Today's Feature

Council Members Have

No Opposition.

Today Last Day to File as Candidate.

As of yesterday afternoon there were no Council positions being challenged. Of the five seats open for the April 3 election, four candidates had filed. They are all incumbents wishing to serve another two year term. Those filing are as follows:

Ward I, No filing yet (Scott Giett incumbent); Ward 2, William Fortune; Ward 3, Diane Sharits; Ward 4, Bill Welch; Ward 5, Dan Rife

Citizens of Carthage are represented by ten council members. Two members are elected from each of the City’s five wards. One council member from each ward is elected each year for a period of two years. This gives each ward the opportunity to modify its representation each election.

To file for the position of Council member, a petition with twenty-five signatures can be presented to the City Clerk, or the candidate can simply pay a $25 filing fee. Filings must be at City Hall by 5 p.m. today.

Mornin'

I always got a kick outa those commercials that have the multi-use gadgets. Slices, dices, peels and mashes type a gadgets.

I grew up around gadget uncles and other family members. I personally always like to have good tools, but usually tools that did one job and did it really well.

It always seemed like the more uses a gadget had, the less likely it would be to do any one thing as well as it should.

The knife with a spoon and fork on it for instance. Lookin’ at it, you’d think it was a great idea. The problem is usually when I’m usin’ a fork, I need a knife ta cut with. That’s somethin’ that ya can’t do with that particular gadget. So you’ve got to choose; use the knife or use the fork. One of ‘em is gonna be useless.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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DEAR DR. DONOHUE: When my brother was 47, he died of a stroke caused by bleeding in his brain. He was fine one minute, and the next he was in a coma. An autopsy showed he had had an aneurysm that ruptured. I have four other brothers and three sisters. Should we all be checked for an aneurysm? I am now 66. -- W.C.

ANSWER: An aneurysm is a weak spot on an artery wall. It looks like a blister. Aneurysms can develop on any artery, but they are mostly found on the aorta and on brain arteries.

Ruptured brain aneurysms account for 10 percent of strokes, and frequently they occur in younger people, ones not thought to be at risk of a stroke. The story is much like your brother’s. A person, apparently in good health, complains of having the worst headache ever. Then he might lapse into unconsciousness briefly. He might have a seizure. The mortality of a ruptured brain aneurysm is high, more than 50 percent.

First-degree relatives of a person who had a brain aneurysm have an increased risk of also having one, but the risk is relatively small, about 1 percent to 4.7 percent. A first-degree relative is a parent, brother, sister or child. The best way to detect a brain aneurysm is a special kind of scan called magnetic resonance angiography. It’s a magnetic resonance imaging -- MRI -- scan with dye injected into the arteries to outline any aneurysm. Most authorities don’t recommend screening first-degree relatives, because their risk is small and the procedure carries an equally small danger.