It's not a new concept — the Chicago Tribune says that lots of towns and neighborhoods relied on their own local currency during the Great Depression. It's also perfectly legal.

So what's the advantage for shoppers? Well, the currency could offer incentives — trading $100 US for $110 in the local currency would give shoppers a 10% bonus, for example.

What do you think? Would you use a local currency in order to support your community? Or are you going to shop at Walmart until they pry the cart from your cold dead hands?

Milwaukee Neighborhoods Could Print Own Money [Chicago Tribune]
(Photo: sfxeric )

It's just a little patch of carpet with a few chairs, but the sign makes people smile.

"See? You're getting recombobulated right now," Melissa Fullmore said Tuesday morning to another traveler who was putting on his belt.

Airport draws smiles with 'recombobulation' sign [JS Online]
(Photo: lark is already taken )

The AP says that the state of Michigan would have $10 million more a year for environmental cleanup if it weren't for people from redeeming money on out-of-state containers.

Michigan is the only state with a dime deposit on all carbonated beverage containers — other states have a nickel deposit on most cans — so people buy drinks in Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin and redeem the containers in Michigan.

"It's like a rebate, $2.40 a case for pop and beer," said Jim Wanty, president of O & W Inc., a beer distributorship in four Michigan counties near the Ohio state line. O & W lost about $65,000 last year from picking up more returned containers from stores than it had delivered.

The party may soon be over for bottle deposit fraudsters (some of whom are fairly sophisticated and collect and crush millions of cans), thanks to some new technology. The makers of the machines that collect the cans are working on a method to distinguish Michigan containers from out of state ones.

In Maine, requiring an address discourages out-of-state people from taking advantage —

In Maine, a new company has found success with redemption machines that put people's bottle returns in a debit-card-like account that requires personal information initially.

"People who were coming in from out of state aren't willing to put their name and address down saying what their home address is," said Hal Prince, director of the Division of Quality Assurance and Regulations in the Maine Department of Agriculture. "They try to find other ways to redeem them or they take them back home."

Despite the hassle, bottle deposit laws are popular are effective. Michigan says that 97% of containers are recovered.

States find a can of worms in bottle deposit laws [AP]

"People think when they come to court that they are going to get instant relief," said Judge Rebecca Dallet of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. "We can give what the law allows, but we have no way of getting the money for them. I don't think people realize that."

In two stories over the past few days, Ellen Gabler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has tried to track down Craig Hueffner, who has sold spas through the Wisconsin State Fair for most of the past 11 years. There's a fairground pavilion named after him, and his caricature is painted on it. His brother was even present this year selling spas. But many customers have had trouble getting Hueffner to pay contractually obligated rebates (which he offered even when he knew that the company behind the rebates was having financial problems)—and it seems no one can track him down, because he repeatedly gives incorrect addresses and contact information.

Those who've tried to sue Hueffner in small claims court say he's an expert at wriggling out of his responsibility to pay. He lists different addresses and different business names to avoid being served with court papers, they say, and he stalls in court.

After the first article appeared, some customers were given a lucky break—Hueffner's real address—but Hueffner may have frustrated and exhausted the couple to the point that they're giving up:

After Sunday's P.I. story appeared, Albert and Sally Merschdorf received a call from someone who knew Hueffner's home address. The Merschdorfs gave up trying to sue Hueffner last October after they said they spent at least $300 and many hours trying to track him down and serve him with court papers.

"At this point, I don't know if it's going to do me any good," Albert Merschdorf said of Hueffner's address. "It's frustrating getting it now, rather than when we were trying to serve him (with court papers.)"

There's not much you can do to help track down Hueffner, but you can ask Bob Lauter, the CEO of Master Spas, whether or not he's still doing business with Hueffner even after knowing what he's been doing to customers. Lauter told the paper that he'd investigate, but then fell silent and stopped returning calls:

Craig Hueffner worked as an independent dealer of Master Spas, a brand of hot tubs sold by the Fort Wayne, Ind., company.

Bob Lauter, CEO of Master Spas, said he knew Hueffner had run into trouble with the rebate program but said he didn't know about the judgments against Hueffner or customer complaints. He also said his company hadn't sold Hueffner products in six months.

