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AG shares ways to guard against scams

Most scams have common characteristics. By equipping themselves with the tools to recognize a scam, Michiganders can be alert to its key features and avoid becoming victims. “Scammers are creative, coming up with new and more effective ways to trick you into handing over your hard-earned money or personal information,” Nessel said in a news release. “Arming yourself with knowledge about their current tactics is the best way to make sure you don’t get scammed.” Common signs of scams include when residents are — — Contacted out of the blue with an urgent request. — ...

Even if it isn’t frozen, rain can make driving dangerous

Though recent forecasts had a chance of snow after recent icy events earlier this month, highs are now reaching the 40s, 50s and maybe even 60s. It puts rain reliably as the main form of precipitation motorists will have to deal with in the near future, especially as spring warms up. And while winter conditions definitely test drivers, wet roads present their own challenges, according to AAA. Rain reduces traction and limits visibility, fueling crashes, breakdowns and costly mistakes when drivers underestimate changing road conditions, AAA warns in a news release. “Wet pavement ...

Tidying up neighborhoods a good idea

With several recent days in the 30s and 40s and perhaps a bit more, many early signs of spring can be seen in Marquette County and around the Upper Peninsula. It can be delightful to watch the snow and ice melt away. However, soil and pavement are not the only things that become visible as the snow melts: A quick drive around the Marquette area reveals long-buried plastic bags, cups, wrappers, receipts, cigarette butts and other litter melting out of the ice and snowbanks. It’s especially troubling to see this occur in our community year after year because litter, animal waste and ...

Trumps threats signal moral and ethical weakness

Article 52 of the first additional protocol to the Geneva conventions prohibits attacks on civilian targets. It is on those grounds that the international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for Russian military officers and officials responsible for attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Such assaults, and the missiles rained on Ukrainian cities and towns in order to terrify and demoralise, constitute war crimes. Exactly the same would apply to the United States, should Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran back to the “stone age” this week be carried out. Such basic ...

AG warns tax filing time can spur identity theft

With the April 15 tax filing deadline less than a week away, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is reissuing her consumer alert on tax-related identity theft and urging residents to protect themselves. Tax-related identity theft occurs when someone uses stolen personal information to file a phony tax return and claim the refund for themselves, Nessel advised in a news release. “Bad actors will stop at nothing to steal our personal information and hard-earned money,” Nessel said in the release. “… It’s imperative that everyone knows the signs of identity theft. The IRS ...

Trump tells US Postal Service to create a federal voter list

Can the President order the U.S. Postal Service not to deliver mail he doesn’t like? Add this to the list of, er, innovative questions that President Donald Trump is posing to the courts. On March 31, he signed an executive action to create a federal list of people pre-approved to vote by mail, while telling the USPS to refuse to deliver ballots from anybody who isn’t on it. Democrats have already filed lawsuits, saying Mr. Trump’s plan tramples on the authority over elections that the Constitution gives to the 50 states. The USPS is an independent agency, and the Postmaster ...