By now, homeowners in Newport received an application for insurance coverage that addresses the threat of water and sewer lines breaking down. It states that homeowners are responsible for repair costs from their house to the street.
The material appears to have been issued by City of Newport because City letterhead was used, and because the two letters end “Sincerely, The City of Newport.” But the envelope was mailed from zip code 33310, which is Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The postage-paid envelope for your check and signed “Acceptance Form” is pre-addressed to Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (no company name appears on the return envelope).
The letter offers water line and sewage/septic line insurance at an annual cost of $145.68 for both. Or, water coverage alone at $69 annually; or sewer/septic coverage alone at $93.00.
The price might seem reasonable, but the letter fails to disclose that this type of insurance is already available from most homeowner’s insurance providers and, if not already included, can be added to basic coverage at less than half that price.
The letter isn’t entirely a scam. It’s true that the City of Newport is a partner in this offer, but it did not send the mailing. And the information contains no mention of the kickback the City will receive for every policy issued. And no mention that the City was required to turn over the personal contact information for every resident.
What the mailing does accomplish is to ratchet up fear during this time of pandemic and skyrocketing death rates, job loss, business shutdowns, financial hardships, political instability, rioting and insurrection, congressional death threats, insufficient vaccine doses, etc. Your water & sewer lines might collapse! You’d better do something right now to protect yourself!
However, it is not the City’s role to promote a private insurance company, especially when it stands to gain financially. Before signing up, call your homeowner’s insurance provider and check out what it offers.
Barbara L. Turrill
Newport, Oregon
(541) 270-6468
The opinions contained in this Letter to the Editor reflect the views and opinions of the writer – and only the writer. It does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the staff and management of NewsLincolnCounty.com.
Changes to traffic on Newport’s Port Dock 5 pier announced
The construction phase of the long-awaited replacement of the Port Dock 5 pier will begin in earnest on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at the Port of Newport. Contractors will begin driving pilings to create a temporary pier to accommodate pedestrian traffic while the existing structure is replaced.
As a safety precaution, individuals using the pier to access vessels moored at Port Dock 5 will be routed along its eastern side. Port officials ask that those individuals limit their use of the pier as much as possible and discourage those without fishing vessel business to stay off the pier while the project is underway.
Port officials and construction managers are committed to minimizing the impact on the fishermen as much as realistically possible.
Port Dock 5 – January 26th the work begins!
“We anticipate two instances where the project will have significant impact on those who use Port Dock 5,” explained Port Director of Operations Aaron Bretz. “The firs time will be when the transition has to be made from the pier over to the temporary walkway and then when they shift back to the new pier once it is complete,” he said.
Bretz projects the transition to the temporary pier will happen in February and the shift back will occur in May. Otherwise, impacts should be minimal. Whether they be significant or minimal, any anticipated shifts in pedestrian traffic or changes in access to Port Dock 5 will be announced on the Port’s Facebook page and website.
Samaritan and Benton County plan COVID-19 mass vaccination at Reser Stadium
(Corvallis, Ore. – Jan. 22, 2021) Mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be offered next week by Samaritan Health Services and the Benton County Health Department at Reser Stadium in collaboration with Oregon State University.
Vaccinations will be available on Tuesday, Jan. 26, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Wednesday Jan. 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for limited individuals from Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties in the state of Oregon’s Phase 1a groups, as required by the Oregon Health Authority.
Interested individuals must complete a short needs-assessment survey prior to scheduling vaccine appointments. The survey is available online in English at bit.ly/BentonCoGov-Vaccine1a and in Spanish at bit.ly/BentonCoGov-Vacunas1a.
Vaccinations will take place on the stadium’s east concourse adjacent to gates A, B and C on Parker Plaza. The schedule is as follows:
Free parking will be available for vaccination clinic patients only in clearly marked areas of the Reser Stadium parking lot located at Southwest Western Boulevard and Southwest 26th Street across from the LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus. During the vaccination clinic, this parking area will be closed to OSU commuter parking. OSU permit holders may park in any open lot within their permitted zone, including C zone spaces located to the west of Reser Stadium, which can be accessed from the entrance on Southwest 30th Street.
Studies have shown the vaccine is up to 95% effective at preventing illness with COVID-19. Samaritan infectious disease specialists, as well as leadership from Samaritan and county health departments, highly recommend everyone receives the vaccination when it is available to them.
Samaritan will continue to communicate with patients and the general public when vaccines are more widely available. At this time, Samaritan hospitals and clinics do not have additional information to share. Up-to-date information may be found at samhealth.org/COVIDVaccine.
In addition, Benton County provides current information about the COVID-19 and eligible vaccine groups at co.benton.or.us/covid-19-vaccine.
The best resource for coronavirus vaccine distribution phases, frequently asked questions and more may be found at the Oregon Health Authority website athttps://covidvaccine.oregon.gov/.
Oregon reports 877 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 22 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 22 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 1,865, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
Oregon Health Authority reported 877 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 136,839.
Vaccinations in Oregon
Today, OHA reported that 16,763 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 12,341 vaccine doses were administered on Jan. 21 and 4,422 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Jan. 21.
Cumulative daily totals can take several days to finalize because providers have 72 hours to report doses administered and technical challenges have caused many providers to lag in their reporting. OHA has been providing technical support to vaccination sites to improve the timeliness of their data entry into the state’s ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS).
Oregon has now administered a cumulative total of 270,453 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. All vaccinations were administered by Oregon hospitals, long-term care facilities, emergency medical service (EMS) agencies, urgent care facilities and Local Public Health Authorities (LPHAs).
To date, 487,700 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
These data are preliminary and subject to change. OHA’sdashboardsprovide regularly updated vaccination data and Oregon’s dashboard has been updated today.
New quarantine guidelines for fully immunized people
People who have been fully immunized and have let at least 14 days pass following their last dose of the vaccine are no longer required to quarantine if they have had close contact with someone with COVID-19. Those who are fully immunized should still monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19 during the 14 days after exposure, and if symptoms develop, they should isolate and seek testing. Persons who have been fully vaccinated should continue to follow measures to protect themselves and others, including maintaining six feet of physical distance, avoiding crowds, washing hands often and wearing a mask. Please see OHA’s updated COVID-19 Investigative Guidelines.
Cases and deaths
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (1), Benton (24), Clackamas (71), Clatsop (8), Columbia (15), Coos (10), Crook (14), Curry (1), Deschutes (28), Douglas (18), Grant (4), Hood River (5), Jackson (33), Jefferson (9), Josephine (15), Klamath (17), Lake (3), Lane (90), Lincoln (5), Linn (9), Malheur (11), Marion (101), Morrow (7), Multnomah (136), Polk (24), Umatilla (52), Union (9), Wallowa (1), Wasco (3), Washington (138) and Yamhill (15). (more…)
