Rhode Island
Rhode Island Insurance Division Issues 'Professional Courtesies' Bulletin
The Rhode Island Insurance Division issued a bulletin to inform property/casualty insurers about “professional courtesies” expected from licensed Insurance claims adjusters and licensed P/C insurance companies while interacting with claimants or their legal representatives during the claims process.
The division, which falls under the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, expects the following four types of actions to be taken by all licensed insurers and adjusters:
- Insurers and adjusters must communicate a change in assigned claim adjuster within 10 business days to any claimant or their legal representative.
- Insurers and adjusters must ensure communications about a claim to a claimant provides a response channel that allows for email responses to the communication to be monitored by the insurer or adjuster.
- Adjusters must provide their supervisor’s contact information when requested by a claimant or their legal representative.
- When an insurer or adjuster is appropriately notified of legal representation for a particular claimant in a particular claim, the insurer or adjuster must both acknowledge receipt of that representation and provide all relevant contact information for any assigned adjuster or other relevant employee of the Insurer.
The department warned that a consistent failure to adhere to these professional standards is a violation of Rhode Island insurance laws.
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Rhode Island
Oregon wildfire explodes to half the size of Rhode Island
By Rich McKay
(Reuters) -Winds and lightning strikes have sparked and fanned wildfires across the Pacific Northwest this week, including the largest fire currently burning in the U.S., which was rapidly expanding near the Oregon-Idaho border on Friday.
The Durkee Fire near Huntington, Oregon, has scorched 600 square miles (1,600 square km), an area more than half the size of Rhode Island’s land mass, authorities said. It is threatening several towns.
The blaze was set off by lightning on July 17, and wind gusts up to 60 mph (100 kph) drove the flames across brush, timberland and ranches, killing hundreds of cattle. The fire was only 20% contained on Friday, officials said.
While there is zero chance of rain through next week, winds have dropped and cooler air is in store, said meteorologist Marc Chenard of the National Weather Service.
“Hopefully it gives firefighters a break,” he said.
As of Thursday, wildfires this year have burned almost 1 million acres (400,000 hectares) in Oregon and 125,900 acres in Washington, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland, Oregon.
In 2020, the worst year in recent memory, Oregon wildfires scorched more than 1.14 million acres, according to a tally by CBS TV affiliate KOIN.
In California, the Park Fire, believed to have been started by an arsonist, has forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 residents in Butte County, about 100 miles northeast of Sacramento.
A suspect was arrested on Thursday, accused of pushing a burning car down a bone-dry gully.
The fire grew uncontrolled overnight from 125,000 acres on Thursday to 178,090 acres on Friday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. More than a hundred buildings had been damaged or destroyed.
“The biggest challenge with this fire is getting to it,” said Fire Captain Dan Collins. “It’s steep land with almost no roads. It’s hard to get our people and equipment to the fire lines.”
More than 1,600 firefighters were deployed to contain the blaze, CalFire said.
Forecasters warned that winds would reach 30 miles mph (50 kph) on Friday and through the weekend. Combined with low humidity, it is a recipe for rapid growth, officials said.
Smoke from fires in western Canada and the Pacific Northwest have brought hazy skies and unhealthy air from the Rocky Mountains to Minneapolis and as far east as Detroit, weather reports said.
Denver had the worst air quality in the U.S. on Friday and ranked the 30th worst in the world, according to IQAir, a group that tracks air pollution across the globe.
Much of the smoke coming into the Central and Eastern U.S. comes from a raging wildfire in the mountainous Jasper National Park in the Canadian province of Alberta.
The park and the town of Jasper, which draws more than 2 million tourists a year, were evacuated on Monday, displacing 10,000 residents and 15,000 park visitors. As much as half of the structures in the town could be damaged or destroyed, officials said, as the blaze burned more than 89,000 acres as of late Thursday.
Videos posted on social media show entire streets leveled by the blazes in the Alberta province, with scorched trees, charred metal skeletons of cars, and nothing but rubble where homes and businesses had stood.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Rod Nickel, Sandra Maler and William Mallard)
Rhode Island
EG's RIM Best of Rhode Island Winners
Rhode Island
How to watch/stream: Rhode Island at the Little League Softball regional championship
Cranston Western Little League Softball is on the doorstep of reaching the national tournament.
The Rhode Island state champions reached the New England regional finals with a 6-5 comeback win vs. Massachusetts on Wednesday. And now the Ocean State team plays in the winner-take-all championship in Bristol, Connecticut at noon.
If you can’t make the drive to see Rhode Island’s best, you can still watch from afar.
Stream links and television information for the championship vs. Connecticut is below.
How they got there: RI is off to the Little League Softball regional title game
How to watch the New England Little League Softball championship
Date: Friday, July 26
Time: Noon
Location: A. Bartlett Giamatti Little League Leadership Training Center in Bristol, Connecticut
Stream: ESPN
Previous matchup: Rhode Island topped Connecticut, 13-3, in the opening game of the New England tournament. The Ocean State tacked on eight runs in the bottom of the fourth that broke open a 5-3 game. RI piled up eight hits and 11 RBIs in the big win.
jrousseau@providencejournal.com
On X: @ByJacobRousseau
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