E-Mail scam targets energy customers

The Western Times
$
January 23, 2014
1.00
“Snowy Picnic”
by Becky Samuelson
“Published in an Area of Clean Air, Clean Surroundings, and Fine People”
Volume No. 139 • Published Weekly Since 1874 • Sharon Springs, KS 67758
E-Mail scam
targets energy
customers
Local Weather
Forecast
Wednesday
Night
50% chance of
snow, mainly
after 9p.m.
Mostly cloudy,
low around 6. NE
wind @ 15.
Thursday
30% chance of
snow, mainly before 10a.m. Partly
sunny, high near
21. NE wind 5-10
becoming south
in the afternoon.
Thursday Night
Mostly clear, low
around 8.
Friday
Sunny, high near
49.
Friday Night
Mostly clear, low
around 27.
Saturday
Sunny, high near
58.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, low
around 28.
Sunday
Sunny, high near
56.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, low
around 27.
Monday
Mostly sunny,
high near 47.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy,
low around 17.
Tuesday
Partly cloudy,
high near 47.
Tuesday Night
Clear, low around
28.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy,
high near 50.
Wednesday
Night
Mostly cloudy,
low around 25.
Last Weeks Weather
Date High 1/13
54
1/14
40
1/15
58
1/16
48
1/17
52
1/18
53
1/19
69
Scam already hits locally
Photo by Becky Samuelson
Last week’s high winds brought with them dirt and thousands of tumbleweeds. The fairgrounds became all but buried in them.
Amended complaint filed
in drug case
by Julie Samuelson
Editor & Publisher
Three people, 2 men and one
woman had their arraignments
last Wednesday as part of Wallace County’s monthly Motion Day proceedings. District
Judge Scott Showalter presided.
All three had been charged
as a result of a drug bust last
May that was part of a cooperative effort between the
Wallace County Sheriff’s
Department and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
Ty Kaiser, Grainfield, appeared in person with his attorney Calvin Williams of
Colby. Kaiser was charged
with six counts: 1) Unlawful distribution of a controlled
substance; 2) Possession of
drug paraphernalia; 3) Possession of drug paraphernalia;
4) Unlawful possession of a
controlled substance 5) Possession of drug paraphernalia;
and 6) No drug tax stamp. Four
of the charges were felonies.
After the charges were read
by the judge, Kaiser pled not
guilty. Attorney Calvin Williams told the court that he
and Wallace County Attorney
Charles Moser were just shy
of having a plea agreement
finalized. They only have an
Several Midwest Energy
customers have reported an
e-mail scam, where an e-mail
with the subject line “Energy
Statement” arrives in their
inbox. Though the body of
the E-mail reads “PG&E Energy Statement,” the letters
PG&E are difficult to read.
The ‘statement’ shows a
large account balance, and
urges the reader to “click here”
to see their most recent statement. But the link takes the
user to a page that is set up
to install a variant of the of
the Kuluoz malware, a Trojan
that’s designed to download
additional threats onto infected computers, and opens their
oral agreement and nothing
has been put in writing yet.
Judge Showalter accepted
Kaiser’s guilty plea and granted
a continuance, with the matter
set to be heard again on the next
Motion Day held on Feb. 12th.
Bond was continued as
previously set at $100,000
cash or commercial surety.
Jasmine Sadley appeared
in front of the court next.
She had been charged with
the same six counts as Kaiser during the same bust.
An amended complaint had
been filed by Wallace County
Attorney Charles Moser to
only two counts instead of
the first six. The amended
complaint charges Sadley
with 1) Conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance
and 2) Unlawful possession
of a controlled substance.
The amended complaint was
filed as the result of a plea
agreement reached between
Moser and Sadley’s attorney
Craig Uhrich. Sadley waived
her right to a preliminary
hearing and moved to have
an immediate arraignment.
As part of the agreement
Sadley agreed to plead guilty
to both amended counts with
an imposed non-prison sanction. She must pay all fees
and costs associated with this
case and in turn, will testify
in all the companion cases.
Judge Showalter told Sadley
that the court was not required
to abide by the agreement. He
also told her that by waiving her
right to a preliminary proceeding she gave up the right to a
jury or bench trial and the right
to appeal any errors that may
have been made during a trial
“Why do you wish to plead
guilty,” asked Showalter. “I
was part of bringing in drugs
and part of having it in my possession,” replied Sadley. Showalter then accepted her guilty
plea on both amended charges
as well as the plea agreement
as stated. Showalter also asked
for a pre-sentence investigation to be done by a court services officer. Bond will remain
as previously set at $100,000
cash or commercial surety.
