Newspaper Page Text
... about your
Social Security
By Kate McLaurin
Manager Griffin Social
Security Office
By now, most people know
that the Social Security
Administration is respon
sible for running the Supple
mental Security Income
(SSI) program-the program
that provides an income floor
for the needy aged, blind and
disabled.
What they may not know is
that each local social
security office conducts an
ongoing program to investi
gate persons suspected of
fraudulently applying for or
receiving SSI benefits.
According to Kate Mc-
Laurin, Manager of the
Griffin Social Security
Office, recent investigative
efforts have led to a number
of indictments and sub
sequent convictions both
nationally and in the south
eastern region which is
comprised of Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina and Tennes
see. For example, said Miss
McLaurin, in the approxi
mately six-week period from
January 10 to February 12,.
1977, a total of seven persons
in four of these states were
convicted of SSI fraud.
In Alabama a 44-year old
Talladega woman, Dorothy
Henry, was convicted for
having made false state
ments concerning her
marital status and income
and for concealment of the
fact of her employment. She
had received a total of
$1,085.85 in SSI payments
between February and No
vember of 1976 for which she
was ineligible. Sentencing
has not yet taken place.
Columbus, Kentucky resi
dent Elbert Dowdy entered a
plea of guilty on three counts
of having concealed his
income which included social
security, Veterans Admini
stration payments and a Civil
Service annuity. He was
fined SI,OOO, SSOO of which
was suspended, and placed
on one year supervised
probation. Another Kentucky
resident, Loraine Keene of
Richmond, also plead guilty
of knowingly providing false
information about her in
come, property holdings and
bank accounts. A U. S. Dis
trict Court in Lexington
ordered her to pay a $2,500
fine and court costs. She was
also given a 3-year suspend
ed jail sentence and was
placed on probation for 5
years.
In North Carolina, Brenda
S. Bass of Greensboro
entered a plea of guilty on
two counts of converting for
her benefit the SSI payments
intended for the use of
another. U.S. District Judge
Eugene A. Gordon sentenced
her to one year in prison. She
must serve one-third of this
term before being released
on parole. The violation was
discovered by the Greens
boro Social Security Office
when the grandmother of Ms.
Bass’ two disabled minor
children filed for SSI benefits
on their behalf. Ms. Bass had
been the payee for the
children’s SSI benefits but
they had not lived with her
since she began receiving the
payments and she was not
using the money for their
support.
Another North Carolina
resident, Margie Stewart of
Micro, is awaiting sentencing
her January 27 conviction in
Raleigh on charges of
making false representations
in an SSI application on
behalf of her brother, David
Stewart. Evidence presented
established that David was
unaware of his sister’s
action, that he was in any
case ineligible for the
benefits for which she had
applied, and that the pay
ments made based on her
fictitious statements were
received by Ms. Stewart at
her mailing address and
converted to her own use.
Finally, George and Willie
B Melton of Woodbury,
Tennessee were recently con
verted and fined by a U. S.
District Court in Nashville
for making false statements
to obtain SSI payments.
All of the foregoing
violations were initially
discovered by social security
district Offices. The prelimi
nary evidence they de
veloped was turned over to a
special SSA Program Inte
grity Staff headquartered in
Birmingham which conduct
ed further investigations and
ultimately recommended
prosecution to the U. S.
Attorney.
Those convicted of de
frauding the SSA program
may be sentenced to a
maximum jail term of one
year and-or be fined up to
SI,OOO. In addition, the court
may order the repayment of
whatever benefit amounts
were received as a result of
the fraud.
Helpful Hints
On Reading
Electric Meter
by
SUSAN MILLSAP
HOME ECONOMIST
GEORGIA POWER
Once you’re familiar with
it, the little box containing
the wheels and dials that
measure the electricity con
sumed in your home is
neither complicated nor
mysterious. In fact, an
electric meter is as easy to
read as a clock.
The basic unit of measure
for electricity is a kilowatt
hour. One kilowatt (1,000
watts) used for an hour is one
kilowatt-hour. For example,
ten 100-watt light bulbs
burning for an hour would
consume one kilowatt-hour of
electricity.
