The City Council Public Works Committee heard a report Tuesday afternoon from Street Commissioner Tom Shelley concerning the growth of some type of grass taking over the green space areas around the parking lot just north of the Police Station. Shelley said the growth has killed off some of the plants and at least one tree is dead.

The Committee requested that the Botany Shop be contacted and look into the problem. The City contracted with the Joplin firm to landscape the area less than a year ago. The contract included a one year warranty on the plants.

The Committee also will request a council bill that will allow the City to enter into a contract for street and traffic signal improvements at the Chestnut and Garrison intersection. The bill assumes that a recommendation by the Ways and Means Committee for adjustments in the budget will win the approval of the full Council.

The Committee also was told that bids on the construction of the new maintenance building for the Street Department are expected in by the end of August. The metal building is expected to cost around $165,000.

I enjoy black-eyed peas, but they always present a dilemma for me. They look and taste more like a bean to my palate.

It gets me ta wonderin’ how do ya tell a bean from a pea? Two peas in a pod doesn’t help, beans grow in pods too. And from all appearances, green beans are the pod. I suppose there is some genetic code that separates beans from peas, but how can an ordinary pea picker really know?

‘Course we all know of peanuts, could there be a peabean, or is the name just descriptive reference?

I’d be interested in hearin’ from any pea pickers out there that could shed some light on this subject. Bean pluckers are welcome to their opinion also, since I really don’t know the difference.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

by Tom and Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I recently purchased an ’89 Chevy Astro van for my wife at an auction. My mechanic has done the necessary repairs, and it looks like we got a fairly good deal. The only problem is that the car stinks - like cigarettes and other nefarious odors. The upholstery and carpet have been steam-cleaned, and it seems like the air-conditioning unit and the upholstery on the ceiling are the main contributors. Needless to say, my wife is steamed - or "smoked!" Do you have any ideas how we could desmoke the air-conditioning ducts, the ceiling or the whole car in general? Every car person I’ve talked to so far has been pretty useless. Gil

RAY: Well, we fit that category, too, Gil, but that never has stopped us from giving advice!

TOM: You’re right about it being a difficult problem. Smoke gets into everything: the seats, the carpet, the headliner. It can even permeate the duct work to some extent.

RAY: And it’s easy to understand why. Let’s do the math. If both husband and wife smoked three packs of Chesterfields a day in the Astro since 1989 - that’s nine years - you could be sitting in the stench from approximately 394,200 cigarettes. And that’s not counting any hitchhikers.

TOM: So if it’s really intolerable, then your best bet is to call a company that does fire salvage.

RAY: Right. After a house fire, everything that didn’t get burned up smells awful. There are companies that do nothing but get that smoke odor out. You can usually find them in the Yellow Pages under "smoke odor services."

TOM: Right and they’ll stick 2,000 of those Christmas tree air fresheners inside you headliner and say "You’re all set Gil."