rentals team at 253-856-5100. |
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Registration is open for our NEW 3-on-3 basketball tournament July 22-23 at the Kent Commons Community Center.
It's $60/team and all participants will receive a t-shirt. Deadline to register is July 6. Call 253-856-5100 with any questions.
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Thanks for all who came out to celebrate the 4th of July with us at Lake Meridian Park! We had such a great turn out and the firework show was incredible!
Photo credit to @yinlaihuff on Instagram.
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Summer Concert Series
Kent Summer Concerts are back next week! Super excited for this annual series of musical performances presented throughout the summer.
Wednesday Picnic Performances
12-1 p.m. at West Fenwick Park
Wednesday Family Date Night
6-8 p.m. at Kent Station
Thursdays at the Lake
7-8:30 p.m. at Lake Meridian Park
Learn more about specific performers and dates on our website.
Kent Cornucopia Days 5k Run
Join us for the 2023 Kent Cornucopia Days 5k Fun Run & Walk!
Race will start at Three Friends Fishing Hole Park, head north around Briscoe Park and slightly into Tukwila before heading back to Three Friends Fishing Hole Park the same way. There's still time to register!
📅 Saturday July 15
⌚ 9 a.m.
📍 3 Friends Fishing Hole Park (20025 Russell Road)
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Kent Cornucopia Days start next week! It's a weekend of boat races, stage performances and street fair fun for the whole family!
📅 Saturday July 15
🚤 Dragon Boat races
⌚ 8:30 a.m.
📍 Lake Meridian
📅 Sunday July 16
🥁 Grand Parade
⌚ 1 p.m.
📍 4th Ave from Willis to James
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The Greater Kent Historical Museum will offer free admission every first Wednesday of the month. Next free Wednesday will be August 2. |
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Get in the Game! Registration for the Kent Parks Youth Fall Soccer and Volleyball programs are open!
Registration is open to all kids in Pre-K to Grade 8. Deadline to register is July 18. Pre-K participants must be 3 by August 31, 2023.
There are scholarships are available to qualifying families! You can register at MyKentParks.com/Register
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We're HIRING! Check out our featured jobs and great opportunities on our hiring page at Jobs.KentWA.gov!
🟡 Administrative Assistant
🟡 Fleet Mechanic
🟡 Civil Engineers
🟡 Public Works Maintenance
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Are you interested in Serving the Kent Community? Applications are now being accepted for the Special Events Center Public Facilities District Board!
Learn more and apply here!
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