Dear Eric: A friend of mine, who is like a sister to me, and her husband just had a baby. The husband seems like a good guy, and while I have always been warm to him, I’ve also had a bad gut feeling about him due to his job as a pilot.
Washington
Advice | Asking Eric: Friend fears pilot’s lifestyle will lead to divorce
It’s a super stressful job with high divorce rates, long times away from home, and ample opportunities to cheat (quite frankly, for both of them). The relationship was certainly easier when she was traveling with him on some of his trips, but a baby is naturally going to change that aspect. They were never huge on having kids, so it seems like a baby is almost a desperate attempt to save a marriage.
I’ve always felt in the back of my mind that the marriage is destined to end in divorce and it’s almost like watching a slow car crash developing. I could compartmentalize her handling divorce as long as she was childless. Obviously, the result would be more catastrophic now that the baby is in the picture.
Every day, I pray and hope that my gut is wrong and that this marriage lasts, but I am also worrying about preparing for the worst, which is to comfort my friend and her baby through the hurt of divorce.
Is praying for my friend’s marriage all I can do at this point? Should I let my friend run her own race? Am I overly prejudiced against pilots?
— Sky High Divorce Rates
Sky High: Is this marriage in trouble or have you let your imagination take off into the stratosphere? What we have to go on: a gut feeling and perhaps one too many viewings of the Leonardo DiCaprio movie “Catch Me If You Can.” What we don’t have: information from your close friend that would indicate there’s turbulence in this marriage.
I’m curious what makes you think their new baby is a desperate attempt to save the marriage rather than a family planning choice that they made. I think you’ve let yourself get pretty far down the runway and a return to the gate is in order.
While there are some online sources that list a high rate of divorce for airline pilots, figures from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-Year Data (2009-2022) put the percentage of pilots who have ever divorced at 30, which is in line with the national average. But numbers reflect the story of the past and present, they don’t necessarily dictate the future. There are plenty of professions with high stress and frequent travel, and people stay married in them all the time.
Test your thinking here. Your anxiety appears to be coming from a well-intentioned place, but ask yourself how much of this is actually happening in your friend’s marriage and how much is coming from thin air.
By all appearances, this is an arrangement that works well for your friend and her husband. Assume the best until you hear otherwise. Stay grounded.
Dear Eric: Eight years ago our daughter was married to an absolutely wonderful guy whom we love like a son. Early on in the wedding planning, her soon-to-be father-in-law promised a small sum toward the wedding, which I didn’t expect but thanked him for. We never received it.
My son-in-law’s parents are quite well-to-do so it was not due to an economic shortfall. I’ve been holding a grudge ever since, although my wife has advised me to forget it.
Recently, our daughter gave birth to a son and we immediately offered to take care of expenses toward the circumcision ceremony. The mother-in-law offered to bake! They arrived at the ceremony and stood by as we all set up for the party. They watched as we broke everything down. As we were loading all the gifts and supplies in the car in the pouring rain, the father-in-law handed me a very small gift bag that we forgot and said, “I looked for the smallest thing to help you out!”
I was livid! Frankly, I was ready to spend the night in jail! Am I wrong in my feelings?
In-Law: This guy sounds like a real piece of work. It’s one thing to have different ideas about generosity and labor, as it seems your two families do. (Maybe the baking felt equivalent to them, which is fair.) But it’s another thing to rub it in.
He could have a weird sense of humor or he could relish pushing your buttons. What can we do when someone pushes our buttons? Disable the control panel.
Avoid him when you can but drop the grudge. It’s just souring your happy family moments, which means he gets you coming and going.
(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)
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A man wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of a University of Washington student was arrested after photos of him were released to the public, authorities said on Thursday, May 14.
The Seattle Police Department did not name the suspect, but said in a statement that a 31-year-old man had turned himself in to the Bellevue Police Department. In a separate statement, the Bellevue Police Department said the suspect was arrested at about 10:42 p.m. local time on May 13.
The suspect was then transferred to the custody of Seattle Police Department homicide detectives and was booked into the “King County Jail for investigation of Murder,” according to police.
The arrest comes after police released photos taken from security camera footage of the suspect on May 13 and asked for the public’s assistance in the investigation. The photos appeared to show the man inside a laundry room.
On May 10, University of Washington police officers responded to the Nordheim Court apartments, an off-campus housing complex for undergraduate students, and found a woman stabbed to death in the laundry room. The victim, who a local official previously said was a 19-year-old transgender student, was identified by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office as Juniper C. Blessing on May 14.
The incident sparked a law enforcement investigation and prompted authorities to advise Nordheim Court residents to stay in their homes and lock their doors and windows for several hours.
In a statement on May 14, University of Washington President Robert Jones announced an arrest had been made “in connection with the horrific act that took the life of one of our students on Sunday night.”
“I hope the arrest brings some sense of relief to our community,” Jones said. “But this arrest does not lessen the profound shock and grief that the victim’s loved ones and our campus are still experiencing or bring back a beloved, promising and talented member of our university.”
“Much is still unknown about what caused this tragedy, and while this development is important, we will be looking closely at the circumstances in which this event occurred as part of our continued efforts to keep our campus community safe,” he added, noting that the university “remains committed to offering resources for those who need support, including our LGBTQIA+ community, during this difficult time.”
University of Washington student was found dead in laundry room
The University of Washington also confirmed on May 14 that the suspect arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing was the man in the photos shared by police. The Seattle Police Department had described the suspect as a Black man, about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with short black hair and a “goatee with ingrown scruff around the jaw.”
