Month: July 2020

In the center of the storm So, we’ve all seen the memes that end with the blank stare on the person’s face because they just can’t process what they’ve seen or heard? You can almost hear the crickets … I’ve seen that look for years when I explained my work in emergency management. It is a profession people struggle to understand. I get it. Folks like me tell you things you don’t want to hear and ask you to spend time and money you don’t have on something you may not believe will ever happen. Emergency Management is just those two words. We take emergencies – the chaos, colliding information and competing priorities – and put management practices to them. Often, it’s like wrestling a giant, wet noodle. Just when…

In it for the long-term Have you tried to buy a bike, lately?  What about adopting a shelter pet for quarantine company?  These and other popular items are in short supply, thanks to the ripple effect of the pandemic.  In the case of abandoned puppies, that’s a great thing they are getting new forever homes.  However, we are likely to see shortages in goods that are part of a now broken global supply chain. Another popular item are RVs.  I can only assume that since people are not flying, they must be hitting the relative safety of the road and seeing parts of Washington in a different way. When the virus first hit, perhaps you were optimistic like me and thought we’d just need to “gut it out” for a…

A roller coaster ride I like, but don’t love, roller coasters.  I ride them mostly with my son, Colin, who loves them.  The roller coaster rides that I hate are where you can’t see what is coming and have no ability to anticipate and prepare. Well, that is exactly what the coronavirus feels like to me.  We have ups and downs – corresponding to both the epidemiological curve and some other key measures – but not knowing what lies ahead is very challenging.  We all yearn for some sense of certainty. I assume you’ve seen the concerning rise in new positive cases – with a new record set yesterday.  It is very important that we get this to plateau and stabilize – and then start coming down. I am frequently…

Many people are facing incredible difficulties in the face of COVID.  Some have lost loved ones, and even worse, have not been able to be in the room when they passed.  In comparison, my loss was not as great, but it still hurt my heart – a lot. My dog, Bosco was quite a character and lived up to his particular breed’s nickname – “Kanga-doodle.”  He bounded after everything and loved to play.  He was an amazing companion on a walk, hike, boat ride, or car trip.  He loved and was loved by my granddaughters.  He had a fetish for hiding socks and destroying toilet paper roll cores. Last week, we noticed he was feeling punky, but were having trouble getting him into our regular veterinarian.  Finally, on Thursday morning,…

On second thought In last week’s blog I mentioned our intention to file an application with the state Department of Health to enter Phase 2.5 of the Governor’s Safe Start Order. That was then, and this is now. Since that blog was posted, we’ve seen a concerning number of new cases with a steady increase.  We now exceed the stated target of 25 or fewer cases per 100,000 residents - our total as of June 30 was 46.0.  This trend is similar to what we are seeing in Snohomish and King counties. The good news is we are testing more widely, we have teams out investigating and notifying folks when they test positive or are close to someone who has tested positive, and so far, our COVID hospitalizations are not…