Today's Feature

Public Works Meeting.

The City Council Public Works Committee will meet this afternoon at 5:00 p.m. in the Public Works Department, 623 E. 7th Street. Items on the agenda include the discussion of Special Road District Project Requests and the discussion of written quotes for an air conditioner unit.

License Plates Available.

The Missouri Department of Revenue announced recently that the new Missouri license plates would be available at all contract licenses across the state beginning Monday, June 16.

"This new design is one that Missourians can be proud of and one in which a collaborative effort was made to assist law enforcement in better identifying vehicles on Missouri roadways," said Director of Revenue Omar Davis.

The public’s input into the design of the license plate gave every citizen a voice in what the new plate would look like.

Missourians who register or renew a registration after June 16, 2008 will be able to receive the newly-designed plate. The new design can be seen at the Department’s web site at www.dor.mo.gov, as well as on newly registered vehicles.

Mornin',

My uncle thinks that there should be some way ta install a large, spring powered flywheel in a car. He figures it would work somethin’ like a clock, ya wind it up and it provides a constant, clean, inexpensive power. I suppose if it was positioned right, it would also act as a gyroscope to keep the vehicle from turnin’ over easily.

There would no doubt be some technical difficulties to be overcome, but the idea has grabbed my thoughts from time to time.

The basic premise, of course, is to take advantage of momentum. That mysterious source of energy that wants to continue motion after it is initiated.

I’ve always worried that my uncle’s clockmobile would stop short of the top of a hill and reverse momentum would win.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Clot in Leg Vein Can be Deadly

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Nine months ago, our son, 42, had a deep-vein thrombosis. The clot was in the calf and thigh vein. He was given an anticoagulant and the clot was surgically removed, but surgery was only partly successful. Some of the clot remains in his leg veins. He continues to take Coumadin and is told it may take a year for the clot to dissolve. His calf is often swollen and painful. Can you suggest any additional treatment? -- M.T.

ANSWER: For readers unfamiliar with this problem, some definitions are necessary. Thrombophlebitis (THROM-boh-flea-BITE-is) is a clot in a vein. "Thrombo" means "clot," and "phlebitis" is vein inflammation. The leg is the common site for it to happen. A person on bed rest after surgery (especially knee and hip surgery), who is sitting for prolonged times during a car or plane trip, taking birth-control pills or suffering trauma is at risk of getting thrombophlebitis.

Clots in the deep veins of the leg, the ones you cannot see, are the dangerous kind. Bits of those clots can break away from the main clot and be carried in the circulation to the lung, where they can plug a lung blood vessel. That’s called a pulmonary embolism, and it can be deadly.

Clots in leg veins cause the overlying skin to turn red and become tender. The leg swells and is painful. Ultrasound examination of the veins establishes the diagnosis.

Anticoagulants are the treatment. They don’t dissolve the clot, but they keep it from growing larger and they prevent the chance of a pulmonary embolus.