THIUIR-,jSIDAY OCTOBER 26. 2006 THE JA-I-I NEWS.-Iser-,FLA 3 United Way Conducts November Campaign Report Luncheon at PCS Conference Center United Way of Suwannee Valley will conduct its November campaign report luncheon at PCS Conference Center, White Springs, at noon on Nov. 8. The cost of the luncheon, to be catered by Jim- my Greene, is $10 per person. Reserva- tions may be made by calling the United Way office, 386-752- 5604, by Nov. 1. During each month of United a campaign report luncheon to provide ,n opportunity for campaign team \volun- United Way United Way of Suwannee Valley Way's annual community fundraising nity's well being through campaign, the local United Way conducts the United Way. lteers, CO Inmmu- L nity citizens,' business repre- sentatives and agency person- nel to learn more about the partner agency services, United Way communi- ty impact initia- tives and busi- nesses support- ing our commu- their support of How to avoid financial scams According to Privacy Rights Clearing House, 8.9 million people became victims of identity fraud last year, costing each victim an average of nearly $6,400. That amounts to $56.6 billion a year in fraud claims. Financial scams are getting more sophisticated and costing smart con- sumers more cash each year. The Internet is riddled with "phishing" scams. Phishing happens when crooks send fake e-mails or use pop-ups to lure, or "phish," financial information away from a consumer. The consumer is for- warded to a fake Web site that appears to be legitimate, and is asked to enter their personal financial information, such as a credit card number or social security number, allowing the crook to steal their identity. Do not send any'personal infor- mation over the Internet unless you are positive you know who is receiving the information and that the information is secure. Some scams guarantee consumers a credit card in advance for a fee before HCHS yearbooks on sale now The 2007 Chariot Yearbooks for Hamilton County High School are. on sale now for $30 each. For more information call 792-6540. they even apply. These offers are illegal and often target people with credit prob- lems. The credit crook will typically take off with your fee and the loan will never materialize. Legitimate credit offers never require up-front fees. The Internal Revenue Service is in the process of a new, private debt collection effort, where a small segment of taxpayers who owe back taxes will be contacted by private sector debt collectors: Scamsters try a variety of tricks to impersonate the IRS in hopes of tricking taxpayers into di- vulging personal or financial information, or even conning people out of cash. In ad- dition, all checks collected by debt collec- tors should be made payable.to the US Treasury, not companies or individuals. If you suspect that someone is trying to scam you, call the IRS at 800-829-1040. If you or someone you know becomes the victim of a financial scam, contact the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Response Center at 877-FTC-HELP or vis- it www.ftc.gov. SGo Farmers are encouraged to sign up on- line for the 2007 Direct and Counter- cyclical Payment Program (DCP) where they can choose payment options, assign crop shares, and sign and submit their contracts. DCP participants can also view and print out submitted contract options at any time through the online process. The electronic DCP service saves pro- ducers time, reduces paperwork and speeds up contract processing at USDA Residents of Florida may soon be able to show their support for proper tree care by purchasing a "Trees Are Cool" specialty li- cense plate. Money raised by the proposed plate will be used for tree care education and research. The new plate is being pursued on be- half of the Florida Chapter of the Interna- tional Society of Arboriculture (Florida ISA). Michael Dobson, a Tallahassee busi- nessman and president of Dobson, Craig and Associates, is working to 'secure signa- tures requesting a specialty license' plate for Florida cars using tihe catch phrase "Trees Are Cool." The Florida Department 'of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles re- quire 30,000'signatures in order to create a new specialty license plate. Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices. It is available to all producers who are eligi- ble to participate in DCP and who obtain Authentication accounts. For 2007, eligible producers may re- quest to receive direct advance payments based on 22 percent of the direct pay- ment rate for each commodity associated with the farm. USDA will issue DCP di- rect advance payments beginning Dec. 1. For more information on DCP visit www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA. Bring identification when voting As the Nov. 7, General Election ap- proaches, Floridians should familiarize themselves with the state's elections re- quirements. Voters must present a photo and signature identification at their polling place to participate in any elec- tion in Florida. If the photo identification presented does not have the voter's sig- nature, an additional piece of identifica- tion with the voter's signature is re- quired. Citizens who do not furnish the required identification at the polling place can only vote by a provisional bal- lot. Identification has been required to vote in Florida since 1977. In 1998 the Florida Legislature expanded the ID requirement to include both a photo and signature. Any combination of the following identi- fications may be used to satisfy the signa- ture and photo requirement: Florida driver's license; Florida identi- fication card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; United States passport; employee badge or identification; buyer's club identifica- tion; debit or credit card; military identi- fication; student identification; retire- ment center identification; neighborhood association identification; and public as- sistance identification. For more information on this and oth- er election laws visit www.election.dos.state.fl.us. "Our trees have always defined who we are as a southern state. Supporting this li- cense plate and the work of the Florida ISA is a great way to support arboriculture in Florida," said Don Winsett, of Stiles Land- scape Co. and Chairman of the "Trees Are Cool" license plate effort. "We are a state that cares about nature and trees, and we respect their place in our urban environ- - ment as well as the aesthetics they provide our great state." Florida ISA is asking residents to visit x-ww.tree-.arecool.conm to sign the 'elec- tronic petition that has beeI generated to' sec u re the required signatures. For more information on the Florida Chapter of the International Society of Ar- boriculture visit www.floridaisa.org FARMi! BUEA Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment Program sign-up Florida residents can have a role in promoting proper tree care THE JASPER~ NEWS,. Jasper, FL PAGE 3A THUIRSDAY, OCTOBER 26,.2006f