Lake Oswego, Ore. – April 3, 2012 – During Financial Literacy Month in April, Better Business Bureau reminds consumers to keep track of their credit, debt and sensitive financial documents.

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling says that most Americans are not up-to-date on their credit standing. According to the NFCC’s 2011 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey Final Report:

• 65 percent have not obtained yearly credit reports within the last 12 months;
• 63 percent have not requested credit scores.

Of those that have not checked credit histories:

• 43 percent say they do not think it is useful or do not plan to apply for new credit;
• 22 percent do not believe they have any credit history to review.

The same study finds that millions of Americans carry credit card debt month-to-month and 28 percent admit to not paying bills on time; seven percent currently have debts in collection.

BBB serving Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington encourages consumers to utilize free resources:

Free Credit Reports: annualcreditreport.com

National Foundation for Credit Counseling: nfcc.org

Federal Reserve: federalreserve.gov

Financial Literacy and Education Commission: mymoney.gov

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: consumerfinance.gov

FINRA Investor Education Foundation: saveandinvest.org

BBB’s Managing Credit – Made Simpler: bbb.org/credit-management

Be Money Wi$e: money-wise.org

Oregon Jump$tart: orjumpstart.org or jumpstart.org

BBB urges consumers to also take advantage of free events:

BBB’s Secure Your ID Day – Free Shredding: akorww.bbb.org/secure-your-id

Mid-Oregon Free Shredding: midoregon.com

Money Smart Week: moneysmartweek.org

Oregon Money Smart Week Luncheon: frbsf.org

Spend Smart Tips to Manage and Safeguard Your Money Forum: dfcs.oregon.gov

A Phantom Drift fiction workshop, “Beyond Categories: Finding Your Place in Space and Time,” with acclaimed short story writer, Ray Vukcevich, will be held on April 28th from 2 – 5 p.m. at Arts East White House Gallery on the corner of Sixth and L in La Grande followed by a free public reading at Cook Memorial Library Community Room at 7:30 p.m. “Beyond Categories” is the second workshop sponsored by Phantom Drift Limited, a non-profit organization dedicated to building an understanding of and appreciation for fabulist literature. The workshops were made possible in part due to a grant from Union County Cultural Coalition.

In this workshop, Vukcevich will be talking about Interstitial Art, New Weird/New Fabulism and what people are calling Sudden or Flash fiction. Examples of this kind of fiction can be found in the Interfiction anthologies and Sudden Fiction International. “My basic idea is that people can free themselves up to write what only they can write given that they are the only ones in that particular time and space and life situation,” Vukcevich said. Through some basic writing with prompts and exercises that demonstrate how to get in close to the things that really concern the individual writer, the Eugene writer hopes to show that “innovation in art comes from finding things that only you can say and then saying them.” Participants will learn to reach places that are more receptive to cross-genre, toss-out-the-rules approaches to short fiction.

There is a limit of ten participants for the workshop. A $25 fee is being charged. Checks or money order can be made payable to Phantom Drift and sent to Phantom Drift, PO Box 3235 , La Grande, OR 97850. Registrants should also include their name, address and email for confirmation.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch says Vukcevich’s stories “engage the mind and the heart. He even makes grocery lists interesting…one of America ’s best writers.” His latest story collection is  Boarding Instructions (2010, Fairwood Press). Other books include Meet Me in the Moon Room (2003, Small Beer Press) and a novel, The Man of Maybe Half-a-Dozen Faces (2001, St. Martin ’s Press). For a bibliography, visit: www.rayvuk.com His story, “The Problem of Furniture” appeared in the first issue of Phantom Drift (October 2011).

For more information on the workshop, contact:

David Memmott, Managing Editor Phantom Drift: A Journal of New Fabulism phantomdrifteditor@yahoo.com

Matched Savings for Education Expenses and Business Assets

Do you need money for college education or job training?  Do want to start a business or expand a business, but don’t have the money you need? The Individual Development Account is an excellent way to raise money to start or grow a business, or to pay for post-secondary education. The IDA is a matched savings account where every dollar the account holder saves is matched with $3 from the IDA program.  Account holders can use the program to raise a maximum of $10,000 for use in a small business or to pay for education and training. The Northeast Oregon Economic Development District (NEODDD) is now taking applications on a first-come-first-served basis for both education and business IDAs.

