Days on End. "A New Day has Begun."

By Thomas D. Pearman* 

Time is all that counts.  I was seeing the musical ‘Cats’ - “Burned out ends of smoky days - street lamp flutters - and then it sputters - and a new day has begun.”  And a new day has begun.  It means not so much to seize a new day - and enjoy it - but that the passing of time is inevitable.  It was sung by the head actress - a cat- who had once been beautiful, glamorous and happy, but is now old, faded and knows she will die soon. 

We are all part of the steady progression of time.  We have come and we will go, just as people before us have come and gone, and just as people after us will come and go.  We will leave great marks, varying marks, or no marks at all as our time has passed.

The passing of time does not escape any of us.  One only has to look at photos of how we looked throughout our life.  It seems situations around us change greatly, and we look older, yet we remain the same person.  It is what is so painful.

Washington State: Man asks another man his religion, stabs him and his dog after learning he’s Christian

Jan 26, 2026 5:00 pm By Robert Spencer

KOMO News, January 25, 2026:

PARKLAND, Wash. — A man was shot and killed by deputies after a violent stabbing attack on a victim and his dog in Parkland Sunday morning, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office confirms.

According to the PCSO, the victim called 911 at 6:24 a.m., reporting that he had been stabbed by an unknown man near the S S Quickstop Grocer.

When deputies arrived, the victim was in serious condition and told deputies the unknown man had come up to him and asked what religion he was.

Auditor Highlights Gaps in past Washington Child Care Fund Audits

By: Michelle Esteban, KOMO News, January 14, 2026: 

Updated Thu, January 15, 2026 at 12:51 PM

By: KOMO, January 22, 2026:WASHINGTON STATE — KOMO News has learned of alleged serious oversight and accountability gaps at the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) over the last four years when it comes to payments to child care providers.

Washington State Auditor Pat McCarthy told KOMO News the agency (DCYF) lacked access to ‘provider-level data’ in the last four statewide audits. She said the data is needed to fully track where money is going.

This comes as concerns about child care funding make headlines in Washington state, and the rest of the country.

Washington State State of Emergency

EVERETT WA. — Snohomish County awoke to more rain on Wednesday morning after the second surge of a large atmospheric river hit Tuesday night. County Executive Dave Somers declared a countywide emergency proclamation Tuesday evening, following flood warnings the National Weather Service has issued through the week to areas surrounding the Stillaguamish, Snohomish and Skykomish rivers.

The county is allowed to spend public funds to take “reasonable and prudent” measures to ensure resident safety, the release said. It also waives some administrative requirements to expedite response efforts and directs county departments to mitigate impacts on private and public property.

The Snohomish and Stillaguamish rivers dropped below flood levels Wednesday morning but are expected to surge again throughout Wednesday night and into Thursday. The Skykomish River was at major flood stage as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, and continues to rise through the day, the weather service said.

Check back in for updates as the weather system progresses....

Key developments:

Lenny Wilkens leaves Basketball 'better than than the way he found it' in Hall of Fame life

https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/seattle-supersonics-legend-wilkens-dies 

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Wilkens was a high school basketball star and a two-time All-American at Providence College, earning induction into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

With deep love and sadness, we announce that Lenny Wilkens passed away peacefully at home on November 9, 2025. Lenny was surrounded by his family. He was 88 years old," the Wilkens family said in a statement."

After being drafted sixth overall by the St. Louis Hawks in 1960, he spent eight seasons with the team before being traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1968. Wilkens was a three-time All-Star with the Sonics and spent three seasons as a player-coach in Seattle.  

"Lenny was a dedicated philanthropist, community advocate, and 3-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is survived by his devoted wife Marilyn, his three children and seven grandchildren."

Later in his career, he played for Cleveland and Portland, retiring as a player in 1975. However, his coaching career was just beginning.

Peoria County Coroner: The Proposed Illinois Bill Conflicts with Coroners’ Statutory Responsibilities.

Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood [pictured left] is calling on Gov. JB Pritzker to veto a bill that would allow terminally ill individuals to get a prescription to end their life.  1:55 PM

Harwood said the pending “medical aid in dying” law presents statutory conflicts that threaten the integrity of death investigations.

“We preside over several hospice deaths throughout our community. It’s not that we don’t trust people or think someone killed another person, but we do have to have the ability to investigate if we need to,” said Harwood. “That’s all we’re asking for out of the governor before he signs this bill, is an amendatory veto giving us that opportunity.”

The Illinois Senate voted 30-27 in passing Senate Bill 1950 – the aid in dying legislation also known as Deb’s Law – on Oct. 31 after House approved the bill in May. The bill awaits Pritzker's signature.

In a social media post last week, Harwood cited substantial concerns about public health and epidemiology. He said the language of the bill conflicts with coroners’ statutory responsibilities, prevents accurate death certification, creates barriers to sharing information with other agencies, and exposes counties to unnecessary legal risks.

“As it stands now, the physician will list the cause of death that relates to the terminal condition, not the medication that actually caused the death,” said Harwood. “We have an issue with that, being sworn for justice on our statute and on our death investigations.”

My Personal Experience With Suicide

By Margaret Dore

In another life, most likely in 1980 when I was 23 years old, I talked three young men down from suicide.

What I think happened is that a final exit network person had given them my phone number by mistake.  This was before the age of caller ID.

I was contacted by each of the three young men over a period of time, each one wanting assistance to kill himself.

I called a suicide prevention person to ask what I should do, i.e., with regard to the first one.  The person told me to ask the suicidal person why?  To engage him.

Bellevue’s Growth and Low Crime Rate are Drawing more Companies East

While Seattle has long been the commercial and cultural hub of Western Washington, Bellevue has quietly been outpacing its counterpart in recent years. Fortune 500 companies and tech giants are increasingly drawn to Bellevue’s clean streets, lower crime rates, and expanding transit access via the East Link Extension. Major names like Robinhood, TikTok, and OpenAI have all chosen Bellevue as a base for new offices and regional growth.

Since 2021, the city’s office footprint has grown by nearly 3.9 million square feet, surpassing Seattle’s 2.6 million square-foot increase during the same period. The shift reflects a broader trend. As Seattle grapples with rising business taxes, safety concerns, and a persistent homelessness crisis, many companies are looking across Lake Washington for stability.

Amazon’s 2019 decision to shift thousands of employees to Bellevue followed Seattle’s proposal for a $275-per-person head tax on large companies. Though the plan was ultimately repealed, it marked a turning point. From almost no presence a decade ago, Amazon now employs more than 14,000 workers in Bellevue, a number projected to surpass 25,000 in the coming years.