Thursday
December 26, 2013
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ISU men’s basketball team moves to 11-0 SPORTS, page 7A
Healthy New You!
Join Our New Year’s Revolution! Do you want to create health in 2014? Would you like to lose weight and/or are you suffering from Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, or High Cholesterol? If you answered “Yes”, we invite you to an informational meeting presented by Certified Independent Health Coaches Lauri Greenlee, Sherry Lindberg, Lisa Skahill and Cindy Taylor.
Monday, December 30 • 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm Corning Opera House • 800 Davis Ave., Corning, Iowa
ISSB customers affected by Target security breach On Dec. 19, the discount merchant Target acknowledged thieves had stolen data connected to about 40 million credit and debit card accounts as part of a breach that began over the Thanksgiving weekend. Security experts recommend consumers whose cards were swiped at Target sales terminals between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 monitor the account they used on a daily basis and wait until they are contacted by their card issuer regarding risk mitigation. Iowa State Savings Bank issues both debit and credit cards. ISSB CEO Karl Knock said some
customers with the bank’s debit and credit cards shopped at Target during the breach and had their information stolen. He said the local Knock bank is reissuing customers’ cards and notifying customers as it identifies cards with breached information. “We consider this a serious breach,” Knock said. “The card networks have advised us which of our customers’ cards were affected and we have communicated with
these customers, and are replacing their cards.” According to Target, the breach does not affect people who bought goods through the Target online store. Target and data security experts have said the stolen data includes customer names, card numbers, card expiration dates, the embedded code in the cards’ magnetic strips and the three-digit security numbers printed on the back of the card. Customer personal identification numbers or “PIN” numbers were not part of the breached data. ISSB’s Knock said the fact that
PIN numbers were not breached reduces the threat of affected cards being used for transactions at ATMs or in cash-back merchant transactions, which require PINs. ISSB’s Compliance Officer Theresa Huck said it is important for people with credit and Huck debit cards to review their account statements in a timely manner to identify any charges they may not have authorized.
Pastor promotes arguments for immigration overhaul SPARTANBURG, S.C. (MCT) — The Rev. Jim Goodroe was driving down Interstate 85 toward Atlanta one morning when, as sometimes happened in the quiet of a long trip, he sensed God’s presence. Goodroe had been pondering a problem. He was trying to help a colleague find a South Carolina pastor to record a radio ad to promote biblical arguments for overhauling the nation’s immigration laws. The commercial would run statewide as part of a national campaign by the Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition of religious leaders, to persuade conservative Christians, particularly Republicans, to back a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. Goodroe, the missions director for a network of Southern Baptist churches, had pastors in mind. But in this buckle of the Bible Belt, where religion and politics intertwine, it was a very big request. One pastor had already declined. A moment of clarity stirred inside him. “The Lord seemed to say, ‘Why don’t you do that spot? You’re the most immigrantfriendly evangelical in South Carolina,’ ” Goodroe recalled. He pulled his 2002 Honda Civic into a rest stop and texted his colleague. “If you want me to do the spot, I’ll do it.” Religion guides Goodroe’s interest in changing the nation’s immigration laws. He cites the message in both the Old and New Testaments to welcome and comfort the “stranger.” Within days of agreeing to do so, Goodroe recorded the commercial, which began airing in the spring on Christian and conservative talk stations. “Christ calls evangelicals to compassion and justice,” he says in the ad, in a slow Southern cadence. “So please join a growing movement of Christians asking our political leaders for immigration solutions rooted in biblical values, which reflect each person’s Godgiven dignity, respect the rule
MCT photo by LISA MASCARO
“The more immigrants you meet, the more you realize: Immigration is a political issue, but immigrants are people,” said The Rev. Jim Goodroe of South Carolina. “Let’s begin by treating them as people.”
of law, protect family unity, guarantee secure borders, ensure fairness to taxpayers and establish a path toward citizenship.” The message was meant to appeal to the compassion of churchgoers. But it also tapped a well of distrust of President Barack Obama. “When I hear from critics, usually, early in the conversation, they’ll say, ‘I’m against Obama, and this helps Obama,’ ” Goodroe said. “I’m trying to win spiritual converts, not political converts,” he said. “As a Christian, I’m saying, we have to do what the Bible tells us to do — whether or not it advances our politics.” Goodroe understands the challenge he faces. “I got an email telling me to go to hell,” he said, flashing a quick smile.
