PAUL SCHRAG: COMMUNITY FINALLY GOBBLED UP BY DEVELOPERS >>>

Light a candle for Country Aire Manor Park in Puyallup, a mobile home community where residents have been displaced to make way for another multi-million-dollar shopping center.

In January 2008 more than 150 Country Aire residents received word that the land underneath their homes was being sold so local representatives of a national development company could build a retail center, which will be anchored by Kohl’s Department Store. Expanded shopping options come as cold comfort to residents such as the 93-year-old woman who was forced to move into an apartment where the bathroom and bedroom are too far apart, and where she shattered her ankle trying to get to the toilet. There’s little comfort for the Donery family, all of whom shared a home at Country Aire, all of whom have debilitating illnesses such as cancer, and all of whom weren’t sure how they were going to survive forced relocation. Nor is there any comfort for several residents who had to abandon the homes they owned because there was nowhere to move them, or because they couldn’t afford to.

The story continues of the Weekly Volcano Web site.