Did Ya Know... There will be guided tours of second level living space Downtown today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 207 West 3rd, Steve Morrill, owner.
Did Ya Know... Activity days and preschool storytime session will begin in June at the Public Library. If you have a group that you would like to bring, you must contact Wendy Bastings at 358-2939. Any child from K-8th grade may participate, but must be registered for each day they attend. Registration is mandatory.
Did Ya Know... Small businesses produce 55 percent of innovations and they produce twice as many product innovations per employee as large firms.
"My grandfather is 95 years old and every day he goes horseback riding - except during the month of July."
"Why not during July?"
"Because that is when the man who puts him on the horse goes on his vacation."
What do you get when you cross a bale of hay with a vampire?
A bale o'Lugosi.
I told my doctor I drank to quiet my nerves. He said, "Nobody's nerves are that noisy!"
INTERESTING MELANGE.
A Chronological Record of Events as they have Transpired in the City and County since our last Issue.
Gave the Firemen a Cake.
The fire department was called out Saturday evening to extinguish a fire at Mat Confrey's residence on James hill. The firemen extinguished the flames after some trouble. The fire was in the cellar and the smoke was very dense. There was no opening to drive the smoke out which made fighting the fire a very difficult task. The damage was not great.
In token of their appreciation of the efforts of the firemen Mrs. Confrey and her daughter, Miss Lena, sent them an elegant cocoanut cake. It was greatly enjoyed by the fire ladies and their friends, and they wouldn't mind fighting fire for Mrs. Confrey again.
A Sound Sleeper.
Charlie Pike a young man from the country, went to sleep on the show grounds Saturday night and was robbed of his hat, shoes, revolver and $3.00 or $4.00.
Mornin',
For those of ya out there lost somewhere in non-cyberspace cause of the recent shut down of the Joplin based internet provider, the official explanation came Saturday. It official closed. I’m assumin’ that ever’one who had cash withdrawn via electronic checkin’ was sent a letter, and there will be refunds sent it says.
Those who paid for service six months or a year in advance are not so lucky. They will have ta go after the former owners who presumably got that cash.
I’d guess that the internet is just like any other historical “boom” business, has it’s ups and downs. Don’t know the details, but the town did come out with one provider/survivor of the three that gave it a shot, and other options.
Does make ya wonder when ya see folks walkin’ around showin' symptoms of email illusion paranoia and web withdrawal syndrome. This will no doubt lead to the quest for the next government study, is the net addictive or just habit formin’?
This is some fact, but mostly, Just Jake Talkin’.
Sponsored by McCune-Brooks Hospital
SMOKING AND HEALING:
Some time ago, I did a column on how smokers heal more slowly from broken bones and other trauma than non smokers.
Now, there’s more evidence that nicotine taken in through inhaled smoke also delays healing after surgery. This supports decisions by surgeons not to perform anything but an emergency procedure on anyone who has smoked within the six weeks prior to surgery. And that includes cosmetic surgery as well as therapeutic.
A recent research program at Baylor University in Houston, Texas, used nicotine patches on people undergoing hand surgery to study how nicotine from inhaled smoke affects nerves and constricts blood vessels leading to the surgical incision.
“Each time nicotine entered the nervous system, blood flow was restricted at the site of the surgery,” said Dr. David Netscher, an associate professor of plastic surgery at Baylor. “The decrease in the amount of blood flow to the incision area was significant,” he added.
Insufficient blood flow can cause the skin to slough (a term used for improper healing and, eventually, death of the tissue). A skin graft may be necessary to deal with the condition. Sometimes the whole surgical procedure will have to be redone.
Interim City Administrator Max McKnight is playing an active role in trying to accomplish a compromise of some fashion between the Park Board and the Budget/Ways and Means Committee which voted to withdraw funding to pay for maintenance of the Fair Acres Sports Complex.
McKnight says that initial reactions to the Committee’s vote may have been propelled by some rumor and hearsay.
“At any rate,” McKnight told the Mornin’ Mail, “there is a happy medium there somewhere. “I think one possible solution is to say, (to the Park Board) ‘help us out.’ In the budget process the Committee always looks for the cuts. All departments and requests are going to have to be reduced. How are you going to have them divide up your portion? That in my mind is a good short term solution.”
McKnight acknowledges that the short term is not the only challenge for the Park Board.
“We probably are looking, however, symptoms of overlying larger issues,” said McKnight. “Increased parks; increased maintenance; increased other costs; all those issues aren’t just something to look at for a short term fix.
“I think that last year’s Council kind of rubbed up against some of those thoughts. Whether it’s the [park] tax levy, or potentially looking at some of the lessor used parks and seeing what their function or future is, how are we going to keep maintaining them. Looking at the long term, those are some of the issues that probably need to be resolved. They can’t be resolved before we complete this year’s budget, but they certainly need to be worked on between now, today, and before we get to this point next year.”
The Park Board discussed some of those issues at last Friday’s special meeting. Park Board President Sandy Spradling told the Board that she felt there were three basic options.
