‘TIS THE SEASON FOR HOLIDAY SCAMS IN CALIFORNIA
By Lori Abbott, Public News Service December 16, 2014 (San Diego) — It may be the season of giving, but it’s unfortunately the season of taking too. Whether it’s an online shopping scam, gift card fraud or a fake charity asking for donations, AARP fraud expert Sally Hurme says always think twice before giving out personal information. “Whether it’s your Social Security number or bank account or credit card information, make sure you’re absolutely certain that it’s a legitimate company that you’re dealing with,” she says. The AARP website features a new resource guide to give Californians the tools they need to outsmart con artists before they strike. Hurme says some of the newer scams include a $20.00 “Letter to Santa” scam, and a fake electronic greeting card delivered via email. “They’re going to appear like something you would want to open,” says Hurme. “It’s something innocent and something that you may be expecting to get, but if you’re not careful about the address, you may be susceptible to getting malware when you open the greeting card.” Hurme she finds fake charity scams especially disheartening because people are so generous during the holidays. “They use various schemes,” she says. “They’ll use names that are similar to a recognized charity, or they’ll pull at your heartstrings and you think that you’re giving to a legitimate charity when you’re not.” Before giving, Hurme says to be sure to verify a charity by utilizing the Charity Navigator or Better Business Bureau websites. AARP’s Fraud Watch Network is a free resource that offers real-time alerts about the latest scams, plus help for those who have been victimized.’
ALUMNI GIVE POINSETIA BOWL TICKETS TO STUDENT VETERANS
East County News Service December 22, 2014 (San Diego) – The Poinsettia Bowl kicks off on December 23rd with San Diego State’s Aztecs versus the Navy at Qualcomm Stadium. The crowd will include student veterans and their families, thanks to the generosity of SDSU’s alumni community, which donated over 225 tickets so far. SDSU has over 1,200 student veterans and was recently ranked among the top schools for veterans by Militar Times. Tammy Blackburn, associate director of SDSU’s Alumni Association, says, “”It’s hard not to want to give back to student veterans who have served our country and are now back with us at SDSU who want to fulfill their dream,” SDSU’s news center reports. Kick-off on Tuesday is at 6:30 p.m. More information The Aztecs will face Navy in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 23 at Qualcomm Stadium. For tickets, you can visit GoAztecs.com.
WIND ADVISORY ISSUED
East County News Service December 22, 2014 (San Diego)—The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for our region from 10 p.m. night through 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Santa Ana winds will bring sustained winds of 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 60 miles an hour. The high winds will make driving difficult, especially for motorists with high profile vehicles. Watch for broken tree limbs and other debris on roadways across wind prone areas. In coastal areas, rip currents and high tides of seven feet are forecast, with flooding possible in low-lying coastal areas.
ALPINE FIRE BOARD MEMBERS REAPPOINTED; NO OPPONENTS RAN
East County News Service December 19, 2014 (Alpine)–Four of the five Board Members of the Alpine Fire Protection District were sworn into office for additional terms at the December 16th Board Meeting. At the meeting, District legal counsel Steve Fitch, administered the oath of office to all four at the same time. All four incumbents–Patrick Price, Martin Marugg, Jim Easterling and Mary Fritz–had seats up for election in November. However no one entered the race to oppose the incumbents, so they were officially re-appointed by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to their seats on the Board and sworn in at the December meeting. Price, Marugg and Easterling were each appointed to a four year term and Fritz was appointed to a two year term. The two-year term for ary Fritz was due to the death earlier this year of Jim Archer, who would have had two years left on his original four-year term. The fifth board member was not up for reelection this cycle.
EARTHTALK(R): CLIMATE CHANGE DENIERS IGNORE SCIENCE
Photo Credit: NASA HQ, Flickr CC Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX), chair of the House Science, Space Technology Committee, calls the Obama administration’s 2014 National Climate Assessment–which squarely pins the blame for global warming on human industrial activity–“a political document intended to frighten Americans into believing that any abnormal weather we experience is the direct result of CO2 emissions.” E – The Environmental Magazine Dear EarthTalk: Are there still outspoken global warming deniers in Congress or the mainstream media? If so, what do they say when presented with scientific facts and anecdotal evidence pointing to an increasingly warming atmosphere? — Ben Charles, Cary, NC December 20, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Given the preponderance of data showing rising temperatures around the globe in recent decades—along with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events—it’s hard to believe there are still any climate change deniers. But a recent survey by the non-profit Center for American Progress found that some 58 percent of Republicans in the U.S. Congress still “refuse to accept climate change.” Meanwhile, still others acknowledge the existence of global warming but cling to the scientifically debunked notion that the cause is natural forces, not greenhouse gas pollution by humans. One of the chief doubters in the U.S. House of Representatives is Texas Republican John Carter, who reports on his website that the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the East Anglia Climatic Research Unit in Great Britain—two of the world’s foremost authorities on the extent and severity of global warming—hid their own research results showing that world temperatures have not actually been rising, but in fact have been falling, over the past several years. “We may or may not even be in a warming cycle,” says Carter. “Even if we are, scientific evidence does not conclude that activity by man plays any significant role.” Regardless, Carter supports more research and development of solar, wind, tidal and geothermal energy, along with the continued development of hybrid, natural gas and all-electric vehicles. Another outspoken climate naysayer in Congress is House Science, Space & Technology Committee chair Lamar Smith, another Texas Republican, who calls the Obama administration’s 2014 National Climate Assessment (which squarely pins the blame for global warming on human emissions) “a political document intended to frighten Americans into believing that any abnormal weather we experience is the direct result of human CO2 emissions.” He adds that “the Obama administration feels compelled to stretch the truth in order to drum up support for more costly and unnecessary regulations and subsidies.” Of course, the right side of the aisle in Congress isn’t the only place you’ll find climate change deniers. In a recent op-ed article that appeared on FoxNews.com, scientist and author Daniel Botkin comments that the 2014 National Climate Assessment “ignores…the real history of life itself: endlessly changing, highly adaptable, and never subject to the kind of stasis that the climate change consensus imagines, wrongly, to be Nature’s ideal state.” Plenty of other conservative media voices on Fox News and elsewhere are vocal in their skepticism about humans’ (leading) role in climate change. But regardless of how persuasive some of these pundits might sound, the facts speak for themselves. IPCC reports that human influence on the climate system is “clear,” with greenhouse gas emissions driven largely by economic and population growth skyrocketing to record levels and leading to atmospheric conditions unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years. IPCC adds that greenhouse gas emissions are “extremely likely to have been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century” and that warming will be a “very likely” catalyst for increased heat waves, extreme precipitation events, warmer oceans and higher sea levels. CONTACTS: U.S. Representative John Carter (R-TX), carter.house.gov; U.S. Representative Lamar Smith, lamarsmith.house.gov/; FoxNews, www.foxnews.com; IPCC, www.ipcc.ch. EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E – The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com.