May Not Be For Carthage.

Members of the Public Works Committee heard a presentation by Region M Solid Waste District Assistant Director Elizabeth Spears Tuesday evening. There was no action taken at the meeting due to a lack of quorum.

According to Spears there are several options for recycling that can work for Carthage. Spears said that curb side participation is usually 2 to 3% if it is not mandated.

"Curb side recycling may not be right for Carthage," said Spears.

The US populace as a whole, Spears said, has more waste per person, at 4.4 pounds daily, than any other country in the world. Of the 27 member counties in Region M District only 4 or 5 recycle. The Statewide goal of 40% waste reduction by 1998 has been extended to the year 2003.

According to calculations by American Disposal, which hauls solid waste for Carthage, the residents in the community produce approximately 500 tons a month of trash. This calculates to approximately 2.9 pounds of solid waste per day for Carthage individuals, or about 37% less than the national average.

Committee Member Trisha Burgi-Brewer asked if the State was going to mandate recycling citing Iowa and Illinois laws. Spears replied that she didn’t believe Missouri would at this point in time.

Director of Engineering Joe Butler asked if the grant money Carthage received for recycling should to be returned if curb side collection wasn’t implemented. Spears stressed the money could be used for education for the drop off center provided by the City or anything related.

Brewer said the proposed contract cost with American was low when compared to the cost of curb side recycling in other cities.

"We got a good deal," said Brewer.

An ordinance that would stop the implementation of the mandated charges for recycling should be scheduled for first reading at next Tuesday’s regular Council meeting in City Hall.

In other business the Committee members present heard a request for the City to abandon an alley was brought before the Committee by Shirley Whitesell who resides on High Street. She stated that some cars currently go through the "L" shaped alley at an excessive rate of speed.

The Committee could not take action and invited her to return in two weeks to the next regularly scheduled meeting.

Butler reported that he received two bids for landscaping the Police Department and adjoining parking lot. Both bids were acceptable to Butler but maintenance wasn’t clearly spelled out.

Fire Chief Cooper showed the Committee plans for the fire substation at the south water tower location mentioning that he had waited two years for the drawings. Cooper said the cost overrun includes an unexpected and additional $19,000 engineering fee and an "acre of concrete."

Butler recommended that the City put the facility project out for bid but wait on the site preparation. He said he felt the site could be done for considerably less that the engineer’s estimate and wanted a more detailed explanation of costs relating to the engineering and architectural services.

Street Commissioner Tom Shelley submitted bids for a new paint striper and Lynn Shelley from the Codes Inspection Office submitted bids for demolition of a structure on Maple Street. Due to the lack of members present to form a quorum no action was taken on any issue presented to the Committee.

The Public Service Committee meets each 1st and 3rd Tuesday at 5:15 in City Hall. The Committee works in conjunction with the City Street Department and the City Engineering Department. The department heads of these departments and the City Codes inspector attend meetings and are available for reports on progress and activities pertaining to those departments.

Leadership Selected For Campaign.

news release

The Carthage Area United Way has selected its leadership for the 1999-2000 campaign.

Lonnie Heckmaster will serve as General Campaign Chairman and Miriam Putnam will serve as Vice Chairman.

Lonnie Heckmaster is President and CEO of Hometown Bank in Carthage and Joplin. He is a lifelong resident of the Carthage area and has served on numerous area civic and community organiztion boards. He received a graduate degree in banking from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He and his wife, Terri, and son Dustin, reside in Carthage.

Miriam Putnam serves the community through several boards and organizations. She is on the Board of Directors of the Salvation Army and Steering Committee, Board of Directors of the Health Care Foundation (McCune Brooks Hospital), and has served on Congressman Blunt's Academy Selection Committee in 1998 and 1999. Miriam received her education at the University of Georgia and the University of Missouri. She is married to Dr. Wayne Putnam and they have two sons, Jonathan and Dexter.

