Cordova, 25, was believed to be the oldest northern sea otter in captivity. She'd been one of three otters at the "Rocky Shores" exhibit in Tacoma's Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, where she'd been on display since the exhibit's opening in 1981. Zoo veterinarians euthanized Cordova on September 11, after weeks of steady deterioration due to an inoperable ovarian tumor. Her death came five days after the Seattle Aquarium announced one of its own sea otters, Lootas, had given birth to a yet-unnamed female pup.
Richard Holmes, 73, was a Portland resident who'd suffered for years from colon and liver cancer. Last October he applied for a lethal prescription of barbiturates under Oregon's "death with dignity" initiative. But U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft moved to block the prescription, ordering the DEA to revoke the license of any doctor who provided it. It was the latest in a series of legal assaults (by courts, the U.S. Congress, and individual challengers) on the state's controversial euthanasia law, passed by voters in 1994 and again in a 1997 repeal drive. Holmes and euthanasia advocates immediately challenged the Ashcroft directive. A federal judge ruled in Holmes' favor and allowed him to obtain the bottle of Nembutal he had applied for. The case is still in the appeal process. But Holmes ended up never using the barbiturates. He died quietly on September 9 at his home, surrounded by relatives. (To date, 91 other Oregonians have taken the legal lethal medications, and approximately 1,000 others have obtained them.)
