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pre-recorded message from the UE office this afternoon.. States to call 1-866-962-4064 to re-start your claim.........

319pm, At 603pm (2 hrs, 44 minutes) A rep picked up!!!1 YEAH :) All claims have to be restarted via a phone call, at this time the system is not catching them all. She had to enter all past weeks (6-26, 7-03, 7/10, 7/17) by hand on her ...end. Hopefully the week we are in will show up on my UE site when I login on Sunday to file this weeks claim.

If you are planning on calling, Make sure you have ALL of the addresses for the 2 employers for each week of the past weeks that need to be filed. Must have the complete address (Street, City, Zip)
A lot of the online apps I have seen and done only show the City, State and Zip. You will need to make sure you find via phonebook or internet the complete full address. The phone are open till 7pm om Monday thru Friday and they AUTOMATICALLY shut off at 7pm... regardless if you are done with you call!!

Total call time once a rep picked up??? 31 minutes on the phone call

Friday, July 23, 2010 - OH/ UE Webiste posting!

https://unemployment.ohio.gov/


Friday, July 23, 2010

On July 22, 2010, President Obama signed legislation that extends the deadlines for the federally funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program and federal funding for State Extended Benefits. As a result, claimants who recently exhausted their benefits may be able to restart their claims.

Claimants should continue to file for benefits, which will be retroactive to the former program deadlines of May/June, 2010 by calling 1-866-962-4064 toll-free between 7:00 AM. and 7:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM on Saturday. Because of the late passage of this extension, claimants may notice a delay in the posting of funds to their accounts.

The new legislation extends the deadlines as follows:
EUC, or federal extended benefits. The legislation extends deadlines for this program from May 29, 2010 to November 27, 2010. Eligible individuals may continue to collect benefits until April 30, 2011. This program continues to offer a maximum of 53 weeks of extended unemployment benefits. The new legislation did not add any more weeks of benefits.

For further information, please see UC Federal Extended Benefits FAQs.


The 100 percent federal funding for State Extended Benefits. The legislation extends deadlines for federal funding of State Extended Benefits – known as “Ohio EB” or “Ohio Extended Benefits” – from June 5, 2010 to December 4, 2010. This program continues to offer a maximum of 20 weeks of extended unemployment benefits. The new legislation did not add any more weeks of benefits.

For further information, please see UC State Extended Benefits FAQs.

NOTE: The new legislation did not extend the deadline for the Federal Additional Compensation (FAC) program. The FAC program allows states to pay an additional $25 for each week that an individual receives unemployment benefits. Only individuals who established regular unemployment claims prior to May 29, 2010, may receive the additional $25 payment through the week ending December 4, 2010. For further information, please see UC Changes Due to Stimulus Package.

Updated PDF Files (7-23-10) from the State of Ohio UE Website

I received the pre-recorded message from the UE office this afternoon... States to call 1-866-962-4064 to re-start your claim.... I called at 319pm, it's now 430pm and still on hold waiting for a rep to pick up... They are going to be VERY busy over the next week! Be patient and NICE when you get to a Rep!! It is not an easy job on their end either :_)

{This is the ## for the State of Ohio UE}

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Federal UE ext. info

http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocomm_root/Ext-Benefits-FAQ-2008REV.pdf

26 weeks of original UE and addt 53 weeks of Federal ext = 79 weeks, then 20 weeks of Ohio ext = 99 weeks total. Only those states with high UE rate were given the addt 20 weeks by state which will bring one to 99 total weeks of UE pymts. Hope this helps :)

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State of Ohio ext. Info

http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocomm_root/StateEB_FAQ_Final.pdf

20 weeks of Ohio ext benefits - after one is done will all 4 federal tiers

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UE -FAC Addt. $25 / week info

http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocomm_root/ChangestoUCFAQs.pdf

Addt $25 / week on top of the regular Federal or State UE pymts is continuing too.

