George Hirko

THE IMPACT OF BAD CREDIT

2010-02-01T04:27:00Z

Impact of Bad Credit

While it’s well known that a lower credit score will affect your mortgage rate, and even your ability to obtain a mortgage, it is not always clear what other impacts there are. For example, car buying becomes more expensive; the lower your score, the higher your interest rate. Same holds true for credit cards, for home equity lines of credit and loans, furniture and appliance purchases, and so on.

What is often less known is that bad credit can prevent someone from obtaining a job.The rationale may not be self evident, but it likely has to do with bad credit habits reflecting poorly on your ability to succeed in the workplace. This may not be the case at all, since bad credit can be caused by many things, but it can be used to deny employment.

Insurance is another area where bad credit has a major impact; a low score can affect your home and auto premiums in a big way. The logic seems to be that someone who neglects to pay his bills may also neglect to replace the squeaky brakes, or repair the sodden drywall, and claims will be higher. Numerous studies have shown that people with lower credit scores file more claims, so insurers feel justified in using this as a criterion.

Neglecting your credit can be costly, and the sooner you get it back on track, the sooner you’ll begin saving really big money. If you don’t know your score, find out, and begin fixing those items costing you money. Remember, a $80.00 collection for mobile phone service or fitness club membership can cost you many times that in foregone good interest rates and terms.

Early History of the Phoenix Area Part I

2010-01-08T00:45:00Z

History of the Phoenix Area-Early years

In a desert, there is little more precious than water. The early inhabitants of the area, the

Hohokam , were keenly aware of what an asset they had with the Salt River. At that time,

without dams, the river flowed freely, although flow was heavier in the spring.

The river, a tributary of the Gila River, which starts in New Mexico, and eventually

winds up at the Colorado River near Yuma., benefits from one of the largest watersheds

in the country (watershed is the area from which a river draws its water,collecting snow

and rain which drains to the river).

The Hohokam used the Salt River to supply numerous canals they built to irrigate their

crops,eventually totaling 135 miles of waterway. They grew mostly maize(corn), beans,

squash, cotton, and tobacco. Evidence of this can be seen at the Pueblo Grande Ruins in

downtown Phoenix..Although the Hohokam lived in the Valley of the Sun for 7 centuries,

they disappeared around 1400, possibly because of a lengthy drought. The name “Ho Ho

Kam” means “the people who have gone” in the O’odham language.

The Salt River would be the focal point of modern development in the area, which will be

discussed in the next segment.

History of the Phoenix Area Part V

2010-01-08T00:32:00Z

History of the Phoenix Area-Part V

The city of Phoenix had now been around for just over 20 years.In 1890, the Arizona

Republic was established as a daily paper.1891 marked the greatest flood in the Valley

known to that time; none of the upriver reservoirs had been constructed yet, so nothing

was there to control the flow when large amounts of water entered the Salt and Gila

Rivers.

1893 saw the replacement of horse drawn streetcars by electric ones; these streetcars

were a prominent feature of downtown until 1948. Phoenix was connected to northern

Arizona via the Santa Fe, Prescott, and Phoenix Railroad in 1895;now travelers and

goods had another way to connect to destinations in the East and West. This no doubt

helped to solidify Phoenix’s economic pre-eminence in Arizona. The Phoenix Union

High School was also established in 1895, and enrolled its first class.

In 1897, a group of ladies known as the Friday Club began work on setting up a public

library system, and the Phoenix Library Association was established in 1899, the

forerunner of what we have today. The Phoenix Country Club and Women’s Club were

founded in 1900.

A permanent home for the state Capitol was created when a 10 acre parcel was donated at

the west end of Washington Street. The new Capitol was inaugurated in February

1901.The population had reached just over 5500!

History of the Phoenix Area Part IV

2010-01-08T00:26:00Z

History of the Phoenix Area-Part IV

In 1878, the National Bank was established, to provide a safe place for money being

earned in the area. The Salt River Valley Herald, which had been established several

years earlier, changed its name to Phoenix Herald in 1880, and became a semi

weekly.This year also saw Phoenix’s first legal hanging. The town now had an ice

factory, and the Holsum Bakery opened its doors in 1881.

In 1881 the Phoenix Charter Bill was passed by the 11th Territorial legislature,to

establish a mayor-town council form of government. Governor John Fremont signed it

into law the same year. That year also saw the creation of the official city seal, with a

phoenix rising in the center.

One of the first electric plants in the West was established in Phoenix in the 1880’s,with

its steam boilers fired by mesquite wood. The coming of the railroad in 1887 was a

major economic event of the time, with the Southern Pacific train arriving for the first

time on July 4th. Goods no longer had to be moved by wagon. Phoenix became a trading

center, with local goods moving easily east and west. 1887 also saw the first two miles of

horse drawn streetcar, on Washington Street. The streetcars would eventually cover the

Phoenix area, going as far as Glendale.

