Rainier Beach is one of our most culturally diverse communities with families, small businesses, active community groups, and much more. Noticing some troubling things happening with teens in the neighborhood this spring, the community and the City came together to develop a strategy for providing teens with positive ways to spend their time this summer. One goal is to reduce violence and crime, but it's more than just law enforcement. The strategy focuses on employment, education and recreational opportunities that will engage neighborhood teens by helping them learn new skills, earn a few bucks and have fun all summer long. Thank you to all of the community partners who share in our commitment to making this a safe and productive summer for our teens.
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Watch the news conference

As part of the Bridging the Gap transportation levy, over the next nine years, we will replace street signs at every intersection in Seattle -- that's 17,000 intersections. This year alone, we will replace signs at more than 1,000 intersections. And we're selling the old signs. Within a couple days after announcing this program, more than 250 of the old signs were sold. While they make great personal or historical mementos, the old, faded signs are a big frustration for anyone trying to navigate our city. The new signs are more visible, -- six inches high, two inches taller than the old ones, and with improved reflectability. The price for the signs ranges from $5 to $15, depending on condition. Some iconic street signs will be auctioned off to the highest bidder via eBay.
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Get more information about purchasing signs

Clean and Green in Delridge marked the 71st opportunity for Seattle neighbors to come together to clean up their neighborhoods. The Delridge community focused its cleanup on two of Seattle's great parks -- Highland and Riverview. Since the first Clean and Green in 2002, these events have collected more than 310,000 pounds of litter and debris, and recycled more than 12,000 pounds of recyclable material. And with the great participation at the Delridge event, we are closing in on the 10,000 mark for number of volunteers.

With a gift valued at $1.2 million from our sister city of Chongqing, China, we can now move forward on Seattle's Chinese Garden, located near South Seattle Community College in West Seattle. Since establishing sister city ties in 1983, Seattle and Chongqing have conducted many exchanges in education, the arts, government, trade, medicine and science. The Seattle Chinese Garden is one of the most exciting exchange projects. This generous gift will cover the costs of all labor and materials for the "Knowing the Spring Courtyard" exhibit, the garden's centerpiece. I look forward to its completion next summer.
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Seattle is fortunate to have so many active and vibrant neighborhoods with lots of good ideas for tackling their particular challenges, and the commitment to do something about them. Through our Matching Fund program, several times a year we are able to provide funds to help a variety of projects, both large and small. In this latest round, it was my pleasure to award more than $350,000 to 32 small neighborhood projects (recipients pictured here), and almost $1.5 million to 23 large projects from throughout the city. One of the large projects will allow the Amy Yee Tennis Center to offer more free youth clinics by building two new outdoor courts, and one of the small projects will install a traffic circle in northeast Seattle. This year, for the first time, as part of a pilot project targeting 28 south Seattle public schools, we awarded close to $360,000 to 12 school projects. All of these groups, in turn, will invest close to $3.5 million in sweat equity -- now that's commitment.
Read the news release about the small awards
Read the news release about the large awards

Aiming to locate our downtown Neighborhood Service Center where it would be convenient for people who don't normally access government services, the new location at 614 S. Jackson St. is in the heart of the International District/Chinatown. We wanted to make sure we were accessible to elders and the immigrant and refugee populations. Accessible by a number of bus routes from around the city, the new location seems to fill the bill. There has been more walk-in traffic in just the few weeks it's been opened than the previous location saw in as many months.
For more information about the service center

Once again, our Animal Shelter has been recognized for its good works. The Association of Washington Cities presented a "Municipal Excellence Award" to the shelter for its volunteer and foster care program. The award is presented to cities that have demonstrated outstanding achievement in promoting community excellence. This is well-deserved recognition of some of the most dedicated volunteers around. Our shelter volunteers are committed to improving the quality of life for pets and their owners. I can attest to at least one result of their good works -- our family dog Edgar (pictured here when we first met at the shelter last December). To all of the dedicated volunteers, thank you for all you do for the animals and the people of Seattle.
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Hiawatha Park was a fitting site to celebrate the centennial of the annexation of West Seattle. Designed by the Olmsted brothers in 1911 in honor of the annexation, the park was originally called West Seattle Park. And in honor of the centennial I had the privilege of unveiling a centennial tree and commemorative plaque in front of the community center. Joining Southeast Seattle, Ravenna, Columbia City, South Park and Ballard, West Seattle is the last of these great neighborhoods to celebrate a centennial this year.