Today's Feature

Dally Sworn In.

The Carthage City Council met Tuesday evening in a regular session. During the meeting Nathaniel Dally was officially sworn in to his post as City Attorney. Dally fills the seat previously held by Circuit Judge David Mouton.

Council heard the first reading of the ordinance increasing the Carthage Public Library Revolving Fund to $36 thousand from $26 thousand. This increase is recommended by the Finance & Personnel Committee due to increased costs at the Library.

The Finance Committee also brought before Council a motion to temporarily waive the 80 hours maximum comp time for seasonal employees of the Street Department due to the increased working hours of those employees throughout the recent storms. Council approved a motion to increase comp time to 120 hours as an emergency temporary measure. Mayor Woestman commended the Street Commissioner Tom Shelley and the Street Department on its efforts to keep the streets and emergency route clear during the ice storm.

Public Works Director Chad Wampler reported that between Thursday, January 18 and Saturday, January 20 approximately 500 pickup truck and trailer loads of branches and limbs were brought by citizens to the Carthage Recycling and Drop Off Center. Fees have been waived for the disposal of yard waste at the Recycling Center through February 2, 2007 in order to assist citizens with the disposal of fallen limbs.

Council also approved a motion to accept a grant awarded to the Carthage Fire Department in the amount of $54,000 for a diesel exhaust extractor system. The grant comes from the Firefighters Grant program.

Stench Report:

Wednesday,
1/24/07

No Stench Detected on Carthage Square

The problem I’ve got is anyplace that I’ve been that is that calm puts me to sleep.

Sittin’ on a the bank of a cattle pond with a fishin’ pole stuck in the mud and a soft breeze on a summer day is the ideal spot for a snooze. I suppose anyplace near the water is a decent nappin’ spot, but somehow havin’ a fishin’ pole nearby makes it more legitimate.

‘Course the couch on a Sunday afternoon makes a pretty good spot for relaxin’, ‘specially if the lawn needs mowin’. I’ve tried a hammock or two, but I’ve never found it as comfortable as the couch. I suppose that’s enough relaxin’ for one column.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

We purchased a new 2005 Jeep Liberty for our daughter last year and have faithfully taken it in to the dealership where we bought it for routine maintenance. At the time of the last maintenance checkup (11,784 miles), the repair shop performed rear and front differential service, at a cost of $240. They said it should be performed every 12,000 miles. Is this legitimate? - Federico

TOM: Hmm. How to put this gently, Federico? Did the manager have binoculars hanging around his neck? Because he definitely saw you coming.

RAY: Most cars never need differential service. That’s a component that, under normal driving conditions, should last for the life of the car without needing any attention.

TOM: If you do what manufacturers call "severe duty driving," then Jeep does recommend changing the fluid in both differentials every 12,000 miles. But severe duty means you’re doing extensive off-road driving, using the vehicle as a taxi, driving mostly in extreme temperatures, or regularly towing around a couple of Angus bulls.

RAY: If that describes your daughter’s driving, then the dealer is doing the service that Jeep recommends. But if your daughter is like 99 percent of America’s drivers and uses the liberty to go to school or work, or take road trips with her friends, then the dealer took you for a ride. And you should go back and ask for some money back.

TOM: If you look in the back of your owner’s manual, the recommended services for each mileage interval are listed there. So you can see for yourself what the manufacturer actually recommends at 12,000 miles. Look under Schedule A, which for Jeep is normal use.

RACING
By Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

NASCAR Readies Car of Tomorrow

Q: Now that the Car of Tomorrow will race in 16 Cup events this year, what is your opinion of the move by NASCAR? Why don’t they run on the superspeedways? -- David P., Florida.

A: David, the numerous tests that NASCAR ran with its drivers during 2006 were done to help develop the Car of Tomorrow for all tracks, not just the short tracks they will appear on in 2007. I feel the reason NASCAR didn’t institute a full 36-race schedule is two-fold: First, so extra high-speed handling and development work can go into the car before letting it run wide-open on 200-mph superspeedways; and, second, to allow team owners to phase out the hundreds of team cars that will become obsolete when NASCAR institutes a full-time Car of Tomorrow schedule.

Of course, the opposite side of the coin is that teams now have to have two different stables of cars ready to run, although I don’t feel this is as big of a "problem" as some make it out to be. The fact is that all teams already have different short-track and superspeedway cars, so it really shouldn’t be that big of a burden for the multimillion dollar-sponsored teams to acclimate to.

Q: Greg, what does it cost to run big-time, first-class, major-league teams in the major series of racing? -- Andy K., Wisconsin.

A: No problem, Andy. Here are the latest numbers I came up with, per front-running team, thanks to my sources: Formula 1, $100 million minimum to $300 million; NASCAR Nextel Cup, up to $18 million; NASCAR Busch Series, $5 million to $6 million; IRL, $4 million to $6 million; ALMS $4 million to $5 million; Champ Car $3 million to $5 million; NASCAR Craftsman Truck, $3 million to $5 million; NHRA Pro Team, $3 million to $4 million; and Grand Am Series $3 million to $4 million.