Today's Feature

Shelley’s Street Overview.

Street Commissioner Tom Shelley spoke about the current status of the street department and Carthage roads during the Public Works committee meeting last week.

Shelley said that throughout the course of the storms and subsequent cleanups the department has incurred approximately 1,150 man-hours overtime, the majority of which were generated in January. Shelley noted that this overtime is partially due to the fact that four out of the five recent precipitation-bearing storms had occurred on Fridays and weekends.

Carthage City Council recently approved a motion to increase comp time for the department from 80 hours to 120 hours.

Shelley added that the department had used 2,400 gallons of diesel fuel in January.

Over 1,000 tons of cinder and grit have been dumped on the streets during the storms but as long as the temperature is below freezing, Shelley said, the street sweeper cannot be operated. A water spray system inside the vehicle prevents erosion caused by the debris which is taken into the sweeper at a very high speed. If the temperature is below freezing, the water sprayer will freeze and the $130,000 machine could be damaged. Not being able to utilize the sweeper is a source of frustration for Shelley.

"The town’s a mess," said Shelley, shaking his head. "It will take a long time to get it cleaned up."

Shelley said that if no more ice falls and the temperature stays above freezing the street cleanup will take at least two months to complete.

Chamber 2007 Annual Banquet.

News release

The Carthage Chamber of Commerce hosted its 2007 Annual Banquet entitled "Carthage Connections: Your Chamber Game Show" on Thursday, February 8th at the Carthage Memorial Hall. Over 250 Chamber Members and community leaders stepped out to support the Chamber and the night’s award recipients.

A Social Hour, including an inter-active Game Show performed by the Carthage Senior High School Drama Department and Silent Auction, was held from 6PM-7PM followed by dinner, catered by Continental Catering of Joplin, and the awards ceremony.

A brief description of each award and the 2006 recipient is provided below.

Chairman’s Award- George Earl, Carthage and Kenneth Johnson, Carthage

Given as a token of appreciation by the outgoing Chamber Chairman to the individual or business who has stood out because of their continued insight, support and/or encouragement during their one-year term in office.

McCune-Brooks Humanitarian Award- Dr. Raphael Torontow, Carthage

Presented to an individual who has greatly enhanced the health care profession and the general community through their service and/or career.

Artist Award- Jo Mueller, Joplin

Awarded to a local artist whose work has continually inspired and drawn recognition from the artisan community.

ATHENA Award- JoAnn Evans, Carthage

A nationally recognized award presented to a businesswoman each year whose work and/or career have helped to inspire and improve the local business community and fellow businesswomen.

Golden Key Awards-

Robyn McDowell, 2nd grade teacher at Pleasant Valley Elementary School

Rita Peterson, Carthage Senior High School business teacher

Tiffiny Stringer, Health Education teacher at Carthage Junior High School

Bobby Waggoner, Physical Education teacher at Mark Twain and Fairview

Elementary Schools

Ron Wallace, Carthage Junior High School principal

Spotlight Award- Schreiber Foods, Inc., Carthage

Awarded to one business each year that has contributed to the overall enhancement of the business community of Carthage through revitalization of improvements made to their business location.

Small Business of the Year Award- Grundy’s Body & Frame Shop. owned by Frank and Betty Saferite, Carthage

Presented to one business each year that has provided a positive image and been a vibrant entity within the Carthage business community.

Richard M. Webster Citizen of the Year Award- Kenneth Johnson, Carthage

Given in memory of the late Senator Richard M. Webster, the Citizen of the Year is presented to an individual who has devoted much of their time to the improvement and enhancement of the Carthage community as a whole.

Stench Report:

Friday,
2/9/07

Stench Detected Thursday night on Carthage Square

I’ve been known ta own a horse, but not in some time and I had an uncle that used ta train horses ta pull a carriage. I’ve never been thrown, but got kicked pretty good once. Left a horse shoe shaped bruise on my upper thigh. Didn’t hurt much. (I was a kid at the time.)

I know ya need feed and some a that fly spray and ya need ta keep the stall clean, ‘specially if ya don’t have any a that fly spray. Most horses would rather ya mount from the left side, so it’s always a safe bet to start there. Ya pull on the reigns in the direction ya wanna go. If ya get a decent horse, you can pretty much guide it by squeezin’ with your knees on one or both sides.

One thing for sure, ya gotta let the horse know who’s boss. May be onea the reasons I don’t have a horse anymore.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Flushing Out Trouble

Q: I happened to read about the guidance you offer in the matter of fixing problems related to plumbing. The flush-out system in my house is defective. When the lever is operated, water from the tank keeps flowing into the toilet instead of stopping and letting water fill up the tank again. This does not happen every time the lever is operated, but it does happen frequently. Could you please let me know what should be done to rectify the defect? -- Bashker A.K., via e-mail

A: The main culprit in this case is probably the flapper valve. This large rubber valve (which literally operates like a flap, or in some cases looks like a little plunger or cap) is located at the bottom center of the reservoir tank. Its job is to allow water to flow into the toilet bowl for flushing, and to stop the flow of water when the flush is complete.

Watching how this valve works is actually kind of neat. Remove the lid of the tank and flush the toilet a few times, observing the valve at the bottom of the tank. When operating properly, a chain or metal rod lifts the valve up when you depress the flush lever (which is hooked to a simple lever system). The valve stays up while the tank empties -- pushed up by a small vacuum created by the water flowing rapidly out of the tank. When enough water has flowed out of the tank, the vacuum is no longer sustained, and gravity takes over, allowing the valve to fall back down in place over the outlet. The water then refills the tank and stops thanks to another leverage process in the flush assembly.

When this fails to work, it’s almost always because the flapper valve is getting hung up somehow. Sometimes the pull chain is too long and gets twisted, making it too short to let the valve down properly. Adjust the length of the pull chain so that it is not too slack and test the flush again.

HOME TIP: Cleaning the inside of a toilet’s reservoir tank twice a year with plain soap and water will reduce mineral deposits and lengthen the service life of the seals and moving parts.