The City Council held their regular meeting Tuesday evening in City Hall. Students from Carthage High School’s Student Council set in the seats of Council members, staff and city officials as part of Student Government Day. The students did the majority of the reporting on such matters as reports of standing committees, staff reports and reports of Special Committees and Board Liaisons. The youth were prompted by their designated Council members, staff and city officials on what to say and do.

The Council voted unanimously in favor of authorizing the Mayor to enter into agreements with the Carthage Youth Softball program for the use of the girls fields at Fair Acres, the American Legion Baseball for the use of Carl Lewton Stadium, the Adult Soccer League for the use of the utility field at Fair Acres and the Carthage Little League Association for the use of the boys baseball fields at Fair Acres.

The Council approved a resolution that concerns the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan of Jasper County for Carthage in the effort to become a Disaster Resistant Community. This plan is up for readoption every five years.

Carthage High School student Becca Smith, sitting in for Council member Claude Newport, ask what the plan was all about?

Fire Chief John Cooper explained that the Harry S. Truman Coordinating Council wrote the plan for Jasper County that is required in order to apply for funding in case of a disaster.

"It’s a plan that has to be place," said Cooper. "In case the City should ever need to apply for disaster relief funding."

The plan states that the City of Carthage recognizes that no community is immune to disaster and has the desire to become more resistant to disasters.

Emergency Shelter Program.

According to the Jasper County Commission Emergency Shelter Program Grant Applications must be returned to their office, Room 101 in the Carthage Courthouse by May 3rd.

The Emergency Shelter Program Grants are sponsored by the Missouri Department of Social Services and administered by Jasper County. The grants are dispersed to Jasper County non-profit shelters who meet the needs of the homeless (shelter, food, health and education).

A meeting will be held to address how much funding is available and the distribution of the funds April 26th at 10 a.m. in the Commissioner’s office in the Carthage Courthouse.

Have ya ever noticed how things come in clumps? Course ya have, ever’one knows about the clump clause.

Mechanics know of this phenomenon. All the sudden ever’one that comes in has a starter bad. Next week it will be shock absorber problems, the next brakes. Seems that ever’one is on the same cycle.

‘Course clumps aren’t confined to mechanical things, any random activity at one time or another gets rolled into a clump.

I went for nearly ten years without havin’ a car accident, then about fifteen years ago I had three within’ a six month period. What scares me is whether that was the only clump of accidents I will have, or if it was just a forewarnin’ of what to expect. Ever’day I make it without an accident, may be pilin’ up in a clump some where, just waitin’.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

By Tom and Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

A friend of mine, Chris (his real name), is about to buy a U.S.-made car, brand-new, off the showroom floor. I suggested that he might want to consider buying a model of which lots of units are sold. It’s my idea that the more popular a car is, the less likely he will be to end up with a lemon. Also, if a car is common, repairs and replacement parts might cost less. Is this a good strategy for buying a new car, or am I all wet? — Gary.

TOM: Well, you’re not all wet, Gary. But you are a little damp.

RAY: You’re right when it comes to parts and service. If you buy a Ford Taurus or a Chevy Impala, parts are going to be cheaper and easier to find. This will be particularly true as the car gets older, because there will always be a good-size group of owners maintaining demand for parts. And later on, you’ll have plenty of junkyard parts to choose from, too, since what’s popular on the roads eventually becomes popular in junkyards.

TOM: You’ll also find more mechanics who are willing and able to fix them, simply because more of their customers drive them. So, your advice is good from a parts-and-service point of view.

RAY: But you’re wrong about avoiding a lemon. As far as we can tell, there’s nothing about a car’s popularity that makes it less likely to have model-wide defects. You might remember that DaimlerChrysler had to recall 1.3 million of its popular minivans for rear latches a few years ago. And Ford Motor Company just recalled 1.2 million Tauruses and Sables because their air filters can catch fire. So, popularity is no guarantee against design flaws.