2A | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS
T HE R ECORD
POLICE
Dec. 18
• Fire was reported in the
300 block of Ninth Street.
• Theft was reported in the
1100 block of Sixth Street.
• Assault was reported in
the 1600 block of Rhodo-
dendron Drive.
• Dispute was reported
in the 2000 block of 15th
Street.
• Assault was reported
in the 87000 block of Rice
Road.
Dec. 19
• Criminal mischief was
reported in the 18000 block
of Highway 36.
• Accident, with unknown
injury, was reported at mile-
post 179 on Highway 101.
• Criminal mischief was
reported in the 1700 block
of 43rd Street.
• Arrest, with warrant, was
reported in the 900 block of
Greenwood Street.
Dunes City seeks to fill Planning Commission vacancies
Dunes City is accepting
applications for a Planning
Commissioner. Applicants
must reside in Dunes City and
complete an Application for
Appointive Office, available at
Dunes City Hall or from the
City’s website, www.dunescity.
com/permits-and-forms.
Applications can be mailed
or delivered to Dunes City
Hall, 82877 Spruce St., West-
lake, Ore. 97493, or emailed to
plan ning@dunescityor.com.
This is a volunteer posi-
tion with a term ending date
of Jan. 12, 2022. The Dunes
City Council will consider
applications during its Jan. 9
meeting. Applications should
be submitted to Dunes City
before Jan. 3, 2019.
The Planning Commission
considers land use applica-
tions and revisions to Dunes
City’s land use code. The com-
mission also provides over-
sight of Dunes City’s Citizen
Involvement Program. This
position offers an opportunity
to learn how the implemen-
tation of land use code takes
place, what must be done to
change codes and the process
of conducting public hearings.
The Planning Commission
meets at Dunes City Hall on
the fourth Thursday of the
month at 5 p.m. and in special
sessions as necessary.
County releases study of courthouse replacement cost
Lane County worked with
Robertson|Sherwood|Archi-
tects and courthouse consul-
tant DLR Group to conduct a
scoping study to validate the
former City Hall lot as a viable
site for the new courthouse
and to refine the needed
square footage to accommo-
date current and future needs.
The study includes a recom-
mended program and poten-
tial floor plan diagrams that
address the significant con-
cerns regarding security and
access for people with limited
mobility.
The cost estimate — based
on detailed pre-design analy-
sis — includes approximately
$94 million in matching state
funds and an approximately
$158 million in local funds.
“The opportunity to lever-
age nearly $100 million in
State funds is critical to help
us make space for justice
in Lane County,” said Lane
County Administrator Steve
Mokrohisky.
When the Board of County
Commissioners reconvenes
in 2019, commissioners will
have the opportunity to dis-
cuss next steps, including
local funding and placing a
potential General Obligation
Bond before voters.
The current Lane County
Courthouse, opened in 1959,
is not sized to handle the over
33,000 cases filed each year. In
addition, the way the build-
ing is designed makes it im-
possible to provide a se-cure,
private setting for victims and
opposing parties.
The design also restricts ac-
cess to individuals with limit-
ed mobility.
In Oregon, counties are re-
sponsible for providing the
buildings in which the state
circuit courts operate while
the State is responsible for
funding the operations. In
response to the growing state-
wide need for new Court-
house facilities, the Oregon
Legislature will provide up to
50 percent match funding for
the State portions of a court-
house building.
“A new Lane County Court-
house would represent our
community’s
commitment
to fair and impartial justice
and strengthen the central
element in our public safe-
ty system,” said Lane County
Circuit Court Presiding Judge
Debra Vogt. “A new court-
The Cancer Bus
U nder ordinary circumstances, we might never
have done more than nod and give a passing
smile. But these were not ordinary circumstanc-
es. We were both passengers on a small bus
that transported cancer patients from the small
community of Florence sixty miles away into the
larger city of Eugene to receive daily radiation.
