Up The Ante.

The City Council Public Services Committee voted Tuesday evening to apply for an additional $200,000 in funding from the Missouri Veterans Commission toward $1.2 million in Memorial Hall renovations. A grant of about $400,000 has already been approved by the Commission, but that funding was based on the architects estimate for the project of approximately $800,000.

The Committee also will recommend that the City commit at least $400,000 to the project. Since the grant from the Veterans Commission is based on a 50/50 match, the City will need to up their commitment to $600,000 and hope additional grants from the Steadley Trust and the Boylan Foundation materialize.

According to City Administrator Tom Short, the City has received a commitment from the Steadley Trust for up to $100,000 to match a grant from the Boylan Foundation. It will be late August before the Boylan Board meets for a decision.

The original proposal approved by the Council used $200,000 City funds, a $400,000 Veterans grant, and $100,000 each from the Boylan Foundation and Steadley Trust.

Missouri Sends 4-H’ers
To Congress.

news release

Over 330 of Missouri’s finest 4-H’ers attended the 56th Annual State 4-H Congress: "Surf 4-H... to the extreme" June 6-8 on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. Attendees from all corners of the state came together for exciting workshops, leadership training, elections and fun.

Delegates to congress had the opportunity to sign up for "learnshops," interactive workshops that explored issues such as leadership, values, creativity, technology, writing and service.

Participants also had the opportunity to select the leadership of Missouri 4-H for the 2001-2002 program year. Lisa Rees, Jasper County; Rebekah Morrison, Greene County and Nathan Griffith, Newton County were selected to represent the southwest region as regional representatives to the state 4-H council.

Bradley Moll, Jasper County, ran for the position of Vice-President on the State 4-H Council. He will serve as a state representative for the upcoming year. Twenty-nine 4-H’ers attended State 4-H Congress from the sixteen counties of the southwest region.

Congress participants not only learned and worked while in Columbia, they had fun as well. One workshop focused on the art of swing dancing, others on opportunities for international 4-H travel, flight simulation, the creation of simulated cities, and placing Congress memories on the Internet. The Congress, sponsored by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and Hallmark Cards, Inc., is an excellent opportunity for our talented and hard working 4-H’ers to gain life skills in a unique environment. For some, it is their introduction to what college life is like.

The Public Services Committee decided recommend not acceptin’ any bids on the Hall project at this time. Instead they are gonna ask that all bid expiration dates be extended until the City finds out how much money it can get ahold of.

The project has moved out of the what we can afford stage into what do we sacrifice to get it done arena. This particular project represents only about half of the work that is on the drawin’ board.

At this point considerin’ scalin’ back on the project to get it back in budget was not an option the Committee wanted to discuss. The $400,000 put up by the City to get the initial grant from the Veterans Commission is now firmly entrenched in the budget, with more likely to be needed. The pressure is on.

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 have a 1985 Pontiac Sunbird with 38,500 miles. A couple of weeks ago, my husband forgot to put the cap back over the oil filler tube under the hood. About 30 miles later, I was going slow through a residential neighborhood and noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. I phoned my husband and he came and put the oil filler cap back on, wiped off the surrounding area with a rag, and filled the car back up with oil. The car ran fine after that.

Three days later, about after 50 more miles of driving, I came to a Stop sign and the car went dead. No warning! I phoned my husband, who insisted on putting a "tow rope" on my car so his car could pull the car home, with me in the driver’s seat. I was against the idea, but he insisted. The tow rope became tangled up in one of the front wheels, and damaged a "boot" on the inside part of the wheel.

After several days of work, my husband replaced the boot, but the car still won’t start. My husband says that no gasoline is being pumped into the engine. He says the gas filter is dry. He insists this has nothing to do with leaving the oil filler cap off, and oil spilling all over the engine. Is this true?- Charlotte

RAY: Yes, it is true, Charlotte. Your current problem sounds like a bad fuel pump or fuel pump relay to me, which your husband will probably figure out after six or eight months of playing around with it in his driveway. And it is unrelated to him leaving the oil filter off last week.

TOM: However, we are not prepared to leave him off the hook entirely. After all, he did insist on towing your car with a rope. And that manuever rates pretty far up there on the knucklehead scale.