More Liquor Concerns.

The City Council heard several opinions concerning the proposed extension of hours for the sale of packaged liquor during the regular meeting Tuesday evening in City Hall. The proposed change would allow sales beginning at noon on Sundays. Currently sales can begin at 1 p.m. The State allows sales to begin at 11 a.m. A vote is scheduled for next meeting.

The Council also received a letter from the Carthage Christian Ministerial Alliance, signed by eight ministers, expressing the desired to leave the Sunday hours stand.

A spokesperson for the group, J.P. Wilson of the Restoration Outreach Church challenged the Council to take a brave step and reduce the number of hours package stores can be open on Sundays. The Council has been advised by the current and past City Attorney that the City may not prohibit the sale of liquor on Sunday because of State statues. Current City Attorney David Mouton told the Council Tuesday they do have the authority to regulate however.

Council member Charlie Bastin opposed the change characterizing it as a "battle with the devil."

Outstanding Older Worker Contest.

news release

The Area Agency on Aging Region Ten announces Missouri’s 11th Annual Outstanding Older Worker 2001 Contest. The contest is held to recognize the unique contributions an older worker brings to the work force and to encourage employers to hire the older worker.

The Missouri Senior Employment Coordinating Committee, a statewide committee that helps promote the hiring of older workers, sponsors the contest.

To be eligible for nomination, the nominee must be 55 years of age or older, gainfully employed at a Missouri job site, and a Missouri resident.

Any Missouri business may nominate an employee by completing a nomination form and attaching a narrative that includes: (1) contributions to the company; (2) additional or new skills learned since beginning employment with the company; and (3) description of the nominee’s other community involvement. Nomination forms with narrative must be postmarked by February 28, 2001.

One semi-finalist will be selected from each of the seven service delivery areas of the state. Statewide recognition events are planned for April 2001. Activities will include an expense paid trip to Jefferson City, a tour of the State Capitol, and meeting with elected officials.

Nomination forms may be obtained by contacting the Missouri Division of Aging at P.O. Box 1337, Jefferson City, MO 65102, (573) 751-3082, the Area Agency on Aging, (417) 781-7562, or the VantAge Point, (417) 627-0600.

I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken.

When I saw the announcement that Bill Putnam had filed for City Council in the evenin’ newspaper a couple a days ago, I thought somethin’ was amiss. But fact is Putnam filed back in December.

With that information I must now make a retraction to the correction we printed yesterday. We don’t want to take credit for somethin’ we don’t earn, and since we reported the facts in a timely manner in the first place, there’s nothin’ more for me ta say.

In other preelection tidbits, First Ward Council member H.J. (Just Jake) Johnson announced at the meetin’ he will not seek reelection. Member Lugene Clark said if nobody files for 5th Ward she may file.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I recently purchased a 1995 Ford Contour with traction control. On the dash it has a pushbutton switch to turn off the traction control. Nowhere in the operating instructions does it state when it’s appropriate to turn off the traction control. Since the traction control is automatic, it operates only when needed. So why would you want to turn it off? -Ken.

RAY: Excellent question, Ken. Traction control is a nice, new feature that uses the anti-lock brake sensors at the wheels to determine if a wheel is slipping. If it detects that one wheel is going faster that the other, it applies the brakes to that wheel until it regains traction. That helps the car from slipping around in the rain and snow. And it works pretty well.

TOM: And the only reason you might turn it off is when it’s working too effectively. For example, let’s say you’re parked on top of a pile of snow. You step on the gas and the wheels start to turn, but they can’t get much traction in the snow. The traction control does what it’s supposed to do; it uses the brakes to stop the wheels from spinning. The problem is, now you can’t get out of the parking space.

RAY: And in that case, you really do want the wheels to spin. So you’d turn the traction control off and start moving back and forth, back and forth...letting the friction from the spinning wheels melt the snow as you move a little farther forward and a little farther backward each time. And if you do that long enough...

TOM: You’ll eventually burn out your clutch! And end up with your wheels a foot deep in snow. Sometimes you just have to know when to give up and get some help.