Unclaimed Funds in Hamilton County Exceed $50 Million

Ok, I have looked up my name and my great grand-mother has her name listed twice. I have researched this and to get together all the documentation that I am in fact related to her is not worth the amount of money that is in the account. I know this because I have confirmed that it is in fact under $100. If the amount was higher I would consider going further in the project.

Perhaps you'll have more luck.

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There are 266,373 unclaimed accounts owed to Hamilton Countians, reaching a grand total of $58,950,095.82.

The Ohio Commerce Department's Division of Unclaimed Funds requested that Hamilton County Treasurer Robert A. Goering assist in tracing the unclaimed funds to the rightful owners. Seven sets of Unclaimed Funds Books containing the names and addresses of the Hamilton Countians who are owed money will be kept for reference in the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. One set will be permanently housed in the Information and Reference Department (located in the former Government and Business Department) on the second floor of the Main Library's South Building. There will also be a set at the Anderson, Green Township, and Symmes Township branch libraries. The remaining three sets will circulate at branch libraries for one week at a time.

Each branch location as well as the Main Library's Information and Reference Department currently provide unclaimed funds forms. A searchable list of unclaimed funds and instructions on the application process are available online at http://www.hamilton-co.org/treasurer/uncfnds.asp. For more information or to obtain necessary forms and instructions, call the Division of Unclaimed Funds' toll free number at 1-877-644-6832.

One set of Unclaimed Funds Books is permanently housed at the following Library locations:

• Main Library, 800 Vine St., 369-6900 - 2nd Floor, Information & Reference Department

(located in the former Government & Business Department)

• Anderson Branch Library, 7450 State Rd., 369-6030
• Green Township Branch Library, 6525 Bridgetown Rd., 369-6095
• Symmes Township Branch Library, 11850 East Enyart Rd., 369-6001

The remaining three sets of books will circulate through the Library system according to the following schedule:

October 1-5

• Deer Park Branch Library, 3970 E. Galbraith Rd., 369-4450
• Greenhills Branch Library, 7 Endicott St., 369-4441
• West End Branch Library, 805 Ezzard Charles Dr., 369-6026

October 8-12

• Norwood Branch Library, 4325 Montgomery Rd., 369-6037
• Elmwood Place Branch Library, 6120 Vine St., 369-4452
• Price Hill Branch Library, 3215 Warsaw Ave., 369-4490

October 15-19

• Oakley Branch Library, 4033 Gilmore Ave., 369-6038
• Clifton Branch Library, 351 Ludlow Ave., 369-4447
• Delhi Township Branch Library, 5095 Foley Rd., 369-6019

October 22-26

• Hyde Park Branch Library, 2747 Erie Ave., 369-4456
• Corryville Branch Library, 2802 Vine St., 369-6034
• Covedale Branch Library, 4980 Glenway Ave., 369-4460

Oct 29-Nov 2

• Mt. Washington Branch Library, 2049 Beechmont Ave., 369-6033
• Walnut Hills Branch Library, 2533 Kemper Ln., 369-6053
• Westwood Branch Library, 3345 Epworth Ave., 369-4474

November 5-9

• Mariemont Branch Library, 3810 Pocahontas Ave., 369-4467
• Avondale Branch Library, 3566 Reading Rd., 369-4440
• Cheviot Branch Library, 3711 Robb Ave., 369-6015

November 12-16

• Madisonville Branch Library, 4830 Whetsel Ave., 369-6029
• Wyoming Branch Library, 500 Springfield Pike, 369-6014
• Miami Township Branch Library, 8 North Miami Ave., 369-6050

November 19-23

• Madeira Branch Library, 7200 Miami Ave., 369-6028
• Reading Branch Library, 9001 Reading Rd., 369-4465
• Harrison Branch Library, 10398 New Haven Rd., 369-4442

November 26-30

• Loveland Branch Library, 649 Loveland-Madeira Rd., 369-4476
• Sharonville Branch Library, 10980 Thornview Dr., 369-6049
• Monfort Heights Branch Library, 3825 West Fork Rd., 369-4472

December 3-7

• Blue Ash Branch Library, 4911 Cooper Rd., 369-6051
• St. Bernard Branch Library, 4803 Tower Ave., 369-4462
• Groesbeck Branch Library, 2994 W. Galbraith Rd., 369-4454

December 10-14

• Pleasant Ridge Branch Library, 6233 Montgomery Rd., 369-4488
• Northside Branch Library, 4219 Hamilton Ave., 369-4449
• College Hill Branch Library, 1400 W. North Bend Rd., 369-6036

December 17-21

• North Central Branch Library, 11109 Hamilton Ave., 369-6068

Time to Exercise Better

I am one of those Americans who is trying to lose weight (I guess I'm in the minority huh). I am adjusting my diet, I just quit smoking, and I'm trying to exercise more.

The question comes now, is the exercise I'm doing effective enough to help me lose weight. One way I can find out is by wearing a heart rate monitor. This will tell me if I'm getting my heart rate high enough for the exercise to be effective. This wll help ensure that my workout will help me lose weight. In addition to this a good workout will also help tone muscles, build endurnace, strengthen my heart, relieve stress, or simply maintain good health and fitness. These are all good reasons to make sure I'm getting a good exercise intensity.

