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Below are significant new, updated and improved entries in the King County Editorial Style Manual. Revisions are made to reflect changes in the Associated Press Stylebook, clarification of existing style guidelines, responses to employee questions and concerns, and new guidance on styles not included earlier.

• email; cellphone; smartphone. Items added--June 6, 2011.
• course names; GPA; Listserv; Master of Arts, Master of Business Administration, Master of Science; postgame. Items added--Jan. 14, 2011.
• hotline. Item modified--Jan. 14, 2011.
• copy edit, copy editing, copy editor; tax-free; trade show. Items added--Jan. 3, 2011.
• can't hardly, cyber-, hi-fi, knickknack. Items added--Dec. 29, 2010.
• all-terrain vehicle, check in/check-in, check out/checkout, foodborne, handheld/hand-held, hand-washing, nonprofit, problem-solving, stand-alone. Items added--Dec. 20, 2010.
• flood plain. Item modified--Dec. 20, 2010.
• Other resources, Plain-language writing guide. Added link to "Making written information easier to understand for people with learning disabilities--Nov. 19, 2010
• Translation resources. Materials added about the new Executive Order and resources to help staff with the written translation process--Oct. 19, 2010.
• app, blog, Facebook, Google, MySpace, smart phone, Twitter, YouTube. Items added--July 23, 2010.
• spacing. Items updated for spacing after colons, exclamation points, periods and question marks--July 20, 2010.
• capitalization. Item revised for county and titles of elected officials. Related revisions for councilmember, county, judge, King County Executive, sheriff and titles--June 29, 2010.
• independently elected officials. Item added--June 29, 2010.
• court names. Item added--June 29, 2010.
• Metro. Item updated--June 29, 2010.
• Plain-language writing guide . Updated sections to include advice on limited English proficiency. Also added reference sources on clear writing and global English--June 1, 2010.
• website . Revised (under World Wide Web and elsewhere) to follow AP style--April 20, 2010.
• council, counsel. Item added--April 2, 2010.
• coed . Item added--Jan. 27, 2009.
• -maker . Item added--Jan. 27, 2009.
• World Wide Web . Style for Web addresses revised--Jan. 27, 2009.
• capitalization  | council commitees. Hyphens removed from Committee of the Whole--Sept. 26, 2008.
• Style manual redesigned and moved to new address--September 2008.
• disabled . Item updated--March 26, 2008.
• outbreak . Item added--March 26, 2008.
• park-and-ride . Item revised--March 26, 2008.
• headlines, headings . Added preferred style for capitalization--March 5, 2008.
• Plain English Lexicon: A guide to whether your words will be understood . Add free, downloadable resource to plain-language site (under Useful print references)--March 5, 2008.
• holidays, holy days . Added examples of other uses--Feb. 5, 2008.
• midnight, noon . Clarified style--Oct. 23, 2007.
• health care . Item added--Aug. 7, 2007.
• sheriff, sheriff's office . Added guidelines for officer titles--May 1, 2007.
• hyphen , plurals. Added advice on compound adjectives and modifiers--April 25, 2007.
• profanity, other offensive language . Item added--April 13, 2007.
• driver license . Item added--April 9, 2007.
• Eight myths of writing . Resource added--April 6, 2007.
• daylight saving time . Revised to eliminate a hyphen between daylight and saving, following updated AP style--March 28, 2007.
• Added new MLK Jr. logo to style manual Word documents. Added links to Martin Luther King Logo page--March 16, 2007.
• onboard. Item added--March 7, 2007.
• King County editorial style guide (DOC, 416KB). Updated--Feb. 6, 2007.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Item added--Jan. 9, 2007.
• police, police department ; sheriff, sheriff's office. Items clarified--Dec. 5, 2006.
• bio- . Item added--Nov. 28, 2006.
• freeway station . Item added--Nov. 28, 2006.
• login/log in, logon/log on . Clarified item--Nov. 3, 2006.
• Americans with Disabilities Act, TTY . Style for TTY Relay: 711 revised--Oct. 20, 2006.
• midnight . Item revised--Oct. 9, 2006.
• King County graphic standards . Links updated and added; also added links to Metro Transit Graphic Standards & Guidelines--Oct. 9, 2006.
• first- . Item added--Sept. 22, 2006.
• headlines, headings . Item revised--Sept. 12, 2006.
• verbiage . Item added--July 28, 2006.
