I was such an idiot. A fortunate idiot, however, due to the fact that despite being blissfully unaware of how unguarded I have kept my personal information all these years, I am not yet a victim of identity theft.

We have all heard it before: shred your documents, don’t throw them away. Protect your social security number; don’t give out personal info to anyone you don’t know; don’t use obvious passwords; blah, blah, blah. Yet, for some reason none of this advice ever really alarmed me until I met Bristol County Deputy Sheriff Liisa Budge-Johnson.

Budge-Johnson is an expert at scams and identity theft, and she is a professional at scaring the pants off people into protecting their personal information. She goes from town to town, giving talks on the subject of ID theft and professional scamming and schooling people on the myriad ways they may have been leaving the proverbial door wide open for identity theft.

If nobody has been able to get through to you yet about the importance of deterring, detecting, and defending against scams and identity theft, then leave it to Budge-Johnson to get your attention.

Budge-Johnson gave an important presentation on October 2 at the Elizabeth Taber Library in Marion about the ways one could easily steal another’s identity, what we should not be doing, and what we should do instead. The main message was this: scams are not just for the elderly. People of all ages are vulnerable to scams and identity theft these days. Scam artists and identity thieves are getting better and better at what they do – more and more convincingly – and in this age of technology, personal information is easier and easier to get a hold of.

I didn’t, but did you know that any jerk could buy a device the size of a pack of gum that they could use to quickly swipe your credit card and store your credit information on a tiny drive to use for later? Think of the last time you gave a waiter your credit card at a restaurant or handed your card over to a bartender to open up a tab (Guilty). Just don’t do it, says Budge-Johnson.

“Never let your credit card out of your sight,” she said. “You don’t ever want to lose sight of it.” This tiny card scanner fits in the palm of the hand and only takes half a second to steal your credit card info.

What should you do then? That’s right – just use cash in these situations.

“Cash is king,” said Budge-Johnson.

And with that cash, you might buy a paper shredder while you’re at it.

A paper shredder, says Budge-Johnson, is the most important household appliance you should own. You might be surprised to know that throwing things away in your recycle bin that only have simple bits of information such as your name, address, which bank you use, or any other statements with seemingly unimportant info can easily be gathered and pieced together like a puzzle to reveal who you are (Guilty).

And the social security documents, IRS and tax information, and Medicare bills stored unsecured around your house are, said Budge-Johnson, “more valuable to a thief than your big screen TV.” Papers with sensitive information should be stored in a secure location in your home and not left lying around for thieves to find. And while we are on the subject of your home – that underwear drawer – it’s not as secure as you think it is, Budge-Johnson said, so just try to be creative when you hide your valuables.

“Nobody is going to go looking in your Yahtzee box for your valuables,” said Budge-Johnson. “Be more clever. Don’t be so obvious.”

And if you are like most people, you get home and put your purse or wallet in the same place every time, usually by the door (Guilty).

“Put it in the cabinet, put it in the closet,” said Budge-Johnson. “Put it somewhere; just don’t leave it in sight.”

Yes, ma’am.

Identity thieves have several techniques to try to get your personal information. They could even possibly pull off a change of address with the post office since sometimes, according to Budge-Johnson, a form of identification isn’t requested. Then all of your important mail could be forwarded right to the thief.

Seniors are often targeted using a Medicare-related themed scam to get them to give up their information easily since this is a service most seniors rely on. And since Medicare card numbers are still issued as the recipient’s social security numbers, Budge-Johnson said it is one card you should never carry around in your wallet with you.

Her advice: “Make a copy of your card and blacken out the numbers,” said Budge-Johnson. “This information is just too important to carry around.” In the event of an emergency, said Budge-Johnson, the doctor is not going to withhold care because they don’t have your Medicare card information. Leave your Medicare card at home.

And the scams out there – some of them are quite convincing, some not quite so. But some scam artists know just how to play with people’s emotions to alter their rational thinking enough to make them act hastily.

OK, perhaps you won’t fall for the “you won the international lottery” email scam (international lotteries are illegal, by the way), or the inheritance your long-lost uncle in Nigeria left you, but that email from “Comcast” saying they will shut off your service if you don’t update your personal information has a way of eliciting enough panic to overlook the one or two grammatical errors that are the telltale signs of a scam.

If you get an email from a cable company, a credit card provider or any other utility, your best bet is to call the company directly. Just do not give out your information to anyone you yourself did not contact. The ones like this, Budge-Johnson added, are the ones that get seniors most often.

Budge-Johnson’s recommendation to all is simple: if you don’t recognize the phone number on the caller-ID, don’t answer it. Let the voicemail or answering machine get it. If you do get a call from a telemarketer or a charity, call the company or charity directly before doing business with them.

