Today's Feature

No Office Visit for Disabled Hangtags.

News release from the Department of Revenue

Every year thousands of disabled Missourians have taken trips to their local motor vehicle license office to renew their disabled placards, or "hangtags", so they may continue to use convenient parking options. This year, the Missouri Department of Revenue has made the renewal process easy - so easy, in fact, there’s nothing to do.

Instead of mailing a renewal notice to holders of disabled placards, this year the department is simply mailing the renewal placards to customers, letting those who depend on the placards say goodbye to visiting their license office to obtain the free hangtag.

As a result of legislative changes, anyone renewing a disabled placard this year is not required to visit a license office. Office visits will only be required every four years when a physician’s statement is needed.

"I have directed state agencies to find innovative ways to enhance customer service to all Missourians," said Gov. Matt Blunt. "It just makes sense to minimize the burden for disabled Missourians by making it easier for them to obtain the hangtags they need. This service is an example of how we can help the disabled through common sense, compassionate initiatives."

"It makes sense to find creative ways to improve service to our customers," said Revenue Director Trish Vincent. "This year, instead of sending out nearly 180,000 renewal notices and creating that many trips to a license office, we’ll send the placards directly to our customers’ mailboxes - no paperwork, no special visit required."

Dan Card, chairperson of the Governor’s Council on Disability and principal drafter of the 2004 bill requiring placard holders to recertify their eligibility through physicians’ statements, applauds the efforts of the department. "The department is taking steps that simultaneously minimize bureaucratic red tape and ensure that hard-fought efforts to reduce placard fraud continue to be successful."

The hangtags were scheduled for mailing at the end of July. To allow the department sufficient time to process returned mail it is recommended that hangtag owners who have a hangtag expiring in September, 2007, wait until September 1 to contact the department if they have not received their new hangtag in the mail. If the hangtag is no longer needed, customers are asked to return the hangtag to the address on the envelope.

Havin’ a dog, as a kid, I always thought that rabbit huntin’ would be great sport. Unfortunately, the dog had not read the sportin’ magazine that I had. He’d take out after the rabbit all right, but eventually I would have to go find the mutt out sniffin’ in a rat nest or barkin’ at some squirrel up a tree.

‘Course there is a chance that the rabbit wrote the real story.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Click & Clack Talk Cars
By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire than continually overheats. Despite replacing the thermostat, the sensor that operates the radiator fan and the radiator itself, the car still overheats. Ironically, the faster I go, the less likely the car is to overheat. However, when I let the car idle, the temperature builds up rapidly, and in only a minute or two the temperature gauge is in the red. What could be causing this problem? Thanks! - Marland

RAY: Well, since it’s not overheating on the highway, you didn’t need the radiator, Marland. I guess you know that by now.

TOM: Since it’s overheating at idle, that suggests it’s either the fan or something much more ominous.

RAY: You replaced the fan sensor, which is actually the coolant temperature sensor in this car. I’m going to assume that whoever did that ran the car after the repair was done, and saw that the fan was actually coming on and going off like it’s supposed to. If not, obviously that’s the first order of business. Because a nonfunctioning cooling fan - which could be due to a bad relay or a broken wire - could explain everything. Marland, you should be so lucky.

TOM: Right. Assuming you’ve already checked the fan, and it works, I think you have a bad head gasket, or a cracked head.

RAY: My brother has a cracked head, and he gets hot all the time, too.

TOM: If you have a bad head gasket, you’re continually pushing hot exhaust into the coolant and heating it up. At high speeds, you have enough air flowing through the radiator - from the rapid motion of the car - to dissipate the heat. But when you come to a stop, the cooling fan alone can’t produce enough air. So, beg your lucky stars for a bad cooling-fan relay, Marland. Because the price goes way up from there.