Today's Feature

New Council Sworn In.

The Carthage City Council met Tuesday evening in a regular session. This was the final meeting for Mayor Kenneth Johnson and Council member Jackie Boyer, following the April 4 Municipal Election.

After the completion of old business by the former Council, the new Council was sworn in. Jim Woestman was sworn in as Mayor, and appointed Dan Rife to take his 5th Ward Council seat. Council elected Mike Harris Mayor Pro-Tem.

Council members sworn in included; Claude Newport and Larry Ross, Ward 1; Mike Harris, Ward 2; Cynthia Curry, Ward 3; Bill Johnson, Ward 4; and Tom Flanigan and Dan Rife, Ward 5.

Council members new and old expressed their gratitude and appreciation to Kenneth Johnson for his 8 years of service as Mayor and 23 total years service to the City. Council members also thanked Jackie Boyer for her 13 years on Council and 13 years serving on the Budget Committee. The new members were welcomed by Council.

Following the appointments, the new Council heard the first reading of an ordinance adding a new paragraph to the Special Use Permit section of the City Code. The new paragraph would allow for a restaurant to sell liquor by the drink if the establishment makes at least 60% revenue from the sale of food. There was no discussion on this item.

Horse Tale.

Arrangements Made for Pet Burial in Park Cemetery 100 Years Ago. No Horses Allowed.

The ordinance allowing a portion of land owned by Park Cemetery to be used as a pet cemetery has been approved by City Council. Research of the Mornin’ Mail archives, and conjunctively the 1900 archives has uncovered at least one instance long ago where permission was granted by Park Cemetery for the burial of pets.

According to a November 2001 Mornin’ Mail article, featuring an article from 1901, an old Carthage resident named Mrs. O. Trenkler, after deciding to move to Germany, considered having her pets killed and buried as opposed to leaving them in the care of strangers. The article reads;

"But one problem puzzled the kind- hearted old lady, and that was the disposition of her pets, a horse, a sand hill crane, and her ‘laughing dove’. She could not think of leaving them to unsympathetic strangers, and rather chose in her zeal for their welfare to see them dead and buried. She made an application to Regan Bros. to bury them in Park Cemetery, and got permission as to the crane and dove, but as she explained to one reporter at the train Saturday night, ‘they would not let me lay out the horse there.’"

This horse dilemma forced kind-hearted old Mrs. Trenkler to re-evaluate her stance, and she decided instead to leave the animals alive, and in the care of Mrs. John Koontz, northeast of town, according to the 1901 reporter.

At the Council meeting Tuesday night, Park Cemetery representative Neel Baucom spoke to the Council concerning the burial of horses and other large animals, saying that the Cemetery would prefer that all animals be cremated. The largest plot offered by the Cemetery would be 2’ x 4’, which most likely will eliminate the possibility for burial of a non-cremated horse.

The area for pet burial is separated from the human cemetery by 267 feet, according to Baucom.

Flanigan Presents City Seal.

At the Council meeting Tuesday Council member Tom Flanigan presented a newly revised City Seal logo which is to be displayed behind the Mayor’s seat in the Council Chambers.

The seal is behind glass in a large circular frame and features the official City logo. This version has been changed from a black and white illustration to full color. Flanigan said that the seal will be displayed in appreciation of all of the Mayors of Carthage.

The project was made possible with the help of former council member H.J. Johnson, owner of Carthage Printing, according to Flanigan.

Due to an inquiry about the presence of a wagon in the City seal it should be cited; The Code of Carthage, Chapter XXVI, Seal of the City, Section 1097 states; "The seal of the City of Carthage shall have on its face and around its margin the words, ‘City of Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri,’ and the inscription of a public building and an express wagon, the two extra wheels thereof leaning against the building.’"

The reason for this requirement is not known.

Stench Report:
Wednesday,
4/12/06

No Stink Reported

Saw a group a boys jumpin’ a chat pile on their bicycles the other day. Get a good run and up one side, seein’ how far they dared to fly in mid air.

