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Your good health: Fourth of July Fireworks

With the COVID-19 pandemic changing the landscape of everyday life, fireworks shows have become another of the cancelations in what has become the “new normal.” With many community fireworks shows postponed or canceled, sales of fireworks to consumers have dramatically risen over the last few months as people are still looking to celebrate Independence Day with something that goes BOOM!

With more “backyard” fireworks shows taking place, the more risk there is for potential injury and the more reason there is to take extra precaution in being safe. According to the US Consumer Products Safety Commission, Fireworks accounted for an average of 7.1 deaths per year from 2001 to 2016. In 2017 over 12,000 people were injured badly enough to require medical treatment after fireworks-related incidents. Of those injuries, 50% were to children and young adults under the age of 20.

While the majority of these incidents were due to amateurs attempting to use professional-grade, homemade or other illegal fireworks or explosives, an estimated 1,200 injuries were from less powerful devices like small firecrackers and sparklers. Fireworks also start an average of 18,500 fires each year including 1,300 structural fires and 300 vehicle fires.

The National Safety Council has a list of tips to help to keep fireworks usage safe and to prevent injuries: 

• Never allow young children to handle fireworks
• Older children should use them only under close adult supervision
• Never use fireworks while impaired by drugs or alcohol
• Anyone using fireworks or standing nearby should wear protective eyewear
• Never hold lighted fireworks in your hands
• Never light them indoors
• Only use them away from people, houses and flammable material
• Never point or throw fireworks at another person
• Only light one device at a time and maintain a safe distance after lighting
• Never ignite devices in a container
• Do not try to re-light or handle malfunctioning fireworks
• Soak both spent and unused fireworks in water for a few hours before discarding
• Keep a bucket of water nearby to fully extinguish fireworks that don’t go off or in case of fire
• Never use illegal fireworks

Sparklers burn at about 2,000 degrees – hot enough to melt some metals. Sparklers can quickly ignite clothing, and children have received severe burns from dropping sparklers on their feet. According to the National Fire Protection Association, sparklers alone account for more than 25% of emergency room visits for fireworks injuries. For children under 5 years of age, sparklers accounted for nearly half of the total estimated injuries.

TIPS FROM TOGETHER CREDIT UNION:
Six Big Questions Answered for First Time Home Buyers

Questions about what it means to purchase a home for the first time?  Not sure what “being in escrow” means? Here are six big questions most homebuyers have when beginning the homeownership process:

1. What does my mortgage cover?
Mortgage payments typically cover:
-Principal and interest
-Taxes
-Insurance

2.  What is escrow?
Escrow, in the real estate world, is used when speaking on behalf of the sale and purchase of a home. It means you’re using a neutral, third party to ensure that everybody sticks to their end of the home buying/selling process. An escrow company will usually provide this service.

3. How much house can I afford?
Affordability is a large concern for most first-time homebuyers. Consider a few items, such as your debt-to-income ratio, annual income, down payment, and talk to your credit union about pre-qualification.
Use our easy home purchase calculators to find how much home you can afford.

4. What are the unexpected costs associated with the purchase?
Closing costs.
On average, closing costs can range from 2-5% of the home’s purchase price. Closing costs are calculated after you apply for the mortgage and can cover:
-Loan origination fees
-Home and pest inspections
-Appraisal of the home
-First payment of property taxes and mortgage insurance
-Title insurance
-Recording/Underwriting fees

5. How do I know my investment in home-buying is worth it?
There’s a lot to consider when purchasing a home, but location and price are the two most desired on the “Dream Home” checklist. After finding the perfect location and knowing your price range, make sure to bring a home inspection checklist with you to ensure the investment is worth it.

A few highlights of a home inspection checklist should include:

–Roof/Attic. Check for missing shingles on the roof, signs of leaks, when the roof was last repaired or replaced.
–Foundation. Make note of any visible cracks on the foundation and if there are any trees near it that may cause future foundation concerns.
–Appliances. Ask about the age of any included home appliances and investigate any potential leaks near each appliance.
–Previous damage. Ask about the history of the home with consideration to any previous fires, ventilation or heat/AC issues, and if there are any problems with the plumbing or electric.

6. What are my rights as a buyer?
Home buyers have certain rights as defined by state and federal laws. To learn more about home buyer’s rights in your state, consult a real estate attorney.

Don’t be afraid of the home buying process! Get more information on first-time home-buying in our Home Buying page.

Ready to shop for a new home? Just thinking about it?
Check out the HomeAdvantage program we’ve partnered with to help searching for a home and a great Realtor©.

Questions about the homeownership process?  We’ve got your back. Contact one of our mortgage loan officers or reach Teresa Evans, branch manager at our Columbus location at tevans@togethercu.org or 1-614-888-2299.

IT Support:

• Your IT Department is here for you!!! During business hours support is available by sending an email to Support@HeidelbergDistributing.com, opening a ticket in Service Now or by calling 1-844-HDL-BERG (435-2374). For after hours critical support, please call 1-844-HDL-BERG (435-2374).

 Single Database

• Integration of the Ohio Valley and Cincinnati database into the single database environment in August.
• Currently are normalizing live data in the Ohio Valley and Cincinnati databases to match that of live single database.

Training Videos:

• Recently you received in your email a training video produced by your IT Team explaining the differences of OneDrive and SharePoint and Cybersecurity. Keep an eye out for more videos on Service Now and VIP Sales Application.

Driver iPads:

• Supplying the drivers with iPads that contain their routes. This gives the driver the ability to reconcile invoices as they deliver each stop and will be able to print a completed invoice to the account.
• Currently implementing at Ohio Valley and Cincinnati.

 Asset Refresh:

• Utilizing asset lifecycle management to systematically drive efficiency through performance, flexibility, and cost management we are currently updating assets at Lorain and Cleveland.

 Easy Ops / Easy Pick:

• A new browser-based VIP tool to perform daily warehouse tasks with a UPC scan-to-print system.
• Currently being tested in Columbus.

Heidelberg Applications:

• Heidelberg generated applications that are being developed to help the performance of the Supply Chain and Pricing Teams.
• Pricing Application
• New Item Set up
• New Supplier Set up
• Freight Calculator
• Chain Forecasting
• Sample Billbacks
• Chain Authorization

Monthly Tip & Trick:
Get alerts on item changes in SharePoint Online

You can get an alert whenever a file, link, or folder is changed in a SharePoint Online document library. Depending on the item (file, folder, link), you may see different options when you set an alert.

1. Go to the list or library.
2. Select the file, link, or folder for which you want to get an alert.
3. Select the ellipses (…) from the list of options for the list or library, and then select Alert Me.
   
4. In the Alert me when items change dialog, select and change the options you want.
   
5. Select OK to save.

Get alerts on all changes in a document library in SharePoint Online

1. Go to the list or library and make sure no items are selected.
2. Select the ellipses (…) from the list of options for the list or library and then select Alert Me.
3. In the Alert me when items change dialog, change or fill in the options you want.
4. Select OK.

Cancel alerts in SharePoint Online

1. To view your alerts from a page on the site, select the ellipsis (…) from the list of options for the list or library, and then select Manage My Alerts.
   
2. Select the alert that you want to delete.
3. Select Delete Selected Alerts.
   
   
4. Select OK to delete.