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Thanks, Cathy

~ My Website: www.lifeaftervc2008.weebly.com ~

.

Benefits running out for jobless

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/07/01/copy/benefits-running-out-for-jobless.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Thursday, July 1, 2010 02:55 AM

By Catherine Candisky and Jonathan Riskind

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

More than 98,000 out-of-work Ohioans are getting by without a weekly unemployment check as congressional leaders continue trying to muster the votes needed to pass another extension.

The workers exhausting benefits in June will be joined by an additional 83,000 who - barring action at the federal level - will drop off the rolls in July.

Without an extension, Maureen Compton's unemployment benefits will end Aug. 10, and she's "terrified."

"I could lose my house, my car and everything else," she said. "We are barely making it on (my husband's) income and my unemployment. Come Aug. 11, I'm not sure what we'll be facing."

The 48-year-old Worthington mother has been out of work for nine months and recently returned to school to earn a teaching degree.

Last night, for the third time in as many weeks, Senate Republicans successfully filibustered a bill to continue providing unemployment checks.

But this time, since the slimmed-down measure attracted two Republican votes, its passage seems assured next month once a replacement is in place for Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., who died Monday.

The extension has been bottled up for weeks in the Senate, with majority Democrats failing to pass it as part of a broader jobs bill amid concerns about increasing the deficit.

Immediately after the jobless-aid vote, the Senate cleared for President Barack Obama's signature a measure to give homebuyers an extra three months to finish qualifying for federal tax incentives that boosted home sales last spring.

Ohio Job and Family Services Director Douglas Lumpkin said he's telling his workers, and the local agencies and charities that assist those in need, to prepare for the worst.

The state is sending letters to the unemployed about three weeks before they are set to exhaust benefits, encouraging them to keep filing because previous extensions have been retroactive, and to contact their county agencies to learn about training programs and assistance such as food stamps, subsidized health care and emergency cash.

"People are at risk and what we're trying to do is make people aware and make sure our local systems are aware," Lumpkin said.

With the state's unemployment rate at 10.7 percent, 321,000 Ohioans currently collect unemployment.

The last federal extension ended in May. Until early June, eligible workers could receive up to 99 weeks of benefits - 26 weeks of state-funded unemployment and 73 weeks of extended benefits paid by the federal government, broken into five tiers.

Now, only 26 weeks of state benefits are available, and recipients exhaust aid when they finish their state benefits or come to the end of their federal tier.

Gov. Ted Strickland and other governors continue to lobby Congress for an extension.

"It seems so unreasonable to me that a handful of senators could keep thousands of unemployed workers from receiving these benefits that they so desperately need," Strickland said. "What do they expect these people to do?"

Asked if GOP gubernatorial candidate John Kasich supports an extension, his spokesman Rob Nichols said, "John believes that it needs to be extended.

"Given the current state of Ohio's economy, we're left without a lot of choices in the short term. We certainly need to fix this program, but, right now, people still need help," Nichols added.

Democratic Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy of Columbus said, "It's time to end the politics-as-usual approach in Washington that puts finger-pointing and scoring points in front of delivering real help to people who are out of work through no fault of their own."

But GOP Rep. Pat Tiberi said Republicans don't want to add to the federal deficit.

"When I was in high school, my family had to rely on unemployment after my dad lost his job, so I certainly understand how important that safety net is for struggling families," Tiberi said. "However, Congress has provided for up to 99 weeks of unemployment insurance, the most ever, and Americans are growing wary of our mounting debt."

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said, "Congress should not adjourn for the July 4th holiday weekend without passing an extension of unemployment insurance. "

Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he would vote for the extension if Democrats agree to partially offset the cost with unspent stimulus money.