——— Goodroe, 66, is a reliable Republican whose last brush with politics was when he was elected president of his fraternity at the University of Georgia. He grew up in the segregated South, married his college sweetheart and raised three sons. He had never met an “international,” as he calls immigrants, until he moved to South Carolina’s upcountry more than a decade ago. The state, the birthplace of the Civil War, was home not long ago mostly to families with deep Southern roots. Many worked in its textile mills and peach orchards. In the last decade, Latinos and other immigrants increasingly have arrived. Tiendas and taquerias now dot the landscape around Spartanburg. The newcomers delight
Goodroe. He greets the waiter at a Mexican restaurant in broken Spanish and shows off noodle houses bringing new vitality to downtown, where the tallest building, at 17 floors, is the world headquarters of Denny’s. Goodroe took the job at the Spartanburg County Baptist Network in 2000, drawn by the possibility of bringing immigrants to Christ. His own church trips abroad had taught him the limitations of overseas missionary work, and he wanted to try building God’s kingdom closer to home. He helped launch a multiethnic evangelical church, Kaleidoscope, as a way to welcome immigrants of all faiths — hoping they might one day accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Churches in his network, an umbrella for 100 Baptist congregations, expanded their ethnic ministries — Spanish, Cambodian — as intimate alternatives to mega-churches that he calls “cool churches for white people.” “I’m just interested in any internationals here, and trying to engage them,” he said. Up the highway from his office is a minimarket with a gas station out front, and behind the counter is the Hindu family that runs the place. Goodroe has made a habit of stopping in for his second cup of morning coffee to strike up a conversation with the owner. He started his relationship by asking if the family was from India and mentioned that he had visited. Over time, he invited the owner to lunch, and showed pictures from his trip. Later, the couples had dinner at Goodroe’s home. His wife, a retired schoolteacher, departed from her usual dishes and prepared a meatless meal with stir-fried vegetables. Eventually, he persuaded the husband to attend a Baptist service. Nothing has come of it yet, but the reverend doesn’t mind. “The more immigrants you meet, the more you realize:
“Federal legislation protects consumers from loss resulting from fraudulent use if they report the fraudulent transactions within 60 days of their statement being sent to them,” said Huck. “Consumers should watch for even very small transactions. Thieves may run very small charges through a very large number of cards, and once they’ve identified valid card information, they may keep dipping into the account. In addition, they can sell an account number they’ve verified Please see BREACH, Page 2
Retailers prepare for postChristmas discounts, gift returns LOS ANGELES (MCT) — Christmas is in the rearview mirror, but there’s still no rest for retailers expecting yet another day of intense crowds Thursday. The post-Noel mall scene this year won’t just be marked by the annual stream of returns from dissatisfied gift recipients— there also will be earlier opening hours and deeper discounts from stores hoping to clear their inventory and pad their revenue before the end of the year. Data company ShopperTrak predicts that the after-holiday crowds will be the fifth-largest of the year. Nearly 8 in 10 consumers surveyed for digital coupon marketplace RetailMeNot said they plan to shop year-end sales after the holidays. Brenda Herrington said she would be one of them. With her teenage son at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza near downtown Los Angeles two days before Christmas, the Crenshaw resident said she would return after the holiday to buy gifts for people with January birthdays and to stock up on discounted holiday decorations for next year. “We always come back for after-Christmas shopping because there’s better deals,” Herrington said. Shoppers have been stressed for months by high unemployment, the government stalemate and the shortest Thanksgivingto-Christmas season in a decade, analysts said. Wage gains have been minimal and most new jobs this year were created in low-paying industries such as food service. Health care bills are weighing on wallets. Purchases of small items have taken a hit as consumers gravitated toward big-ticket goods such as homes, electronics and autos. “There will be pent-up demand postChristmas—consumers have been really cautious with their spending going into the holiday,” said Michelle Bogan, a partner at consulting firm Kurt Salmon. “They’ll wait and see what gifts they received and then they’ll be tempted to go out and spend a bit on themselves.” Wal-Mart, which expects Thursday to be one of its busiest shopping days of the year, said it is offering 25 percent to 50 percent off on thousands of items.
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Contents
Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Deaths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Heloise Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Friday weather High 36 Low 27 Full weather report, 3A