Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/663358
Doyouknowthescan- ning error policies of the stores and restaurants you frequent most of- ten? If you've never thought about that you are going to get a big wake-up call with today's first great reader's tip. We can't be too careful these days. CATCHING ERRORS PAYS. We just caught $80 of clerical errors in two days. Three errors hap- pened at the grocery store. I got double-charged for one item, and was going to be charged full price for a clearance item because they forgot to black out the barcode. At another gro- cery store, I was supposed to get a half pound of cheese for free if I bought a pound of meat. I bought the full pound of meat but they did not take off the cheese. Another error hap- pened to my husband: he bought a $2 measuring cup, but was charged $69. The clerk had put the next person's purchase on his card. This was caught on camera. All these errors were corrected because we were paying attention. Lesson learned: Check your receipts immediately and check online bank statements daily. These er- rors can add up quickly. — Margaret SECRET CODE. Do not carry your Social Security card with you. Memorize the number. If you aren't confident in that, write it down in code form, such as a long string of num- bers where the individual numbers of your SS num- ber are hidden in the 1st, 3rd or 5th places in the chain. Do this on a 3 x 5 note card with no title. Anyone who finds it won't have a clue. — John CLEANING K-CUPS. Tired of trying to get K- cups clean? Use a baby bottle brush. Stick the end of the brush into the cup, give a couple of twists, rinse the water and voila! It's that easy. — Laura DVR WITH NO MONTHLY FEE. A reader asked about recording dig- ital channels. You cer- tainly don't need to pay a monthly fee to do that. I bought an iView DVR for about 40 bucks. You need to connect an ex- ternal hard drive to it us- ing a USB cable because it doesn't have its own stor- age capability. I bought an external hard drive case for about 30 bucks and used a 40-gigabyte hard drive that I had re- moved from an old PC. You can probably get an external hard drive for $50. There might be a limit to the hard drive the DVR you can handle. There are other DVRs be- sides iView, but I think they are all made by the same company since they are all priced similarly and have similar functionality. Mine has a few bugs, but what do you expect for 40 bucks? For basic recording it works great. — Jerry VINEGAR SOAK. We have a faucet that looks and works like a water- fall. Over time we noticed a light green color water stain. I was confident that white vinegar would dis- solve this mineral buildup. But the vinegar wouldn't stick to the stain; it would just run off. So I put a pa- per towel soaked in vin- egar over the stain and let it sit for a few hours. When I removed the pa- per towel the stain was gone and the faucet looked brand new. — Lea EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE Itpaystopayattention REDDING Girls Inc. of the Northern Sacramento Val- ley invites the public to its Strong, Smart and Bold Brunch, a celebration of community leaders and a time to thank and inform Girls Inc. NSV's support- ers. Girls Inc. NSV will cel- ebrate its 10-year anniver- sary this year. Come and enjoy a deli- cious brunch, hear an up- date on Girls Inc.'s latest news and developments, meet the winners of this year's annual community awards, enter a raffle for fantastic prizes and social- ize with others who support Girls Inc.'s mission: Inspir- ing all girls to be strong, smart and bold. The brunch is set for 11 a.m.to1p.m.Sunday,May15 at Riverview Golf and Coun- try Club, 4200 Bechelli Lane in Redding. Tickets are $25 each. RSVP to Kate O'Rorke at527-7767orwritetogirlsin- cNSV@gmail.combyMay13. All proceeds benefit Girls Inc., the non-profit organi- zation that has served girls ages 6 to 18 in Tehama and Shasta counties since 2006. Girls Inc.'s all-girl programs promote leadership and community service in girls, link them with local men- tors, and encourage the pur- suit of higher education. GIRLS INC. Strong, Smart, Bold Brunch celebrates 10 years in May Mary Hunt Cal Fire announced this week it had awarded an additional $3 million in grants throughout the state for a variety of fire prevention projects aimed at reducing the elevated threat of wildfires due to the ongoing drought and significant tree mortal- ity, including projects in Shasta, Butte and Lassen counties. The announcement comes just two months af- ter Cal Fire released nearly $2 million for fire preven- tion projects in the coun- ties hit hardest by tree mortality and bark beetle. "This grant funding will help communities prepare for what is likely to be an- other challenging fire sea- son," said Chief Ken Pim- lott, Cal Fire director and state forester. "These grants will help complete vital fire prevention proj- ects to help mitigate some of the impacts created by four years of drought and hazardous fuel build up." These grants are part of $5 million from the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund allowing local fire departments and fire districts to create proj- ects that help to reduce the threat of wildfires around homes within the State Re- sponsibility Area. With the announcement for funding of 44 additional projects, it brings the total number of projects funded to 63. These projects will re- inforce and augment Cal Fire's ongoing projects and efforts to address the risk and potential impacts of large, damaging wildfires. Grant selection criteria weighted projects that ad- dress fire risk and poten- tial impact of wildfire to habitable structures in the State Responsibility Area, as well as community sup- port and project