Beginning in January of
Showalter ruled a new hearing
2014,
Kansas has a new type
be held in two month. If Sadley
of
truck/trailer
tag and class.
gets into any trouble during that
Trucks
that
have
been classitime, the deal is off the table.
fied as regular or farm in the
cont’d pg. 2
past may now need to change
by Julie Samuelson
Editor & Publisher
daughter of Al Ryan, Sharon
Springs went on to the next
best thing. She is now helping with the Missouri Department of Corrections Puppies
for Parole Program.
The program began on Feb. 1, 2010
with only two dogs
at the Jefferson City
Correctional Center. The program
places dogs from
shelters that would
otherwise be euthanized in prisons
to be trained by the inmates.
The dogs are then trained and
used in canine therapy programs where they assist people
with all kinds of disabilities
such as autism, wounded veterans, troubled and abused
children, victims of domestic
violence, and the mentally ill.
In a speech she was invited to
give by Purina as part of their
Better With Pets Summit in
New York City, Finnegan said
that 95% of all the prisoners
in Missouri get released from
the Missouri Department of Corrections.
“Do you want offenders release without rehabilitation,”
she asked. She also
said that the key to
rehabilitation is altruism, making reparations for crimes
and re-discovering
a conscience. By participating
in the program, offenders are
doing just that, not only making restitution by serving their
sentence, but by also learning a
possible trade, and giving back
to society at the same time
they are serving their sentence.
The program also helps in
a number of different ways.
Front Page Notices
Feb. 8 at the Sharon Springs
United Methodist Church
from 2:00- 4:00 p.m. The couple is registered at Bed Bath
& Beyond & Target. 31-2tc
If interested in an adult
woodworking class through
There will be a bridal shower CCC contact Bruce Bolen
for Danielle Dick, bride-elect at 785-852-1034. Deadline
of Holden Mai, on Saturday, to enroll is Jan. 24. 31-1tc
computer to other malware.
Pacific Gas and Electric,
which serves customers in
California, has alerted its
customers to the scam on its
webpage; however, it has
spread to computers nationwide from the e-mail contacts
list in infected computers.
“We urge anyone who gets
an e-mail like this to delete
it, without opening any links
or attachments,” said Michael
Sadeghi, Midwest Energy’s
Director of Customer Service. “If you ever receive a
call or e-mail from someone
claiming to represent Midwest
Energy, feel free to call us at
(800) 222-3121 to verify the
person’s identity,” he said.
Do you have a
commercial or
farm vehicle?
Program goes beyond puppies
and prisoners
A St. Louis, MO woman
Low Precip.
with ties to Wallace County
25
has gotten involved with a
26
relatively new and success29
ful program with the Missouri
16
Department of Corrections.
17
After retiring from the Mis25
souri Department of Men28
tal Health, Judy Finnegan,
We are looking for old photographs of the Wallace County Courtroom. If you have
one please send or email us a
copy, P.O. Box 279, Sharon
Springs, KS 67758 or westerntimes@wbsnet.org 29-3tc
Issue No. 31
It helps communities with
unadoptable dog problems,
getting them off the streets,
teaching them helpful behaviors and saving their lives in
the process. More than 2,000
dogs have been adopted
through the program and the
inmates learned compassion
and empathy at the same time.
Nineteen prisons have now
implemented the program. In
fact, Missouri leads the nation in the number of prisons
to implement the dog program.
The program has also helped
to make the prisons in Missouri safer by improving relations between prison staff and
inmates which has improved
overall morale across the board.
According the program director George Lombardi,
the program gives the prisoners something to think
about besides themselves.
to the new commercial system.
Some farmers may now need
DOT numbers. Information
regarding this issue and commercial vehicles will be provided at the upcoming meeting.
There will be an information
meeting at the Sherman County Fairgrounds on Thursday,
Feb. 6, at 1:00 p.m. MT. This
is the only meeting scheduled
for Northwest Kansas. This
meeting will help you decide
what class of vehicle you
have. You are the one who
needs to make the decision.
The people on hand will be
able to answer your questions.
Not all county treasurers’
offices have elected to process
commercial vehicles but you
can do this in Wallace County.
It is a process that does require extra time and information from the owner. We ask
that you bring your information into the office and we will
contact you when the application is complete. For more information on registering your
vehicle as commercial, please
contact the Wallace County
Treasurer’s office so that
we can ensure that you have
all the required documents.
The Wallace County Treasurer will be unable to process
commercial vehicles after Feb.
20 so do not wait. Since tags
expire in February there will
be a penalty/interest for vehicles processed after February.