Inside the electric meter’s
glass is a metal disc rotating
at varying speeds, depend
ing on the amount of
electricity the family is
using. When no electricity is
being used, the disc stops
completely. This rarely hap
pens because most homes
have appliances such as
clocks and refrigerators that
either operate constantly or
cycle on at irregular inter
vals.
As the disc measures
precise amounts of electri
city at the instant you use it
in your home, the measure
ment is transferred through
a series of gears to the
pointers on the dials of the
meter
The dial farthest to the
right measures single
kilowatt-hours. The dial to its
All the comfort
a quiet place and kind people
can offer.
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know the special needs that sorrow brings and how to meet
them. We assist in securing permits, certificates, and Social
Security of Veterans’ benefits, completing insurance claims,
notifying papers and many other details. For the peace ot
mind that c< mes from knowing everything is in order, visit
Haistens and discuss arrangements and costs. We stand
ready to serve you.
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THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGU3. JACKSON. GEORGIA
CROSSWORD
PUZZLE
48 Concur
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DOWN
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port
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unaware
(2 wds.)
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tagalong
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depression
fi Employed
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extension
8 She’s
“turning
night into
day”
(3 wds.)
9 Almost a
grad
ACROSS
I Support
S The mating
game
If Jai -
II Tiny brook
13 Benumb
14 Actress
Dahl
15 Wet
thoroughly
It Summer
(Fr.)
17 Norse
healing
goddess
18 Gasped
38 For (Sp.)
21 Rose
essence
22 Harp con
stellation
23 Negative
prefix
24 Extra bed
25 Ensnare
27 add
29 Member of
Congress
(abbr.)
38 Jazz-group
member
32 Electrical
unit
33 “Don’t -
Joe”
34 “Down
under”
bird
35 Like a
snake or
rope
37 Along in
years
38 Verdi
opera
39 Tortoise’s
foe
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left measures in tens; the
dial to its left measures in
hundreds, etc. Similar to the
odometer in an automobile,
each time a dial makes 10
revolutions the dial to its left
makes one revolution.
Note that some dials go
clockwise and others go
counterclockwise. When the
pointer of a dial is between
numbers, the smaller num
ber if recorded. If the
pointer is directly on a
number, look at the dial to
the right. If the pointer on
that dial has not yet passed 0,
record the smaller number ;
if it has passed 0, record the
number toward which the
dial is pointing.
The amount of electricity
you are billed for each month
is calculated by subtracting
the previous reading from
the current reading. For
example, if your March
reading was 2384 and your
April reading is 3246, your
April usage is 862 kilowatt
hours. Consumers can check
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Machine & Lock Service
1L! ! \V. Gild Si
Answer
To Today’s
Puzzle on
Back Page
12 incognita
16 Verve
19 On the
roof
22 Traditional
knowledge
24 Buffalo
Bill
25 Vestige
2S Parasitic
like
fish
27 “Watch
the-!”
28 Item for
Mathew
Brady
30 Post-card
offering
31 Certain
portraits
36 Malay
gibbon
37 Gotcha!
their meters any time to
determine how much electri
city they are using each
month, each week or even
each day.
Occasionally, because of
bad weather or an emerg
ency, a meter reading must
be estimated based on the
customer’s previous bills.
When this happens a figure
"one” is entered in the code
column of the customer’s
bill. Since the registration of
kilowatt-hours on the meter
is cumulative, any difference
in the estimated amount and
the actual usage is corrected
on the next bill.
Few pieces of equipment
are as. reliable as an electric
meter. Tests indicate that
even after many years of
service with no maintenance,
these perpetually operating
instruments are remarkably
accurate. Of the more than
5.000 residential meters
tested in Georgia each year,
fewer than .004 percent are
found defective.
Griffin Office Of Employment
Service Placed Many in Jobs
The Griffin Office of the
Georgia Department of La
bor, managed by Jerry
Buffington, assisted em
ployers in this area in filling
2.274 nonfarm jobs during
1976.
And the Georgia State
Employment Service assist
ed employers in filling
approximately 86,592 non
farm jobs during the year.
The average weekly earn
ings of insured workers in
this area at the close of FY
1976 was $146.00, an increase
of $12.00 over the 1975 figure.
