Today's Feature

Resolution for D.R.E.A.M. Initiative.

The Carthage City Council will meet this evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall. Items on the agenda include a resolution endorsing and supporting the D.R.E.A.M. initiative application.

According to the state website for the program, "D.R.E.A.M. Initiative is a comprehensive, streamlined approach to downtown revitalization that provides a one-stop shop of technical and financial assistance for select communities to more efficiently and effectively engage in the downtown revitalization process."

This item was discussed at the previous Council meeting. Chamber of Commerce Director Max McKnight discussed with Council an interest in filling out an application for the Downtown Revitalization Economic Assistance for Missouri program.

The application for the program contains ten narrative questions which McKnight said might require 1 or more page-long answers each. The application must be submitted by August 1st in order to be considered.

Communities approved for the initiative will have access to technical and financial assistance from the State, in categories including; Technical Assistance and Planning, Historic Preservation, Public Infrastructure, Facade Renovation, and Housing Development.

Only six to ten communities that apply will be selected for the program.

Other items on the Council agenda include the second reading of an ordinance authorizing the agreement with the Carthage R-9 School System for use of the portion of Kellogg Lake known as the Outdoor Classroom.

Stench Report:
Monday,
7/24/06

No Stench Detected on Carthage
Square

‘Course part of the fun was hidin’ under the dock and poppin’ up ever now and then ta surprise some unsuspectin’ swimmer.

The fact that sunfish liked the cool shade of the dock and took the opportunity to nibble at a passerby on occasion made the game even more excitin’.

I made it to a pool ever’ now and then, but it never was the experience we enjoyed out at the "pond." Guess the perch don’t like the chlorine that much.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Is Multiple Threat

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I would like more information on rheumatoid arthritis. My doctor tells me that I have it. -- R.B.

ANSWER: Rheumatoid arthritis is much less common than osteoarthritis, which affects many older people. However, it is a more destructive kind of arthritis, and it is a "systemic" illness, for it attacks many organs and tissues other than joints. It inflames blood vessels. It can irritate the coverings of the heart and lungs. It often dries the eyes. It brings on great fatigue, and it can form soft nodules under the skin.

Joints are, of course, the primary target. The devastating inflammation it gives rise to in joints spreads to the bones that form those joints. The most-often-affected joints are the first and second knuckles closest to the hands, the wrist, the elbow, the knee, the ankle and the foot joints. Frequently, the same joint on both sides of the body comes under attack.

In the past decade, a whole new approach to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has greatly lessened the devastation caused by it. Most new patients are still given anti-inflammatory drugs, but if those drugs don’t bring quick results, medicines that control the immune system and modify the destructiveness of the rheumatoid process are prescribed. Methotrexate is an example. An entirely new group of medicines that neutralize the havoc brought on by the noxious chemicals generated by the immune system has made the illness a much less formidable foe.