The city comes in at No. 19 on the list that ranks suburbs based on the number of millennials, job opportunities and access to bars, restaurants and affordable housing.

A high ranking indicates that a suburb attracts millennials with an affordable, diverse community and lots of things to do.

Newcastle received high-rankings in the “Access to Coffee Shop” category and the “Easiest Commute Grade,” indicating it’s easy to get around the area.

Kirkland earned the No. 1 spot on the list ranking Seattle-area suburbs. In all, there were 53 cities ranked. View the full list at http://bit.ly/1K1iE27.

A year after the wet stuff put a damper on the 2014 event, Stiller said she is hoping for sunshine when the festival returns to Lake Boren Park on April 18.

“All we need is a really nice day, no rain,” she said. “Last year, it dumped buckets. It was terrible.”

The city of Newcastle and the Newcastle Weed Warriors, with funding from the King Conservation District, will provide speakers, seminars and activities for Earth Day 2015 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 18.

Similar to previous years, Stiller said the event will serve, in part, to support a citywide effort to earn National Wildlife Federation Community Wildlife Habitat Certification.

To obtain the certification, residents must commit to providing food, water, cover and a place for wildlife to raise offspring. A healthy habitat can be in a variety of places, including a backyard, a local city space or even an apartment balcony.

After promoting the certification at past events, Stiller said the city as a whole is about 60 homes away from officially receiving the environmental honor.

Representatives from the National Wildlife Federation will be available to register residents’ yards as a backyard wildlife habitat at the event. Children are also invited to take photos with the organization’s mascot, Ranger Rick.

“The unique thing about Newcastle and our environment is that with the habitats that people have in their yards, they’re already qualified,” Stiller said. “They’ve got trees for shelter, bushes for cover, places to raise young and putting up a birdhouse is really easy.”

New to this year’s event is a special presentation by Native American storyteller and flutist Paul “Che oke ten” Wagner.

The Newcastle Library will sponsor his noon performance that promises to transport audiences to the ancient forests, meadows and waters of the Salish Sea.

“He’s going to take us on a journey with his stories and music back to a time when we can appreciate living in harmony with nature,” Stiller said.

Another event likely to attract a crowd is a special ceremony honoring the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s very first Karelian bear dog, Mishka.

Karelian bear dogs, averaging 40 to 65 pounds, are instinctively bold with bears and can be trained to track, help capture and deter them from returning to places where they can get in trouble with humans.

After 12 years of service, Mishka is retiring, along with her handler, WDFW enforcement officer Bruce Richards. Western Wildlife Outreach will honor both of them with a special presentation at 1 p.m.

The Hazen High School jazz band and the Boeing Employees’ Concert Band return to provide live entertainment. Many of the popular attractions from last year, such as the amphibian-toting frog lady and the live raptor house featuring birds of prey, will also return.

Festival organizers are hoping to increase its social presence and, attract the younger generation, with an Instagram campaign.

Attendees are encouraged to take “Earth Day selfies,” or simply document your favorite part of the festival, and hashtag it #NewcastleWA on Instagram. Head to the Weed Warriors website to see the photos after the event, Stiller said.

“It’s so important because young people are our future stewards and environmental change agents,” Stiller said. “They’re the ones that are going to make a difference. We’ve got to keep them engaged, so however we can do that and get them excited about the environment and our world, is worth it.”

Newcastle is suffering from an identity crisis.

No, I’m not talking about anything that the city is or isn’t doing. This crisis, it so happens, is simply out of City Hall’s control.

The problem would best be described as a “social media identity crisis.” Go ahead; search ‘Newcastle’ on Twitter. What do you see?

You’ll likely see a lot of tweets about Newcastle United FC, a soccer team in the English Premier League. Though the majority of Newcastle tweets are about the Magpies, they, incidentally, have nothing to do with our Newcastle.

You’ll probably see a few mentions of Newcastle Brown Ale and its #NoBollocks campaign. Again, not in the least related to our Newcastle.

You might fall into the trap that I do at least once a day. You see a tweet mentioning a cool event or the opening of a new restaurant in Newcastle; you click it, only to find that it isn’t our Newcastle. Rather, it’s happening at a Newcastle in Australia or England.

In an age where social media is such an integral part of everyday life, it’s very, very difficult to find an online presence of Newcastle, Washington, the one in the United States.

Social media is increasingly becoming a more important part of my job. In addition to Newcastle News’ online channels, I also manage the Twitter and Facebook profiles of The Issaquah Press and Sammamish Review.

Social media allows us to interact with our readers, find breaking news stories and see what’s going on in the community. I’ll tell you, it’s infinitely easier to do that with unique city names like Issaquah and Sammamish.

When someone tweets about an event in Issaquah, you know it’s happening in Issaquah, Washington. The same goes for Sammamish, though, I often have to filter through tweets mentioning Sammamish High School, which believe it or not, is not in Sammamish.

Some in the Newcastle community utilize the #NewcastleWA hashtag on social media to distinguish our city from the others. It’s a great start, but it will only work if we all commit to use it when we are talking about our Newcastle.

I try to include it in every Facebook post and Tweet I send, as does the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce and the account for Newcastle Earth Day.

So, Newcastle, my plea to you is, let’s make it easier to talk to each other on social media. If you see breaking news in Newcastle, take a really pretty picture at Lake Boren Park or just have something you want to say about your city, use the hashtag #NewcastleWA.

It not only helps me have a better grasp of what’s going on in Newcastle, it will also help you interact with your neighbors and local businesses.

Stop filtering through the soccer, beer and Newcastle upon Tyne tweets, let’s make #NewcastleWA ours and start taking back our identity.