| Check It Out
Bob in Pittsboro continues to defend the lame Bank of America greeter. (If you're new to this debate, a couple of weeks ago we wrote about being faux customer-serviced by a BOA greeter, who pretended to be concerned about our needs. Bob shot back that we were a "grouch" for not appreciating BOA's interest in us, its valued customer. We responded with a list of things we could have done in the 15 minutes we had to wait to see our senior personal banker.) Today, Bob continues to portray BOA as the victim."Not only a grouch," writes Bob, "but a poor planner. From BOA's Web site, here's what you could have done online ... . " He goes on to list several things that can be done with online banking -- which we have and use, thank you very much, Bob. Several things except what we needed to do, which was transfer funds from a CD account to checking, a simple task that we should not have to enlist the aid of an SPB in the first place! Which adds to our, yes, grouchiness!Bob concludes by offering one more thing we could have done in the 15 minutes we waited to see our SPB: "Try doing the 15-Minute Desk Workout (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKCPcRcJmqc) in the bank lobby.
Bank of America Launches Microsite
Bank of America Corp. has launched its "Bank the Way You Live" mircosite today in an effort to attract customers who want to do mobile banking. The site features characters that lead users through interactive demonstrations of each online and mobile banking product. Customers can find information on how to access accounts, pay bills, transfer funds, locate branches or ATMs and receive account alert text messages on their mobile phone. Customers can also see how to gather information and accounts for a clearer financial picture, all with layers of security to keep customers personal finance information protected. .
Ramona, surrounding area under mandatory evacuation
NORTH COUNTY ---- The entire town of Ramona ---- more than 36,000 people ---- and hundreds of residents in surrounding areas were forced to flee their homes Sunday night after a Santa Ana-whipped fire burned through 5,000 acres on both sides of Highway 78, leaving blazing structures, power outages and dead animals in its wake. View A Slide Show The inferno, dubbed the Witch Creek fire by officials, was one of a dozen blazes scorching Southern California from Malibu to Mexico that prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. In East County, the so-called Harris fire had charred 20,000 acres in Potrero, leaving one civilian dead and at least 14 people ---- including four fighters ---- hospitalized.
Bank robbery suspects jailed
By Kathie O. Warco, Staff writer kwarco@observer-reporter.com A teller at Northwest Savings Bank driving past the Fredericktown bank just after it had been robbed Thursday afternoon was able to give state police information that helped them quickly nab two suspects. Daniel J. Famularo, 50, and Robert E. Loar, 58, both of 172 Fourth St., Pitt Gas, Greene County, were arrested about an hour-and-a-half after the 1 p.m. heist at the bank on Front Street. Loar is accused of pointing a gun at one of the tellers while Famularo pointed a weapon at the other employee. Famularo threw a bag on the counter and ordered the teller to "put money in the bag," state police said. Famularo's face was familiar to the bank's tellers, said Trooper David Vanderaar, who filed the charges.
Police and Court briefs
Police arrested three St. Albans residents for allegedly trying to pass a stolen check at a bank in South Charleston. According to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court, Jason Lee Pauley, 26, Patricia Ann Riffe, 44, and Brenda Kay McCune, 38, used the drive-thru window at the Huntington Bank branch on Seventh Avenue. A cashier called the account holder, who confirmed that the check had been stolen. The account holder later told police that people matching the suspects' description had knocked on his door earlier and asked to use the phone, the complaint states. When police arrived at the bank, the car was still in the drive-thru at the bank, and the two women were still with the car, South Charleston Police Cpl. L.S. Thomas wrote. Pauley was arrested on a street corner opposite the bank.
Phishing e-mail targets First Hawaiian Bank customers
A fake First Hawaiian Bank Web site was taken down this morning after the bank's security personnel was alerted about a "phishing" e-mail that was targeting First Hawaiian customers. The e-mail circulated this morning is purported to be from the bank and asks people to click on a link as part of security maintenance measures being taken by First Hawaiian. So-called phishing e-mails typically attempt to direct people to sites where they are asked for sensitive financial account information, allowing Web thieves to harvest the information and later use it for their own gain. The fake e-mail begins "Dear First Hawaiian Bank Valued Member" and notes the bank has randomly selected the person to take part in security measures that require them to go through a series of identity verification pages.
The Dollar In Danger
For a quarter-century after World War II, money was based on a loose version of the gold standard. The U.S. dollar was pegged to gold; other currencies were pegged to the dollar; stable prices underpinned the prosperity and soaring trade of the 1950s and '60s. Then in 1971 Richard Nixon balked at the high interest rates necessary to maintain the dollar's link to gold. For the rest of the decade, inflation ripped. The cure, starting in 1979, involved two recessions in the United States and the Third World debt crisis. Now we face another potential watershed in the world's system of money. Since the breaking of the gold link, the dollar has become the world's primary measure of value, so much so that bank deposits in Uruguay and bribes paid in Russia are mostly denominated in dollars.
Panama City Beach camper killed in accidental shooting
A man was killed and his friend was injured when a 9 mm pistol accidentally discharged during a camping trip, Gulf County authorities said. Jayson Decker, 31, of Panama City Beach, died at the Gulf County campsite Saturday night. James Cook was treated and released from an area hospital, The News Herald of Panama City reported. Decker picked up the loaded gun and tossed it to Cook, Sheriff Joe Nugent said. When Cook caught the gun it fired. A single bullet passed through his left hand and struck Decker in the head, Nugent said. Cook ran to a nearby boat ramp to call for help. The men were camped on the bank of the White City Canal. Investigators determined evidence from the scene matches Cook's account of the shooting, Nugent said. Robert Decker, Jayson Decker's father, told The News Herald that the gun did not belong to his son or Cook.
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