Golf Course Plan On Par.

The City Council Public Services Committee voted Monday evening to recommend that the Council approve the preliminary plans for the Municipal Golf Course renovations. The Committee questioned Park Administrator Alan Bull and Golf Pro Mark Peterson about how current problems would be addressed.

Committee member Jim Woestman questioned the cost of maintaining the increased number of sand traps planned. The current course has 18, the plan calls for an increase to 34. Peterson said he felt the current staff would be able to maintain the new layout.

Bull told the Committee that maintenance was a topic that was constantly discussed with the architects.

"The architect explained their concept of building traps," said Bull. "He explained that their bunkers are basically flat, but they tilt them. When your looking at them from the fairway, they give you the look of a flash bunker, but they are easier to maintain."

The Committee also discussed water runoff, tree removal, cart paths, irrigation and other concerns.

Letter to the Editor

Opinions expressed reflect those of the writer
and not necessarily those of the Mornin' Mail.

I have enjoyed visiting your website. My name is Paul E.Bender and I trace several ancestors to the area around Sarcoxie and more specificially Bowers Mill.

I am descended from early settlers in the area. Some of the names are Thomas Fischer, Abraham Fischer, Martha Keturah Degraffenreid Fischer, Benjamin Ellars and Priscilla Ellars.

I stayed in Carthage in early November while finding the burial site of my 3G grandmother Priscilla Ellars in the Sarcoxie cemetery. I learned that my 2G Uncle was Henry Fischer was killed by Quantrell's raiders. In any event I love the Ozarks and felt very much at home there.

Keep up the good work and I look for relatives names especially in the 100 years ago section. The Fischer's, Ellars married into Jacobs and other names I still find in your local phone book. Thank you for your site.

Paul E. Bender

Normal, Illinois

String Fling This Weekend at Neosho Crowder College.

The Ozark Wilderness Dulcimer Club and the Newton County Historical Society invite the public to attend String Fling and help celebrate acoustic folk music this Saturday at the Elsie Plaster Community Center on the Crowder College Campus in Neosho, Missouri.

Workshops on Mountain Dulcimer, Hammered Dulcimer, Autoharp, Guitar & Penny Whistle will be available. An open Acoustic Stage will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9th.

Admission is $10 for workshops, $5 w/student ID. Food concessions will be available.

Maureen Sellers, Cathy Barton & Dave Para will perform in concert at 7:00 p.m. The concert will be $5 Admission, $2.50 w/student ID.

For more information contact Kathy Friend at 417-455-2318, Ron Crosswhite at 417-781-3562, Christina Connell at 417-358-9679, or Jan Bryan at 417-358-6331.

NASCAR to the Max

The Budweiser Shootout will officially kick off the 2002 NASCAR season this Sunday. The Shootout is a non-points event whose field is comprised of all of the previous years pole winners. The pole winner is the driver who records the fastest lap during qualifying. In addition to pole winners, any previous Shootout winner who did not win a pole is allowed to participate in the Shootout.

This year’s event will be comprised of 18 drivers who won pole positions plus 5 previous Shootout winners who did not win a pole in 2001. The 23 drivers that will start the race is a race record dating back to the race’s inception in 1979. The previous record was 18 in last year’s event.

The race is a sprint, by NASCAR standards, of 70 laps around the 2.5-mile high-banked Daytona International Speedway. Each driver must complete one pit stop under green flag (racing) conditions during which they must change at least two tires. Drivers may pit during a caution period but it would not count as their mandatory stop. Caution laps count toward the total lap count, however, the race is not allowed to end under caution even if more than 70 laps must be run.

Drafting, the practice of two or more cars running nose to tail to achieve higher aerodynamic efficiencies, always plays a role in strategy at Daytona.

There are several teammates in the Shootout who will benefit by having a friendly drafting partner. Having a teammate that will pit when you do also allows both drivers to leave the pits together and draft back up to speed quicker.

Look for the race to play out with little maneuvering for position during the first 50 to 60 laps. The final 10 laps usually get pretty exciting as any pre-arranged drafting agreements are broken and it becomes "every man for himself." The race could favor Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who are used to taking chances and doing things their own way.

The starting grid for Sunday’s Shootout will be determined today by blind draw.

Accordin’ to discussion at the Public Services Committee meet last Monday evening, the City is interested in sellin’ the property located at 116 to the corner W. Third formerly owned by Larry Allen. The Committee is recommending that the buildin’ and property be declared surplus so it can be sold. The Planning, Zoning and Historic Preservation Commission is also bein’ asked to grant a certificate of appropriateness so the structure can be demolished.

The best case scenario for the City is for someone to purchase the property and then either demolish or renovate the structure. If no one wants to take that on, the City will have to demolish the structure and hope to recoup the cost plus the ten grand they paid for the property by sellin’ the land. Either way, the downtown will benefit.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALKS CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

Something that looks like black soot forms on my wheels - especially the front ones. I own a ’96 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with 16-inch polished aluminum gold-painted accent wheels. They are sort of "waffle-style," with lots of cracks and crevices for this stuff to stick between, which makes them a real challenge to clean.

My wife has a ’95 Honda Accord with fancy aluminum wheels, and it has the same problem. How come I don’t remember seeing cars with this problem years ago? Is this because of the materials that they’re making brakes out of now? - Guan

TOM: It’s brake dust, Guan. And it’s not a new phenomenon. The reason you see more of it now is because of all those fancy "waffle style" wheels on the road.

RAY: Most cars used to have wheel covers, which kept the brake dust contained and out of sight. But wheel covers have fallen out of fashion. And now alloy wheels with slots and spokes and holes are all the rage, not only because people think they look nice, but because they weigh less and let more air in, which provides better cooling for the brakes. The downside is that those same holes which let air in, let brake dust out.

TOM: The stuff is harmless, Guan. At least to your car. I mean, I wouldn’t sprinkle any on your corn flakes or anything. But aside from the all-important aesthetic considerations, it’s nothing to worry about.