Seasonal respiratory infections are on the rise, and in an effort to stem the increase and protect everyone concerned, Samaritan Health has announced beefed up requirements for folks visiting their birthing units.
Masking will now be required for all staff and visitors, and nobody under age 12 will be permitted. Also, and this seems obvious, Sam Health is telling folks with a fever or respiratory symptoms to stay away, as well. The new restrictions apply for Corvallis and all of Samaritan’s hospitals in Linn and Lincoln counties.
In addition, during times of high community spread, Sam Health strongly recommends anyone coming into their facilities wear a medical-grade face mask. Staff will be required to mask up during face-to-face contact with patients during these times. Also, there be stronger measures called for in certain areas of the hospital.
Samaritan says, “These measures will stay in effect until rates of community spread of respiratory viruses drop to a lower level.”
For more information, click samhealth.org/Visitors.
Beloved Local Author Book Release Event, Thursday: Charles Goodrich will share details and excerpts from Weave Me a Crooked Basket, a novel featuring a ragtag troupe of land-defenders in a festival of resistance as they embark on a last-ditch effort to save a way of life on their farm that may disappear forever.
About the book, Robin Wall Kimmerer says, “You can tell that Charles Goodrich is both a gifted writer and an attentive gardener, giving us a heartening story that is grounded in the way that land and people can heal each other. He has cultivated characters so memorable that I missed them as soon as I read the last page.”
Goodrich is the author of four books of poetry, Watering the Rhubarb, A Scripture of Crows, Going to Seed: Dispatches from the Garden, and Insects of South Corvallis. He is also the author of a collection of essays, The Practice of Home, and has co-edited two anthologies, Forest Under Story: Creative Inquiry in an Old-Growth Forest and In the Blast Zone: Catastrophe and Renewal on Mount St. Helens.
Following a long career as a professional gardener and a decade working with the Spring Creek Project, Charles writes and gardens at his home near the confluence of the Marys and Willamette Rivers. Weave Me a Crooked Basket is his first novel.
This event is free and open to everyone. It is co-sponsored by the Spring Creek Project, the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, and Grass Roots Books & Music.
This event is scheduled for 5:30 pm, Thursday, Oct. 26 at the Corvallis-Benton County Library Main Meeting Room.
2nd Best College Town in America: Yes, Corvallis has made it toward the top of another top-ten list, this one compiled by Best Colleges. To make the list, a town needed students to make up a good portion of their population – and here in Corvallis, we’re talking 57% of residents. Our fair burg made it to second place on this list
Best Colleges said, “In the heart of the Willamette Valley, Corvallis is a charming town with bike-friendly streets, a strong brewery culture, and year-round mild temperatures.”
They also noted that Oregon State University is one of just three institutions nationwide to hold land, sun, sea and space grant memberships.
First place went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and third place went to Bozeman, Montana.
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