the credit union column - SLIDEBLAST.COM
Boulder City Review
www.bouldercityreview.com
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Thursday, June 27, 2013 • Page 3A
June 27, 2013
THE CREDIT UNION COLUMN IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN Or maybe it never stopped, but many of our retired grandparents are once again receiving scam calls from individuals pretending to be their grandkids, nephews or nieces, or from “law enforcement officials” pretending to have incarcerated their relatives. The caller will scam the grandparent into believing their grandchild (or other relative) is in grave danger and they need to wire funds immediately to help gain the release of the relative. Common tactics involve fast-talking, aggressive behavior over the phone, and immediate urgency to save the well-being of the child. The recipients of the call are caught off guard and are often unable to process the possibility that it might be a scam and in a few instances the caller actually sounds like the relative being mentioned. Some members have gone so far as to come to the teller window to make the requested wire transfer before we are able to convince them to contact the relative in danger and confirm the story. I know it is easier said than done, but stop and think. A quick phone call to confirm the story will put your mind and money at ease.
CREDIT REPORTS ARE NOT ERROR FREE While we do not use credit scoring or credit profiling in our credit decisions, credit scores have become increasingly more important to other lenders and many members are more conscious than ever of their credit score. By monitoring your credit score, you not only protect your ability to borrow for important needs, but you also will be able to quickly identify any possible fraud or errors on your credit report. While fraud is always a concern, credit reporting errors are actually very common and some have estimated that 80% of credit reports contain some type of error. To identify and potentially repair credit report errors, the following recommendations are generally followed: 1. Credit scores and reporting errors can differ between all three credit reporting agencies. Be sure to access your annual free copy of all three credit reports from annualcreditreport.com. The three rating agencies are TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. 2. Once you have all three reports in your possession, check each carefully to ensure the accuracy of all information. Do not focus exclusively on negative reporting, as common mistakes include accounts that do not belong to you and closed accounts that are still being reported as current. 3. If you identify erroneous information on your credit report, you can report the mistake at annualcreditreport.com. You may also contact the credit bureau(s) directly via their respective web sites. The reporting agency, by law, must respond to you within 30 days. 4. Do not assume that by checking your reports once that you are finished. Check back on your reports every year to be sure no new problems have surfaced. In the event fraud does occur on your credit, the sooner you identify the problem, the easier it will be to get resolved.
WURSTFEST
COURTESY OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
National Park Service and Metropolitan Police Department Search and Rescue Unit depart Friday to the Boulder Basin area to search for a missing 35-year-old Chicago man who was reported missing after he went underwater. Istvan Tibor Feichtner is presumed to have drowned but his body has yet to be recovered.
One of two bodies recovered from presumed lake drownings By Arnold M. Knightly Boulder City Review
The National Park Service and other agencies are still searching for a Chicago man who went missing June 20 in Boulder Basin at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. However, the body of a Las Vegas man was found Monday nearly 24 hours after he went missing in the water in a separate incident near Callville Bay. The Clark County coroner’s office identified 30-year-old Curtis James Ficarrotta on Tuesday, but said cause of death was still pending. Park service officials believe alcohol may have been a contributing factor. Ficarrotta was reportedly “swimming with friends in the Virgin Basin near Callville Bay without a life jacket when he began to struggle and disappeared underwater,” according to Christie Vanover, park service spokesperson. The Park Service received a call Sunday at 2:01 p.m., and park service officials, along with rescuers from the Nevada Department