Main Street Carthage and The City of Carthage will hold a public hearing Thursday, June 5th, at 4 p.m. in the Main Street office at 335 S. Main. The hearing is required by the State as part of the Community Development Block Application (CDBG) Process. The hearing will allow citizens of Carthage the opportunity to discuss a CDBG grant. The Maximum (matching) grant amount is $300,000, with the proposed budget of approximately $125,000. The private, matching dollars are secured.

The City is proposing to make infrastructure ( sidewalks and curbs) improvements to the block on the west side of the square.

"We will record the input of citizens present and will hopefully be able to officially note the Carthage does care about the downtown business district," say Main Street Director Carol Green.

All citizens of Carthage are invited to voice their concerns and questions about the proposed application which has been in process since October of 2002. The hearing will also record a "needs assessment" as determined by the citizens present.

Spent last weekend around a lot a people, most of ‘em I didn’t know. Lota things goin’ on at a fairly fast pace with little time for thinkin’ ‘bout what was goin’ on. It’s strange how interactin’ with people is so much different than just watchin’ an event as a spectator or watchin’ the tv.

The thing that is most different is the day after. Bits and pieces of the day before keep floatin’ to the top of the mind. It seems when ya actually participate in some activity, the brain pays more attention and in makes a more lastin’ impression.

I suppose those who worry ‘bout kids playin’ so much with electronic games and watchin’ so much tv are concerned with the lack of real life interaction bein’ somehow shallow or lackin’ in the human experience. After all, nothin’ compares with a good game a checkers with grandpa.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune- Brooks Hospital

TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH

By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

At What Age Can Pap Smears be Stopped?

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 73-year-old woman with two doctors who give me different answers on Pap smears. One tells me I don’t need them at my age. The other says I do. I don’t want to risk letting cancer go undetected, but I would like to stop having Pap smears. Is there a safe age when they can be stopped? — K.M.

ANSWER: Every woman needs to make a slight bow when she hears the words "Pap smear." In 1943, Dr. George Papanicolaou (the "Pap" of Pap smear), a pathologist, devised this method for early detection of cervical cancer. The cervix is the necklike extension of the uterus. It is one of the most common cancer sites in women.

Since introduction of the Pap smear, cervical cancer deaths have decreased by 75 percent. Few other medical tests have done so much for so many.

Your two doctors are not the only ones who disagree. Many cancer experts say that a woman is not courting danger by stopping Pap smears at age 65 if her previous Pap smears have been normal. Others say a woman should wait until 70 to stop the smears. They can be stopped then if the woman has had three or more smears in the previous 10 years and they were normal. If your smears have been normal, then both schools would let you stop testing now.