Today's Feature

Paving Contract.

The Public Works Committee met Tuesday afternoon in a regular session. Street Commissioner Tom Shelley presented the committee the bids for the City annual asphalt paving contract for 2007. Two bids were received, one from APAC-Missouri, Inc. and one from Blevins Asphalt Construction. APAC bid $38.77 per ton of asphalt laid and $1.91 per gallon of tack oil. Blevins bid $41.00 per ton of asphalt laid and $1.10 per gallon of tack oil. Shelley recommended that approving the bid from APAC and expressed his surprise that the price of asphalt had remained so close to that of last year’s bid. The committee approved a motion to accept the bid from APAC.

Shelley also advised the committee and the public that River Street from Malcolm Miller street to 3rd Street is closed and will likely be closed the remainder of the week. Shelley elaborated that a water main had broken in the area and the street is being repaired.

Public Works Director Chad Wampler noted that there will be no City-Wide Cleanup this year in Carthage. The current contract with Allied Waste, the City’s trash service, allows citizens to place one bulky item per week in the location of regular trash pickup. Wampler told the committee that his department had received several calls about the matter.

The committee discussed with both department heads the tentative operating budgets for fiscal year 2008. Wampler reported an approximate 3% increase over this year’s budget, however this figure does not include the addition of a Nuisance Abatement officer. If the cost for that position is added, the percent of increase would be exponentially more, Wampler explained. Shelley reported an approximate 4.5% increase to his budget over this year, citing increased salary overtime and several equipment payments as contributors to the increase. The committee discussed the tentative budgets and was satisfied with both.

Wampler presented the committee with the month end report for April, 2007 which shows the total collected by the Public Works Department at $3,775.00. The total construction cost for the month is listed at $655,750.58. Wampler commented on the 41 plumbing permits issued this month, saying that a Carthage mobile home and RV park had switched from using one meter for the entire park to using individual meters for each site. This contributed 27 plumbing permits in one pass to the total for the month, according to Wampler.

I can remember other kids (I would have never thought of such a thing) callin’ with the "Is your refrigerator runnin’?" phone gag. But at least in those cases, the folks gettin’ the calls knew it was a prank. they didn’t have ta guess ‘bout what was goin’ on.

I got fooled pretty good once by an answering machine. The recording said, "Hello - hello. I can’t hear you. Can you speak up?"

Nothin’ worse than yellin’ in the phone at the top of your lungs just to find out that you’re yellin’ at a machine.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Click & Clack Talk Cars
By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

On a recent cross-country trip (South Caroline to Nevada) with my boyfriend, we had an air conditioning issue, which I’m hoping you can help us with. I wanted to make a cell-phone call, so I put the windows up and turned the AC on. We were cruising at approximately 80 mph. At the next stop for gas, the car was making a funny noise. Then the AC did not work any longer. Plus, the car was smoking. So he took it in for service the next day - and $1000 later, we have another compressor. The man at the repair center said you should NEVER turn your AC on going faster than 50 mph. Everyone I’ve talked to says they’ve never heard of such a thing. So is the repairman right? We were driving a 1998 Jeep Wagoneer. It has had AC problems anyway - could it have been an existing problem? Thanks! - Julie

TOM: Don’t pay for it! It wasn’t your fault, Julie.

RAY: No, the timing was pure coincidence. The air-conditioning compressor was already on its last legs before this incident. It just happened to kick the bucket after you used it. You are completely blameless.

TOM: We’ve heard this myth before, about not turning on the air conditioner at highway speeds. The purveyors of this myth explain that, with the car going that fast, the belt is turning at high speed. And if you then switch on the AC, it will be "jolted" into action at a very high speed.

RAY: This, as we say in the garage, is bullfeathers. Here’s why. When the AC is running, it cycles on and off by itself anyway. So it’s already turning itself on and off all the time, no matter how fast you’re driving.

TOM: Right. So you can turn the AC on and off whenever you want, Julie. You’re off the hook.

RACING
By Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Tough Times for Toyota

Q: I hope all the Toyota fans are happy, as their teams stink! I’m glad, because I’m a Chevy lover and wish Toyota had stayed in other forms of racing. They don’t belong in NASCAR, and every time one of those Toyotas fails to qualify, I’m glad. -- Kevin P., South Carolina

A: Kevin, everyone is free to express his or her opinions, but I’m sticking with mine, and I feel having Toyota in NASCAR is good for the sport, not bad. Yes, the teams are struggling, but they will get a lot better, and I still feel they can win a race this year. Dave Blaney has finished second in a Busch race already, and his Cat-sponsored Bill Davis Camry seems to be the best running Toyota of the Cup group.

Q: I think NASCAR should have given Mark Martin the win by doing what was right at Daytona. If it had been Junior (Earnhardt) ahead, he would have won it because they would have thrown the yellow. -- B.B., Pennsylvania

A: We’ve received many letters and e-mails about "yellow or no yellow" at Daytona. I feel NASCAR did the right thing, letting Harvick and Martin run for the win with the checkered flag waving. This will be the last question we answer on this subject, so readers, please, don’t send in any more. It’s a done deal: Harvick won; Martin finished second.

Q: What’s the deal with all these Indy drivers running in NASCAR? We have Juan Pablo Montoya, A.J. Allmendinger and even Sam Hornish giving it a try. What’s up? -- Alice L., Kentucky.

A: Alice, you might as well add Tony Stewart to the list (former IndyCar Series champion), along with Scott Pruett (drove Indy many times), Paul Tracy (he’s tried, too) and Sarah Fisher (was with Childress in a development program). I can keep going all the way back to A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and Jim Hurtibise, who all won oval NASCAR races, and further to Paul Goldsmith (won his first NASCAR race, a 100-mile qualifier in 1963) and well into the ‘50s if I needed to.

The bottom line is that NASCAR is the biggest racing series in the United States (if not the world). It pays the best and gives the best exposure for sponsors. So the question is, "Why wouldn’t you want to run in this series?"