Due to the increased pace of trade, the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce was established

in 1888. City offices were moved into the new city hall, where the central bus depot

stands today.One year later, in 1889, the territorial government moved from Prescott to

Phoenix, and things really started to happen.

The first Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T17:52:00Z

When the Pilgrims sat down with the Wampanoag Indians in 1621, the affair lasted for a number of days, and the menu was decidedly different. The Pilgrims had much to be thankful for, and they would likely not have survived their first winter without the help of the Wampanoag.They had arrived in Plymouth only 10 months earlier, and barely had shelter and storage spaces up.

Duck was one of the main courses, as wildfowl was plentiful. Venison was provided by the Wampanoag.Then there was samp, a cornmeal based porridge.Only one written account has survived, and domesticated turkey,mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce are not mentioned, and were probably not on the menu(mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce had not yet been invented).We can, however, assume that they did have seafood(clams, cod, eel, lobster), corn, squash, onions,carrots,pumpkin,radishes, and cabbage(Squanto, a Wampanoag, had taught the Pilgrims how to grow native crops).There would probably have been seal,swan, crane,wild turkey, and eagle, and assorted fruits and nuts. All in all, a very different meal.

The party lasted a week, and the Wampanoag were guest for at least 3 days.The eating took place indoors and out, and sometimes the hosts and guests dined together, sometimes separately. Games were played, and contests were held, such as target shooting. As both cultures celebrated a form of harvest festival, the event was a coming together of very different groups to enjoy good food and good company, and count blessings.

In that sense, not all that much has changed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Phoenix History-The Early Years, Part III

2009-10-31T04:21:00Z

By 1870, Phoenix had been named. An exact townsite needed to be selected, and the town had to be administered. Thus was the Salt River Valley Town Association formed, and an area 1 mile long and 1/2 mile wide was designated the townsite. It ran from Jackson Street north to Van Buren, and 7th Street to 7th Avenue; the intersection of Washington Street and Central Avenue (originally Center Street ) was considered the center. The townsite is mostly the present day downtown business area.

The territorial legislature created Maricopa County in 1871, by dividing Yavapai County.The first church and store were also established in that year.The first elected sheriff, Tom Barnum ran unopposed, also in 1871; his two opponents had a shootout, which killed one, and lead the other to withdraw his name.

1872 saw the first school, and 1874 the first telegraph line, which was operated by Morris Goldwater from his father's downtown store. By 1875, Phoenix was home to 16 saloons, and 4 dance halls, plus a couple of gambling establishments, mostly along " Whiskey Row" (north side of Washington Street )-not bad, for a town not yet 10 years old!

Phoenix History-The Early Years, Part II

2009-10-31T04:11:00Z

Phoenix was founded in 1867, when a man named Jack Swilling came to the area from Wickenburg. Swilling, an adventurer, gold prospector, and member of the "Gila Rangers" militia, saw the potential for agriculture in the abandoned Ho Ho Kam irrigation canals in the Salt River Valley.Many people had commented on the canals before, but Jack was the first to do something about it. He had formed the Swilling Irrigating and Canal Company in Wickenburg, and he and a small party of men moved to the valley to create an up to date system of canals. Within a year, the first crops of wheat, barley, and corn appeared, and this small farming community was started. There were mining camps nearby, and Fort McDowell(built in 1865 as an outpost to combat the Apache from the nearby mountains) , but no permanent town existed prior to this.

Crops thrived, trade was established with Fort McDowell and the mining camps, and the town grew; by 1870, there were 235 citizens. It was time to have a name. The names Pumpkinville and Stonewall were proposed, but the assemblage chose Phoenix as the new name. Proposed by a Cambridge educated Englishman named Darrell Duppa, Phoenix was the mythical bird of Egypt which flew into its funeral pyre every millennium, only to reemerge, reinvigorated for another 1000 years..Duppa had originally come to the area with his friend Jack Swilling, and stayed until his death in 1892, naming the towns of Tempe and New River as well.

This was the beginning of one of the major metropolitan areas in the country…

History of the Phoenix area-the early years

2009-07-28T23:18:00Z

In a desert, there is little more precious than water. The early inhabitants of the area, the Hohokam , were keenly aware of what an asset they had with the Salt River. At that time, without dams, the river flowed freely, although flow was heavier in the spring.

The river, a tributary of the Gila River, which starts in New Mexico, and eventually winds up at the Colorado River near Yuma., benefits from one of the largest watersheds in the country (watershed is the area from which a river draws its water,collecting snow and rain which drains to the river).

The Hohokam used the Salt River to supply numerous canals they built to irrigate their crops,eventually totaling 135 miles of waterway. They grew mostly maize(corn), beans, squash, cotton, and tobacco. Evidence of this can be seen at the Pueblo Grande Ruins in downtown Phoenix..Although the Hohokam lived in the Valley of the Sun for 7 centuries, they disappeared around 1400, possibly because of a lengthy drought. The name “Ho Ho Kam” means “the people who have gone” in the O’odham language.

The Salt River would be the focal point of modern development in the area, which will be discussed in the next segment.