Today's Feature

Outlined the Revenues.

The City Council Budget Ways and Means committee met Monday evening in a regular session to discuss revenue estimates for the Fiscal 2008 budget. City Administrator Tom Short gave an overview of the estimated revenues, saying that there is a projected 5.54% increase over 2007.

Short discussed briefly each revenue-generating City department in the list and noted some changes that will be made prior to the budget hearings. The budget hearings are scheduled to begin Monday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.

The committee also approved a motion to recommend to Council a budget adjustments for the 2007 fiscal year. This adjustment will allow for payment of a bill to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) for a portion of work on the Fairview interchange. Short elaborated that MoDOT had requested the expenditure of the Community Development Block Grant funding for early in the construction process. Short said that this bill should amount to approximately $125,000, an amount which will be submitted to CDBG for reimbursement.

We had a pretty good group of badminton players in the neighborhood. Nothin’ scheduled, you played with whoever happened by that could squeeze in a game or two.

Spring time usually brought out the croquet set. Nice thing about croquet, one person could play a round by themselves and get a little practice in. That was always the tough thing with badminton. It’s not that ya can’t develop the speed to run back and forth in time to hit the birdie, it’s just gettin’ clotheslined by the net that discourages the activity.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

To Your Good Health
By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

• "I stuff empty tissue boxes with plastic bags from the grocery store. It makes a great storage for them, and I throw a box in the car. The bags are so handy, and the box makes them even handier." -- U.L. in Texas

• "Since having a hip replacement, I need to keep one hand on the rail when going up or down stairs. I no longer can carry a laundry basket. So I put the dirty or clean clothes in a large shopping bag. Then I can carry the bag in one hand and support myself on the rail with the other one." -- J.P. in Massachusetts

• S.W. in Arkansas writes: "When your baby goes from the bottle to a sippy cup, don’t throw away your bottle brush. It works great for the sippy cup as well."

• Use full-strength vinegar to clean and shine chrome fixtures. Use a non-abrasive cloth to wipe them down, and rinse with another non-abrasive cloth.

• "My little girl always used to fuss in the morning when I tried to take care of her hair, so I gave her a little doll with a brush and some clips. She does the doll’s hair while I put her hair up. It has worked out great -- she sits still and is learning how to take care of the doll’s hair. Hopefully, she will be doing her own soon!" -- A.P. in Washington

• "Keep a laundry stain stick wherever you keep your laundry basket. Train kids and spouses to use the stick before throwing any clothes items in the basket. I used to keep mine out by the washer, but sometimes a stain would sit for a week before I noticed it when doing laundry. Now, the pretreatment is on there, working, until I am ready to wash it. Be sure to choose a stain stick or pretreater that can sit for a full week. Many can, just read the label." -- G.O. in California