Thursday, November 20, 2008

Upcoming Events at HPL Tax Talks November 20, 2008 1:30 pm in the Julia Hackley Room at Hackley Public Library Ruff Reader November 22 2:00 pm Kids can boost reading skills and confidence at private read-aloud sessions with a trained Listener Dog. They’ll go home with a Paw Print Diploma and a new enthusiasm for reading. The friendly pooches are from West Michigan Therapy Dog, Inc. Children sign up for 15 minute sessions. Registration opens November 1. Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230. Game Day Unplugged November 29 2 - 4 PM Checkers, Mancala, Battleship, Break the Ice, Cootie and more! Bring your favorite game or play one of ours at this drop-in session. Snacks and a few Goofy Door Prizes will add to the fun. Non-electric games only. All ages. Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230. Tax Talks December 2, 2008 6:30-7:30 pm in the Julia Hackley Room at Hackley Public Library 12:14:30 PM     News You may have noticed that I haven't posted new links in a few weeks. Partly it was because I was having some software issues, which are resolved, and partly because we are getting ready to launch a newly redesigned web site. Watch for the new design! We will be at the same address hackleylibrary.org but with a new look and feel. We are all very excited about it. 12:10:18 PM     Fashion Your Firefox offers easier browser customization. Filed under: Internet, Web services, Mozilla, Browsers Mozilla has launched a new service called Fashion Your Firefox. The aim of the project is to make the browser customization simpler for the average user. When you visit the page, you'll be presented with a number of options that target specific browsing "personalities," like Finder and Seeker, Shutterbug, News Junkie, and others. Select a profile, and FYF displays a selection of the most popular relevant addons. The Finder and Seeker, for example, offers Stumbleupon, Interclue, and the Mini Map Sidebar. News Junkies can select Wizz RSS, Morning Coffe, ReadItLater, and ForecastFox. The installation process has also been streamlined. You don't have to add extensions one at a time - place a checkbox in each one that interests you and click the install my addons button when you're done. Firefox will process your queue en masse. FYF is incredibly simple to use, its suggestions are right on the money, and it works well. Perhaps one day we'll be able to tag our preferred extensions and easily add them to new Firefox installs using a system like this. Fashion Your Firefox offers easier browser customization originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments [Download Squad] 12:05:37 PM     New Label Warnings on Over-the-Counter Children's Medicines They are the doctor's words that send chills up a parent's spine. "Discontinue giving your baby that medicine immediately!" A routine call to my baby's doctor last week left me more concerned than I was before I called about his lingering cold. Apparently the over-the-counter antihistamine that the pediatrician had prescribed for him was no longer recommended for babies. The panic I felt was too similar to last year's discovery that my infant son's baby bottles contained the potentially harmful chemical, bisphenol A. And the shock I had several months later when over-the-counter infant cough medicines (including the one prescribed for my little guy) were taken off the market because they were potentially harmful. I delved into the Internet to learn what I could about the most recent change in the minimum age for certain medications. I found that it was the latest development during an ongoing study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of over-the-counter children's cough and cold medicine, an annual $2 billion industry.   In January, FDA issued a nationwide Public Health Advisory recommending that these products not be used in children under the age of two because of the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening side effects. Now, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (the nonprofit for over-the-counter medicine companies) has announced that its members are voluntarily modifying their cough and cold medicine labels to state "do not use" in children under four years of age—a move that FDA supports. The companies are also introducing new child-resistant packaging and new measuring devices for the products. The labels will change in the coming months, says FDA, while the medicines' availability will not be affected. You can see a list of the products that will sport the new warning labels. You might also be interested in FDA's tips for giving over-the-counter cough and cold medicine to children, and information about giving nonprescription medicine to children in general. You can also subscribe to FDA's e-mail lists. I signed up for its press releases and consumer health information to hopefully help me know sooner if there's a change in an over-the-counter children's medicine that my little guy's taking. Have you been affected by a recall or relabeling of a children's medicine? - Stephanie [Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog] 11:58:57 AM     Winter Colds and Flu My nose is running, my ears are clogged and I’m coughing. Ah yes, the beginning of another cold and germ factory (that’s how I like to refer to the elementary school at this time of year). Bailey brings home the cold and is sick for a few days, then her little sister picks it up and she’s sick for a few days and it seems like my husband and I are constantly battling a virus. Sometimes we get it and sometimes we don’t. Does this sound like your house? I suppose we’re not alone. It's important to know the difference between colds and flu and try to prevent colds and flu by following the advice of the experts. I eat really well, exercise, drink plenty of fluids and even take a multi-vitamin regularly, just to be sure I’m getting the nutrients I need. I try to get enough rest, but with a full time job and two little kids, sometimes I have trouble getting the rest I need. I’m even an almost compulsive "a href="http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/wash_hands.html">hand washer, and still, I get sick. So what do I do? I stay warm, I drink plenty of fluids. I especially like nice, warm cups of tea. Green tea, white tea, red tea, herbal teas with honey and lemon are soothing