Businesses report phone scammers posing as city of I.F. representatives

Five Idaho Falls businesses called City Hall Tuesday to report they had received calls from people claiming to represent the city and threatening to shut off their utilities unless they paid allegedly overdue bills with a credit or debit card.

The city never calls anyone to demand immediate payment over the phone, said Lori Holverson,  Idaho Falls' collection adviser. “If you do receive a phone call requesting immediate utility payment, write down the phone number of the individual calling you and contact the Idaho Falls Police Department,” she said.    

The city offers a link with further information on how to avoid being scammed. Here are some key bullet points from it:

• Ask for verification: IFP and Utilities employees rarely call residential customers. If they do, however, they will know the customer’s name and address, account number and account balance. If you suspect a scammer is on the other end of the line, hang up and call the Utilities office at 612-8280. 
• Keep your information safe: Do not provide account information to any caller. No one from Idaho Falls Power or the city Utilities office will ever ask for account information. 
• You always have options: A number of payment options are available to customers and the Utilities office can usually work out a payment arrangement for a customer who has fallen behind on his bill. 
• Please report scam calls: If you receive a suspicious call, write down the phone number if you have Caller ID, hang up and call the police. 

If someone comes to your door: 

• Did you have an appointment? IFP employees who conduct energy audits or other projects that require home visits always make appointments. Collections agents with the Utilities office often don’t have an appointment, but they drive city vehicles, wear marked clothing, carry ID and all pertinent account information, and will provide a receipt for any payment made. Meter readers will never collect payment. 
• Check the vehicle: IFP and city Utilities employees drive white or yellow vehicles bearing the IFP logo or city logo. 
• Ask to see ID: City employees always carry ID cards. 
• Verify: To confirm the person at your door is an IFP or Utilities employee, ask them to wait outside and call either IFP at 612-8526 or the Utilities office at 612-8280. 

Idaho Falls Good Samaritan Center names new administrator

Dr. Susan Jones has been named administrator of the Good Samaritan Society-Idaho Falls Village living center.

According to the press release announcement, Jones brings many years of health care experience to the position, with degrees in nursing and health care administration. Prior to this appointment, she was the center's nursing director.

Founded in 1922, Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society is the largest not-for-profit provider of senior care and services in the United States, with more than 240 locations. Its centers offer rehabilitation and skilled care services, including in-patient therapy and memory care as well as home and community services such as outpatient therapy.

Taking old fashioned electronics for a spin

Skylar Burtenshaw at the family business, Burtenshaw's Electronics. In the foreground, our Technics turntable, with which there was nothing wrong.

After years of putting it off, I finally decided Monday to take Karen's old Technics SL-D2 turntable to Burtenshaw's Electronics, 200 First Street.

If you're not familiar with Burtenshaw's it's a beacon of hope in this dark time of planned obsolescence. TV doesn't work? Don't chuck it just yet. "The larger ones are almost worth fixing," said Skylar Burtenshaw, who minds the business with his father, Bruce, who started the shop nearly 30 years ago.

Since vacuum tubes are a thing of the antediluvian past (except in guitar amplifiers), the thing most likely to go wrong with a newer TV is the power supply, he said. On average, that's a $75 fix. If the TV is something you bought at Fred Meyer for $39 you aren't going to shell out the dough, but a $999 Samsung or LG is a different story.

As for our turntable, after we plugged it in and moved the arm over, it started working. Dang!

"Did you plug it into the socket in the back of the amplifier?" Skylar asked. I nodded yes. "That's probably where the problem is."

Aside from feeling stupid, the good news is that we're good to go analogue. I have been using a Pioneer receiver I bought at a yard sale for $25, along with two crappy looking but great-sounding JBL speakers. I doubt I'll be taking the receiver in for repairs, so if anyone has an old Marantz they want to part with I'm all ears.

One thing for sure is that I'm ready to embrace vinyl again. Lately I have been preoccupied with the irony that so much of the music I have downloaded in the last ten years has disappeared through the digital donut hole. Hard drives crash, portable devices stop working and poof! -- it's gone.

