Today's Feature

Crisis Center Benefit.

A benefit for the Carthage Crisis Center will be held at Precious Moments Park from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 18. "Sodalicious Moments" will offer ice cream floats for just $1.50 at the park. All proceeds go to the Carthage Crisis Center.

"The Crisis Center basically is to give those who are homeless not only a place to live, but help in getting back on their feet by building spiritual footing and dealing with issues in their life," said Marilyn Bisbee, Director of the Crisis Center. "We want them to be able to become independent by getting a job and leaving here with spiritual encouragement." The Crisis Center is located at 420 Lyon Street in Carthage and can be reached at 358-3533.

At the event, for each ice cream float purchased a ticket will be given to be placed in prize drawings. Prizes will consist of $20 Precious Moments Gift Shop certificates, beautiful Precious Moments dolls, figurines, Hotel and Park packages, Souper Sam’s lunch buffet vouchers, and more. Any guest who brings an item for donation to the Crisis Center will receive another drawing ticket to be placed in the drawings. Donations needed most are of money, cleaning supplies, or paper goods. Other items needed include razors, shaving cream and deodorant.

Items purchased in the Precious Moments gift Shop from 5-7 p.m. will be 10% off, including clothing, jewelry, baby items and figurines.

Entertainment for the event will be provided by Duke Mason, a regular performer at the Park.

Other entertainment will be provided by 23-year-old Carthage native Sarah Tilton and Annette Price of Carl Junction both of whom will sing.

Hot rods and Christian Motorcyclist Association motorcycles will be on display in the main parking lot.

Stench Report:
Monday,
7/17/06

No Stench Detected on Carthage
Square

If you stand in the silence, you can almost hear the braying of some lonesome old mule still searchin’ for the good old days when four legged creatures dictated the path to the future. It is a romantic time to read about in some book, but the current realities of transportation and the fluid changes in economic factors make the horse and buggy days a lot less appealing.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Rabies, With Few Exceptions, Is Fatal

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have my dogs vaccinated for rabies, but I wonder how necessary this is. I have never heard of a case of rabies. From what animals can people get it? Is it treatable and curable? What actually is it? -- O.R.

ANSWER: In the United States and Canada, very few rabies cases are seen in a year, and almost none from domestic animals like cats and dogs because of our policies requiring pet vaccinations. Around the world, however, there are about 55,000 rabies cases annually, and just about 100 percent die from the infection if they are not treated.

Raccoons, skunks, foxes, wolves and coyotes are the principal carriers of the rabies virus. The No. 1 rabies spreader is bats.

The virus in saliva, transferred from a bite, causes no symptoms for one to three months. At that point, the bitten person comes down with a headache, fever, muscle aches, fatigue and loss of appetite -- all common to many other illnesses. One to four days later, the person becomes confused and hallucinates. Muscles go into violent spasms. Saliva and tear production increase markedly. The thought of taking a drink sets off a painful series of contractions of the swallowing muscles. That’s the famous hydrophobia -- fear of water -- rabies sign. Quickly, the person then slips into a coma, and death is inevitable. Recently, a young woman in Wisconsin did survive rabies.

If a person is immunized soon the illness does not develop. That is why, if bitten, it is so important to observe domestic animals whose rabies vaccination is doubtful and to send the brain of the wild animal to the state lab when it is possible to do so. Today, only five shots, given over one month, can abort rabies.