HIGHLAND

Kool Smile dentistry opens new office

Kool Smiles General Dentistry for Kids has opened another dental office in H at 8327 Indianapolis Blvd., located in the Highland Plaza Shopping Center.

Kool Smiles accepts most private insurance plans, and provides care to children enrolled in Medicaid from Indiana and Illinois. The business also accepts walk-in appointments, infants, children and young adults up to age 20. For more information, call (219) 923-3886.

The Highland Chamber of Commerce will cut the ribbon for Kool Smiles from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday. RSVP to Gervay Smith at (219) 798-8786.

MERRILLVILLE

BBB urges caution in choosing charities

The Better Business Bureau serving Northern Indiana says 32 percent of the local charities it contacted in the past year failed to disclose organizational information necessary for their evaluation by BBB.

"Charities have an obligation to be open and transparent so that the public can make confident decisions when donating money," said Michael Coil, CEO of BBB of Northern Indiana. "While failure to disclose doesn't necessarily mean the charity is unethical or hiding something, it should raise a red flag for potential donors if a charity is holding back information and not being up front."

BBB evaluates locally soliciting charities on 20 standards covering fundraising, finances, governance and oversight, and the organization's efforts to measure its effectiveness.

BBB conducts reviews of charities in response to donor demand. If a report does not already exist for a charity about which a consumer has inquired, BBB contacts the charity and asks that it complete a questionnaire and provide copies of certain basic documents. If the charity complies, it is evaluated against the 20 charity standards of the BBB.

For advice on choosing a worthy charity, visit www.bbb.org.