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Credit Reports and Credit Scores

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 – 4:14 pm

Free Annual Credit Reports - the Federal Trade Commission provides information about and a link to annualcreditreport.com, the only authorized online source to get a free credit report under Federal law.    These sites are linked on our Consumer Information page.   A Credit Reports and Credit Scores workshop class is taught every Monday morning at 10:30 am at WorkSource, 130 S. Arthur;  call 532-3000 for more information.  This workshop is taught by staff from Money Management International, a nonprofit, full-service credit-counseling agency.   They have a HUD grant to provide free one-on-one personal financial counseling, over the telephone (866-531-3814) and Internet.   Or in-person budget and debt counseling is also available by appointment in the local markets in which they operate, including Spokane and in Coeur d' Alene.     Call the 800 number above to make an appointment for in-person counseling.


Posted in Uncategorized, education, financial, free credit reports, money, spending | Permalink | No Comments »

Benefits.gov and BenefitsCheckUp.org

Monday, April 30, 2012 – 9:27 am

Benefits.gov provides information about the eligibility criteria for more than 1,000 Federally-funded benefit and assistance programs. This site is linked on our Federal Government Resources page. To find information about state and private benefits programs, too, try BenefitsCheckUp.org, a free service of the National Council on Aging (NCOA).  This site is linked on our Resources page under Social Issues


Posted in aging, community, consumers, financial, health, law, legal, money, veterans, volunteers | Permalink | No Comments »

FDsys and FederalRegister.gov

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 – 3:40 pm

The Federal Register on GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys) is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as Executive orders and other Presidential documents.  The FederalRegister.gov website contains an unofficial version of the Federal Register known as FR 2.0, which is presented in a web journal format.   Both FDsys and FR 2.0 contain Federal Register material from 1994 to the present.


Posted in regulations | Permalink | No Comments »

IRS forms due April 17 this year

Friday, April 6, 2012 – 10:53 am

IRS tax returns are due on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, this year, because April 15 is a Sunday and April 16 is the Emancipation Day holiday in the District of Columbia.     People have until October 15th to file their IRS tax return if they file Form 4868: Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.  An extension of time to file is NOT an extension of time to pay; for more information, see Tax Topic 304, Extension of Time to File Your Tax Return.


Posted in IRS, taxes | Permalink | No Comments »

Data.gov

Monday, March 12, 2012 – 4:40 pm

Data.gov offers access to 380,000 government agency data sets as diverse as climate change statistics and export licensing records.  And it includes a link to apps.usa.gov to help you find  government apps and mobile sites that allow you to access official information on various topics on your mobile device.


Posted in digital government info, government, statistics | Permalink | No Comments »

Alignment of Planets in February-March

Saturday, February 25, 2012 – 10:24 am

The brightest planets in the solar system are lining up in the evening sky.   Go out at sunset and look west.    Venus and Jupiter pop out of the twilight even before the sky fades completely black. Their combined beauty grows each night into mid-March, as the distance between them shrinks.     In March, Venus and Jupiter continue their relentless convergence until, on March 12th and 13th, the duo lie only three degrees apart - a spectacular double beacon in the sunset sky that you can see in high-definition.


Posted in NASA, astronomy, science, space | Permalink | No Comments »

The Fireballs of February

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 – 5:38 pm

The "Fireballs of February" are a bit of a legend in meteor circles.    So far in February, NASA's All-Sky Fireball Network has photographed about a half a dozen bright meteors that belong to this oddball category.    Cooke has analyzed their orbits and come to a surprising conclusion:   "They all hail from the asteroid belt-but not from a single location in the asteroid belt," he says.    "There is no common source for these fireballs, which is puzzling."   See NASA's All-Sky Fireball Network


Posted in NASA, astronomy, space | Permalink | No Comments »

Alignment of Planets in February-March

Friday, February 17, 2012 – 10:18 am

The brightest planets in the solar system are lining up in the evening sky. Go out at sunset and look west. Venus and Jupiter pop out of the twilight even before the sky fades completely black. Their combined beauty grows each night into mid-March, as the distance between them shrinks. A special night to look is Saturday, Feb. 25th, when the crescent Moon moves in to form a slender heavenly triangle with Venus, Jupiter and the Moon as vertices.   In March, Venus and Jupiter continue their relentless convergence until, on March 12th and 13th, the duo lie only three degrees apart - a spectacular double beacon in the sunset sky that you can see in high-definition.


Posted in NASA, astronomy, science, space | Permalink | No Comments »

El Niño/La Niña information from NOAA

Saturday, February 11, 2012 – 10:42 am

La Niña is likely to transition to ENSO-neutral conditions during March-May 2012.   See also the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center pages that offer lots of information including 6 day - 3 month temperature and precipitation outlooks.


Posted in climate, science, weather | Permalink | No Comments »

2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

Friday, February 3, 2012 – 3:30 pm

The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location.   The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones.   Users may also simply type in a ZIP Code and find the hardiness zone for that area.


Posted in gardening, science | Permalink | No Comments »

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