Today's Feature

Plans for Carthage Dog Park.

The City Council Public Services Committee heard from the organizers of the proposed Carthage Dog Park during their regular monthly meeting last Monday evening. According to City Administrator Tom Short the presentation changed several details of the proposed facility that the City originally agreed to when it authorized the use of a portion of Municipal Park for the project. In response to several questions by the Committee, the organization sent the provided the following details of the proposed program for consideration.

"The Carthage Dog Park Committee is a Not-for-profit Organization. They are qualified as a 501c (3) under an umbrella of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, Inc. Locally, Bill Putnam of the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri is the overseer of the account. All donations are directed to his office.

This committee also has a local account. The funds for the account have been obtained through the sales of their T-shirts and other canine goods. These funds are held in reserve in order to fund future fund raising events. Twice a year, the funds will be reviewed and the committee will decide how much of the funds will be transferred to the Community Foundation. The Community Foundation monies will be held until the construction of the Dog Park begins.

When the Dog Park is opened, all patrons will fill out an application of personal information as well as their dogs’ information. They will supply shot records from their chosen Vet. Any Carthage citizen will be required to also have City Licenses. All obtained information will be entered into the Frontline Protection computer program. Approved members will be issued 1 electronic key (fob).

Members will be restricted to (2) two dogs at any time under their name or at the Park. There will be a $25 per year per dog for this luxury. If a Fob is lost or stolen, the electronic key code will be cancelled and a new one will be issued for a fee of $10.

The immediate plans for the monies gained by the sale of memberships have been planned to go into the local account and then as stated above, be transferred to the Community Foundation. The monies will then be used to beautify, modify and maintain the Dog Park grounds as well as to continue to purchase Fobs as needed and update the key or computer system."

McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital

offers Red Hot Mamas program

Carthage - They call themselves Red Hot Mamas and they meet monthly at McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital to take part in a menopause management education program aimed at providing medical information and peer support to women, men and family members dealing with the physical and psychological impact of menopause, affecting women age 40 and beyond. If this pertains to you, you are invited to attend.

This month’s meeting will highlight the latest findings on Hormone Therapy (HT).

Dr. Elizabeth Barlet from Physicians for Women’s Health, an all female OB/GYN group located in Carthage, will present information that clearly explains menopause and its many effects on your body. This program will give you an objective, detailed overview of HT – the facts you need to make a decision that could change your life; whether or not to take hormone therapy.

Prime Plus/Red Hot Mamas is the largest menopause management education program in the United States and is dedicated to empowering women to be educated consumers in their health care and active participants in the management of their menopause, preparing them for a comfortable transition.

5:45p.m. social and 6 p.m. meeting, join us at McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital, April 16th , to learn about the most current scientific information available about Hormone Therapy, what it can and cannot do for you.

For further information please contact Pam Barlet in the MBRH Community Relations Department at 359-1350.

Mornin'

As a kid we lived close to the grade school which had a baseball field (we didn’t play softball back then). Durin’ the spring it was typical for the neighborhood kids ta be engaged in a game of "move up" or even have enough for a couple a short teams.

As the evenin’ fell, the number of players would slowly drop until only the die hards were left. The game naturally had to modify and eventually would be little more than some type of battin’ practice. When it got too dark to see fly balls comin’ at ya, we began buntin’. When the folks would call for us to come in, we’d beg for another thirty minutes. The realization would finally grow that darkness would not bend to the pleas of young players. Even playin’ baseball was ruled by the laws of nature.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

CLICK and CLACK

TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

My dear, beloved 15-year-old son offered to wash my 2008 Toyota Sequoia. I jumped at this surprising offer. After 30 minutes, I went to check on him, and the little darling was using a little kitchen scouring pad to clean the car! Needless to say, I now have an array of scratches in various patterns. I managed to refrain from ripping his sweet head off of his body, and calmly pointed out the fault. Now, how do I remove these scratches? I have tried Scratch Doctor and Turtle Wax Compound, to no good effect. HELP!- Ian

TOM: You need to visit a body shop.

RAY: Most cars have two coats of paint: a colored undercoat, and then a clear coat on top. In the worst-case scenario, your little sweetheart sanded through the clear coat and into the undercoat. In that case, you might want to just get used to the scratches. Because you’ll have to dock his allowance though graduate school to ever have a chance of recouping the cost of a paint job from him.

TOM: If he just scratched the clear top coat, chances are a body shop can buff it out.

RAY: If it’s really bad, they may need to sand the car down and repaint both layers. That’ll cost you thousands of dollars.

TOM: You also might want to check with your car and homeowner’s insurance providers. It’s possible that this sort of "accident" may be covered.

RAY: But if not - and if the scratches don’t buff out - I’d just learn to live with them. Look on the bright side: Every time you walk up to the car, you’ll be reminded of your wonderful, loving child. Even if the reminder starts with "That rotten little, no-good..."