The Better Business Bureau serving Eastern North Carolina is warning consumers to beware of these common holiday scams: Look-alike websites: When shopping online, make sure to use only legitimate websites. Watch out for URLs that use the names of well-known brands along with extra words. Fake shipping notifications: These can have attachments or links to sites that will download malware on your computer to steal your identity and your passwords. Don’t be fooled by a holiday phishing scam. E-cards: Electronic cards can be great fun, but be careful. Two red flags to watch out for are: the sender’s name is not apparent; you are required to share additional information to get the card. Letters from Santa: Several trusted companies offer charming and personalized letters from Santa, but scammers mimic them to get personal information from unsuspecting parents. Check with bbb.org to find out which ones are legitimate. Grandparents scam: Seniors

The calendar and events have conspired this year to make it difficult to schedule the usual Saturday morning Wake Forest Farmers Market in December and January. First it was the Christmas Parade and now two Saturdays are the days after Christmas and New Year’s Day. The result? This Saturday’s market will be the last until Jan. 9, three weeks away. The take-away lesson? Stock up this Saturday on all your favorite winter vegetables, fresh and frozen meats, baked goods and anything else you usually buy at the market. Market Manager Robin Hendricks also says that, along with the usual craft people at Saturday’s market, a few that were at the craft fair earlier this month will return. The market will be open from 10 a.m. to noon in Renaissance Plaza on Brooks Street. Visit the website, www.wakeforestfarmersmarket.org to see all the vendors. You can place advance orders with some and

Another family farm, another subdivision. True, it has been years since Thurman Kitchin Jr. or his father farmed along Burlington Mills Road, and true, the family has sold off a large chunk of the farm since 1980 or so for the South Forest Industrial Park, but farms like the Kitchin farm were the backbone of the Wake Forest area for years. On Nov. 23 the Wake Forest Planning Department’s Technical Review Committee met and reviewed the plans for a 257-lot subdivision on the 163.15 acres of the Kitchin farm which has frontage on Burlington Mills and Ligon Mills roads. It will be a single-family house subdivision, and the applicant, Mulkey Engineeers & Associates are asking for approval of the master plan along with rezoning the land from RD to conditional use general residential 5 and 10. That means there will be a legislative public hearing with input from all interested

Public Facilities Specialist Joseph Pennington is the Town of Wake Forest’s “2015 Jon Ray Employee of the Year.” Town Manager Kip Padgett made the announcement during the town’s annual employee Christmas luncheon on Dec. 11. A native of Franklinton, NC, Pennington has worked for Wake Forest since 2013. He was nominated for the award by his supervisor, Mickey Rochelle, who praised Pennington’s work ethic and unfailing willingness to helping others. In his nomination narrative, Rochelle wrote of Pennington: “Joe has been a great asset to (the Facilities) department. Whenever he receives calls from town staff in other departments, he always asks what he can do to help. Joe participates in all tasks either by leading or as a team player. He is always early and ready for his shift to begin. He is willing to stay late or work weekends. He goes the extra step to make sure the job