Trick Or Treat Rescheduled

Due to the likelihood of rain tomorrow night, Carbondale has rescheduled the hours for officially sanctioned trick or treating for Tuesday night from 5 to 8. Wonder if the Pumpkin Patrol will arrest kids out collecting candy tomorrow night as well.

Trump Two

In case you missed the opportunity to see President Trump, you have a second opportunity. The President has arranged to book Cape Girardeau's Show Me Center for a rally next Monday night:

We received confirmation earlier today that representatives of President Donald J. Trump’s campaign have again contracted to rent the Show Me Center for a presidential rally next Monday evening, Nov. 5. As was the case for the previously scheduled rally in September that later was canceled, this is not a Southeast Missouri State University event. This is strictly a third-party rental agreement. As such, the Trump campaign will be handling all ticketing, sales of merchandise, and media promotion.

Trump Rally

In case you want to attend, or avoid the Trump Rally tomorrow, here are the plans for the event. The airport shut down at 7 this evening and will reopen about 9 p.m. tomorrow night. Estimated numbers of attendees are somewhere in the 10,000 to 20,000 range.

Trump Promotional Materials

I see a stand selling American and Trump flags and pro-Trump t-shirts has popped up on the frontage road in front on University Mall. Nice to see the entrepreneurial spirit at work.

Open Containers

Don't be surprised to see people carrying open cups of beer around downtown this Saturday. Last month, the council pass an ordinance allowing the carrying (and drinking I would assume) of plastic containers of alcohol in the downtown area from 11 a.m. to midnight this Saturday. You do have to stay in the area bounded by  Jackson and Mill and Washington and University though, so no cups of beer in IV's parking lot.

Rally

Apparently, since the city council decided not to hold a meeting, depriving them of an outlet for their voices, some group decided to hold an anti-Trump  rally outside the civic center about 6 p.m. I saw about 40-50 people clustered there on the sidewalk about 6 p.m. Hopefully, some of them will also go knock on doors and call people for the preferred candidate, as that will prove a lot more helpful

Council Cancellation

It appears the prime reason for cancelling tomorrow night's city council meeting were the plans of several groups and individuals to either disrupt the meeting with protests supporting and opposing  the upcoming visit of President Trump or to spend a lot of time during citizen comments expressing their opinions about the visit. Since none of that has anything to do with council or city business, council decided to avoid the whole situation by canceling the meeting. Next one takes place after the election, but which time President Trump will be long gone.

City Council Meeting Canceled

Well, this a first. The city sent out a notice that this Tuesday evening's scheduled Liquor Control Commission and City Council meetings are cancelled. First time I remember a regularly scheduled council meeting getting canceled in 20 years and   other people have comments it is the first time in 30+ years they have heard of a council meeting getting canceled. If I were a betting person, I would lay odds it has a lot to do with Pres. Trump's upcoming visit and campaign ralley and Councilman Loos' plan to read a statement at the meeting protesting the visit. Given the lack of support for Loos' original resolution, with two council members pulling their support, I imagine the council sees discretion as the better part of valor, figuring there will be less controversy if Councilman Loos reads his statement into the minutes after the President visits and the election is over.

Of course, I could be completely wrong and there just aren't enough councilpeople in town next Tuesday to have a quorum.  Here is the email from the city:

The Local Liquor Control Commission and Carbondale City Council meetings scheduled for October 23, 2018, have been cancelled. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, November 13, 2018.

Trump May Visit Carbondale

Given the tight race between Bost and Kelly for the House seat, it appears that President Trump is exploring the possibility of staging a campaign rally for Bost on the SIUC campus. Al though a rally in the Fairview Heights/Edwardsville area would draw a larger attendance, holding it at SIUC is much closer to Bosts home town and would probably bring out a larger number of Bost supporters.

Unfortunately, the date selected is the same that scheduled for the Carbondale Halloween event and all of the security needed for a presidential visit would raise hob with the events scheduled for that day. Can you imagine the Carbondale Zombie Walk staggering northward as a presidential motorcade passes by on Illinois? Maybe we will see a few zombie Trumps?

Infrastructure Suggestions

The city is looking for suggestions/recommendations on infrastructure projects to undertake. Recently, it has done some extensive work on the sidewalks and systems along North Oakland and plans to work on south Oakland in the near future. I would suggest the people who have been protesting the Brightfields' solar array development contact the city about some infrastructure improvements in that area

Home 2 Hilton Suites Open

After about 2 years, the downtown Hilton finally held a soft open today. First guest are staying in rooms tonight. Not all of the rooms in the building are open to guests as there is still some finishing needed. Official grand opening will be announced later.

SIUC Plans

Chancellor Walter Wendler got forced out and we have not heard anything regarding his "Southern at 150" plan.

 Chancellor Rita Cheng leaves for Arizona and her rebranding plans for SIUC come to a screetching halt.

Given this track record, I imagine the passing of Chancellor Carlos Montemagno will mean the end of the planned restructuring of the university.

Montemagno Dead of Cancer

SIUC Chancellor Carlos Montemagno died of cancer early this morning. Only met him once at a Chamber of Commerce event but he seemed a pretty affable guy, with some ideas for the campus , such as a holiday lighting of the Old Main area, that got lost in the controversy of his planned restructuring of the university. Given that he was the prime mover behind the proposed campus restructuring, I imagine it will go on hiatus until a successor is found and, even then, the new chancellor's ideas for the university will likely vary from what Dr. Montemagno had proposed.

Candidate Forums

Couple of candidate forums coming up locally in the near future. Sadly, no sign of Mike Bost in the near future.

The League of Women Voters of Jackson County is hosting two candidate forums, Oct 16 and 18, for judicial candidates and Jackson County Board candidates. 

On Tuesday, Oct 16, at 7 pm, eight judicial candidates are expected to join a forum  at the SIU Law School Auditorium.  Voters in Jackson County will have to select among eight candidates for four judicial positions. Those in Union County, will select among six candidates and those in Williamson - ten candidates.  That is a good reason to come to the candidates forum.  More info available at https://www.isba.org/judicialevaluations and click on "By County".

Candidates for Jackson County Board will appear on Thursday, Oct 18, at 7pm, at 1410 Walnut St, the Murphysboro town hall (= Davis-McCann Center, entrance on 14th Street).  Come and hear how they stand on various county issues. 

Brightfields

Approval or denial of the controversial Brightfield solar array development at the city council meeting next week. Given that six hours of discussion took place at the planning commission meeting, I would bet this meeting will take equally long.

Ribbon Cuttings

In case you like attending ceremonies, there are a couple of ribbon cuttings taking place this week. Friday Oct 5 at 11 a.m. a cutting will celebrate the new solar installation at Gaia House on South Illinois and then Saturday Oct 6, also at 11 a.m. there is a cutting at the new Family Drug on the far west side of town, located in what was the short lived Doctor Donuts. Family Drug should do a lot better there than Doctor Donuts, since a pharmacy is more of a destination store that a donut shop is. We are willing to make more of an effort to get our prescriptions then we are doughnuts.

Pet Expo

Purrrrfect Pet Expo at the Carbondale Civic center this Saturday.  $3 admission or pet supplies gets you in. All proceeds go to local animal shelters, of which the region has several.

Cinnamon Wheeler-Smith

Cinnamon Wheeler-Smith, executive director of Carbondale Tourism for the past 5+ years, announced that Friday will be her last day. She has taken a position as Operational Triner at WPS Health Solutions