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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Free Legal Help, Financial Tips Available for Vegas Tragedy Victims

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Tuesday, December 5, 2017   

LAS VEGAS – Victims of the mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip have been receiving calls and emails from scam artists and people peddling risky investments - so the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada is offering free legal help and tips to protect any money they receive from the Compassion Fund.

In March, the fund will begin disbursing the $16 million collected, with set amounts to go to families of the people killed and to people who were hospitalized within 48 hours of the shooting.

Tennille Pereira, a consumer attorney for the Legal Aid Center, says the recipients need to be very wary of any investment opportunities suddenly coming their way.

"People get phone calls or emails saying, 'Send me a little bit of money and I can release this fund,'" she says. "Or they will have people call them, sometimes friends or family: 'I just need some money to get me through this time' - or all sorts of investment fraud."

Pereira advises people to consult a licensed financial adviser, to put aside money for an emergency fund, and to set a budget that takes long-term needs into account, because many of the victims are going to need ongoing medical care, and families will have to support the victims' dependents.

Pereira notes that it can be difficult to decide how to handle a large payout.

"And sometimes it's not necessarily a fraudulent investment," she concedes. "It could be a valid business venture, but it may be incredibly risky and probably too risky for someone who's going to need that money to rely on in the future."

The Legal Aid Center has posted a toolkit for victims of the tragedy on their website, lacsn.org.

Fifty-eight people died, about 500 people were injured and many more affected when a gunman opened fire on a music festival near the Mandalay Bay Hotel on October first.


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