Compare that to the stack of LPs in my garage that I once considered selling but couldn't. Records that date back to high school and college; albums I bought at Budget Tapes and Records at lunchtime when it was across the street from the Post Register.

I can remember where I bought some of my records (e.g., Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited," at John Wanamaker in Wilmington). As for the LPs I "forgot" to return to their rightful owners, I hope there will be mercy for me at the Throne of Judgment.

Then there is the digital-vs.-analog argument over sound quality. The MP3 format keeps file size small by discarding information, Burtenshaw said. That's great for having a lot of songs on your hard drive or iPod, but kind of like eating a meatloaf that's 85 percent air when compared to the sound that comes from a stylus in the grooves of a record.

Beyond that, has any young person ever been as excited about downloading Deadmaus or Beyonce as I was when I bought Steely Dan's "Countdown to Ecstasy" at Wonderland (the No. 1 record store and head shop in Newark, Del.) then brought it back to Brown Hall to listen to with my friends? Dropping the needle on a record is an experience that pressing PLAY doesn't come close to matching, but maybe I'm just sounding like an old man again.

Tell you what. Come over to my house when I've got the stereo assembled. I'll cue up my copy of K-Tel "Bong Hits" and we can decide for ourselves, man.

Salon h. davis hosting cut-a-thon to help Relay for Life

This Saturday, salon h.davis will once again host an all-day cut-a-thon to support the American Cancer Society.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 2450 E. 25th Street. Beverages and hot dogs will be provided to all guests. The fund-raiser will feature $10 haircuts and the opportunity to receive a blow dry and style for just $5. All payments for services will be donated directly to the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, which provides many services in the Idaho Falls area including the “Look Good, Feel Better” program, which assists women in chemotherapy with make-up and wig application.

“Thousands of individuals throughout our community will face cancer in some way, whether it is through a personal diagnosis or the diagnosis of a loved one. We want to show our love and support,” salon owner Niki Young said.

Anyone unable to attend the event but interested in donating can stop in during regular business hours Monday through Friday at the salon.

Negativity in the workplace is no joke

One of my favorite movies of all time is "Office Space." No matter how amazing your job is, I think at some point in our careers we can all relate to a “case of the Mondays."

It could come from an overly confident, micro-managing superior, or perhaps outsourced professionals like “the Bobs” coming in to analyze the work environment. Then there's the clueless co-worker like Milton, who is always looking for his missing stapler.

Although it's funny, "Office Space" offers a chilling picture of how negativity in the workplace is no joke and has a very far-reaching impact on employees. It's a caricature of a workplace gone wrong in so many ways that ultimately one disgruntled employee decides to burn the building down.

Most of us of course aren’t going to burn down the building if we are having problems at work. But negativity does certainly have an impact on productivity, efficiency, employee morale, absenteeism and turnover. to name a few impact areas.

A negative workplace in theory should be easy enough to identify. What's hard is changing things for the better. From watching "Office Space," here are a few lessons on how to better manage a negative workplace.

One of the major characters in the movie is Peter’s boss, Bill Lumbergh, who is a stereotypical micro-manager. It’s easy to see how the employees' attitudes and performance reflect on Bill’s management style.  In management it’s easy to want to keep track of every aspect of the company, but in reality doing so creates lower productivity and decreased performance.

Another major issue in the movie is lack of communication. From Milton’s “reassignment” to the basement of the office and being taken off the payroll to the decision to bring in the “Bobs” for organizational analysis, it is pretty clear that communication is completely absent. Lack of communication can lead to a long list of issues, including poor performance, non-compliance with policies and procedures, disciplinary actions and even termination of employment.

While Milton’s termination seems a little far-fetched in the real world, it is a good example of how lack of communication can be a long-term problem. Additionally, while upper management isn’t required to make subordinates aware of all the issues they face or decisions they make, it’s important for employees to be told about upcoming events, decisions and changes. If communicated properly, this makes employees feel engaged and important. Open communication is the simplest way to boost morale and create harmony between employees and management.

"Office Space" works as a satire because most working people can identify with it in one way or another. Laughter is a universal way of taking power over things that would otherwise make us suicidal. But keep in mind, a negative workplace can have issues that are far reaching, and that's no laughing matter.