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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2015)
Gulls boys soccer dominate all-league Wrestling is in their blood SPORTS • 7A 143rd YEAR, No. 103 FRIDAY EXTRA • 1C ONE DOLLAR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 • WEEKEND EDITION Heritage Square future remains cloudy Some worry about a lack of public consensus By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian Going gentle into that good night Volunteers keep patients from dying alone By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian DQ\SHRSOHGLHDORQH 7KH\ QHDU WKH ¿QLVK OLQH DQG perhaps through no fault of their own, they have no one around to hold their hand, to tell them everything’s OK, to bear witness to WKHLU¿QDOPLOHVWRQH But, for almost four years, volunteers with Columbia Memorial Hospital’s No One Dies Alone program have ZRUNHGWRSUHYHQWWKLVVLWXDWLRQ See SQUARE, Page 8A M $VSDWLHQWVDZDLWWKHLUFXUWDLQFDOO²DVRU JDQVIDLODQGFRQVFLRXVQHVVIDGHV²WKHYROXQ teers sit by the patients’ bedside, reading to them, playing music, touching their hand or forearm, monitoring their movements, looking for signs of pain or discomfort, and alerting the hospital staff LIDQ\WKLQJVHHPVDPLVV7KH\FRPPLWWREHLQJ present with the patients and advocating for their QHHGVDWDVNWKHYROXQWHHUVFDOO³KROGLQJYLJLO´ “Our job is to make sure that the patient is as comfortable as possible, so they can relax and GRZKDWWKH\QHHGWRGR´VDLG/DXUD/DWWLJYRO unteer program coordinator for the hospital and /RZHU &ROXPELD +RVSLFH ³:H UHDOO\ ORRN DW G\LQJDVDIRUPRIODERU,W¶VZRUN²LW¶VKDUG ZRUN$QGMXVWDVZHODERULQWRWKHZRUOGZH¶UH ODERULQJRXWRIWKHZRUOG´ Since Columbia Memorial’s NODA program $VWRULD¶V FRPPXQLW\ GHYHORS ment director said Thursday night that he is unsure about what advice KHZLOOJLYHWKH&LW\&RXQFLOLQ'H cember on Heritage Square after a project advisory committee declined to make a recommendation on a new OLEUDU\DQGKRXVLQJ The City Council had directed SODQQLQJVWDIIHDUOLHUWKLV\HDUWRLQ YHVWLJDWHDPL[HGXVHSURMHFWDW+HU LWDJH6TXDUHDIWHUDEDQGRQLQJD million renovation of the existing library on 10th Street into the vacant :DOGRUI+RWHOQH[WGRRU 2YHUWKHSDVWIHZPRQWKVDSURM ect advisory committee looked at three different library and housing options for Heritage Square, but did QRW IHHO FRPIRUWDEOH PDNLQJ D UHF ommendation that Kevin Cronin, the community development director, FRXOGSUHVHQWWRWKH&LW\&RXQFLO ,QVWHDG WKH DGYLVRU\ FRPPLW WHHFDOOHGIRU¿OOLQJWKHKROHDWWKH former Safeway at Heritage Square Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian ABOVE: A book and certificate designating Dawn Young as a soul midwife practitioner sit on a table in Young’s home. TOP: Dawn Young, a volunteer with No One Dies Alone, and Laura Lattig, Columbia Memorial Hospital’s volunteer coordinator , stand for a portrait. The No One Dies Alone program has been operating for about four years. — which now boasts 20 volunteers — took off, 45 of the hospital’s patients have been spared D ORQHVRPH SDVVLQJ /DWWLJ VDLG 3DWLHQWV KDYH ranged from middle age to more than 100 years ROG7KH\KDYHGLHGIURPFDQFHU DQGRWKHUGLV HDVHVKHDUWIDLOXUHGLDEHWHVDQGQDWXUDOFDXVHV “Every death is different,” Dawn Young, a Y ROXQWHHUVDLG³3HRSOHMXVWZDQWWREHDFFRP SDQLHG,WKLQNDORWRIWLPHVµ*RZLWKPHZDON PHVWD\ZLWKPHXQWLO,JHWWKHUH´ Compassionate hearts /DWWLJODXQFKHGWKH1R2QH'LHV$ORQHSUR gram at Columbia Memorial Hospital, shortly