SMART TALK

By Saber S. Poder

STRAIGHT-LACED:  Mrs. Shirley Markem Lowe, of the D.B. Wesson High School English Department here in Underbelly, Texas, tells me I shouldn't use the error as my title.  "That's what they'll remember, young lady."  As with straitjacket, many dictionaries allow misspellings of strait-laced.  But strait means narrow and restricted, or such a water passage, as in the Straits of Magellan. Straitened circumstances is a circumlocution for having severely restricted finances.  So strait-laced is not only correct, it makes more sense: strict; morally hidebound.

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Six Boy Scouts from Lansing Troop 48 attended the National Scout Jamboree last week.  Representing Jamboree Troop 306 were Joshua Barber, Daniel Comisi and Peter Stammer.  Ian Garnett, A. J. Hughes and Michael Coles attended for Troop 307.

The Jamboree made the national news several times last week.  Five scout leaders were killed when a pole from a tent they were setting up touched an electrical line.  The decision was made to continue the event, in part to honor them.

Hi! I'm Joey, a 2 year old male Jack Russell Terrier. I am already neutered and I weigh 20-30 IBS. I was brought to the SPCA because my old family thought someone else could take better care of me. I am very energetic and need lots of attention. If you need if you need a friend, and I sound like the pup for you come adopt me at the SPCA!

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On the hottest day of the summer workmen were repairing loose bricks on a scaffold outside the middle school. The bricks were part of the original outside wall in the 1929 wing of the building. Water gets into the mortar during the Summer, then expands during the cold Winter months. Interim Business Administrator Gary Alger explained that the loose bricks were discovered during a recent "Buildings Condition Survey." Mandated by the State, the survey is conducted by a licensed architect to make sure that school buildings are in good shape. "I believe it's one of the best things the State has done," said Mr. Alger.