Hundreds of Central Oregonians who can't pay their bills have their water shut off. For people like Lynette Nicks, who's recovering from cancer, that's especially dangerous.
By Patrick Cliff / The Bulletin
Lynette Nicks, who has struggled with breast cancer for two years, has not been able to pay her bills lately. On Feb. 15, if she doesn't pay her water bill, the city of Redmond plans to cut off her service. Nicks and her son Chad, 12, may move temporarily to her parents' home near Prineville. “It's easy to see how people get behind and give up,” she says.
Pete Erickson / The Bulletin
REDMOND —
Lynette Nicks has not worked for the past two years, instead fighting the breast cancer that has consumed much of her energy and resources.
She's used up $26,000 in savings to pay her bills.
Now, the money is gone, and one bill she can't pay is one of the most critical: her water bill.
The city will cut her water service on Feb. 15 if she can't come up with the $140 that is overdue. She says she doesn't have the money and is resigned to losing water.
Nicks, 39, will be one of about 100 Redmond residents and several hundred Central Oregonians who lose their water service this month. Local water utilities have been shutting off dozens of water accounts each month as people struggle to pay bills.
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Welcome to World Water War and Food Fight Fest!
ReplyDeleteWhy is everyone a victim? What is the water company supposed to do give it to her for free? It is universal that every person who is getting their water shut off has a sad story to tell. Why wait to move into your parents until your out of money? These stories pull at everyone's vulnerability as a human being but the takeaway should be that families need to take of each other first. The rate payers/tax payers should not and are not morally bound to do so. That is what charitable giving is all about. Does this women belong to a church or community? There are groups out there that will help. My guess is she has already been flooded with some degree of help just from the article....
ReplyDeleteI am amazed. The US really has turned into a third world country.
ReplyDeleteCant take care of its own citizens.
Truelly amazing
You should have been a better wife and stayed married.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of a retarded nation allows water to be shut off from its citizenry?
ReplyDeleteIt should REALLY be obvious to all Americans that it boils down to this: bankers vs. The People.
Wake up. They get trillions while you're denied, water? SERIOUS???
8:31 Right on the money!!!!! Watch national Geographic about the gangs in the U.S. and the ill.mexicans crossing our boarders.They are interviewed and spout out the same victim crap as here with the housing etc.that somehow it makes it ok to commit crimes for poverty etc.,and whatever they want. Unbelievable!!!! The big bank bonus crowds will get what they deserve in due time I believe also--
ReplyDeleteWowza it is bad. I just got a letter from a 30-year old firm that said goodbye. They are a huge nut and bolt distributor. They hung on by their fingernails for the last two years and now 140 employees are out of work. I've known the owner all my life.
ReplyDeleteEveryone here should have the means to store or get access to emergency water, water filtration devices. Very important!
ReplyDeleteAlways have 2-3 gallons of non-additive bleach on hand.
Better yet google MMS Miracle Water. It kills every pathogen and leaves no trace.
If you were really hurting for water and had a katydyn and a nearby water puddle in the road, you could live.
ReplyDelete9:02
ReplyDeleteThe US government has taken away, on a large scale, the ability for the US citizen to take care of itself! Illegal Immigration, over-taxation, spending craze, unnecessary social programs. The list is endless...
The article says that she is using child support to pay her mortgage. How much is her mortgage compared with local rents? Single moms get child support, Earned Income Credit, Oregon Working Family Credits, etc.....Listen, I don't mind helping needy people but this lady isn't one of them. $140?? Sorry, this article doesn't pass the smell test.
ReplyDelete8:31 Kinda hits it on the head...People refuse to lessen their lifestyles till the very end.
ReplyDeleteThis lady should have moved in to her friends/family or rented cheaper etc etc.
Most Americans hold on and on till they're lose one thing at a time and are left with nothing in the end.
I take care of my mother and we already decided that if anything happens we drop everything but the car and move her to my sis's and in a group manner we try to help each other.
I'm not going to wait till the wolves are at the door...I know American Nature is to hold and hope for the best but the new mindset should be...Survival.
Trust me survival will make you a better person...Make you tougher, meaner, better shape, less crap in your body and clearer mind.
I feel for this lady and I see she tried to pay her med bills but she could have gone small on the medical payments and kept cash on hand for emergencies.
Our city has a program in the winter regarding heat/electric bills. You can give an extra dollar with your bill and it goes to someone having trouble paying their heat bill. 600K people gave so far this year helping the elderly and lower income. Water companies should do the same. It's VOLUNTARY.
ReplyDeleteJust dump your sewage in the front gutter.
ReplyDelete@9:18 AM
ReplyDeleteYou are right, man. They have trillions of dollars for the fraudulent bailouts, trillions of dollars to conduct illegal wars, trillions of dollars to spy on their citizens, billions of dollars to block the free speech on the internet, but.........they do not have money to pay a public utility company (which is probably what it is) to supply water to its citizens. Not only that, counties and cities jacking up property taxes on ever falling property values. WTF is wrong with you, people. Stop TF paying your credit cards and mortgages, let the system collapse. Otherwise they'll eat you one by one.
This is shameful.
ReplyDeleteThere is a man in the town I live in that owns the water company. He buys the water from Kansas City and resells it to us. He shuts water off all winter and anytime he doesn't get paid. Man cannot live without water. It takes a while to starve, but three days do die from dehydration. Water should be free and provided as a basic service to all citizens of this country. I can live without city water, but most people can't. I find it very disappointing that needy people should have their water cut off. I love my country, but we have become a very worldly country... full of hate and selfishness.
