The Illinois Personal Injury Weblog of Schaeffer & Lamere P.C.

If You're Skiing This Season, Take Care

There's a grim reminder in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today about the dangers of skiing: "Local businessman dies in ski accident"--

Jon Pyzyk, president of the Kohner Properties real estate company of Clayton, died Saturday in a skiing accident at Beaver Creek Resort near Beaver Creek, Colo., authorities reported. Pyzyk, of Town and Country, was 55.

Authorities say Pyzyk hit a tree on an intermediate trail. He was not wearing a helmet, resort officials said. He was taken to the Vail Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

--Posted by Illinois personal injury attorney T. Evan Schaeffer of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C.

Targeting Tanning Beds in Illinois

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Illinois Legislator Targets Teen Tanning," by Kate Thayer--

An Illinois lawmaker wants to pull the plug on what has become a teenage tradition - the pre-prom trip to the tanning salon - because of fears that tanning beds are giving kids an early start on skin cancer.

A proposed law would bar anyone younger than 18 from tanning salons, even with permission from their parents. Illinois law now says 14- through 17-year-olds may use a tanning bed if they have parental consent. No one under 14 years old is allowed to use a tanning salon.

--Posted by llinois Personal Injury Attorney T. Evan Schaeffer of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C.

Help with the IRS

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "The friendlier face of the IRS," by Tavia Evans--

A little-known arm of the Internal Revenue Service gives taxpayers some extra muscle when fighting the taxman.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent division within the agency, helps taxpayers after they've exhausted routine channels for dealing with the IRS.

It's not a new service; a tax advocacy program has been around since 1998, when Congress made the division independent from the IRS. The service is offered free of charge, with an office in every state.

--Posted by Alton Illinois Workers' Compensation Attorney T. Evan Schaeffer of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C.

State Farm in Hot Water

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "State Farm violated agreement on selling totaled cars," by Michael D. Sorkin--

State Farm, the nation's largest auto insurer, continued to resell thousands of vehicles nationwide without disclosing they had been in wrecks even though the company had agreed years earlier to stop the practice.

The company announced this month that it would pay $40 million to owners of thousands of totaled vehicles that State Farm had sold without state salvage titles, as required by law. The company says the practice was a mistake.

--Posted by llinois Personal Injury Attorney T. Evan Schaeffer of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C.

Google's Picassa: Version 2, Free

Picassa is a free software download from Google. According to Google:

Picasa is software that helps you instantly find, edit and share all the pictures on your PC. Every time you open Picasa, it automatically locates all your pictures (even ones you forgot you had) and sorts them into visual albums organized by date with folder names you know. You can drag and drop to arrange your albums and make labels to create new groups. Picasa makes sure your pictures are always organized.

--Posted by llinois Personal Injury Attorney T. Evan Schaeffer of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C.

Bad News: Forget Retirement

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Forget retirement: Plan to die on the job," by Daniel Doyle--

Anyone considering an offer of early retirement from a private-sector employer had better read the fine print. Whipsawed by the questionable economy and the rising cost of health care, more companies are reserving unilateral rights to terminate the health-benefit plans of retirees.

Health plans containing these reservations of rights seem to recognize that employees are productive company assets while working but turn into potentially unaffordable liabilities in retirement.

This corporate sleight of hand can transform the anticipated pleasure of early retirement into a financial mess for retirees, particularly those with little room in their budgets for unexpected costs.

--Posted by Alton llinois Personal Injury Lawyer T. Evan Schaeffer of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C.

Get the Truth About Mutual Funds

Have you seen FundPolice.com? Its goal is to shine the light in places where the financial-services media often doesn't. Check it out.
 

Who'd Complain About Mutual Funds?

From Reuters: "Love, Hate, and Mutual Funds," by Linda Stern.

If you want to hear someone trash the mutual fund industry, log onto FundAlarm (http://www.fundalarm.com).

With wit and irreverence, publisher Roy Weitz has been spearing the titans of pooled investing in his online newsletter since 1996.

"I started out kind of cynical and skeptical, and now I am even more cynical and skeptical," he said. "People in the financial services industry can be snakes ... and investors really need to protect themselves."

Spam: E-Mail Menace

From the MetroWest Daily News: "'Spam' remains an e-mail menace," by Andrew J. Manuse.

[T]he CAN-SPAM Act -- a legislative acronym for "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing" -- has not stopped unwanted e-mail from crowding inboxes across America one year after the law took effect.     

The law didn't seek to prohibit unsolicited e-mail, but it did require, among other things, that commercial e-mail senders include an opt-out mechanism so e-mail users could decline future e-mail from senders.     

Despite the law, California e-mail security provider Postini Inc. said the amount of legitimate e-mail actually dropped from 22 percent at the beginning of 2004 to 12 percent by the end of the year.

Free Credit Reports, Required by Law

All three of the biggest credit reporting agencies--Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union--are now required by law to provide consumers with their credit reports for free. You can learn more by following this link to a post about free credit reports, which contains all the information you'll need.