"We have to look at this, re-evaluate it, and probably terminate him as a dealer," Lauter said. "I don't want our customers to be involved with that."

Three weeks later, however, Lauter wouldn't return repeated calls, so Public Investigator could not confirm whether Hueffner was terminated as a dealer.

Here's Master Spas' contact info:

Master Spas
6927 Lincoln Parkway
Fort Wayne, IN 46804
260-436-9100

"Spa dealer elusive in paying court-ordered debts" [JS Online]
"'Spa Man’ still elusive, even at home " [JS Online] (Thanks to !)
(Photo: Getty)

KXAN's website has a lobbying section that compares TWC broadcasting their network for free to someone bottling water from a drinking fountain and selling it.

KXAN says:

Here is a basic analogy: If you were to get a drink of water at a public drinking fountain, it is free, but once the water is placed in a package, it is no longer free. The same holds true for local television programming delivered through a subscription-based provider.
...
Time Warner Cable pays cable networks, such as ESPN, TNT, Disney, Lifetime, Nickelodeon, and the list goes on and on. Cable companies often say that local broadcasters have “unreasonable demands” and they are trying to “protect their subscribers from increasing their rates”. If that were true, why are they paying cable networks that have far less viewership than KXAN-TV?

We do not believe that a penny a per day per subscriber is an unreasonable demand for our award-winning news, sports and entertainment programming. It is actually much less than what cable companies compensate many of its cable networks, most of which do not have the high viewing of your local NBC station.

The station also says that they've reached agreements with every other provider — including DISH network, DirecTV, and AT&T.

Time Warner Cable, on the other hand, claims that KXAN is damaging its reputation as a news outlet by "conveying one sided, misleading information to the public." And has set up its own "Anti-KXAN" website.

Time Warner Says:

KXAN is demanding money from our customers to pay for a signal that has been and is free. That's right. They get it free from the Federal Government, but they want you to pay. We don't want that to happen just so KXAN can add to their revenue base.

KXAN is trying to subsidize their business by charging cable customers money. By doing so, they not only add to their revenue base, but take advantage of their viewers by charging for a signal that is FREE.

This may sound familiar to some of you, as the same struggle is going on all over the country, where other stations owned by KXAN's parent company, LIN TV, will also be dropped from TWC on October 2nd if a deal isn't reached.

There are 15 LIN TV-owned stations carried by Time Warner: Austin, Texas; Buffalo, N.Y.; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Green Bay, Wis.; Indianapolis; Mobile, Ala.; Springfield, Mass.; Terre Haute, Ind. and Toledo, Ohio.

So what's a consumer to do? Well, you can wait it out and hope that the stations reach a deal with TWC, buy a good antenna, or you can make plans to switch. LIN-TV is encouraging TWC's customers to switch to DISH Network — and also told Multichannel News that customers in the Buffalo area and the Fort Wayne market can switch to FiOS.

If you're in Austin, Buffalo, Columbus, Dayton, Fort Wayne, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Mobile, Terre Haute and Toledo markets you can receive a $50 incentive to switch to DISH.

Retrans Standoff Could Keep LIN TV Stations Off TWC Systems [Multichannel News] (Thanks, Clint!)

From JS Online:

The agreement came only days before the start of the Big Ten football season. The Big Ten Network has the broadcast rights to this Saturday’s game between the University of Wisconsin and the University of Akron at Camp Randall.

If not for the agreement-in-principle, the game would not have been made available to Time Warner customers.

As recently as Friday, Mark Silverman, the president of the Big Ten Network, said he was pessimistic that a deal could be reached in time for the start of the football season.

For months, the cable giant and the network differed on the merits of a channel devoted to Big Ten sports. The network argued that, particularly in the Big Ten states, there was a demand for Big Ten programming. Time Warner argued that such a channel belonged on a special sports tier, in which customers who wanted Big Ten athletic events to watch should have to pay extra to see them.

With Time Warner now in the Big Ten Network fold, that leaves Charter Communications, which has extensive cable operations in Wisconsin, including Madison, without a deal with the Big Ten Network.

