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.

It’s Time to Audit the Death Bureaucracy

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/3789116/time-to-audit-death-bureaucracy

A deeply disturbing investigative report in UnHerd 

last week uncovered rampant violations of physician-assisted suicide practices in states with the oldest and largest programs. The 11 states that have legalized assisted suicide require clinicians to submit compliance forms shortly after the “patient’s” death. But the chaotic assisted-suicide bureaucracy rarely follows regulations, and clinicians put people to death with little to no oversight.

Between 2009 and 2023, 515 compliance forms and 293 “written request” documents were missing in the state of Washington. In all, one-third of the state’s assisted suicides were improperly reported. In Colorado, which passed its End of Life Options Act in 2016, almost 1,800 compliance forms are missing. And in New Mexico, where annual compliance reporting is also required by law, there has not been a single report issued since assisted suicide was enacted in 2021. For years, the state’s website suggested that a report was “coming soon,” but state officials quietly removed that promise from its website this summer....

Disturbingly, there have been no suspensions or revocations of clinician licenses connected with these irregularities.

Safety Regulations

Dear Seattle Neighbors,

This week I met with our colleagues in the Mayor’s office to learn more about how the city is working to enforce the new safety regulations for after-hours venues operating between the hours of 2 and 6 a.m. 

As the District 2 community is all-too-aware, these after-hours lounges have been magnets for gun violence, including the double-murder in March of this year at Capri Lounge; an unregulated venue that formerly operated in Rainier Beach.  

Newly passed laws create the regulatory structure needed to set and enforce rules to help make these environments less conducive to gun violence. This year, the City passed two key pieces of legislation to address violence at after-hours venues: ...

Teen Girl Faces Probe for ‘Misgendering’ Male Basketball Player

Frances Staudt is a sophomore in the Tumwater School District. During warmups she realized that a player on the opposing team happened to be a boy.

She alerted her coach and was told there was nothing they could do because state polices ban gender identity-based discrimination.

Frances withdrew from the game and was forced to watch from the sidelines. Watch my interview with Frances and her mother below.

“I should not have to give up everything that me and other girls have worked for just to let a boy play,” Frances told me. “And it is unsafe. Boys and girls are different on many levels of reasons, and they’re created differently. And so it’s an unsafe advantage. And that is not right.”

Margaret Anne Shuham: "Making a Difference"

As some of you know, my name is Margaret Dore and I am Margaret Shuham’s niece. We are both pictured in the photo, together. She was my mother’s [Mary Dore’s] sister. I would like to share some of my remembrances of Margie, as well as what I think is a point of her life for all of us.

My friend Lisa [Walterskirchen] asked me about my first memory of Margie, and I don’t think I have one. It was more like she [Margie] was always there. She was this calm woman with well coiffed hair, who would do fun things with us, i.e., me, my brothers and sisters.

Sometimes she would take us to play on the swings at Madison Park [in Seattle]; other times we would feed the ducks or just take a “spin” in her car. Margie would give us joy with the small things.

Margie was always so calm, I thought that she was my mother’s younger sister. She was actually 13 years older.

Over the next 30 years or so, Margie was always there. Then in maybe 1999, when she was 83, we started walking Greenlake.  2.8 miles just to get around the lake, plus walking to and from my car to get to the lake.

Interview With State Senator Mike Padden on TVW, Thursday 10/04/24 at 7 pm

Senator Padden:

As mentioned in my most recent e-newsletter, I sat down for a “farewell interview” with Austin Jenkins, the host of TVW’s "Inside Olympia" show. 

The interview focused on my 28-year career in the Legislature and some of the key issues I focused on during my years in the House and Senate. The interview will be shown for the first time on TVW this Thursday (October 3) at 7 p.m. 

* * *

For a short summary of Senator Padden 's life and career, please see below.

My Personal Experience With Assisted 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 type 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.  

My Mum Didn't Die

Good morning. I’m Anita Cameron, Director of Minority Outreach for Not Dead Yet, a national, grassroots disability organization opposed to medical discrimination, healthcare rationing, euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Assisted suicide laws are dangerous because though these laws are supposed to be for people with six months or less to live, doctors are often wrong about a terminal diagnosis. In 2009, while living in Washington state, my mother was determined to be at the end stage of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. I was told her death was imminent, that if I wanted to see her alive, I should get there in two days. She rallied, but was still quite ill, so she was placed in hospice. Her doctor said that her body had begun the process of dying.

Though she survived 6 months of hospice, her doctor convinced her that her body was still in the process of dying, and she moved home to Colorado to die.

