On Dec. 21 at 5 p.m., Women in Black (WIB) held its annual candlelight vigil for unhoused individuals who have died outside, in public or by violence. In 20-degree weather, with near-record lows predicted for the rest of the week, attendees stood silently on the steps of Seattle’s City Hall, mourning a different kind of record: 270 deaths in a single year.
By the King County Medical Examiner’s Office (MEO) count, whose criteria varies slightly from WIB’s, 278 presumed homeless individuals had died as of
Nov. 30. ...