2A | SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
On The Record
OBITUARIES
KENT—Kenneth Kent,
94, of Florence, passed
away peacefully Dec. 16,
2020.
Ken was born in New
York City in 1926. When
he was nine, his family
moved
west for
his fa-
t h e r ’s
work in
the mov-
ie pro-
du c t i on
indus-
try, ul-
Kenneth Kent timately
settling
in southern California.
Ken attended high
school and the Choui-
nard Art Institute — today
known as CALARTS — in
Los Angeles.
Ken served in the Unit-
ed States Army during
World War II and was de-
ployed to the Pacific The-
ater. He was awarded the
Good Conduct medal and
the Asiatic Pacific Service
medal, and honorably dis-
charged at the end of the
war.
After the war, Ken began
a career in industrial arts,
specializing in furniture
design, which spanned 42
years in offices all across
the west coast including
Los Angeles, San Francis-
co, and Seattle.
Several of his pieces
have been shown in design
museums and featured in
design magazines.
In 1988, Ken retired to
Florence, where he became
an active member of the
Florence community. He
enjoyed building model
airplanes and, later in life,
developed an interest in
radio-controlled airplanes.
Ken enjoyed watercolor
painting and taught paint-
ing classes at the Florence
Senior Center. He was ac-
tively involved in support-
ing many local nonprofit
organizations, the library,
and the Siuslaw School
District.
Ken is survived by his
daughter, two grandsons
and many friends.
SMITH—Jack
Smith
died at home in Florence,
Ore., on Jan. 15, 2021, af-
ter a long-fought battle
with congestive heart fail-
ure.
He was born in Little
Rock, Ark., but the Ore-
gon coast was his home.
He was a graduate of
Siuslaw High in 1961,
where
h
e
stirred
up
a
little
trouble,
lettered
in foot-
ball and
track,
Jack Smith
a n d
made lifelong friends.
Jack’s career was spent
mostly in the woods as a
hook tender, but he had
also fought historic forest
fires, been a U.S. Forest
Service crew leader, and a
Safety Inspector for Ore-
gon Worker’s Compensa-
tion Department.
He was especially proud
of his work as an employ-
ment specialist for the
Oregon Employment De-
partment, matching hard
workers to good jobs or
sorting out their unem-
ployment benefits.
Jack, a man of the woods
was not light-hearted or an
easy guy to know. He was
as tough as calk boots.
He was not a man to be
crossed, but he was also a
fiercely loyal friend.
He had experienced
much in his life, which
made for good storytelling
and he did that well, re-liv-
ing the moments as he re-
told them. The ending of
his final chapter was just
that death won, fair and
square.
Until his health pre-
vented it, Jack spent his
life in nature, either work-
ing, hunting or hiking
with Shirley, his wife of
60-years. There were few
things he enjoyed more
than admiring a herd of
elk, happening upon a
field of wild tiger lilies or
just being in the stillness
of nature, where the dis-
cord of the world was si-
lenced.
Jack was preceded in
death by his parents Sealy
Smith and Carl Smith,
and his mother-in-law he
liked to call, “GM”- Vel-
ma Easling, and his canine
friends Token and Cody.
He is survived by his wife
Shirley who stuck by him
through thick and thin, his
children Jack jr., (Katrina),
Joni (Dan), and Jason (Ali-
cia), his grandchildren,
and his great-grandchil-
dren.
At his request, there will
be no services and his ash-
es will be freed in the plac-
es he found most special.
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
Beware of these COVID-related scams in 2021
Since the onset of the pan-
demic, criminals have used
tactics like identity theft and
social engineering to defraud
government and healthcare
programs and illegally cash
in — and the new year has
brought some new materi-
al for them to keep up their
scams.
COVID-19 vaccines, New
PPP loans, expanded gov-
ernment assistance — all
are positive developments
toward addressing the pan-
demic’s impact, but they
also afford opportunities for
criminals to fraudulently ex-
ploit.
On Dec. 21, federal agen-
cies alerted the public re-
garding the high potential
for fraud during the pan-
demic, especially now that a
vaccine is available.
Meanwhile,
fraudsters
are continuing their glob-
al phishing and spoofing
campaigns, baiting victims
with bogus promises of
COVID-19 testing, grants,
and prescription cards in ex-
change for personally identi-
fiable information (PII).
“Given
the
impact
COVID-19 has had on all
of our lives, it’s no surprise
that fraudsters are using it
to target peoples’ money and
sensitive information,” says
Kathryn Albright, Global
Payments & Deposits Exec-
utive with Umpqua Bank.
