Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/13192
Saturday, July 10, 2010 – Daily News – 3A To add an upcoming event in the Local Calendar, submit Local Calendar information well in advance to the Daily News, attention Calendar, P.O. Box 220, Red Bluff, 96080 or e-mail to clerk@redbluffdailynews.com.Include a contact name and telephone number. SATURDAY, JULY 10 Red Bluff Airplane Display Days, 8 a.m.-1 p.m., Red Bluff Airport, 1760 Airport Blvd., 527-6547 Decorative Brushes of No. California, 10 a.m., Red Bluff Community and Senior Center, 1500 S. Jackson St. Farmers Market, 8 a.m. to noon, Red Bluff River Park, 527-6220 Screening of ‘The Prodigal’, 7:10 p.m.., New Hope Foursquare Church, 925 Walnut St., free admis- sion, popcorn, 209-7791 Corning Community CPR, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Corning City Hall, 794 Third St., $55, 673-14460 or threerivers.red- cross.org/Corning_Classes.php Manton 2010 Barrel Tasting Weekend,noon to 5 p.m., Indi- an Peak Vineyards, 31559 Forward Road, 474-5506, free admission Manton Grange Annual Picnic, 11 a.m.to 4 p.m., Rockin CR Ranch, 21629 Cedar Ridge Road SUNDAY, JULY 11 Red Bluff 9th Annual Ecuadorian Dinner and Silent Auc- tion Fundraiser, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Vineyard Christian Fellowship, 728 Walnut St., $25 couples, $15 adults, $8 children, 527-2449 or redbluffvineyard.com Airplane Display Days, 8 a.m.-1 p.m., Red Bluff Airport, 1760 Airport Blvd., 527-6547 BloodSource Blood Drive, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., 1005 South Jackson St., 866-822-5663 or blood- source.org Decorative Brushes of No. California, 10 a.m., Red Bluff Community and Senior Center, 1500 S. Jackson St. Knights of Columbus Breakfast, 7:30 a.m. to noon, $4 per person or $10 per family, Sacred Heart Parish Hall, 2285 Monroe St., 527-6310 WHEE Picnic and Prayer Circle, 4:20 p.m., 22116 Riverside Ave. Manton 2010 Barrel Tasting Weekend,noon to 5 p.m., Indi- an Peak Vineyards, 31559 Forward Road, 474-5506, free admission MONDAY, JULY 12 Red Bluff Al-Anon, 6 p.m., Presbyterian Church, Jefferson and Hickory Cardiac Support Group, 7 p.m., St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, Columba Room, 527-5077 Head Injury Recreational Entity, 10 a.m., St.Eliz- abeth Community Hospital, Coyne Center, Rusty, 529- 2059 Key to Life, 6 p.m., Family Resource Center, 220 Sycamore St. Ste. 101, 528-8066 Red Bluff Community Band Concerts in the Park, 8-9 p.m., Red Bluff River Park, 527-3486 Salvation Army Writing Class, 9:30 to 11 a.m., 940 Walnut St., 527-8530 Sons In Retirement Luncheon Meeting, 11: 30 a.m., Riverside Bar and Grill, 529-5700 Spartan Athletic Booster Club, 6:30 p.m. Red Bluff Union High School Media Center/ Library Sun Country Quilters Community Service Group, 9 a.m.to 3 p.m., Family Resource Center, 220 Sycamore St. Ste. 101, 528-8066 Tehama County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, 7 p.m., Stillwell Training Center, Park Ave. near Baker Road. 527-7546 Corning Corning Neighborhood Watch, 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 794 Third St. Narcotics Anonymous, 7 p.m., 815 First St., 385- 1169 or 566-5270. Meetings are everyday through Saturday with an additional meeting at noon on Mon- days Sewing group, 9 a.m., Family Resource Center, West and South streets, 824-7670 Spanish Adult Education, 5 p.m., Family Resource Center, corner of West and South streets, 824-7670 Strategies for Success, Life Skill classes, 1:30 p.m., Family Resource Center, West and South streets, 824-7670 TUESDAY, JULY 13 Red Bluff Antelope School Board, 5:30 p.m., Berrendos School Library, 401 Chestnut Ave. Bend School Board, 6:30 p.m., 22270 Bend Ferry Road Community BLS/CPR class, 6 p.m., St. Eliza- beth Community Hospital, Columba Room, 529- 8031 International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, 6:45 P.M., Masonic Hall 822 Main St. 527-6715 PAL Kickboxing, 4 p.m., 1450 Schwab St., 529-8716 or 200-3950 Photo club, 6 p.m., Family Resource Center, 220 Sycamore St. Ste. 101, 528-8066 Debt manager put to the test Over the years, I have written several columns about the dangers of debt settlement firms. My main complaint is that they are expensive, unregulated and may cause more problems for your credit than they solve. Most of these compa- nies suggest you stop pay- ing your credit card bills -- and instead divert that monthly amount to a set- aside account. When you've accumulated enough money, they'll