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Consumer Forum by Illinois Attorney General William J. Scott In my "Consumer Forum" columns over the last year I have explored a variety of frauds and advised you in ways to avoid these traps. If, however, you are -- or feel you are - the victim, of fraud, the Illinois Attorney General's Consumer Fraud and Protection division may be able to help you. The services of our attorneys and hearing officers are completely free. And if you even suspect you may have been defrauded, please don't hesitate to visit one of our many offices throughout Illinois. The two main offices of the Attorney General's Division of Consumer Fraud and Protection are Attorney General Wm J. Scott, Division of consumer Fraud and Protection, 500 South Second Street, Springfield, Illinois, 62706, ! 217 ) 525-1090; or At­ torney General Wm. J. Scott Division of Consumer Fraud and Protection, 134 North LaSalle street, Chicago, Illinois, 60602, (312) 793-3580. To discover the office nearest you, simply call one of the two main offices. It always is best, if possible, for you to talk with us in person about your complaint. The Consumer Fraud and Protection PUBLIC PULSE (The Plaindealer invites the public to use this column as an expression of their views on subjects pf general interest in our community. Our only request is that the writers give - signature, full ad­ dress and phone number. We ask too. that one in­ dividual not write on the same subject more than" once each month. We reserve the right to delete any material which we consider libelous or in objectional taste.) SCHOOL PARTIALITY? "Editor: "The following is a further reference to Johnsburg School District 12 and the subject of the location of a high school within that district. "The Committee of Ten, along with thirty-eight other citizens which consist of the feasibility study committee, exhibit a partiality previous to any study having actually been conducted and the subsequent facts gathered. "All forty-eight committee members have signed the petition that has been on file with the superintendent of the education service region. This information was obtained from District 12 Supt. Andreas. "This petition represents a request for a public hearing, the first step toward a public referendum, on the matter of a high school in District 12 and any signature thereupon would designate the signer as a supporter ofca high school in the Johnsburg area. "Apparently the^signing of the petition was a pre requisite prior to becoming a feasibility committee member. "For the feasibility study to be conducted upon an unbiased basis, the majority of its members should have been uncommitted, instead of all of the committee members pledging themselves to a certain course. "Certainly the petition should have been withheld un^il after the feasibility study had been conducted by the membership and the results known. "Likewise, the members of the committee should have been selected without any prior knowledge of their views or lack of a point of view on the subject of a Johnsburg high school. "The members of the feasibility study committee have agreed that if within the District 12 boundaries, the petition will be withdrawn prior to a hearing date. "In view of the composition of the feasibility committee, I deem this very unlikely; "Sincerely, "Arthur Oakle; "5901 N. Bunny Av" "McHenry, Illinois" " What's , JERRY'S ad­ dress? I wanta get an over­ haul job." llERRY'S "66" AUTO REPAIR 4713 VT Kt 12U bays 3.44-1278 Towing after 11pm .185-0258 division has complaint in­ vestigators who will review the situation with you without prior appointment. (If you cannot come to one of our offices, please write ad we will send you a complaint form.) When you visit the Illinois General's Consumer Fraud and Protection division office please bring with you all pertinent receipts, contracts, letters, cancelled checks, etc. This will help our attorneys determine possible fraud and jurisdiction. Do not send these materials in their original form • through the mails. After an investigator has discussed your complaint with you, the case will be assigned to an attorney who will make the actual determination of law. The attorney then will notify you either (1) That the Illinois Attorney General's office does have jurisdiction; (2) That the Illinois Attorney General's offices does not have jurisdiction; (3) That the case, though not in the Illinois At­ torney General's jurisdiction, does fall within the purview of another state agency, to which we would direct you. If jurisdiction is determined in the Illinois Attorney General's favor, an attorney within the Division of Con­ sumer Fraud and Protection will write a letter to the businessman concerned, telling him the nature of your com­ plaint. Upon receipt of our letter, if the businessman does not respond in a manner which clearly demonstrates that there is no substantial claim, a hearing may be set on the matter. Both you and the