Today's Feature

Council Doesn’t Back Away From Odor.

The Carthage City Council was unimpressed with arguments presented by the representative of RES during last weeks regular Council meeting.

The Kansas City lawyer seemed to be somewhat out of touch with the history concerning the reoccurring stench that has been harassing the community for several years.

Council member Diane Sharits told the Mornin’ Mail that she was "surprised, disappointed and even angry" by the time attorney J.Stan Sexton of Shook, Hardy, and Bacon finished his ten minute presentation to the Council. Part of the argument was questioning the ability of a third-class city having the authority to put an odor ordinance in place. Carthage has been a Charter city for over ten years. Sharits said that lack of knowledge and other statements made her think Sexton was not well prepared.

The Council responded by passing the so called odor ordinance unanimously.

The ordinance defines an offensive odor and provides for a $500 fine for each offense.

Mornin'

The thermos bottle is an ingenious device. But, the question is asked, "how does it know to keep hot, cold things cold?"

The commercial showin’ some generation X’ers sittin’ ‘round the campfire sippin on a brew. "It doesn’t get any better than this," one of them says. I would ask again, "how does he know?"

I can understand a statement such as "this is the life," or "things could be a lot worse," but I have never been one ta think it is impossible to be better. Once that thought process begins, all innovations cease.

Even Edison made modifications on the light bulb. His work has been improved over the years. "Course he prob’ly didn’t spend much time sittin’ ‘round the campfire.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’

Banging Plagues Gas Water Heater

Q: My wife and I are plagued with a banging gas water heater. When it heats, it cracks and bangs. We have "soft" water that has no lime in it. The tank is 16 years old. Our old home used well water, but we never had this problem. Can you help define our present problem? -- Pat and Mike in Howell, N.J.

A: From your description, it seems like the banging noise starts after you use hot water. The tank begins to heat the fresh water that has taken the used water’s place, and so about five minutes after you use hot water from the tap, the heater begins banging.

My first thought is that, even though you have water with a low mineral content (and/or a water softener), mineral buildup within the heater is still a good possibility. It is, after all, 16 years old, and if it wasn’t maintained regularly, then quite a lot of mineral deposits could be lining the bottom of the tank.

First try flushing out the tank. This is a relatively quick task that doesn’t require you to shut off the water.

You should turn the heat control to its lowest setting, without turning off the pilot light. Let the tank cool for a half-hour. Then, working carefully, as the water will still be warm, attach a short water hose to the drain tap near the bottom of the heater, run the other end into a bucket and drain water from the tank. You may see some white sediment or rust-colored water with the initial burst of water. Once the tank has drained, close the tap and return the thermostat to its regular setting.

The water tank should be flushed once or twice per year, even if you have soft water, to clear out the inevitable mineral sediment.