City Administrator To Stay

The City Council Budget/Ways and Means Committee made it through the first round of adjustments to appropriation request during its meeting last Thursday evening. The four hour meeting was somewhat shorter than the one held the previous evening, but another session is scheduled for next Thursday at 7 p.m. to try and finalize the budget.

Major cuts included removal of $177,000 for the construction of a South Fire substation. Plans to utilize the base of the new south water tower for the facility have been put on hold until more information is gathered as to the need and optimal location. A proposed $250,000 appropriation for expansion of the Over 60 Center was also removed from next years requests. City Administrator Tom Short told the Committee that he will research the possibility of a Community Block Grant for the project.

Short, who was being considered by a community in Nebraska for employment, told the Committee that he had withdrawn his application for that position.

With Spring time rollin’ through. there seems ta be this propensity for folks gettin’ married. A recent niece’s weddin’ sticks in my mind.

I suppose ever’one that attends a weddin’ has a different perspective about it.

The young folks admire the commitment, the middle aged the innocence, and the older bunch the courage.

I think no matter what the age, most of us still have trouble realizin’ that people you still think of as bein’ in diapers are standin’ up there gettin’ hitched. Makes ya ponder Mark Twain’s words about bein’ a shame that youth has ta be wasted on children.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Workman's Loan

Dear Carrells:
While going through a trunk in my grandmother’s attic, I came across a recipe for getting rid of sugar ants. Since we’d been taken over by the little critters, I tried it. The recipe worked, and I want to pass it on.

You mix a half-cup of water and a pint of clear corn syrup in an old saucepan, and warm it. Then you stir in 2 tablespoons of boric acid powder until it’s dissolved. You drip the solution along known ant trails. After a couple of weeks, we saw no more ants. - J.L.T.

Dear Kelly:
My office is more of a craft and hobby shop really. I have collected a lot of supplies and have discovered lots of interesting ways to store them. I have a large scrap of chicken wire that is stapled to the wall over my desktop. I can stick paintbrushes, rolled papers, dried flowers and lots of other items into the wire. It makes them easy to access, and it holds tons of stuff. - P.A.

Q. You recently suggested clearing the vent stack to do away with a sluggish toilet that also bubbles. We have that problem but live in a mobile home, and there are no such vent pipes sticking through the roof. What should we do? - L.L.

A: Inside the wall behind the toilet there should be a pipe that lets air enter the drain line. It has a cap that is spring loaded. You might have an access plate behind that wall, or you might need to remove an entire panel.

Check and repair the cap mechanism.