Today's Feature

Approved Future Power Purchase.

The Carthage City Council met Tuesday evening in a regular session. The council approved an ordinance authorizing the future purchase of power from the Plum Point Power Plant Project which is to be completed in 2010.

Council member Bill Welch asked about placing price limits on the agreement and about an approximate cost per unit. Carthage Water and Electric Plant General Manager Bob Williams informed the Council that the price would be based on the cost of construction as this agreement would make the City of Carthage partial owner of the plant. Williams assured Welch that the prices were competitive. The item was passed unanimously.

Council also heard an update of events for the Powers Museum from Museum Curator Michelle Hansford. Hansford told the Council that the final day of the season for the museum this year would be Saturday, December 17th and updated on projects including the Veterans’ Oral History program.

Council members Ronnie Wells and Diane Sharits not in attendance of the meeting.

One Day Closure Allows For Repairs.

News release.

Director of Revenue Trish Vincent announced today all license offices will be closed on Saturday, December 17.

The Office of Administration has required facility maintenance at the Harry S. Truman State Office Building in Jefferson City, which mandates an electrical shutdown that will impact the statewide driver and licensing system and prohibits offices statewide from completing customer transactions.

"I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our customers, and I appreciate your patience with this unexpected closure," said Vincent.

Electricity and therefore the statewide systems will be shut down from Saturday, December 17 from 6 a.m. to midnight. Office hours for the week of Monday, December 19 will not be affected.

Stench Report:
Wednesday,
12/14/05

No Stench Reported

I’ve got an engine timin’ light and a dwell meter that haven’t been used in prob’ly fifteen or twenty years. If you’re not familiar with the terminology those are instruments that were used for fine tunin’ an automobile engine. These days cars don’t have points ta be set (dwell meter) and they’re locked in so ya can’t change the timing (light).

I’m not sayin’ I miss the procedure, and I’m sure the new computerized engine controls fine tune better than I ever could.

I also don’t sit and watch a tv show that I don’t particularly care for just because I don’t want to get outa the easy chair. Click, boring. There are things I miss doin’ on occasion, but I don’t have the space or inclination to share ‘em with ya.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 170,000 miles that is now on its fourth water pump replacement in less than one year’s time. My mechanic is completely baffled by this. He has checked with the supplier and the dealership from which he purchased the last two pumps. They told him that there have been no major problems associated with these water pumps. I was hoping to keep this car until at least 200,000 miles, but it is getting to be annoying to have it in the shop every 6,000 miles for a water-pump replacement. It’s getting to be almost as frequent as an oil change? Advice? - Neal

RAY: That’s no fun. We used to have a customer like that. He’d drive up and say, "Fill ‘er up, and change the oil and water pump!"

TOM: My only guess, Neal, is that your belt is too tight for some reason. Have you been finding it difficult to choke down that second dessert lately?

RAY: He means the drive belt, Neal - the belt that runs the water pump and the other accessories. If the belt is too tight, it’ll pull on the water-pump shaft, which will make the bearings fail and the pump leak.

TOM: So what could cause an overly tightened belt? Well, if you had the belt replaced, say, four water pumps ago, someone could have used the wrong belt and installed one that’s too small.

RAY: This vehicle uses an automatic belt tensioner. Perhaps it was replaced at some point with a faulty one, and it’s continually overtightening the belt.

TOM: Look for something that’s causing the belt to be too tight which is putting stress on the water pumps and wearing them out. And let us know if you fix it - that’s when we plan to dump our water-pump stock.

RACING
by Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Roush, Toyota and NASCAR Franchising

There has been lots of talk recently about NASCAR limiting owners to a maximum of four teams beginning in 2006. Many have accused NASCAR of singling out Jack Roush’s team, which fields five of the best Ford teams in the business.

Accordingly, Roush is and should be concerned because he’s the sport’s only full-time five-car-team owner. However, this heat comes in a somewhat disguised form. Loopholes like a "puppet" owner or selling the team for $1 to a friend would be difficult legally to oppose.

Toyota is the "trump card" in NASCAR’s decision to cap Nextel Cup team owners. Toyota has deep pockets and a proven commitment to winning, and it’s common knowledge that Toyota is the next candidate on the Cup doorstep.

Toyota’s coming presence in Nextel Cup seems to be a major reason why NASCAR decided to limit owners to four teams. Now the sanctioning body has a good year or two to get it all worked out.

In ending, if you think five Roush Fords caused concern in this year’s Chase, fast-forward a few years to an eight-car Toyota Avalon Chase field resulting from full-time TRD ownership, aka "support."

That would really do wonders for the fan base, manufacturer support and the Nielsens. Especially the Nielsens.