Long Line Against $15 Parking Fines.

The City Council heard the first reading of a Council bill Tuesday evening that would raise the fine to fifteen dollars for violating the downtown two-hour parking restriction. They also heard from seven citizens, two Council members and the Mayor who opposed the idea.

The citizens included the Executive Director of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce, Jim Bode, and the Carthage Visitors and Convention Bureau Wendy Douglas.

The Public Safety Committee had recommended the increase along with a separate bill that would allow the selling of parking permits to residents who lived in the two-hour area. The Mayor failed to sign the request for Council bill in time for it to be included on the agenda. The Mayor spoke at some length on the subject and concluded that the current parking restrictions are adequate.

Council members Claude Newport and Larry Ross also spoke against the increased fine. Neither are currently on the Public Safety Committee, although Newport was chairman until a couple of months ago when the Mayor reassigned him to other committee responsibilities.

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

With all the fuss over warnin’ labels, it’s obvious that the toothpick industry has a savvy lobbyin’ organization at work.

I can’t believe that such a dangerous implement is allowed on the market without the appropriate caution bein’ spelled out in detail for the protection and safety of the consumer.

They obviously don’t belong in the hands of minor children. No tellin’ what the imagination of an eight year old could devise. Sure they can be carefully molded into innocent objects for the creation of small toys or crafts, but that only leads to a false sense of security. They should be only distributed in a child proof box with an appropriate warnin,’ "Only For Use In Your Mouth." They also need adequate instructions on teeth pickin’.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’

Sponsored by Curry Automotive

CLICK and CLACK

TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe with 47,000 miles on it. Recently it developed an unpleasant rumbling noise. After taking it to the service department, I was told that my tires are "cupped" and should be replaced. For a temporary fix, they rotated the front tires to the back. I still have the noise, but it’s not as bad. And given a choice between living with the noise and paying for new tires, I’m thinking of living with the noise. The tires have plenty of tread. Are "cupped" tires safe to be traveling on? Also, what causes tires to cup? - Susan

TOM: Well, first of all, cupped tires are tires that appear to have little scoops taken out of them. They’re also called "scalloped" tires - like scalloped potatoes.

RAY: There are two main causes of cupping. One is an inadequate suspension system. If your shocks are worn out and the tires are literally bouncing up and down as you drive down the road, every time they come down, they get scuffed, and that leads to cupping.

TOM: So you might not like the idea of spending money on new tires, Susan. But you might need new tires AND new shocks.

RAY: The other cause of cupping, in our experience, is real cheap tires. For some reason, they seem to get cupped more often than better-quality rubber.

TOM: Unfortunately, it’s really not safe to drive on cupped tires. They have indentations in them. So every time the tire rotates, there are high spots that aren’t touching the road. That means you have less traction, and less ability to stop and turn.

NASCAR THIS WEEK

By Monte Dutton

Kyle Busch Is His Own Man

RICHMOND, Va. -- Why is Kyle Busch so good? That is, apart from his obviously impressive skill level.

Busch is ambitious. He wants it all. He races in every race he can. At Richmond, he didn’t just win on Saturday and Sunday nights. He won at Southside Speedway on the previous Thursday night.

At age 24, he has 15 Sprint Cup victories, 24 in the Nationwide Series and 11 in Trucks. That’s a total of 50. Busch’s mind is like a calculator. He’s concocted the notion that maybe he can win 200 races in the three series combined before he hangs up his helmet.

In one sense, it’s kind of meaningless. Richard Petty, of course, won 200 Cup races -- and none in the lower series. Combining victories would be like counting the Double-A home runs of a big-league catcher. By that standard, Crash Davis (Kevin Costner’s character in "Bull Durham") would be in the Hall of Fame.

There’s something remarkable, though, in a man who wants to achieve something no one else wanted to try. This is a kid who loves to race ... to an extent that borders on the absurd.

Pull over! See those lights? That might be a dirt track. Let me call my guy on the cell. Maybe he can hitch up the trailer and get my Late Model up here.

Busch is also absolutely unafraid of being himself. Many drivers are little more than cardboard cutouts. They hide behind the advice of handlers, resting their assumption on the notion that, if they kiss up enough, nice things will be written about them.

The driver who has won 11 of NASCAR’s last 46 races shares with the drivers of yore -- Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Harry Gant, et al. -- a thirst for competition. Busch didn’t grow up in Taylorsville, though. He grew up in Las Vegas. He has that trademark flair for the dramatic. Why does he bow to the hostile masses? He claimed Vegas had nothing to do with it.

"I’m here to be myself, man," Busch said in the wee hours of Sunday after the May 2 Sprint Cup race. "I am who I am. Everybody is who they are, for whatever reason. I don’t think it’s necessarily the way you’re raised or where you’re raised, or whatever. I just think what you believe in, what your beliefs are, what all happens around you as you grow up and stuff.

"For me, it’s fun to come out here and, I guess, play the villain role sometimes, and yet be liked other times. It’s always cool to have that aspect in this sport. Even if I wasn’t in this sport, you know, doing something else, you’ve got to be happy with the way you’re living life and doing what you’re doing. Otherwise, it’s not worth living or not worth doing what you’re doing."

Kyle Busch is his own man in a world where few are at his age. His theme song ought to be "I Gotta Be Me."