New Mayor Sets Ground Rules.

To: City of Carthage Board Chairmen,

"I appreciate your willingness to not only serve on the various City boards, but to act as Chairman. During my years as a councilman, I have been frustrated at the frequency ofmeetings lacking a quorum to conduct business. I certainly understand that sometimes things come up requiring your committee members to miss a meeting, but their acceptance as a committee member is also a commitment to attend.

The City Charter states; "A Councilman shall forfeit his office ifhe (5) fails to attend three consecutive regular meetings of the council without being excused by the Council". Effective upon receipt of this memo, this rule will apply to City Boards as well. An absence will be considered unexcused if the committee member misses a scheduled meeting without notifying the Chair of the absence. The third consecutive unexcused absence will result in the committee member being replaced.

It is unfair for the rest of the committee, the public who might be attending and the media to go to the trouble to be at a meeting that fails to have a quorum. When those instances occur that because oflegitimate reasons a member or members must be absent, the Chairman should be notified in advance so the meeting may be cancelled or rescheduled.

This will also apply to the Council committees.

I would also like to see the Board Committees elect a Chairman and vice chairman annually; the responsibility ofthe vice chairman will be to fill in for the excused absence ofthe chairman, and to provide meeting minutes.

Thank you for your interest, service and commitment.

J. Michael Harris Mayor,

City of Carthage"

I was reminded of a friend a mine who was always poppin’ off some snide remark.

Durin’ a National Guard meetin’ the Captain was tryin’ to get the moral up a little and was preachin’ a little ‘bout takin’ some pride in the unit and not just puttin’ in their time.

From the back of the room came the comment, "Who cares about apathy?"

‘Course the friend didn’t claim the comment at the time, but it did break the tension a mite. The irony is that the more ya preach about apathy, the less anyone pays attention. I suppose bein’ an example is still the best lesson, but there seem ta be so few teachers.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’

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To Your Good Health

By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

Low Sodium Level Causes Many Symptoms

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What can you tell me about a low sodium level? My visiting friend (from England) was refused embarkation on his cruise because he was acting belligerent and confused. The ship’s doctor sent him to a hospital. He had scans, an EEG and numerous blood and urine tests. Everything was normal except he had low sodium. His insurance carrier sent a doctor from England to accompany him on a flight back to London. He has since seen his own doctor. His sodium level has risen. What happened to him? -- B.L.

ANSWER: Sodium has many functions. It keeps body fluids at the right level. It maintains blood pressure. It’s essential for muscle contractions. It participates in generating the heartbeat. It carries a positive electric charge, so it balances the negatively charged body substances.

A drop in blood sodium leads to fatigue, nausea and weakness. If the level dips farther, people become confused and dizzy. At very low levels, they could have a seizure and lapse into a coma.

Your friend’s doctor has the task of finding out why your friend’s sodium level fell. In quite a few instances, it comes about from an inappropriate release of a body hormone called ADH, antidiuretic hormone. This hormone stops kidney urine production. The result is too much water in the body. The extra water dilutes sodium and produces a low reading. Liver diseases, troubles with the adrenal glands and a sluggish thyroid gland are other causes for a lowering of blood sodium.

Restoring the body’s sodium content is not too difficult. Tracking the reason why it dropped is.

Has your friend’s mental function normalized now that his sodium level has returned to normal? If it has not, then his doctor has to look for explanations of his erratic behavior that have nothing to do with his sodium.