WGN's Click This

Hear a link mentioned on the air? Click This is where you'll find it. Got something to say about a website we've mentioned? Write a comment and share your views with other WGN-TV viewers!

If your phone number is part of the national "Do Not Call" list, it won't be on there forever. You'll need to sign up again.

The Government says the numbers can only be protected for five years at a time. To re-sign, just call: 1-888-382-1222 or click to: www.donotcall.gov.

Uninsured women in Illinois will now have access to free cancer screenings and treatment. The Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer program will expand to cover 260 thousand more women.

For more information on the screening program:

Call (888) 522-1282 or click to: www.idph.state.il.us.

Did you hear about a recall on our news? Did we give out a phone number or website? Here's where you'll find additional information.

Fisher-Price Kitchen Toys Recall
November 6, 2007:

Mattel Inc. recalled more than 172,000 Fisher-Price kitchen toys in the United States and Europe because several children choked and gagged on small, detachable parts.

The recall involves 155,000 toys sold in the United States, according to the CPSC. It also includes 7,000 items distributed in Britain, 4,900 in Italy, 4,900 in Germany and 394 in Austria. The Mexican-made toys were sold between May and October.

For a free repair kit, toy owners should contact Fisher-Price at 888-812-7187. For more information, visit www.service.mattel.com or www.cpsc.gov.

Toy Recall
August 14, 2007

Toy-making Mattel Inc. has issued recalls for 9 million Chinese-made toys that contain magnets that can be swallowed by children or could have lead paint. Included in the recall are 7.3 million play sets, including Polly Pocket dolls and Batman action figures, and 253,000 die cast cars that contain lead paint.

For a complete list of the items recalled, see Mattel or the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Find comprehensive information about the Hidden Hazards of toys and other products and how to buy them and use them safely at www.chicagotribune.com/safety.

IRS says more than 4,000 Illinoisans have unclaimed refund checks. Are you one of these people?
If you are, all that may be needed from you is an updated address.

To get a list of undelivered refunds you can go to: www.irs.gov or by calling 1-800-329-1954.

The toys on the 2007 WATCH list and companies that make them are:

Contains Lead
•Go Diego Go Animal Boat Rescue, by Fisher Price

Dangerous if Swallowed
• My Little Baby Born, Entertainment, Inc.
• Sticky Stones, GeoCentral

Eye Hazard
• Jack Sparrow's Spinning Dagger, Zizzle
• Rubber Band Shooter, Simple Toys LLC

May Cause Injuries
• Spiderman 3 New Goblin Sword, Hasbro
• Hip Hoppa, by Spin Master Ltd. and Vivid Imaginations, Ltd.

Potential Chemical Ingestion
• B Loonies Party Park, Ja-Ru, Inc.

Shock Potential
• Dora the Explorer Lamp, Funhouse

Choking Hazard
• Lil "Giddy Up" Horse, Sassy Pet Saks, Douglas

For more information, click to: www.illinoispirg.org.

For more information about the Keep Our Kids Safe and Warm Program, click to: www.il.gov/kidsafe.cfm.

Are you having trouble keeping up with your mortgage payments?

Click to: www.nhschicago.org/content/index.php.

Hours and Admissions

Hours:
December 7, 2007 - January 6, 2008*
Sunday-Thursday 10 AM to 8 PM
Friday & Saturday 10 AM to 10 PM
Christmas Eve: 10 AM to 5 PM
Christmas Day: Closed
New Year's Eve: 10 AM to 6:30 PM
* New Year's Eve Fireworks at 7 PM & Midnight, New Year's Day Family Fireworks at 7 PM

Admission:
Free Admission - *Wristband purchase required to participate in rides and activities.
Wristband options:
Regular Activity Wristband - $15.00 Includes unlimited single-day access to rides and activities excluding Ice Skate Rental.
Premium Activity Wristband - $18.00 Includes unlimited single-day access to rides and activities including Ice Skate Rental.

Click to the Winter Wonderfest homepage for more details.

Learn how to tip everyone on your list this holiday season.

For more information, click to: http://emilypost.com/everyday/holiday_tipping.

Part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration
January 21, 2008
Navy Pier in Chicago
10AM - 3PM
For more information, click to: http://www.psijobfair.com/.

www.charitywatch.org

1. Think about where your gift is needed most. While holiday-inspired gifts of toys to needy kids or food donations to the local food bank are definitely worthwhile donations, keep in mind that other charities, like your local women's shelter for example, may need contributions just for general operations like keeping the lights on or paying the rent for their facilities.

2. Make educated giving decisions, not emotional ones. Most of us are familiar with the solicitations letters we receive in the mail from charities that include sad photos of hungry kids or abused animals, and desperate pleas for money. What many people don't realize is that often times these direct mail or telemarketing solicitations come from a for-profit professional fundraiser hired by the charity to raise funds. On average, only about one-third of what you give through a professional fundraiser will ever reach the charity. The ability of a charity or professional fundraiser to include sad photos or statistics in their solicitations tells you nothing about how efficiently the charity will use your donation.