The Board of Directors has just completed the process of reviewing each agency and examining budget needs for 2000. After completing the review, the Board set the campaign goal at $230,000.

The Carthage Area United Way campaign will fund 16 agencies: American Red Cross, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Cerebral Palsy Center, Crosslines, Children's Mercy Hospital, Citizen's Advisory Board, Lafayette House, Family Literacy Council, Medi-Aid, Special Olypics, The Salvation Army, Southwest Missouri Arthritis Association, Sunshine Homes, Jasper Co. 4-H and Camp Quality.

The Board of Directors for Carthage Area United Way consists of: Eric Ferrell, President; Dean Orem, Vice-President; Leigh Salyer, Secretary; Stan Schmidt, Treasurer; and directors Marge Housh, Linda Clemons, Teri Schramm, Jeff Jones, Susan Williams, Jim Hess, John Cuaderes, Kelly Hartley and Larry Lloyd.

letter to the editor

To the Offices of the Jasper County Commissioners:

Dear Officeholders:

I am happy to see you taking on the issue of nudity in juice bars. Therefore, I am in hopes of you taking this issue a step further.

You see, I am a subscriber to the local cable service. Each night there in front of me on my T.V. are naked people minus g-strings and pasties. Even though I pay for this service, I am in hopes you can help me stop watching it.

I also love to attend art shows at artCentral and the Spiva in Joplin. But lo and behold there are nude portraits and statues minus g-strings and pasties. I am in hopes you can legislate these galleries into proper attire for public display.

And as one last request, I understand there are plans to open a juice bar with nude male dancers. I hope you can legislate some rules on what these men should cover themselves with to protect those people who pay to come in from being offended.

Also I hope you will make-up some rules as to what these owners may name their business. I have heard rumors that these names are being considered: "Danny's Nude Dudes", "Anna's Can-Can" and "Ben's Boys".

I know these people would probably like to get off to a good start, so please get your thinking caps on and save us all.

God bless you all.

Sincerely,

Brent Alan Erwin

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

Played a little dominos this last weekend. Double fifteen’s. If ya wanna test your kid’s (or your own) ability to add, subtract, and divide by five, pick up a set of these jewels. As a matter a fact, why not introduce the game as part of any high school graduate’s final exam. That’d cut the wheat from the chaff.

The other practical educational experience would be ta have ta make change and count it back to the customer for a day at the fast food joint. Usetabe, (I’ve used that term so much lately, I’ve decided to make it just one word in my vocabulary) these ever’day math skills were used on some regularity. With video games and calculators, even those of us who learned need to exercise the skills to keep ‘em workin’. Quick, what’s 8 x 7?

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click and Clack Talk Cars

Dear Tom and Ray:

I am looking to you to validate or refute a family myth. My father-in-law and mother-in-law believe in the phenomenon of sludge at the bottom of the gas tank. The family myth goes that you should never allow your tank to go below one-quarter full or all the sludge will get sucked up into the engine and destroy it.

I always thought this was a myth designed by parents who didn't want their kids to run out of gas, and I dismissed it completely. But recently, my older sister revealed that our dad had told her the same thing! Is it true, or did two sets of parents on opposite coasts come up with the same urban myth?-Sharon

RAY: I guess this myth has gone bicoastal, Sharon. While there usually is some condensed water at the bottom of the tank, that small amount of water doesn't do any harm in the engine. And while there are often flakes of rust because of that water, there's a filter that prevents them from getting sucked into the engine and ruining it. So it is a myth.

TOM: Plus, the thing that most people don't realize is that you're ALWAYS sucking gas from near the bottom of the tank. Why? Because that's where the pickup sits.

RAY: It has to sit there. If the gasoline pickup (the tube that sucks the gasoline out of the tank) was at the top of the tank, it would only work when the tank was completely full, right? Think about it.

TOM: And I think you're right that this "never let it go below a quarter tank" myth served the interests of parents who didn't want to get in the car the morning after junior borrowed it and find no gas in it.