Consumer advocates are warning of scammers targeting Michigan residents looking for some too-good-to-be-true relief on utility bills.

The Better Business Bureau of West Michigan said there have been two reports from Kalamazoo and 10 reports from residents in Niles about the new scam, which is being perpetuated via text message, email, door-to-door sales and word-of-mouth.

The bureau said consumers are being misled into believing they are getting up to $1,000 from the government to help pay bills like gas, heat, electric — expenses that have likely spiked for many utility customers who cranked the air conditioning for relief during last week’s triple-digit heat wave.

The scammers are asking for personal bank account information in exchange for the government grant, the BBB said. The routing number used by the scammers is 12408524, and their supposed account number is 13419.        MLive

Amid all the political bickering, I’m fond of pointing out the structural changes in the U.S. economy that bedevil all politicians. Here I go again.

The issue of the disappearing middle is not new, but credible economists have added a more threatening twist to the argument: the possibility that a well-functioning, efficient modern market economy, driven by exponential growth in the rate of technological innovation, can simultaneously produce economic growth and eliminate millions of middle-class jobs.

Michael Spence, a professor at N.Y.U.’s Stern School of Business, and David Autor, an economist at M.I.T., have argued that this “hollowing out” process is a result of twin upheavals: globalization and the hyper-acceleration of technological progress.      NYT

What’s troubling is the combo of a well-functioning market economy and exponentially increasing technical innovation creating such a jobs crisis, no matter what politicians promise.

Also see The Post-Employee Economy in The Atlantic for another analysis of change: “The end of the age of consumption and the decreasing need for labor are intertwined, and we have just begun to come to grips with this.”

Tickets are available now through July 27 for Dinner in the Park on Thursday, August 2, 2012. This annual feature of the Elk Rapids’ Harbor Days Festival is sponsored this year by the Elk Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. New this year is the option to purchase dinners “to go” so you can eat under the tent, at the beach or wherever your family and friends want to relax.

The menu from all local businesses includes entrees from Blue Pelican Inn, Evergreen Market pies, Ice Cream Peddlers ice cream, and drinks from Northwood Soda.

All tickets will be sold in advance with a cut-off date of Friday, July 27. Tickets are $12.50/person at the Chamber office or during Wednesday Evenings on River Street at the Chamber table. We expect a sold out crowd, so get tickets early. For more information contact Misty at the Chamber 231-264-8202.

Also in the park that evening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., is a free concert featuring MULEBONE, a well-known blues duet. Local Food, Worldly Music………….Dinner In the Park and Music until Dark! Don’t Miss It! (Source: Harbor Days Press Release)