“And under no circumstances, do not leave a check outside the door in an envelope,” said Budge-Johnson. “I don’t care who the charity is.”

And nobody besides the IRS or the Social Security Administration needs to have your social security number. Period, said Budge-Johnson. There is always an alternative, she said. “But they won’t tell you that. They want to make it as difficult as possible. They want you to just give up your number.”

Budge-Johnson’s advice to all is to check your credit report at least once a year because someone could have already stolen your identity and you might not even know it.

Budge-Johnson said many women over the age of 60 have never even seen their own credit history report, simply because their whole life they relied on their husband’s credit for business.

“Which almost makes it more dangerous,” she said.

It is not that we are stupid, said Budge-Johnson. It’s just that these people know what to do to get you to give it up. And once you do, she said, they won’t stop until you have nothing left they can take.

Getting scammed is nothing to be ashamed of, said Budge-Johnson. If you find yourself a victim, especially if you are a senior citizen, you must speak up and get help. You cannot get out of it alone. And if you are too afraid to tell a family member, get help somewhere else.

“Go to someone at the Council on Aging, go to the police…” said Budge-Johnson. “You’re gonna need help to get out of it.”

Budge-Johnson said you can order your credit history report by calling 1 (877) FACT-ACT. And be extra cautious to dial 877. If you use 800, 888, or 866, you just might be calling the bad guys who are hoping you make that very mistake. There is no charge for your credit history report.

For more information about scams and ID theft or to hear more about the variety of subjects on which Budge-Johnson gives talks to the public, contact Deputy Liisa Budge-Johnson, outreach coordinator at 508-732-1852 or via email at lbjohnson@pcsdma.org.

By Jean Perry

He said it was a bit of an unholy alliance between historians and scientists when he set out to research and write his award-winning book, The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail. But as W. Jeffrey Bolster, professor of history at the University of New Hampshire tells it, the final product proved it was rewarding.

And rewards there were when Bolster’s book came out in 2012. He received the 2013 Bancroft Prize in history of the Americas and, that same year, the Albert J. Beveridge Award.

On October 4, as he stood in front of a rapt audience at the Mattapoisett Public Library, it was as if the book had just been released. Bolster carried this local crew through the pages of his discoveries with the ease of an able captain in very calm seas.

The subject matter gave one pause – the delicate relationship between humankind and its use and abuse of the oceans.

Bolster’s book chronicles an entire millennium, a voyage from Vikings to Victorians and everything in between. He explained how throughout human evolution, the drive to secure food from any and all sources was paramount to survival and in so doing the Atlantic Ocean has suffered.

Through his research with the help of scientists and archivists, Bolster documented how mankind has overfished wherever they have inhabited. He said, as the Vikings fished off waters near their homelands for hundreds of years, fish depletion forced them to sail farther and farther from home. What these early fishermen found was akin to a Garden of Eden.

“There was everything here that they had at home, but so much more,” said Bolster.

Bolster pointed to “modern fishing technologies and greedy capitalists” as the two most significant pressures placed upon the oceans. Yet, he wasn’t necessarily pointing to this century or even the last. He made a strong argument that overfishing for the reasons previously noted has been ongoing for many centuries.

He said, as cod in the northern Atlantic started to decline in the 1800s, fisherman sought newer methods in an effort to catch more. They went from simple drop lines off the side of sailing ships to using a series of smaller vessels with the thought that more lines in the water equaled greater catches. That worked for a while but, of course, the fish stocks continued to dwindle.

Through his research, Bolster collected vast amounts of data from fishing boat logs from the 1800s, gaining concrete evidence that overfishing was taking place. He said that by the time George Washington was president, “the coastal seas had been compromised.”

The story of the Great Auk, a now extinct flightless bird akin to the penguin and a victim of aggressive use of marine resources, is a case in point Bolster explained. Rather than this unique penguin being prized for its very existence, as we prize most animals today, in the 19th century they were used for bait. The last one was killed in 1844.

And so he wove a picture that led the listeners through the centuries – not so much to bring new conservation methods to the masses as to enlighten on how we got to where we are today, but to tell of a suffering fishing industry on its own way to extinction.

When asked during the question and answer period what he thought would be the greatest challenge to humankind as the planet is pressured to produce enough food for all he answered, “It won’t be food; it will be potable water.”

Bolster’s easy conversational style and comfort in front of an audience was evident making the subject matter, one that is difficult at best, interesting and entertaining; however, the take away remained profound.

A book signing and reception followed the lecture.

