COVID -19 Test 2

 If you go to the Memorial Hospital drive through for a covid-19 test, they will ask you to quarantine for 1-2 days and tell you to expect your results in about 48 hours. That is about how long it took me to get my  results (negative if you were interested).

COVID -19 tests

 got tested at the Memorial Hospital drive up location. They want you to schedule an appointment but I was able to do so while sitting in the parking lot and got through the process in about 15 minutes. Very efficient operation.

Bright Spot Award

 From the Press Release from Keep Carbondale Beautiful

Keep Carbondale Beautiful September winner of the Bright Spot award goes to 716 McKinley ave. The landscaping is done by husband, Andy Fonck and the plant is done by wife, Francine Fonck. Andy and Francine have lived at their residence for 17 years. Driveway side border is boxed in with reclaimed wood. The raised bed holds a colorful array of hardy crimson mums, purple cockspurs and ginger marigolds. Exposed aggregate walkup is framed by rock and 3 ft tall canna plants. Sweeping along the right side of the house, is a lush stand of hydrangeas, intended to softly camouflage the front window.

          A standout aspect of this particular yard is the management style the Fonck’s are able to achieve. Rainwater is collected in barrels to water the garden. Beautiful white marble border stones were brought from a previous home in northern Illinois. Upcycled and found objects dot their garden and tell the stories of their lives. “I’ve done a lot with not too much money” recounts Andy Fonck, “I’m a blue-collar man, and I have to be resourceful.” Around the back of the home, is a vegetable garden, and a surrounding sitting area with upcycle car tire seats.

 

The Keep Carbondale Beautiful, Inc., Board selects businesses or residences to receive the Bright Spot Award for enhancing the beauty of our community by means of revitalization of property, new construction, plantings and beautification, upkeep and maintenance, or rehabilitation.

 

If you would like to nominate a business or residence to receive the Award, please call the Keep Carbondale Beautiful office at 525-5525 or email keepcb1326@gmail.com.  Archives of some past Bright Spot Award winners may be found at keepcb.org.

 

Highway 127

 Looks as if IDOT is starting work on repairing Hwy 127 south of Alto Pass. Several earthmoving vehicles there as well as 3-4 IDOT vehicles. I think it has been about 2 years since the hillside collapsed taking the highway along with it. Glad to see they are starting work on repairing it

Free Tuition

 SIU will offer free tuition to new students from Illinois who come from families making $63,565 or less next fall. They are still responsible for room and board, books, etc.  but the tuition waiver is certainly a nice incentive to offer.

SIUC COVID-19 Undercounting?

 Talking with an SIUC faculty member today and, according to her, the administration is way undercounting the number of students that have contracted COVID-19. A dozen on campus cases seems pretty small. Does anyone have any idea if that is the correct number of on campus students with the virus?

Breonna Taylor Protest

 Protest over the Breonna Taylor verdict at the Town Square pavilion tonight. Unfortunately they do not have any lights so rather hard to see what is going on there.

COVID -19 infections at SIUC

 The number of people reporting COVID-19 infections at SIUC is comparatively small. Here are the numbers the university posts each week There are 

5 on campus students

12 off campus students

2 faculty/staff

At this stage, from what I have read, shifting classes to all online and sending students home would be a really bad idea as we would be sending a lot of potentially infected people out of the area instead of keeping them here where they can be monitored.

In case you are interested in comparing, here are SEMO's daily stats

67 students

4 employees

20 in isolation on campus.

Cedar lake Boat Launch

 The city announced that Cedar Lake Boat Launch will close temporarily next week for resurfacing. Going to close from Monday to Friday. Lots of resurfacing on streets going on in town. Walnut street through downtown,, South Oakland and now the boat ramp

On Street Parking

 Missed the city council meeting tonight but an item on the agenda was regulating on street parking in residential areas. Not sure if the plan is to issue permits or even if it is a problem.

West Sunset

 In case you have not been out that way, the bridge on West Sunset is undergoing repairs, meaning a pretty lengthy detour in order to get to  Tower Road if you are used to using Sunset to get there

Face Coverings

 Following up on yesterday's post, I have seen a lot more people wearing face masks inside of stores that I did a month or two back. When I go to Kroger, almost every customer has a mask on, whereas a month or so ago the numbers ran about 80%. Over in Marion, meanwhile, I hear that a number of bars do not enforce the mask restriction, making it a magnet for those who want to go drinking sans facial covering

Ordinance Requiring Face Coverings

 City council meeting coming up this Tuesday evening by GoTo meeting only. you can register here. Major item on the agenda is an ordinance requiring Carbondale owners to make sure their employees wear face masks by providing for employer liability if they do not.

