Halloween is here so we thought we would share some tips regarding treats, tricks and things that go bump in the night. These tips have been collected from the FDA Website and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

TIPS FOR PARENTS ABOUT TREATS

• Children shouldn’t snack while they’re out trick-or-treating. They should wait until they get home and parents have had a chance to inspect the goodies. To help prevent children from munching, give them a snack or light meal before they go–don’t send them out on an empty stomach.
• Tell children not to accept–and, especially, not to eat–anything that isn’t commercially wrapped.
• When children bring their treats home, discard any home-made candy or baked goods. Parents of young children should also remove any choking hazards such as gum, peanuts, hard candies or small toys.
• Inspect commercially wrapped treats for signs of tampering, such as an unusual appearance or discoloration, tiny pinholes, or tears in wrappers. Throw away anything that looks suspicious.
• If juice or cider is served to children at Halloween parties, make sure it is pasteurized or otherwise treated to destroy harmful bacteria. Juice or cider that has not been treated will say so on the label.

Warn children not to eat any treats before an adult has carefully examined them for evidence of tampering.

TIPS ABOUT MAKEUP

Decorating your face with face paint or other makeup lets you see better than you can if you’re wearing a mask. A mask can make it hard to see where you’re going and watch out for cars. But make sure your painted-on designs don’t cause problems of their own.

• Follow all directions carefully.
• Don’t decorate your face with things that aren’t intended for your skin. Like soap, some things are OK on your skin, but not in your eyes. Some face paint or other makeup may say on the label that it is not for use near the eyes. Believe this, even if the label has a picture of people wearing it near their eyes. Be careful to keep makeup from getting into your eyes.
• Even products intended for use near your eyes can sometimes irritate your skin if you use too much.
• If you’re decorating your skin with something you’ve never used before, you might try a dab of it on your arm for a couple of days to check for an allergic reaction BEFORE you put it on your face. This is an especially smart thing to do if you tend to have allergies.

Think about what you’re putting on your face. You might not want to put the same coloring on your skin that a car company uses in its paint.

Look at the label on the makeup itself. The FDA provides a list of all approved ingredients for cosmetics. If the ingredient is not on the list, don’t use it. Even if it is on the list, check to make sure that it is safe to use near your eyes. If it doesn’t hav e the FDA’s approval for use near your eyes, be sure and keep it away from them.

Don’t go to bed with your makeup on. Wearing it too long might irritate your skin, and bits of makeup can flake off or smear and get into your eyes, not to mention mess up your pillow and annoy your parents.

For more information on facial makeup and cosmetics, read the entire article here.

TIPS ON COSTUMES

Flame Resistant Costumes: When purchasing a costume, masks, beards, and wigs, look for the label Flame Resistant. Although this label does not mean these items won’t catch fire, it does indicate the items will resist burning and should extinguish quickly once removed from the ignition source. To minimize the risk of contact with candles or other sources of ignition, avoid costumes made with flimsy materials and outfits with big, baggy sleeves or billowing skirts.

Costume Designs: Purchase or make costumes that are light and bright enough to be clearly visible to motorists.

• For greater visibility during dusk and darkness, decorate or trim costumes with reflective tape that will glow in the beam of a car’s headlights. Bags or sacks should also be light colored or decorated with reflective tape. Reflective tape is usually available in hardware, bicycle, and sporting goods stores.
• To easily see and be seen, children should also carry flashlights.
  Costumes should be short enough to prevent children from tripping and falling.
  Children should wear well-fitting, sturdy shoes . Mother’ s high heels are not a good idea for safe walking.
• Hats and scarfs should be tied securely to prevent them from slipping over children’s eyes.
• Apply a natural mask of cosmetics rather than have a child wear a loose-fitting mask that might restrict breathing or obscure vision. If a mask is used, however, make sure it fits securely and has eyeholes large enough to allow full vision.
• Swords, knives, and similar costume accessories should be of soft and flexible material.

