
Daylight Saving’s Time
At 2 a.m. on March 9, 2008, groggy Americans will turn
their clocks forward one hour, marking the beginning of Daylight
Saving Time. The federal law that established "daylight time" in the United States
does not require any area to observe daylight saving time. But if a state
chooses to observe Daylight Saving Time, it must follow the starting and ending
dates set by the law.
Under new law established in 2007, it is observed from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, adding about a month to daylight saving time. Until April 2005, when Indiana passed a law agreeing to observe daylight saving time, the Hoosier state had its own unique and complex time system. Not only is the state split between two time zones, but until recently, only some parts of the state observed daylight saving time while the majority did not.
Months after Indiana passed the law that got it in step with the rest of the country, the federal government announced a major change in Daylight Saving Time. In Aug. 2005, Congress passed an energy bill that included extending Daylight Saving Time by about a month. As of last year, Daylight Saving Time starts the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. More than one billion people in about 70 countries around the world observe Daylight Saving Time in some form. Set your clocks ahead one hour Sunday, March 9th.
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Daylight Saving Time Early this Year, Issues with Some Electronic Devices Updating
Although it’s more of a
nuisance than a catastrophe in the making, but older computers, PDAs and DVRs may not
automatically update their times when daylight-saving comes three weeks early
this year — on March 11. The date change was established by the federal
Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was passed to get Americans to cut energy
consumption. The thinking is that less energy will be used toward the end of
the day if the sun’s out later. For
years, most of the nation has set clocks ahead on the first Sunday of April. Few
computer experts think the new date will make a big difference. Consumers can
prepare for the change by using a rule of thumb: If a computer or device is a
bit older, it may not correct the time automatically. Any Microsoft operating
system older than Windows
XP may not recognize the new time change come March 11. For more information,
customers can visit http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst. Older personal digital assistants or digital video recorders, for
example, may not adjust and you might have to set those manually; you should
consult the manufacturers of their devices for instructions.
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American River Bankshares Releases Fourth Quarter Reports
American River Bankshares,
parent company of Bank of Amador, has reported diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of
2006 of $0.42, a 7.7% increase from $0.39 recorded in the third quarter of 2006
and a 2.3% decrease from $0.43 for the fourth quarter of 2005. Net
income for the fourth quarter of 2006 increased 5.8% to $2,407,000 from
$2,275,000 during the third quarter of 2006 and decreased 6.2% from $2,567,000
for the fourth quarter of 2005. "We are pleased to finish 2006 with solid
results," said David T. Taber, President and CEO of American River
Bankshares. "The last
two quarters have each been better than the previous and our key industry
metrics are very good." He added: "The economy is strong, but the rapid increase in
funding costs has made 2006 tough. As a Company, we believe that we're up to
the challenge of positioning ourselves as the premier business bank in the
communities we serve."
Taber states that "Shifting
our loan and deposit portfolio mix towards commercial loans and noninterest
bearing deposits remains an important goal," He continued "Quarter
over quarter, commercial loans are up 3%, noninterest-bearing deposits are up
4% and over the one year period, commercial loans increased 10%."
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