Move Equipment, Discount Golf.

The City Council voted 8-2 in favor Tuesday evening of spreading out exercise equipment along various points of the Fair Acres walking trail.

The four "pods" of equipment were located in one area by contractors that built the trail. According to comments at earlier meetings the placement was according to specifications provided to the contractor by the City.

Council member J.D. Whitledge saw the relocation as an "unnecessary expense."

Council member Chuck Tobrock joined Whitledge in voting against the motion by member Jim Woestman, Chair of the Public Services Committee which oversees the park system.

The Council requested and received a recommendation from Pam Barlett of McCune-Brooks Hospital. The recommendation was to place the pods in four separate locations around the trail.

The Council also approved a recommendation from the Public Services Committee to allow a 25% discount for current holders of annual Municipal Golf Course passes to compensate for construction downtime.

NASCAR to the Max

The Checker Auto Parts 500 from Phoenix International Raceway has a tradition of long stretches of green flag racing and very few lead changes.

Sunday’s race held true to form with only 4 caution periods for 18 of the scheduled 312 laps and only 14 lead changes among 9 drivers.

Matt Kenseth used a final pit strategy of taking only two tires to overcome an earlier miscue of running out of gas to propel himself to the series’ season high five victories. The race did little to clarify the season point’s championship with contenders Tony Stewart and Mark Martin finishing eighth and fourth respectively.

As the tour heads to the final stop of the season, only 89 points separates points leader Stewart and second place Martin. Kurt Busch is third, 230 markers behind, with no possible way of overtaking the leaders. Busch however does not have room for error as positions four through six trail him by only 23 points.

The drivers in positions three through six will be battling for every position Sunday because even one finishing position difference in the final race could make a position difference in the points standings. Stewart’s lead over Martin is a little more comfortable with a finish of 22nd or better clinching the title. The television analysts will no doubt be busy Sunday with numerous, "If the race ended right now" scoring updates.

The year’s final event will take place this Sunday at the Homestead-Miami Speedway near Miami, Florida. The track is a 1.5-mile oval with very little banking.

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series has raced at the track the past three years with Tony Stewart claiming wins in the first two visits. Stewart looked to be on track to his third straight victory at the track last year when he cut across the grass infield to access his pits and was assessed a penalty that forced him to the longest line of cars on the restart.

Stewart and Martin have both stated they will be race for the win and let the point’s fall where they may.

Some church bulletin announcements (supposedly authentic):

"The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer Conference includes meals."

"Don’t Let worry kill you off - let the Church help."

"For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs."

"Eight new choir roves are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones."

"Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 P.M. Please use the back door. The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday. The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy."

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I recently moved to France (adventure No. 1), got married (adventure No. 2) and have subsequently begun driving (adventure No. 3) my wife’s Renault (adventure No. 4). Without getting into French driving habits, my wife regularly yells at me because when I stop the car, I depress the clutch and step on the brake, as I learned in the United States in a Ford Probe. She INSISTS that regardless of the stopping distance, I should shift back through all of the previous gears and thus use engine braking. Obviously, I downshift to go around a corner or down a hill, but on regular stops? Is my wife nuts? Or, more important, is she wrong? — Justin

TOM: Justin, it sounds like you’ve been willing to go through quite a few inconveniences for this woman. You’ve moved to France. You’re driving a Renault. She must be some woman, huh?

RAY: So just consider this another little inconvenience that you have to put up with to keep her happy. After all, would you rather be right, or would you rather be happy? I thought so.

TOM: She’s probably nuts, Justin. And wrong, too. There’s absolutely no reason why you should shift back down through the gears to make a routine stop. It sounds like some kind of obsessive-compulsive behavior to me. All it does is wear out your clutch. And clutches — at least in the United States — are more expensive than brake pads.

RAY: Maybe the European Union subsidizes clutches, in which case you should smile, say "Yes, dear" and shift back down through the gears. You catching on, Justin?