take their fees - - and then they'll try to negotiate a settlement with your creditor for less than the full amount you owe. NewEraDebtSolu- tions.com takes most of its fees based on performance. A client pays only 3 per- cent of the debt owed as an upfront retainer, payable over two months. Then an additional 15 percent of the total amount owed is paid to New Era when a suc- cessful negotiation is con- cluded. And the consumer gets a 1 percent refund for completing the program. Plus New Era offers guarantees: If a consumer does not save at least 25 percent of the debt with any one creditor, they are not charged a settlement fee on that portion of the debt. And if the consumer doesn't receive at least one settlement offer for less than 50 percent of the bal- ance, during the first year, they can get a return of 100 percent of any fees they have paid. While the consumer ultimately owes 17 percent of the gross debt amount in fees, most of that amount is based on performance -- a successful completion of the negotiation. The company says it will negotiate credit-card debt, outstanding medical bills, repossessed vehicle debt and general unsecured debt. It does not get involved with mortgage or home-equity debt or stu- dent loans. One other note: The amount of the debt grows during the negotiation peri- od because interest and penalties accrue. But the fees are charged on the original amount of debt the consumer brings to New Era. Each client has a dedi- cated service representa- tive and a dedicated nego- tiator to handle their account. There's no guarantee of a settlement, but they get their fees. In the meantime, your account becomes seri- ously delinquent, your credit is fur- ther ruined -- and the card issuer may even get a judgment against you and garnish your wages. The sad fact is that with most of these companies, the debtor never accumu- lates enough cash to make an offer to the card issuer - - but the negotiating com- pany gets paid anyway. After writing a column on this topic, I received a call from Alex Viecco, vice president and co-founder of New Era Debt Solu- tions, based in Camarillo, Calif. Viecco spent some time trying to convince me that his company was dif- ferent and that they really do have a track record of helping debtors reduce their obligations. Plus, they only collect most of their fee when a debt-reduction deal is consummated. Viecco claimed that New Era has put thousands of people through this pro- gram and that their clients wind up paying an average of only 44 percent of the "enrolled balance," not including fees. Its website boasts that it has settled over $153 million of gross debt. I still wasn't convinced. Plus, I must admit to a bias that says if you took on the debt, you should make every effort to repay it in full, instead of getting out of it. By strange coincidence, that very same week I received an e-mail from a man called Peter, who explained that he had roughly $27,000 in credit- card debt and couldn't even make the minimum monthly pay- ments. Howev- er, he was expecting a tax refund of approximately $10,000. Peter wanted my opinion on using a debt negotiation ser- vice. I gave him Terry my negative views and warnings, but I also remem- bered my recent conver- sation with Alex Viecco. Would he be interested in experimenting? I offered to put him in touch, while warning him of the dangers to his credit should the process go awry. Savage The Savage Truth on Money right in saying that you have to wait a while to get a good settlement." So it worked for Peter -- because he had the cash upfront to make a quick offer to the card issuer. New Era says its program works even for those who must accumulate the cash, or have debt that has been sold to a collection company. This is not an endorsement of New Era, or of any other debt settle- ment firm. Nor is it a moral judgment After discussing the process with New Era, Peter decided to go ahead with the debt negotiation program. With the permis- sion of both, I followed the progress over the next few months. Of course, this wasn't a fair test of the ser- vice, because the company knew that I would be mon- itoring the results. The results were quite a surprise to me, to say the least. Peter entered the pro- gram with $26,700 in debt on one credit card. He ini- tially paid $800 as a retain- er fee (of which $400 was eventually returned to him). New Era obtained a set- tlement that required Peter to pay only $7,185 to the card issuer, an