Today's Feature

Public Works Month-End Report.

Public Works Director Chad Wampler presented the Public Works Committee with the month end report for April at the last committee meeting. The report shows 21 total construction permits issued and total construction costs at $1,519,509.52. The total collected for the month of April was $3,498.46.

Wampler told the committee that this is the largest month he has seen since he took the position but said that he expects even larger very soon with the approach of several extensive commercial projects including the Drake Hotel renovation and an H.E. Williams project. Wampler said he had received the proposed plans for the Drake project and his department was reviewing them. The project will begin within weeks, according to Wampler.

Street Commissioner Tom Shelley also reported at the meeting saying that the new dump truck had arrived but that it still needs to be retrofitted with the spreader which will require its being taken to Springfield.

Carthage City Council meets this evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.

I was always taught to not make judgements based on what others might think. Just look at the situation and do what ya felt was right. That kind of thinkin’ works pretty well for those ever’day type decisions, lets ya be an independent thinker of sorts. But at a deeper level, there has ta be a sense of what depth of independence is acceptable to the community.

I have often wondered, as I passed through other communities, why people live there. I’ve come to the conclusion that folks live in a community ‘cause there are common base values. In other words, ever’one thinks along a similar line. Ya don’t have ta worry what a neighbor thinks, ‘cause ya already know. People live in communities so they can share basic values. ‘Course they still like ta gossip ‘bout those who don’t.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Heart Attack Symptoms Are Often Baffling

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My husband died of a heart attack at age 42. I cannot stop blaming myself for what happened. He said he felt very tired, and he went to sleep in a recliner chair. I went to wake him for dinner, but he did not respond. He had died. I can’t forgive myself for letting this happen. How could I have known he was having a heart attack? — R.R.

ANSWER: You couldn’t have known. Highly trained medical personnel might not have recognized what was happening. Your husband’s death was a tragedy that was not preventable. You have my condolences.

Vague, nonspecific symptoms can herald a heart attack. A doctor friend recounted his heart attack symptoms to me. He was sitting at his desk and found he couldn’t keep his head up because he was so weary. He had to rest it on the desk. He had no pain at all. For at least half an hour he didn’t realize what was happening, and he was trained in these matters. How could you be responsible for not recognizing symptoms that a doctor did not recognize in himself?

The overwhelming fatigue that a heart attack can usher in comes from the sudden decrease in the heart’s pumping action. There’s a drop-off in circulating blood that saps a person’s energy.

Other so-called atypical heart attack symptoms include dizziness, breaking out in a cold, drenching sweat, or an attack of nausea and vomiting. The sudden onset of breathlessness is another tip that a heart attack could be occurring.

If a person experiences these symptoms without chest pain and has reason to believe they might be heart attack symptoms, then a 911 call should be made, and that person, if there are no contraindications, should chew a full-strength, 325-mg aspirin.