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COURTESYPHOTO PrimeCinemaswillpresentaliveOscarstelecastinpartnershipwiththeRedBluff- Tehama County Chamber of Commerce starting at 5 p.m. Sunday, with the doors opening at 4 p.m. Admission is free. The event will have beer and wine available and a ballot competition for the night's nominations. Prizes and raffle tickets will be part of the fun. Red carpet attire encouraged as a Studio 530 photo booth will be on site. PRIMECINEMAS VIEWTHEAWARDS The Internal Revenue Service this week issued a filing season alert warning taxpayers to watch out for identity theft at tax time, one of the year's "Dirty Dozen" tax scams. The IRS continues to ag- gressively pursue the crim- inals that file fraudulent re- turns using someone else's Social Security number. "We remain dedicated to stopping tax-related iden- tity theft and protecting taxpayers, and we are mak- ing important progress on that front. Taxpayers still need to be extremely care- ful and do everything they can to avoid becoming a victim," said IRS Commis- sioner John Koskinen. The Dirty Dozen is com- piled annually by the IRS and lists a variety of com- mon scams taxpayers may encounter any time during the year. Many of these con games peak during filing season as people prepare their tax returns or hire someone to do so. Tax-related identity theft occurs when someone uses your stolen Social Security number to file a tax return claiming a fraudulent re- fund. While the IRS has made significant strides over the past several years to address this issue, it re- mains a top concern for the IRS, which is why identity theft remains on the Dirty Dozen again list this year as the IRS works to protect taxpayers and help victims. As a result of these ag- gressive efforts to combat identity theft from 2011 through October 2014, the IRS has stopped 19 million suspicious returns and pro- tected over $63 billion in fraudulent refunds. For 2015, the IRS will continue to increase both the number and efficiency of the identity theft data models and filters that are used to identify potentially fraudulent returns. These pre-refund filters stop the vast majority of fraudulent returns. Additionally, the IRS continues to expand its partnerships with financial institutions to identity and stop fraudulent refunds. IRS Criminal Investi- gation continues its ro- bust efforts, and in Fiscal Year 2014, the IRS initi- ated 1,063 identity theft-re- lated investigations. Crim- inal Investigation enforce- ment efforts resulted in 748 sentencings as compared to 438 in FY 2013, an in- crease of 75 percent. Our incarceration rate rose to 87.7 percent as compared to 80.6 percent in FY 2013. The courts imposed signifi- cant jail time with the aver- age months to serve in FY 2014 at 43 months as com- pared to 38 months in FY 2013 with the longest sen- tencing being 27 years. In an effort to help vic- tims, the IRS has issued approximately 1.5 million Identity Protection PINs (IP PINs.) The IP PIN is a unique, six-digit num- ber that is assigned annu- ally to victims of identity theft with resolved cases for use when filing their federal tax return. The IP PIN will allow these indi- viduals to avoid delays in filing returns and receiv- ing refunds. This year, the IRS will continue its IP PIN pilot program that allows tax- payers who filed tax re- turns last year from Flor- ida, Georgia or the District of Columbia to opt into the IP PIN program. Addition- ally, the IRS is offering ap- proximately 1.7 million tax- payers the opportunity to opt in to the IP PIN pro- gram in instances where the IRS has identified indi- cations of identity theft on their accounts. The IRS offers the follow- ing tips as ways to protect you from becoming a victim of identity theft: Don't carry your Social Security card or any docu- ments that include your So- cial Security number or In- dividual Taxpayer Identifi- cation Number, don't give a business your SSN or ITIN just because they ask. Give it only when required, pro- tect your financial informa- tion, check your credit re- port every 12 months, re- view your Social Security Administration earnings statement annually, se- cure personal information in your home, protect your personal computers by us- ing firewalls and anti-spam and virus software, updat- ing security patches and changing passwords for In- ternet accounts, don't give personal information over the phone, through the mail or on the Internet un- less you have initiated the contact or you are sure you know who you are dealing with. For more information, see the special identity theft section on IRS.gov. TAX SCAM Identity the a major concern on IRS list The Tehama County Mental Health Board will meet at noon, Wednes- day, Feb. 25 at the Tehama County Health Services Agency, Antelope Creek Room, 1850 Walnut St., Bldg. G. For additional in- formation, please call 527- 8 4 91 , e x t en sion 3018. MEETING Tehama County Mental Health Board meeting set By Sue Manning The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Honoring actors brings out red car- pets, couture and — some- times — creatures. A monkey who's starred in 25 movies over two de- cades was top dog at the sixth annual Pawscars, the animal version of the Oscars. Waving a statue over her head in triumph, a beaming Crystal accepts the "lifetime diva achieve- ment award" looking every bit the part in a pink, floor- length gown and neck- lace during the show that streamed online Wednes- day. The Capuchin monkey, who played a Ben Stiller- slapping, key-stealing pri- mate in "Night at the Mu- seum" and a drug-dealing monkey in "Hangover Part II," is "the Angelina Jolie of animal stars," said "NCIS" actress Pauley Perrette, who hosted the show with teen actor Lou Wegner. Holding her tiny hand, Perrette asks the prolific primate: "So Crystal, you have starred with some of the top leading men of all times — Bradley Cooper, Ben Stiller, Matt