Free Tax Preparation.

The Carthage VITA site is open to prepare tax returns for low to medium income persons at no charge. The location is the Family Literacy Center, 706 Orchard in Carthage.

Returns will be prepared by volunteers and will be electronically filed. Direct deposit to a bank a account can be arranged. Appointments will be taken by call in the Family Literacy Center at 358-5926.

Federal and state income taxex will be prepared. A federal return should be prepared before the state return, as information from the federal return is needed to complete the state return. Thow who need to fill a Missouri propertax (PTC only will be prepared but will not be e-filed.

Taxpayers should bring picture identification, Social Security cards for all persons listed on the return, and all documents needed to prepare their return. All income must be reported on the return.

The VITA tax site is sponsored by Economic Security Corporation with volunteers trained by the IRS, which also provides the computer program. Family Literacy Center donates the space and the computers. Coordinated by Marie Dame.

Lot a times it’s just a no-brainer.

The City Council approves a lot a stuff that just has ta be done for the City to function from day to day. There are just a lot a times there will be 10-0 votes.

I would personally, however, get a little nervous if there weren’t split votes from time to time. There is no way for ten folks to agree on ever’thing all the time.

‘Course the appearance of a unanimous decision on a consistent basis has not been a problem as far as I can tell as long as anyone can remember in Carthage.

As a teacher a mine once instructed me, the majority may rule, but nothin’ in the constitution guarantees that the majority is always right. It’s always good ta have someone question a decision.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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Weekly Columns

To Your Good Health

By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

Foot Drop?

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am 90 years old. About three years ago I developed foot drop. A neurologist diagnosed the condition. My general health is good, considering my age. This foot drop has become debilitating. Is there anything I can do to take care of it? --M.S.

ANSWER: Foot drop isn’t really a diagnosis. It’s an observation of what’s happened to your foot. You cannot raise the front part of your foot off the ground when you take a step. The drooping foot makes it hard to walk. You have to lift the leg very high so the foot clears the ground. Finding out what made the foot drop is going to be your diagnosis.

Nerve damage, back problems, stroke, diabetes and muscle illnesses are some of the causes of foot drop, and they are the actual diagnosis. Many times, the problem is nerve malfunction. Quite often, health cannot be restored to the nerve, but things can be done. One of those things is a lightweight brace that keeps the foot from flopping downward when you take a step.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Is it possible to have had a heart attack and not know it?

I am a 59-year-old man and had my first-ever EKG this past week. The doctor tells me I had a heart attack. I have never had anything that felt like a heart attack. I don’t smoke and never have. Heart attacks don’t run in my family. My mother and father are alive at 85. I weigh 155 pounds and have weighed that since I was discharged from the Army, more than 35 years ago. Could this be a mistake? -- R.S.

ANSWER: As many as 20 percent of heart attacks are silent, producing no pain or other symptoms. Those attacks are discovered when an EKG happens to be taken at a later date. It’s also true that the EKG might show the pattern of an old heart attack without one ever having occurred.

If you want to settle the matter, consult a cardiologist. It’s probably the wise thing to do.