Today's Feature

Street Closure for Live Nativity.

The City Council Public Safety Committee met Monday evening in a regular session. Citizen Jess Kessinger was in attendance of the meeting on behalf of the First Baptist Church asking for a street closure. Kissinger told the committee that the church will be presenting a live nativity scene on the two weekends prior to Christmas and asked for partial closure of Sycamore from Garrison to the alley December 8 through 10 and December 15 through 17. The committee approved the motion.

Police Chief Dennis Veach brought a speed limit change to the committee for approval. County Commissioner Jim Honey asked for a speed limit change on Country Club Road. A portion of the road is owned by the City and a portion by the county. Based on a study done by the county the commissioner requested that the portions owned by city and county be changed to 40 miles per hour. Currently the City limit is 30 and the County is 45. The committee approved the motion.

The agenda originally included the discussion of parking in yards but the committee decided to postpone the item due to the absence of committee chair Mike Harris.

Stench Report:
Tuesday,
11/22/05

No Odor Complaints

I’m not much for tryin’ to lift things that weigh more than I do. Ta stand back and look at it, you’d think four people liftin’ a two hunderd pound stove would all individually still be liftin’ two hunderd pounds. Now I suppose that with four liftin’ theoretically all are liftin’ fifty pounds. But in practice the weight of the stove moves around a bit. Especially if onea the friends is slackin’ some.

But then, as they say, you can pick your friends and you can pick your stoves, but ya can’t pick your friends stove.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

I am a 25-year-old graduate student, and I am interested in purchasing an older two-door convertible car that is fun to drive, reliable and relatively inexpensive to maintain/repair. I am looking to spend between $5,000 and $6,000. My question is: Can you recommend a couple of makes and models that might meet my requirements? I really like MGs but I read somewhere that they need frequent maintenance. I appreciate any advice you can offer. Have a great day! - Noah

RAY: Well, my brother has an old MG, Noah. And I can attest to the fact that it never requires any maintenance - only emergency repairs. He’s too busy rebuilding the engine, retrieving wheels that have fallen off and putting out stubborn engine fires to worry about maintenance.

TOM: Actually, if the MG is the type of car you’re looking for then you should set your sights on a Mazda Miata. That basically does everything a classic British sports car was supposed to do, except leak oil.

RAY: And it’s a car that’ll start for you every day. If you go back to the mid-1990’s, you can find a Miata in your price range.

TOM: If you’re open to something a little more offbeat, you might try to find a mid-’90s Honda Del Sol. That’s based on the two-door Civic, so it’s highly reliable.

RAY: Another option is the Toyota MR2. But what I remember about the MR2 is that it has absolutely no room for anything other than two people. I mean, if you want to bring home a shopping bag from the grocery store, you have to rent a U-Haul.

TOM: But you’re 25 years old, Noah. This is no time to worry about complex issues like... acquiring food. There’ll be plenty of time for that later in life. So, live it up. And enjoy your convertible.

RACING
by Greg Zyla
Curry Automotive

NASCAR Changes on the Horizon

Q: Jack Roush said on a recent Speed Channel program ("Wind Tunnel") that perhaps franchising would be the answer when it came to "capping" or limiting the number of teams an owner can field. Is NASCAR changing for the better? And what about that "car of the future"? — Alan, South Carolina

A: Alan, I have been a supporter of franchising teams in NASCAR since 1999, but to be honest, I’m not really sure how I’d go about it. There are many business minds in racing much better than mine, so I’ll leave it to them to figure out exactly how to do it. However, I do feel franchising is important, especially when it comes to owner protection.

Presently, the rights of owners are limited when it comes to current and future values of a team. Now may be a good time for team owners to be looked on more like major-league baseball owners are than as "independent contractors" who pay NASCAR an entry fee to compete. Franchising would change the way NASCAR and team owners do business and open up new avenues if the owner wants to sell. I feel that NASCAR’s new "top 35 in points starts the race" rule is a good beginning.

As for the car of the future, NASCAR’s new spec design "Car of Tomorrow" should hit the track by 2008.