businessman will be notified by mail of the time, date and place of the hearing, for which you both must be present. At that time, you and the businessman will have an opportunity to explain the situation to one of our attorneys. In the last six years, set­ tlements within the Illinois Attorney General's Consumer Fraud and Protection division have accounted for ap­ proximately nine million dollars and cancelled con­ tracts, cash refunds, or ex­ changed merchandise. Most of these settlements came as a result of the hearings in our offices. So, as you can see, the hearings are a very effective means of solving consumer complaints. It sometimes happens, however, that the businessman will not answer the Attorney General's "nature of com­ plaint" letter, or he will not appear for the scheduled hearing. In such a case, the Attorney General has the authority to issue a subpoena to .compel the businessman to appear in our offices. If the businessman should decide to ignore this subpoena, I have the authority to file a lawsuit in court against the businessman, asking the court to place him OUT OF BUSINESS until he does comply with our request to appear for a hearing. So, as you can see, the Illinois consumer statutes are tough. However, I would remind you that for these statutes actually to work, it takes your help. I can serve you better if YOU take the time - and the responsibility - to inform the Illinois Attorney General's Consumer Fraud and Protection division of questionable business practices in your community. VFW Auxiliary Presents Flag To Brownie Troop Brownie Marci Webber and Tonya Magee accepted an American flag for their Brownie troop at their meeting Monday afternoon. The flag was presented by Americanism Chairman Gerry Kuck of the Ladies auxiliary to V.F.W. Post 4600, who was accompanied by Lucille Garifi, auxiliary president. Troop 182 of Woodstock has as its leader, Phyllis Richards, and co-leader is Arevia Schelle. FROM THE FARM | The uncertainty about the size of the next corn crop is greater thah usual, states L.H. Simerl, Extension economist, Agricultural Marketing, in his Illinois Farm and Food Outlook Newsletter. The biggest question concerns the quality of seed, some of which was damaged by early freezes. In a previous report, we used an example with optimistic figures for the 1975 corn crop. This time, we will use more conservative assumptions about acreage; yields, and total production. To review: In the earlier example, we assumed that farmers would plant about the same acreage as they intended to last year; also, that the national average yield would be 95 bushels per acre, 5 bushels TAX FACTS Employers ca« help their employees to obtain faster tax refunds by issuing W-2 forms or equivalent earning statements as early as possible, the In­ ternal Revenue Service said this week. "Although the deadline for issuing W-2 forms is Jan. 31," Charles F. Miriani, IRS district director for northern Illinois, said, "employers can help their employees file returns earlier and obtain refunds faster by issuing W-2's well before the deadline." Taxpayers who file returns in January can expect to receive their refunds four to five weeks after filing, Miriani explained. "On the other hand," he said,1 "the taxpayer who files during such peak periods as late February, late March, or April may have to wait as long as eight weeks for a refund." Miriani explained that because the workload at IRS Service Centers is lighter early in the filing season, returns are processed faster. As in previous years, an employee filing his return for 1974 must attach a W-2 form from each employer. Each form should show earnings, income tax withheld, and social security information. The IRS expects to issue some 64.8 million refunds this year, totaling about $31.6 billion. Northern Illinois taxpayers expecting tax refunds will receive them much sooner if they file theiir ;rtturns now, Charles F. Miriani, district director of Internal Revenue for northern Illinois said this week. "If you file now, there's a good chance you'll receive your refund in four to five weeks," he pointed out. "If you file later, you may have to wait as long as eight weeks," he added. "January is a relatively slow month at IRS service centers," he explained, "which means returns can be processed and refunds issued faster than later in the filing period." "During late March and April, however," said Miriani "returns come in at an ac­ celerated rate and the processing cycle takes longer, tfhich delays refunds." "So if you want that refund fast, file early," Miriani ad­ vised. "After all, it's your money." Taxpayers also can speed the processing of their return by using the pre-addressed label and the special envelope in­ cluded in the tax package they received in the mail, the IRS spokesman said. "Another tip I can offei taxpa y e r s , " M i r i a n i s a i d , " i s t o g i v e s o m e t h o u g h t n o w t o setting up a record-keeping system for next year. You'd