911 Board Chair Defends Decision.

The Jasper County Emergency Services Board met for their first regular meeting since the firing of Director Rich Nordell in February last Tuesday evening.

Nordell has indicated in the last few weeks that he will ask the courts to decide if the firing was justified.

Nordell attended the meeting as a citizen observer and told the Mornin’ Mail that his plans are to sue board members as individuals rather that bring the organization into the squabble. He did not attempt to direct any comments to the board itself.

Board member Bill Rowland questioned Board Chairman Kelly Stephens’ decision not to let Nordell appeal the dismissal to the Board. According to Stephens there is no policy in place that would require the Board to hear an appeal.

Rowland said he understood that, but thought the Board should have been given the opportunity to make the final decision, not just the Chairman.

The Board is scheduled to meet on March 18 to review 41 applications for the director position, picking 5 to interview.

NASCAR THIS WEEK

By Monte Dutton

Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Joey Logano Is Pumped

Season two could be a breakout year for Joey Logano, who won’t turn 20 until May. The 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year has finished fifth and sixth in the past two races.

Don’t look now, but Logano, a Middletown, Conn., native, is eighth in the Sprint Cup point standings, ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch (12th) and Denny Hamlin (22nd).

"I feel more excited to come to the race tracks, is what it comes down to," said Logano. "Last year it was, ‘Oh, boy, California, we stunk there last time.’ I don’t know if I want to go there. Now, you look at these places, and you’re excited to go back to the track because you think you’re going to have a good race car.

"I’m more pumped up about coming to the race track. I think that’s the biggest deal, me knowing what I want. It’s the biggest (learning) curve I’ve ever taken."

Logano was still in grade school when Mark Martin began telling whoever would listen that the kid was going to be a star. One hears such stories quite often in NASCAR, but most fall short of such heady forecasts. Logano, so far, has passed every test on his way to the top.

Logano’s one Sprint Cup victory -- New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June 2009 -- was something of an anomaly, greatly aided by a timely rain shower that cut the race short. He wound up finishing 20th in the point standings with the victory, three top-five finishes and seven top 10s.

It’s obvious: Logano is starting to "get it."

"It’s a gradual deal," he said. "It’s not like a light switch. I remember last year at this point. Kyle (Busch) and Denny (Hamlin) were telling me something, or Zippy (crew chief Greg Zipadelli) was telling me something, and I couldn’t make sense of it in my mind.

As I kept going with time, and kept thinking about what they said to me when I was on the race track. I’d think about it and then, eventually, I made sense of it."

Early results this year have raised the bar on expectations.

"I think it’s cool," said Logano. "I’m excited. Eighth in points ... and last year I would have been happy with 20th in points at this point in the season.

"I wish they’d start the Chase now, but we have a long way to go."

I remember bein’ in the middle of a tv program back in the 50’s and all the sudden "technical difficulties" would be announced. For the next ten or fifteen minutes ya sat and watched the test pattern waitin’ for programing to resume. I am reminded of this because yesterday my internet access was shut off for several hours. I only wish they would have put up some type of message lettin’ us know there was a problem. After tryin’ several times to get through on the telephone to the internet folks, I was told that MCI was havin’ troubles and anyone connected to them was just outa luck.

I suppose what is really amazin’ is the fact that this type a thing doesn’t happen more often. It does however, act as a reminder that the Mornin’ Mail has never missed a scheduled publishin’ day of hittin’ the street since we started back in ‘92.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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CLICK and CLACK

TALK CARS

Dear Tom and Ray:

Everyone knows it is illegal to change an odometer reading, and I wouldn’t do it even if I knew how. My 1999 Chevy Malibu (the best car I’ve ever owned) has an electronic display. I am curious as to why the odometer data is not lost when the car battery is removed. On the electronic clocks I have, if the power is disconnected, you have to reset the clock when power is restored. I’m sure many of your readers are wondering about this also. An "expert" told me there is a small battery backup in the circuit. But what if the car were put in storage for months and this battery eventually failed? John

Tom: Great question, John. Electronic odometers are not the same as electronic clocks. If they were, every used car you ever bought would have an odometer flashing 12:00!

Ray. They actually work like computer drives, which store data magnetically. If you turn off your computer and put it in you basement for years, when you start it up again, all of the stuff on your hard drive will still be there.

Tom: So guys, remember that! Anything you don’t want discovered after you’re dead, be sure to delete before shutting down your old computer.

Ray: Yeah. It took my brother a day and a half just to delete all of his "GMCs Gone Wild" videos.

Tom: The advantage of magnetic media is that they store data without power. The data are "imprinted" on the drive as a series of magnetic flux patterns.

Ray: And as long as you don’t park next to Bernie’s Dry Cleaning and Industrial De-Magnetizing Emporium, that data will remain there indefinitely.