Alva Review-Courier -

When Scott Pruitt was given the job of EPA director, I was in shock because he never has had a clue past remembering to breathe in and breathe out. On the other hand, it upped the IQ in two places when he left Oklahoma for Washington, DC. Now I see where he is out of the EPA. Quick, Trump, make him the ambassador to China or tell him Oklahoma disappeared and he needs to go somewhere else.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July. Dad, Jack, Cleo and I went to the Kansas Star and the Osage at Ponca City. Half of Kansas seemed to be at the Kansas Star. The buffet was nearly half price so that was good. Justin and Jaylyn went down to Joel's house and didn't get home until 2 o'clock. Athaiah, the short Scribner made it through the day with no burnt fingers. I did see two complete idiots having a roman candle war on Facebook, which to me is nearly as safe as playing Russian roulette with a loaded gun. Imagine my surprise when I look to see who they are and it is my brother Jack's son-in-law and granddaughter. I guess I really don't care if Jeremy takes a direct hit, because no brain, no pain, but his daughter is a nice girl and could have a future.

I received a call from a "Check and Go" a week ago last Thursday about a check a lady I barely knew was trying to cash for $650 for metals. I knew I hadn't written it so they wrote void on the check and that was that. WRONG! I had not been able to get to my online banking for a while, so Friday I went to correct that. The man helping me checked my account and found a $550 check waiting for payment that had my phone number altered and not my signature. I went home and over the weekend found two more for $500 not written by me. Monday morning at the bank we had two more written on bogus checks with my account number on them. The two checks totaled over $9,000, and by now my name wasn't even on the checks. The man at the bank spent three hours getting the checks marked as fraud and sent back. It took me years to remember my account number and now I have to try to remember a new one. Curse you fraudulent check writers. I also had to fill out a police report so maybe they can catch these lowlifes.

Tuesday, I got another call from a Check and Go and the man told me he had a lady wanting to cash a check on me. When I told him her name, he said sure enough it was her. He had the check and her ID and his next stop was going to be law enforcement over there. I think that the first check was taken from my bank bag, but once they have your numbers you will be had. You need to check your bank statements every month and every check. You have about a two-month window to straighten the fraud out. Be diligent because if it happened to a sweet guy like me, you could be next. Thanks to the people at BancCentral for making this go away.

Parents, please check with local churches for vacation Bible school dates. I know Town and Country's Bible School is coming up, and I think the Bible Baptist is in August. The other churches around I am not sure about. Send your young people to more than one. They will have a great time, learn about Jesus, see their friends, and be out of your hair for a bit.