Today's Feature

A Brief Meeting.

The City Council Budget/Ways and Means committee met Monday evening in a regular session. Committee members discussed an adjustment to the City operating and capital budget for the fiscal year to pay remaining expenses for the Landfill project. The committee approved a carryover not to exceed $9,000. The item is to be presented to Council for approval.

Other items discussed included the purchase of new municipal court software for the Carthage Police Department. Police Chief Dennis Veach was present at the meeting to discuss the software. Veach said that the department currently uses a DOS based software which is outdated, difficult to use and which results in large portions of the data being entered by hand. A software called INCODE has become available at a reduced price, offered exclusively by the company to Carthage and three other regional cities.

This software was recommended for the Police department during the computer and networking analysis completed last year, but Veach said the cost was too great at that time. The original cost was listed at over $10,000 plus maintenance charges. The currently available cost is reduced to approximately $8,500. The changes would make the court software and City software compatible and would also be able to be used on multiple computers within the department.

The committee approved a motion to accept the software upgrade, to be purchased from unallocated funds. The item will need full Council approval as well.

The meeting lasted about 15 minutes from start to finish. Committee members present included Ronnie Wells, Diane Sharits and Mike Harris.

Stench Report:

Tuesday,
10/10/06

No Stench detected on the
Carthage Square

If you happen to pick up onea the brochures on the festival the car show listin’ may need a little clarifyin’. The $10 entry fee mentioned is for those participatin’ in the show itself, not for those spectators who are just lookin’. It will be free entrance for those of us just admirin’ the spectacle.

For those wantin’ to enter their car in the competition, the entry fee will be collected as the cars enter the grounds.

I understand this will be the 26th year for the show. It continues to be a major draw for the Maple Leaf weekend. Get you motor runnin’.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

• To keep squirrels out of a pole-mounted birdfeeder, liberally spray a cotton cloth with WD-40 lubricating oil and then wipe the pole with the cloth. Squirrels are good climbers, but even they won’t be able to climb that pole. Reapply every so often.

• "I have a small table at the corner in back of my shed. On the table, I put a large stand-up cooler, the kind with the spout at the bottom. Whenever it rains, I take the lid off the top, and rainwater comes off the roof of the shed to fill up the cooler. Then, I add powdered fertilizer and put the top back on. Until I empty it, I have a good, free supply of water to fill my water cans for the plants. And since it’s closed, I don’t worry about the insect problems that come with having standing water around." -- F.B. in Arkansas

• Did you know that you can clean your plastic shower curtain in the washing machine? Toss it in with a load of towels for a good scrubbing, then hang it back up right from the machine (no dryer cycle).

• Cleaning out the fridge? Utilize that dishwasher for drawers, shelves and anything else that will fit.

• "I have a really large wall in my living room that needed something on it for decoration. I couldn’t find anything that was really affordable (large artworks, even just prints, are very expensive), so I decided to make something myself. I had a piece of plywood leftover in the garage, and I painted it in blocks of colors that match the decor of the room. Surprise! With no artistic talent to speak of, it looks really good." -- K.C. in New York