ELK VERSUS PICKUP TRUCK
• A Glenoma man was hospitalized after the truck he was driving yesterday morning about 9 a.m. hit an elk on the 600 block of Davis Lake Road in Morton, according the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The 1995 Dodge Ram sustained extensive damage and the driver ended up with a cut above his eye as well as several minor scrapes and bruises, according to the sheriff’s office.
TEEN CRASHES, ARRESTED FOR DUI
• A 16-year-old Chehalis area boy was arrested for driving under the influence after a minor single-vehicle accident about 1:45 a.m. on Saturday near Frogner and Twin Oaks roads outside Chehalis, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
DRIVER HITS FIRE HYDRANT
• Police were called about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday to North Gold and East Third streets where a motorist had reportedly lost control of his vehicle and struck a fire hydrant. James A. Bitner, 27, of Centralia, was cited for hit and run and driving with a suspended license, according to Centralia police.
DISTURBANCES IN CENTRALIA
• Centralia police were investigating a misdemeanor assault around 11:40 p.m. on Saturday on the 100 block of South Tower Avenue where an adult male was reportedly unconscious. All witnesses and the victim were intoxicated and uncooperative, according to police. The victim was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital to be checked out and treated. No arrests were made.
• A disturbance at a Centralia restaurant around midnight Saturday ended with a 37-year-old man arrested for obstructing and resisting arrest, according to Centralia police. Thomas J. Harris Jr. of Chehalis was arrested and then released after the incident at the 1000 block of Harrison Avenue.
STOLEN STUFF
• Centralia police yesterday afternoon arrested three individuals at the 2000 block of Haviland Street in connection with attempting to pass stolen pre-paid debit cards. Booked into the Lewis County Jail for possession of stolen property second-degree were Ryan L. Rosa, 30, of Lakewood, George D. Dale, 40, of Ravensdale and Maurina D. Brandt, 43, of Bellingham, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• Chehalis police arrested two people on Saturday in connection with wiring stolen from Darigold in Chehalis. Police detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said an officer got word the wire was sold to a metal recycler. Jeffery R. Frohlich, 26, and Mary A. S. Adamire, 24, both of Centralia, were booked into the Lewis County Jail for trafficking in stolen property, according to McNamara. Frolich was also arrested for possession of about five grams of suspected methamphetamine, according to police.
• Hand-painted Christmas trees adorning a lawn at a Centralia residence were stolen, according to a report made to the Centralia Police Department about 3:30 p.m. yesterday. The yard ornaments from the 800 block of K Street are about four and a half feet tall, according to police.
• A computer was reported stolen from the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday.
CAR PROWLS
• Somebody stole “items” from a vehicle and left them strewn down the street near the 2800 block of Fords Prairie Avenue in Centralia, according to a report to police yesterday morning.
• Centralia police took a report on Saturday morning from the 100 block of West Maple Street of a car prowl in which a call phone was missing.
CHEHALIS DOOR BROKEN
• Chehalis police were called to a house on Quincy Place where a door was discovered kicked in on Sunday evening.
SMALL CHILD FOUND ALONE DOWNTOWN CHEHALIS
• A toddler found wandering alone near the 100 block of North Market Boulevard in Chehalis about 2:30 p.m. on Friday was ultimately returned to his parents who live in the same area, according to Chehalis police. The father had fallen asleep and the boy went outside, according to police.
DRUGS
• Chehalis police were called to W.F. West High School on Friday morning where they arrested a 15-year-old girl for possession of marijuana. The student had a very small amount in her possession, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
• Centralia police arrested a 28-year-old Centralia resident for possession of methamphetamine about 4:45 a.m. today following a contact with an officer on the 300 block of North Gold Street. Guadalupe J. Aguirre was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
FIRE DEPARTMENT BUYS TWO FIRE TRUCKS
• Lewis County Fire District 8 just took delivery of two new fire trucks, Assistant Chief Don Taylor said this morning. “Spanking new, just off the showroom floor,” Taylor said. The trucks arrived to the Salkum area fire department on Thursday, according to Taylor.
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Guest column: Now I lay me down to sleep; an end to addiction
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010By Judy O’Brien
Doty resident
Note: Judy O’Brien shared the following words with friends as they commented over the weekend on a news story about recent suspected drug overdoes in Centralia.
She last saw her 37-year-old daughter 18 months ago in Olympia. Stacey O’Brien Hofland grew up in Doty and went to W.F. High School.
DOTY – The battle of drug addictions is an internal war in which those who are not users in that war can not truly understand. I can’t understand it but I do know it is the saddest and most dangerous of addictions.
Stacey O'Brien Hofland
The newspaper article said a decomposed body had been discovered in a sleeping bag off of Interstate 5 in Tumwater this past Thanksgiving day.
The average person reads that, shakes their head and moves on to another article. For the last several years I have never read those and moved on.
I would then start the search to know if that homeless and newly discovered body was that of my daughter. It won’t be necessary for me to search any longer … she is no longer a meth addict, or homeless. She is just no longer.
The story of Stacey O’Brien is like so many; it is not unique.
The lack of uniqueness is the problem our individual families face throughout our society. Many intelligent young adults become meth addicts.
Stacey was raised in Lewis County, attended our schools, had siblings, grandparents, husband, children and parents that cared. She was smart, pretty, manipulative, cunning, a convincing liar and outgoing.
These personality traits made it possible for her to appear functional while her life of addiction was anything but functional.
She has been gone from my day-to-day life for a very long time.
I had never quite got over having a sliver of hope that she would “hit bottom”. As her life spun out of control and she became more dependent on drugs she made the choice to live in a bottomless pit.
She gave birth several times over the years, and was unable to care for her children. Others stepped in and brought home a child to give them a better life. After the completion of the last adoption, she told me then she just was no longer going to fight the addiction.
I remember clearly the eyes of acceptance that looked at me to understand she could not do it anymore. I understood.
My last time with her was a step back in time, she was my daughter and I was her mom. We cried and explained how we wished things were different, explored how her life had become what it was.
As she loaded the last of her belongings into my car she hugged me, said “I love you Ma” and walked down the alley from the church parking lot back into the streets of Olympia.
She did not look back and I just stood there in tears knowing I would not see her again. It was our good-bye.
She would call me at our agreed time frame so I would know she was still among the living. I was left feeling hopeless and helpless after each call.
There won’t be a call in a few weeks and this time I will not have to look for unidentified bodies or go to Olympia looking for her in the corners of the drug world. She has finally found a place where meth won’t torment her any longer and she will no longer to be destructive to herself or the world around her.
The coroner’s office told me it was a death by natural causes. She had crawled in her sleeping bag, fell asleep and died at the age of 36. The assumption is a drug overdose that caused a heart attack.
As the words droned on I could have sworn I heard the voice of my daughter praying her childhood prayer:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
If your family has been impacted by addiction please know you are not alone. Join a support group and learn how to cope with the addict and the consequences of addictions.
There is a 24 hour / seven day a week drug and alcohol help line available; it is sponsored by the state and works through DSHS: 1-800-562-1240.
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