The Public Safety Committee was informed Monday evening that Fire Chief John Cooper is consulting with area fire departments concerning the practice of hiring "on call" fire fighters.

Cooper told the Committee that several departments in the area are using on call personnel to assist when regular personnel are not available or additional personnel are required.

Committee Chair J.D. Whitledge requested that Cooper also formulate the cost of such a plan in relation to how it would effect the use of overtime pay.

Cooper said on call personnel would be qualified and trained but they would not report to the fire station, they would report directly to a fire if called.

The Carthage Fire Department has received mutual aid from Carterville and other area departments for some fires when additional local personnel were not available according to Cooper.

The Committee also approved a request from Martin Plumbing, located at Chestnut and River, for permission to install a sign that will overhang the sidewalk.

Used ta have a dog that would start shakin’ all over and hide behind the couch whenever it started to thunder. No talkin’ to that dog. Just wouldn’t listen.

No matter how calm we spoke, or how much we petted that dog, it wouldn’t move from it’s security furniture.

I don’t suppose it really hurt anything that the dog was so fearful of a rumble or two. There was somethin’ that made us kids want to get the dog to face the thunder.

‘Course we were prob’ly lucky not to be struck down by lightnin’ durin’ some of our adventures durin’ rain storms.

I suppose now there would be some dog shrink tellin’ us that we could somehow work the animal through its fears and make it a more functional pet. The dog lived a normal and healthy life. Sometimes you just have to let shakin’ dogs lay.

This is some fact, but mostly

Just Jake Talkin’

by

Carthage Printing Services

PRIME TIME WITH KIDS

by Donna Erickson

School is out, but reading is in! Use the relaxing weeks of summer to build your children’s reading skills through ordinary and not-so-ordinary ways. Check out these fun-filled activities and choose several that fit your children’s reading level for rewarding experiences all summer long.

• Visit your local library, get library cards and make regular visits part of your summer routine. Let your children choose books to check out. At home, designate an easy-to-reach shelf or basket for the borrowed materials.

• Inquire about volunteer opportunities at the library for your preteen or teenage children. As volunteers, they may be asked to read aloud at story hour, assist with crafts and puppet shows, monitor summer reading programs, search for titles on the computer and even check out books.

• Arrange 10 summer family photos in a row on a table and use them to create a story.

• Declare your home a television-free zone for one night and read a story you’ve never read before. Even older kids enjoy a story read to them now and then.

• Read the first half of a favorite storybook aloud with your children, then invent a new ending.

• Find the weather page in your daily newspaper, read the temperature and plan your day’s activities. For extra practice, read the temperature for cities where you have relatives, friends or where you will soon travel.

• Hang a regional, national or world map on the wall and locate your town, then find and read names of cities you have visited.

• Enjoy poetry. Select short poems at first, geared to your children’s interests. Try writing an original poem about a shared experience and recite it together.

• Press a pretty flower and tiny leaves between the pages of a heavy book. Glue them on the top of a strip of cardboard for a personalized summer bookmark.

• Use shaving cream to write a cheery message on the bathroom mirror for your children to read in the morning.