We are just days away from the opening of the 2 Line in East King County, which will debut on Saturday, April 27 at 10:00 AM at the Downtown Bellevue Station. This exciting expansion of light rail into the Eastside will be marked by celebrations all day at all 8 stations.  

You don’t want to miss this chance to take inaugural light rail rides, enjoy a range of community events at each station, and celebrate the first Eastside light rail service with your neighbors! Explore pop-up exhibits from Pacific Science Center at the South Bellevue Station; enjoy the vibrant BelRed Arts District and try your hand at painting a community wall mural at the BelRed Station; join Centro Cultural Mexicano, OneRedmond, and Microsoft for multicultural festivities at Redmond Technology Station; and much, much more. I hope I’ll see you at this one-of-a-kind community celebration!  

This week, I led the King County Council in proclaiming April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Each year we observe Sexual Assault Awareness Month to raise awareness of what sexual assault is, how to prevent it, and the supports and services that are available to survivors. Unfortunately, this continues to be a necessity. People continue to perpetrate sexual assault, too often without repercussions, and people who have been sexually assaulted continue to be abandoned, shamed, and blamed. 

While the problem of ending sexual assault is deep and complex, actions like proclaiming Sexual Assault Awareness Month, providing opportunities for education, and bringing the subject up in our own personal circles are all important steps in preventing sexual assault from happening in the first place and supporting survivors. In King County, we’re lucky to have outstanding organizations that both work to prevent sexual assault and provide supportive services to survivors, like King County Sexual Assault Resource Center and the Coalition Ending Gender Based Violence. If you or a loved one has experienced sexual assault and needs help, please know that help is available. 

This week King County Executive Constantine announced two separate investments in housing for those in need in South King County: 

• $2 million in grant funding to further assist asylees and refugees in Tukwila through four nonprofits who will provide temporary housing, food, support, and legal services  
• $3 million in one-time funding to support and serve individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Tukwila and Burien. 

I want to thank the Executive for this leadership and follow-through to use the County’s resources to make a real difference in providing shelter, housing, and services for our neighbors experiencing homelessness and for asylees who have recently arrived in King County. While we know it will not fully solve the problems for those who need support, these types of partnerships with our cities and service providers show what we can do when we work together.