Also, since I have very limited time I can wear a heart rate monitor to ensure a great heart rate training in the shortest amount of time available. Also, by wearing a monitor I can watch my health. If the heart rate is higher than I may expect during a normal workout I may be getting sick, or over-fatigued from training, or may be a signal of a more serious health problem. As you get into better shape it is a good idea to take all the clues your body gives you, and a heart rate monitor can be an excellent tool.

So as you train, whatever your reason may be, it may be a good idea to watch your heart rate to ensure you are getting the best workout you can in the most effective amount of time.

Duke Customers Get Incentive For Energy-Efficient Light

I have been planning on buying these new Compact Florecent bulbs for some time, but now that the electric company is going to send us some coupons to help offset the cost I know that we will. The one concern that I have is that we live close to a railroad line, and I believe that small vibrations come in from this and cause our current old fashioned bulbs to burn out more quickly than they should. Will these last longer, or will I still have the same problem of them burning out faster than they should due to the vibrations?

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Duke Energy Corp. customers in southwest Ohio will get coupons to encourage them to save energy with compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Duke, one of the nation's largest electric utilities, is trying out the promotion in connection with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and General Electric Co. with its 560,000 residential customers in this region. It hopes to eventually extend the promotion to all of its nearly 4 million customers in five states, James E. Rogers, Duke's chairman and chief executive, said Monday.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based utility has begun mailing coupons for $3 off the cost of a three-pack of GE compact fluorescent bulbs at Wal-Mart. CFLs use up to 75 percent less electricity than similar incandescent bulbs and last 10 times longer.

The coupons will reduce the typical cost for three-packs from about $7.50 to $4.50, Duke spokesman Steve Brash said.

If the customer uses the coupons to buy 12 bulbs, it would reduce their electric use by about $80 annually, he said.

Last week, Duke and seven other electric utilities at former President Clinton's Global Initiative Conference in New York pledged to increase their spending on energy-efficiency programs.

Our Victorian Home

My wife and I bought our first home 6 years ago. It was a little Victorian that was just so cute. It is 100+ years old, and had the original woodwork in it, and was just beautiful.

We did not realize the sort of work that such an old house would require. Also it is not just the work that is required, but the level of difficulty involved because nothing ever goes quite right.

We had a leak in our roof that came from some cracked siding. My wife and her mother are now experts to repair damaged plaster. They finished the inside job and it was beautiful. The problem is that we hired a fly by night contractor and we put up shingles over the damaged siding. That is bad, but the worst part of it is that he did not nail the dimensional shingles properly. Now they are falling down and make the house look so tacky.

I want to get up there, and tear down what he did, and also tear down the siding and have it done right. I am not so sure that I have the skills to get it done right so we are saving to have a professional finish the job for us. Maybe if I get the proper instruction I may attempt the job because knowledge is power.

'It’s a sloppy, nasty, dirty job'

This is a story of one of those jobs that no one ever thinks about. Who get the city clean again after we trash it. One thinkg that is not mentioned in the article is if the city gets dirtier during a win or a loss. My personal guess is that it is a bigger mess if the Bengals win. What do you think?

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When the Bengals game began Monday night, so did the cleanup.

As the players gathered on the field, four workers took to the parking lots surrounding Paul Brown Stadium and began a thankless task that would leave them worn out and reeking of stale beer and grilled meat: Picking up after tailgaters.

“It’s a sloppy, nasty, dirty job,” said Rodney Perry, a maintenance supervisor for Central Parking Systems.

Behind him was a truck dragging a trailer – the “garbage barge,” they call it – loaded with some of the broken bottles and crushed cans and the hot dogs, hamburgers and potato salad left over by thousands of football fans. Bags dripped unknown liquids as another worker, John Dickins, tossed them into a giant collection bin.

Tailgaters can produce as much as 8,000 pounds of garbage in a night, said Tim Downey, project manager for Central, which operates the lots for Hamilton County.

Some bag their trash and leave it for the cleanup crew; others have less tidy methods of disposal. As Downey drove through the largest riverfront parking lot Monday night, bottles popped beneath his tires.

Among the leftover debris were smoldering coals, thick bricks of ice and a shrimp ring scattered across a parking space, cocktail sauce included. There were plastic cups and candy wrappers and, under one car, a mountain of potato chips. But most of the trash was beer-related: beer cans, beer bottles, beer cartons, beer rivers flowing into beer puddles.

Workers clear most of the garbage by hand -- a third-party sweeper comes in to finish the job -- and face an unforgiving deadline: the morning.

Downtown employees start filling the lots at 6 a.m.

“It’s a challenge,” Perry said. “I’m glad there are only so many games a year.”

New Phone technology - Hosted iPBX

In today's business world communication is essential to success. If your customers are not able to contact you, they will choose someone they can contact easily.

Communication in today's world also tends to cost alot of money. If you have several regional offices, how do you pay for the phone service for each?

Well, I have a new paradigm for you to look at. The Packet8 Virtual Office is a hosted iPBX solution that allows a pay as you grow option. This system allows you to add additional phones as your business grows, and at a reduced total cost of ownership due to minimal upfront equipment investments, and low monthly service fees. The system will work with any high-speed Internet connection providing all users access to the same PBX features regardless of their location anywhere in the world.

Since this system uses VoIP technology you are able to choose plans that will dramatically lower your monthly telephone bills because there are many plans that offer free in-network and inter-office calls. Also many of the plans can offer unlimited local and long distance services as the calls are placed on the Internet.

Please do yourself and your bottom line a favor and check out the services offered by Packet8.