Employee Sick Leave Pool Proposed.

The City Personnel/Finance Committee voted during its regular meeting yesterday afternoon to recommend the establishment of a voluntary "sick leave pool" for City employees. The proposed plan would need to be approved by the full Council. The Committee will discuss the proposed plan in more detail at its next meeting.

The plan would allow employees to volunteer vacation or comp time that would go into a pool. If extreme circumstances arose, any City employee could request to use time accumulated in the pool. The pool would only be available after all of the individual’s sick leave, vacation time, and comp time was exhausted. A committee of peers would determine when time in the pool could be used.

The question of whether the City would contribute hours to the pool is yet to be decided. Committee member Trish Burgi’s motion did not include any contributions by the City, but she said that could be determined later. She felt employees should have a vested interest in the pool with at least fifty percent of the contributions. Other Committee members agreed.

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

As are most I’m sure, I’ve been checkin’ out the best place to snag a big turkey for Thanksgivin.’ So far I haven’t spotted any sign out in the woods, so I suppose it will be one a those store bought birds again this year.

I haven’t investigated the turkey tradition, other than the early school lessons about the Pilgrims. Seems I’ve heard those stories weren’t always that accurate anyway. I’ve never lived where wild turkeys were gatherin’ either, so I’ve never actually been on an honest to goodness turkey hunt.

The best turkey I’ve had was cooked in a smoker with a ham above it. ‘Course the ham wasn’t bad either. Tasted kinda like chicken.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing

PRIME TIME WITH KIDS

by Donna Erickson

Discover beautiful treasures from nature when you spend time outdoors with your children this fall. Fallen leaves, acorns and blown sticks in a vacant lot and dried weeds poking through the cracks in the sidewalk are there for inquisitive kids to observe. Or, shake a fallen branch from a shrub or tree to see unusual seeds, pods, leaves and maybe a tiny pine cone or two!

To make your nature walk extra fun, take along nature-find bracelets you can make yourself. Wear them around your wrists to display your collection as you go.

To make a bracelet, cut a 1-by-9-inch strip of clear adhesive-backed paper, such as Con-Tact brand paper. Remove the protective paper covering and wrap the strip loosely around your child’s wrist, sticky side out. Stick the ends together to form a band. Make a bracelet for each child in your family and one for yourself.

As you embark on your nature walk, press small, lightweight items such as leaves, flower petals, seeds, sand and dirt onto the sticky bracelet. As it becomes covered, it will turn into an eye-catching souvenir of your walk.

When you return home, you may wish to apply household glue to the bracelet to better hold the items in place.

Note: Choose items for the bracelet that have fallen onto your path or sidewalk. Do not disturb growing plants and trees.