Today's Feature
Citizens Speak to Safety Committee.

The Public Safety Committee met Tuesday evening in a regular session.

Citizen’s participation included a request for street closure from Paul Fields of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1338 E. Fairview. Fields told the committee of an upcoming musical presentation at the church October 6-8 in the evenings from approximately 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Fields asked if the committee would approve the closure of Buena Vista from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on those evenings. The committee discussed concerns about street closure, looked more closely at a map, and determined it to be acceptable. Committee member Jackie Boyer made a motion to grant the request and it was approved unanimously.

Another participant, former Council member Fred Merrill, discussed concerns about abandoned vehicles with the committee. Police Chief Dennis Veach informed Merrill that the City allows one unlicensed vehicle per home. The committee has been approached several times lately about the matter of unused cars left in yards.

Committee chair Mike Harris told Merrill that it is possible at some point in the future that there will be further restrictions on the issue. According to Harris the difficult part in the issue is the discernment in any written code between viable storage situations and situations where cars are left on a more permanent basis. The wording would need to be very specific if any action was to be taken. Harris told Merrill that there would not be any immediate results but the committee is aware that there are needs to be addressed.

Other items at the meeting included a report on Fire engine 613 by Fire Chief John Cooper. Cooper told the committee that the truck had been smoking recently and requiring large amounts of oil. According to an expert the truck is burning oil and will require a new engine or for the current engine to be rebuilt. The truck is a 1985 model and the engine has not previously been rebuilt.

Stench Report:
Tuesday,
09/20/05

Minor stench
around
8:30 a.m..

Now I always thought that was funny and pointed it out to my friend that "approximately" was over kill. Ta me it would a been approximately five and a half miles or just a little over five and a half miles, or even 5.6 miles and twenty-eight feet.

He didn’t think that I was bein’ even approximately humorous. In fact he defended his position and thought I was just bein’ rude to think otherwise.

When I say approximately, I mean within’ a tenth or two. Sometimes even within a mile or two. Shoot, tellin’ fishin’ stories approximately can almost double in size.

Maybe I just don’t have the tolerance for too much precision.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

• "My friend has a really cool way to display photographs. He takes a long piece of clear contact paper, makes color copies of his good photos and sticks them (picture side down) on the contact paper, collage-style. The resulting sheet is easy to hang, and it’s almost like personalized picture wallpaper. It’s really cool!" — A.H. in Pennsylvania

• Line junk drawers in the kitchen or bathroom with inexpensive sheets of cork board. Objects won’t slide around as much, and you can even use pushpins or finishing nails lightly inserted into the cork to make custom compartments in the drawers.

• "I seem to end up with a lot of pens. I drop extras in a small box, and when the box is full, I donate it to my local high school." (Check with your local school first to see if it will accept them.) — V.I. in Missouri

• "Wear oven mitts to protect your hands when clipping roses or other thorny plants." — O.L. in Louisiana