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“This settlement prevents H&R Block from marketing high-cost loans as early tax refunds,” Attorney General Brown said. “This is especially important because often these loans go to those who can least afford them.”
The company has not commented on the agreement.
Attorney General Brown filed suit against H&R Block in early 2006 regarding its marketing and sale of income tax refund anticipation loans and a related product called refund anticipation checks.
H&R Block continues to deny any wrongdoing.
During the course of the investigation, Block has worked with the Attorney General to improve its practices.
A refund anticipation loan is a short-term loan secured by a taxpayer's anticipated income tax refund. The complaint alleged a variety of deceptive practices by H&R Block including:
Deceptive advertising designed to disguise refund anticipation loans, which carry fees and other costs, as tax refunds, which the IRS provides without charge; and
Unfair debt collection practices by which customers' refund proceeds were garnished to pay off debts they supposedly owed.
The settlement provides for up to $2.45 million in restitution for consumers who purchased a “Refund Anticipation Loan” or a “Refund Anticipation Check” through H&R Block between Jan. 1, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2008.
In addition, H&R Block will pay $500,000 in penalties and $1.9 million in fees and costs.
H&R Block will be prohibited from marketing these loans and related products in a deceptive or misleading manner and will be required to make clear and conspicuous disclosures to consumers prior to their purchase of these products. Terms of the settlement are limited to three years.
A settlement administrator will be contacting eligible consumers directly. Eligible consumers may also write to the Attorney General’s Public Inquiry Unit at P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, CA 94244-2550, or may send an e-mail at http://ag.ca.gov/contact/.
Attorney General Brown previously settled claims against Jackson Hewitt and recently concluded a trial against Liberty Tax Service, the second and third largest tax preparation companies in the country, respectively. All three lawsuits involved refund anticipation loans and related products.
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In 2008, Clusters began holding meetings at the Greenview Restaurant in Hidden Valley Lake. Then, moved to Mugshots Espresso, also in Hidden Valley Lake.
Regarding the design of Clusters, there are no dues, elected officers, bylaws or articles of incorporation needed for a governmental agency. This is simply a forum designed to help people help each other regarding business promotion.
What’s unique about this particular SIG is the forum's versatility and potential. Clusters focuses upon nurturing small groups of caring people (ideally four) who desire to help one another succeed. When needed, one small group connects to another, and another and so on. Eventually, there will be Cluster groups around the globe.
Since this is the age of online communication, a virtual person is added as a mentor to help educate each small group concerning free online resources which may prove extremely helpful.
For the record, the term "SIG" is not meant here to be political. In the early years of computing, people brought their computers to computer user group SIG meetings to solve problems and learn new things.
Clusters is meant to be a place to solve problems and learn new things. If you do not know how to use a cell phone to send group messages with a single toll-free call, Clusters can teach you how to do that. If you not know how to program a photo digital frame you recently purchased at Wal-Mart and turn it into your own advertising network, Clusters is a place you are likely to find someone who can do that for you. If being able to create a video to promote your business online without the need of a video camera would be good for your business, through Clusters you are likely to find the help you need to get that done.
Clusters is also a place for mutual collaboration – be it in creating signature advertising pages, sharing a trade show booth or making something extra-special happen ... maybe even a business mixer.
Small businesses that need to s-t-r-e-t-c-h their advertising dollar should seriously consider becoming involved in Clusters. For example, any place where large groups gather on a regular basis – parks, campgrounds, restaurants, coffee shops – are great places for FREE Wi-Fi. But, the larger the location the less likely it is to provide free Wi-Fi due to the cost, unless splash page advertising by small businesses is introduced.
However, there is now a program in Lake County where this very concept is being successfully implemented. Just visit Ting's Thai Kitchen in the Hardester's Shopping Center in Hidden Valley Lake and see for yourself. (Be sure to take your laptop with you.) Or, go online and visit the restaurant via its Squidoo lens at www.squidoo.com/TTK.
Keep in mind that the advertising being done is both physically within the restaurant via Wi-Fi and online at numerous locations which are constantly increasing. Why? Because that is the way the system was designed to work.
The restaurant customers win because now they have a wonderful place to eat excellent Thai cuisine, can freely check email, surf the Web and make VOIP phone calls. The advertisers win because they now have a cost-effective multimedia advertising option. (Advertisers can even request marketing feedback to see who is paying attention to their advertising.) The restaurant wins because it gets increased customer traffic and has advertising revenue to pay for the public's free Wi-Fi.
Question: What resource is available to bring both the would-be advertisers and the free Wi-Fi hot spot locations together? Answer: Clusters.
Below are some online resources currently available to Clusters:
Our Ryze Business Network: http://clusters-network.ryze.com (FREE to join).
