Candy-Coated Popcorn, Peanuts And - Whoa! Quite A Sur-Prize

Dec 6, 1998

Shelby Gilje

Seattle Times Staff Columnist

Sometimes you need to update your style, your life, your Rolodex, or maybe your jewelry box. If you're in the last category, buy a box of Cracker Jack. Yes, you read correctly: Cracker Jack.

Sixteen lucky buyers of the caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts will receive something special: certificates for collector's jewelry designed by Neiman Marcus.

For these consumers, Cracker Jack will replace the special certificates with eight 18-karat gold rings with a ruby, emerald or sapphire stone, valued at $950 each. Except for the stones, these rings are identical to Cracker Jack's original adjustable toy rings. Other prizes will be eight pairs of gilded silver-and-enamel cuff links shaped like the traditional Cracker Jack box, valued at $400 per pair.

If you don't win the Cracker Jack prizes, you can always pay full price and buy from the N-M Christmas book. If it's your Rolodex that needs updating, read on.

Contacting contractors

Need to check out a contractor before you hire someone to remodel or repair your home? Remember those busy signals on the state's 800 line you call for information on registered contractors?

Now you've got a choice. You can dial 800-647-0982 for information, or visit the state Department of Labor and Industry's Web site at http://www.wa.gov/LNI/contractors. Type in the contractor's name or the name of the business to obtain information.

A word of caution about the current Web site: If you don't know the contractor's full name including middle initial, the system may respond "not found." Try again using only the individual's last name. If you still can't find the person you seek, call 800-647-0982.

Numbers such as "1" or "2" off to the side of a name refer to the number of owners of a business.

Consider it a red flag if the notice below is attached to a business name on the Web site:

"Please call 800-647-0982 to find out summons and complaints available for license selected."

That notice alone doesn't mean you should avoid hiring the contractor, but it does mean you should call the state Department of Labor and Industries for more details. Perhaps the contractor had legal problems and has resolved them. At any rate, you'll want to know.

You also may want to get a copy of a free brochure, "Home Sweet Home . . . Improvement," from the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20580, or phone 202-382-4357 and leave your name and address. The brochure also is on the Web site http://www.ftc.gov

Deadbeat parents

A couple of months ago the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services said it would post on its Web site, sometime this month, the names and pictures of "deadbeat parents" who owe more than $10,000 in child support to custodial parents in this state.

Additionally, DSHS said its information likely would be posted on a national Web site begun by New Hampshire called "Most-Wanted Non-Supporting Parents." It's at http://www.state.nh.us/dhhs/dhs/nhchildsupport/csmwusmap.htm

But now DSHS says look for Washington's Web site on "most wanted parents" to begin operating in late January. No Web site address has been announced. DSHS has been conducting community meetings to discuss various aspects of the site, including the posting of pictures.