For the first eight days on the Cancer Bus, I
locked myself behind a wall of fear and distrust,
uncertain of the radiation treatment I was
undertaking and how it would affect me.
Unhappy because I had to travel three hours for a
one-minute treatment every day of the week….
33 times… and never one to waste a moment, I
brought along old Martha Stewart Living
Magazines, leafing through and tearing out tons
of recipes and project ideas that I will never try.
From the beginning, I felt separated from the
other riders… like an observer along for the ride.
Most of the passengers were elderly, battling for
a few bonus months or years. They seemed
locked behind walls of silence, embracing their
personal pain and private thoughts. Though
conversation was sparse, “cancer” was the
number one topic. I brought along a portable CD
player with earphones to shut out all disagreea-
ble sounds.
On my ninth day, forty-five minutes into our
journey, the Cancer Bus stopped to pick up a new
passenger at the small community of Walton.
She emerged from a red pickup and, with the
help of her husband, laboriously made her way to
the bus. With a great effort and a deep sigh, she would
collapse into a seat and lay her head on a pillow. At
first Deborah sat at the front of the bus, while I
preferred the back locked in my surround-sound
music and Martha Stewart Living Magazines. Slyly, I
studied her.
She was young, in her forties. There was a pallor to
her skin that indicated the extent of her illness, yet
she wore no make-up. She wore glasses and a
cloche-style hat that covered her bald head, a result of
recent chemotherapy. The hat was adorned with
baubles and pretty applique. She wore large crystal
earrings. The hat and the earrings contradicted her
general appearance and called attention to her
baldness in a way that said, “It’s okay. Stare at me. I
can handle this.” As soon as I began to converse with
her, I no longer saw the baldness nor her illness.
After two days, she moved to the seat across from
me. I don’t remember the initial small talk, perhaps
because there was so little of it. When someone talks
about the imminence of their death, small talk is
inappropriate. Instead of “How many grandchildren
do you have?” It was, “Tell me about your relationship
with your grandchildren.” We were able to speak
immediately of our faith in God and his hand in
comforting us in our distress. From the moment she
moved into the seat across from me, we never
stopped talking. Deborah never again laid her head on
the pillow. I never put on my headphones nor read my
stack of magazines while she was on the bus. It was
an immediate bonding and because of our circum-
stances, we could not waste a moment. Time was too
precious.
house would bring together
our community’s heritage and
future in a building respon-
sibly designed to serve Lane
County for generations.”
The Lane County Court-
house is home to the Circuit
Court, District Attorney’s Of-
fice, Sheriff ’s Office, and Vic-
tim Services.
Since it was built 60 years
ago, the population it serves
has more than doubled and it
was built for a vision of justice
that no longer represents our
community or our expecta-
tions for equal access to jus-
tice.
Today, the building can’t
support the use it receives,
and its physical systems are
failing.
Local DUII enforcement
continues through Jan. 2
The Florence Police De-
partment will be participating
in extra DUII Enforcement
through Jan. 2.
Law enforcement agencies
throughout Oregon and the
rest of the United States will
be participating in this na-
tionwide effort to get impaired
drivers off the street.
High-visibility enforce-
ment, accomplished by in-
creasing the number of offi-
cers on the streets aggressively
seeking out impaired drivers,
is designed to deter people
from driving after they have
been drinking.
The Wall That Heals exhibit features a three-quarter
scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in
Washington, D.C. and mobile Education Center
that gives visitors a better understanding of the
legacy of The Wall and educates about the impact
of the Vietnam War.
Here’s hat we need help with now to prepare
for The Wall That Heals:
- VOLUNTEERS -
- FOOD-
- MONEY DONATIONS -
Be part of something special in the Florence
community. An account has been setup at Banner
Bank for money donations. Please contact Kim or
Janet for additional details. We hope to see you
there!