In FY 1976, 197,921 weekly
benefit payments totaling
$11,868,000 were made to
unemployed workers in this
area in cases of job loss
resulting from no fault of
their own.
The Griffin Office serves
Butts, Fayette, Henry, La
mar. Newton, Pike, Spald
ing and Upson counties. It is
located at 122 E. Poplar
Street, Griffin, Georgia.
The information is contain
ed in the 1976 edition of the
Labor Department’s Annual
Report, which Commissioner
Sam Caldwell has submitted
to Governor George Busbee
and members of the Georgia
General Assembly.
Mr. Jerry Buffington,
Manager, said that on a
statew'ide basis, “We have
been v called upon to serve
more persons than in any of
the previous years of the
department’s existence. In
order to meet the unprece
dented need for our services,
we have reorganized,
strengthened and increased
staff and in many instances
have expanded facilities. We
have streamlined and up
graded our data processing
operations, which have re
placed outmoded methods
and afforded faster and more
accurate processing of
claims.
"Additionally, our staff has
worked closely with employ-
The Cost
May Never Be So Low Again
Every year inflation drives the cost of homes
higher and higher. The house you would like to
buy in 1977 will probably cost more in 1978.
Right now mortgage money is available and
terms are favorable for buying a home and some
day you might find it was one of the best moves
you ever made. Talk to us.
Good For Us “"Good For You
GRIFFIN FEDERAL
SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION
FSLIC West Taylor at 10th 348 S. Mulberry St.
In Griffin In Jackson wmmßm
lender
THURSDAY. APRII, 14, 1977
ers in this area to help them
retain qualified employees.
"In spite of this extra
work.” Buffington continued,
"we were still able to serve
the needs of our com
munities. We are always
looking for ways to better use
our resources for the public
good. For example, during
fiscal year 1976, statewide,
we used more than $127
million from the Comprehen
sive Employment and Train
ing Act (CETA) to help
almost 100,000 persons.
The Georgia Department
of Labor will continue its
increased emphasis on job
training and special assist
ance to the under-educated,
unskilled and handicapped,”
Buffington said, “and to
place them in gainful
employment as soon as
possible.”
"Your Labor Department
will also help those whose
skills are no longer in
demand due to shifts in
national priorities. These
include skilled persons in
several fields,” Buffington
added.
The Unemployment Insur
ance Division experienced a
decrease of 121,300 new
claims filed during FY 1976 --
to 428.200 - down from 549,500
the previous fiscal year.
More than $193 million was
paid out in FY 1976,
compared with more than
$202 million paid out the
previous fiscal year.
The Trust Fund, from
which unemployment bene-
Butts County
VFW Post 5374
Regular Meeting Nights
THIRD FRIDAY
in each month.
Youth Center 7:00
JOSEPH R. CRANE
1 its are paid, reached an
all time high of $465 million
in September of 1974.
However now, because of the
record payouts, the Trust
Fund has dropped to about
$206.2 million.
The present unemploy
ment rate in Georgia is 5.6,
as of December 1976, down
from 8.7 per cent at the same
time last year.
Add Caraway
Classic in cookies and
cakes, caraway seed can
also add a poignant flavor to
sauerkraut, noodles and
cheese.
Early Sweet Teeth
Candy makers, catering
to the age-old craving for
"something sweet,” were
pictured in Egyptian tombs
as far back as 3,500 B.C.
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Rings and Diamonds enlarged to show detail.
BEHIND
“Aim to be kind,” said
Horace Mann, “generous,
magnanimous. If there is a
boy in school who has a
club-foot, don’t let him know
you ever saw it. If there is a
poor boy with ragged clothes,
don’t talk about rags in his
hearing. If there is a lame
boy, assign him some part of
the game which does not
require running. If there is a
hungry one, give him part of
your dinner. If there is a dull
one, help him to learn his
lesson. If there is a bright one
be not envious of him; for if
one boy is proud of his talents
and another boy is envious of
them, there are two great
wrongs, and no more talent
than before. If a larger or
stronger boy has injured you
and is sorry for it, forgive
him, and request the teacher
not to punish him. It is much
better to have a kind heart
than a great fist.”