Dispatch reporter Mark Niquette and Senior Editor Joe Hallett contributed to this story.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.

ccandisky@dispatch.com
jriskind@dispatch.com

Unemployment Info Update from their website

Friday, June 25, 2010 On Thursday, June 24, legislation that would have extended eligibility deadlines for extended unemployment compensation benefits did not pass in the Senate. It is now unclear if claimants who exhaust their regular unemployment compensation will, at some point in the future, be eligible for extended benefits. Without the federal extension, claimants who exhaust their current tier of Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) will not be eligible for the next tier. Additionally, the federally funded State Extended Benefits (Ohio EB) and the $25 supplement of Federal Additional Compensation (FAC) may not be reinstated. Given the uncertainty of whether or not there will be additional congressional action, claimants may need to plan for no extension. Claimants may continue to file for benefits, which may be retroactive upon enactment of any possible extension. This does not mean that benefits will be extended. For more information about other resources available to unemployed workers in Ohio, visit http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocomm_root/unempresources.stm. Anyone with questions should call 1-877-OHIO-JOB (1-877-644-6562). For information about the EUC program, please see UC Federal Extended Benefits FAQs. For information about the Ohio EB program, please see UC State Extended Benefits FAQs. For information about the FAC program, please see UC Changes Due to Stimulus Package.

Ohio - Unemployment Website Update 4-16-10

Click here: JFS - Ohio Unemployment Benefits Online

Friday, April 16, 2010

Early on April 15, 2010, President Obama signed legislation that will extend deadlines for the federally funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program – and the Federal Additional Compensation (FAC) program and federal funding for State Extended Benefits – by two months. As a result, claimants who exhausted their benefits last week may be able to restart their claims.

Claimants should continue to file for benefits, which will be retroactive to the former program deadline of April 3, 2010. Because of the late passage of this extension, claimants may notice a slight delay in the posting of funds to their accounts.

The new legislation extends the deadlines for the following programs:

EUC, or federal extended benefits. The legislation extends deadlines for this program from April 3, 2010, to May 29, 2010. Individuals with a remaining balance of EUC benefits after May 29 may continue to collect benefits until November 6, 2010.

For further information, please see UC Federal Extended Benefits FAQs.

Federal Additional Compensation, or FAC. The FAC program allows states to pay an additional $25 for each week that an individual receives unemployment benefits. The legislation extends FAC deadlines from April 3, 2010 to May 29, 2010. Individuals who establish regular unemployment claims prior to May 29, 2010, may receive the additional $25 payment through the week ending December 4, 2010.

For further information, please see UC Changes Due to Stimulus Package.

The 100 percent federal funding for State Extended Benefits. The legislation extends deadlines for federal funding of State Extended Benefits – known as “Ohio EB” or “Ohio Extended Benefits” – from April 10, 2010 to June 5, 2010. In order to receive these benefits, claimants must establish eligibility by May 9, 2010.

For further information, please see UC State Extended Benefits FAQs.

Click here: Obama Signs $18B Jobless Benefits Bill | NBC4i.com

Obama Signs $18B Jobless Benefits Bill

AP Graphic

UPDATE: Just hours after Congress passed an $18 billion bill to restore unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, President Barack Obama made it the law of the land.

Associated Press
Published: April 16, 2010

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WASHINGTON—Just hours after Congress passed an $18 billion bill to restore unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, President Barack Obama made it the law of the land.

The measure comes as welcome relief to hundreds of thousands of people who lost out on the additional weeks of compensation after exhausting their state-paid benefits. They now will be able to reapply for long-term unemployment benefits and receive those checks retroactively under the legislation.

The bill also restores full Medicare payments to doctors who were threatened by a 21 percent cut and refloats the flood insurance program.

Obama signed the bill when he returned to the White House on Thursday night from fundraisers in Miami and a speech earlier in the day at Cape Canaveral, presidential spokesman Bill Burton said.

Obama thanked Congress for passing the temporary extension, saying it was critical to help struggling families make ends meet.