of Wildlife and Callville Bay Marina in the area, began the search. The search was called off around 4:30 p.m. because of high winds. The Metropolitan Police Department’s Search and Rescue Unit from Las Vegas joined the search Monday at 6 a.m. Ficarrotta’s body was located by Metropolitan Police divers around 10 a.m., and the body was recovered an hour later. The park service and Nevada Department of Wildlife are investigating the incident. However, the search continues for the 35-year-old Chicago man, identified by family members as Istvan Tibor Feichtner. Feichtner was last seen around 4 p.m. between Painter’s Cove and Castle Reef when he disappeared underwater after going for a swim. Not wearing a life jacket, he strug-
gled in the high waves, witnesses said. According to Vanover, park service and police search teams conducted a two-hour search June 20, but “search efforts were suspended around 6:30 p.m. due to unsafe weather conditions” from high winds. The search continued Sunday through Tuesday using a combination of scan sonar and divers. Vanover said the majority of drownings at Lake Mead happen to people not wearing a life jacket. “When visiting Lake Mead National Recreation Area, boaters should be cognizant of the weather forecast,” she said. “Lake conditions can change in an instant, which is why swimmers are advised to wear a life jacket.” It can sometimes take months for a body to be recovered. The body of Antonio Tucker, a 28-year-old staff sergeant stationed at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, jumped into the lake without a life jacket June 23, 2012. His body wasn’t recovered until April. According to Vanover, four bodies that were reported missing at Lake Mead since 2000 have never been recovered. On Aug. 2, 2002, Thomas Erndt went missing near Callville Bay. Vincent Petrilena disappeared May 23, 2004, near Grebe Bay, while Kenneth Eldon Funk went missing June 19, 2004, in Boulder Basin. William Gurule apparently drowned Nov. 9, 2010, near Iceberg Rapid on the Colorado River. These two incidents are the second and third presumed drownings of 2013. Autopsy results are still pending for William H. Meyer, 52, of Las Vegas who died June 1 after surfacing from a scuba dive unresponsive. There were 18 deaths at Lake Mead in 2012, eight of which were drownings. Since 2000, 114 people have drowned at the lake, not including this year.
I have been a proud member of the Boulder City Sunrise Rotary Club since 1995. Our club’s involvement and investment in this community has been immense and that is what has made my time spent as a member so rewarding. The difference our club has made increased significantly with the beginning of our annual WurstFest Auction and Street Dance. The success of this event is the catalyst behind our all-night graduation party for Boulder City High School seniors, as well as the hundreds of other projects we are able to fund and support each year. The main attractions at WurstFest are the silent and live auctions. In preparation for this year’s WurstFest, our club is in need of auction items. If you have a week’s stay in a time share that you can’t use; a used automobile or boat that you could afford to donate rather than sell; sculptures or art work that you can part with; or any other item of value that you could use a tax deduction for, we are the club that can put it to good use. If you’re unsure of the potential auction value of an item, give me a call and we can clarify if it would be appropriate or not. I will personally take care of coordinating your donation, so please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at 702-293-7772 x183. Together we can make a difference!
WORDS OF WISDOM Parents need to fill a child’s bucket of self-esteem so high that the rest of the world can’t poke holes in it to drain it dry. - Alvin Price
PHOTO BY JUAN DIEGO PERGENTILI
BMX rider Zach Scirone of Boulder City warms up before the start of Olympic Day at the BMX track Sunday at Veterans Memorial Park. Riders from Boulder City, Henderson and Las Vegas used the course for free during the annual promotional event.
BC’s BMX Olympic Day draws regional youth to sport By Juan Diego Pergentili Boulder City Review
Eric Estes
Boulder Dam Credit Union 530 Ave. G, B.C. | 293-7777 Funds on deposit are insured up to $500,000 per account. This institution is not federally insured, and if the institution fails, the Federal Government does not guarantee that depositors will get back their money. Accounts with this institution are not insured by any state government.