lit amazed at how much this facilitates filing a return." Since taxpayers cannot file their returns until they have received all W-2 statements of earnings forms, he also urged employers to issue these forms as early as possible before the January 31, 1975 deadline. He also asked banks and savings and loan associations to issue interest and dividend statements to their depositors as early as possible. D0RKIES RESTAURANT 4213 W. RTE. 120 McHENRY 385-6981 LOOK KIDS SAVE "D0RKIE DOLLARS" FREE GIFTS Free Dollars Given To Children 2 to 12 Years Of Age When Accompanied With An Adult. / less than could be expected with good seed and average weather conditions. That would produce a crop of about 6.5 billion bushels, up more than a third from the amount available for domestic use and export in this marketing year. Conservative Projections Now, let us use more con­ servative figures. Assume that farmers plant only 77 million acres of corn. That would be 2 million acres less than they expected to plant last year, but about the same as they actually were able to plant. Subtract about 10 million acres for silage, grazing, and fields too poor to harvest. That would leave about 67 million acres of corn to be harvested for grain next fall. Next, suppose that the national average yield is only 90 bushels per acre, 10 bushels less than we would expect with normal seed and average weather. An average yield of 90 bushels from 67 million acres would make about 6 million bushels of corn, which would be about a quarter more than is available for'use £his year. Needs For Corn The next question to consider is: How much corn will be needed for domestic use and export during the 1975-76 marketing year? Domestic requirements for uses other than animal feed will continue with very little change, and will take about 460 million bushels. Numbers of hogs and poultry, both big users of corn, are being cut sharply in our overseas markets as well as in the United States. But assume that exports recover to the same rate as in the past two years - 1.25 billion bushels. Suppose that domestic needs for corn for feed recover about three-fourths of the decrease that is occurring this year, and total around 4.1 billion bushels. These rates of domestic use and exports would total about 5.8 billion bushels during the 1975-76 marketing year, only 2000 million less that the con­ servative estimate of production used in this example. Looking ahead almost two years, the prospect would be for a carryover on October 1, 1976, of only 500 to 600 million bushels. On paper, that would be equal to normal needs for about five weeks; but in practice, it would be only comfortable pipeline supplies. Price Possibilities Although no (One knows how much corn will be harvested next fall, some producers and some users are making sales and purchases for delivery after harvest. We have presented these figures to help farmers who are considering the pricing of a part of their 1975 crop at this time. We hope the examples presented will also be helpful to farmers who still hold some of their 1974 crop, since prospects for the 1975 crop will influence the price of the remainder of the 1974 crop. PAGE 19 - PLAINDEALER - FRIDAY, JANUARY 17,1975 General Joke Confederate General Robert E. Lee said it to a young student accused of laziness: "You must be very fond of your mother,, my lad --for you sure are considerate of her son!" NEW FUELS SEARCH . . Engineer Robert Ehlers exam­ ines a combustor nozzle used in tests of alternative jet engine fuels at NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland. Blends of jet fuels are tested in JT8D jet engine combustor, center, to de- termine combustion and emission characteristics. Testing is part Of a Fuels Technology Program to explore alternative fuels for jet engines, such as fuel derived from oil shale and coal, so that jet aircraft someday may not be solely dependent on petroleum resources. and still GROWING! MABENd0L0»°lA»"l*"On ssssssr December 31,1^ »»i" -n 1974 Q1 1u73 December 31,197 December 31, I**73 improvement CoUefle^»ngi Accounts Loans on Saving Qontract Stock in Equipment Other Total Re*5"'0 $44,115,232.49 1,003,315.60 68,494.74 485,372.92 284,845.18 87,230.07 429,830.57 3.074,813.84 378,000.00 464,838.87 218,534.72 26.547.74 $44,700,300.24 1,265,162.25 83,133.12 470,524.77 264,114-82 141,308.54 843,681.24 3,026.229.90 415,700.00 449,128.31 221,490.89 33,233.42 $61,904,007.50 J ^ ^ from reo« . _.raoce . pald to Savers $6V $ 2.1* 43 ' 9.95% •/if y Make Marengo Federal your Savings Headquarters Earn at Highest Legal Rates 5%% and 5%% on Passbook Savings 6%%, 634%, 7%%, and 7%% on Certificate Accounts % f A $50,000,000 mutual savings association serving northern Illinois since 1925 X-x* 1W| A federal savings and loan IT M it Mc mJ 1 1 vF 200 E. GRANT HIGHWAY MARENGO, ILL v-5" association 200 E. GRANT HIGHWAY MARENGO, ILL. WHERE MORE PEOPLE SAVE MORE MONEY THAN ANY IN McHENRY COUNT: Each account Insured to $40,000.00