My mum didn’t die. In fact, six weeks after returning to Colorado, she and I were arrested together in Washington, DC, fighting for disability justice. She became active in her community and lived almost 12 years!

Seattle Mother Who Died from Blood Clots got J&J Vaccine to be Child's 'Room Mom'

SEATTLE (KOMO) — A King County woman has died from a blood clot after she got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The Washington State Department of Health (WSDH) confirmed she is the first blood clot death in the state after getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“Sadly, this is the first such death in Washington State,’ Secretary of Health Umair A. Shah said. “We send our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones. Losing a loved one at any time is a tragic and difficult and pain that’s become all too familiar in the last year and a half of this pandemic.”

Jessica Berg Wilson, 37, received the J & J vaccine on Aug. 26 and died Sept. 7, according to her family.

Conrad Reynoldson Makes a Difference

By Margaret Dore, Esq.

Bill HB 1141, which had sought to expand Washington State's assisted suicide and euthanasia law, is dead. From my vantage point, a big reason was a young lawyer named Conrad Reynoldson (pictured here).  

Reynoldson is founder and lead attorney of Washington Civil & Disability Advocate, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit, formed to ensure individuals with disabilities a low-cost option to protect their civil rights.

Reynoldson, himself, did not take the credit, sending out an email thanking others for the win. 

Expansion Bill Dead

 

By Barbara Lyons (pictured here)

The Washington State expansion of assisted suicide bill, HB 1141, is dead. It passed in the House by a 60-37 vote and cleared several Senate committees.  

Thanks to the dedicated, persistent work of a diverse coalition of people in the disability rights, medical, right-to-life and faith communities, the Senate adjourned last night without taking up the bill. It is dead for this session.  

The bill’s dangerous expansions included: reducing patient waiting times from 15 days to three days, allowing non-physicians to make terminal diagnoses and prescribe lethal drugs, and allowing for the lethal drugs to be shipped through the postal service rather than obtained in-person. Many thanks and congratulations to the coalition which led this successful effort!

Dore Featured Speaker

Margaret Dore

This evening, Margaret Dore was the featured speaker at St. Louise Parish Hall in Bellevue, Washington.

Her main topics included problems with assisted suicide in Washington State and how to win in the future against legalization. She also discussed suicide contagion in Oregon.

Special thanks to Debby Ummel who organized the event.

Death With Dignity Act Must Be Overturned

Click here for pdf version.

Washington State’s Death with Dignity Act was passed by the voters as Initiative1000. During the election, backers touted it as providing "choice" for individuals. A glossy brochure declared, "Only the patient — and no one else — may administer the [lethal dose]." The Act does not say this anywhere.[1]

•  The Act legalized assisted suicide as that term is traditionally defined. In the fine print, the Act allows euthanasia.

Join Us at the Fair!

This month, Choice is an Illusion will be at the fair in both Montana and Washington State. We have a long history of working in Montana, but this will be our first time in Washington.

In Montana, we will have a booth at the NW Montana Fair & Rodeo, in Kalispell, August 14-18, 2019. Click here to read our event flyer to learn more.

‘Death with Dignity’ Law Imperils the Poor

http://realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/9122

Last week’s article by an assisted suicide/euthanasia advocate struck me as a bizarre article for Real Change, which advocates for the dignity and self-determination of the poor. (“Terminally ill patients face shortage of right-to-die drug amid controversy over capital punishment,” Real Change, June 18, 2014)

Washington’s assisted suicide law was passed in 2008 and went into effect in 2009. This was after a deceptive initiative campaign promised us that “only” the patient would be allowed to take the lethal dose. Our law does not say that anywhere. See Margaret K. Dore, “’Death with Dignity,” What Do We Advise Our Clients?,” King County Bar Association, Bar Bulletin, May 2009, available at https://www.kcba.org/newsevents/barbulletin/BView.aspx?Month=05&Year=2009&AID=article5.htm.

WA Case Medical Homicide

 State probe finds hospital 'sloppy' in man's death

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article31786419.html
August 20, 2010

By Sheila Hagar, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

WALLA WALLA -- A Washington state Department of Health investigation found procedural problems at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in a death that Walla Walla County Coroner Frank Brown has listed as a medical homicide.

The department launched its investigation when a caller to the state's complaint hotline alleged that a 60-year-old patient at the hospital died March 1 of accidental acute morphine overdose. The caller, who is not named in the report, pointed to a forensic pathologist's autopsy, health officials said.

Brown labeled the death "medical homicide," a decision agreed with by Dr. Carl Wigren, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy. Wigren is paid by the county for his services.