Newspaper Page Text
Page 2 - The Wiregrass Farmer, September 20,2017
Equifax security breach means consumers should be on alert
Ring, ring. "This is Equifax
calling to verify your account
information." Stop. Don’t tell
them anything. They’re not
from Equifax. It’s a scam.
Equifax will not call you out of
the blue. That’s just one scam
you might see after Equifax’s
recent data breach. Other calls
might try to trick you into giv
ing your personal information
From skimmers at gas sta-
Health Dept, closed 19-22
Irwin and Turner County Health Departments will be closed
September 19-22 due to an electronic medical records conver
sion. Both health departments will reopen Monday, September
25 with limited services due to the software conversion. For more
information, please call Irwin CHD at 229-468-5003 or Turner
CHD at 229-567-4357.
School closing last week
Turner County schools were closed Monday, Tuesday, and
Wednesday as Hurricane Irma rolled through Georgia and crews
dealt with the aftermath.
Superintendent Jeff McDaniel said he consulted with local of
ficials and decided the roads were not bus-worthy.
"If we put a bus on the road right now, the chance of it getting
stuck is very great. We also have trees down," he said last Tues
day about noon. "We're going to stay out of the way and let the
crews get in there and clean up the roads."
School employees will be allowed to make up the missing
days to collect their full pay.
A decision on students and possible make-up days remains to
be seen.
HELP
(Continued from Page 1)
a lot of people and made many new friends. I could not have done
it without the support of the community, my friends, or my fam
ily. I want to thank my volunteers Sylvia Arnold, Terry Arnold,
Jessie Arnold, Patsy Brown, Angelia Cook, Ty Cook, Greg
White, Miranda Jackson, Madison Jackson, Abigail Spires,
Gabrielle Spires,Tanya Snow, Patience Snow, Allison Simmons,
Ivey Hardy, John Shepherd, and Mildred Shepherd. I also want
to say a special thanks to Carroll’s Sausage. They allowed us to
use their staging area for the event and anytime we ran low on
ice or any kind of serving materials they freely gave us anything
we needed.
REPORT
(Continued from Page 1)
Mr. Robinson said he contacted the reporter for the Turner
County story to find out what happened.
Regardless, the story is out and the damage is done. Some peo
ple who saw the flawed report are calling for Mr. Robinson’s job.
“The real story is we wanted to help. We just did not have any
way to help. We directed people to much safer places to stay dur
ing the storm,” he said. “The way the story was presented was
not the message I provided.”
NO RESOURCES
Opening an official disaster shelter means meeting state and
federal regulations. Part of those regulations means having suf
ficient trained personnel to operate the shelter.
“The EMA is part of the government and must follow the gov
ernment rules. We just do not have the personnel or the resources
to open shelter under these rules,” Mr. Robinson said.
The Turner County Fire Department has four employees. The
EMS has more employees, but they were busy with emergency
calls.
In local disasters, the Red Cross often sends trained personnel
to help run a shelter. Red Cross workers came here to help after
the January tornado.
AFTER
HOURS
SERVICE
NEW AND USED TIRES - COMPUTER WHEEL BALANCE
ALLEN'S
Tire Service Inc.
OPEN LATE
6 DAYS A WEEK FREE ROTATION
T ^ ^ AND REPAIRS
1-75 at Bussey Road on set of 4
Sycamore • 567-3390
AUTO • RV • TRUCK AND TRAILER TIRES
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS;
• High quality, professional photographs will be made locally and at
no charge or obligation,
• We, as sponsors, will use and display the photos as a tribute to
TOMORROW’S LEADERS...TODAY
• As a bonus, you will see finished color photos (photos used in
1he feature will be in black and white) and have an opportunity
to purchase any tor your family needs - you are not obligated
to buy anything. No age limit.
“TOMORROW’S LEADERS..." Feature is Sponsored by:
Tues. Oct. 10th from 3:30-7:30pm and
Wed. Oct. 11th from 2:30-7:30pm
Call Jaclyn Myers 406-0567 or email
jmyers@turner.k12.ga.us
Photography by
INTERPRESS STUDIOS
tions to telephone and online
phishing scams, consumers
have to be on the lookout for
people trying to steal identities
and therefore, their funds. Fol
lowing the recent security
breach at Equifax, South Geor
gia Banking Company encour
ages everyone to be especially
cautious; scammers may try to
use the information they at
tained to gain access to your
accounts and other financial
data. With the information they
have in hand, the approaches
they use when emailing or call
ing may seem very legitimate
and could easily fool unsus
pecting consumers.
“We encourage everyone to
watch out for scammers in the
wake of the Equifax breach,”
said Donna Watson, Informa
tion Security Officer at South
Georgia Banking Company.
“To help protect yourself,
please follow these guidelines
from the Federal Trade Com
mission, Division of Consumer
and Business Education."
• Don’t give personal infor
mation. Don’t provide any per
sonal or financial information
unless you’ve initiated the call
and it’s to a phone number you
know is correct.
• Don’t trust caller
ID. Scammers can spoof their
numbers so it looks like they
are calling from a particular
company, even when they’re
not.
• If you get a robocall, hang
up. Don’t press 1 to speak to a
live operator or any other key
to take your number off the list.
If you respond by pressing any
number, it will probably just
lead to more robocalls.