Police added that the suspect was wearing rimmed eyeglasses; a long-sleeve, dark blue full zip shirt with a white collared shirt underneath; dirty blue jeans; and “dirty dark, possibly gray shoes with a light sole.”
University of Washington police officers responded to a report of a stabbing at about 10:10 p.m. local time on May 10 at Nordheim Court, according to the Seattle Police Department. Responding officers discovered a victim in a laundry room, the Seattle Police Department said in a statement on May 11.
Responding officers and the Seattle Fire Department “attempted lifesaving treatment,” but the Seattle Police Department said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. After campus police cordoned off the area, the Seattle Police Department took over the investigation, and detectives arrived to process the scene.
In an emergency campus alert sent at about 10:40 p.m. local time on May 10, the University of Washington said campus police were investigating a death that occurred at the Nordheim Court apartments building. The alert advised residents of Nordheim Court to “stay indoors and lock doors and windows.”
By around 11:05 p.m., the university said the area had been secured but urged residents to remain indoors. Shortly before 1 a.m. on May 11, the university told residents that they no longer needed to remain indoors but noted that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Both police and the university later confirmed on May 11 that a student had been killed in the laundry room at Nordheim Court. The housing complex is privately managed and operated by Greystar, according to the university’s website and Balta.
Nordheim Court offers 454 units ranging in size from studios to four bedrooms, the university’s website states. The housing complex consists of eight buildings, and laundry facilities are located in Building 1 and Building 7.
The university said the student was found dead in Building 7.
‘Juniper was simply the most amazing human being we have ever known’
In a statement shared by the Human Rights Alliance of Santa Fe on behalf of Blessing’s family, the LGBTQ+ advocacy group said the family was “currently in a state of profound shock and heartbreak, processing an unimaginable loss.”
“This loss has devastated not only those closest to their child but also many others throughout the Seattle, Santa Fe, and LGBTQIA2S communities who are mourning as well,” the organization said, adding that Blessing’s family has asked for privacy.
In the statement, the family said Blessing was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and attended Littlebrook School and Princeton Middle School until they moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2018. Blessing’s family described them as a “gifted singer with a transcendent voice,” who studied at the New Mexico School for the Arts from 2020 to 2024.
The family noted that Blessing loved weather since early childhood and intended to study atmospheric science at the University of Washington while also pursuing minors in music and philosophy. They added that Blessing was “courageously living their life as who they were until it was cut tragically short.”
“Our family has been shattered by the loss of our child, Juniper Blessing, to an act of unspeakable violence near the University of Washington campus in Seattle,” according to the statement. “Juniper was simply the most amazing human being we have ever known – highly intelligent, extremely talented, and deeply sensitive to the needs of others. Juniper’s loss not only devastates us but diminishes the world.”
Federal authorities are planning a “summer surge” aimed at reducing crimes committed by young people in D.C. sources tell News4.
U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro is expected to announce Friday that the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force will do additional enforcement and get more resources, law enforcement sources said.
The move comes about two weeks after the D.C. Council chose not to vote on extending Mayor Muriel Bowser’s emergency youth curfew zones over the summer.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March 2025 that established the task force. He declared a crime emergency and temporarily federalized the locally run Metropolitan Police Department in August 2025.
Trump threatened to seize control of MPD after teens attacked then-Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee Edward Coristine, who was known by the nickname Big Balls.
Pirro has repeatedly railed against youth who commit crimes and told News4 she would like to see children as young as 12 prosecuted as adults.
“The time for coddling young people – 14, 15, 16, 17 – is over. And it’s time that we lowered the age of criminal responsibility,” she said in August.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The owner of a popular Washington Avenue restaurant says he was arrested after a dispute with city health inspectors over whether his business had a valid permit to operate.
Surveillance video recorded May 6 inside Betelgeuse Betelgeuse shows owner Chris Cusack speaking with Houston Health Department officials before he was taken into custody.
“I was pretty dazed, and all I could do is comply until it all got figured out,” Cusack said.
Cusack was charged with failure to comply with local health and sanitary laws after authorities accused the restaurant of operating without a food dealer’s permit.
The Houston Health Department says food dealer permits are valid for one year and must be renewed annually.
Cusack disputes the allegation, saying he has paperwork he believes proves the business had renewed its permit in March.
“I pulled it off the wall and showed it to him,” Cusack said. “He said it wasn’t the right business. I said it has my business’ name and address on it.”
Cusack said inspectors questioned whether the permit was tied to the correct business identification number.
“(The inspector) saw the first ID and said, ‘Ah ha, that’s the one you’re working under, so therefore this isn’t valid,’” Cusack said.
ABC13 reached out to the Houston Health Department with questions about the arrest. The department referred questions to the Houston Police Department.
According to HPD, the health department ordered the business closed in October 2025 for operating without a permit, though officials did not specify which type of permit was involved.
Police said the business was instructed to remain closed until it complied with health regulations. On May 4, inspectors learned the restaurant was open, according to HPD. Inspectors returned two days later, when Cusack was arrested.
Cusack said he was never told to shut down the business and questioned why inspectors waited months before returning.
The restaurant, known for pizza and drinks, reopened following the arrest and was serving customers again on Wednesday.
Cusack also expressed concern about what he described as aggressive enforcement targeting Washington Avenue businesses.
The entertainment district has faced increased law enforcement scrutiny in recent years as city leaders attempted to curb reckless behavior and nightlife-related crime.
“Washington Avenue business owners are just being confused by these intense raids on businesses for what are typically really basic scenarios,” Cusack said.
Court records show Cusack is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday on the charge.
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