The FDA has issued a warning regarding Decorative Contact Lenses. These contact lenses, sometimes called Plano or non-corrective lenses, do not correct vision and are intended solely to change the appearance of the eye, but carry serious risks, including permanent eye injury that may lead to blindness. We strongly recommend you read this article before ever considering using these decorative contacts.

TIPS FOR CHOOSING SAFE HOUSES

Children should go only to homes where the residents are known and have outside lights on as a sign of welcome.

Children should not enter homes or apartments unless they are accompanied by an adult.

People expecting trick-or-treaters should remove anything that could be an obstacle from lawns, steps and porches.

Candlelit jack-o’-lanterns should be kept away from landings and doorsteps where costumes could brush against the flame.

Indoor jack-o’-lanterns should be kept away from curtains, decorations, and other furnishings that could be ignited.

Thank you for reading, and we hope that you all have a spectacular Halloween! Stay safe, and let’s not forget that there are a great deal of children out there on the roads this evening so lets take extra care, particularly when driving!

KSIB.NET Administration

GuardianHost Networks has an article posted about the latest trend in fake check scams we thought we would share. Their article also links to more in depth views.

With the holidays approaching, we can expect more activity from the scammers, so please have a look at these alerts and notifications from time to time and keep up to date on what the scumbags of the world are doing to bilk you out of your savings.

Read more here!

Julie P
KSIB.net

We apologize if you experienced problems with our website yesterday. GuardianHost Networks reported a power issue in one of their data centers that affected our website. They have since reported that all such issues have been resolved.

Thanks for reading and for your patience!

Read More!

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA senior managers Tuesday completed a detailed review of space shuttle Discovery’s readiness for flight and selected Oct. 23 as the official launch date. Commander Pam Melroy and her six crewmates are scheduled to lift off at 11:38 a.m. EDT on the STS-120 mission to the International Space Station.

The 14-day mission includes five spacewalks - four by shuttle crew members and one by the station’s Expedition 16 crew. Discovery is expected to complete its mission and return home at 4:47 a.m. EST on Nov. 6.

Read More!

LONGWOOD, Fla. - Police across Florida are getting together for four days of strict enforcement when it comes to aggressive driving.

Read more!

Let’s drive safe out there folks! Remember, Halloween is approaching which means tricks, treats and lots of children walking around on a search for candy goodness. Don’t chance running our little angels over because some driver cuts you off and you can’t contain yourself.

Thank you for reading!

KSIB

Just a short and sweet announcement to remind residents of St. Cloud to get to the polls and vote tomorrow!

St. Cloud Special Municipal Run-Off Election

October 9, 2007

Must be registered by August 20, 2007

If you need to contact the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections you may do so using the following contact information:

Email: osc_soe@osceola.org

Please be aware that per Florida Statute 119.011, E-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to the supervisor of elections. Instead, contact them at their office by phone or in writing.

Office Location
2509 E. Irlo Bronson Mem. Hwy
Kissimmee, FL 34744

Telephone: (407) 742-6000
TDD: 1-800-955-8771

If you need to find the place for you to cast your vote please Click Here.

First, we want to take this opportunity to thank our readership for hanging in there as we remodel and restructure the site. Your feedback has been crucial in our success, so please keep the comments and suggestions coming.

We have completed rebuilding the Local Information section where you can find useful links and websites having to do with the various communities here and the State of Florida too.

We have split The Voice into different categories to make it easier for you to find topics of interest. Although our registered users has increased over the last few weeks, we are still not getting many “contributors” to the blogs. We have moved the “Account Information” up on the right column and now it can be found directly under the calendar. From there you can login or register if you need to, and once logged in you can subscribe to receive email updates of new articles in the sections of your choice, as well as click the “Admin” link to post your own articles.

We have a beta site up for those of you who are using a monitor resolution greater then 800 X 600 and when we have that worked out, you might choose a higher resolution view.

We have world news and local and state news in the works and we will also be adding a community polling section as time permits.

Another task on the agenda is adding the Email This Post to a friend feature that Carl Cricket has hinted at.

We hope you enjoy KSIB.net and please let us know what else you would like to see.

- Marcus
Administration
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