A Charter Communications spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The network, which went on the air last August, has national agreements with Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse, Verizon FiOS and more than 230 smaller cable operators.

We expect a lot of distraught Charter customers to email in the coming days, but it's still good news for Big Ten fans.

Time Warner adding Big Ten Network [JS Online]

(AP Photo/ Morry Gash)

The district manager of Open Pantry Citgo, 11216 W. Blue Mound Road, reported that 4,909 gallons of gas, valued at $19,374, was removed from the underground tanks sometime between July 16 and Aug. 13.

He told police the pressure of the tanks, supply and feed lines have been tested with no indication of cracks or seeping, and the petroleum supply company has verified the delivered amounts.

Police in Wauwatosa thing the culprits were customers who prepaid for their gas and then tampered with the pumps in order to "acquire more gas than the pumps should allow." Naturally, they didn't explain the details of this technique.

Gas Thieves Take Nearly 5,000 Gallons [WauwatosaNow] (Thanks, Austin!)
(Photo: northernplateguy )

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

"I'll tell you the truth," a criminal complaint quotes an apparently inebriated Keith Walendowski. "I got pissed because my lawn mower wouldn't start, so I got my shotgun and shot it.

"I can do that. It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want," Walendowski told police.

Well, no. Anyway, even if shooting your lawnmower is legal in your area, its certainly not recommended.

Dick Wagner of Wagner's Garden Mart, 6075 N. Green Bay Ave., said shooting the mower didn't help Walendowski's odds of getting it repaired.

"Anything not factory recommended would void the warranty," he said.

Yep, it sure will, Dick.

Man charged with shooting lawn mower [JS Online] (Thanks, Erik!)

Because retailers will be reimbursed for the cost of the DTV boxes, most states will require the retailer to collect taxes for the full amount of the transaction. Just to make things even more confusing, a few states appear to be making an exception to their tax laws for the DTV program... and... To make a long story short: If you live in Texas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — check your receipts, because Best Buy was incorrectly charging sales tax on the full amount and is now issuing refunds. If this issue is confusing enough that a large retailer like Best Buy got it wrong, it's likely that other retailers have also made some errors.

Reader and blogger M got a letter from Best Buy apologizing for the error, complete with a check for $3.30.

If you have any questions about the amount of tax you were charged for your DTV box, we recommend contacting your state's attorney general or your state's Comptroller's office. They should be able to explain the specific laws of your state.

Best Buy Letter [Texas Money Talk]
(Photo: classeamplifiers )

From Yahoo!:

"I did like a practice run ... two days in a row to make sure I could do it," he said. "I'm not in the greatest shape. The mornings are the worst. It feels like it takes forever. I get like a mile down the road and I want to die."

It's a big change for someone who put 300 miles on his truck the week before he stopped driving it.

LaFave fills out a chart each day listing how many miles he bikes, the destination and the gas price that day, among other things. He plans to compute his savings and donate that amount to a charity that provides food to children in Africa.

"I think just with the gas prices being so high, everybody complains about it but no one ever really does anything about it," LaFave said. "People continue to drive nonstop and not think about it, but I just wanted to take a stand and say, `I'm not gonna pay this much money for gas.'"

We think what Brian is doing is sweet (the charity part), but we won't really be impressed unless he extends his project into the delightful Wisconsin winter...

Wis. man won't buy gas for 31 days, maybe longer [Yahoo!] (Thanks, Angela!)
(Photo: Nabity Photos )

Beloit-resident Keely Givhan says she was in the process of moving and never got the notices. When she was pulled over in November, police saw that she had an outstanding warrant and arrested her, says the Associated Press.

She and her family couldn't afford to pay her fine so she remained in jail for six days.

Beloit police Capt. Bill Tyler said he knows this case could sound like an overreaction. But he said a municipal fine is a municipal fine, and failure to pay for any reason can result in an arrest warrant being issued.

Woman Jailed For Failing To Return Books [Channel 3000 via Fark]

She immediately called the cable company. She said she spoke to two different people, one who said he was a manager, and was told there was nothing the company could do.

