Light Renovation.

The Jasper County Courthouse lobby was illuminated by a new set of nine chandeliers last week. The project to renovate the original look and feel of the corridors of the main floor was initiated by the Courthouse Historic Preservation Committee and funded by grants from the Helen S. Boylan Foundation, the Steadley Trust, the Ruth Kolpin Foundation and the Carthage Community Foundation. The total cost of the fixtures and installation was approximately $30,000.

Mudstock 2004.

Preparations are under way for the annual Mudstock event that is organized by the Carthage Police Department and Carthage D.A.R.E. Myers Park will again be the site for participants to slide and slip through a mud pit this Saturday from noon until 3 p.m. The Carthage Fire Department also provides plenty of water to rinse down with during the day.

The cost of the project is less than $500 to the City with other funding and considerations provided by various organizations and individuals.

Whenever I find a conversation goin’ to far in talkin’ ‘bout the "good ol’ days" I always bring up the topic of cookstoves and outhouses. That will usually bring folks back to their senses. Although there are prob’ly a lot of good stories about these particular articles of fascination, most I’ve talked to don’t want to go back quite that far.

Wood cookstoves have some charm for sure, but havin’ ta get up and stoke the fire on a cold mornin’ usually isn’t a fond memory (unless someone else did the stokin’).

Outhouses are always a good conversation generator. Cold mornin’s and hot summer days seem to be the most mentioned rememberances I hear. Thunder buckets don’t seem ta be much missed either. A simpler time maybe, but not without a price.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

 

 

by

Carthage Printing

THIS IS A HAMMER

By Samantha Mazzotta

Batty Over Bats? Not Anymore

Q: We recently built a room over our garage, and a bat started living in the air vent window on the screen. An exterminator suggested during a casual conversation that I squirt the bat with water — they will fly away because they don’t like to get wet. But after a couple of days I noticed that the bat was back. One day, I had my vacuum cleaner in the area. I pulled out the hose attachment and put it up to the bat. He’s never been back since. Between the sound and the unusual vacuum feeling, I don’t think the bat will return — at least not to that window vent. I thought you might use this tip in your column. — Darlene W., via e-mail

A: That’s a heck of a tip, Darlene! I’ve been fortunate not to have to deal with bats, although I’ve evicted quite a few mice, bugs, raccoons and snakes from houses in my lifetime.

Bats, like other wildlife, can be difficult to chase away once they’ve settled in. For these little guys, professionals will typically use either a chemical repellent to make the environment an undesirable one to live in, or an ultrasonic device that just annoys the heck out of the bats until they leave. A vacuum cleaner, while not ultrasonic, may produce sound vibrations that bats don’t like. Of course, prodding them with the hose attachment might speed things along, too.

However, I wouldn’t recommend touching wildlife, except as a last resort. Small creatures like raccoons, squirrels and bats are just as likely to bite in self-defense as run away, and rabies is a danger, among other things. If common deterrents (like locking down garbage can lids and spritzing ammonia on surfaces commonly visited) don’t work, then removal is the next option.

Contact a wildlife removal specialist to handle unwelcome visitors. The professional will come out and set traps (usually "live traps," which capture the animal unharmed) and take away the offending varmint.

Some homeowners are determined to trap wildlife themselves — which is just fine as long as one is willing and able to handle a cage containing a snarling raccoon or a hissing snake — and find a safe (and distant) place to release the creature. However, the fee charged by a licensed wildlife specialist is probably small in comparison to the time it takes to do this yourself, not to mention the risks.