The Bath County News-Outlook
Thursday, December 4, 2003
Total lunar eclipses can
range in color--from dark
brown and red to bright orange,
yellow and even gray--
depending on how much dust
and clouds are in the Earth's
atmosphere. Saturday night's
eclipse appeared light red to
many people and brownish to
others.
Residents of the eastern
United States could
eclipse from beginning
about 6 p.m. to 10 p.m,,
was already under way
the moon rose around
the West.
Lunar eclipses are
on May 4 and October 28
year, but the first will
ible from North
according to NASA.
Muscle Up---Jonathan Newkirk goes up for a shot in
eavy traffic in Tuesday night's game against the Nicholas
;County Blue Jackets. It was Bath County's opener game at
ome, but despite the home court advantage, the Cats could
ot get a real good handle on their offense. The Wildcats ulti-
nately lost 50-31, unable to penetrate inside or hit very well
rom the arc. (News-Outlook-photo, Ken Metz)
Kim Hunt-Price
Holidays can be
time of opportunity
for identity theft
By: Kim Hunt-Price
Bath County Attorney
, Many Bath Countians be-
Come a bit more careful about
tocking the doors to their cars
and houses during the holiday
eason. However, some crimi-
nals are out to steal much more
ihan a few Christmas presents.
Some want access to your iden-
*"it:vcith increased check writ-
Jng and credit card use, the
opportunity for identity theft is
high.
Identity theft occurs when
people manage to obtain basic
information about a person and
Use that information to set up or
use existing accounts for their
own purposes.
A thief really only needs
three pieces of information to
wreak havoc on another per-
son's life. Those three pieces of
information are full name,
Social Security number, and
birth date. With this informa-
tion, a thief can turn a victim's
life upside down.
Some thieves are bold
enough to steal mail from mail-
boxes, search through trash
cans, pose as representatives
from reputable companies and
even remove office files from
doctors' offices.
If thieves get the basic infor-
mation, they can open a credit
card account in someone else's
name and run up the bill. They
aren't concerned about paying it
because it is in someone else's
name. Some thieves even man-
age to have the bills delivered
to a different address, so the
'victim does not become aware
bf the new account's existence.
Victims typically lose $800
and spend two years clearing
]heir names.
It is a crime to steal some-
one's identity. Identity theft is a
lass D felony for the first
pffense and a Class C felony for
subsequent offenses. The first
bffense carries from one to five
years' imprisonment and/or up
to a $20,000 fine. Subsequent
bffenses bring a five-to-ten-
year prison term and/or a maxi-
mum fine of $20,000.
In many instances, people
have no control over whether
they become victims of identity
theft. There are many proactive
steps people can take to protect
their identities.
I would make the following
suggestions for preventing
identity theft:
• If doing business online,
use only secure Web sites,
showing a lock at the bottom of
the Web page.
• Do not carry your Social
Security card in your wallet.
• Receive your mail in a post
office box or other secure mail-
box.
• Shred or tear banking and
credit information before
throwing it in the trash.
• Do not wear employee
badges with your Social
Security number printed on
them.
• Do not have your Social
Security number printed on per-
sonal checks.
• Order a copy of your credit
report each year to verify that
there are no suspicious accounts
or credit on your report.
• If using trash pick up, place
cans outside at the latest possi-
ble time to prevent someone
from stealing important infor-
mation from your trash.
• Do not use e-mail to send
personal data.
• Avoid allowing a waiter to
take your credit card out of your
sight. (Sometimes the data is
transferred to other magnetic
strips to make counterfeit credit
cards.)
• Before discarding a person-
al computer, use a hard-drive
shredding software. Deleting
files is not good enough.
If you become a victim of
identity theft, you should report
the crime to the local police or
Add two---Clark Given sacked one from inside the cir-
cle Tuesday night against Nicholas County. The Wildcats
never got in the groove offensively but hustled hard through-
out the game. In the background is Joey Wright. (News-
Outlook-photo, Ken Metz)
my office. After that, it is wise
to file a complaint to the
Federal Trade Commission
(877-ID- THEFT), alert the
credit-reporting agencies, and
notify banks, creditors and util-
ity companies.
Our names and reputations
are our most valuable asset. We
should do everything we can to
protect them.
cials estimated about 800 peo-
ple stood in line for a chance to
peer through the observatory's
telescope.
Outside, amateur astron-
omers set up telescopes on one
of the city's highest promonto-
ries. Bill Lewis, a 53-year old
computer programmer from
Montgomery County, declared
the viewing a success.
"It's a good one, because the
sky is so clear," he said, adjust-
ing the focus on his new $500
rig. "I thought there would be
about ten of us crazies out here,
but look at the crowd."
Unlike in May, when the last
total lunar eclipse was visible
from North America, the sky
was mostly clear Saturday night
--except for light, feathery
clouds it the moment the mbon
was totally covered, about 8:10
p.m. EST.
Photos courtesy of
Francis Apel,
of Owingsville.
KY moonshine:
stargazers revel in
Saturday night show
Sky-watchers in every conti-
nent but Australia reveled in the
relative rarity of a total lunar
eclipse on a recent Saturday
night--but as stargazers have
noted for centuries, it was a
matter of celestial perspective.
"From the moon, they're
having a solar eclipse," said
Dean Regas, an astronomer at
the Cincinnati Observatory
Center.
A lunar eclipse occurs when
the moon. Earth and sun are in
alignment and the moon passes
through the planet's shadow. In
a solar eclipse, the Earth is in
the moon's shadow.
The Cincinnati Observatory,
which claims to be the oldest in
the United States, was founded
in 1842 and has been in its cur-
rent location on the city's east
side since 1871.
It had one of its biggest
nights ever Saturday, as offi-
Christmas Play
at Okla Church of God
Saturday, Dec. 5 & Sunday, Dec. 6 at 6:30
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