Today's Feature

Approved the Budget.

The Carthage City Council at its meeting Tuesday approved the ordinance adopting the Annual Operating and Capital Budget for the 2006-2007 Fiscal year. The current fiscal year will end tomorrow, June 30th.

Council member Tom Flanigan told Council during the meeting that he felt the Budget/Ways and Means Committee had done a "fine job" with the budget. Flanigan made note of the $8,000 allocated for a study concerning the construction of a skate park in Carthage, saying that such a facility would be an asset to the Parks system.

The budget was approved in a 9 to 1 vote. Those in favor included Diane Sharits, Cindy Curry, Bill Welch, Bill Johnson, Dan Rife, Tom Flanigan, Larry Ross, Claude Newport and Mike Harris. Those against included Ronnie Wells.

During the reports of the City officers City Attorney David Mouton told Council that the Missouri Attorney General’s case against Renewable Environmental Solutions (RES) had been settled Tuesday, June 27th.

Mouton said that RES had agreed to pay $100,000 in civil penalties; an amount which will be applied to the State of Missouri Education Fund for distribution by the State. As part of the settlement, RES must also pay $25,000 per each new violation in the next two years, up to $75,000 total. According to Mouton it is one of the largest nuisance fines ever settled in Missouri.

Mouton told Council that the Carthage lawsuit against RES was still pending, and would not be affected by the settlement of this case. Mouton said that he didn’t feel the City should be in a hurry to settle, but should wait a few months and then review the suit.

Council also approved the amendatory agreement for participation in the Deferral of Peaking Energy Program for the summer of 2006. The program is initiated by Southwestern Power Administration and asks for voluntary reduction in the use of hydroelectric power due to drought conditions in the area. Carthage Water and Electric Plant intends to generate power and purchase power from other sources to compensate for the reduction.

The agreement also stipulates that in the occurrence of a hydroelectric power surplus, those cities which participated in the voluntary reduction will receive preferential treatment in getting larger percentages of the surplus energy. Mayor Jim Woestman during the meeting said he was glad that Carthage had an electric company that was capable of generating its own power.

Stench Report:
Wednesday,
6/28/06

No Stench Detected on Carthage
Square

I’ve know some folks who live in pink houses, and they weren’t what I’d call unusual in any way. After a while ya even forget they live in a pink house. You even use it to your advantage from time to time. Givin’ directions is a lot easier when you can use the pink house as a reference. "Just past the pink house and turn left" leaves little doubt as to where to turn.

I’ve even had the occasion to see a pink house or two that was unusually attractive. I really don’t dislike ‘em, just never thought about paintin’ my own residence pink. Maybe if I thought of it as rose colored it would be more of a consideration.

What really matters of course is the eye of the beholder.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

My wife’s butt is so hot... and it was caused by a 2003 Ford Focus Wagon’s "seat warmers"! The seat warmers burned the seat material and my wife’s new winter coat! I wrote to Ford’s Consumer Affairs department to warn them of a very serious burn/fire hazard. All I got back was some goofy letter about being unable to offer any assistance about our claim. We didn’t submit a claim! We just wanted Ford to look into this safety issue so that nobody gets hurt! We filed a report with the NTSB. Anyplace else we should contact regarding this? - Bill

RAY: Well, we’re glad you spoke to the NTSB - the National Association of Toasted and Singed Butts.

TOM: Actually, NTSB - the National Transportation Safety Board - is the wrong place for this. It investigates airplane crashes and stuff like that. And while it may have seemed nearly that dire when your wife was doing the lambada in the seat, the place to go is NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They’re the people who handle auto safety.

RAY: You should definitely report this to NHTSA. You can do it from the organization’s web site, www.safercar.gov, or through the auto-safety hotline, 1-888-327-4236.

TOM: And, in fact, we checked the list of customer safety complaints (which you can do, too), and there have already been a few reports of overheating seat warmers on Ford Focuses. So I’m sure NHTSA will be interested in hearing from you.

RAY: In the meantime, you should get this fixed! I mean, it might be a fun trick to play on passengers, but you don’t want to create any actual griddle on anybody’s tuchus.

TOM: So take the car to your dealer and ask him to investigate.

RACING
By Greg Zyla

Rumor Mill

The "silly season," a popular term used for the time of year when NASCAR drivers plot their futures, is already upon us. It’s time we get some of these reader questions out of the way.

Q: Greg, you were right about Todd Bodine running a Toyota Camry in 2007. It was just announced he will run a partial schedule. -- A.K., Florida

A: Yes indeed, A.K. Germain Racing, the same team that fields Bodine’s Toyota trucks, announced it will be part of NASCAR’S Car of Tomorrow program by running a partial Nextel Cup schedule in 2007 with a Toyota Camry and driver Todd Bodine. This means he probably will debut at Bristol, where the Car of Tomorrow’s first race is scheduled.

Q: Greg, I heard that Joe Nemecheck might be moving over to drive the "88" Ford Fusion, which is vacant for the 2007 season thanks to Dale Jarrett going to Toyota racing. Any truth to that? -- K.L., Florida

A: No, just rumors. The latest "silly season" news finds Nemecheck leaving MB2 Motorsports thanks to a buyout by DEI Racing and John Menard. Seems Menard (he of Indy and Buick V-6 racing fame) and DEI’s Teresa Earnhardt might buy MB2 lock, stock (car) and barrel, and move John’s son, Paul, to the former Nemecheck 01. Next, they’ll sign Casey Mears to drive the No. 14 car if he leaves Chip Ganassi. The seats in the "8" and "1" are secure, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex aboard.