Option one was for the Board to divest itself of certain property and return them to the City for management and maintenance.
Option two was to expend available funds and then reducing services until more revenue was available.
Option three was to engage in a joint effort with the City Council to insure long range funding for the Park’s facilities and maintenance. Spradling stated that she preferred option three.
“I would like to think,” said Spradling, “that wisdom and good sense would prevail among the Council and among the Board. And we could, perhaps, work out with the City Council a feasible plan that won’t cover just this year, but a step by step plan for long range funding.
“This is my sixth year [on the Park Board], I’m going off in July. Boards come and go, Councils come and go, Mayors come and go, City Administrators come and go. But unless we have a definite plan, a long range plan and we have commitment by the whole conglomerant, how can you ask anybody to donate anything [for capital improvements].
Council member Lujene Clark, who moved to not allow the Fair Acres maintenance funding, told the Mornin’ Mail yesterday that she would not oppose some City involvement in the complex, but she wants the Park Board to document that City funds are being used wisely.
“We’re looking at everybody,” said Clark. “Since the money is a finite resource, then we have to look at everybody and say where can we tighten the belt, where can we make better use of the funds.
“It’s nothing toward any particular department, outside agency, anybody.”
As newly appointed Chair of the Finance/Personnel Committee, Clark has drawn some notoriety for her demands for tighter accountability for all City funds.
“Yes, I would love to see the girls fields over there,” Clark said of the Park Board’s plan to approach Steadley Trust for funding the project, “the condition of the present [girls] fields is very sad.”
Clark says she understands the overwhelming amount of acreage the Park Board is expected to maintain, that is why she is reluctant to encourage the expansion of Fair Acres at this time.
“When the Fair Acres maintenance came up, and it had increased over last year,” said Clark, “I asked what about Steadley? That’s when it came up, they said oh, they might help us expand, it clicked with me. It’s like, you can’t take care of what you’ve got. Why in heavens name would you want to expand until you get in control of what you’ve got?”
Clark said the Budget Committee vote to withhold Fair Acres funding was not necessarily final.
“When it comes down to it, will there probably be some in the budget [for Fair Acres]?” said Clark. “I would not have any objection to that, if I had some assurance that they are going to get the Parks Department under control.
“We got their attention. If we had cut it by a few thousand, we would have rocked on for another year. And another year, and another year. You want to get your point across, you send a big message. You ask nicely throughout the year, and you really get no response, so you send a big message. Deal with it, or we’ll take our toys and go home.”
Council member Mike Harris, liaison to the Park Board, told the Board last Friday that he didn’t think the Council would agree with the cut.
Some citizens have informed the Park Board that they will attend tonight’s City Council meeting and address the Council during Citizen’s Participation.
Representatives of the Park Board are expected to attend the Budget/Ways and Means Committee meeting tomorrow night at City Hall.
Sponsored by Lady J
by Jody Mitchell
Now let's discuss hair color. Let's face it, sooner or later we all confess we need to put back what Mother Nature took away. So why not some color? After all, the commercials on television make those women look beautiful! Right? So why can't we do it ourselves? They did!
We buy those same colors and hurry home so we can look like we did fifteen years ago. We follow the instructions to the letter. The first month looks pretty good. Then we apply color four to eight weeks later. For some reason it doesn't look quite the same. Oh well, maybe it was my mood or possibly a bad bottle of color. Or maybe they put the wrong color in my bottle. So we decide to try it one more time and this time it looks worse than ever! We hate it.
The problem is the box doesn't tell us how to apply a second color or a third and so on. Now we have color on top of color on top of more color and presto! Our original color is no longer.
Now we panic and call a licensed cosmetologist to do a corrective color. The problem is corrective coloring takes time and a professional can't correct it overnight but at least they can make it believable or at least something that we can live with.
Check with a professional before applying color, especially if it is some thing you have never done before. Most important, always use a professional product versus an over-the counter. After all, we are worth it!
Sponsored by Computer Minded/On The Net Internet Security Issues
Avoid putting credit card numbers online. As you connect from site to site you are sure to run across someone asking you to enter a credit card number online (maybe you're ordering flowers or software). They may even say that they guarantee 100% security. My recommendation to you would be, no matter what they say, don't give them your credit card number. They usually provide an address or phone number (sometimes toll free) that you can use to order their products. The internet is great for advertising but I wouldn't recommend purchasing anything directly from it. I use the Internet as a way of seeing the product before I purchase it then I pick up the phone and call the 1-800 number to order.
Avoid choosing a bad password. If you need a password to get into your email or connect to your internet service provider, you've got another security issue to think about. Most people pick horrible passwords (like their child's or pet's name, street address, maiden name, etc.) that are easy to figure out. When you pick a password, pick one that nobody would possibly guess (maybe a foreign word or something random). The most common mistake everyone makes is putting their password on a sticky note in their cubicle or office. Change your password every once in awhile.