Today's Feature

New Fee Schedule.

The City Council Public Works Committee met Tuesday afternoon in a regular session. Topics of discussion included a proposed new fee schedule for the Public Works Department.

The proposed changes include an increase in sewer, rough-in and finish plumbing permits from $5.00 to $25.00.

The changes also include the addition of fees for excavating, $25, demolition, $25, Certificate of Occupancy change of use, $25 and a fee for penalties, $25 plus the cost of the applicable permit.

The committee decided to consolidate these changes with the curb cut changes approved at the previous committee meeting. A motion was made to present the changes to City Council for consideration. If approved by Council the new fees would be adopted July 1, the beginning of the 2007 fiscal year.

Other topics of discussion included the month-end report for the Public Works Department. Public Works Director Chad Wampler said that April had not seen any large commercial or industrial projects but that permit fees had been collected for 4 new single family dwelling construction projects. Fees collected by the department for April are listed at $1,574.00 with the total construction cost for the month listed at $572,837.

Wampler also told the committee that the City-wide cleanup, held April 29, had been a successful event. American Disposal Service, who completed the collection, listed fewer tons this year than in years before, but the household hazardous waste collection volume had increased over last year’s volume.

Artists, Musicians, and Cowboys.

News release

A unique combination of artists, musicians, and cowboys will be featured on the weekend of June 9,10 & 11 in Carthage, Missouri. The weekend activities are a combination of four distinct productions that include the Carthage Saddle Club Annual Rodeo, Art in the Park, Art in the Heartland, and the 5th Annual Carthage Acoustic Music Festival.

The entertainment begins Friday evening at 8 p.m. with the Rodeo at the Carthage Saddle Club Arena near Municipal Park. Featured this year at the rodeo will be the Dandies, a precision riding group of 18 young ladies. The Art in the Heartland will also have music and dance behind the Black Hen restaurant Friday evening from 6 p.m. till 10 p.m. in Red Oak II, just outside Carthage.

Saturday will include Art in the Heartland artists displaying their talent at Red Oak II, entertainment and children’s activities from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. The Rodeo will continue Saturday beginning at 8 p.m.

The 5th Annual Carthage Acoustic Music Festival will be held on the Carthage Square Saturday and feature music on stage from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. that evening. Groups such as the favorites Brightwater Junction, No Apparent Reson, Timberline, On the Edge, and Ebb and Flow will be featured.

Art In The Park will be just off the square in Central Park on Saturday. Over twenty artists will be demonstrating their talent as they create their particular art in the open air. Musical entertainment, dance, storytelling and other artistic activities will fill the day from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m.

Sunday will feature a driving tour of the area with a printed guide of unique art throughout the community.

For more information call: 417-358-3316 or visit www.visit-carthage.com

Letter To The Editor
Opinions expressed reflect those of the writer, and not necessarily those of the Mornin' Mail

Dear Editor:

A thought I have to share with you and the readers;

The neighbors are active in keeping the countryside free and clean, and keep nature pleasing to the eye. There are always some people that do not care; because trash, household appliances, woodscraps, old sofas, recliners, kitchen trash are dumped in this certain area almost weekly. Even sometimes a litter of six puppy dogs were dumped in zero degree weather. Since we do take this nature path route, we do see these mishaps and crude, whish is sore-eyed to our lovely countryside, and we are thankful for this couple that do take time, to keep this part of our rural Missouri, clean and beautiful.

I want to thank people like this that do take time off their busy schedule , and doing their daily walk, they stop to pick up papers, bottles and cans.

Sincerely yours,

Mildred

Stench Report:
Wednesday,
5/3/06

No Stench
Detected on Carthage
Square

He says sprayin’ beer and soda pop will make the yard clippin’s dissolve easier and get the yard breathin’ better. He also says workin’ in the yard in golf shoes help to break the surface so the yard breathes easier.

Now I haven’t had the opportunity to try any a these little bits of wisdom as yet, and I don’t have any golf shoes. I do suspect that I have seen some around town utilizin’ beer in some fashion while doin’ lawn work however. I’ve often wondered how they kept those golf greens lookin’ so good.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

I just had an oil change, and the dealer recommended that I pay an extra $10 to have a "good oil change." This involved flushing out the old oil rather than just draining it and replacing it with new stuff. The dealer claims it will increase the life and operating quality of the engine. Was I taken, or is there some merit to this claim? - John

TOM: Yes, and maybe. You were probably taken, John, although only for 10 bucks. This guy is obviously an amateur! And yet there might be some merit to his claim.