“Millions of Americans who lost their jobs in this economic crisis depend on unemployment and health insurance benefits to get by as they look for work and get themselves back on their feet,“ Obama said in a statement. “But as I requested in my budget, I urge Congress to move quickly to extend these benefits through the end of this year.“

The legislation cleared both houses of Congress on Thursday night. The House passed the bill 289-112 just two hours after it emerged from the Senate on a 59-38 vote that capped an unusually partisan debate. Republicans largely chose to take a stand against the legislation for adding to the $12.8 trillion national despite backing it by wide margins in December and again recently.

“It increases the deficit by $18 billion, a cost to be paid for by future generations,“ said Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. “This legislation is yet another unfortunate example of business as usual in our nation’s capital.“

Several other popular programs had also expired, including federal flood insurance, higher Medicare payment rates for doctors and generous health insurance subsidies for people who have lost their jobs.

The situation became more urgent Thursday afternoon when Medicare announced that it would start paying doctors’ claims at a 21 percent lower rate. That won’t be necessary now.

Thursday’s measure provides up to 99 weekly unemployment checks averaging $335 to people whose 26 weeks of state-paid benefits have run out. It’s a temporary extension through June 2 that gives House and Senate Democrats time to iron out a measure to fund the program through the end of the year.

Fewer than 1 in 3 House Republicans voted for the measure. Just three Senate Republicans did. The sole Democrat to oppose it was longtime budget hawk Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee.

The bill also extends a program created under last year’s economic stimulus bill that gives unemployed people a 65 percent subsidy on health care premiums under the so-called COBRA program.

On successive votes earlier in the day, Democrats narrowly turned back two amendments by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., that would have paid for the measure over time by cutting spending and raising almost $10 billion in revenues with a variety of Democratic-backed ideas to tighten the tax code. One of Coburn’s amendments was killed by a 50-48 vote.

The topic of providing additional weeks of jobless benefits in the midst of bad times had been regarded as routine. But with conservative voters and tea party activists up in arms about the deficit, conservative Senate Republicans upset about the deficit have twice caused interruptions of jobless benefits and other programs.

In February, Jim Bunning, R-Ky., single-handedly blocked an extension of unemployment benefits in an unsuccessful bid to force Democrats to pay for them. The measure passed on a 78-19 vote after Republicans were smacked by a public relations backlash.

But many Republicans believe it was a stand worth taking, including Coburn, who blocked a vote last month on another short-term extension.

By the time Senators returned from a two-week recess on Monday, only four Republicans - Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Scott Brown of Massachusetts and George Voinovich of Ohio - voted with Democrats to defeat a GOP filibuster of the bill. Only Voinovich, Collins and Snowe voted for the bill on Thursday.

Democrats said it was the wrong topic for Republicans to take a stand on the deficit after voting for tax cuts, wars and a new Medicare drug benefit without paying for them.

“They seem to have discovered fiscal responsibility when it comes time to extend unemployment benefits but not when it came to paying for tax cuts for the rich and the Iraq war,“ said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich.

Twenty-one Senate Republicans voted for the earlier extension last month and House GOP leaders opted against even forcing a vote. But Thursday’s vote came after senators spent two weeks among their constituents - and as thousands of tea party activists came to Washington to protest on deadline day for filing taxes.

“I think people spent two weeks out listening to people about spending and debt,“ Coburn said.

The House has twice this year approved short-term extensions of jobless benefits and other expired programs.

The various programs in the longer-term legislation represent much of the Democrats’ remaining agenda on job creation. One of the reasons the short-term legislation was needed is that House and Senate Democrats are having difficulty resolving their differences on how to pay for a package of expired tax breaks for individuals and businesses.

Other elements of the jobs agenda such as cash to build roads and schools and help local governments keep teachers on the payroll, remain on the shelf for a lack of money to pay for them.

Democrats said deficit-financed jobless benefits not only needed to help people unable to find work but that they are one of the most effective ways to pump up the still-struggling economy.

