The City Council Public Works Committee approached the possibility of placing a barricade on the sidewalk in front of the Carthage Eye Care on the Square during the regular meeting in City Hall Tuesday afternoon. The sidewalk has been ordered repaired by the City and constitutes a "trip hazard" according to City Codes Inspector Bud Rogers.

The City recently settled a suit for injuries sustained due to the hazard, and another fall has been reported. The Committee voted to place a barricade at the site until repairs were completed if City Attorney David Mouton approved.

According to Rogers, who was contacted on Wednesday morning, Mouton recommended that no barricade be placed at this time.

According to discussion during the Committee meeting, the owner of the building is not yet willing to have repairs made. Mouton and the property owner’s lawyer are negotiating and were reportedly meeting Wednesday. Current City ordinances requiring property owners to maintain sidewalks are being questioned.

Scholarship Pageant Set For July 10, 2000.

news release

Plans for the 2000 Jasper County Youth Fair’s Queen Pageant have been announced by pageant director, Gloria Lawrence. "The Jasper County Youth Fair is designed to recognize young persons of our community for their hard work and achievements and the Jasper County Youth Fair Pageant is just one of the Fair’s activities which does just that," explains Mrs. Lawrence. In cooperation with Missouri Southern State College and other individuals, the pageant provides young women with financial assistance for their education.

The 2000 Fair Queen will receive a scholarship to Missouri Southern State College. This scholarship, which is equivalent to a regent’s scholarship is renewable for eight semesters. If the Queen is not attending Missouri Southern State College, but will be attending another college, then she may choose to receive an Educational Scholarship of $500 Cash.

In addition to this financial support, there are other benefits to be earned as a participant of the pageant. The Jasper County Youth Fair Queen will represent Jasper County in the State Fair Queen Contest where additional cash scholarships and other awards are given.

While the pageant recognizes young women for their leadership roles, citizenship and community service, accent is given to the value of the educational experiences in which all contestants of the pageant will participate. Two weeks of programs are planned. These programs provide guidance for each contestant so that she can present herself in the best possible matter. The contestants will receive demonstrations on personal appearance, proper dress codes, make up applications and other subjects that aid young women in being their best at all times. A bar-b-que and swim party as well as a mother and daughter tea will be held for all contestants.

Mrs. Lawrence added, "Crowning a queen is not the goal of the pageant committee. The winner is the end result of two weeks of participation in a variety of activities. The pageant committee works hard to plan pageant activities so that they are educational, fun, and a lasting memory for each girl. As you see there is much more to our pageant than just the presentation on stage."

Applications and a list of rules and guidelines may be obtained by contacting Mrs. Lawrence at 417-358-9567.

Youth Fair’s Country Little Miss and Mister Pageant Planned for 5-7 Year Olds.

Youth who are five to seven years of age as of January 1, 2000 are invited to participate in this year’s Jasper County Youth Fair Country Little Miss and Mister Pageant which is set for July 10, 2000.

The annual youth fair is designed to recognize young people of the Jasper County community. "We created this portion of our pageant so that more young people can take part in the youth fair," noted Gloria Lawrence, pageant director.

The winner will receive savings bonds and other gifts. They will assist the Queen and Princess throughout the fair with the distribution of ribbons and awards. Several public appearances are planned for the fair’s royalty.

Competition for the Country Little Miss and Mister contestants include a personal interview with three judges, country attire presentation and collecting money for the scholarship pageant. Mrs. Lawrence added, "Even though this competition helps with the pageant’s expenses, it is not a penny a vote contest. Points are earned through all three areas of competition and many of our past winners were not the persons who collected the largest amount of contributions." All money collected is tax deductable.

Contestants must be a resident of Jasper County for not less than six months or be a member of a youth organization within Jasper County.

For an application, parents may contact Gloria Lawrence at 417-358-9567.

An interestin’ note, the first Carthage board of trustees passed the first six ordinances in July 1869.

The first was to establish a regular meeting time twice a month. Ordinance number two required any property owner on the Square to construct walks of dressed flag stones or of pine or oak lumber. Ordinance number three made it illegal to block any street or sidewalk by merchandizing display. Ordinance four and five created a public pound and forbade hogs, goats, and horses to run at large. Ordinance number six made drunkenness punishable by fine.

‘Course all of these are still bein’ debated, ‘cept maybe the drunkenness one and the goats. The more things change the more they stay the same.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Dear Tom and Ray:
The first car I drove in 1978 was a Saab with a two-stroke, slant-three engine. Friends jested that this was a lawnmower engine, because I had to add a quart of oil to the gas tank every time I filled it up. I took their remarks as a great insult ... to my lawnmower, which is a very nice machine.

Do two-stroke engines exist on the planet anymore? My father still owns this masterpiece. Would you guys refuse to work on it if it rolled into your shop? And most important, what kind of prayer would you recommend before shooting it between the headlights? -Bill

TOM: There are tons of two-stroke engines around these days, Bill. They’re in just about every chain saw, weed whacker, snowmobile and gas-powered nose-hair clipper on the planet. But they’re not used in cars much these days, at least not in the United States.

RAY: Two-stroke engines have great advantages. Because every other stroke is a powers stroke ( as opposed to every fourth stroke in a common, four cylinder car engine), two-cycle engines provide a lot of power and torque in a very small size. That’s why chainsaws use them. Do you think Lenny the Lumberjack wants to schlep a 25-pound four-cycle engine halfway up a spruce tree? I should say not!

TOM: Plus, two strokes have the added advantage of being able to be used upside down, since they don’t have oil-filled crankcases. So as Lenny is falling backwards out of the tree, he can still prune a few limbs on his way down.

RAY: The problem with the old two-cycle engines is that they ran very inefficiently and created a lot of pollution.