Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009

Coastal Business | South Carolina 2nd unemployment check a mistake

Coastal Business

South Carolina 2nd unemployment check a mistake

An extra unemployment check is yet again in the mail for some South Carolina residents.

A programming error caused the state Employment Security Commission to send out about 150 duplicate unemployment checks.

Officials say the checks went out last week. Anyone who gets two unemployment checks with the same date should cash one and return the other to their local unemployment office.

The commission says anyone who cashes the duplicates as well as the original checks will be responsible for reimbursing the extra money.

It's the second time this has happened in several months. In July, the Employment Security Commission said it sent two unemployment checks to about 1,250 people out of work.

North carolina

Audit: Funeral board lost notes

An audit says the state board that licenses North Carolina funeral home directors and embalmers failed to maintain properly the minutes from the board's closed sessions.

State Auditor Beth Wood's office said Tuesday the state Board of Funeral Service acknowledged to auditors that formal minutes of the closed sessions had not been created in recent years. Board staff members also couldn't locate the notes from those meetings.

North Carolina law requires a public body to keep a "general account" of a closed session.

North carolina

Officials warn against scams

North Carolina's secretary of state is participating in a statewide campaign to help senior citizens avoid investment scams.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and other financial officials spoke at the "Ask and Check" investment education forum Tuesday. . The event is meant to educate seniors about securities fraud that targets older investors.

North Carolina

Dell Inc. pays back incentives in N.C.

Dell Inc. is getting a discount for quick repayment of more than $26 million in local incentives that went for naught when the company decided to close its North Carolina computer assembly plant.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported Tuesday that city and county officials agreed to allow Dell a $66,000 discount for paying the money back this week. A Dell spokesman confirmed the timing.

The money had been due by the end of January.

Dell announced last month it was closing its four-year-old desktop computer assembly plant by the end of January. More than 900 workers will lose their jobs.

The computer company was offered more than $300 million in state and local incentives in 2004.