Today's Feature

Chipper, Vehicle Bids Approved.

The Public Works Committee met Tuesday evening in a regular session. The committee discussed with Public Works Director Chad Wampler the bids for the purchase of a new chipper at the Carthage landfill.

One bid was received from Vegetation Management Supply of Springfield in the amount of $21,000. The bid amount includes the trade in of the current chipper which reduced the cost from $25,000. The City has budgeted $20,000 for the chipper but Wampler and City Administrator Tom Short recommended the approval of the bid, saying that the extra $1,000 could be absorbed in the public health budget. The committee approved the bid unanimously.

Wampler also presented bids for three vehicles for the Public Works department, which included one pickup truck and two passenger cars. The state bid for the three vehicles was through Putnam Chevrolet, the total being $45,321. The budgeted amount is $47,300. The committee unanimously approved the bids.

During staff reports Street Commissioner Tom Shelley updated on the status of a repair to a drainage ditch near Mound and Parson streets. A two hundred foot long section of the ditch wall collapsed during the ice storms earlier this year and the Street Department has recently been repairing it. Shelley said that the department was almost finished with the repairs which included extra reinforcements to help prevent any future risk of collapse.

Shelley also spoke to the committee about parking lot repairs at Kellogg Lake, another area which was also damaged during the floods this year. The Public Services committee had on Monday discussed the possibility of having the Street Department do the repairs, instead of bidding out the job. Shelley recommended doing the job in-house as well. The committee approved a motion to allow the expenditures required to complete the job from the Street Department budget, to be repaid by the Council Contingency fund.

There’s nothin’ draws a bunch a isolated farmers together like the appearance of smoke on the horizon. Anyone able to get to the site of the fire will join the fire fightin’ crew. And they’ll usually get it under control in short order. They all know it might be their place that catches the next spark.

‘Course helpin’ put out a fire automatically puts you on the list of bein’ part of the community. Even if you’re too cantankerous ta be friends with.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Click & Clack Talk Cars
By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

My daughter has a uniquely equipped ‘91 Toyota Corolla. It now features a cell phone In the air-conditioning unit! The car doesn’t have louvers that direct the air, sot he air comes through an open space on the dash. Anyway, she suddenly slammed on the brakes, and the cell phone, which was sitting on the passenger seat or console, flew into the AC - and that’s where it still is. That’s her story and she’s sticking with it. We’ve gotten a lot of "mileage" out of this story, but no solutions. Any ideas? - Fred

TOM: Well, it was probably time to upgrade the cell phone anyway, Fred. I’m sure there’s one with more megapixels and an optional butt-scratcher out by now.

RAY: My guess is that, despite the story she’s sticking with, she used the air vent itself as a cell-phone holder. It’s the perfect size for that.

TOM: And then she either pushed it in too far or stopped short, and .. down the drain it went.

RAY: The good news is that it won’t harm the car at all. It’ll just sit there in the duct and stay cool. It’ll ring for a couple of days, but once the battery dies, you’ll never know it’s there.

TOM: So option No. 1 is to forget about it and replace it.

RAY: But if you’re on the retentive side, Fred, you can try to retrieve the phone by taking apart the air duct.

TOM: Depending on which vent the phone went into, it may be relatively easy to access the duct. The ones on the sides are easier than behind the center console.

RAY: If you’re so inclined, ask your mechanic to investigate. Tell him which vent the phone entered, and ask him how difficult it is to access. If he runs into the men’s room and locks the door, you have your answer.