Beware of companies offering deed copies

The Osceola County Clerk of Court office, according to Clerk Malcom Thompson, has been informed that some county residents are receiving letters from companies offering to sell them a certified copy of their deed for anywhere from $50 to $100.

The Clerk of the Court Office has been statutorily tasked with being the keeper of the official records of Osceola County and deeds are public record, Thompson stated in a press release.

“I want to remind citizens that they do not have to pay a private company for a copy of their records,” Thompson stated, adding that the public can view and print for free a non-certified copy of a deed from the website: www.osceolaclerk.com.

Certified copies of deeds can be obtained from the clerk’s office for a fee of $1 per page, plus $2 per document for the certification, and in most cases, the total cost of obtaining a certified copy of a deed will be between $3 and $5, Thompson stated.

“While these company offerings are not illegal, we want to stress that this is a totally unnecessary expense for a homeowner to incur,” Thompson stated. “The Clerk’s Office is happy to provide this service and many others to our citizens.”

Should you have any questions about obtaining a copy of a document contained in the Osceola County Official Records, contact the Recording Department at 407-742-3517. For more information about the other services provided by the Clerk of Court office, visit the website or call 407-742-3500.

Charter Review Committee to meet

The next Osceola County Charter Review Committee meeting will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the County Administration Building, fourth floor, conference room 4727, 1 Courthouse Square, Kissimmee.

The meeting is public.

Have breakfast at arts center

“In Your Backyard: Where Newcomers Meet the Arts” will be presented at 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 13, by United Arts at the Osceola Center for the Arts.

Light breakfast foods and coffee will be served and there will be raffles for show tickets and prizes. In addition, the 2011-12 OCFTA Broadway Series will be announced. The event is free and open to the public.

The center is at 2411 E. U.S. Highway 192, Kissimmee. Call 407-846-6257, Ext. 0 to make a reservation.

For more information, contact Arin Gullett Thrower, production director for the center, by email at agullett@ocfta.com, visit www.ocfta.com or call 407-846-6257, Ext. 7.

Food for Fee$ Amnesty Week at county libraries

The week of April 11-17 is Food for Fee$ Amnesty Week at the Osceola Library System.

During this week only, library patrons will receive a $1 credit on their overdue fee balances for each donated non-perishable food item. There’s no limit to the amount of food accepted, and it must be in undamaged and unexpired condition.

Patrons may deliver non-perishable items to the circulation desk at any of the six branch libraries during regular business hours. A library staff member will forgive fees on each participating customer’s account.

Donated food will be given to The Green-Bag Project, a local school pantry program that will distribute the collected food to school children and families in each library’s immediate service area.

The goal of this initiative, county library officials stated in a press release, is to help the community. The initiative supports literacy by giving customers an additional option to pay-off fees and it supports healthy families by giving the donated food directly to Osceola County students and families in need.

Fees cannot be applied for charges related to lost or damaged items or for service fees.

Credit will not be added to customer accounts once late fees have been forgiven. Donations also will be accepted from those patrons who do not have fines on their cards.

The Friday Back-Pack is a program that specifically supports local students by filling their backpacks full of food at the end of each week. Although all food will be accepted and used at local food pantries, if participants wish to specifically participate in the Back-Pack program, they can donate the following items: canned pasta. macaroni and cheese, individually packaged oatmeal, peanut butter (in a plastic container), jelly (in a plastic container), rice kits or individual noodle soup packages.

For more information, contact the Osceola County Community Outreach/Public Information Office at 407-742-0100.

Artifact show today and Sunday

There will be a Native American artifact show during the St. Cloud Spring Fling today and Sunday.

The free show will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Local artifacts up to 10,000 years old from predominantly Osceola and Orange counties will be on display along with fossils from throughout Florida.

The show will be on the second floor of the city’s lakeshore building that houses Crabby Bill’s, at 1104 Lakeshore Blvd.