RAY: This is sort of the automotive equivalent of an enema, John.

TOM: In fact, we understand that the product they use is manufactured by the Ex-Lax Corporation.

RAY: Not really. For 10 bucks (three bucks retail), he was probably using a bottle of Motor Flush, or some similar product. You dump this stuff in, run the engine for five minutes and then drain it out, along with the old oil. Presumably, it helps remove sludge or deposits that are inside your engine.

TOM: In theory, it could do what it claims to do. But there are two things that make us wary of using this stuff.

RAY: One is, if you change your oil on a regular basis, you shouldn’t HAVE any meaningful sludge or deposits built up in your engine. And two, while it’s working, this stuff dilutes your oil and interferes with the lubrication process.

TOM: In fact, on the bottle of Motor Flush, you are warned not to drive the car while this is in your engine. That suggests to me they’re at least aware that damage can occur.

RAY: So, unless you know that you have a problem with sludge or deposits, or your engine’s on its last legs and you’ve got nothing to lose, I’d stick with the good old "bad" oil change, John.

RACING
By Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Rush to Judgment

Recently, we lost Indy Car driver Paul Dana in a grinding crash during a warm-up session for the IRL season opener in Homestead, Fla. Many reports seemed to "criticize" Dana as a driver with little experience. Granted, Dana may have been listed as a "rookie" in the full-sized Indy Cars, but let’s give the guy a break.

Prior to an injury at Indy, Dana had driven Indy Cars in 2005, so he was certainly good enough to do what he was doing. Although still listed as a "rookie" due to his few starts, Dana’s past record in lesser classes indicate he was not a problem driver who drove with blinders on. He won six times in the Barber Dodge Series, and was a runner-up in the Infiniti Pro Series Championship in 2004, winning once at Milwaukee.

We may never really know what happened to Dana or why the accident occurred. Instead of passing judgment on his driving skills, which he can’t defend, shouldn’t we consider other options?

What if Dana’s car ran over debris from the first car involved in the crash, that of Ed Carpenter, who clipped the wall well ahead of Dana? Could this have caused Dana’s throttle to stick open or affected braking? Maybe, maybe not. But after impact with Carpenter’s sideways-sitting car at more than 175 mph, Dana’s car was damaged beyond comprehension, so we’ll never know.

Which brings us to a lesson I learned in racing a long time ago.

I always take a pragmatic approach to actions and situations that happen on the race track. It’s too easy to criticize a driver for "bumping," "wrecking" or "spinning out" another competitor thanks to what is seen from the stands or on television replays.

Case in point: I remember vividly the night I was announcing at a dirt track in Minersville, Pa., back in 1974. During one modified stock-car heat race, a fellow driver pursued the leader extremely closely. The cars battled nose to tail for the entire 10 laps, and on the last turn of the last lap, the second-place car bumped the leader hard in the rear. The leader spun out, hit the inside guardrail, and the second-place driver took the checkered flag. The result was a host of boos from the crowd.

It was obvious the driver won the race thanks to a "very dirty" move. The boos got louder and more serious, reaching a point where race officials were ready to disqualify the winner for intentional rough riding. As the announcer, I was taking lots of heat explaining the final results to the crowd. The scene got worse, to the point where several bottles and cans started zinging past my head because a disqualification had not occurred.

Sensing things were getting ugly in the stands, a pit crewmember for the driver who was wrecked was dispatched to the announcer’s tower with some information about the spinout. The crewmember told everyone in the booth to please let the crowd know that the driver who won the race did so fair and square, because the leading car’s rear-end gears had broken, slowing his car and making it look like the second-place car hit it.

After announcing this information, the crowd settled immediately and the show went on without further incident. But the lesson I learned has stayed with me all these years.

Specifically, if two cars are involved in a skirmish, only two people usually "know" what really happened. Sometimes it is an intentional push, other times looks can be deceiving. Passing judgment is easy when mishaps occur, but nowadays it’s better to wait and hear from both competitors before passing judgment. Sadly, that won’t happen with Paul Dana.