"They said I would have to take the bill and turn it in to my insurance company," Beam said.

"We understand this is an unusual situation," Celeste Flynn, director of public affairs for Time Warner Cable, told the Kenosha News. "All they will need to do is call and we will take the equipment off their account."

Cable TV bills with a twist [KenoshaNews]

UPDATE: Alex from Time Warner Cable writes in to confirm that it's TWC's policy to waive charges in the event of a disaster.

For the third time in a little over a year and the second time this month the state of Wisconsin has issued mailings that accidentally disclosed the recipient's SSN via the mailing label. In this case, rather than printing the SSN on the actual label, they printed it a little too close to the address window. A folding machine error then completed the screw up.

From the Journal-Sentinel:

Early this month, the state started mailing out federal 1099-G forms, which under federal law must include Social Security numbers. The form is being sent to those who received a 2006 state income tax refund after itemizing their deductions.

Out of the 300,000 pieces of mail sent, about 1,000 were returned to the state as undeliverable, and of those, eight showed the Social Security numbers through the address window on the envelope. All of those eight letters came from the same batch of 5,000; another letter returned from that batch did not show a Social Security number.

Morgan said it is impossible to know how many of the 5,000 letters had visible Social Security numbers, which can be used in identify theft.

He blamed an equipment malfunction for misfolding those letters.

Gov. Jim Doyle, who was in Mequon to announce manufacturing tax credits, said residents should be confident that the mistake won't be repeated.

"It should be very evident that this is a very high priority," Doyle said.

State botches mail again [Journal-Sentinel] (Thanks, Erik!)
(Photo:jkottke)

PREVIOUSLY: Wisconsin Takes Printing Your SSN On Mailing Labels Twice Seriously
The State Of Wisconsin Needs To STOP Printing Social Security Numbers On Mailing Labels

(Thanks, Erik!)

Do you really need us to tell you that this is not cool?

About 260,000 participants in Medicaid programs were sent a recent mailing that included the recipients' Social Security numbers above their names on the address labels, the state Department of Health and Family Services said Tuesday. The number included another digit and no dashes, so the digits might not be immediately recognized by many as a Social Security number, state officials said.

While 485,000 copies were supposed to go out, the mailing was stopped after a recipient caught the error, according to EDS Corp., the vendor responsible for processing the mailings. State officials said they learned of the mistake Monday night.

Jane Marvin, 66, of Sun Prairie said she was shocked to receive mail from the state with her Social Security number printed on it for the second time in a little over a year. Last year, she was one of 171,000 people who had sensitive information about them printed on the outside of tax booklets by the state Department of Revenue.

"I don't care if you start with (Gov. Jim) Doyle or somebody else, but somebody's not doing their job," Marvin said Tuesday. "It shouldn't have happened, not after the tax thing."

Social Security digital déjà vu [JSOnline] (Thanks, Erik!)
(Photo:Zesmerelda)

Turns out that the state investigated Gabe's story, then sent him a follow up letter thanking him for his complaint.

"Thank you for submitting your complaint about Mian's Mobil. Citizen complaints like yours often alert us to problems in our community and serve as a valuable tool in our efforts to ensure fairness in the marketplace. In this case, a problem was found with pump #2 regular," says the letter.

"Your complaint has served a valuable function in the detection of unfair business practices. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Please contact me again should the need arise or if you have any questions."

Isn't that nice? We love the Wisconsin Department of Weights and Measures!

Victory For Consumer [WriteLarge]
(Photo:HeyGabe)

Judy Cardin, section chief for weights and measures with the state, said that in the case of bulk coffee, the weight of the packaging materials was included when the price of the product was determined. The state had tested one-pound bags of Cameron brand coffee beans, which were found to be 3/100ths of a pound over the actual bagged content.

While that doesn't seem like much, it translated to an overcharge of 21 cents per pound, Cardin said.

"This is something that's difficult for the consumer to know it's even going on," she said. "How would someone know they were being overcharged? This is why weights and measures checks products to make sure consumers are getting what they paid for."

