Today's Feature

EMS Station Lease Denied.

The Carthage City Council during Tuesday night’s meeting rejected an ordinance that would allow for the construction of an EMS station on property near the new McCune-Brooks Hospital.

McCune-Brooks CEO Bob Copeland was present at the meeting and discussed the proposed property lease and construction of the facility. Copeland’s proposal was that the hospital lease the property north of the existing structure to Crossland Construction which would occupy that area and build the EMS station to house ambulances. Crossland would then lease the building back to the hospital at a price of $81 thousand per year for the first five years. At the end of the first five year lease period, the property would be available for purchase by McCune-Brooks Hospital for the amount of $1.068 million. The lease would be for approximately 30 years and each five year period there would be an option to purchase.

This lease would be an operating lease, which would be paid from the hospital’s operating budget, as opposed to a capital lease which would normally be used for construction projects. City Administrator Tom Short in an interview on Wednesday noted that this would be an advantageous situation for the hospital, due to there being more funds available in the operating budget than in the capital budget. The capital budget was used in the construction of the hospital itself; a project which cost approximately $40 million, according to Short.

There was little discussion from Council members following Copeland’s presentation and prior to the vote. The ordinance was defeated as it did not receive the required six votes in favor.

Those Council members who voted in favor of the ordinance included; Bill Welch, Tom Flanigan, Dan Rife, Larry Ross and Mike Harris. Those who voted against included; Cynthia Curry, Diane Sharits, Claude Newport and Bill Fortune.

Council member Claude Newport told the Mornin’ Mail in an interview Wednesday that he voted against the ordinance because he felt the rent structure and purchase prices in the plan seemed elevated. Newport said he felt that further discussion and explanation of the plan would be appreciated by the Council.

Council member Flanigan during his closing comments at the end of the meeting urged Council to reconsider its decision at the next Council meeting. Flanigan said that without the station there would be no place to house the ambulances for the hospital, as the current hospital building and EMS station will be occupied by Missouri Southern State University beginning January 1, 2008.

Flanigan added to his statements in an interview yesterday, saying that it would be in the best interest of the hospital to have the EMS service located closely to the new hospital building, as EMS workers not only transport patients but also perform some duties inside the hospital. Flanigan reiterated his proposal to have the item return to Council for further consideration and discussion.

City Administrator Tom Short said that the City Staff is in the process of setting up a special work session with the full Council so that Copeland may explain more of the financial aspects of the lease.

My daughter decided to start usin’ her first, rather than her middle she was known by, name after she finished high school. ‘Course no one in the family ever changed what they referred to her as, and eventually she went back to acceptin’ the tradition.

Another kid I knew actually legally changed his name. He now will not respond to any other name.

I suppose the sayin’ about a rose by any other name is still a rose. But the same can be said for the thistle.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Click & Clack Talk Cars
By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I purchased a Honda Odyssey today, and the dealer tried to sell me a $1,200 protective interior/exterior coating. I said no, but he said he would honor the offer till Monday. Should I buy this, or is it just an "upselling" strategy to get more money out of me? - Sally

RAY: Tell him you’re not interested, Sally. And then, when he calls back and asks if you’d be interested if it was $600, tell him no again.

TOM: Exterior protection is unnecessary. The car already has exterior protection. It’s called paint.

RAY: And the inside ... well, that’s a lost cause anyway. If you just bought a minivan, you probably have what? Little kids! They spill milk, drop fruit, grind chocolate into the carpets and barf on the seats. And that’s only the stuff you’ll know about. Other than lining the whole interior with plastic or pulling the kids behind you in a U-Haul trailer, there’s not much you can do to prevent that.

TOM: Well, you can get an interior that’s the color of dirt. That helps.

RAY: Actually, you might try buying a few cans of Scotchgard and treating the seats and carpet occasionally. That might make it easier to clean up the inevitable messes, and that’s essentially what the dealer is going to do for 1,200 bucks. You can do it for 12 bucks, and that’s what we’d recommend, Sally.

RACING
By Greg Zyla
Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Marty Robbins Had Right Stuff for Racing

Q: Greg, I’m a big fan of the late, great country and western singer Marty Robbins, who I feel did a pretty good job behind the wheel of a race car too. In your estimation, was he competitive in racing, and what other "stars" tried their hand at big-time stock car racing? -- Lou K., Wisconsin

A: Yes, Marty Robbins was competitive, Lou. In fact, I would have to say he is probably the biggest name celebrity to actually run in NASCAR and do well.

After a few years of amateur racing, Robbins gave NASCAR a try, running one race in 1966 against the likes of like Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Junior Johnson and David Pearson.

In 1972, he had an eighth-place finish in the Miller High Life 500 at Ontario, Calif., and another Southern 500 top 10, finishing ninth. He ran ninth at Talladega in 1974, proving he was indeed a real race driver. His best finish was a fifth in the Motorstate 400 at Michigan in 1974.

Overall, Marty competed in 35 Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) races and scored five top-10 finishes. He drove purple and yellow race cars, most of them Dodges, prepared by the legendary Cotton Owens.

His last race was a 33rd-place effort in the Atlanta Journal 500 on Nov. 7, 1982. He died just one month later on Dec. 8 following a heart attack after bypass surgery.

Other movie actors who could drive and race well are Paul Newman, James Garner, Steve McQueen and James Dean.