Today's Feature
Resignations and Recognition.

City Council member Dave Woods attended his last council meeting Tuesday evening. Woods announced his resignation two weeks ago. A reception was held after the completion of the meeting.

It was also the final meeting for Convention and Visitors Bureau director Theresa Gilliam. Gilliam introduced the new director Amy Smith, of Carthage.

Police Chief Dennis Veach and Mayor Kenneth Johnson presented plaques to three Police officers for 25 years of service. The officers presented with awards were; Lieutenant William Barksdale, Sergeant Doug Dickey and D.A.R.E. Officer Kevin Provins. According to Veach all three were hired in 1980 within three months of each other.

The Council approved an ordinance authorizing a special use permit to Cingular Wireless for a 178 foot-tall cell phone tower to be located at 210 N. River. Council member Dianne Sharits asked how much insurance was required for a tower of such height. Cingular representative Justin Anderson was in attendance of the meeting. Anderson said that Cingular can insure the tower for up to $100 million if it is requested. Council member Jackie Boyer asked what steps were necessary to require the tower being insured. Public Works Director Chad Wampler said that it would be addressed in the permit process which has not begun yet. The ordinance was passed 8 to 1. Those in favor included Dianne Sharits, Bill Welch, Tom Flanigan, Jim Woestman, Claude Newport, Dave Woods, Mike Harris and Ronnie Wells. Jackie Boyer voted against the ordinance. Council member Bill Johnson was not in attendance of the meeting.

Other items from the meeting included the approval of an ordinance issuing Hospital Revenue Bonds in an amount not to exceed $50 million for the construction of the new hospital. McCune-Brooks Hospital CEO Bob Copeland was in attendance of the previous council meeting to explain the increase in the bond amount. Copeland cited increased prices of raw materials, increased interest during construction and extended maturities as the reasons for the bond increase.

Stench Report:
Wednesday,
10/12/05

No Stench

Looks like a classic battle ‘tween the "City folks" and the "Country folks" stirrin’ concernin’ the proposed County Law Enforcement Tax.

‘Course that is a pretty broad characterization I’m sure. There are prob’ly city folks that are for the tax and some country folks that are not. But it appears the cities themselves are not gonna show much support of the tax.

Looks like the main reason is the cities aren’t gettin’ a big enough chunk of the pie. That means the cities aren’t actually against the tax itself, just who gets ta spend the money.

If they could just come up with a way for the country folks and the out of town visitors to pay without city folks kickin’ in, the cities might hum a different tune.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

My daughter’s boyfriend bought a used car from a dealership. The dealership had a 127-point check to ensure that its used cars are safe to sell. After driving it for a month and a half, the battery needed to be jumped. A friend of mine helped the owner of the car jump the battery from another vehicle; the car wouldn’t start. So, they removed the battery and set it on the ground. A while later, one of the guys bent over the battery and merely put his hands on the sides of the battery, and it blew up in his face, causing the loss of his eyesight in one eye. Why did this battery blow up? It was not dropped. It was in a Volkswagen Passat and was an Autobahn battery. - Ana

RAY: Yeesh. That’s awful, Ana. It’s very rare that batteries actually blow up. But obviously, it does happen occasionally.

TOM: It has nothing to do with the battery being on the ground. The reason batteries explode is that dead or dying batteries can emit hydrogen gas. And we all know - see "Hindenburg" - that mixing hydrogen gas with a spark is a bad idea.

RAY: So, the question, in your case, is where did the spark come from? Was anyone around the car smoking? A floating ember could easily have provided the spark.

TOM: Or was someone wearing polyester pants? If your friend had built up a static charge walking around and then touched the battery, a spark could have jumped from him to the battery.

RAY: So we don’t know what provided the spark. But something ignited the outgassing hydrogen and that caused the explosion.

TOM: But this is a good reminder that safety glasses really can save your eyesight. So wear ‘em.

RACING
by Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Changes Don’t Faze Renault F-1 Engineer

We spoke recently with Pat Symonds, executive director of engineering for the Renault Formula 1 team. Symonds is one of motorsports’ top engineers and executives.

ZYLA: Pat, your Renault team is leading both the driver and constructor categories with just a few races left this year. You have perfected the V-10 Renault engine and have great drivers. However, 2006 F-1 rules call for V-8 engines only — no more V-10s. Where does this new rule put Renault right now?

SYMONDS: We’ll be fine here at Renault. It’s easy to say, "leave everything alone; don’t fix what isn’t broken." But I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the case.

One thing this team has demonstrated time and time again is our ability to handle change. We have a culture within the team that encourages lateral thinking. It doesn’t jump on mistakes. We welcome change. We think it gives us more ability to out-think the others.

So, the change to the V-8? Why not? It’s an engineering challenge, and it’s what we’re here for.

ZYLA: How about the two-race motor rule? What are your feelings?

SYMONDS: When it was first proposed that we take engines through two races, the common Formula 1 reaction was, "You can’t do that. It will never last two races." I said that there are guys running around LeMans for 24 hours with race engines, and I expect to drive my (street) car for 100,000 miles minimum, so anything can be done. So, we rose to the challenge, and we’ve had fantastic reliability with our engines. I have had no problems with that.