The City Council Budget Ways and Means Committee moved swiftly through what appeared to be an involved agenda during their regular monthly meeting last Monday evening.

The Committee voted to accept the recommendation of City Administrator Tom Short to pull funds from several different line items in the current Capital Improvement fund to make up for the additional $35,000 needed for the street and traffic signal improvements to the intersection at Chestnut and Garrison.

The Committee also voted to recommend that the City sponsor an expanded July 4th celebration again next year. Details and a budget will be considered at a later date, but the Committee wanted to give organizers, also so to be determined, plenty of time to prepare.

The Committee voted to recommend a contract with Phillips, Ward & Associates to conduct a two day visioning seminar. The firm has presented a proposal of $4,000 for their services. An exclusive seller’s agreement for Myers Park Property with Southwest Agency was also recommended.

The annual editorial in the evenin’ paper about the low turnout to the polls for elections always reminds me of a friend a mine who was always poppin’ off some snide remark.

Durin’ a National Guard meetin’ the Captain was tryin’ to get the moral up a little and was preachin’ a little ‘bout takin’ some pride in the unit and not just puttin’ in their time.

From the back of the room came the comment, "Who cares about apathy?"

‘Course the friend didn’t claim the comment at the time, but it did break the tension a mite. The irony is that the more ya preach about apathy, the less anyone pays attention. I suppose bein’ an example is still the best lesson, but there seem ta be so few teachers.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing Service

PRIME TIME WITH KIDS

by Donna Erickson

If older siblings in the family have been earning money this summer mowing lawns, babysitting and watering yards, they have no doubt accumulated a wad of cash for their labors. Give your preschool and elementary age children a chance to earn some spending money too, by offering them "employment opportunities" beyond their usual chores.

Make your own "Want Ads" board full of jobs your child can choose from. Here’s how to make it together:

Hang a bulletin board at your child’s height on a wall in your family room, mud room or kitchen. Let your child cut out large alphabet letters from the newspaper to spell "WANT ADS." Glue the letters to a strip of paper and tack the strip to the top of the bulletin board. Underneath, tack three index cards in a row with the headings - INDOOR, OUTDOOR, GARAGE.

Think of jobs appropriate to your child’s ability, write them on separate cards and tack them below the headings. For non readers, draw a simple illustration of the job, or cut out magazine pictures and glue on the cards. Finally, write the amount of money you will pay for each job, such as a penny for every dandelion. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Indoors - clean sliding glass door, collect trash from garbage cans in all rooms, shake hall rugs;

Outdoors - dig up dandelions in the lawn, pick up pine cones, sweep deck, fill birdfeeder;

Garage - roll up garden hoses, crush aluminum cans, sweep.