Don’t like your heating bill?

Albert Lea city officials, homeowners and small business owners will host a news conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday calling on residents to join them in opposing a proposed Alliant Energy electricity rate increase for southern Minnesota.

The event will be in the Council Chambers at Albert Lea City Hall, 221 E. Clark St.

It precedes a public hearing by the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday. The hearing takes place at Riverland Community College. The city encourages residents and business owners to attend and to also write letters to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voicing their opinion.

Watch out for bad business

The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota has received complaints against OnSaleFurnitureDepot alleging non-delivery of products. OnSaleFurnitureDepot is an online furniture company that claims to operate out of an apartment in Fargo, N.D.

Customers state that after ordering and paying for merchandise on the company’s website (www.onsalefurnituredepot.com), their merchandise was never shipped. They also state subsequent messages left with the company via phone and e-mail have not been returned.

When shopping online, the Better Business Bureau advises customers to check a company’s rating at www.bbb.org.