For additional information, stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com—Where Accuracy Matters.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail .
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Senate Approves Jobless Aid, Road Funding 3-02-2010

Click here: FOXNews.com - Senate Approves Jobless Aid, Road Funding
AP - March 02, 2010

Senate Approves Jobless Aid, Road Funding

The 78-19 vote came after a GOP senator who was single-handedly holding up the legislation finally relented under withering assaults by Democrats and dwindling support within his own party.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Tuesday passed a $10 billion measure to maintain unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and provide stopgap funding for highway programs after a holdout Republican dropped stalling tactics that had generated a Washington firestorm.

Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning had been holding up action for days but conceded after pressure intensified with Monday's cutoff of road funding and extended unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for the jobless.

Bunning wanted to force Democrats to find ways to finance the bill so that it wouldn't add to the deficit, but his move sparked a political tempest that subjected Republicans to withering media coverage and cost the party politically. Bunning's support among Republicans was dwindling, while Democrats used to being on the defensive over health care and the deficit seemed to relish the battle.

The bill passed by a 78-19 vote. It passed the House last week and President Barack Obama is likely sign the bill into law quickly so that 2,000 furloughed Transportation Department workers can go back to work on Wednesday.

Doctors faced the prospect of a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments, and federal flood insurance programs had lapsed with Monday's expiration of an earlier stopgap bill that passed late last year.

Tuesday's action will provide a month long extension of the expired programs to give Congress time to pass a yearlong -- and far more costly -- fix that's also pending.

Without the legislation, about 200,000 jobless people would have lost federal benefits this week alone, according to the liberal-leaning National Employment Law Project. Jobless people normally get 26 weeks of unemployment benefits and 20 more weeks in states with higher unemployment rates. The legislation extends several additional layers of benefits added since 2008 because of the stubborn recession.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bunning objected to a request by Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a fellow Republican, to pass a 30-day extension of jobless benefits and other expired measures.
When asked Tuesday if Bunning was hurting the Republican Party, Collins said, "He's hurting the American people."

Other Republicans were more diplomatic in their assessments of Bunning, who has a stubborn and often irascible personality. Bunning is reluctantly retiring at the end of the current term and enjoys a tense relationship with homestate colleague and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who privately urged Bunning to step aside.

Bunning had blocked the stopgap legislation since Thursday, insisting that Democrats find offsetting revenues or spending cuts to finance the bill. Instead, he settled for a vote to close a tax loophole enjoyed by paper companies that get a credit from burning "black liquor," a pulp-making byproduct, as if it were an alternative fuel. The amendment failed.

Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, said that Bunning was accepting an offer that he had rejected for days.

"As a result ... unemployment benefits were cut off for thousands of people across America, assistance for health care was cut off across America, thousands of federal employees were furloughed," Durbin said.

Democrats had promised to force Bunning to repeatedly lodge objections to bringing the bill to a vote. Otherwise it could take almost a week to slog through the procedural steps required to take up the measure and defeat Bunning's filibuster.

"Today we have a clear-cut example to show the American people just what's wrong with Washington, D.C.," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said. "That is because today one single Republican senator is standing in the way of the unemployment benefits of 400,000 Americans."

Democrats promised to retroactively restore unemployment benefits and health care subsidies for the unemployed under the COBRA program. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood ordered furloughed employees back to work Wednesday.

The impasse had led to political gains for Democrats attacking Bunning and his fellow Republicans. Major cable news networks carried Tuesday morning's proceedings live and returned to the topic frequently.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has called up a $100-billion-plus measure to provide a longer-term extension of unemployment benefits that would last through the end of the year, along with a full-year extension of higher Medicare payments to doctors, help for states with their Medicaid budgets and a continuing a variety of expired tax breaks for individuals and businesses.

