Christmas Parade Date Announced.

The Carthage Technical Center’s SkillsUSA Chapter will be hosting the Carthage Christmas Parade which will be held Monday, December 7, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. This year’s parade theme is "Christmas Postcards."

SkillsUSA is a youth organization, made up of high school students who are enrolled in classes at the Carthage Technical Center. These classes cover a wide range of interests such as Electronics, Health Services, Computer Maintenance, Carpentry, Drafting, Auto Mechanics, and Precision Machining. The local organization is 100 members strong and last year Carthage SkillsUSA took one of the largest groups ever to participate in state competitions with eight individuals qualifying for nationals. Their main community service project is the Carthage Christmas Parade. SkillsUSA has been part of the Carthage Christmas Parade since the beginning. In the SkillsUSA creed it states, "We believe in the dignity of work and the American way of life." The students and advisors feel that it is important to give back to the community that has been so good to them.

NASCAR THIS WEEK

By Monte Dutton

Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Interesting times for Jamie McMurray

Martinsville was a high point for Roush Fenway Racing driver Jamie McMurray. Sixth place marked his best finish of the season, only his fourth in the top 10 and his first top 10 since May.

McMurray, twice a winner at NASCAR’s highest level, looks to the future with uncertainty. With NASCAR insisting on a limit of four full-time cars per team, owner Jack Roush has to cut back his operation, making McMurray the most likely driver in the Roush stable to either move to another team or be shuffled elsewhere within the Ford contingent.

The 33-year-old driver from Joplin, Mo., won his second Sprint Cup race, but that was way back in October 2002, when he won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway substituting for injured Sterling Marlin. In 2007, McMurray picked up career victory No. 2 in Daytona’s July race.

"It was a really good day," said McMurray of Martinsville Speedway’s Tums Fast Relief 500. "We made really good pit calls and had good pit strategy. Our car was better than average, so we just had a solid day."

McMurray is a proponent of the "double-file restarts rule" implemented earlier this year. At the end of each caution period, cars restart in running order, similar to the beginning of a race. Lapped cars, formerly placed in one of the two lines, are now buried deep in the pack, leaving the leaders to race for position.

"If you have a fast car, you don’t have to do all the strategy stuff," said McMurray. "If you’re struggling to stay on the lead lap, then maybe there’s something you can do there to work to your benefit."

"It’s very, very exciting, I think, for the fans. Our sport is based on putting a good show on, and this is putting a better show on for the fans."

McMurray ranks 22nd in Sprint Cup points, 184 behind Kevin Harvick, 27 ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and 29 in front of 24th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. McMurray’s three best career finishes in the point standings all occurred while he drove Dodges for Chip Ganassi. He finished 13th in 2003, 11th in 2004 and 12th in 2005.

I saw somewhere that one copy of the New York Times contains more information than a person would have been exposed to in a lifetime back in the 1500’s. I suppose on some level that may be fact, but I doubt that the information in any newspaper woulda been much use.

Today the problem seems ta be more of information overload. So much stuff bein’ shoved in the head that the challenge is to sort through ta find somethin’ relevant.

The nice thing about a newspaper is you can pick and choose what ya spend time learnin’. Browse through and pick out things you’re interested in, use the rest to wrap fish or line the bird cage.

The one thing that hasn’t changed in the last few hunderd years, we still want ta know what our neighbors are up to.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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CLICK and CLACK

TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

How does one tell the difference between a bad battery and a bad alternator? My car will not crank, but has some power (the dome lights, panel lights and power locks work). I’ve had it on a trickle charge for about a week. That has worked in the past when I’ve had a dead battery, but it still won’t start. Thanks for your help.-Cynthia

Ray: Well, it’s possible that the trickle charge isn’t working because your battery is dead and will no longer hold a sufficient charge.

Tom: But I wouldn’t rush out and buy a Diehard just yet, Cynthia, because that’s far fro the only possibility.

Ray: Your battery could already BE completely charged. The car may not be cranking because you have a bad starter, a bad neutral safety switch, a bad clutch interlock (if it’s a stick shift" or even a bad connection from the battery to the starter.

Tom: So here’s what you do: Get someone to give yo a jump-start. If you can get the car started with a jump, that suggests the battery is no good. Once you get it started, you can drive it to a local garage and ask them to test the battery for you. That will give you a definitive answer.

Ray: If you can’t jump-start the car, then you can be relatively sure that it’s a bad starter, or one of the other things we mentioned.

Tom: But if you’ve been charging it for a week and it still won’t start, that puts the alternator way down on the list of things I’d suspect. The alternator’s job is to charge the battery. And if the trickle charger can’t do it with the help of the power company, I think the alternator is off the hook.