Cardin said Wal-Mart was fined $25,000 in January 2006 for overcharging for bulk coffee.

Wal-Mart hit with $89,705 state fine [Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter]
(AP Photo/April L. Brown)

The store is now up and running again with all new merchandise—even though scabies is caused by a parasite that is transmitted primarily by skin-to-skin contact and not through clothing. Better safe than sorry, we suppose.

From TMJ4 Milwaukee:

Kelly Frank says she feels like she was misled by the Children's Place.

"I feel like they've spent two weeks trying to hide why they've been closed," Frank told TMJ4's Shelley Walcott.

On October 3rd, frank noticed the Brookfield Children's Place was closed. One staff member told her it was because of remodeling. Another said it was a computer crash.

After a call to corporate, Frank discovered the real reason: two Brookfield workers had contracted Scabies, a highly contagious skin disease, and the store was being fumigated.

"They went above and beyond the call of duty to clean up," Waukesha County Health and Human Services' Peter Schuler said.

Store Open After Scabies Scare [TMJ4]

Here's the bad news, those of you who reside in states that prohibit stores from selling prescription drugs as loss leaders are not getting the $9 birth control:

Laws in Minnesota, Wisconsin and seven other states prevent pharmacies from selling drugs below their true cost. As a result, Wal-Mart will charge more to consumers here for nine of the 24 drugs being added to its generic discount program.

In the case of a generic birth control pill called Tri-Sprintec, two Wal-Mart pharmacies in the Twin Cities on Friday were selling a one-month supply for $26.88.

"We cannot provide the $9 for the three women's health drugs in those states," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Deisha Galberth, referring to Tri-Sprintec as well as a second birth control drug and a fertility treatment.

I've been waiting for a FedEx package and apparently it was delivered today while I wasn't home and signed for by "LOLDLADY" (an abbreviation for little old lady maybe?). Either way, I just thought this was funny considering FedEx will usually enter the name of the person who signed for the package and not just a description like this.

Now I get to deal with the fun part of getting home from work and figuring out which of the many old ladies that live in my building signed for my package.

From the Journal-Sentinel:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has avoided millions of dollars in state taxes by paying rent on 87 Wisconsin properties in a way that the state Department of Revenue calls an "abuse and distortion of income."

As a result, state tax auditors say, Wal-Mart owes more than $17.7 million in back corporate income taxes, interest and penalties for 1998, 1999 and 2000. More could be due for later years.

Revenue Department lawyer Mark Zimmer argues that the world's largest retailer is not paying its fair share of taxes that support public schools, local police and fire departments and the highways it uses to transport what it sells in Wisconsin.

As a result, Wal-Mart shifts the burden of paying for those services "to individuals and small businesses who are unable to set up such elaborate mechanisms," Zimmer told the Tax Appeals Commission, which is considering the matter.

"Anything Wal-Mart can do to lawfully lower its costs allows the company to pass it along through lower prices," said company spokesman John Simley. "This is a lawful (tax) structure in Wisconsin."

Time to change your tax laws, Wisconsin. Walmart is too clever for you.

Wal-Mart owes back taxes, state says [Journal-Sentinel]
(Photo:Morton Fox)

From CBS:

Wal-Mart stores said Tuesday it has given updated guidelines to its employees following a complaint filed with the state of Wisconsin that some foods were incorrectly labeled as organic.

The complaint was filed with the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection by the Cornucopia Institute, an organic industry watchdog group based in Cornucopia in far northern Wisconsin.

Wal-Mart said that green tags on their shelves, which identify food as organic, may have inadvertently or mistakenly been placed, or accidentally shifted in front of the wrong item.

"Our green organic signing is for additional consumer convenience to show that an organic alternative is available. It is not a label," the company said in a statement. "The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) certification label is featured on the packaging of the organic selections we offer and consumers should always rely on this USDA certification label for proper organic verification."

