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Have you ever dreamed of working for one of the largest firefighting agen- cies in the world? Now is the time to apply. Cal Fire is currently accepting ap- plications for seasonal fire- fighter and defensible space inspector (forestry aide) po- sitions throughout the state for 2016. "Working for Cal Fire can open the door to many exciting opportunities for someone interested in a ca- reer in forestry or fire pro- tection", said Chief Dave Teter, Cal Fire's deputy di- rector for fire protection. "The experience gained by working for our department can lead to a fulfilling ca- reer serving the public, pro- tecting lives, property and California's precious natu- ral resources." Cal Fire's seasonal posi- tions can work up to nine months out of the year at any of Cal Fire's more than 350 facilities including fire stations, air bases and state forests from the Oregon border down to the Mexican border. Each year Cal Fire hires roughly 2,300 sea- sonal firefighters and for- estry aides. DefensibleSpace and Forestry Aide This position's primary role will be performing De- fensible Space inspections and interacting with the public to provide fire pre- vention information as well as working at one of CAL FIRE's demonstration state forests. Experience and ed- ucation in forestry, fire pre- vention, firefighting, natu- ral resource management or conservation is neces- sary. The final filing date is Dec. 4. For more informa- tion, visit http://jobs.spb. ca.gov/wvpos/more_info. cfm?recno=644664. Seasonal Firefighter A seasonal firefighter is the entry level position in Cal Fire's firefighting ranks. Seasonal firefighters re- spond to a wide variety of emergency and natural di- saster incidents including wildfires. The position requires not only emergency re- sponse, but is also respon- sible for repair and main- tenance of equipment and tools, as well as general fa- cility housekeeping. The minimum qualifi- cation for this position is to be 18 years of age, al- though experience and education in fire suppres- sion and control is desir- able. The final filing date is Jan. 31, 2016. For more information, visit http://calfire.ca.gov/ about/dow nloads/ca- reers/2016_FFI_Bulletin. pdf. CALFIRE St at e hi ri ng f or s ea so na l job s Most veterans have a lot of misunderstanding with how the VA func- tions and thus are con- fused when dealing with the VA for both compen- sation claims and getting medical treatment. Hospitals, clinics, Vet Centers and such provide treatment. They work un- der their own guidelines, regulations, and budgets. The Veterans Benefits Ad- ministration (VBA) con- fers compensation and service connection for military related illnesses and injuries, and other commonly known ben- efits such as home loan guarantees and educa- tion. As an example — Go- ing to the Fresno Vets Center for PTSD does not automatically request ser- vice connection for PTSD, nor does it automatically guarantee service con- nection and compensa- tion. A formal claim for compensation and service connection of a medical problem must be made in order to receive com- pensation. This is a ser- vice our office provides. In order to have a medi- cal problem service con- nected and compensation paid, there must be evi- dence of a chronic med- ical issue being linked to a veteran's active mil- itary service. Evidence most frequently comes from military service re- cords, especially medi- cal records. When these are missing, evidence can come from other sources such as witnesses, photos, news stories, and letters to home. Generally, a claim for benefits or an increase in benefits specifically must be made by the vet- eran. A visit to a med- ical facility should not be considered by a vet- eran to be a claim of any sort, even if a staff mem- ber/employee states the veteran would be eligi- ble for a claim — the vet- eran must file the claim with VBA to be compen- sated. Medical treatment at a VA treatment facility does not confer the status of service connection on a medical problem. Ser- vice connection is the le- gal status conferred on a claim that is made only by the VBA and only af- ter a rating decision has been completed. In addition to helping with claims, the VSO of- fice began validating mil- itary service for honor- ably discharged Veterans who would like to have "Veteran" noted on their California Driver's Li- cense. As with Tehama County Veteran ID cards, please bring an origi- nal copy or certified copy of your DD-214 and if needed, we can order one for you. As staffing permits, we will issue the veteran pa- perwork for your Califor- nia Driver's License in the Red Bluff office 2-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thurs- days. Corning appoint- ments will be by walk in during regularly sched- uled VSO visits and the DMV form will be mailed back to you the same af- ternoon from the Red Bluff office. Once the DMV form is validated and stamped by the VSO, the form is ready to be taken to the DMV. As a reminder, assist- ing veterans and their families with claims is the highest priority, as we have veterans with seri- ous health and financial