Condemnation Shot Down.

The City Council voted against the proposed condemnation proceedings for airport property during last night’s regular meeting in City Hall. The 3-7 vote was appreciated by the standing room only crowd of spectators gathered for the occasion.

Council members Larry Ross, Jackie Boyer, and Art Dunaway voted for. Members H.J. Johnson, Charlie Bastin, Bill Fortune, J.D. Whitledge, Jim McPheeters, Lujene Clark and Don Stearnes voted against.

Several people spoke against the proposal during the Citizens Participation period. Long time airport supporter Mike Harris was the only one who spoke in favor.

Mayor Kenneth Johnson, who had broke a 5-5 tie in favor of the condemnation proceedings at an earlier meeting, told the Council before the vote last night that he would like to see the proposal defeated.

The Mayor read the following statement: "Although I think an airport would be beneficial to the City in the future, the word condemnation has brought a divisiveness that I, and I think the City Council does not want. Therefore I think the prudent thing to do is to defeat Council bill number 77."

For those who don’t think their voice is heard in local government, take note of last night’s Council vote.

I know of at least one vote that was dramatically influenced by the volume of comments from constituents.

Several of the folks that showed up at the meeting to speak were not directly affected by the condemnation, although most had some stake in it. Whatever the case, it became obvious to most that the community did not support condemnin’ property for an airport. The question of whether an airport would be a legitimate asset to the City may not have been answered last night, but the method of acquirin’ the land seems to have been settled. The community’s involvement in the decision made a difference.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing Services

by Donna Erickson

After a month of changing schedules and routines, it’s an ideal time now to make a personalized phone directory of important numbers relating to your family’s activities. So gather the Post-it notes dangling from your phone, the tattered address books and the kids’ fall sports rosters, and make directory assistance a family project.

First, use a pad and pencil to jot down the names and telephone numbers of the important people in charge of your kids’ activities. Encourage your kids to think of activities they do during an average week. For example, include soccer coaches, scout leaders, piano and karate instructors and Sunday school teachers in the directory.

Remember to include important numbers at school, such as the names of teachers, the school nurse and the principal. If the school has a phone-in number for parents to call and leave a message if a child is going to be absent, or if there is a homework line, be sure to include that as well. Then add your local library, pediatrician, community center, emergency numbers and, of course, your favorite take-out pizza place.

Finally, include the numbers of friends and relatives your family contacts regularly.

Type or print the directory and mount it on posterboard. Post it close to your busiest phone. The next time Mom or Dad needs to reach a scoutmaster or call in a sick day, the number will be easy to find.