To the Editor:
This is for information and further dissemination, as you'd like
Southern California law enforcement professionals assigned to detect new threats to personal security issues, recent-ly discovered what type of information is embedded in the credit card type hotel room keys used throughout the industry.
Although room keys differ from hotel to hotel, a key obtained from one well-known hotel chain that was being used for a regional Identity Theft Presentation was found to contain the following informa-tion:  the customer's name, home address, hotel room number, check-in and check-out date, credit card number, and expira-tion date.
When we turn these room "keys" in to the front desk, our personal information is there for any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel scanner.  An employee can take a handful of card keys home and, using a scanning device, access the information onto a lap-top computer, and go shopping at our expense.
Simply put, hotels do not erase these cards until an employee issues the card to the next hotel guest.  It is usually kept in a drawer at the front desk with our informa-tion on it!
The bottom line is, keep the cards or destroy them.  Never leave them behind, and never turn them in to the front desk when you check out of a room.  They will not charge you for the card.  This comes from the Pasadena Police Department.
Shakopee, Minnesota
Howard Wigfield

To the Editor:
Hi, Sue.  I am on my way to Hungary this Sunday.  Waterbrooke is sending a missions team to Hungary and we will be ministering to an orphanage in Miscolvc.  On Saturday we will be preparing an American Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings for 47 kids.  I'm so excited to be a part of the greater scope of God's kingdom work.  So I will not be able to be at the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service on November 26th.  I'll call you before I leave and maybe we can still hook up for a photo for your Christmas Gazette.
Pastor Maureen Bonner
Waterbrooke Fellowship
Victoria, Minnesota

To the Editor:
Waconia Birthright is having its an-nual Holiday Tour of Homes on Sunday, December 7th, from 1 to 5 p.m.  Tickets, which include a map of the participating homes, are available at Dueber's and Mackenthun's in Waconia.  You may also call me, Aldean Steinhagen, at 952-442-2769 for tickets or more information.
Relax and enjoy a leisurely Sunday afternoon in the community viewing the decorating at new and old homes.  Pro-ceeds from the tour help pregnant women who need assistance with counseling, maternity clothes, baby clothes, etc., in our area.
Thanks, Sue, for your continued sup-port of Birthright.  Enjoy the holiday season.  It's even more fun with grand-children.
Aldean Steinhagen
Waconia, Minnesota

To the Editor:
The Norwood Young America Fire Department would like to thank the hundreds of people who helped us out at a wildfire call recently.  Every fire depart-ment in Carver County responded to the call.  It took about four hours to gain com-fortable control of the fire.
Fire departments from the following communities responded to the fire:  Norwood Young America, Hamburg, Mayer, Cologne, Waconia, New Germany, Carver, Chaska, Chanhassen, Watertown, Victoria, Green Isle, and Plato.
Thank you also to the Carver County Risk/Emergency Management Depart-ment and 911 Dispatch Department, ambulance service from Ridgeview and Arlington, the Red Cross, McDonald's, Pizza Ranch, Lions Club, firefighters' spouses, and area farmers.
All together the fire spread to an esti-mated 300 to 400 acres encompassing a one-mile stretch of woods, marsh, and fields.  The majority of firefighters were at the scene until about 11 p.m.  At the original call, around 175 firefighters used approximately 70,000 gallons of water to suppress the wildfire.
We give a very special thank you to all of the above-mentioned people for their hard work and help at the October 20th fire in Norwood Young America.  We appreciated your help.
The NYA Fire Department
Norwood Young America, MN

To the Editor:
I read your stories about "North to Alaska" twice.  Great fun.  It brought back many memories of my trip and cruise, "Down Under," in February and March.
A sister took me as a guest on your sister ship, the Prinsendam, for 32 days.  It was a smaller ship with a 895-passenger capacity and crew of 500, many from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.  Very nice people
It was a 12-hour flight from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand.  Had a day and half to explore before boarding ship Saturday, February 8th.  The harbor was a busy sight with the many tall masts on the sailing ships and their "sailors" getting ready for the start of the World Cup Regatta the next day.
We had nine port calls in N.Z. and ten in Australia.  Two stops in Indonesia were cancelled because of the bombing in Bali and the anti-American feelings a few months before.
We took a "Slow Boat to Singapore," our final destination.  We docked one day earlier than scheduled, which gave us two and a half days to enjoy Singapore and its people.  We flew from Singapore to Tokyo, changed planes, and back to L.A.  It was a trip of a lifetime.
Lorraine Braunworth
Victoria, Minnesota

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