Did Ya Know... Soroptimist of Carthage with McCune-Brooks Hospital and Carthage Radiologists are offering free mammograms October 14 through October 30th. Vouchers for free mammograms are available at Poor Richards Gift Shop on the Square. For information, call Dorothy Greenwood at 358-5200 or Ruth Overton at 358-5861.

Did Ya Know... The Senior Center will not have a bean dinner on October 18th.

Did Ya Know... Preschool Storytime will be held Tues. at 6:30 p.m. and Wed. 10:15 a.m. at the Carthage Library. The library will open at noon on Sat., Oct. 18th and close at 4 p.m.

I wouldn’t say it rained hard, but some nut at the zoo was loading the animals onto an ark.

She asked me for the rent three times last week. If she asks me again, I’m going to move.

The American space plan is a little slowed down. We plan to send up three astronauts in one rocket, and there’s still a little disagreement on who should sit by the window.

One last word of advice: If you’re out driving, just make sure you have a car.

Fined $10 for Assault.

Louis Henson was fined $10 Saturday for assaulting George Harp. His father will be tried before Justice Garland.

Bridge Contract Let.

While the circus parade was winding round the square this morning County Surveyor C. N. Clark was having a little circus of his own, on the courthouse steps. He let the contract for the fills at the upper bridge. The work includes 35 yards of stone riprapping, 140 feet of hand railing and 100 yards of filling. The whole thing went to I. A. Gary at 12 1/2 cents per cubic yard. There were but two bidders, Mr. Gary and David Miller. The bidding started at 40 cents and was so lively that at the end of three minutes the contract went to Gary.

The Missouri banana, otherwise known as the pawpaw, is now reported ready for the harvest.

Sewer Easement Backup.

Short term solution completed.

The special Council meeting was held last Thursday regarding a sewer easement dispute between the City and the Carthage Alternate 71 Partnership. The Partnership is developing the southeast corner of the intersection of HH and Highway 71. The disagreement had nearly stopped progress of a third party's development, the Super 8 motel on HH Highway.

The Council voted to pay for an alternate sewer extension, which was completed yesterday afternoon, that avoided the easement issue. The action allows the motel project to continue but the dispute may threaten further development of the corner.

The easement was discussed in more detail at the Public Works last Tuesday, prior to the special Council meeting.

Dexter Friesen, owner of the Super 8 motel under construction, spoke to the Public Works Committee regarding a delay in hooking up to the sewer.

"We were ready to hook up to the sewer about six weeks ago, and we still aren’t hooked up," Friesen said. "We’ve got all the permits, we’ve done everything that the City has asked of us....we need to test the water lines, we need to test the stools, we need to test the tubs, all those things--so it would be nice if we were hooked up to the sewer." The Super 8 is scheduled to open November 17.

Assistant to the City Engineer Joe Butler told the Committee that the Engineering Department thought needed paperwork had been completed.

According to Butler, the owners of the easement property, Carthage 71A Partnership, are attempting to recover their sewer construction costs by charging people to connect. The developer is responsible for that and does not recover any of those costs Butler said. Fees cannot be charged to connect to a public sewer.

"The normal process is before the City accepts a sewer we have to have an easement on that sewer line. That’s the way the sewer was designed and permitted with DNR (Department of Natural Resources), the only problem was that the easement never got signed," Butler explained to the Committee.

Without the easement, the sewer technically is not a public sewer.

An immediate solution to Friesen’s problem was presented which entailed running the motel’s sewer line to an easement on the Wilhoit development, Victorian Courtyards. Butler said this could be done fairly easily if a CW&EP crew was available once Wilhoit gave permission and the Council approved the plan.

"I think the City ought to pick up the tab if nobody else does, but that’s not Dexter’s problem," said Bill Johnson. "Let’s solve his problem and then, the bill’s always going to be there, who ultimately winds up being the one responsible for paying it can be discussed later."

"I talked with one of the gentlemen today," Boyer said, referring to the Carthage 71A Partnership. "It’s their feeling that the solution to this problem is that this property is going to be rolled into the development area they are currently in the process of developing, and that the City will give them a tax abatement to the tune of $10,000 to cover the cost of that connector, for allowing him to connect....this is what he tells me he thinks is going to be an equitable agreement."

Boyer asked if the City could withhold services to the Carthage 71A Partnership property.

"We can cut them off, but we’ve already let one additional customer hook on, and we do not want to cut them off under advice from the City Attorney," Butler said. "We have talked about condemning the easement, cutting it off.... we’re just proceeding very cautiously...." Butler continued.

"Until this whole question is resolved, no one else can plan on hooking up to that line either, unless they pay them," stated Boyer. "The City is not going to pay them."

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin

State Representative, District 26

Will you indulge me while I go over some already plowed ground? The reduction of the sales tax on food recently went into effect and while I wholeheartedly applaud it, the posturing by some of my fellow House members is making me furious.