Wal-Mart Corrects Organic Mislabeling Mistakes [CBS] (Thanks, Peter!)
Mislabeling Organic Food at Wal-Mart [Cornucopia Institute]
(Photo: Cornucopia Institute)

...you'll certainly feel like a criminal once the local record shop makes copies of all of your identifying information and even collects your fingerprints. Such is the state of affairs in Florida, which now has the dubious distinction of being so anal about the sale of used music CDs that record shops there are starting to get out of the business of dealing with used content because they don't want to pay a $10,000 bond for the "right" to treat their customers like criminals. ...

In Florida, Utah, and soon in Rhode Island and Wisconsin, selling your used CDs to the local record joint will be more scrutinized than then getting a driver's license in those states.

Record shops: Used CDs? Ihre papieren, bitte! [Ars Technica] (Thanks, Jason!)
(Photo:artnchicken)

On Tuesday, 16 record companies represented by the Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking the names associated with 53 Internet connections for copyright infringement. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Shabaz signed an order requiring UW-Madison to relinquish the names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and Media Access Control addresses for each of the 53 individuals.

Looks like the RIAA is winning.—MEGHANN MARCO

Music industry wins UW IDs in file-sharing case [Wisconsin State Journal]
(Photo:puroticorico)

PREVIOUSLY: Faces of the RIAA
RIAA Bullies College Students With P2PLawsuits.com
The RIAA P2PLawsuit Letter Sent To College Students
University of Wisconsin-Madison Will Not Forward RIAA Letters To Students

"I'm sort of the guy who set the pace here," Conway said, pointing out that he and his wife are the first residents of Concord Creek. "I'm cemented in."

Postal regulations require new developments to place mailboxes on one side of the street so mail carriers don't need to venture far from their trucks. Several nearby developments have mailboxes on both sides of the street.

If you plan to install a mailbox soon, something you probably only do once or twice in a lifetime, check with the postmaster ahead of time. Tell us in the comments who you think is right: the postmaster with the rule book, or the resolute homeowner. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Mail is signed, sealed, but it won't be delivered [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

I've been enjoying your site for many months now, but I'm easy to please so I haven't had the need to e-mail you about anything until now. Our baby daughter was born on St. Patrick's day and we brought her home yesterday. Today my fianc e and I went to Target East in Madison, WI and I waited in the car with the baby while she went in and bought a Close and Secure Sleeper which is from The First Years line by Learning Curve. It is a mini-bed of sorts that allows your baby to sleep in bed with mom and dad. This afternoon we put it on the couch and put the baby in it while we watched tv. This evening my fianc e was getting tired and she wanted to take the baby upstairs and put her in our bed so they could both get some sleep. I folded it up, brought it upstairs, and unfolded it on the bed. That's when I saw it: the silhouette of a razor blade beneath the mattress cover for the Sleeper.

Ted continues:

I pulled back the cover for the thing, and sure enough there's a fucking razor blade in the thing!! Needless to say I am livid. I called the number on the box and they're of course closed. I don't have the patience to wait until 9AM or whatever, so I'm e-mailing you guys. I'm about to call the local news and get some reporters over here. What do you think I should do? Is it time to lawyer up? See (and post) the attached pics please. I included a hi-res pic of the razor blade so you can see the details.

Ted

Ted has already called Target and the manager offered him a gift card. Ted stresses that he's not upset with Target, as they're just the reseller.

Remember: Be like Ted. Check your child's toys, clothes, whatever before letting them use them. You never know what's in the box.—MEGHANN MARCO

UPDATE: Ted says he was mad when he wrote the email and isn't looking for a payout:

I was angry when I typed that e-mail and I've been watching a bit too much CSI lately ;-) I'm not looking for a payout, I just want to make sure that the company does something about it.

David Lopez, a visitor from Wisconsin, contacted the commission after eating at the restaurant with several friends last October.

He and his girlfriend knew something was wrong when a waiter told them that a serving of rice would cost them extra. They had noticed Asian customers munching on similar dishes served over a bed of rice.

"Being Hispanic, we both like rice," said 46-year-old Lopez. "We saw other customers getting a different menu. We were told we could order from it if we spoke Chinese."

The prices on that menu, written in Chinese, were an average of $1 cheaper per dish.

How mean for chow mein! [New York Daily News via Gothamist]
(Photo: OS2k)