Budget Adjustments Anticipated.

The year 2000 Marion Days Celebration is expected to be a big one according to Police Chief Dennis Veach. Veach told the Public Safety Committee this week that he will be requesting additional funding for the event.

Payroll for the week long festivities for security is the major expense to the City. Last year’s payroll totaled $22,731. CMC has historically donated an amount equal to approximately half of the total cost.

The addition of six personnel for Friday and Saturday evening, and beginning shifts on Tuesday rather than Wednesday will increase the payroll substantially.

The Chief says he will also ask that hourly pay for personnel from outside Carthage be raised from the $12 level to $15.

Approximately 20% of the positions are filled by members of the Carthage Police Department. Carthage personnel will be paid according to their regular pay schedule which would include overtime in some instances.

Veach thinks a budget of approximately $20,000 will be needed for the City’s portion of the expense.

Betty Ellefsen Announces Candidacy for Public Administrator.

Caring is Sharing. I am announcing my candidacy for the position of Public Administrator for Jasper County.

Elderly and disadvantaged people need someone who is compassionate, caring and understanding of their needs and desires. I will be an advocate for people who need someone to stand up, speak out for them and protect them of their rights as human beings.

I’ve been married to my husband, Ed, for 38 years and am the mother of three children and four grandchildren. Our concern for unfortunate children led us to become foster parents to four young children.

I have knowledge of medical benefits through my work as medical receptionist at Southwest Missouri Bone & Joint, Carthage for seven years. I’ve also had experience keeping bank accounts at financial institutions for 11 years. I was the consultant for American Heart Association in Joplin for three years.

While working at the American Heart Association, I was named Outstanding Young Woman of the Year by the Joplin Jaycees and received the state award for the same honor.

I have taught Sunday School for 30 years and am an active member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Carthage. I have been visiting a local nursing home several times for the past two and a half years. I am interested in helping people in need. This position has interested me for the past year.

I’d appreciate your support in the August primary election.

Betty Ellefsen.

I haven’t quite figured out the idea of truckers drivin’ up to Washington to protest high gas prices. Now granted, if I had the time I might go along, but I don’t know what it will accomplish.

I’m not familiar enough with how freight rates are regulated to know if that has somethin’ to do with it, but I see some companies are chargin’ a fuel surcharge for shippin.’ Since most of us depend to one degree or another on the freight rates, I’m sure it won’t be long till we all are squirmin’ a little from the increase in goods shipped by truck.

Now if all the truckin’ folks shut their rigs down for a day, that would get folks attention. I’d never suggest such a thing mind ya, it just doesn’t make much sense to drive somewhere to protest fuel prices.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf
Auto
Supply

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a ’92 Honda Civic LX sedan, which developed a vibrating, noise a few weeks ago. My mechanic said it was probably a loose heat shield, and I figured he would tighten a clamp or something. So imagine my surprise when I came back later to find he had removed the heat shield entirely. I asked him if it was safe, and he said it’s perfectly safe. I’m not convinced, however. Why would the Honda engineers have put it there if it wasn’t necessary? - Robert

Ray: Well, if you took your car to 1,000 different mechanics, Robert, 999 would probably do exactly what this guy did, and charge you $25.

Tom: And the other guy - the one who’d been sued because a customer’s car caught fire - would have installed a new heat shield and charged you over 100 bucks. And we’d have to endorse that guy’s action, mostly because our lawyers insist upon it.

Ray: Most cars have several heat shields...some more important than others. The one most commonly removed by mechanics fits just below the catalytic converter. It’s designed to keep a hot converter from igniting stuff underneath the car, like dead leaves and tall, dry grass you might park on top of.

Tom: So if you live in a city, and never park in a dry meadow, you can probably get by without that heat shield. But there are situations where something is wrong with the engine and too much fuel pours into the converter, causing it to overheat. And under those circumstances, the converter gets red hot and can ignite something and set the car on fire if no heat shield is present. And that’s really why the engineers put it there.