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As someone who loves always loves getting the best deal, I look forward to Black Friday and the associated sales every year. But sometimes it causes me more stress than joy.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, has become one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Enticed by price cuts on electronics, toys, and everything in between, people flock to stores in the hopes of completing their holiday shopping in one chaotic and savings-filled day.
Black Friday is always evolving – sales are starting earlier each year, especially online sales. Certain deals begin in early November and last throughout the month. Some stores are offering their Black Friday steals on Thanksgiving Day for customers willing to cut their turkey-fests short.
According the National Retail Federation’s annual consumer spending survey, consumers are planning on spending an average of $935.58 during this year’s holiday shopping season. With that much money on the table, businesses are doing all they can to attract customers and stand out from the competition.
Completing your holiday shopping while sticking to a budget is hard enough, so let your BBB help you navigate the complexities of Black Friday with these tips:
· Do your research. Before doing business anywhere, make sure to look up the company at www.bbb.org to see their BBB Business Profile, which includes information about the business, complaint records, and customer reviews. Check out BBB’s Accredited Business Directory at www.bbb.org to find a retailer that you can trust. It’s also smart to look up prices, find deals, and comparison shop online before the main event so that you can go in with a game plan. Make sure to read product reviews of potential purchases before heading out so that you don’t regret your buy.
· Protect your identity. Identity theft can happen at any time, and fraudsters might try to take advantage of the swell of shoppers on Black Friday. It’s OK to use public Wi-Fi to read product reviews and check out businesses on bbb.org, but be careful entering any personal information when connected. Steer clear of online banking and social media – your log-in information could be stolen. It’s also important to be aware of your surroundings and watch your wallet – someone might try to snatch it while you’re occupied comparing TVs. You may also want to use cash or pre-paid cards while shopping in stores in case of a point of sale data breach – hackers may target stores on Black Friday specifically because of the amount of transactions taking place.
· Watch out for deceptive advertising. You’re bound to see ads for deals that seem too good to be true. Unfortunately, some of these advertisements may be misleading at best and fraudulent at worst. Make sure to read the fine print, as ads often come with a multitude of restrictions. BBB’s AdTruth campaign ( www.bbb.org/adtruth ) can help you identify and avoid common schemes and highlights bad ads. If you see false advertising while out shopping you can report it at bbb.org/adtruth as well.
· Read up on return and exchange policies. Before you make a purchase, make sure you understand the return and exchange policies, and keep your receipts in one place in case you need to take something back. Some stores may not let you return specific “final sale” items, charge restocking fees, or only give store credit back. If you’re shopping for presents, get gift receipts and save all warranty information in case a problem occurs.
· Watch out for phishing. You might receive emails from brands advertising huge sales. But be careful, you might get phished. Some fraudsters create fake, look-alike business websites to trick you in to entering credit card information, so search for the company’s website independently instead of clicking on a link. Be careful clicking on links from unfamiliar senders, and look up businesses you don’t know on bbb.org before engaging with them.”
Rebecca Harpster works for the Better Business Bureau serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Police have arrested a Cloverdale man who they believe was responsible for two armed robberies in Sonoma County this week and the attempted armed robbery of a Lakeport grocery store on Sunday.
Jack Kendrick Owens Jr., 36, was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon as he was emerging from a gas station convenience store that he had just robbed, according to the Cloverdale Police Department.
Police said he's also believed to have hit two grocery stores – Bruno's in Lakeport and Cloverdale Food Center – on Sunday.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen confirmed to Lake County News that a joint investigation between his department and the Cloverdale Police Department led them to conclude that Owens was responsible for the Bruno's attempted robbery on Sunday afternoon.
Shortly before 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, a white male entered the Bruno's Shop Smart on Lakeport Boulevard, approached the customer service counter, displayed a black-colored handgun and demanded cash, as Lake County News has reported.
However, before he got any money, he fled before the scene, with police initially having no description of a vehicle or his direction of travel.
Then, shortly before 6 p.m. on Sunday, a robbery was reported at the Cloverdale Food Center, according to Cloverdale Police Sgt. Rudy Segobiano.
Segobiano said that the robber got away with some money in that incident, although the amount was not reported.
Police said the man responsible for the Cloverdale Food Center robbery was a white male adult who matched the description of the man who had attempted the Bruno's robbery.