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Check out Lincoln One-Cent Redesign

Click here: Lincoln One-Cent Redesign

Coins and Medals

The Lincoln One Cent Coin—2010 and Beyond 2010 Lincoln One-Cent Obverse 2010 Lincoln One-Cent Reverse The current Lincoln cent's reverse (tails side) design is emblematic of President Abraham Lincoln's preservation of the United States as a single and united country, as required by Title III of Public Law 109-145, the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005. While the obverse (heads) continues to bear the familiar Victor David Brenner likeness of President Lincoln that has appeared on the coin since 1909, the reverse features a union shield with a scroll draped across and the inscription ONE CENT. The 13 vertical stripes of the shield represent the states joined in one compact union to support the federal government, represented by the horizontal bar above. The horizontal bar features the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM—"out of many, one"—while the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is depicted along the upper rim of the coin. The union shield, which dates back to the 1780s, was used widely during the Civil War. The shield is also featured on frescoes by Constantino Brumidi throughout the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building completed in the mid-19th century. The Secretary of the Treasury approved the reverse design for the coin after consultation with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and review by the Citizen's Coinage Advisory Committee. These one-cent coins have a metallic content of 2.5 percent copper, balance zinc. They are issued for circulation in quantities sufficient to meet the demands of commerce. Numismatic (proof and uncirculated) versions are included in the United States Mint's annual product offerings. Read more about the one-cent coin—part of the United States' circulating currency since 1793!

Check out Snow falls, roof follows? Not likely

Click here: Snow falls, roof follows? Not likely | The Columbus Dispatch

Snow falls, roof follows? Not likely

Monday, February 15, 2010 11:15 PM

By Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Ice dams

Conditions are perfect for growing icicles on your house.

They generally follow the development of ice dams in the gutters. And they can impede the flow of melting snow, sending water back into your attic or walls.

Ice dams generally occur when snow piles up on the roof. Warmth from inside the house melts the snow next to the roof, and the snow above acts as insulation. Water flows toward the gutter, where it is no longer insulated, and freezes, clogging the gutter with ice.

Doing much about them in this weather is difficult and dangerous. But here are a few options:

• Poke a hole in the ceiling wherever a wet spot develops. If you don't do that, the water pooling overhead will spread across the ceiling and damage a wider area. You can use a large nail or screwdriver to make the hole. Have a bucket ready.
• Clean snow off the roof. If you have a low roof and can reach the snow pack with a long-handled rake, it's worth considering. Take care, however, because rakes can damage roofing materials.
• Chisel a channel in the dam to allow water behind it to run away from the house. Take care to set your ladder on solid ground.
• Another way to channel water away is to fill one leg of a pair of pantyhose with calcium chloride. Lay the hose on the roof so it crosses the ice dam and hangs over the gutter. It will melt a channel through the ice.

WEATHER BLOG

• Up-to-date news, weather tips and more

February's unrelenting snow prompted a concerned Darlene Kura to recruit her son and two of his friends last week to remove the 8 to 9 inches of snow that covered the flat roof of her Clintonville home.

Kura has lived on W. Henderson Road in a former doctor's office and home for 10 years and had never shoveled her roof.

"We were really concerned about the weight," Kura said. Her house was built in 1952, and the age was her biggest concern, along with a 3-year-old roof that bows in places.

She feared a cave-in.

And now she has more snow to deal with after today's storm. She said she'll likely be recruiting her son and his friends to tackle the roof again.

"We don't know when the next one is coming," she said.

But experts said local property-owners shouldn't panic, despite reports of roof collapses elsewhere, including an ice rink that caved in near Pittsburgh on Sunday.

"Most roofs should be OK," said Halil Sezen, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Ohio State University.

Roofs in Ohio should be able to accommodate up to 18 inches of snow, based on the 20-pounds-per-square-foot standard that the American Society of Civil Engineers set for the state, said Michael O'Rourke, a professor of civil engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

The Ohio Building Code calls for roofs to aupport 20 to 25 pounds per square foot, said Stephen Metz, a principal in Shelley Metz Baumann Hawk, a Columbus structural engineering firm.

