Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/716418
DearMary:Mysonis looking for an apartment near his new job in order to avoid a horrendous daily com- mute. He re- cently told me that each time a land- lord/man- ager runs a credit check on him, his credit score drops 15 points. What re- course does he have? Dear Judy: Most poten- tial landlords and their management companies do check a potential ten- ant's credit history be- cause it's a good indicator of how a person lives his or her life. Credit inquiries are classified as either "hard inquiries" or "soft inqui- ries" — only hard inqui- ries have an affect on one's FICO score. Soft inquiries are all credit inquiries where your credit is NOT being reviewed by a prospec- tive lender. These include inquiries where you're checking your own credit, and inquiries made by businesses with whom you already have a credit ac- count. Hard inquiries are in- quiries where a poten- tial lender is review- ing your credit because you've applied for credit with them. These include credit checks when you've applied for an auto loan, mortgage, credit card, in- surance and a search for a rental property such as an apartment. Each of these types of credit checks counts as a single inquiry. One excep- tion occurs when you are "rate shopping". That's a smart thing to do, and your FICO score considers all inquiries within a 45- day period for a mortgage, an auto loan or a student loan as a single inquiry. This same guideline also applies to a search for a rental property such as an apartment. Your son can avoid lowering his FICO score by doing his apart- ment hunting within a short period. Generally, a single in- quiry on its own will not reduce a person's FICO score by 15 points — 5 points would be more typ- ical. In your son's case, I can only assume that other factors, which he may or may not be aware of, have come into play to lower his score such as a his credit-card utilization rate (the ratio between his available credit and the amount he's actually using at any given time), timely payments, other hard in- quiries or any number of other factors in this crazy game of credit scoring. Dear Mary: Will co- signing an auto loan for my son affect my credit score? — Wayne Dear Wayne: Abso- lutely. By co-signing, you are accepting full respon- sibility for the debt if the borrower (in this case, your son) does not pay as agreed. A co-signed ac- count will appear on both your credit history and your son's and will have an impact on both credit scores. My best advice, even though you didn't ask, is to consider this loan your own and that you will end up repaying it. If you can- not afford to do that, do not co-sign. Wouldyouliketosend a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE How credit inquiries and co-signing can affect credit score CHICO The Friends of Butte Creek will host the 10th Annual Wild and Sce- nic Film Festival at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Pageant Theater and at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11 at Si- erra Nevada Brewery Big Room. A Change of Course is the theme of this year's films and showcases wild adven- tures, rivers in peril, people making a difference, places of beauty and the changes that are happening every- where. The spirit of positive change, action, beauty and fun are featured in these unique, inspirational, in- dependent films. Celebrate the salmon run with Friends of Butte Creek as organizers offer Chico a great selection of films that were showcased in Nevada City this January. Friends of Butte Creek is celebrat- ing its 10th anniversary of hosting the film fest with two days of films this year. On Saturday is the Riv- ers Matinee at the Pageant Theater, which focuses on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, rivers else- where and fish. The festival will partner with Sierra Nevada Brew- ery, Klean Kanteen and the Sacramento River Preserva- tion Trust to bring the festi- val to the Big Room. Doors open at 5 p.m. with the films starting at 6 p.m. A buffet dinner will be available and a great selec- tion of items in the silent auction to round out the evening. Tickets are available at www.buttecreek.org or at Brown Paper Tickets.com. For any questions or ad- ditional information, write to pamela@buttecreek.org or call 893-0360. WILD AND SCENIC Filmfestivaltospan2days Mary Hunt By Senia Owensby When asked how old he is, Red Bluff's Allen Barker proudly declares, "One hundred and one and one- half." Age isn't this centenar- ian's only achievement, though, his talent for writing has opened many doors. He has contributed to newspapers and maga- zines such as "True West," and worked as a reporter for "All That Jazz." Barker's main writing interest is centered on a renowned resident of the southwest, Billy The Kid. He is a wealth of infor- mation on the subject and has written three books on the legendary outlaw. His expertise developed over time as he lived in every southwestern community Billy the Kid did, from Sil- ver City to the Texas pan- handle. Barker has quite a heri- tage. Back in the 1800s his great-grandparents were forced to migrate to an area in present-day Okla- homa in a journey called the Trail of Tears. Born in 1914 in Evans- ville, Arkansas, Barker's family moved to New Mex- ico where he spent his for- mative years. He began taking violin lessons as a young boy. With a twinkle in his eye, he said the abil- ity to play the violin got him into most dance halls for free. After a couple of stints in the army involving both horses and ships, Barker earned his bachelor's de- gree in Language Arts from Eastern New Mex- ico University and a mas- ter's degree in Earth Sci- ence from East Texas State. Living all over the south- west, his jobs were as di- verse as the places he lived — teaching, geology, mine surveying and even a pro- fession most folks have never heard of: Gandy dancing. Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers who laid and maintained rail- road tracks in the years before the work was done by machines. Since the work needed to be done in a coordinated effort, they would sing songs to keep the rhythm while they worked. To an onlooker, it appeared they were danc- ing. With a smile, Barker tells how he would hop a train and ride it until it came to a job site and then he would simply ask the foreman of the crew for work. He enjoyed it — the work was hard, but the pay was good. Barker is still married to Lillian, whom he married in 1943. "I have lived this long, not due to making good choices, but rather mak- ing interesting choices — but then they turned out to be good," Barker said. Barker spends his time hanging out with Lillian and playing drums with the bands that come to play at Brookdale, where he lives. Drumming, it turns out, was more of an afterthought when he found he didn't have the dexterity for the violin, but had plenty of rhythm. CENTENARIAN Allen Barker marches to a different drum CONTRIBUTED Allen Barker signs one of his books, "The Billy The Kid Quiz." The Federal Bureau of Investigation Sacramento field office is now accepting applications for the Sacra- mento Fall 2016 FBI Teen Academy. The Friday, Nov. 18 class will be the first held at the new FBI Sacramento field of- ficeheadquartersinRoseville. "Today's teens are ex- posed to a near- constant flow of information from a variety of internet and so- cial media sources but it is often difficult to discern which are credible," said Special Agent in Charge Monica Miller. "The FBI Teen Academy enables stu- dents to better understand our investigative role in the communities we serve and provides information and resources to prepare stu- dents to better manage their personal safety and that of their families and communities." The FBI Sacramento field office welcomes ap- plications from any high school junior attending classes — public, private, or home school — in one of the 34 counties the office serves. All students are el- igible; applicants need not be interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement or law. Curiosity about what the FBI investigates and how the FBI serves its community is all that is re- quired to submit an appli- cation package. If selected for the one- day class, students spend the day with FBI person- nel engaging in activi- ties and discussions about what the FBI investigates. Classes may include dis- cussions about terrorism, active shooter situations, and color of law and civil rights investigations; par- ticipation in controlled ev- idence response team and bomb techs scenarios; and conversations about on- line communication and making wise choices in an always-online world. After completing the pro- gram, students better un- derstand the FBI's role in their communities and are better prepared to mentor their peers. The FBI Teen Academy program is offered at no cost to families; however, families are responsible for any travel costs necessary to attend the class. Details regarding the Sacramento spring 2017 FBI Teen Academy will be released January 2017. FBI Teen academy offers information and experiences Juan Felipe Herrera, 21st Poet Laureate of the United States 2015-2017, will speak at the Shasta College The- atre at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7. This is a free event and the public is encour- aged to attend. Herrera is the first Latino to hold the po- sition of Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress — commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate. In addi- tion to just being elected to a second term, Her- rera is a performance artist and activist on be- half of migrant and in- digenous communities and at-risk youth. Herrera served as Cal- ifornia State Poet Lau- reate 2012-2014. Herre- ra's many collections of poetry include Notes on the Assemblage; Senegal Taxi; Half of the World in Light: New and Se- lected Poems, a recipient of the PEN/Beyond Mar- gins Award and the Na- tional Book Critics Cir- cle Award; and 187 Rea- sons Mexicanos Can't Cross The Border: Undoc- uments 1971-2007. Herrera is the author of Crashboomlove: A Novel in Verse, which received the Americas Award. His books of prose for children include: SkateFate, Calling The Doves, which won the Ezra Jack Keats Award; Upside Down Boy, which was adapted into a musi- cal for young audiences in New York City; and Cinna- mon Girl: Letters Found Inside a Cereal Box. Herrera is an energetic and dynamic speaker and will enrapture audiences of all ages and tastes with stories of his life, travels and the people he's met. For additional informa- tion, call the Shasta Col- lege Foundation at 242- 7512. Herrera is the fifth in a series of lecture events sponsored by The Com- munity Speaker Series. SHASTA COLLEGE 21st US Poet Laureate to speak in Redding next month (530) 529-1220 100 Jackson St. Red Bluff Water Aerobic Classes Monthly Special $ 28 00 a month No Enrollment Fee Stop by or call for information Krista at 602-702-9086 or Marcy at 1-800-888-9040(TollFree) or e-mail us at info@world-heritage.org www.gummsoptical.com (530) 527-2510 1-800-481-LENS (5367) 910MainSt.,SuiteC,RedBluff Fitsover eyeglasses Regular Haircut $ 2 00 off KWIK KUTS FamilyHairSalon 1064SouthMainSt.,RedBluff•529-3540 ANY RETAIL PRODUCT 20 % off withanychemicalserviceof $50 or more Notgoodwithotheroffers Expires 9/30/16 With coupon Reg. $13.95 Augustis Tehama County Customer Appreciation Month 25yearsprofessional experience. QualityWork Very Reasonable Rates Red Bluff Transmission • Automatic • Manual • Computer Diagnosis • Clutches • Transfer Cases • CV Axles CALL TODAY! 529-4493 440 Antelope Blvd. #6 Bob's Youcantmissus... Weonly moved 50 feet!! LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, August 18, 2016 MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6