“The IDA has changed my life.  It has helped me realize that my goals can be attained by hard work, a thought-out business plan and by smart saving,” says one Baker County farmer. NEOEDD has been offering IDA’s in Baker, Union and Wallowa counties since 2008. Over sixty individuals have participated to date, saving nearly $148,000 and receiving over $440,000 in matching funds to pay education expenses or to start or grow a business. You may qualify for an IDA if your total household income is less than $41,000 for a one-person household, $46,850 for a two-person household, or $58,550 for a four-person household.

Anyone interested in learning more about how to apply for an IDA is invited to contact Sara Miller, Jeff Moss or Lisa Dawson at 541-426-3598, visit the website at www.neoedd.org, or email saramiller@neoedd.org. The Northeast Oregon Economic Development District is a public organization which helps individuals start and grow businesses. The IDA program is part of a nationwide initiative based on the idea that people escape poverty and become economically self-sufficient through savings and investment. “The matched savings accounts are a valuable resource for folks with lower incomes to help themselves earn a living,” says Lisa Dawson of NEOEDD.

Jeff Moss

Northeast Oregon Economic Development District
101 NE First Street, Suite 100
Enterprise, OR 97828
Phone: (541) 426-3598, (800) 645-9454
Fax:  (541) 426-9058
www.neoedd.org
jeffmoss@neoedd.org

Growing Business :: Strengthening Communities

The Shamrock Shuffle is going to be held at the Maridell Center (1124 Washington) in La Grande on March 17th at 11am. There will be a 10K run/walk course, 5K run/walk course, and supervised run for children “around the block”.

The event is a fund raiser for United Way of Eastern Oregon. There will be activities for the children including $1 in quarters (with registration) for use in the arcade room and discount laser tag. United Way is providing drink and snack refreshments before and after the events.

Registration starts at 10:45am for all events. The 10K event starts at 11am and the 5K/1mile/kids run all start at 11:30am.

Event fees are as follows (100% of the registration fees will be donated to United Way of Eastern Oregon):

All Participants: $10
Children 5 and under are free

United Way will allocate all of the proceeds to local charities in Union County including:

American Red Cross, Eastern Oregon Chapter, Blue Mountain Council Boy Scouts of America, Community Connection, Elgin Food Bank, Girl Scouts of Oregon, Mount Emily Safe Center, Neighbor to Neighbor Ministries, North Powder Food Bank, The Salvation Army, Shelter From the Storm, Union County Court Appointed Special Advocates (C.A.S.A.), Union County Search and Rescue, and Union Community Food Bank

Poet Maxine Scates shares her latest work, “Undone,” March 14

March 1, 2012
LA GRANDE, Ore. (EOU) – The Ars Poetica Lecture Series at EOU will host visiting writer Maxine Scates, of Eugene, as part of International Women’s Week.

Scates will read from her new book, “Undone,” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 14 in Huber Auditorium in Badgley Hall. The reading is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow.

Born in Los Angeles in 1949 to a working-class family, Scates put herself through college and graduated from California State University, Northridge. While at SCU, she took classes from and was encouraged by the late poet Ann Stanford.

Scates continued her education at the University of Oregon, earning a master of fine arts. She has taught at Lane Community College, Lewis and Clark College and most recently Reed College.

Author Vern Rutsala, commenting on “Undone,” writes, “While the language is rich and various the poems are also admirable in the way they confront everyday life with a clear and steady eye, weaving the past and present together seamlessly and giving us views of American society usually ignored in contemporary poetry.”

Additional praise comes from poet Dorianne Laux who writes, “By brave and honest recognition, coupled with a deft ability to glide between realms of perception tripped open by memory and emotion, Maxine Scates reconstructs a life undone by the brokenness of family, friends, and self. Nuanced, mysterious, intimate.”

“Undone” was published in 2011. Scates is also the author of “Toluca Street” (1989) and “Black Loam” (2005).  She is co-editor of “Holding Our Own: The Selected Poems of Ann Stanford” (2001), which she collaborated on with another of Stanford’s former students, David Trinidad.

