Today's Feature

Public Safety Open Meeting.

The City Council Public Safety Committee will hold a special open meeting this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. According to the notice posted in the Carthage City Hall the committee will meet at the Carthage Police Department and take a tour of the City to observe various conditions. No meeting is scheduled and the notice adds that discussion of the conditions will occur at the next regularly scheduled meeting, January 16th.

One item scheduled for discussion at the January 16th meeting is the proposed ordinance to restrict parking in yards within the City. The committee refined a list of regulations at the previous meeting in order to pass the information to the City Attorney for drafting ordinances.

Restrictions in the proposed ordinance would eliminate front-yard parking, would limit parking in back yards and would require proper covering for vehicles stored in back yards. The committee has had numerous complaints during the last year about vehicles left unattended in front back and side yards. Citizens cited health hazards and unsightly appearance as reasons for complaint.

Stench Report:
Tuesday,
1/3/06

No Stench Detected

Seems any new device need a few "simple" adjustments to perform at its peak. For some reason manufacturers can’t foresee these minor glitches before they put the product out the door. Typically they are fairly simple and user friendly. Ever’ now and then, the simple becomes a true aggravation, and of course what’s simple to some seems overly complex to others.

Even the new improved ink jet printers will want ya to align the print heads before ya use ‘em. I wonder if there is some misalignment that happens in shippin’ or do the producers just not want to be bothered?

I suppose there are those who enjoy fine tunin’ their machines and gain pleasure from bein’ able to accomplish the task. The world lays at their feat.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

• Take a bit of time to prep healthy snacks on Sunday, and then you’ll be able to just grab them throughout the week. Some examples are baby carrots, mixed nuts, pretzels or cut-up fruit.

• "When we come back from traveling, we take our suitcases directly to the laundry room. Almost everything is dirty anyway, and we can put family members’ clean clothes back in the suitcases for them to put away." -- R.A. in Arizona

• "Our family likes to play board games, but we have so many and the boxes are really bulky. We organized a game cabinet, and when possible, we put all the playing pieces and instructions in a large plastic zip-lock bag and write the name of the game on it. When we want to play a game, we just get the bag and the board out. -- I.C. in Louisiana

• "I’m in love with chalkboard paint. We found it at the hardware store, and it makes any surface into a chalkboard. I painted the insides of all my kitchen cabinets and the inside of the pantry door. Now, each family member has a place to write notes to each other, and I have a place to keep a running list of items needed at the store. No clutter!" -- A.O’F. in New York

• "A great way to keep track of dental appointments (for cleanings) is to schedule them in January and July. You know the first one is in the first month, and then another is six months later. No more wondering, ‘When was the last time I had my teeth cleaned?’" -- R.C. via e-mail