[email protected] 3
Michale Wilborn stands next to the spectator’s bleachers at Boulder City’s BMX Veterans Memorial Park on Sunday. An hour before the annual Olympic Day is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m., Wilborn looks at the track that is about to be filled with BMX riders of all ages as she contemplates what else must be done before the event begins. She makes her way toward a couple of teenage girls who are lending her a hand and lets them know where she wants cer-
tain posters around the track. Wilborn wants everything to be perfect for a day that is dedicated worldwide to promoting fitness and exercise, and to simply get out and be active. “We have over 350 tracks in the United States, as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. Everybody around the world is doing it,” said Wilborn. “No one has to go out and pay for a membership today. It is free to race and to ride.” Normally, rates to use the track are $5 for practicing, $10 for racing, $5 for strider See BMX 14A
7/25/2013, 6:03:52 PM
www.bouldercityreview.com
Paid Advertisement
a
Thursday, June 27, 2013 • Page 3A
June 27, 2013
THE CREDIT UNION COLUMN IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN Or maybe it never stopped, but many of our retired grandparents are once again receiving scam calls from individuals pretending to be their grandkids, nephews or nieces, or from “law enforcement officials” pretending to have incarcerated their relatives. The caller will scam the grandparent into believing their grandchild (or other relative) is in grave danger and they need to wire funds immediately to help gain the release of the relative. Common tactics involve fast-talking, aggressive behavior over the phone, and immediate urgency to save the well-being of the child. The recipients of the call are caught off guard and are often unable to process the possibility that it might be a scam and in a few instances the caller actually sounds like the relative being mentioned. Some members have gone so far as to come to the teller window to make the requested wire transfer before we are able to convince them to contact the relative in danger and confirm the story. I know it is easier said than done, but stop and think. A quick phone call to confirm the story will put your mind and money at ease.
CREDIT REPORTS ARE NOT ERROR FREE While we do not use credit scoring or credit profiling in our credit decisions, credit scores have become increasingly more important to other lenders and many members are more conscious than ever of their credit score. By monitoring your credit score, you not only protect your ability to borrow for important needs, but you also will be able to quickly identify any possible fraud or errors on your credit report. While fraud is always a concern, credit reporting errors are actually very common and some have estimated that 80% of credit reports contain some type of error. To identify and potentially repair credit report errors, the following recommendations are generally followed: 1. Credit scores and reporting errors can differ between all three credit reporting agencies. Be sure to access your annual free copy of all three credit reports from annualcreditreport.com. The three rating agencies are TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. 2. Once you have all three reports in your possession, check each carefully to ensure the accuracy of all information. Do not focus exclusively on negative reporting, as common mistakes include accounts that do not belong to you and closed accounts that are still being reported as current. 3. If you identify erroneous information on your credit report, you can report the mistake at annualcreditreport.com. You may also contact the credit bureau(s) directly via their respective web sites. The reporting agency, by law, must respond to you within 30 days. 4. Do not assume that by checking your reports once that you are finished. Check back on your reports every year to be sure no new problems have surfaced. In the event fraud does occur on your credit, the sooner you identify the problem, the easier it will be to get resolved.
WURSTFEST
COURTESY OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
National Park Service and Metropolitan Police Department Search and Rescue Unit depart Friday to the Boulder Basin area to search for a missing 35-year-old Chicago man who was reported missing after he went underwater. Istvan Tibor Feichtner is presumed to have drowned but his body has yet to be recovered.
One of two bodies recovered from presumed lake drownings By Arnold M. Knightly Boulder City Review
The National Park Service and other agencies are still searching for a Chicago man who went missing June 20 in Boulder Basin at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. However, the body of a Las Vegas man was found Monday nearly 24 hours after he went missing in the water in a separate incident near Callville Bay. The Clark County coroner’s office identified 30-year-old Curtis James Ficarrotta on Tuesday, but said cause of death was still pending. Park service officials believe alcohol may have been a contributing factor. Ficarrotta was reportedly “swimming with friends in the Virgin Basin near Callville Bay without a life jacket when he began to struggle and disappeared underwater,” according to Christie Vanover, park service spokesperson. The Park Service received a call Sunday at 2:01 p.m., and park service officials, along with rescuers from the Nevada Department of Wildlife and Callville Bay Marina in the area, began the search. The search was called off around 4:30 p.m. because of high winds. The Metropolitan Police Department’s Search and Rescue Unit from Las Vegas joined the search Monday at 6 a.m. Ficarrotta’s body was located by Metropolitan Police divers around 10 a.m., and the body was recovered an hour later. The park service and Nevada Department of Wildlife are investigating the incident. However, the search continues for the 35-year-old Chicago man, identified by family members as Istvan Tibor Feichtner. Feichtner was last seen around 4 p.m. between Painter’s Cove and Castle Reef when he disappeared underwater after going for a swim. Not wearing a life jacket, he strug-