• dos and don'ts . Item added--July 27, 2006.
• people, persons . Item revised--July 6, 2006.
• deboard . Item added--June 7, 2006.
• SODO, SODO area, SODO district . Item added--June 7, 2006.
• color . Item added--May 30, 2006.
• high- . Item added--May 30, 2006.
• low- . Item added--May 17, 2006.
• systemwide . Item added--April 12, 2006.
• printout, print out . Item added--April 11, 2006.
• King County editorial style guide (DOC, 420KB). Updated--April 11, 2006.
• Individual Development Classes . Item added--April 3, 2006.
• aka . Item added--March 23, 2006.
• gay, lesbian . Item updated--March 15, 2006.
• ridematch, ridematching, rideshare, ridesharing . Also, RideshareOnline.com. Item added--March 13, 2006.
• Added background on developing the county style manual--Jan. 20, 2006.
• Plain-language writing guide . Added links to other plain-language resources--Jan. 6, 2006.
• PDF . Item revised--Jan. 6, 2006.
• Healthy IncentivesSM, KingCareSM . Item added--Dec. 20, 2005.
• service mark . Item added--Dec. 20, 2005.
• trademark . Details added--Dec. 20, 2005.
• PDF . Added alternative statements about downloading Adobe Acrobat Reader--Dec. 20, 2005.
• addresses . Added style for naming post office boxes (also see correspondence)--Dec. 1, 2005.
• correspondence . Links added for formatting guidance--Nov. 14, 2005.
• ratepayer , taxpayer. Items added--Nov. 14, 2005.
• charts, tables . Clarified capitalization of titles and headings--Nov. 14, 2005.
• numbers . Clarified entry on use of decimal points--Sept. 28, 2005.
• fundraising, fundraiser . Revised style, following new AP style--Aug. 19, 2005.
• Plain-language writing guide . Web links added to Washington state plain-language programs--Aug. 11, 2005.
• offline . Item added--July 28, 2005.
• Wi-Fi . Item added--June 30, 2005.
• abbreviations and acronyms , quotations. Clarified style for use of abbreviations in direct quotations--May 12, 2005.
• over- , under-, prefixes. Clarified entries--May 11, 2005.
• sky-high . Item added--April 11, 2005.
• United States . Revised abbreviation style, following new AP style--March 29, 2005.
• Pacific Northwest . Item added--March 28, 2005.
• county . Clarified entry--Jan. 31, 2005.
• foreign, international . Item added--Jan. 24, 2005.
• armed forces . Item added--Jan. 24, 2005.
• Plain-language writing guide . Added writing guide as a Word document--Dec. 30, 2004.
• company names . Clarified entry--Dec. 29, 2004.
• Guidelines for Using King County E-mail (internal link). Added link on Resources page and under correspondence and e-mail--Dec. 16, 2004.
• numbers . Clarified style for amounts more than a million--Dec. 10, 2004.
• international ; intl. Items added--Dec. 9, 2004.
• us, we . Item added--Dec. 1, 2004.
• Plain-language writing guide . Web links added to federal agency plain language programs--Nov. 2, 2004.
• tribe . Item added--Oct. 21, 2004.
• home buyer, home buying . Item added--Oct. 18, 2004.
• dimensions . Clarified style for area, size, volume and other units of measurements--Sept. 27, 2004.
• exceptions . Revised note about differing styles used in council motions and ordinances--Sept. 20, 2004.
• bibliographies and notes ; footnotes, endnotes. Items added--Sept. 17, 2004.
• graphic design , printing, Web standards. Items added about county graphic design, printing and Web production policies--Sept. 17, 2004.
• I, me . Clarified acceptable use of I and me--Sept. 16, 2004.
• because, since . Item added--Sept. 15, 2004.
• capitalization . Clarified style guidelines when quoting government constitutions, laws, motions and ordinances, and similar documents--Sept. 15, 2004.
• fund . Item added--Sept. 2, 2004.
• riprap . Item added--Sept. 2, 2004.
• ages . Clarified style for ages in months and for inanimate objects--May 21, 2004.
• abbreviations and acronyms . Capitalization and punctuation guidelines clarified--May 12, 2004.
• What's New page added--May 10, 2004.
• breakdown, break down . Item added--May 10, 2004.
• e-mail . Item revised--May 10, 2004.
• Top 20 tips added--March 5, 2004.
• King County Editorial Style Manual goes online--Feb. 18, 2004.

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