Newport joins effort to find homes for...

Newport joins effort to find homes for pets

The Newport Beach Animal Shelter in Costa Mesa has joined

Petfinder.com, an online database of homeless pets.

More than 6,000 animal welfare organizations nationwide and in

Canada post their pets on the website. The site features pets’ photos

and descriptions. Once visitors to the website find the pet they are

interested in, they contact directly the shelter where it is housed.

Neighbors will collaborate to clean

The city of Costa Mesa, the Orange County Fairgrounds and the

Volunteer Center of Orange County have collaborated to organize the

Neighbors for Neighbors Community and Canyon Park Cleanup, scheduled

for April 24.

Neighbors for Neighbors was created by the city to help low-income

residents beautify their homes and clean up their communities. Those

interested in contributing painting supplies, food or other donations

are asked to call the Neighbors for Neighbors hotline at (714)

754-4892.

Take out your trash on President’s Day

City workers will collect trash on President’s Day, Feb. 16.

There will be no change in the trash pickup schedule for that

week, but there will be no street sweeping. For further information,

call the General Services Department from Monday through Friday

between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at (949) 644-3055.

DMV checks should be in the mail soon

Motorists waiting for money back from their vehicle license fees

might want to check the mail next week.

Refund checks could go out as soon as Friday, according to a press

release from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office. The California

Department of Motor Vehicles transferred refund data to the state

controller’s office on Tuesday morning.

Schwarzenegger repealed the increased fees in his first act as

governor. People whose vehicle registrations came due and who paid

the higher amount will receive the refund checks.

By the time the last refund checks are cashed, Schwarzenegger’s

office reported, the state will have returned an estimated $600

million to approximately 4.7 million Californians.

IRS making it easier to file return for free

The Internal Revenue Service has announced improvements to its

Free File program, a free online service for federal income tax

preparation and filing that began last year.

The program was designed to increase the number of electronic tax

return filings and help taxpayers file tax returns, which can be

confusing and time-consuming. With Free File, taxpayers can view the

offerings of 16 companies to see which services they qualify for.

Improvements this year include clearer instructions about each

company’s services and offerings, guaranteed accuracy of tax

calculations, and free printing of the completed tax return.

2.8 million taxpayers used Free File in 2003, the IRS said. More

information on the program is available at https://www.IRS.gov.