One of the sayings around the Capitol is "there is no limit to the good one can do if they don’t care who gets the credit." As a member of the minority party for all seven years I can attest to the reality of that! As republicans, the democrats do not allow our bills to reach the House Floor for debate or to be voted on, but many times they will take our ideas and bills and file them as their own. An example of this happened our first term. My two roommates and I filed a bill requiring all lottery proceeds to go to education. At the committee hearing we were ridiculed and told our idea wouldn’t work. When we brought up the fact the people had been sold the lottery based on the proceeds going to education, the chairman of the committee actually told us she had never heard the lottery associated with education! Anyway, before long another bill appeared requiring all lottery proceeds go to education, sponsored by, you guessed it, a democrat! As near as I could tell, it was identical to our bill, except for the sponsor. Now suddenly it was a brilliant, new idea and why hadn’t some one thought of it earlier?

This is exactly what happened with the food sales tax. The idea for the sales tax reduction was the brainchild of a republican from St. Charles County by the name of Rich Chrismer. He proposed the idea during the latter part of the 1996 session. At the time that idea was also ridiculed by Governor Carnahan and the democratic leaders of the House and Senate. They said it wouldn’t work and was an irresponsible idea. With pressure coming from Governor Carnahan, we were effectively outmaneuvered to keep from being able to take a meaningful vote on the issue.

Imagine our surprise when just six months later the democrats announce they will be filing a bill to reduce the sales tax on food! The same bunch that had effectively blocked our proposal just six months earlier was now putting forth the idea as their own? Don’t get me wrong; I was happy they had come around to our way of thinking, I just wish they had done it earlier so we could have been enjoying lower taxes a year earlier.

I guess I should just be glad they came around to our way of thinking and shouldn’t care who gets the credit; after all, there is no limit to the good we can do if we don’t care that the governor and the democrat leaders took the credit.

As usual, I can be reached at House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101 or 1-800-878-7126, or mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions, comments, and advice.

Christmas Lighting Contest.

The Christmas Committee of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce is announcing this year’s Carthage Christmas Lighting and Decorating Contest. "As in years past, the contest has encouraged citizens to light up their homes and businesses in such holiday cheer that can be found no where else but Carthage," says Heather Kelly, Executive Director for the Chamber.

The Chamber is hoping that all of the displays will be in place by the first weekend of December. Participants may enter as often as they like, but can win in only one of the contest categories. The categories and judging criteria are as follows:

• Youth - Display assembled by persons 18 years old and younger with any theme. It may or may not be lighted, but the majority of should be done by children.

• Traditional Christmas - This lighted contest category boasts the traditional winter look with red, green, and gold colors throughout themes greenery, Santa, angels, deer’s, sleds, etc.

• Traditional, Unlighted - Same as above without lights.

• Winter White - This lighted category highlights today’s vogue of sparkling white and shades of white lights with any theme you desire.

• Victorian/Carthage Heritage - This ornate category could include flowers, Victorian figures, or anything to portray the special Victorian charm of Carthage.

• Retro Christmas - Just for the fun of it, we’re looking for the eclectic look from the 50s that could include non-traditional colors, metallic trees, plastic decorations, and those other throwbacks from the 50s you may have stored in the attic.

• Churches - Done in the "true" spirit of the Christmas, area churches are invited to put together displays with religious themes.

• Business/Window Display - Commercial establishments with window displays are urged to fill their window areas with holiday charm.

• Business/General - This lighted category is for businesses to decorate their building, yard, etc. with holiday charm.

• Celebrate the Season - Surprise us with this category! Anything goes, and we will be looking for the most unique and original display.

More information is available at the Chamber of Commerce by calling 358-2373 or by fax at 358-7479.

Tonight’s Council meetin’ will mark the beginnin’ of the sixth year in the current City Hall. The first meetin’ held was on October 13, 1992.

I don’t know if there are any plans to celebrate the passin’ of the structure’s fifth anniversary (which has actually already passed), but it’s brief history has provided ample activity to fill the pages of this publication for that period.

The buildin’ represents historical significance in that it is the first City Hall built in over a hurderd years. The City offices were previously housed in the County Courthouse since its construction in the early 1890’s.

‘Course that change was not politically easy, nor was the construction of the new facility without difficulties. The removal of boulders found after construction began caused the adjoinin’ buildin’s to nearly topple.

Oh, yea, it’s paid for.

If ya haven’t yet visited City Hall, it will be open Saturday to house the quilt show.

This is some fact, but mostly, Just Jake Talkin’.

Health Notes

Hepatitis B Virus

The NFID has a warning about the hepatitis B virus which can also be deadly. It’s spread through blood and bodily fluids and is considered 100 times more contagious than HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Some 300,000 Americans are infected annually, in most cases, via heterosexual contact with a carrier who may not even know he or she carries the potentially lethal virus.

Young people, especially, need to know how easily the virus can be transmitted - and not just through sexual contact or contact with infected blood or body fluids. The virus can be spread through maternal-fetal transmission at birth; sharing toothbrushes or razors; biting, using unsterilized needles for body or ear piercing, tattooing, acupuncture, or injectable drug use, as well as living in close contact with an infected person.

AIDS is caused by a killer virus. So far, there is no vaccine available. Both hepatitis A and B can kill. But there are vaccines and many lives that could be lost, can be saved. Talk to your doctor and encourage your school to run programs teaching children how to avoid risk of infection.