Found money: Spend it or save it? What you need to know about your rebate check
- Direct deposit rebates are the first to be sent out, with
the remaining checks being issued according to Social Security number. The
closer the last two digits of your SSN are to ‘00,’ the sooner you will get
your check.
- The package will pay $600 to most single individuals and
$1,200 to married couples, with a $300 per child tax credit for dependents
under the age of 17.
- Couples filing joint returns will receive one rebate
payment, which will be sent according to the last two digits of the SSN that
appears first on the return.
- You don’t have to pay taxes on your economic stimulus
payment. According to Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation, the rebate is not
included in gross income and therefore is not subject to state or federal
income tax.
- The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 will amount to more
than $107 billion in rebates being distributed to more than 130 million
Americans.
See what some other people are planning to use their rebate for here.
PUC under scrutiny for shutoffs By Matt Sanderson
Lines ran out the door at the Department of Public
Utilities and Carriers and into the street in Warwick last Thursday to protest the May 1
heating shutoff.
Many of those struggling to pay the rent and bills in a
difficult economic climate received a letter last month that said their heat,
courtesy of National Grid, would be getting shut off for missing payments. Some
elderly and disabled recipients were blindsided by the letter, but when they
contacted specific PUC agents as they were told to, many were unable to get
through.
"This is open season on the poor," said Henry
Shelton, founder of George Wiley Center
in Pawtucket.
"People are getting restorations for those wrongly terminated."
Shelton
and his volunteers were handing out fliers that stated the Rhode Island Public
Utility Consumer's Bill of Rights. Read More...
By William Geoghegan
There was always potential, but for whatever reason, that
potential never translated to success for the Cranston West boys’ outdoor track
team. From 2001 to 2007, West won a grand total of 12 dual-meets, never winning
more than three in a season.
But that era might be over.
The Falcons started building last season and have turned
a corner this year. After a split against Woonsocket
and Burrillville on Monday, the Falcons closed out the regular season with a
6-3 record, their first winning season this decade.
“It’s been a great season,” said head coach David Barr.
“The kids really came together, and we’ve been very competitive. We ended up
posting a winning record for the first time in a long time.” Read More...
East battling through rebuilding process By William Geoghegan
The pendulum is always swinging, and though it’s at the
wrong end this year, the Cranston East boys’ outdoor track team is hoping to
start pushing it back.
The ’Bolts closed out the regular season on Monday with
losses to Lincoln and Mount St. Charles,
which dropped their record to 1-8. For a program that always fields relatively
strong teams, results like those are a bit surprising.
But considering how much East lost, it’s not so
surprising.
The team was thin in numbers last year but still had good
showings because of a talented core of sprinters. That group culminated their
season with a fifth-place finish in the 4x100 at the state meet. But two of the
runners who competed on that relay team graduated and two more didn’t return to
the team. Read More...
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