The Mattapoisett Public Library in concert with the Purrington Lecture Series, a nonprofit organization that supports the library with programming and funds for equipment, sponsored Bolster’s presentation.

Visit www.mattapoisett.net and click on the library tab to see a calendar of upcoming events.

By Marilou Newell

Mattapoisett’s River Valley and associated watershed area is a public resource that produces millions of gallons of clean drinking water every day and has been doing so for centuries.

In modern times, ensuring its health and safety falls on the shoulders of local and state regulatory agencies. And when you consider that the MRV supplies four towns – Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester and Fairhaven – the whole process of managing this resource mandates a spirit of cooperation of a very high caliber.

Rochester Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon said, “In 1980, the four towns using the MRV wanted to protect the water supply…. An advisory committee was developed.” Special legislation was passed and the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee was born. It is a unique, nearly one-of-a-kind committee in the state. Farinon is a member of the committee.

The group meets on a monthly basis holding a public meeting with three representatives from each town on the advisory committee. The people sitting on the committee have expertise in environmental affairs, water management, or other engineering or infrastructure areas within their respective communities.

MRVWSPAC member and Fairhaven executive secretary to the selectmen, Jeffrey Osuch, said, “When the group first began, there was fear about development along the Mattapoisett River.” In those times of fast-paced building construction, concerns ran high that building up to and into this sensitive area would leave a permanent and negative impact on the water supply.

Osuch explained that the MRVWSPAC is granted a 30-day review period of any construction plans in the MRV. He said the group has also been instrumental in identifying and purchasing lands along the river and in the watershed area in an effort to enhance protection of the water supply. The MRVWSPAC also helps towns with any water supply related issue in a collective manner sharing resources, expertise and information.

The Mattapoisett River Valley, as the name suggests, is primarily located in Mattapoisett, but its origin lies in Rochester at Snipatuit Pond. The river snakes through Rochester into Mattapoisett and out into Buzzards Bay.

Fresh water wells are positioned along the river with ownership spread among the four towns.

The town of Marion has wells on Wolf Island Road in Rochester. Marion’s other wells are located in other Rochester locations and one well is in Marion.

Although there are a number of wells located within the boundaries of Rochester, Rochester itself does not have public wells. A few hundred properties in Rochester situated along the path of water pipes heading to Marion from Marion-owned wells located in Rochester do receive public water from the Marion system. Thus, Rochester and Marion have a unique working relationship with water coming from the Mattapoisett River.

Nick Nicholson, also an advisory committee member and water and sewer superintendent for Mattapoisett said, “Back in the 1800s, Fairhaven lobbied for and received legislation that gave them rights to land and water situated in Mattapoisett.” Prior to that, their water came from New Bedford.

Nicholson said the pump station on River Road was built by Fairhaven during that time and, today, Fairhaven maintains those rights along with other wells on Wolf Island Road and in the Tinkhamtown area.

According to Nicholson, a lack of rainfall does affect the water supply.

“Yes, the river is down. Managing the flow of the wells, their draw, is “imperative,” he said, “especially during times of drought.” He said presently the region is experiencing a 14-inch rain deficit.

Nicholson went on to explain that the state has a level of oversight on water consumption.

“Very soon new state regulations for water withdrawal will be based on river flow.” Nicholson continued, “When that happens, water use restrictions will have to be implemented.” The state, he said, is looking at all rivers throughout Massachusetts and is coming up with new regulations on how those water sources may be used by the towns taking from them.

The impact on residents in each town will be significant, he said.

“These new restrictions will impact our revenue.” Nicholson explained that water departments sell water to the residents and that money is used, not only to run the water service operation, but also to help with infrastructure repairs. If the money dries up, residents will feel a greater financial burden.

A related concern was uncontrolled water taking.

“We have to charge for water use … so we can’t have people just taking the water unregulated … and when the new state regulations get implemented, we’ll have to keep an eye on people taking water without the proper permits … We can’t have that,” said Nicholson. He said the MRVWPAC felt strongly that tighter controls needed to be put in place to protect the resource and that local bylaws should be part of the plan.

And as for bylaws, those have been drafted by the MRVWSPAC and are projected to go before the voters in an upcoming town meeting. The members of the MRVWSPAC have high hopes that the residents will see the wisdom in adopting local controls.

When you consider that the Mattapoisett River Valley is depended on by thousands of people in the region, it is no wonder that the word “cooperation” takes on a new and vastly more meaningful connotation – one that requires a very long name for a committee striving to protect a vital freshwater source.

For more information on the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee, go to www.MattRiverValleyWaterprotection.org.

By Marilou Newell