and I drink tea all day long. Our old family remedy for, well anything, was whiskey with honey and lemon, but I don’t find that to be a very good prescription on a work day. I’ll stick with my tea and hope that one of you has a comforting cold remedy for me to try. - Joanne [Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog] 11:44:59 AM     Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association Recommends Changes in Highway Funding. Michigan drivers would pay at least $12 more a month in gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees to upgrade the state's transportation system if a plan pitched Wednesday by a construction industry trade group wins approval. The proposal is unlikely to get far in the lame-duck Legislature, though. Motorists on average spend $30 per month on roads and other transportation infrastructure through taxes and fees. Taxes and fees would rise to at least $42 a month under the proposal from the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association. The plan incorporates some key recommendations from a report released last week by a bipartisan state task force that said spending must be doubled on roads, bridges, public transit and airports. The proposal would eliminate Michigan's 19-cents-a-gallon gas tax and 15-cents-per-gallon diesel tax and instead tax the wholesale price of gas. When fuel prices rise, the tax rate would drop — protecting taxpayers a bit but also ensuring higher revenues. Gas tax revenue has fallen or remained stagnant because it is based on per-gallon usage in an age of more fuel-efficient cars and, in Michigan, little population growth. Vehicle registration fees would increase 50 percent, from an average of $90 a year to $135. Nystrom said the owners of higher-end cars could pay higher fees so people with cheaper cars could shoulder less of the burden. Overall, the plan would raise an extra $1.5 billion — nearly halfway toward a "good" investment level described in the task force report. The trade group said Michigan lost nearly 45 percent of its purchasing power to fix roads and bridges in the last five years because of the rising cost of asphalt, concrete, steel and other construction materials. Lawmakers may be more willing to pass unpopular fee or tax increases after the November election and before a new two-year session starts and some new legislators take office. But while business groups have been pushing for more transportation spending, neither Granholm nor legislative leaders have mentioned it as a top lame-duck priority. $1.5 Billion Transportation Plan Unveiled for Lame Duck, MITA News Release, November 19, 2008. Cited report : Proposed Lame Duck Solutions for Michigan's Transportation Infrastructure : A Stimulus Plans for Jobs and Economic Growth, MITA, November 19, 2008. Cited report : Report of the Transportation Funding Task Force, Michigan Department of Transportation, November 2008. For the full article, see David Eggert, "Group: Mich. drivers should pay $12 more a month", MLive, November 19, 2008. [Red Tape Blog] 11:37:16 AM     Obama To Post His Weekly Radio Addresses on YouTube. A lot of people start their day by visiting their social networking site of choice, checking their e-mail and going to see what’s happening in the wacky world of YouTube. So many do this, it turns out, that President-elect Barack Obama decided to put his weekly “radio address” on YouTube instead of public radio, to the chagrin of radio journalists everywhere. (Obama also released the address on on AOL, Yahoo, and MSN.) For the full article, see Minehaha Forman, "Video killed the radio star: Obama’s YouTube ‘radio address’", Michigan Messenger, November 18, 2008. For more information about Obama's plans, see CHANGE.GOV: THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT ELECT [Red Tape Blog] 11:35:39 AM     Are You Financially Literate? I used to think it was just a cliché. But in the middle of this financial crisis we're facing together in the U.S. right now, the phrase "Most Americans are just two paychecks away from financial disaster" seems frighteningly true. You don't have control over when a job or income loss or a serious illness will throw you into financial trouble. But not having a handle on the basics of saving and investing, taxes, mortgages and insurance can leave you even more vulnerable when bad times—or scam artists—hit. Right now, more than any time in our recent memories, it’s critical to brush up on financial literacy. My office works with a couple organizations that are helping adults and kids do just that. The U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission operates MyMoney.gov, a site to help you make sense of practical money management, financial planning, saving for retirement, and getting familiar with financial scams so you can avoid them. Their online calculators help you estimate college costs, how much mortgage you can afford, what your Social Security benefits will be at retirement time and a lot more. Through MyMoney.gov and 1 (888) MY MONEY, you can also get the free "My Money Toolkit" a collection of popular booklets that can help you learn to get your spending, saving and investing on track. You can check out the publications online or order copies for yourself, your friends or family. The Jump $tart Coalition is involved in providing resources to help students kindergarten through college age grow up learning and exercising practical money skills. Whether you're an educator or a parent wondering how to start teaching your kids about money and financial responsibility, Jump $tart lists a terrific collection of fun websites for kids that'll teach them about saving, investing and making smart choices as consumers. One other financial literacy website that I like a lot is from Visa. PracticalMoneySkills.com takes a comprehensive approach to teaching adults and kids better money management skills. The site is available in English, Spanish and Chinese and features videos and articles covering topics like setting a child's allowance, financially weathering a divorce, reducing your debt and understanding compound interest. What do you wish you'd learned earlier in your life about managing your finances? - Nancy [Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog] 11:12:52 AM

© Copyright 2008 Jocelyn Shaw. Last update: 12/2/2008; 6:40:35 PM. Photo curtesy of Marjorie O'Brien