But most roofs should be able to handle up to 32 pounds per square foot, which is about 2 feet of snow, said O'Rourke, who heads a committee on snow and rain loads for the American Society of Civil Engineers.

"If it gets to be 32, it wouldn't be unusual for some roofs to have some problems," he said.

Metz, however, reminded residents that central Ohio roofs have already sustained big snows, including the March 2008 snowstorm that brought 20.5 inches to the area.

Doug Perry, president of Allied Roofing in Columbus, said he wouldn't be alarmed until the snow reached a depth of 4 feet on roofs.

Perry said he's received no calls yet for bowing or collapsed roofs.

Still, homeowners and business owners should keep an eye out for sagging roofs, Metz said.

O'Rourke said vulnerable structures include carports, poorly engineered sheds and lightweight roofs.

Heavy snow buildup likely contributed to the collapse of an ice rink southeast of Pittsburgh during a youth hockey tournament on Sunday. Players, employees and spectators were hurried out when a worker heard a crack in the roof. Everyone escaped from the building, which was constructed in 1965.

A gym at Blacksburg High School in Virginia collapsed on Saturday, and a Sykesville, Md., fire station burned after the roof there collapsed under heavy snow on Thursday.

In addition, a section of roof and a wall at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Support Center in Maryland collapsed last week.

Trees and other plants are taking a beating as well.

There's no magic weight as to how much snow can take down a tree or its branches, said Gary Gao, an associate professor with Ohio State extension in Delaware County.

Evergreen trees with shallow roots could tip over, not only because of the weight of the tree but also because of Ohio's clay soil.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this story.

mferenchik@dispatch.com

Check out More quit job hunt until hiring grows

Click here: More quit job hunt until hiring grows | The Columbus Dispatch

More quit job hunt until hiring grows

Sunday, February 14, 2010 3:33 AM

By Christopher Leonard

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chef trainee Kelley Bryan enjoys a joke by instructor Tony Hedger in Ladue, Mo. After having no luck finding clerical work, Bryan, 46, changed careers.

" href="/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/feb/0214_bn_DROP_OUT_02-14-10_D3_6RGIG1P_large.jpg" jquery1267192461558="2">Chef trainee Kelley Bryan enjoys a joke by instructor Tony Hedger in Ladue, Mo. After having no luck finding clerical work, Bryan, 46, changed careers.

" src="/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/feb/0214_bn_DROP_OUT_02-14-10_D3_6RGIG1P.jpg" border="0">

JEFF ROBERSON | ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chef trainee Kelley Bryan enjoys a joke by instructor Tony Hedger in Ladue, Mo. After having no luck finding clerical work, Bryan, 46, changed careers.

Many jobless people have reached a conclusion that captures the depth of the unemployment crisis: Looking for a job is a waste of time.

The economy is growing, yet it's creating few jobs. That's why in the past eight months, 1.8 million people without jobs left the labor market. Many had grown so frustrated that they quit looking for work.

And it's why Barbara Bishop sat at her kitchen table in suburban Atlanta last month and joined their ranks. Her decision came seven months after she quit a public-relations job that seemed about to be axed. Sending out resumes got her nowhere. So Bishop made a list of her skills and decided to launch a business.

"I don't want to look anymore," she said of the job hunt. "It's become very discouraging."

The unemployment rate is 9.7 percent. But so many jobless people have quit looking that if they're combined with the part-time workers who would prefer to work full time, the so-called "underemployment" rate is 16.5 percent.

Their outsize numbers show that even though the economy is growing, the job market is stagnant. Employers remain reluctant to hire.

The exodus from the job market halted in January, when a net total of 111,000 people re-entered. But 661,000 had left in December. And the trend since spring has been people leaving the work force.

"It's very unusual," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "At this point in the business cycle, we should be seeing some sort of labor-force growth. Layoffs have abated, but there really has been no pickup in hiring."

