Help Wanted.

According to City Administrator Tom Short the City is having a hard time finding janitorial personnel. After failing to find suitable people to fill a full time custodial and janitorial person to share the responsibilities of City Hall, the Civil War Museum, Memorial Hall, and the Street Department building, Short is looking at outside firms for help. There is also a need for part time help at Memorial Hall, especially during the busy holiday season.

Short says that they have been able to find some relief through a temp service and a former part time employee has been hired to take care of City Hall. The Street and Engineering Department is making arrangements for its facility, but some budget adjustments may be necessary.

The Civil War Museum will in all likelihood have to use Memorial Hall personnel until other arrangements can be made. The Museum has a lot of traffic according to Short, and will need cleaning on a fairly regular basis.

The low unemployment rate in general and in Jasper County in particular is one reason for the problem says Short.

Dr. Nina Chen Receives Top Award.

news release

Dr. Nina Chen, a human-development specialist with the University Outreach and Extension Center of Jasper County, has received her organization’s top 1999 statewide awards for faculty - the "Executive Vice President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Outreach." Ron Turner, UM executive vice president and director of UOE, presented Chen the award Oct. 25 in Columbia.

The following is from the UOE communications office:

"Dr. Chen’s educational program reach diverse audiences in southwest Missouri with a variety of subject matter, including parenting, communication, character and child development.

"One particular program, Building Bridges, brings Jasper County senior citizens and school children together to promote intergenerational understanding. Through community collaboration with agencies, schools and nursing homes, more than 1,000 young people and 750 frail elderly have participated in the program. For young people, Building Bridges provides greater awareness of aging and develops a sense of caring and respect for the elderly. The lives of seniors are invigorated by interaction with a younger generation.

"Chen led a countywide group in 1997-98 to produce a storytelling festival. The festival drew several hundred citizens and featured 25 storytellers. In an evaluation, more than 75 percent of the participants said the festival provided them with broader views about diverse cultures and increased their understanding of history, heritage and literature."

Dorothy Shull, chair of the University of Missouri Outreach and Extension Council of Jasper County, was quoted: "Nina has extraordinary talents and expert abilities to work with many types of people and include a wide variety of organizations to bring about wonderful action programs for the benefit of southwest Missouri citizens."

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

Since ya got a little time ‘fore Christmas, ya might take a little time and check out some of the local shops for some gift ideas. If ya haven’t made the rounds here in Carthage for a while, I think you’ll find there is a wide variety of things ya won’t find ever’day.

‘Course there are those local type articles that show some of the Carthage history, but there is also an abundance of handmade and unusual gifts that ya don’t find just anywhere.

I haven’t seen much year 2000 stuff, but I’m sure that’s around too.

The City Christmas lights are on, so it’s official. The Christmas Season is here. Shop ‘till ya drop.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Health Notes

THE EGG AND US: Eggs, and dishes containing eggs, may soon come with at least one risk factor removed.

Egg yolks continue to be a source of saturated fats and anyone wishing to cut down on fat to help reduce LDL cholesterol levels in their blood should continue to eat whole eggs in moderation. However, the risk of contracting salmonella poisoning from eggs and products made with uncooked eggs (such as ice cream) may soon become practically nil, thanks to several Purdue University researchers who have developed a process for pasteurizing eggs in the shell to kill salmonella bacteria.

Although it’s been known for a long time that heat can kill the bacteria - which is why eggs are relatively safe when cooked thoroughly - that same heat will cook an egg in its shell, which would make it unmarketable for obvious reasons. But with the new process at Purdue, an egg can be put through a new low-temperature, long-time pasteurization process which will kill the bacteria, but won’t solidify the yolk or egg white.

Up until the 1980s, salmonella, while it existed in many foods, had not been found in raw shell eggs. Then the bacterium for salmonella enterititis mutated in a way that caused ovarian infection in chickens. This infection was passed into the egg before it was laid.