after joining the staff, when a patient — a dying woman in her 30s without family or friends — ZDVDGPLWWHGWRWKHKRVSLWDO ³7KDWMXVWVWUXFNPHWRWKHFRUH´/DWWLJVDLG /DWWLJ GLG VRPH UHVHDUFK RQ HQGRIOLIH FDUH programs and discovered NODA through Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene (a staff member WKHUHIRXQGHGWKHSURJUDPLQ 8VLQJ 6DFUHG +HDUW¶V PDWHULDOV /DWWLJ JDWK HUHGVRPHYROXQWHHUVIRUDQHDUO\PRUQLQJWUDLQ LQJ7KH\ZHUHLQWHUUXSWHGE\DKRVSLWDOLVWZKR informed them that a patient, a man in his 80s, ZDVG\LQJDORQH6RWKHQHZ12'$WHDPEHJDQ WKHLU¿UVWYLJLORQWKHLU¿UVWGD\³7KDW¶VKRZZH JRWVWDUWHG´/DWWLJVDLG 9ROXQWHHUV²ZKRPD\SXOOVKLIWVODVWLQJVHYHU DOKRXUVRIWHQEHIRUHRUDIWHUWKHLUGD\MREV²XVX ally meet with patients who are “actively dying,” the terminal cases who have stopped eating and GULQNLQJDQGDUHRWKHUZLVHSK\VLFDOO\H[SLULQJ See NO ONE DIES ALONE, Page 9A Astoria hopes to save popular tree Crack found in Alderbrook maple By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian A sprawling bigleaf maple that is the dominant feature of Violet LaPlante Park in Alderbrook is in a ¿JKWIRULWVOLIH A crack near the center of the tree’s dual trunk has become infected and weakened by fungus and rot, the city has found, a wound that could cause the tree to topple in high winds and threaten parkgoers and a nearby KRPH The bigleaf maple, which stands about 75 feet tall and is an estimated 150 years old, has sentimental value LQ$OGHUEURRN 7KH FLW\¶V 3DUNV DQG Recreation Department puts the tree in a similar class as the distinctive Sitka spruce on the Cathedral Tree Trail at Coxcomb Hill and the large V\FDPRUHDW0F&OXUH3DUN “So it’s a historic tree and it’s JRW NLQG RI D QHLJKERUKRRG VLJQL¿ FDQFH´VDLG-RQDK'DUW0F/HDQWKH parks maintenance supervisor at the 3DUNV DQG 5HFUHDWLRQ 'HSDUWPHQW “There’s been multiple generations RISHRSOHWKDWKDYHEHQH¿WHGE\WKH WUHH´ A resident discovered the crack DQGLQIRUPHGWKHFLW\RQ:HGQHVGD\ Strong winds and heavy rain have swept through Astoria over the past several days, but the city suspects the storms exacerbated, but did not FDXVHWKHFUDFN After consulting with arborists, the city is thinking about binding the tree’s bifurcated trunk with cable and trimming the upper limbs, which could stabilize the tree and extend its OLIHIRUDQRWKHU¿YHWR\HDUV Branches were removed on Thursday to reduce weight and stress RQWKHWUXQN7KHFLW\FORVHGWKHDUHD DURXQGWKHWUHHDVDZDUQLQJWRSDUN JRHUV Normally, the city would simply cut down a hazardous tree and grind WKH VWXPS %XW WKH FLW\ ZLOO WU\ WR VDYHWKHELJOHDIPDSOH Jessica Schleif, who serves on the Parks and Recreation Board, hopes WKH FLW\ ZLOO HYHQWXDOO\ FDWDORJ LP SRUWDQW DQG KLVWRULF WUHHV ³, WKLQN See TREE, Page 9A Spanish speakers study steps to success Classes help rural Latino entrepreneurs By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian When she opened MonteAlban Mexican restaurant with partner Juan Jimenez four years ago, Sara Maya had plenty of experience cooking but said her English and business VNLOOVZHUHERWKODFNLQJ2YHUWKRVH ODVW IRXU \HDUV 0D\D KDV WDNHQ DG vantage of local resources meant to help entrepreneurs limited by their (QJOLVKVNLOOV Most recently, she joined “Pasos al Exito,” or Steps to Success, a set RIQHZSHUVRQDODQGEXVLQHVV¿QDQFH classes in Spanish through the Rural 'HYHORSPHQW ,QLWLDWLYHV JHDUHG WR ward rural Latinos and experiencing UHFRUGHQUROOPHQW See SPANISH, Page 9A INSIDE 50 Years of Rickenbach