additional $3,605 in settlement fees, plus the $400 reduced deposit. Peter saved -- or, more accurately, avoided paying -- $15,510. His credit report will show the debt as "settled for less than full balance." His reaction: "What a relief! I was fairly skepti- cal, and I know you were, too," he told me. "But the beauty of these guys was they didn't take any money up front. It took them sev- eral months, but they were Air pollution grant funds The Tehama County Air Pollution Control Dis- trict has grant funds avail- able under the Carl Moyer Program to assist Tehama County individuals and businesses in reducing pollutants from diesel engines by replacing agri- cultural off-road diesel equipment, repowering or retrofitting off-road equipment with newer and cleaner technologies Police reports The following infor- mation is compiled from Red Bluff Police Depart- ment, Tehama County Sheriff’s Department, Corning Police Depart- ment and California Highway Patrol. Fire • CalFire responded to a grass fire at 5:22 p.m. Thursday on Third and Shasta avenues in Los Molinos. The spot fire was contained at 5:31 p.m. and CalFire cleared at 6:07 p.m. The cause is undetermined. Hit and run • A hit and run at 6:15 p.m. on Flores Avenue west of Interstate 5 result- ed in 40 feet of field fence being damaged. The unknown driver was going west on Flores Avenue at an unknown speed in a red Toyota pickup when they veered across the eastbound lane, ran off the road and through a drainage ditch before going through a field fence. The driver fled the scene in the pick- up going west on Flores. or repowering agricultural irrigation diesel engines with electric motors. Grants will be made available to qualified applicants subject to the requirements of the pro- gram. Applications may be obtained by calling the district at 527-3717, or logging on to www.tehcoapcd.net. Applications for this Arrests • Kayla Christina Hen- derson, 22, Corning, was arrested Thursday morn- ing on Edith Avenue by the CPD on suspicion of using fraud to obtain financial aid. Bail was set at $10,000. • Elijah Robert Roche- leau, 26, Proberta, was arrested early Thursday morning at the corner of Main and Willow streets on suspicion of carrying illegal weaponry. Bail was set at $10,000. Theft • Someone reported a burglary Thursday after- noon at their Happy Val- ley Trail residence. •A burglary was reported Thursday morning to a property on Joe Dog Lane. • Items were reported stolen from a garage funding cycle will be accepted until Aug. 4. Projects will be consid- ered based on cost effec- tiveness of the project and date of application receipt. Applications should be submitted to Tehama County APCD, P. O. Box 8069, Red Bluff, CA 96080. The office is at 1750 Walnut St. in Red Bluff. Thursday morning on Washington Street. • A vehicle was reported broken into, from which a wallet was stolen, Thursday night on Mina Avenue. • An iPod was report- ed stolen Thursday morning from Franklin Street. It was described as pink and silver, and worth about $125. Vandalism There was reported damage to an electronic message board belong- ing to Tehama County Public Works on Thurs- day morning on Walnut Street. about the issue of dumping out of your obligations. But to be fair, I had to tell this story. I trust my read- ers to judge for themselves. And that's The Savage Truth. Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and is on the board of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. She can be reached at www.terrysavage.com. She is the author of the new book, "The New Savage Number: How Much Money Do You Really Need to Retire?" 530-528-8120 10 Gilmore Rd. Red Bluff Corner of Antelope & Gilmore Limited time offer expires July 31, 2010. Other conditions and restric- tions may apply. See store for full details. Offer valid only at NorCal AT&T Authorized Retailer stores. Rebate debit card offer. Price before mail-in rebate is $149.99. Must purchase BlackBerry Unlimited Plan and sign new 2 year service agreement ot qualify for discounted pricing and rebate. Retail price Blackberry Pearl 8110 is $399.99. ATTENTION! Persons interested in forming a NEW CHURCH in Red Bluff that’s Presbyterian, Calvinistic, & Evangelistic, committed to the absolute truth of the Holy Bible & the doctrines of the Westminster Standards, contact pastor David Stark at Grace Presbyterian in Redding, 530-223-5288. Bible Study in Red Bluff Tuesdays 530-528-8120 10 Gilmore Rd. Red Bluff Corner of Antelope & Gilmore