Today's Feature

Getting Ready for Marian Days.

The Carthage Police Department has for the past two weeks been working around the clock to prepare for the annual Marian Days celebration, scheduled to officially begin this year on Thursday, August 3rd.

Preparations included the Asian Gang seminar, co-hosted by the Carthage Department. This two and a half day seminar featured expert training from an institute based in Iowa. Other planning for the celebration includes contacting area law enforcement agencies from Jasper, Joplin, Webb City, Carl Junction and Jasco Metro to get assistance with the event.

Carthage Police Chief Dennis Veach says during the event, at least 25 officers are stationed on the grounds, around the clock.

In addition to man-power the Department relies on a mobile command center for coordinating the efforts of the officers. The command center is used for communication between officers and also utilizes video surveillance of the grounds.

"It’s a wonderful tool for us," said Chief Veach of the command center.

The department plans to retrieve and bring the command center to Carthage within this week.

Marian Days has been known to bring approximately 50,000 to 70,000 additional people to the campus of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix on Grand street in Carthage. This will be the 29th year that the celebration has been held in Carthage.

"We plan for this all year long," said Veach.

Stench Report:
Friday,
7/21/06

Faint Poultry-esque odor detected
around Noon
on Carthage
Square

I made some statement about ‘em gangin’ up on me. Why couldn’t anyone see things the way I did?

He said somethin’ about takin’ a minute to at least consider the possibility that if ever’one was agreein’ but me, maybe, just maybe I was wrong.

Like I said, I don’t ‘member what the topic of conversation was, but mostly likely he was right and I was wrong. It happened on occasion. I doubt that I ever admitted that to him though. I would have never heard the end of it.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Ceiling Fan Does Double-Duty

Q: I read your article about adjusting a wobbly ceiling fan and saw the tip about having the blades push downward in the summer. How do you do that? Do they need to spin in a certain direction, or do I have to do something else? -- A.N., Sonoma, Calif.

A: Most ceiling fans have a small switch located on the base unit, near the fan blades, to change the direction in which the blades rotate. The fan blades are canted (tilted) at a shallow angle. As air meets the resistance of the flat part of a blade, it is redirected along that resisting angle and flows in that direction as it passes the edge of the blade. (Not for long, though -- but long enough to be felt in an average-sized living area.)

When you flip the switch and reverse the direction in which the blades rotate, the airflow direction is reversed as well because it is now meeting the flat part of the blade at a different angle.

Switching the direction of the blades is a neat and sometimes cost-efficient way to keep a room comfortable year-round. In the summer, a nice downward breeze from the ceiling fan can make even a non-air-conditioned room feel cool. In the winter, directing the flow upward will gently "stir" the air, moving hot air from the ceiling to the rest of the room and reducing stuffiness without creating a breeze, which can be uncomfortable in January. The main benefit is that the thermostat may not need to be set as high (or as low) to maintain a comfortable temperature.

Be sure to turn the ceiling fan off and wait for the blades to stop spinning before flipping the directional switch. Then, try the fan in both directions and note the differences in the room’s temperature and/or comfort level.