Today's Feature

Council Approves TIF Termination.

Carthage City Council approved an ordinance terminating the development agreement regarding the Precious Moments TIF District at the meeting Tuesday.

This item has been postponed from its second reading several times while the details of the agreement were being arranged. The agreement includes the annexation of over 800 acres of Precious Moments property into the City and the redistribution of funds previously paid into the TIF by Precious Moments.

The construction of a new distribution center on the property allows claim to some of the money in the TIF. Precious Moments is to receive approximately $112,000 in reimbursement.

The TIF has been in place for more than 10 years and its termination leaves a remainder which is to be divided between the taxing entities including the City, County and School District. The amount remaining is approximately $400 thousand.

According to Mayor Kenneth Johnson, fund will not be released until the annexation process begins.

Stench Report:
Wednesday,
08/10/05

No Reports of Stench

With PM opting out of the TIF District, a good chunk of that money will be freed up and returned to all taxing entities that participated. That includes the City, the County, and particularly the R-9 School district. PM had some claim to funds due to recent new construction. The settlement price was a little over a hundred thousand with the remainder dispersed to the entities.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

For the past 11 years I have lived overseas, and I will be returning to the states in about 18 months. My trusted mechanics have all been out of business, the country or both, and I now return home to retire, a stranger in a strange land, so to speak. How would you guys go about determining who runs a good shop> I know nothing about cars and am at the mercy of the mechanic, except in rare instances. How would one go about identifying an honest, skilled mechanic? - Morgan

TOM: Word of mouth is really the best way to find someone good. And since "word of mouth" has now moved to the internet, in the form of things like Craig’s List, the internet should be useful too.

RAY: A few years ago, we started a referral place on our web site where people could recommend great mechanics to each other. And it’s worked very well.

TOM: It’s called the Mechan-X Files. You put in your ZIP code, specify how many miles from that ZIP code you’re willing to go, and it spits out a list of nearby shops that have been recommended by other readers of our column and listeners to our radio show.

RAY: You get customer ratings on a bunch of issues like honesty, price, how they treat female car owners, and how they respond when they make mistakes. Then you can read specific comments by their customers.

TOM: So try the Mechan-X Files, Morgan. It’s at the top left corner of our home page, www.cartalk.com. And if others out there have a mechanic they really love, tell us about him or her at the Mechan-X Files.

RACING
By Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

NASCAR vs. Baseball

Q: Greg, I really enjoy racing, and the fact that NASCAR Nextel Cup racing is ranked right up there with pro baseball and football and is growing in popularity. Why can’t baseball and football players be more like NASCAR drivers, who always give lots of autographs? I’ll never get a baseball player’s autograph on a baseball unless I pay for it! — Earl, Spokane, Wash.

A: Earl, thanks to Don Hawk, NASCAR’s Director of Regional Racing Development and also the founder of his own company, Hawk Sports Management, I can give you a great example.

Hawk told me recently that he had a close friend involved with both NASCAR and minor-league baseball. Said Hawk, "He knew I was a marketer of sorts, and he also knew Bill Giles, owner of the Philadelphia Phillies. Giles wanted to know why his seats were empty and the NASCAR seats were full, and he flew me to a game in Philadelphia. I remember that night well, and there were a lot of empty blue seats Hawk told Giles that the worst thing that happened to baseball was the players going on strike.

"The strike alienated the fans, who would have to pay more for a ticket because of it," Hawk continued. "They weren’t about to forget it. Then, I told Mr. Giles to take a close look at the players on the field warming up before the game. Not one was interacting with the fans."

Hawk went on to explain that if he ran the Phillies, he would make sure every player just "happened" to have a Sharpie pen in his back pocket and would be ready to sign those autographs and interact with fans.