Today's Feature

Heard the Sweeper Bids.

Half of the Public Works Committee met Tuesday evening. Committee members Bill Johnson and Diane Sharits were the only two committee members present. The two decided to proceed with the meeting without voting on any items and so the meeting was held without a quorum.

Street Commissioner Tom Shelley presented the bids for street sweeper replacement. Three bids were received by the Street Department. All bids were within the amount budgeted for a three year lease/purchase agreement. According to Shelley the best bid was that received from Key Equipment for an Elgin Crosswind sweeper. The net bid including trade-in of the current sweeper was $103,000. Financing through Key Equipment would run a yearly rate of $36,037.64 for three years.

Committee members requested that City Administrator Tom Short look into the price difference having the purchase financed through another source. The bids will be presented to City Council without a recommendation from the committee.

Public Works Director Chad Wampler also spoke to the committee members about an item that would shorten the time-frame for smaller boundary adjustments, split plats and re-plats.

The current method of approval for these types of changes brings the request through two meetings of the planning and zoning meetings and through two Council meetings. If the changed method is approved smaller jobs such as these could be approved by a City staff shortening the turnaround times some projects by as much as 3 months. Wampler told the Committee that he and Tom Short had been looking into a way for the City to recover expenses for recording the land changes for the project as well. This would require an additional section to be added to the proposal. The price mentioned at the meeting was $200, but that amount would cover only City expenditures. Short and Wampler told committee members that they would continue to research the matter.

Stench Report:
Tuesday,
09/6/05

No Odor

I see several of the "regular" artists are returnin’ this year to the Midwest Gathering of the Artists. It’s always fun to see what they’ve been up to over the last year.

Most have found a type of painting or artwork that is popular an therefore sells the best, but many show more diversity than ya might think. Some work in different mediums than they are typically associated with. Say a painter that also does sculptin’ or does pen and ink drawin’s also.

Since most of these folks make at least a good portion of their livin’ from sellin’ their work, they are more than happy to tell ya a story or two about their particular creations.

This weekend will be a good time to see some top notch art and get a chance to learn a little from the artists themselves.

Saturday and Sunday at Memorial Hall.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

Recently, I had my tires rotated. After driving about 100 miles, I started noticing a bumpy noise. It felt like a flat tire, but I kept checking and the tires tooled fine. After another 40 miles, it was getting a lot worse. The tires still looked good, but I checked the lug nuts this time. All the lug nuts were so loose on the driver’s-side front wheel that they almost fell off in my hand. Did driving on this wheel like that cause any other damage to my car? Folks at my office said it could have, but the guy who forgot to tighten my lug nuts said it was OK. Thank you. - Judy

TOM: Jeez! We’re glad you caught it when you did, Judy. As someone who has seen his rear wheel pass him on the highway, I can tell you it’s not a fun experience. Exciting, yes. Fun, no.

RAY: This is what happens when the coffee truck shows up. Guys drop whatever they’re doing and wander out for that irresistible cheese Danish. They forget what they were in the middle of, and then somebody drives off without any oil or with loose lug nuts.

TOM: Aside from the fact that your life was in danger, Judy, you’ve probably done no other damage to the car. Once in a great while, you’ll see a loose wheel actually cut into the wheel studs (the things that the wheel nuts screw onto). But those wheel studs are tough and most likely, no damage was done.

RAY: But to make yourself (and us) feel better, get a second opinion. On our Web site (www.cartalk.com), you’ll find a service called the "Mechan-X-File," which is a database of mechanics personally recommended by our readers and listeners. Enter you ZIP code, find one who sounds good to you, and have him double-check your wheel studs for damage. And if you like the guy, make him your new mechanic, because you need one.

RACING
By Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Funny Corvairs

Q: I’ve been a big Corvair fan all my life, and I know there have been many successful Corvair race cars. Do you remember the drag-racing Corvair Funny Cars? I recall "Seaton’s Shaker" as one of the most popular and fastest. Was it the all-time fastest? I am now 68 years old and saw that car run many times. — Cal, Spokane, Wash.

A: Cal, the Corvair was indeed a big hit in drag racing, especially in Funny Car form. The first Corvair that won a big race was none other than Doug Thorley’s "Doug’s Headers" Corvair that won the inaugural NHRA Funny Car Class Eliminator at the 1967 NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indy. His ’68 Corvair held the speed record at the time at 192.30 mph, but was eventually bettered by Terry Hedrick driving the Pete Seaton-owned "Seaton’s Super Shaker" that you mentioned.

I also remember the ill-fated Pisano and Matsubara Corvair that crashed and burned on driver Sush Matsubara’s maiden voyage in a Funny Car.

The fastest-ever list reads like this: 1) Terry Hedrick’s Seaton’s Super Shaker with a run of 7.34 seconds at 198.79 mph; 2) Pisano’s Corvair, 7.435 at 195.64; 3) Bob Smith’s run in the "Just 4 Chevy Lovers" ’66 Corvair, 7.680 at 179.64; and 4) Doug Thorley’s ’68 Corvair, 7.690 at 192.30.