We used to go down to the spot where the highway crews kept various mounds of this and that for the roads. For those who have never tried this, there is a direct relationship to the amount of intestinal fortitude and how far you fly. There are various methods to control the ascent, speed bein’ the most critical. There is an art to goin’ fast up to the last split second and then brakin’ just a little to lesson the jump. After a few jumps on one particular day, yours truly decided to go all out. I managed to stay upright on landin’, but I also managed to sit squarely on the exposed rear tire upon impact. Those knobby tires made quite an impression on me.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

For years, a friend of mine has been on me about something I did as a young man, which he says is harmful to any car. Many years ago, on the second day of the state of Georgia bar exam, I drove my old beat-up Chevy Vega (I know I am dating myself with this vehicle) to the civic center, where the exam was administered. As I put the vehicle in reverse to park it, the clutch cable apparently broke. I had no clutch and the shifter was stuck in reverse. Being a penniless law-student, after the exam that day I decided to drive the car home, going in reverse the entire 10-mile trip. It was difficult, looking backward over my shoulder, stopping at red lights on a busy street . Aside from the obvious traffic-law violations, my friend says it is BAD for any car to drive in reverse. I say it’s NOT, as I got the cable repaired and drove the car for another two years. What do you say? - Thanks, Steve.

TOM: Well, thanks for that image, Steve. That’s the best laugh I’ve had all day!

RAY: You didn’t do the car any harm. You might have harmed your career, if any future clients had seen you, but the car didn’t suffer at all.

TOM: What you did is just like driving home in first gear. Your speed is limited, because the gear ratio is high. But as long as you didn’t go too fast and over-rev the engine, no harm was done.

RAY: And because of the difficulty of controlling a car while driving backward, I’m confident you DIDN’T go too fast.

TOM: But by the way, Steve, you didn’t have to drive home in reverse. When the clutch isn’t working, you can still shift gears in a manual transmission if you first turn off the engine. So, you could have shifted the car into, say, second gear, and driven home more comfortably.

RACING
By Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Many Racing Careers Start With Karting

Q: Greg, my son and I are thinking of buying a go-kart and starting racing. What is the top organization to join? And if you can recommend a kart, I’d be grateful. -- Glenn L., Pennsylvania

A: Glenn, the World Karting Association is the nation’s largest concern for karting motorsports. The WKA is a membership-owned, non-profit corporation formed in 1971 to regulate and promote the sport of competitive kart racing. The WKA has grown to more than 10,000 active members and 120 sanctioned tracks nationwide, making it the largest sanctioning body for kart racing in the U.S.

The "go-kart" phenomenon began in the late 1950s with informal parking-lot events and rapidly grew into organized competition on purpose-built tracks. Since then, the sport has spread around the world, forming a true "grassroots" type of motorsports.

A majority of today’s drivers at the highest levels of racing trace their beginnings to competitive karting. They include Paul Tracy, Fernando Alonso, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, Sam Hornish Jr., Sara Fisher and Danica Patrick.

As for what kart to run, the most popular are dirt-track karts, both caged and uncaged. I’d look at the caged (meaning it has a roll cage) Sportsman classes to get the best bang for your buck.

We spoke with WKA president Randy Kugler about starting a racing career in karting.

"Karting is a great training ground for up-and-coming racers," Kugler said. "You can do all you want to seat placement and weight distribution, tires in, tires out, that sort of thing, but when it comes to the handling of the kart, there are no springs and no suspension whatsoever. So, the kart is what it is, and you have to learn consistency as a driver.

"Consistency, lap after lap, will take you places where just hitting a fast lap every now and then won’t. If you ever miss your apex (in a curve) and have to lift the throttle in a kart, you’ll have a real difficult time making up that lost time, and probably won’t," Kugler said. "Karting teaches drivers this, whereas other forms of junior motorsport don’t."

Asked where new growth will come from in kart racing, Kugler said to take a close look at the new TAG karts. TAG means "Touch and Go," because these new racing karts have onboard starters and 125cc engines.

Kugler also addressed why karting is a true family effort.

"The most important job anyone will ever have is to raise your children," he said. "Karting provides an opportunity for the entire family to work together in that job area and learn how to win graciously and accept defeat graciously, too. Both spouses can get involved, and other siblings, too.

"Karting is a great sport. It’s safe, and it’s a controlled environment for kids and parents. Karting is loaded with built-in positives, and if a family lets it, it will return them a truly great experience."

To learn more, visit the WKA Web site at www.worldkarting.com.