Today's Feature

Fireworks Ordinance Tabled.

Mayor Woestman Breaks The Tie.

The Carthage City Council during Tuesday’s regular session agreed to table two ordinances in their first reading that, if approved, would allow the use of fireworks within City limits during New Year’s Eve and the week of July 4th and allow the sale of fireworks within City limits.

As the ordinances have been tabled they will return to the Public Safety committee for further discussion and public input.

During the citizen’s participation period of the meeting, citizen H.J. Johnson urged the Council to seek more public input on the ordinance. Johnson distributed to Council members a "public issues forum discussion guide" compiled by David Burton for the University of Missouri Extension on the topic of banning fireworks. Johnson cited the guide, saying that he felt a public forum would be appropriate for an issue such as the use of fireworks. Johnson also noted that the current ordinance has been in effect for nearly 60 years (see The Truth).

Upon introducing the ordinance for Council discussion, Council member and Public Safety Committee Chair Mike Harris said he felt that the 4th of July was a growing holiday, and he felt that citizens should be allowed to celebrate with fireworks. Harris also said that he thought the City would be able to gain some revenue in sales tax by allowing fireworks sales within City limits.

Council member Larry Ross said he agreed with citizen Johnson that the City should hold an additional public hearing to seek more input on the matter.

Council member Bill Johnson agreed and made a motion to table the ordinance for further discussion.

Mike Harris responded that he had no problem with seeking more input, but added that the ordinance had been through typical committee discussion process with little input from citizens. Harris added that the current ordinance is difficult for the Police to enforce.

Council member Bill Fortune said he agreed with Harris that the public had already had an opportunity for input, during the committee discussions of the ordinance, but said that he also did not have a problem with returning the item to the committee level. Fortune added that a similar discussion was brought before Council approximately 5 years ago.

The motion to table the ordinance concerning the sale of fireworks was split 5-5. Those opposed included; Mike Harris, Cynthia Curry, Diane Sharits, Tom Flanigan and Dan Rife. Those in favor included; Claude Newport, Larry Ross, Bill Fortune, Bill Welch and Bill Johnson. Mayor Woestman broke the tie by voting in favor of tabling the ordinance.

The motion to table the ordinance concerning the use of fireworks within City limits was also tabled, but in a 7-10 vote. Those in favor included; Claude Newport, Larry Ross, Bill Fortune, Bill Johnson, Bill Welch, Tom Flanigan and Dan Rife. Those against included; Mike Harris, Cynthia Curry and Diane Sharits.

Chief Veach Accepts Position.

Carthage Police Chief Dennis Veach has accepted an offer by the city of Sachse, Texas to become their Police Chief.

Chief Veach says that he has not officially resigned, and still has to pass a physical and psychiatric exam before he is officially accepted for the position. He thinks those hurdles will be completed within the next two weeks and he could be relocating within the month.

Veach has been Carthage Police Chief for the last nine years.

Taken from the
Revised
Ordinances
of 1950

City of Carthage, Missouri

SECTION 819. No person, shall, within the limits of the City of Carthage, shoot, set off, explode or discharge any blank cartridge, torpedo cane, torpedo, fire cracker, or any substance containing chlorate of potash and sulphur, or devise for exploding or discharging such substances, or any other fireworks. Provided, however, that fireworks displays, to be conducted by experts or person who make a profession of holding fireworks displays, may be held within the limits of said City after having first obtained the written permission therefor, from the City Marshall.

SECTION 820. No person shall sell, offer for sale, or give away within the City of Carthage, any blank cartridge, torpedo, torpedo cane, fire cracker, or any substance containing chlorate of potash and sulphur, or any other fireworks.

The Truth
According to Glynn.

Dogs Sparked Fireworks Ordinance
Reprinted from March 8, 2002

The ordinance that currently prohibits the discharge of fireworks within the City limits of Carthage was approved by a 10-0 vote of the Council in 1948 according to Glynn Evans. Evans was a Councilman at the time and introduced the bill he says.

The incentive for the ban on fireworks came from three hunting dogs. Evans, Bill Putnam, Sr., and another friend had hunting dogs at the time and all three dogs ran off to escape the ring of fireworks in 1947 according to the story. Evans got a phone call a couple weeks later from Putnam with the news that the Putnam dog had been found hit by a car and killed.

The Evans dog was eventually located in Baxter Springs alive and well. The other friend’s dog eventually ended up at the Evans’ home.

Evans and Putnam checked at McCune-Brooks were told that eight patients were treated on July 4th for injuries from fireworks, six of them children.

Evans says that with the urging of Putnam, he sponsored the bill to ban fireworks in Carthage.

What some on the City Council don’t seem to realize is that by givin’ few folks the privilege to set off fireworks all over town, they take away the privilege of others of the tranquility they have been afforded for the last 59 years.

With the Council approvin’ a public hearin’ on the fireworks situation, the responsibility now is shifted to the citizens to make their voices heard (but not too loud).

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Click & Clack Talk Cars
By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a question for either car mechanics or geophysicists - you decide. I often want to know in what direction I’m driving (plus I like gadgets). So I’ll buy these stick-on-the-dash compasses. They seem OK when outside the vehicle, but when mounted inside and in use, they give directions, at times, that I know are false. My questions: Do cars have a magnetic field of their own that interferes with the readings, or are the compasses simply too cheap; or is Earth losing its polarity, or are you not the right people to ask this? Thanks. - Paul

TOM: All of the above, Paul.

RAY: I think scientists have discovered that magnetic north is actually migrating. And they predict that in about 50,000 years, Earth’s poles are going to switch, so the north pole will be at the south pole. But I don’t think your car will still be around then, Paul.

TOM: The biggest source of electromagnetism in your car is your alternator, which is, essentially, a big electromagnet. But I would think that if it was throwing off your compass, it would throw it off all the time. You say "at times" you know the reading is false. Maybe that means at other times it’s also false, but you just don’t know it.

RAY: Or it could be that as the output of the alternator increases with the speed of the engine, the magnetic interference increases.

TOM: But I’d say it’s even more likely to be affected by things outside the car, like overhead powerlines.

RAY: So our answers are: Yes, there are sources of magnetism in the car, yes, you’re buying cheap compasses, and yes, we are not the right people to ask.