Officers also were able to obtain specific information about a vehicle – a white four-door 1998 Oldsmobile that had distinctive damage – that was linked to the subject who held up the store, according to Cloverdale Police.
On Sunday evening, as Rasmussen's staff was working to get a composite sketch of the man who had attempted the Bruno's robbery out to the community, he said he received word from the Cloverdale Police Department about the robbery that had just taken place there.
“We started working with them late that night and sharing information on the two cases to see if they were related,” said Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said Det. Dale Stoebe began working with Cloverdale Police on the following day, and had continued his investigation this week.
Then, shortly after 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Cloverdale Police received information that a citizen had spotted the white Oldsmobile connected to the Sunday evening robbery in that city, the agency said.
Just as officers found the Oldsmobile parked in the Patriot Gas Station parking lot on Cloverdale Boulevard, the Cloverdale Police Department's dispatch center simultaneously received a holdup alarm from inside the gas station.
Officers converged on the gas station property and conducted a high-risk takedown of Owens as he exited the gas station, according to the Cloverdale Police Department's report.
As officers detained and searched Owens, they found a loaded imitation firearm pellet gun in his waistband and $700 in cash stuffed in his jacket sleeve, police said.
The gas station clerk told police that Owens entered the store, placed several grocery items on the counter, drew the pellet gun from his waistband and demanded the cash from the register. The clerk complied and was not injured.
Late on Wednesday afternoon, Rasmussen said his department got word from the Cloverdale Police Department that its officers had taken Owens into custody.
Rasmussen said Stoebe went to Cloverdale on Wednesday afternoon, and based on Stoebe's investigation, they believe Owens was in fact responsible for trying to rob Bruno's.
“We still have work to do but we do believe it is the same suspect,” Rasmussen said.
The Cloverdale Police Department said its officers on Wednesday also detained a woman who was a passenger in the Oldsmobile. She is under investigation for her knowledge of the robberies.
Owens was arrested and booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on two counts of felony armed robbery and an outstanding $10,000 Sonoma County felony fraud warrant, police said.
Rasmussen said his department is continuing its work on the case in order to file charges against Owens here in Lake County.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
A new multi-institutional study of the temporary slowdown in the global average surface temperature warming trend observed between 1998 and 2013 concludes the phenomenon represented a redistribution of energy within the Earth system, with Earth’s ocean absorbing the extra heat.
The phenomenon was referred to by some as the “global warming hiatus.” Global average surface temperature, measured by satellites and direct observations, is considered a key indicator of climate change.
In a paper published Tuesday in Earth’s Future, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, lead author Xiao-Hai Yan of the University of Delaware, Newark, along with scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and several other institutions, discuss new understanding of the phenomenon.
The paper grew out of a special U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability Program (CLIVAR) panel session at the 2015 American Geophysical Union fall meeting.
“The hiatus period gives scientists an opportunity to understand uncertainties in how climate systems are measured, as well as to fill in the gap in what scientists know,” said Yan.
“NASA’s examination of ocean observations has provided its own unique contribution to our knowledge of decadal climate trends and global warming,” said study co-author Veronica Nieves of JPL and the University of California, Los Angeles. “Scientists have more confidence now that Earth’s ocean has continued to warm continuously through time. But the rate of global surface warming can fluctuate due to natural variations in the climate system over periods of a decade or so.”
Where’s the missing heat?
While Yan said it’s difficult to reach complete consensus on such a complex topic, a thorough review of the literature and much discussion and debate revealed a number of key points on which these leading scientists concur:
• From 1998 to 2013, the rate of global mean surface warming slowed, which some call the “global warming hiatus.”
• Natural variability plays a large role in the rate of global mean surface warming on decadal time scales.
• Improved understanding of how the ocean distributes and redistributes heat will help the scientific community better monitor Earth’s energy budget. Earth’s energy budget is a complex calculation of how much energy enters our climate system from the sun and what happens to it: how much is stored by the land, ocean or atmosphere.
“To better monitor Earth’s energy budget and its consequences, the ocean is most important to consider because the amount of heat it can store is extremely large when compared to the land or atmospheric capacity,” said Yan.
According to the paper, “arguably, ocean heat content – from the surface to the seafloor – might be a more appropriate measure of how much our planet is warming.”
Charting future research
In the near term, the researchers hope this paper will lay the foundation for future research in the global change field.
