YMCA OFFERS SPRING BREAK VOLLEYBALL.

The Fair Acres Family YMCA is accepting registration for its Volleyball Camp for boys and girls ages 7-14 years. The Camp will be under the direction of Misty DeGonia and others.

This year’s Spring Break Volleyball Camp will run March 15-19 as follows:

· 1st – 4th Grades: 5:30-6:30 p.m.

· 5th – 8th Grades: 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Cost for the Camp will be $20 for Y Members and $35 for Non Members.

DeGonia said, "Our Volleyball Camp is designed to teach basic skills of volleyball to both beginners and those playing in school and club volleyball programs. This camp will be skill focused and will maintain a level of ‘fun’ for the campers.We are committed to providing an enriching summer camp experience to each child."

Register at the Y at 2600 S. Grand Ave. in Carthage. Deadline of March 15th.

City Offices Closed Thursday Morning.

City Offices will be closed on Thursday from approx 9:00 AM until Noon to allow employees to attend Pat Woestman’s Funeral.

Had a friend who wanted to invest in a business. His idea was to create the perfect system where there weren’t any decisions to be made and all that was necessary was "warm bodies" to carry out the routine tasks.

Now such a system may be possible, but my friend soon discovered in the venture he got involved in could not be made that simple.

Any venture needs a set of basic guidelines, or policy, to guide the routine. The problem is that there are always situations that come along that weren’t planned or opportunities that weren’t foreseen.

Any project needs check points to gauge progress, but feeling the necessity to plan every minute detail can spell doom to whatever good might come.

Sometime even movin’ in the wrong direction is better than sittin’ still.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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Diet, Pain and Diverticulitis

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I need information on how to avoid flare-ups of diverticulitis. I am a 53-year-old female. I was diagnosed with diverticulitis in 2008 after suffering for months from discomfort that finally became unbearable. The doctor gave me an antibiotic that cleared the problem up. What I need to know is this: How long after eating a problem food does discomfort ensue? I’ve tried to tie discomfort to a particular food. I just can’t figure out which ones cause the problem. For instance, if I have a problem on Tuesday afternoon, would that be from food I ate Tuesday morning, or the day before, or the day before that? -- D.F.

ANSWER: You need a clearer picture of what causes diverticular pain. You’re barking up the wrong tree. Diverticula are small bulges on the colon’s outer wall. The bulges are the lining of the colon that has been pushed through the muscular colon wall and has popped out on its outer surface. They are pea-size to marble-size. When the necks of diverticula become obstructed, bacteria within the diverticula causes swelling and pain. Prevention of diverticula formation and diverticula obstruction centers on a high-fiber diet. A particular food isn’t usually the culprit. A lack of fiber is the troublemaker.

Fiber holds on to water and keeps the food residue soft. If the residue hardens, the colon has to generate great force to move it along, and that force is responsible for diverticula formation. You need to get 25 grams to 30 grams of fiber daily. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are fiber sources. Whole grains are grains that haven’t been refined. They retain their outer coat -- bran. Bran is excellent fiber.

Diverticulitis -- inflamed diverticula -- produces pain, most often felt in the lower left side of the abdomen. Sometimes it leads to rectal bleeding. An attack of diverticulitis calls for a change in diet, either to a liquid one or one with soft foods.

If you still want to track a particular food as the cause of a diverticulitis attack, I’ll give you the rough time sequences of food passage. It takes one to two days for food to pass from mouth to the end of the colon. At most, it takes three days. Anything beyond that time is abnormal.