Our Place

The latest in national scams, legal but about as ethical as shoplifting a Bible.
Its like having water sold to the public free to the producer for outrageous prices, airplane luggage being enormously charged to carry, and oil companies able to get together in a monopoly to totally screw the public each and every day. Now comes the latest in modern banking scams. Does this scam have to do with overdraft fees? Of course.

Here’s how it works.
You make a deposit and then go online, like most people do their banking today. You see the deposit you made (any kind of check) clear on your Internet site the next day or maybe a day after that. You use your debit card against this new balance or write a check to someone else. Days go by and you discover that your account has been debited $35 dollars or more for several overdrafts. You can’t believe it because you literally saw the money in your account a few days before (and note here just how fast checks you write clear your account, while the ones you deposit take days). You check your account activity and find something interesting. The deposit that showed up in your account the day you looked it up on the Internet is listed in your activity file as having been credited a day or two later!

But you saw it!
That does not matter. This practice by many banks today is quite legal, although by having it show as being in your account on the Internet is certainly unethical. It does maximize overdraft fees, which are like those luggage fees for the airlines, a huge profit center with absolutely no expense. What can you do? If you are analytical enough and diligent enough, and computer savvy enough you can take a screen shot of your account when the money shows up as being there in your balance. When you bounce checks because of it, you can go to the bank and complain or even take it to small claims court (where you will most probably win) if the bank doesn’t immediately settle for a few bucks, and the end of your bank relationship with them, and a put black mark on your banking record that won’t allow you to bank anywhere else.

As a very old woman in video responded to a question put to her by a Geneva Shore Report X-Files Investigator trying to record what she might do to achieve redress: “just suck it up, Buttercup.”

Alderman Elizabeth Chappell seems to thinks the Committee of the Whole is a waste of her time.
Actually, COW is the most important meeting the city has because it’s all about communication and information exchange. Citizens have the opportunity to express issues and concerns to the Council and the Aldermen report on the Committees they represent, so the city council and the city residents know everything that’s going on in the city.

But Chappell seems to feel attending and participating in the committees is also a waste of her time because for the past two years she has had to continually confess her truancy from committee responsibilities. Being an alderman isn’t just about attending city council meetings. Part of the job is taking an active part in the committees you are on and then reporting on the important activities of that committee.   But of late Chappell has found a neat little trick where she doesn’t attend the committee meeting, and instead of admitting it, she pretends she “attends” by reading the published events schedule of the committee.  On Monday night she read the events calendar for the Museum Committee. She thinks she’s enough, actually but she’s cheating the museum and the city of representation on that committee.

Grandest Person in Our Place

Tina Sween is the general manager of the Lake Geneva Advanced Auto Parts Store. She grew up in a family of auto enthusiasts so it was only natural for her to join the family’s passion and business. She has been in the auto parts industry for 26 years, needless to say she has a lot of experience and knowledge in this field, and is just a terrific woman. She and her rather ‘different’ crew will make you laugh while you put your car back together.