Today's Feature

More Discussion.

The City Council Public Works Committee will meet this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall. Items on the agenda include further discussion of the proposed mid-contract changes to the City’s contract with Allied Waste.

At the previous Public Works Committee meeting the committee approved a motion to forward changes proposed by Allied Waste to Council for consideration.

These proposed changes include the consolidation of residential pickup rates to one category; costing $8.00 per month. A senior rate category costing $6.50 per month is proposed as well. Other changes include the elimination of the City-wide cleanup. Allied Waste proposes allowing the disposal of one large item per week in exchange for the yearly cleanup day.

This meeting is to include further discussion of the changes. The committee had previously questioned if the changes could be added by an addendum to the contract or whether the entire contract would have to be re-drafted should the changes be approved by Council. The item is listed on this committee agenda as a "contract addendum."

Stench Report:

Monday,
10/2/06

No Stench Detected on Carthage Square

‘Course there are lots a things I do remember as a young child, or at least I think I do. Some stories I relate to family members turn out ta have just faint resemblance to what they remember. I suppose we all remember things in a perspective of how we want to remember any particular incident. Sometimes it turns out I remember somethin’ happenin’ to me that actually happened to my brother, or at least that’s how he remembers it.

When ever’one does agree on a scenario that becomes part of the collective memory. It may not be any more accurate, but at least it makes it harder to question the authenticity.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Children Can Safely Use Asthma Inhalers

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please write about asthma in young children. Do steroids in high doses affect children in the long run? I worry about these drugs. -- E.T.

ANSWER: The "steroids" you’re talking about are cortisone drugs, some of medicine’s most powerful anti-inflammatory drugs. Powerful drugs always have powerful side effects, so they must be used with discretion. Asthma also has powerful side effects, and death is one of them. When asthma doesn’t respond to other drugs, then the cortisone steroids have to be used.

An asthma attack involves a sudden constriction of the airways, along with a copious production of mucus in the airways. Getting air into and out of the lungs is a major challenge. Affected people feel like they are being choked. They cough and wheeze. The chest is tight. They become quite breathless.

Cortisone steroids can soothe the airway inflammation that causes their constriction. When used in high doses for long periods of time, they can slow a child’s growth, but the child’s final adult height is minimally affected. They can also cause bone and muscle weakness. They make children and adults susceptible to diabetes. They weaken the immune system and make users prone to infections.

However, in asthma, cortisone steroids are most often given through an inhaler. That limits their absorption into the blood and limits their side effects considerably. Children can safely use them, and often must use them.