issues. There are many state and federal benefits and programs available to vet- erans and their depen- dents. To find out if you are eligible for any of these benefits, call the Tehama County Veter- ans Service Office at 529- 3664. As a reminder, the new address is the Bank of America Building, 955 Main St., Ste. C, in Red Bluff. Office appointment hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thurs- day, closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch. The VSO is by appointment only. Friday's we are closed for administration and out- reach. Corning VSO ap- pointments are at the Vet- erans Memorial Hall 9-11 a.m. the first three Thurs- days of the month. We are looking forward to meeting you or seeing you again on your return visit. KellyOsborne,retired U.S. Coast Guard, is the Veterans Service Officer for Tehama County. She can be reached at 529-3664. VSO NEWS Medical care vs. claims When you apply for as- sistance to help pay the premiums for health cov- erage through the Health Insurance Marketplace (https://www.irs.gov/Af- fordable-Care-Act/Indi- viduals-and-Families/ The-Health-Insurance- Marketplace), the Mar- ketplace will estimate the amount of the premium tax credit (https://www. irs.gov/Affordable-Care- Act/Individuals-and-Fam- ilies/The-Premium-Tax- Credit) that you may be able to claim. The Marketplace will use information you pro- vide about your family composition, your pro- jected household income, whether those that you are enrolling are eligi- ble for other non-Market- place coverage, and cer- tain other information to estimate your credit. Here are three things you should consider during the Health Insurance Market- place Open Enrollment pe- riod: Advance credit pay- ments lower premiums — You can choose to have all, some, or none of your es- timated credit paid in ad- vance directly to your in- surance company on your behalf to lower what you pay out-of-pocket for your monthly premiums. These payments are called ad- vance payments of the pre- mium tax credit or advance credit payments. If you do not get ad- vance credit payments, you will be responsible for paying the full monthly premium. A tax return may be re- quired — If you received the benefit of advance credit payments, you must file a tax return to reconcile the amount of advance credit payments made on your behalf with the amount of your actual premium tax credit. You must file an in- come tax return for this purpose even if you are oth- erwise not required to file a return. Credit can be claimed at tax time — If you choose not to get advance credit pay- ments, or get less than the full amount in advance, you can claim the full benefit of the premium tax credit that you are allowed when you file your tax return. This will increase your refund or lower the amount of tax that you would otherwise owe. For more information about open season enroll- ment, which runs through Jan. 1, 2016, visit Health- care.gov. See Questions and Answers on IRS.gov/ca for information about the pre- mium tax credit. INSURANCE Tax considerations during Marketplace open enrollment Advocacy American Legion, Lassen Post 0167 Red Bluff, 528-1026 American Legion, Rais- ner Post 45 Corning, 518-3152 Am Vets, Post 2002 Corning, 526-2883 VFW Los Molinos, 384-1301 Red Bluff, 528-1026 Corning Post 4218 Dis- trict 15 Auxiliary 4218, District 15 824-5957 DAV 529-4579 Marine Corps League, Detachment 1140 (888) MCL-1140 Military Family Support Group 529-1852 or 529-2416 Services Tehama County Veterans Service Office 529-3664 Tehama County Veterans Collaborative Tehama Together, 527- 2223 Veteran Resource Center Chico (530) 809-2831 Redding (530) 223-3211 VA Crisis Hotline (800) 273-8255 VA Homeless Outreach (530) 247-7917 Redding VA Outpatient Clinic (530) 226-7555 Chico VA Outpatient Clinic (530) 879-5000 Veterans Home, Redding (530) 224-3800 Faith Based Advocacy PATH — Poor And The Homeless 736-3959 Pastor Dave Lambers, VCF 736-3400 Serving veterans? If your local organiza- tion or government entity offers service specific to veterans, send contact in- formation to editor@red- bluffdailynews.com, fax to 527-9251 or drop it off at 545 Diamond Ave. in Red Bluff during business hours to be added to this listing. RESOURCES Veterans services, advocacy groups CONTRIBUTED Cal Fire is accepting applications for seasonal firefighters and defensible space inspectors. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thankyou! PineStreetPlaza 332 Pine Street, Suite G Red Bluff, CA (800) 843-4271 Every Wednesday December 2, 9, 16, 23, & 30 Stacy Garcia, Hearing Aid Dispenser Lic. No. HA-7440 NBC-HIS, Certified by the National Board of Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences 736-1389 632 Main Street, Red Bluff Ragz To Riches 20% off Selected Items (Must present coupon) Unique Seasonal Gifts Handcrafted Items C O U P O N C O U P O N Dec.4,5,6 mapsavalable: DALE'S CARPET & DESIGN ENJOY THE STORE TEHAMA VISITORS CENTER OpenStudio Tehama County! Aself guided tour featuring 12 artists LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, November 28, 2015 » MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A7