Scates’ poems have been widely published in journals throughout the country and her work has received the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, the Oregon Book Award for Poetry, the Lyre Prize and a Pushcart Prize.

Contact: David Axelrod | Ars Poetica Lecture Series at EOU
541-962-3633 | daxelrod@eou.edu

Huckleberry Festival Invites Food and Craft Vendors

NORTH POWDER, OREGON:  The North Powder Huckleberry Festival committee is seeking craft and food vendors for their sixth annual event, Saturday, July 28. The event is held in the heart of North Powder, located at exit 285 from Interstate 84, between Baker City and La Grande, in northeast Oregon. The festival is a lively celebration of the tasty wild berry that grows in the nearby mountains and a salute to community heritage. In addition, the Huckleberry Hot-Rod Show-n-Shine has joined forces with the festival and the Powder Valley All-School & Community Reunion Breakfast takes place on the school grounds that morning.

To apply for a vendor booth at the event, new craft vendors must submit photos of their work. The committee looks for new vendors each year, to add to the regulars and ones who have come all five years.  Below is a list of the planned festival activities.

Powder Valley All-School & Community Reunion breakfast

Festival 5K Fun Run-Walk-or-Ride

Festival Parade  (over 50 entries last year)

Aramark Huckleberry Dessert Contest & Silent Auction

Free block-long Huckleberry Ice Cream Sundae

Children’s games

Dragon Theater Puppet Show

Craft & Food vendors

Huckleberry Hot-Rod Show-n-Shine

Live Entertainment and Jam Sessions in the Park

Firemen’s Barbecue

Outdoor Movie (at dusk)

The well-organized festival has grown in events and participation each year.  It is promoted through newspapers within a 200 mile radius, websites and regional tourism publications, as well as listed in the annual state calendar of events publication and website. To request a vendor application form or seek additional information, please contact Bev Bigler, Vendor Coordinator, 541.898.2320 or blbig@eoni.com. For general event information, please contact Janet, 541.786.8006 or janetd@eoni.com

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NCPW REMINDER: GUARD AGAINST IDENTITY THEFT

Lake Oswego, Ore. – March 8, 2012 – According to the Federal Trade Commission, 279,156 identity theft complaints were reported in the U.S. in 2011—the single largest category of complaints. This figure does not take into account those who did not report that their identities were stolen or those who failed to realize that their identities had been compromised.

Personal information is private. For the fourth tip of National Consumer Protection Week—or NCPW—Better Business Bureau serving Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington reminds consumers to take steps in identity protection.

First, take a quiz at bbb.org to gauge identity theft risk.

Surf secure. Ensure online security:

• Only enter personal information on websites that offer secure connections; look for “https”.
• Review privacy policies and other disclosures before entering information.
• Never click on links or attachments in unsolicited emails, as items may contain viruses or malware.
• Always make sure that anti-virus software is up-to-date.
• Choose unique passwords; avoid common sequences.

Stay safe. Proactively protect personal information:

• Avoid giving out Social Security numbers. Find out why it is needed.
• Store personal documents securely; invest in a lock box or safe.
• Shred expired or unwanted documents: akorww.bbb.org/secure-your-id.

Study statements. Carefully analyze monthly account statements and look for discrepancies; report any issues immediately.

Check with BBB for current identity theft news; visit bbb.org and ftc.gov for valuable information on preventing identity theft.

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You are invited to attend a literary reading by author Christine Byl on Friday, March 9, at 7:30 PM in the Cook Library Community Room. Byl hails from Alaska, and her forthcoming creative nonfiction Dirt Work chronicles her experiences working in the national parks. The author will be joined by young writers from La Grande Middle School with whomshe has been working as Union County Writer-in-Residence. The event is free, and refreshments will be served. Nancy

Nancy Knowles
Professor of English/Writing
Director, Oregon Writing Project @ EOU
Eastern Oregon University
1 University Blvd.
La Grande, OR 97850
(541) 962-3795
Fax (541) 962-3596
nknowles@eou.edu