gled in the high waves, witnesses said. According to Vanover, park service and police search teams conducted a two-hour search June 20, but “search efforts were suspended around 6:30 p.m. due to unsafe weather conditions” from high winds. The search continued Sunday through Tuesday using a combination of scan sonar and divers. Vanover said the majority of drownings at Lake Mead happen to people not wearing a life jacket. “When visiting Lake Mead National Recreation Area, boaters should be cognizant of the weather forecast,” she said. “Lake conditions can change in an instant, which is why swimmers are advised to wear a life jacket.” It can sometimes take months for a body to be recovered. The body of Antonio Tucker, a 28-year-old staff sergeant stationed at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, jumped into the lake without a life jacket June 23, 2012. His body wasn’t recovered until April. According to Vanover, four bodies that were reported missing at Lake Mead since 2000 have never been recovered. On Aug. 2, 2002, Thomas Erndt went missing near Callville Bay. Vincent Petrilena disappeared May 23, 2004, near Grebe Bay, while Kenneth Eldon Funk went missing June 19, 2004, in Boulder Basin. William Gurule apparently drowned Nov. 9, 2010, near Iceberg Rapid on the Colorado River. These two incidents are the second and third presumed drownings of 2013. Autopsy results are still pending for William H. Meyer, 52, of Las Vegas who died June 1 after surfacing from a scuba dive unresponsive. There were 18 deaths at Lake Mead in 2012, eight of which were drownings. Since 2000, 114 people have drowned at the lake, not including this year.
I have been a proud member of the Boulder City Sunrise Rotary Club since 1995. Our club’s involvement and investment in this community has been immense and that is what has made my time spent as a member so rewarding. The difference our club has made increased significantly with the beginning of our annual WurstFest Auction and Street Dance. The success of this event is the catalyst behind our all-night graduation party for Boulder City High School seniors, as well as the hundreds of other projects we are able to fund and support each year. The main attractions at WurstFest are the silent and live auctions. In preparation for this year’s WurstFest, our club is in need of auction items. If you have a week’s stay in a time share that you can’t use; a used automobile or boat that you could afford to donate rather than sell; sculptures or art work that you can part with; or any other item of value that you could use a tax deduction for, we are the club that can put it to good use. If you’re unsure of the potential auction value of an item, give me a call and we can clarify if it would be appropriate or not. I will personally take care of coordinating your donation, so please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at 702-293-7772 x183. Together we can make a difference!
WORDS OF WISDOM Parents need to fill a child’s bucket of self-esteem so high that the rest of the world can’t poke holes in it to drain it dry. - Alvin Price
PHOTO BY JUAN DIEGO PERGENTILI
BMX rider Zach Scirone of Boulder City warms up before the start of Olympic Day at the BMX track Sunday at Veterans Memorial Park. Riders from Boulder City, Henderson and Las Vegas used the course for free during the annual promotional event.
BC’s BMX Olympic Day draws regional youth to sport By Juan Diego Pergentili Boulder City Review
Eric Estes
Boulder Dam Credit Union 530 Ave. G, B.C. | 293-7777 Funds on deposit are insured up to $500,000 per account. This institution is not federally insured, and if the institution fails, the Federal Government does not guarantee that depositors will get back their money. Accounts with this institution are not insured by any state government.
[email protected] 3
Michale Wilborn stands next to the spectator’s bleachers at Boulder City’s BMX Veterans Memorial Park on Sunday. An hour before the annual Olympic Day is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m., Wilborn looks at the track that is about to be filled with BMX riders of all ages as she contemplates what else must be done before the event begins. She makes her way toward a couple of teenage girls who are lending her a hand and lets them know where she wants cer-
tain posters around the track. Wilborn wants everything to be perfect for a day that is dedicated worldwide to promoting fitness and exercise, and to simply get out and be active. “We have over 350 tracks in the United States, as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. Everybody around the world is doing it,” said Wilborn. “No one has to go out and pay for a membership today. It is free to race and to ride.” Normally, rates to use the track are $5 for practicing, $10 for racing, $5 for strider See BMX 14A
7/25/2013, 6:03:52 PM
