Climate change is a given. And fighting climate change can begin at home ... with your morning shower, if you use efficient showerheads and aerators. It's estimated that a household with efficient fixtures can cut 350 pounds of carbon emissions each year. And if only half of the single-family households in the region installed efficient fixtures, we could save 200 million gallons of drinking water a year. This summer City Light, Seattle Public Utilities and partners, are offering free efficient showerheads and aerators to 330,000 single-family-home water customers. Watch your mail for a mail-back offer to get your free fixtures.
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Watch the news conference

"It takes a village...," has become a cliché but it's hard to argue with the sentiment. When it comes to educating and supporting our young people, it is not just up to the school district -- we all have a stake. I was pleased to join Seattle School Superintendent Raj Manhas, and the presidents of North Seattle and South Seattle Community Colleges, to announce the second year of Summer College. The program aims to help struggling high school students meet graduation and proficiency requirements while exposing them to the opportunities of a college education. This is a step toward giving our kids the best preparation for academic success that we can. Summer College will give these students the tools to pass the WASL, open their eyes to the possibility of entering college and give them hope for the future.
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The Belltown community came out in force for Clean and Green #68. As this neighborhood faces growing density, we are working with the community to address issues around the Viaduct construction, nightlife, and public safety. Because of public safety concerns around the train tracks, a lot of the day's efforts focused on cleaning up that area. We had participation from residents, businesses, community groups, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, the Port of Seattle and the Department of Corrections. By the end of the day, more than a ton of garbage was removed from the tracks. It was a great team effort.

After a difficult year, the Fremont community celebrated the reopening of all lanes of the Fremont Bridge. Over the past year, our transportation crews replaced the badly deteriorated north and south approaches to this 90-year old bridge, which required restricting traffic to one lane each way. And during this work, the iconic "Waiting for the Interurban" statue had to be relocated and now it's back. I appreciate the residents and businesses in the Fremont community -- and the nearby Queen Anne and Wallingford communities as well -- for recognizing the need for this critical work and for their cooperation and patience during this difficult time. Repairing our aging transportation infrastructure is a serious issue facing all of us in Seattle. Over the next nine years, we will be making many road and bridge improvements, thanks to the Bridging the Gap transportation levy.
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Each year I have the honor of presenting Mayor's Scholar Awards to outstanding middle schools students from our city's schools. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., these remarkable young people are selected based on "the content of their character" and their commitment to community service. It's not just about grades and accomplishments. Thanks to generous private donations to the Alliance for Education, each scholar receives a letterman's jacket and a $500 award to be used for education or to donate to a charity. And this year we established the Mayor's Leadership Award to be awarded to a deserving eighth-grader. The first recipient of this award is Cleressa Brown from Denny Middle School (pictured here with Marlene Alhadeff, Sharon and me). It was a pleasure to award her a $2,500 scholarship for college. Congratulations to all of this year's scholars. You are the future leaders of our community and we look forward to your accomplishments and contributions to our great city.
Read the release for a list of the scholars

Seattle is a city of unique neighborhoods, each defined by their local businesses. When I took office in 2002 our economic outlook was gloomy and jobs were scarce. Thankfully, today unemployment is low and small businesses are booming in every neighborhood. To keep up the momentum, we are investing more than $150,000 in 15 business districts projects spread throughout Seattle -- from Lake City to White Center. These business districts are the "main streets" of our neighborhoods and investing in them is an important part of creating great urban communities.
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The Citizens Service Bureau has a proud history of assisting callers with problems or questions about City services. To reflect the City's renewed emphasis on providing first-rate customer service, we have changed the name to "Customer Service Bureau." In changing the name, we also wanted to send the message that you don't have to be a citizen to call for help.
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