To begin, they suggest the climate community replace the term “global warming hiatus” with “global surface warming slowdown” to eliminate confusion.
“This terminology more accurately describes the slowdown in global mean surface temperature rise in the late 20th century,” Yan said.
The scientists also called for continued support of current and future technologies for ocean monitoring to reduce observation errors in sea surface temperature and ocean heat content.
This includes maintaining Argo, the main system for monitoring ocean heat content, and the development of Deep Argo to monitor the lower half of the ocean; the use of ship-based subsurface ocean temperature monitoring programs; advancements in robotic technologies such as autonomous underwater vehicles to monitor waters adjacent to land (like islands or coastal regions); and further development of real- or near-real-time deep ocean remote sensing methods.
Yan’s research group reported in a 2015 paper that some coastal oceans (e.g., U.S. East Coast, China Coast) responded faster to the recent global surface warming rate change than the global ocean.
“Although these regions represent only a fraction of the ocean volume, the changing rate of ocean heat content is faster here, and real-time data and more research are needed to quantify and understand what is happening,” Yan said.
Variability and heat sequestration over specific regions (e.g., Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern Oceans, etc.) require further investigation, the authors conclude.
However, there is broad agreement among the scientists and in the literature that the slowdown in the global mean surface temperature increase from 1998 to 2013 was due to increased uptake of heat energy by the global ocean.
This research was funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation and NOAA. Other participating institutions include the NOAA, Silver Spring, Maryland; the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, Colorado; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California; and the University of Washington, Seattle.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Forecasters are predicting fog, sunshine and rain for Lake County on Thanksgiving.
The National Weather Service's latest forecast for Lake County anticipates Thanksgiving will begin with patchy fog before 10 a.m., before conditions clear and the sun comes out.
Temperatures around the county are expected to be in the mid 50s during the day on Thursday, with light winds.
On Thanksgiving night, chances of rain – ranging up to 30 percent in some parts of the county – are forecast.
The forecast calls for chances of rain from Friday through Sunday, with conditions expected to clear through the middle of next week.
Accuweather reports that most of the nation will be rain-free on Thanksgiving, although the Northeast and Pacific Northwest will have wet and wintry weather.
A strong storm is forecast to slam into the Pacific Northwest on Thanksgiving, with heavy rain and gusty winds along the Washington and Oregon coastlines, Accuweather said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The California Highway Patrol is teaming up with seven other state law enforcement agencies across the nation in the fourth annual “Interstate 40 Challenge: The Drive toward Zero Fatalities.”
The campaign, which will be conducted during the Thanksgiving weekend, will focus special attention on the more than 2,500-mile stretch of Interstate 40 (I-40) that begins in North Carolina and ends in California.
The campaign encourages each agency to assign an officer every 20 miles along the I-40 corridor over 12-hour periods on Wednesday and Sunday – the Thanksgiving holiday’s busiest travel days.
Interstate 40 traverses California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina.
“Accepting the challenge and working with our law enforcement partners and the public has proven very successful in years past,” CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said. “California did not experience a single fatality on I-40 during past challenges. With the public’s cooperation, the CHP will continue to promote a safe traveling season during the Thanksgiving holiday.”
The CHP reminds all motorists to never drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, always wear your seat belt, travel at a safe speed for conditions and avoid distractions behind the wheel.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The four week annual Kelseyville Christmas sale begins Monday, Nov. 28, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and continues Tuesday, Nov. 29, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Kelseyville United Methodist Fellowship Hall.
“Bargain shoppers will love the variety and quality of sale items this year,” said Linda Breeding, co-manager of the Methodist Thrift Shop and church council vice chair. “In addition to Monday, for the first time we will also open on Tuesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. We want to give working people an opportunity to shop for the holidays too.”
The Kelseyville United Methodist Fellowship Hall will be filled with specialty items and is located at the corner of Main and First streets in Kelseyville across from the Saw Shop Restaurant.
“This is one of the largest Christmas Sales in Lake County,” said Breeding. “Our thrift shop will continue to open each Monday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. during this special sale.”
Breeding said there will be eight opportunities for folks to check everyone off their Christmas list on Nov. 28 and 29; and Dec. 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 and 20.
All sales support programs at the Kelseyville church, Breeding said.
For information about the Christmas sale and other United Methodist programs call 707-279-4664 or check out the Kelseyville United Methodist Church Facebook page.
