4 December 2013
TLC Provides Final Visits to Cherished Locations
Donna Corbett Jones had a lot of memories of the Heceta Lighthouse State Park. It was a place where she and her family used to go regularly.
She didn’t think she would ever get there again. She’s in hospice, needs constant medical care and has trouble walking.
But, through a no-cost program called TLC, provided by Western Lane Ambulance District, Corbett was able to visit Heceta Head and even walk on the beach.
She was picked up by an ambulance, staffed by EMT Liz Iabichello and Paramedic Zach Warner.
Warner said after making a visit to the lighthouse they made their way to the beach and sat on a log. “She talked about how she and her family used to have picnics”. Werner said the trip was enjoyable for him as well. There was something about taking someone to a cherished place and letting them enjoy it one last time.
Western Lane Ambulance provides the TLC program as a public service and has provided terminal patients with one last visit to places like a football game, shopping, or natural wonders like Heceta Head.
Job Losses at LCC
An improved job market is bad news for people working at Lane Community College in Eugene. Enrollment jumped during the Great Recession when students couldn’t find jobs, and now it’s fallen sharply as young people and others go back to work.
The Eugene Register-Guard reports that from 2008 to 2011, the school experienced a 43 percent enrollment surge that pushed the campus to its limits.
Enrollment this fall is off nearly 9 percent from last year and 18 percent from the peak of 2011.
School officials say about a third of the school’s part-time employees will experience lost jobs, lost hours or lost teaching contracts as it rolls out cuts over the fall and winter terms.
The college also will freeze 20 to 30 vacant positions to save additional money.
Gas Prices Steady… Well Below Average in Florence
After falling dramatically since the summer, the average price for regular gasoline has more or less stabilized. The national average price, as measured by Triple-A fell two cents a gallon this week to $3.26. Oregon’s average price held steady at $3.28.
The average cash price in Florence dipped by about a penny a gallon this week… it continues to be well below statewide and national prices… at $3.10 a gallon.
KCST’s Our Town
A Christmas Memory… the Last Resort Players presentation of the Truman Capote 1956 short story about a depression-era Christmas… will be presented this afternoon as part of KCST’s Our Town.
The show features Jim Wellington as the narrator, with assistance from Annie Schmidt, reminiscing about Capote’s relationship as a seven-year-old with his older cousin and their preparations for Christmas.
Also featured on this afternoon’s Our Town will be Fawn Custer, the coordinator for a two-year program that will track debris washing up at ten locations along the Oregon Coast.
Mike Miller… Florence’s Public Works Director… will talk about why some of the products that are promoted as being “flushable” should not be disposed of in that manner.
Our Town airs on Coast Radio this afternoon from four to six.