Some of the jobless are concluding it's more practical to return to school, start a business or care for their kids at home until the job market improves.

Kelley Bryan hopes to re-enter the job market next year, retrained for a new career. She was laid off a year ago after more than 20 years as a secretary.

Bryan spent three frustrating months looking for a similar job near her suburban St. Louis home. Last spring, she decided to return to school. She obtained a federal Pell Grant and enrolled at the L'Ecole Culinaire chef-training school.

At 46, Bryan was surprised to find herself learning to make soup stocks and creme brulee with former autoworkers and other 40-somethings. They, too, are changing careers after losing jobs.

For many, the struggle might not end once the job market improves. As more people re-enter the work force, competition will tighten, Zandi said.

"Even if the job market gains some traction this year, unemployment is going to rise," he said.

Check out Text-Only 'Facebook Zero' Coming Soon to Simple Phones

Click here: Text-Only 'Facebook Zero' Coming Soon to Simple Phones

Text-Only 'Facebook Zero' Coming Soon to Simple Phones

by Amar Toor — Feb 17th 2010 at 11:08AM

If you still find Facebook Lite a bit too heavy, a new, even more minimalist service called "Facebook Zero" might just do the trick. As Pocket-Lint reports, Facebook exec Chamath Palihapitiya mentioned the forthcoming service during a keynote speech at this year's Mobile World Conference, and said that it would offer a "text-only" version of the social networking site for mobile Web browsers. As TechCrunch speculates, it'll probably be offered to carriers for free, with users incurring data service charges only if they decide to switch out of text-only mode to view or upload Facebook multimedia like photos.

In an e-mail to TechCrunch, Facebook spokesperson Brandee Barker described the new service as "a lightweight version of m.facebook.com that omits data intensive applications like Photos." Barker also wrote that the impetus behind the initiative was "to make Facebook on the mobile Web available to everyone, anywhere and allow operators to encourage more mobile Internet usage." Zero's due to go live within the next few weeks at zero.facebook.com, although there's no official launch date as of yet. And even though we'll always prefer our Facebook prepared rich and creamy the way Mom made it, we're definitely looking forward to giving this low-calorie, low-cost option a taste. [From: Pocket-Lint and TechCrunch]

Facebook's Most Annoying Things

Check out Four more lines of sweatshirts recalled because of drawstrings

Click here: Four more lines of sweatshirts recalled because of drawstrings

Four more lines of sweatshirts recalled because of drawstrings

Mitch Lipka
Feb 18th 2010 at 5:10PM

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Filed under: Recalls, Consumer Ally

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced four separate recalls involving sweatshirts for children.

You would think 14 years after the clothing industry was told to stop putting drawstrings in hoods the practice would have stopped.

Drawstrings have been implicated in strangulation deaths of children and were essentially banned in 1996 when the CPSC issued guidelines for clothing manufacturers and importers. All three of the recalled lines were manufactured in China; one included some made in Pakistan.

Three of the recalled lines were sold at Burlington Coat Factory stores.

The following hooded sweatshirts were recalled:

• Blue Heart and Just a Girl brands sizes 4-6x sold exclusively at Burlington Coat Factory stores for about $10 from 2006 to 2009.
• Old Skool brand girls' hoodies with long and short sleeves sizes S – XL sold at Burlington Coat factory stores from 2007-2009 for $8-$20.
• Attitude Gold in children's sizes S-XL solid in 2008 and 2009 for about $25 at Burlington Coat Factory and Modecraft Fashion.
• Candy Queen and Akademiks brands sizes 2T through 16 sold by small retailers for $5-$22 in 2008.

The CPSC urges parents to remove any drawstrings from clothing worn by children. To get more details about each of the recalled lines of sweatshirts, including serial numbers and phone numbers for the companies, follow the above links.

If you have one of the recalled sweatshirts, either remove the drawstring or return it to the place of purchase for a refund.

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