People, Places & Events

Mabank Western Week Events
Youngsters, adults enjoy annual Western Week kickoff games

Monitor Photo/ Katherine Veno The 54th annual Mabank Rodeo Queen and her court stand in front of the Mabank Fire Department following the Queen’s Dinner Wednesday. Pictured are (from left) Megan Lilley, Grace Ann Klecka, Destiny Webb, Natasha Dare, 2009 Mabank Rodeo Queen Katie Thomas, Tori Jones, Lindsey Krueger, Haley Halbrook and Melissa Weller.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey Eustace first-grader Kelsie Hudson inks her left forefinger under the direction of Mabank Police Officer Kenneth Otterline as he prepares a child ID kit on the youngster between Western Week games.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey Central Elementary incoming second-grader Payton Bradshaw takes a big bite of cotton candy while waiting for the next game to start at the Mabank Pavilion.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey Mabank Volunteer Fire Department members put on the brakes as they skid past the pylon. The team didn't attempt to make a turn – just stopped and headed back on the other side – and that strategy paid off with a 14.43-second time, grabbing first place (and a $100 cash prize) in the annual bed races.

The Rodeo Queen Contestants No. 2 team, using a bit of male muscle power, clocked 17.03 seconds, enough to grab third place in the annual Western Week bed races at the Mabank Pavilion Tuesday. See Thursday’s edition of The Monitor for photos from Saturday’s Cowboy Breakfast at the fire station and the Western Week parade and rodeo.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey Mabank resident Debbie Chisholm gets ready to make the catch during the adult division of the egg toss during the annual Western Week games at the Mabank Pavilion Tuesday. Chisholm and her partner were runners-up in the egg toss.

BBB warns of Craiglist scams offering protection
Special to The Monitor
MABANK–The Better Business Bureaus across the country are receiving reports of a new scam on Craiglist that deceives buyers by falsely claiming BBB accreditation and participation in a phony buyer’s protection program.
BBB warns there is no such thing as a BBB Purchase Protection Program and any on-line seller claiming participation in this program is scamming customers.
In its 2009 Internet Crime Report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported receiving 275,284 complaints, more than 33 percent increase from 2007, with a total dollar loss form all fraud cases of $264.6 million.
And scams involving non-delivered merchandise and/or payment were by far the most reported offense, comprising nearly 33 percent of all complaints.
Consumers look for BBB Accredited Businesses and the BBB seal when evaluating the trustworthiness of businesses because the logo tells them the business lives up to BBB’s rigorous standards.
Unfortunately, some businesses and scammers will lie to customers and falsely claim they are accredited by BBB, therefore it’s important to verify BBB accreditation at the source at bbb.org.
BBB has received reports from consumers from coast to coast who were shopping for items on Craiglist – such as golf bags and strollers – and came across an ad claiming the seller was accredited by BBB.
After inquiring about the item, the buyer received an e-mail from the seller.
The e-mail explained the seller was accredited by BBB and they were a participant to the BBB Protection Program.
This supposed program would protect the buyer should they not receive the items they paid for.
In truth, there is no such thing as a BBB Protection Program. Not only are these scammers lying about being accredited by BBB, but they also fraudulently use the BBB logo on their web sites, overstockshop.biz and overstocksales.org, and have stolen images from the BBB web site to mimic the layout and design used by BBB.
The scamming sellers use more than a dozen names including, Emma Lawley, Hollie West, Claudia Curtis, Mallory Downs, Stephanie Bradford, Elizabeth Stanford, Kristine Gilmore and Linda Koller and have gone so far as to create a fake BBB reliability report for each phony identity which is linked form – and hosted on – the scammer’s web sites.
BBB contacted the web hosting company of overstockship.biz which suspended the scammer’s site.
Since then, the scammers have set up shop at overstocksales.org and BBB is taking steps to have that site taken down as well.
BBB offers the following advice for verifying a company’s accreditation:
• Businesses will often post the BBB Accredited Seal on their web site to how customers they meet and uphold BBB’s standards.
To verify accreditment, consumers should click on the BBB logo which will redirect them to either a confirmation page or the company’s reliability report hosted on the BBB web site.
• Don’t take a business’s word for it. Visit www.bbb.org  and review the BBB Reliability Report and rating from BBB, as well as additional information on the business’s management and complaint history.
• Consumers who believe a business is fraudulently claiming BBB accreditation should notify their BBB and file a complaint either via letter, on-line at www.bbb.org.  or over the phone.
For more advice on how to avoid scams on-line and find trustworthy businesses, visit www.bbb.org.

Mabank ISD keeps ‘superior’ financial rating
By Barbara Gartman
Monitor Staff Writer
MABANK–Mabank Independent School District has once again been awarded a superior rating from the Financial Integrity Rating System (FIRST). It’s the highest rating that can be earned, trustees heard during their June meeting.
“They (the state) have been doing the FIRST report for about five years and MISD has always earned a Superior Achievement,” Scott Adams, assistant superintendent of business management said.
The district earned a score of 79, out of a possible 85.
In other business, trustees:
• renewed the custodial services contract with GCA Services Group of Texas, LP.
The five-year contract goes through the bidding process next year, trustees were told.
However, the contract must be renewed every year during the five-year period.
• renewed the articulation agreement with Texas State Technical College, Marshall.
• approved the second reading of the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) local policy, Update 85.
• approved MISD Policy DEA (local) compensation and benefits salaries and wages, second reading.
• approved the second reading of MISD Policy EIC (local) Academic Achievement Class Ranking, with a minor adjustment.
The term “beginning with” was changed to “prior to.”
• heard a status report on the education foundation.
“I am waiting for everyone to turn in their questionnaires,” Adams said. When all the forms are in, the establishment procedure will continue, he said.
• heard the TASA/TASB convention is set for Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 1-4.
• determined to meet at 5:30 (an hour early) at the July 27, board meeting for a budget workshop.
The trustees have until Sept. 1, to approve a budget, Adams said.
The district has approximately $925 million in taxable properties, he added.
Also, House Bill 3646 was recently signed. It is the fourth version of the education revenue disbursement bill, he said.