Full Evening at City Hall.


City Hall will be fully utilized this evening with three separate meetings taking place. The Public Works Committee will meet at 4:15 for its regular meeting in Council Chambers. The agenda includes discussion of the contract for engineering services from Sprenkle and Associates. The Committee will also consider bids on the improvements and traffic signals for the intersection of Centennial and Garrison.

The Engineering Department is scheduled to present the Committee with preliminary drawings of the proposed roundabout for the Myers Park Development. The new interchange will eventually become the intersection of Garrison and George Phelps Boulevard in the center of the development.

An annexation request from the First Assembly of God is also scheduled to be considered.

The Public Services Committee will meet in the upstairs conference room of City Hall at 5 p.m. The agenda calls for discussion of a budget adjustment for the golf course pro shop and electrical bids for Fair Acres. The Fourth of July Committee will meet in Council Chambers at 7 p.m.

With the heat comin’ in for the summer, it’s a little comforting ta know that Carthage has the ability to generate a portion of the electricity that could be in scarce supply.

Course runnin’ the power plant is more expensive that buyin’ power out in the market right now, but the ability to generate has also turned into a source of revenue the last couple a summers. If the plant can turn a profit sellin’ unused capacity to other distributors, that can in fact help to keep our local rates at a tolerable level.

With Empire lookin’ to increase their rates by close to 20% next fall, Carthage electricity may be the bargain of the region for a while. The savin’s might help to offset the cost of drivin’ your car to the grocery.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing Services

PRIMETIME WITH KIDS

by Donna Erickson

Any abecedarians in your family?

My neighbor called to tell me the spelling dictionary on her computer somehow came up with the wonderful word "abecedarian," defined as "one learning the rudiments of something, such as the alphabet." She couldn’t resist sharing the BIG word with her 5-year-old daughter, Helen, who proudly passed it on to her classroom teacher. Now the schoolchildren chant on cue, "We are abecedarians!"

Why not be abecedarians with your family as you discover the sensory delights of spring? You can document spring first from A to Z when you make a "Spring ABC Book" together.

On each of 26 large index cards, write a letter of the alphabet. For beginners, start with a few letters, such as those in your child’s name. Punch a hole in the corner of each card and attach them together on a metal ring or tie them loosely with ribbon.

LOOK in the woods, in a park or on your block for signs of the spring season. You may discover tiny wildflowers, grass in sidewalk cracks, or newly-made birds’ nests. LISTEN for the sounds of croaking frogs by a pond, the songs of birds or the clicking of skates on the sidewalk. TASTE a rhubarb pie and strawberries.

At home, talk about each discovery. For example, if you saw a butterfly, say the word together. Tell your child butterfly starts with "B." Then find the "B" card and invite your child to make a drawing of a butterfly. Your child may prefer cutting out pictures of butterflies in magazines and gluing them on the card or attaching stickers.