Our Squidoo Lens: www.squidoo.com/Clusters.
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/clustering (FREE to join).
If you have never taken a look at the site designed to help move Middletown forward, please take a look at www.squidoo.com/TMMF. Be sure to play the videos. What you learn will amaze you.
For more information about Clusters – including scheduling a special group presentation – please call Lamar Morgan at 709-8605.
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“With this agreement, we’re shutting down 90 percent of the market in caffeine-spiked alcoholic beverages,” said Attorney General Brown. “The growing and widespread use of caffeine mixed with alcohol can distort judgment, weaken inhibitions and encourage risky behavior, especially in young people.”
Alcoholic energy drinks mix alcohol with ingredients like caffeine, guarana, taurine or ginseng. The alcoholic content in these drinks range from 6 to 12 percent per volume, more than most beers.
While the formulation, labeling, marketing and selling of Sparks was approved by federal regulatory authorities numerous times, MillerCoors said it decided to reformulate the product based on concerns expressed by the attorneys general.
“As a responsible company, we are always willing to listen to societal partners and consider changes to our business to reinforce our commitment to alcohol responsibility,” said Tom Long, president and chief commercial officer of MillerCoors. “These changes will allow MillerCoors to continue to market and sell Sparks to legal drinking age consumers.”
Long said the agreement with the attorneys general contained no finding that MillerCoors engaged in unlawful behavior or marketed its Sparks brand to people below the legal drinking age.
Together, the stimulating effect of caffeine in the beverage mixed with the alcohol can mask how intoxicated the drinker actually is. A drinker may feel alert, but will still suffer the debilitating effects of alcohol consumption, including diminished reaction times and basic motor skills.
Sparks currently has 90 percent of the market share for alcoholic energy drinks. Last June, Attorney General Brown and other attorneys general announced that Anheuser-Busch had signed an agreement to stop producing its alcoholic energy drinks.
With the agreement, most of the alcoholic energy drinks that were available in the beginning of the year will now be taken off the market. California and the other states will continue to investigate the smaller companies that continue to sell alcoholic energy drinks.
Young people are most vulnerable to the effects of alcoholic energy drinks like Sparks because they are prone to engage in risky behaviors such as binge-drinking and are less experienced in gauging the debilitating effects of alcohol. They are also more at risk of acute alcohol problems, including traffic crashes, violence, sexual assault, and suicide.
A study by researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that students who consumed alcoholic energy beverages were twice as likely to be involved in alcohol-related accidents and injuries. They were also more likely to be involved in sexual assaults or drunk driving.
After an investigation into the product, Attorney General Brown and the participating attorneys general alleged that Sparks was unsafe, MillerCoors was making false or misleading health-related statements about Sparks’ energizing effects, and much of the marketing was directed toward youth, a violation of California laws on marketing tobacco or alcoholic products to minors.
MillerCoors cooperated fully with the state attorneys general investigation of its Sparks brands.
“While we have listened closely to the AGs and respect their position, we strongly disagree with their inaccurate allegations about the marketing and sale of Sparks,” Long said. “The Sparks brand has been responsibly marketed only to legal drinking age consumers.”
MillerCoors will be able to sell through current Sparks product inventory as the reformulated Sparks is brewed to ensure no disruption in product availability to distributors and retailers.
Long said that the company is confident in the continued growth of the Sparks. “We believe we can and will expand interest and growth with a reformulated product and we remain committed to the Sparks franchise.”
In a similar instance, Anheuser-Busch InBev recently reformulated its Tilt brand to remove caffeine and other ingredients.
“We look forward to continuing to responsibly market and sell Sparks products to legal drinking age consumers,” he added.
Under the settlement agreement, MillerCoors will:
Cease manufacturing and marketing all caffeinated alcoholic beverages, including Sparks;
Reformulate Sparks so that it does not contain stimulants, including caffeine, guarana, taurine or ginseng, and eliminate the use of images that suggest an energizing effect;
Not promote the mixing of caffeinated products with alcoholic beverages;
Inform distributors and retailers that reformulated Sparks contains alcohol, but no caffeine, and Sparks should be displayed separate from non-alcoholic energy drinks. The company will also immediately discontinue its current Sparks website without directing visitors to a new site.
California was joined in this settlement by Arizona, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and the city and county of San Francisco.
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The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Howard's Grotto, 14732 Lakeshore Drive.
The dinner will give chamber members an opportunity to welcome 2009 President Joey Luiz and President Elect Bob Rider, and board members Bob Alderman, Doug Codling, past president Thomas Hewlett, Michael Horner, Karen Karnatz, Lamont Kucer and Jenny Lynn Schell.
Board alternates are Betty Hudson and Jared Knowlton.
For more information or for dinner reservations, call the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, 994-3600.
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