3. Resist the urge to drop cash or coins into a collection bucket. When you hand over cash to someone soliciting for charity, you have absolutely no way to track your donation to make sure it reaches the intended recipient. The charity has no way to track it either. If you believe the charity soliciting is deserving of your support, pass up the collection bucket and go home and write a check to the group, or go to their secure web site and make a credit card donation. It is especially important to get a receipt of your donation if you plan on taking a year-end tax deduction.

4. Don't take the claims of charities at face value. Many donors don't realize that charities can count huge portions of their telephone or mail solicitation expenses as a charitable program, claiming that their telemarketing call is "educating" you. When people look at charity web sites and see statistics like "90% of your donation goes directly to programs," many donors don't realize that much of this figure may include fundraising activities that include an educational component. These are called joint costs. Never rely on a statistic given to you by a charity without knowing and understanding what is included in the figure.

SMOKERS IN THE CHICAGOLAND AREA CAN GET HELP KICKING THE HABIT FOR THE NEW YEAR.
THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN SKOKIE HAS A FREE NICOTINE ADDICTION SEMINAR TONIGHT.
THAT'S JUST IN TIME FOR THE JANUARY FIRST WHEN A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE STARTING THEIR NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS AND WHEN *THE SMOKE-FREE ILLINOIS ACT* GOES INTO EFFECT.
IT'S A STATEWIDE BAN ON SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES, INCLUDING BARS AND RESTAURANTS.
THE SEMINAR IS FROM 7 TO 9 AT SKOKIE VILLAGE HALL.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 847-933-8252

If you plan on going camping in 2008, you'll be able to reserve a campsite soon.
Illinois campsites, cabins and picnic shelters will be available for reservations on january second.
A daily lottery is conducted for mail-in reservations.
if you plan to do it in person or over the phone, february first is the start date.
Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis and can only be made for a maximum of 14 days per 30-day period.

Fore more info go to www.dnr.stateil.us

Giannoulias: Redeem expired gift cards
New gift card law protects consumers
Thursday, December 27, 2007

Illinois residents who received gift cards this holiday season may be able to redeem them for cash even if the gift cards expire, Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias said today.
The Treasurer's Office is holding more than $5 million in unused gift card balances for Illinois residents.

Giannoulias' announcement comes after a record year in gift card sales and in advance of a new law which aims to make gift cards more consumer-friendly. As of Jan. 1, gift cards must not expire for five years after issuance and cannot charge fees which diminish their value.
"In Illinois, gift cards never stop giving," Giannoulias said. "Even when gift cards expire, consumers can recover their money from the state."

Owners of expired gift cards can search for their refunds on the state's unclaimed property database at www.cashdash.net or call (866) 458-7327. Even if a name isn't listed, the state may still have a person's unused balance.

Most gift card retailers do not record the name or contact information for the purchaser or recipient. The unredeemed balances come to the state marked as "owner unknown." In such cases, the purchaser or recipient must file a claim with the Treasurer's Office using the serial number on the expired gift card.

Unfortunately not all retailers who do business in Illinois send unclaimed gift card balances to the Treasurer. Unused gift card balances are sometimes remitted to the state where the retailer is incorporated. That's one reason why the new gift card law is a win for Illinois consumers, said state Rep. Jack Franks of Woodstock who sponsored the legislation.
"Our goal was to put an end to the gift that keeps on taking," Franks said. "That money needs to stay in the pockets of consumers."

An estimated $8 billion in gift cards went unused in the U.S. in 2006, according to TowerGroup, a research firm in Needham, Mass.
Similarly, a recent Consumer Reports National Research Center survey found that 27 percent of adults who received gift cards during the 2006 holiday season had not used one or more of them nearly a year later. That is an increase from 2005, when 19 percent of consumers had one or more unused gift cards.

Over one-third of those respondents said they didn't use the cards because they either forgot about them, lost them, or the cards had expired, according to Consumer Reports. More often, people said they didn't have time to shop or couldn't find anything to buy.
Still, gift cards remain wildly popular. TowerGroup projects gift-card sales will top $100 billion in 2008, compared with estimates of $80 billion in 2006.

"Gift cards are king. Illinois laws make them all the more appealing to time-pressed shoppers," said Lynda DeLaforge, co-director of Citizen Action Illinois.
The Consumer Reports survey found that 62 percent of consumers planned to give gift cards in 2007. They were the most-wanted gift among women and ranked third with men.
"When it comes to gift cards, it is buyer beware," said Jack Gillis of the Consumer Federation of America. "Illinois consumers can be thankful for a new law that protects their pocketbooks when it comes to gift cards. Banning fees and insuring that gift cards are good for at least five years will go a long way to insuring that these cards really are gifts and not overpriced sales gimmicks."

For the latest flight information go to
www.flychicago.com