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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2011)
The INDEPENDENT, June 2, 2011 Page 5 Senior computer users need to learn how to stay safe and avoid scammers by Jason Alderman (www.prac ticalmoneyskills.com) Senior citizens are now the fastest-growing segment of new Internet users, as they’ve discovered email and other on- line conveniences. Since even the most tech- savvy among us sometimes fall prey to online scammers, if your parents or grandparents have recently taken the online plunge, here are some safety tips you can share: Update security software. Make sure their computers have anti-virus and anti-spy- ware software and show them how to update it regularly. Even the best software isn’t 100 percent foolproof, so teach State investigator and two former Chiefs refute Kay’s statements From page 4 second opinion (the K9 evalua- tion), saying this was a DPSST “request to be re-evaluated.” Kay said he used the word “request” in error. His subse- quent statement belies his prior statement, “…I was in a hurry to get the evaluation to Teresa (sic) King in a timely fashion.” King replied, “There was no need to get the evaluation to me since I had not requested it.” 8) Kay misrepresented to DPSST that he was submitting a “complete evaluation” (the K9 evaluation) when in fact he di- rected the evaluator to not in- clude instances in which he or the dog failed. Kay responded that he did not instruct the evaluator to omit anything from the evalua- tion. Kay sent an email saying, “I am forwarding a complete evaluation of myself and my dog Krueger as you requested.” King goes on to say, “in plain language that means the evalu- ation was complete, it was not; failures were omitted.” 9) Kay signed a K9 Lease Agreement with the City of Ver- nonia, when he knew or should have known the dog did not meet certification requirements. Kay said Krueger is certified through ACCJT after the dog, “passed an approved annual testing process set fourth (sic) by Webb…of…ACCJT.” Webb stated he had issued certifica- tion on one occasion, in No- vember 2010, at Kay’s request. 10) Kay was dishonest with former Chief of Police Mathew Workman by way of omission and misrepresentation on his employment application, when Kay explained the circum- stances of his “yes” answer re- garding the reason for a re- straining order against him in Newport. Kay said he was not dishon- est with Workman regarding this, Workman refutes that. 11) This arose during the course of the investigation and was added to the original is- sues: Kay was dishonest in his pre-employment questionnaire, by way of omission, deception, misrepresentation or falsifica- tion when he answered, “no” to questions on that questionnaire relating to whether he had been the suspect in a police investi- gation, charged with a crime, detained or questioned by law enforcement and been under investigation by law enforce- ment for any alleged violation of the law. Presuming that the 1998 domestic violence crimi- nal investigation in which Kay was a suspect, was ques- tioned, was under investigation as the suspect. Additionally, as a suspect in a subsequent 2001 investigation for violation of a restraining order, Kay was a suspect, was questioned, and was convicted of Contempt of Court and placed on probation pending satisfaction of court- mandated sanction. Those would all have required an affir- mative answer to the pre-em- ployment questions. The DPSST certification rev- ocation process allows Kay to appeal their decision, which he has done, and has requested a contested case hearing. The in- vestigation will now go to full board, which will review the findings and issue its decision. If Kay still contests the revo- cation, his final appeal is to the Oregon Court of Appeals. In this case, if the City of Vernon- ia does not terminate his em- ployment in the meantime, he could continue on the city’s payroll for perhaps another year. During this time, he would continue on administrative leave. them how to anticipate and ward off annoying – or criminal – behavior. For example: • Open or download informa- tion only from trusted sites you went to yourself. Don’t assume a link contained in an email, even from a friend, will take you to a legitimate website. • Don’t click on pop-up win- dows or banners. • Common email scams that target seniors include offers for discounted drugs, low-cost in- surance, and supposed warn- ings from the IRS – which nev- er contacts taxpayers by email. • Financial institutions never email customers asking for ver- ification of account or password information. • If shopping online, look for safety symbols such as a pad- lock icon in the browser’s sta- tus bar, an “s” after “http” in the URL address, or the words “Se- cure Sockets Layer” (SSL) or “Transport Layer Security” (TLS). These are signs of a se- cure page for transmitting per- sonal information. These tricks are used to in- fect your computer with viruses or to install spyware that records your keystrokes to ob- tain confidential information. Use strong passwords. Easy-to-crack passwords in- clude simple numeric se- quences and names of pets, spouses and children. For more secure passwords: • Use at least seven charac- ters with a mixture of upper and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols. • Use unique passwords for each account in case one gets compromised. Small improvement in County jobless Columbia County’s season- ally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.5 percent in April essentially unchanged from the previous month (10.8%) but was lower than the year before (12.4%). The rate was above the statewide rate (9.6%) and the national rate (9.0%). Total employment climbed by 169 to 22,113 and the number of un- employed people dropped by 194 to 2,600. Total employment this April was 539 more than one year before and there were 580 fewer people unemployed this year. • Change passwords fre- quently. Never post sensitive infor- mation unless you initiated the contact. This includes numbers for credit cards, bank accounts, Social Security and Medicare, driver’s license, address/phone and full birthdate. See Use on page ? Blue House now opens early to serve breakfast Blue House Café now serves breakfast Tuesday through Saturday from 7:00 a.m. and Sunday from 8:00 a.m., with healthy, tasty break- fast selections until 11:00 a.m. You’ll find choices that range from fancy oatmeal to French toast to crépes and even a full platter with two eggs, hash browns, Canadian bacon (or spicy links) and toast. Blue House Café always uses the best and freshest in- gredients, organic and locally produced whenever possible. They are located at 919 Bridge St, Vernonia. Call 503-429- 4350 for orders to go.
