2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 18, 2015
Polk County News
Deputy fights rare blood cancer Storm drains need
Alexander welcomes son, finds lymphoma in same week
upgrades in Dallas
By Jolene Guzman
No rate increases planned for now
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Curtis Alexan-
der was the picture of health
and energy.
Alexander, 29, a Polk
County Jail deputy and re-
serve patrol deputy in Ben-
ton County, worked hard
and exercised every day.
“He was perfectly
healthy,” Curtis’ wife, Shau-
na, said last week. “He was
running three miles a day.”
Curtis had his future in
mind. He wants to become a
police officer some day, and
his wife was expecting a son,
Colton. The Dallas couple got
to meet their little guy on Feb.
10. Only six days later, they
received devastating news.
Curtis had what he be-
lieved was an eye injury, a
bump and swelling above
his left eye. He tried to treat
it, but the swelling just
wouldn’t go down.
“I work in law enforce-
ment,” he explained last
week. “Sometimes the job
gets physical. I just thought
I might have gotten bumped
in the eye. I was feeling fine
… going about life as nor-
mal.”
He made an appointment
with a doctor in mid-Janu-
ary, who referred him to an
eye specialist who examined
him. Fearing the swelling
was a symptom of some-
thing more serious, Curtis
was told to undergo a CT
scan.
The scan revealed some-
thing that shocked the
young couple: Curtis had
Burkitt lymphoma, a rare
and aggressive form of non-
Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a
blood cancer.
A biopsy confirmed it and
on Feb. 16, Curtis was
rushed to Oregon Health &
Science University to begin
two weeks of chemotherapy.
That was the first of what
could be six to eight rounds
of treatment, with Curtis
spending one week in the
hospital and two weeks at
home in between.
The couple said that ini-
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
Photo courtesy of Shauna Alexander
Curtis Alexander holds his newborn son, Colton, just days before learning he has a rare
and aggressive form of cancer, Burkitt lymphoma. He’s in his second round of treatment.
You Can Help
• A fundraising site has
been set up on youcar-
ing.com to help pay for
the family’s medical ex-
penses. To find the page,
go to youcaring.com and
search for “Curtis Alexan-
der.” The family is hoping
to raise $10,000.
tial round of treatment was
difficult. They only had days
to spend with their son be-
fore having to put him in the
care of a relative during the
day so Shauna could be at
the hospital with Curtis. She
spent the nights with her
newborn in a hotel in Port-
land.
For Curtis, the separation
was worse.
“I only got to see him for
one hour a day when I was
in the hospital. That was
tough,” he said, adding he
has enjoyed the past few
weeks at home. “I’m trying
to be as normal as I can. I’m
pretty tired all the time, so
usually there is a relative
here, but it’s pretty awesome
Photo courtesy of Shauna Alexander
Curtis Alexander, with his wife, Shauna, left, has worked
as a Polk County Jail deputy for more than two years.
being a dad.”
Doctors will carefully
monitor his recovery from
treatment and the fast-mov-
ing disease to keep him on a
schedule his body can han-
dle without letting the can-
cer get the upper hand.
Alexander has a positive
prognosis, according to his
doctors, about an 80 to 90
percent chance of being
cured. His general health
and the fact that the cancer
was found early will all help
him in this battle, which
continued Friday, as he
checked in for a second
round of chemotherapy.
“I really, really appreciate
all the support of family and
friends,” Curtis said. “It
means a lot and it just makes
me fight that much harder.”
DALLAS — The city of
Dallas will be creating a
new storm water fund in
the 2015-16 budget, but
that doesn’t mean an in-
crease in rates — yet.
Costs of operating and
maintaining the storm
water system are now in-
cluded in sewer rates. The
change would simply sepa-
rate the cost of current op-
erations and put in its own
fund. Currently, the city
does minimal maintenance
on the system. Manage-
ment of the system costs
$2.57 of the average sewer
bill of $42.90.
“It wouldn’t affect any-
body’s rates,” said Fred
Braun, Dallas’ engineering
and environmental servic-
es director.
The recommendation is
part of the city’s recently
finished storm water mas-
ter plan. The plan includes
an inventory and condition
assessment of infrastruc-
ture (i.e. pipes in the
ground), system capacity,
operational and regulatory
requirements, and long-
term financial analysis, in-
cluding recommended im-
provements to the system.
Regulatory requirements
and upgrades will eventu-
ally push rates upward, but
when is up to how quickly
the council wants to pro-
ceed with improvements.
The plan found six
“problem areas” that cause
local flooding during
storms: West Ellendale Av-
enue and Wyatt Street;
Douglas Street; Rickreall,
Uglow Avenue, Orchard
Drive drainage; Kings Val-
ley Highway near the Dal-
las Cemetery; the North
Fork of Ash Creek; and
Hunter Street.
The approximate cost to
fix those areas is $22.9 mil-
lion, but that includes a $19
million price tag for the
North Fork Ash Creek area.
The creek flows through
the former Weyerhaeuser
mill, and improving it
would require replacing
culverts on that property,
widening and clearing the
creek channel and replac-
ing bridges. The city is
looking at alternatives —
including purchasing prop-
erty to create a retention
pond — that would reduce
that cost by half.
Braun said he is uncer-
tain when the system im-
provements will be made.
“We don’t have a sched-
ule for that,” Braun said. “It
depends on how aggres-
sively the council wants to
undertake these projects.”
Additional federal envi-
ronmental regulations on
storm water systems would
require more maintenance
and staff, but those man-
dates may be up to 10 years
in the future, Braun said.
The plan also recom-
mended an increase in the
storm water system devel-
opment charge, to $1,141.
The plan is available for
review at the Dallas Public
Library, 950 Main St., and
at City Hall, 187 SE Court
St., and will soon be on the
city’s website.
Braun said the city wel-
comes comment on the
plan and will address it at
another public meeting be-
fore the plan goes before
the council for approval.
In other business, the
council:
• Approved an ordinance
to allow civil citations into
the Dallas Municipal Court
to be mailed when person-
al delivery isn’t an option,
such as to property owners
who live out-of-state.
• Approved an ordinance
that specifically prohibits
inoperable cars to be cov-
ered by a tarp. Dallas city
code has long required
owners of such vehicles use
car covers, but the ordi-
nance is in response to an
owner who took issue with
the requirement.