Today's Feature
Approved the Budget.

City Council approved the Annual Operating and Capital Budget for the City of Carthage for the Fiscal Year 2005 at the meeting Tuesday evening.

Council member Ronnie Wells told the council that he would be voting against the ordinance because he did not agree with several points of the new budget. According to Wells the budget calls for spending $300,000 more than what the City has available. The budget also includes a pay increase for City employees and increased personnel for the Police Department which Wells said was ill-timed given the already tight budget.

Council members in favor of adopting the budget included Jackie Boyer, Bill Welch, Tom Flanigan, Jim Woestman, Claude Newport, Dave Woods and Mike Harris. Wells was opposed. Council members Diane Sharits and Bill Johnson were not in attendance of the meeting.

Fire Chief John Cooper expressed concerns to the Council concerning the dry and hot weather lately and the approach of July 4th. Cooper said he urges the public to use great care in lighting fireworks as the risk of fire is very high.

No matter how calm we spoke, or how much we petted that dog, it wouldn’t move away from its security furniture.

I don’t suppose it really hurt anything that the dog was so fearful of a rumble or two. There was somethin’ that made us kids want to get the dog to face the thunder.

‘Course we were prob’ly lucky not to be struck down by lightnin’ durin’ some of our adventures durin’ rain storms.

I suppose now there would be some dog shrink tellin’ us that we could somehow work the animal through its fears and make it a more functional pet. The dog lived a normal and healthy live. Sometimes you just have to let shakin’ dogs lay.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have an elderly mother - now over 80 - who drives a 1999 Lincoln Continental. She loves the car, but uses its power seat to position herself within a few inches of the steering wheel and air bag. I’m concerned that she might be seriously injured if the air bag goes off in an accident. Should I pull the fuse on the air-bag circuit? Is there some standard distance between the driver and the air bag that is considered safe? - Jim

TOM: The recommended distance is 10 inches, Jim. That pretty much guarantees that, even when the seat belt stretches in an accident, you’ll end up no closer than 3-5 inches away from the air bag when it’s inflating.

RAY: But so many people benefit from air bags that there are strict rules set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about who can disconnect them and under what conditions.

TOM: So, you have a couple of options, Jim. First, measure your mom’s actual distance from the air bag. It should be measured from the center of the steering wheel to the driver’s sternum. If it’s less than 10 inches, you can play around and try to find a seating position that DOES put the sternum 10 inches away.

RAY: If they’re almost 10 inches away, you can also try pedal extenders.

TOM: If none of that works, then you can get an authorization letter by calling NHTSA’s Auto Safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or going to www.nhtsa.gov. Once you get authorization, you can take the car to a mechanic and have him install an on-off switch for the driver’s air bag.

RAY: So go about it the right way, Jim. The rules are there for a reason.

RACING
By Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Hmiel Suspension Is Racing Rarity

Q: You are always preaching how “clean” NASCAR and other forms of motorsports are when it comes to drug problems we have in other major sports. Well, Shane Hmiel flunked a drug test for the second time and was suspended indefinitely. I guess your sport isn’t that clean after all. — Eddie K., basketball fan from Charlotte, N.C.

A: It’s a shame that someone of Hmiel’s talent has again failed a substance-abuse test after being given a second chance. Citing “reasonable suspicion,” the procedure used by NASCAR to initiate the testing, Hmiel was tested after qualifying at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend. NASCAR informed him of the results the following Friday at Dover International Speedway, and Hmiel immediately left the facility. I am in no way trying to protect Hmiel, nor am I a fan of his. However, in fairness, I hope he receives help for whatever substance-abuse problems he might have.

I’m also standing on my conviction that professional motorsports — be it NASCAR, NHRA, IRL, Champ Car, American Lemans or whatever — is a cleaner sport than the others when it comes to substance-abuse problems.

Overall, we’ve had way less problems in major-league motorsports than the others. I hope Hmiel cleans up his act and, if NASCAR sees fit, perhaps gets one last chance after a very long layoff — I’m talking one to two years here.