Damon, Robin Williams — did you have a favorite?" Crystal nods and chit- ters as her "answer" ap- pears on screen: "Robin did call me his favorite leading lady, but my favor- ite leading man has to be my trainer Tom Gunder- son." As pets become more important parts of every- day life, including on film and TV, animal award shows have grown in pop- ularity. Pets already took the limelight at the World Dog Awards, the Puppy Bowl and Kitten Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday, and the Westminster dog show. Like the Oscars, the Pawscars wrap up awards season but are far more low-key. The hosts announced the awards from armchairs in Perrette's Hollywood guest house, while Crys- tal perches on a nearby ottoman. Other winners are sent an official Paws- cars certificate and spe- cial treat. Praise for animals on set doesn't come without detractors: People for the Ethical Treatment of An- imals says live animals don't belong in film and TV work. The American Humane Association, the group hosting the Paws- cars, has a 75-year-old program that ensures the safety of animal actors and gives its approval by allow- ing the familiar "No Ani- mals Were Harmed" tag- line to roll in movie cred- its. Other Pawscars include: BestYoungAnimal Performer A trio of pit bull pup- pies won for their work in the late James Gandolfini's last film, "The Drop." It took T, Puppers, Ice and a makeup artist to bring to life Rocco, a dog that ap- pears in the mob drama. Puppies grow so fast that the film needed three and non-toxic makeup to make them match. Best Supporting Equine The award goes to Dale, a horse in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" who carries the apes' leader. It looks like the apes ride bareback, thanks to spe- cial-effects markers on the saddles that are removed in post-production, Per- rette said. In scenes where the horses appear to be jump- ing over fire, they are ac- tually jumping over a foot- high bar with flickering lights. Best Aquatic Performance The honor goes to Sa- vannah, who plays a dol- phin that dies in "Dol- phin Tale 2," but she avoided having to learn a death scene thanks to animatronics. As for the other marine life, the American Humane Association made sure no animal worked more than an hour without a break. Best Ensemble The animals of "Wild" prevail: Muffet the horse, Dharma the fox, Fred the rattlesnake, Tess the dog, Sport the rab- bit and Taiga the llama. In the film about a wom- an's solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail, 40 frogs cover a sleeping Reese Witherspoon, but a foot-high barrier sur- rounding her meant no single frog was lost, We- gner said. Pawscars honor to p an im al a ct or s The Red Bluff Elemen- tary School Board will be hosting an open forum for parents and commu- nity members of the Red Bluff Union Elementary School District at 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Jackson Heights Elemen- tary School, 225 Jackson St. in the multipurpose room. Board members are looking for positive input and constructive criticism on how to better meet the needs of the students. The board is looking for information and thoughts from parents and com- munity members rela- tive to their school sites — Bidwell, Metteer, Jackson Heights and Vista Prepa- ratory Academy. The purpose of the meeting is to receive input regarding school buildings and grounds, meals served on site and transportation issues. The board is at- tempting to improve com- munication and create a strong working relation- ship within the commu- nity. There will be comment cards in English and Span- ish for those who wish to address the board anony- mously. There will be refresh- ments and childcare pro- vided for those who want to participate. RED BLUFF Elementary School Board to host open forum CREATURES Tehama County resi- dents who work with chil- dren have an opportunity to learn about child abuse reporting this month. The Tehama County Child Abuse Prevention Council is hosting a free mandated reporter train- ing 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26 at the Red Bluff Com- munity Center, 1500 S. Jackson St. The training includes the essentials of reporting, including the definition of a mandated reporter, the history of child abuse re- porting and child protec- tion services and how to file a report in Tehama County. The training will feature a panel of experts from law enforcement, the county counsel's office and the Child Welfare Depart- ment to answer questions about reporting. "There is nothing more important to our society than the protection of our children," said Mike Lind- sey, vice chairman and event coordinator for the council. "This training is essential for all persons to take, not just mandated re- porters. We all play a key role in ensuring that, if a child appears to be in dan- ger, swift action is taken to protect the child and hope- fully mitigate any long term effects." The mandated child abuse reporting laws only date back to 1963, when the first laws were passed requiring physicians to re- port suspected abuse in their patients. The Child Abuse and Neglect Re- porting Act (CANRA) was passed in 1974, iden- tifying other classes of child service workers re- quired to report and has been amended a number of times over the years, to now include over 40 cate- gories of individuals man- dated to report. Those interested in the training can register on- line at http://tinyurl.com/ p2elntk or they may call Lindsey at 529-1500 exten- sion 114 to register or for more information. TEHAMA COUNTY Ma nd at ed r ep or te r tr ai ni ng s et THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Crystal, a 1-foot-7-inch female Capuchin monkey, paints in her home in Los Angeles. Crystal is an animal actor who has starred in more than 25movies over nearly two decades. LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, February 21, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B2