ReplyDeleteOur gas company charge 25.00 a month to just have (a fee of some sort) gas. That is whether you use any or not. I called the gas company and they said that a lot of people just have their gas shut off in the spring and turned back on in the late fall. My house has 100 amp service and the box is full or I would put in an electric hot water heater, stove, and furnace. Wait a minute, it would be cheaper to move. Property values are so low I am upside down in my house. It would cost 6000.00 to have the electrical service increased to 200 amp and buy all new stuff. Oh well I will just pay the 25.00 a month.
ReplyDeleteWonder how much she blows on NASCAR? Enough to pay the water bill? Bet she still has premium cable.
ReplyDelete1:48 Are you a member of MUFON. I think I recognize your typing.
ReplyDelete1:48, guaranteed she has cable TV with 500 channels, those are constitutional rights just like health care.
ReplyDeleteObongo says so.
What got me in the article was this line--"Her three-bedroom home is spotless, though three dogs often run through the house excitedly." If I'm not mistaken, you actually have to feed the dogs and that cost money. As a previous poster stated, "this article doesn't pass the smell test."
ReplyDeleteThree dogs?? her priorities are backwards!Get rid of the dogs. She could move in section 8 and go on medicaid.
ReplyDeleteHer water bill and future water bills are now paid.
ReplyDeleteWow ! some of these opening comments are amazing what's next - everyone is guaranteed free AC and free heat ? followed by free electricity and olympic size pool ?
ReplyDeletePriorities - and re-read the article because she has none
"Pets are not a "priority" they are like family."
ReplyDeleteSo the rest of are expected to give up something our families need to feed and water her pets. Redistribution requires somebody else to lose out.
She needs to sell the three bed house, live cheaper, and pay her own water bill.
I really am not feeling sorry for her at this point. She needs to put some skin in the game first, then I'll choke up and get some tears.
Seriously, since we have crooks running the country, we must get everybody to photocopy money. We are fcuking pissed off with governments. Just get everybody to photocopy money to fcuk governments off.
ReplyDeleteThese "mean" people will slaughter eachother soon enough. They talk a big game, but dont really know hqw to play. Let them perish and it will be easier on those that prepared which includes pets. I hope none of you have to make life changing sacrifices and I hope some of you DO.
ReplyDelete6:04 Obama voter alert. Get real. The US was in a financial bubble that allowed a lot of aberations in our social make up. Pets? I have a dog and love it but excess financial resources allows society to humanize the animals. Birthdays, clothes, entire retail stores dedicated to this crap. Mean while community connections, religeosity and other human connections have decline. So now when you can't pay the water bill you have a dog that still needs to eat. It is sad but should not be a burden to the rest of society is a mater of choice. "Mean" has nothing to do with it. You are not standing far enough back from the process to see how it is affecting your choices. I love my dog but she loves me but she is an animal and a that relationship is a luxury. People priorities have gotten out of whack because of all the government promises.
ReplyDelete7:44 You will sow what you reap. I hope when you're down and out someone won't refuse to help you because they don't feel that you've "earned" it somehow.
ReplyDeleteThis is a time period when we should all be more compassionate and learn to give to one another. Those who don't will never learn the basic lesson of what it means to be HUMAN.
Have a nice day.
Having worked with the poor for the year I know by experience one thing in relation to the comments made here. The folks that are criticizing her will do very little to help an American in need.
ReplyDeleteRedistribution??????? Some people still dont get it !!!----Whats left of this country is still free as far as I see it.I bust my a** for every penny I earn----My family comes first in my book.If you want to Redistribute your income,Knock yourself out with all(YOUR MONEY) you got! My money doesnt include your Change.Thats one big problem with the economy right now.I lost my job,moved,downscaled allmost everything in my families life and you dopes want more (Taxes,etc.) of what I earn for people who dont give up anything---THINK AGAIN!!!-----Being selfish is what I call survival!!!
ReplyDelete1:19, Go out in the world and see the real poor, they don't live in 3 bedroom homes with three dogs and NASCAR memorabilia adorning their living room. Try a Maytag box under the bridge in a bad part of town.
ReplyDeleteI don't cast my pearls before the swine. I help those that are truly in need giving to the local homeless shelter and food bank.
Have a nice day.
This is the end result of a private banking cartel taking over the monetary system of our country, the federal reserve act of 1913.
ReplyDeleteThe woes have never stopped coming ever since then. Those people truly feel that we are beneath them.
Here is the end result: The wealth stolen, and full on poverty.
This is the devils work, and pray for Jesus to clear this problem up, but we all must first get on our knees.
Lotsa vindictive comments here! Look how young she is! I'm sure she didn't think she would be facing cancer any time soon.
ReplyDeleteShe was a taxpayer till she got sick. Let's give her a break. If she has a few extra luxuries, so what. She couldn't get much for them in this depression. She deserves luxuries as much as those breastfed CEOs on the Wall St. bailout.
Any relationship to Stevie Nicks?
ReplyDeleteMs. Nicks you should check out that website called clarkhoward.com. They could give you great financial counseling for free. They will make an appointment with you by phone and call you back.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you need to get a lot of diverse things coordinated. I hate to think you will lose your house over $140.
To Anonymous 1:42--
ReplyDeleteThat was a wonderful constructive idea you had -- let the water company take up vountary donations.