feasibility. A full list of the grant projects can be viewed at: http://www.fire.ca.gov/ grants/downloads/2016_ FuelReducionGrants.pdf. While firefighters are busy working on fire pre- vention projects includ- ing brush clearance, fire breaks and fuel reduction, officials stress the need for residents to do their part. This is the time of year when residents should be working to ensure they have 100 feet of Defen- sible Space around their homes. This includes removing all dead or dying grass, brush and trees, limbing up branches six feet from the ground and cleaning leaves, needles or debris off roofs and gutters. Learn more at www.ReadyFor- Wildfire.org. Fire prevention grants awarded COURTESYPHOTO Firefighters work to clear brush and reduce fire danger. CAL FIRE The Internal Revenue Service has some advice for taxpayers that may pre- vent them from being the victim of a tax scam: Don't be fooled by scammers. Stay safe and be informed. Here are some of the most recent IRS-related scams to be on the lookout for. Telephonescams Aggressive and threat- ening phone calls by crim- inals impersonating IRS agents remain an ongoing threat. The IRS has seen a surge of these phone scams in recent years as scam artists threaten taxpayers with police arrest, depor- tation, license revocation and more. These con art- ists often demand payment of back taxes on a prepaid debit card or by immedi- ate wire transfer. Be alert to con artists imperson- ating IRS agents and de- manding payment. The IRS will never call to demand immediate pay- ment over the phone or call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill; threaten to immedi- ately bring in local police or other law enforcement groups to have you ar- rested for not paying; de- mand that you pay taxes without giving you the op- portunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe; require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card or ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone or threaten to bring in local police or other law enforce- ment groups to have you ar- rested for not paying. Tactics changes The IRS is receiving new reports of scammers call- ing under the guise of ver- ifying tax return informa- tion over the phone. The latest variation on this scam uses the current tax filing season as a hook. Scam artists call saying they are from the IRS and have received your tax re- turn, and they just need to verify a few details to pro- cess it. The scam tries to get you to give up personal information such as a So- cial Security number or personal financial infor- mation, such as bank num- bers or credit cards. Tax refund scam artists posing as TAP In this new e-mail scam targeting taxpayers, people are receiving e-mails that appear to come from the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, a volunteer board that ad- vises the IRS on issues af- fecting taxpayers. They try to trick you into providing personal and financial in- formation. Do not respond or click the links in these emails. If you receive an email that appears to be from TAP regarding your personal tax information, forward it to phishing@ irs.gov. E-mail, phishing and malware schemes The IRS has seen an approximate 400 percent surge in phishing and mal- ware incidents so far in the 2016 tax season. The e-mails are de- signed to trick taxpayers into thinking these are official communications from the IRS or others in the tax industry, including tax software companies. The phishing schemes can ask taxpayers about a wide range of topics. E-mails can seek information re- lated to refunds, filing sta- tus, confirming personal information, ordering transcripts and verifying PIN information. Varia- tions of these scams can be seen via text messages, and the communications are being reported in ev- ery section of the country. When people click on these e-mail links, they are taken to sites designed to imitate an official-look- ing website, such as IRS. gov. More information on how to report phishing or phone scams is available on IRS.gov. SCAM ALERT IRS scams continue to pose serious threat Professional Personal Convenient •PremiumDigital Hearing Aids for every budget • FREE hearing evaluations • Service/Repair, all makes and models • Batteries & accessories • Preferred provider for most insurance plans: Including PERS, Carpenters, Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, etc. • Low monthly payment plan available • Trial Period/ Satisfaction Guaranteed AskaboutourOpenFitTechnology Discreet and Comfortable Limited Appointments CALL 1-800-488-9906 Performedforproper amplificationselectiononly. RedBluff Community Center 1500 So. Jackson Wed., April 13, 2016 10:00 am - 3:00 pm OnThursday,April7 th at 5:30 PM, The Antelope School District in a partnership with Lassen Volcanic National Park wouldliketoinviteRedBlufffamiliesto attend an informational event in the Antelope cafeteria, regarding an exciting new educational opportunity. The Lassen-Antelope Volcanic Academy (LAVA) is a newly approved Charter School that will serve students in grades 5-8. Our charter is based on the principles of parent and student choice, the integration of technology in instruction, meaningful enrichment opportunities, and on real-life opportunities to study natural sciences. Foreign languages and fine arts will also be an integral part of the curriculum. 365-7194 or 365-4322 OPEN 7 DAYS 6am-10pm 8080 AIRPORT ROAD Your full service: Meat Department, Deli & Groceries www.kentsmeats.com On-site HARVESTING CUTTING & CRYOVACING (530) 529-1220 100 Jackson St. Red Bluff $ 25 .00 No Enrollment Fee month Rates as low as LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, April 7, 2016 MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4