“But if you know what kinds
of red flags to be aware of
right now, it can really help
protect your business, and
you personally, in the long-
run.”
Beware of These Scams
• Recorded phone calls
(“Robocalls”) offering the
chance to avoid lines and get
vaccinated sooner for a set
price (e.g., $79.99).
• Advertisements and
price gouging for the sale of
fake or potentially danger-
ous (and unapproved, ille-
gitimate) COVID-19 “med-
icine” or treatments.
• Solicitations, whether in
person or via text, email, or
phone, asking you to provide
account information (finan-
cial or medical), click an un-
familiar or unexpected link,
or visit an unfamiliar web-
page in order to “sign up” for
treatment.
• Bogus “contact tracers”
who reach out to unsuspect-
ing victims and ask for PII
(e.g., Medicare number or
Siuslaw Library District
Board to hold special meeting
A special meeting of
the Siuslaw Public Library
District Board of Directors
will be held at 4 p.m. on
Monday, Jan. 25.
The Library Board will
be considering a response
to the proposed appoint-
ments to the Florence
Urban Renewal Agency
(FURA) Board of Direc-
tors.
This meeting will in-
clude remote participa-
tion by board members as
outlined in Governor Kate
Brown’s Executive Order
20-16.
The public is invited and
encouraged to attend re-
motely by phone or online,
and may submit questions
and public comments via
email prior to the meeting.
Basic information about
this attendance option is
available on the agenda.
Anyone in need of in-
struction in this atten-
dance method may also
reach out to Library Direc-
tor Meg Spencer directly at
meg@siuslawlibrary.org or
541-997-3132.
A complete agenda for
this meeting is available
online at www.siuslawli-
brary.org.
financial information) or at-
tempt to collect payment for
scheduling a test.
Legitimate contact tracers
don’t need such information
or payment.
Tips to Note
According to the AARP,
the key points federal offi-
cials want the public to un-
derstand when it comes to
preventing such scams are:
• Go to a trusted source
for vaccine information (e.g.,
your doctor or local health
department).
• Don’t buy a vaccine or
treatment off the Internet.
• The vaccine is provided
at no cost, although pro-
viders may charge a fee for
administration (that can be
reimbursed).
• Ignore any solicitations
about the vaccine that are
delivered to you via text mes-
sage, social media, phone
call, email, or in person, be-
cause health officials are not
contacting eligible people
using these methods.
• Don’t give money or any
type of PII to an unexpected
or unfamiliar party contact-
ing you about COVID-19,
because fraudsters can use
such information to defraud
healthcare organizations and
commit identity theft.
Remain Vigilant
For additional infor-
mation
regarding
the
COVID-19 response and
updated vaccine distribution
details, visit trusted sites like
CDC.gov and fda.gov/emer-
gency-preparedness-and-re-
sponse/coronavirus-disease
-2019-covid-19/covid-19-
vaccines periodically.
Also, exercise caution re-
garding unexpected or un-
familiar communications on
the topic.
If You See Something, Say
Something
“Fraudsters are adapting
fast, and even the smallest
amount of fraud can quickly
become a scam epidemic,”
says Albright. “Try to stay
ahead of the fraud game and
always keep a healthy skep-
ticism; hyper-vigilance is
necessary, even regarding an
unexpected opportunity for
COVID-19 treatment, as it’s
often said, ’If it sounds too
good to be true, it probably
is.’”
Contact your local law
enforcement agencies if you
think you’ve received fraud-
ulent communication.
COUNTY COVID STATS
Lane County Public
Health (LCPH) was notified
of at least 101 additional
positive cases of COVID-19
since noon on Jan. 21, along
with 3 deaths. This makes
a total of 8,578 cases as of
Jan. 22 at 9 a.m.
• Hospitalized: 17
• ICU: 6
• Deaths: 113
• Infectious: 368
• Current Vaccination
1st Dose Administration:
14,254
Testing: OHA is now ex-
cluding negative labs from
Opera in an effort to im-
prove performance.
This includes historic
negative labs.
Data regarding Lane
County testing, patient
status, case ZIP codes and
more is available at www.
LaneCountyOR.gov/local-
data.
In the 97439 ZIP code,
there are currently 140 ac-
tive cases as of Jan. 22.
The State of Oregon has
created a COVID-19 web
page with resources at www.
coronavirus.oregon.gov.
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Deadline for
Press Releases Is
Every
Monday and
Thursday by
Noon.
Email
PressReleases
@TheSiuslaw
News.com.
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