If you’ve already received a
call that you think is fake, re
port it to the FTC. If you gave
your personal information to
an imposter, it’s time to change
any compromised passwords,
account numbers or security
questions. And if you’re con
cerned about identity theft,
visit IdentityTheft.gov to learn
how you can protect yourself.
HOME BURNED
Firefighters work to put out the flames at Shorty and Debbie Hughes’ home. The fire even spread to the carport
and burned a truck.
USD A announces hurricane relief programs
Agriculture Secretary
Sonny Perdue announced spe
cial procedures to assist pro
ducers who lost crops or
livestock or had other damage
to their farms or ranches as a
result of hurricanes Harvey
and Irma. Also, because of the
severe and widespread damage
caused by the hurricanes,
USDA will provide additional
flexibility to assist farm loan
borrowers.
“The impact is shocking
and will be felt for many
months,” said Secretary Per
due. “In addition to efforts
being made on the ground to
assist producers, we have taken
a hard look at our regular re
porting requirements and ad
justed them so producers can
take care of pressing needs first
and mostly deal with docu
mentation and claims later.
President Trump’s directive is
to help people first and deal
Veterans salute
Did you miss last year's
salute to veterans? If so don’t
miss this one. We will be fea
turing the veterans in a mag
azine this year. You can either
email or bring in a picture to
go in our special salute com
ing in November.
There is no charge to sub
mit a picture. You do not have
to resubmit a picture.
with paperwork second. And
that’s what USDA is doing.”
USDA’s Farm Service
Agency (FSA), is authorizing
emergency procedures on a
case-by-case basis to assist im
pacted borrowers, livestock
owners, contract growers, and
other producers. The measures
announced today apply only to
counties impacted by a Na
tional Oceanic and Atmos
pheric Administration deter
mined tropical storm, typhoon,
or hurricane, including Harvey
and Irma that have received a
primary Presidential Disaster
Declaration and those counties
contiguous to such designated
counties.
Financially stressed FSA
farm loan borrowers affected
by the hurricanes who have re
ceived primary loan servicing
applications may be eligible
for 60 day extensions. Full de
tails are available at
https://go.usa.gov/xRe8V.
A more complete listing of
all of the special farm program
provisions is posted at
https://go.usa.gov/xRe8p.
Among the actions an
nounced today are lengthened
deadlines for certain provisions
under the Marketing Assis
tance Loan (MAL) program,
the Farm Storage Facility Loan
Program (FSFL), and the
Emergency Conservation Pro
gram (ECP), the Emergency
Forest Restoration Program
(EFRP), the Noninsured Crop
Disaster Assistance Program
(NAP), and the Tree Assistance
Program (TAP). Emergency
grazing may also be authorized
under the Conservation Re
serve Program (CRP) for up to
60 days.
In addition, the deadlines to
file a loss for the Livestock In
demnity Program (LIP) and the
Emergency Assistance for
Livestock, Honey Bees and
Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP) are
extended, and special provi
sions are provided for “accept
able proof of livestock death
and inventory for livestock
losses.”
Farmers and ranchers af
fected by the hurricanes are
urged to keep thorough records
of all losses, including live
stock death losses, as well as
expenses for such things as
feed purchases and other ex
traordinary costs because of
lost supplies and or increased
transportation costs.
Producers with coverage
through USDA’s Risk Manage
ment Agency (RMA) adminis
tered federal crop insurance
program should contact their
crop insurance agent for issues
regarding filing claims. Those
who purchased crop insurance
will be paid for covered losses.
Producers should report crop
damage within 72 hours of
damage discovery and follow
up in writing within 15 days.
The Approved Insurance
Providers (AIP), loss adjusters
and agents are experienced and
well trained in handling these
types of events. For more in
formation see
https ://ww w.rma .usda .gov/ne
ws/stormdisaster.html.
As part of its commitment
to delivering excellent cus
tomer service, RMA is work
ing closely with AIPs that sell
and service crop insurance
policies to ensure enough loss
adjusters will be available to
process claims in the affected
areas as quickly as possible.
In anticipation of flooding
due to Hurricane Harvey,
RMA took several proactive
steps to ensure the efficient and
reliable delivery of the crop in
surance program. RMA au
thorized the use of emergency
loss adjustment procedures to
streamline certain loss determi
nations on specific crops and
accelerated the adjustment of
losses and issuance of indem
nity payments to policyholders
in all Texas and Louisiana
counties impacted by Hurri
cane Harvey. RMA is review
ing the need for additional
measures in response to Hurri
cane Irma.
USDA encourages all farm
ers and ranchers to contact
their crop insurance agents and
their local FSA office, as appli
cable, to report damages to
crops or livestock loss.
Additional resources to help
farmers and ranchers deal with
flooding and other damage
may be found at
www.usda.gov/disaster.
Scan to visit
The Wiregrass
Farmer website
Online
Subscriptions only
$24 a year
September 30,2017 • 9 am until 4 pm
Downtown Nashville
harvest f estival
Featuring:
YouTube Sensations
The Peterson Farm Brothers
Arts • Crafts • Food • Kids Zone
Quilt Display • Antique Tractor Parade
Pet Contest • Agriculture Art Exhibit
Farm Equipment Exhibit
Corn Shucking Boiled • Peanut Eating
Pumpkin Chunking Contests
Much More
Lip Sync Battle
Friday, September 29th
8:00 pm
Downtown Nashville
For More Information: 229-686-5123 or 229-686-5527