Today's Feature
Woods to Resign from Council.

City Council accepted the resignation of 5th Ward Council member Dave Woods at the regular meeting Tuesday evening. Woods’ last council meeting will be October 11. Mayor Kenneth Johnson stated that the resignation is due to an intended move to Joplin.

McCune-Brooks Hospital CEO Bob Copeland asked the council for increased hospital revenue bonds during the citizen’s participation period of the meeting. The proposal to increase the bonds to $50 million was in its first reading on the agenda. Reasons for the increase as cited by Copeland included an increased price of raw materials, extended maturities on the bonds and an interest increase during construction period.

Copeland told council the invitations for institutional investors will be sent across the United States on October 15th and will close on November 2nd. The project is estimated to take between 18 and 24 months till completion.

Council approved the amended ordinance concerning administrative exemptions for the platting process. The item will change the way smaller split plats and boundary adjustments are processed through the City. It was met with some concerns in its first reading and was amended by the Public Works committee. The amendments included more opportunities for input from the public and City officials. The council bill was passed unanimously.

Other items approved included the Cost Participation Agreement between Carthage and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) for the construction of the Fairview interchange.

Council member Jackie Boyer had stated concerns about the language of the agreement when the item was in its first reading. Boyer reiterated these concerns prior to the approval of the ordinance but added that she would vote for it because the interchange was necessary. She told the Mayor that she feared that change orders might increase the cost of the project beyond the capability of the City. Mayor Johnson assured Boyer that MODOT offered more flexibility than was expressed in the written agreement. The item was approved unanimously.

Stench Report:
Tuesday,
09/28/05

No Odors Reported

Used ta be sound was recognizable. If ya hear hooves clompin’ down the street, you knew a horse was comin’. Now cars are so quiet, or the boom boxes are so loud, you don’t know where the danger is for sure.

Standin’ in a crowd and a cell phone goes off you’d better stay still. With ever’one spinnin’ to check their phone you might get an elbow in the eye.

I’m guessin’ onea the main reasons so many folks like to live outside of town is the limited sound. Sometimes, nothin’ is better.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

I took my car to a mechanic to have a leak checked out. It was losing radiator fluid, and I was concerned. The mechanic said that the problem was with my radiator and that I would need a new one, along with a new thermostat and sensor, which would run about $600. He ordered the parts, but said it would be a few weeks. While I was waiting, I had another mechanic look at the car. He said all it needed was a new radiator cap. He replaced the cap, and now my car is fine! The problem is with the first mechanic, who now says I need to pay a restocking fee - 20 percent of the cost of the parts - because he feels he shouldn’t have to. After all, I wanted the work done. Do I legally have to pay this fee? I feel it was his mistake. What do you think? - David

RAY: We agree with you 100 percent, David. Mechanic No. 1 should be embarrassed to have almost cost you $600 when a $20 radiator cap was all you needed. He should be falling over himself apologizing for failing to check something as obvious as the radiator cap.

TOM: But I guess he’s already figured out that you won’t ever come back to his shop, so now he’s trying to milk you for whatever he can.

RAY: I’d tell him to chase you for it. You’d win, hands down, in any small claims court.

TOM: And by the way, he might not even be telling the truth about the restocking fee. My regular parts suppliers will take parts back if I don’t use them, without any charge. Sometimes you make an educated guess and it turns out to be wrong. Or maybe the customer changes his mind and decides to wait on the repair. So you send back the parts you ordered and get credit or different parts.

RACING
by Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Love Those Rare Funny Cars

Q: Greg, we loved your recent article on the Corvair Funny Cars. What make were the rarest and fastest Funny Cars of them all? — Charles and Peg, Washington

A: There were many wild and different Funny Cars of the ’60s era.I’d have to say the Jeep Funny Cars of the ’60s were the best of the bunch. The original Jeep Funny Car was called the "Secret Weapon," and it was driven by Roger Wolford and owned by Ed Lenarth, the latter also known as a great tuner/builder. The "Secret Weapon" was so fast and consistent that Jeeps were banned by the NHRA from Funny Car action after Wolford and Lenarth ran the 1967 Winternationals.

In 1968, Lenarth debuted the "Holy Toledo" Jeep along with Brian Chuchua, one of the original "Secret Weapon" sponsors. "Holy Toledo" proved to be very fast, and Lenarth won some big Southern California non-sanctioned multi-car match races. Lenarth continued to prove he could drive the now somewhat ill-handling Jeep, as well as build a great engine. He raced until 1971, when an even rarer Lenarth-built Funny Car replaced the Jeep. It was a rear-engine, chain-driven sidewinder creation that was to be fitted with an AMC Gremlin body. Bob Hightower crashed the car before the Gremlin body was finished.