When
April 4th, 2019 through April 7th, 2019
Questions
Kim Pruitt or Janet Engel
Phone: 541-997-6111
Email: Kim.Pruitt@avalonseniorliving.com
Spruce Point Assisted Living
& Memory Care Community
375 9th St. | Florence, OR 97439 | 541-997-6611
spruce-point.com
We spoke of life and death, and of our accept-
ance of each. We shared intimate things about
ourselves. “I don’t know why I’m spilling my guts to
you,” she said. We spoke of our failings and of our
successes. Both perfectionists, we recognized that
we were too hard on ourselves and much too
serious. We both wanted to smile and laugh more.
To our delight, we discovered we both loved to
write. Deborah wrote poetry and I wrote short
stories. We brought samples of our writing to share
– intimate things we were too embarrassed to show
to anyone else. We were suddenly the most brilliant
writers in the world. We revealed to one another our
artistic side, shyly handing over our artwork; hers in
the form of a beautiful journal artistically decorated
with flowers surrounding the lovely handwritten
script. I told her she was leaving a priceless
treasure to her family. My artwork was assorted
drawings of large colorful flowers. She praised them
and encouraged me to turn them into greetings
cards for my friends.
The hour and a half together on the bus flew by
at a dizzying pace. Each day I could hardly wait to
see her again. The forty-five minute ride to Walton,
until we picked her up, was slow and plodding. I
began to resent any day I needed to travel in my
own car, because it was time away from my friend.
Towards the end of the third week, she told me of
her increased pain and how she was praying for the
energy to have a tea party for her six-year-old grand
daughter’s birthday on Saturday. The following
Monday she was ecstatic. The tea party had been a
big success and very heart-warming for her. God
had given her the energy to make it through the
afternoon, as well as the energy to go to church the
next day to see the program on “faith” that she had
helped to write.
After that, things began to decline for Deborah.
She experienced bad nights, more and more pain.
An increasing amount of morphine was required.
We never dwelled on the subject of pain, or cancer,
or dying. Instead, we crammed as much happiness
as we could into the little time allotted to our
friendship. Her period of radiation was coming to
an end when we decided we must exchange phone
numbers so we could keep in touch.
On her last day of radiation therapy, the bus drove
right past Walton! There was no red pick-up waiting!
Panicked, I inquired of the driver and learned that
Deborah had been crossed off the list. I didn’t even
know her last name. When I reached the clinic, the
receptionist called me to the phone. It was Deborah.
She decided it was pointless to continue treatment,
but she wanted me to know how special it was to
have developed a friendship with me. We muttered a
few platitudes and promised to keep in touch. We
spoke again on the phone two days later, reaffirming
our affection for one another. I promised to write her
a long letter right after Christmas, three days away.
When I hung up the phone, I thought about how I
would maintain my long-distance friendship with
Deborah. Certainly I would call her often, maybe
even visit her in Walton. I searched for inspirational
scripture and other writings to share with her, and I
looked forward with hopefulness to our next
conversation. That night, I dreamed I was in the
boxcar of a fast moving train. I was leaning out the
door holding on to another woman, begging her to
hang on…. Don’t let go….
When I returned to the clinic the day after the
holiday the nurse called me into a private room.
Deborah had told her of our special bond that had
formed between us. And then, ever so gently, the
nurse told me that Deborah passed away the day
after Christmas. The tears well up inside my eyes
like a rising tide. A pressure in my chest crushes
down a feeling of nausea. A lump in my throat
makes it difficult to breathe. I must not cry until I
reach the privacy of my home. No one on this Cancer
Bus would understand how I could have found a soul
sister in such a brief time. None of these would
understand my attachment to Deborah. Each time I
say her name the tidal wave of tears rise higher. I’ll
close my eyes for a while and listen to Yanni on my
earphones. Tomorrow I’ll finish the rest of my Martha
Stewart Living Magazine.
By
Marycleave Boehi
VAN FANS is a volunteer support group with the sole
purpose of raising funds to help cover the expenses of
Friends of Florence transport operations.
To join or for more info Call: 541-997-8629