From the agenda:

Recommended Action

 

Adopt and ordinance requiring employers to ensure employees wear face coverings.

Originating Department: Legal

 

Background:

 

Since Ordinance 2020-24 was adopted, City staff has responded to multiple complaints concerning employees of businesses not wearing face coverings. As a result, the staff has reviewed the possibility, and the legality, of establishing employer liability for employees failing to wear face coverings. It's the City Attorney's opinion that employers are better suited to control the behavior of their employees. By providing for employer liability, the City can more easily enforce the current mask ordinance and ensure the safety of employees and customers. 

 

Additionally, Staff has been working with the Jackson County Health Department (JCHD) to seek compliance of one local business where at least 10 positive cases of COVID have been traced to. Following conversations with JCHD, it's our belief that placing responsibility on the employer to require face coverings of their employees will provide an additional, and more effective tool to facilitate compliance of businesses.

 

Recommended Action: It's recommended that the City Council adopt and ordinance requiring employers to ensure employees wear face coverings.

Oakland Ave. Closure

 S. Oakland Ave. will close at the intersection with Chautauqua starting Monday in order to finish the construction on Oakland. The closure will last 2 weeks and should finish the construction on Oakland with more modern sewers and paving.

Slab Skate Shop

 In case you missed it, Slabz Skate Shop opened in the University Plaza complex at 606 S. Illinois earlier this summer. Hopefully, this moves the town closer to getting a long awaited skate park.

Clothing

With the closure of JC Penny's and Macy's , the clothing options for older professional adults have dropped dramatically in the Carbondale area. Kohl's is not about the only place to go, if you do not want to shop online, that is. The remaining stores in University Mall all target shoppers 16 to 30 or so and do not offer things such as suits , ties and button down shirts, meaning the city will see even more shopping take place online and with that, a further decline in sales tax revenue.

Judicial Candidates Webinar

 Sponsored by the League of Women Voters

The public is invited to attend an online forum for Judicial candidates for the  Illinois Supreme Court  (Fifth District)  and Judicial candidates for the Illinois Appellate Court  (Fifth District ).

Attend to see and hear from your choices for these  offices.

This forum, on Wednesday, September 23, will  begin at 6:30  with the candidates for the Illinois Supreme court from the 5^th District – Republican, David Overstreet and Democrat, Judy Cates.  

It will be followed  by a forum for the candidates for the Illinois Appellate Court for the 5^th District – Republican, Mark Boie and Democrat, Sarah Smith.  This forum will begin immediately following the forum for the Supreme Court candidates at  approximately 7:15.  It should last about 45 min and end about 8:00.

The Illinois Supreme Court Justices are the final court of appeal for issues related to Illinois law and also perform a number of supervisory roles over Illinois courts.

The Illinois Appellate Court Justices hear appeals and sit in panels of three for decisions.

Questions for the candidates have been formatted by the League, but questions from the audience can be submitted for possible inclusion by sending them in advance to g.klam@mchsi.com.

This event is organized by the League of Women Voters of Jackson County and is hosted by the Carbondale Public Library.

Individuals wishing to register for the event can look for an invite announcement on the Carbondale Public Library Webpage and Facebook page.  Or from the League of Women Voters of Jackson County Webpage.

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CLICK HERE to Register for the forum:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4pQakKcfTJ6rfuU7ZdkUxA

Marijuana Tax Revenue

 Caught on this past week's State Week that tax revenues generated in Illinois by marijuana amounted to 19 million in July. Tax revenues from alcohol amounted to 22 million. Due to higher taxes on cigarettes in Illinois, the state has seen leakage to surrounding states with lower cigarette taxes for years. However, since those selfsame states do not offer legal marijuana sales, I surmise Illinois is reaping the benefits of traffic from their citizens wanting to purchase legal cannabis . 

Electric Larry's

 Electric Larry's is coming to downtown Carbondale next month. Facebook page describes the store as "Carbondale's newest used goods store for funky retro souls. "

Apple Cider Doughnuts

 Now we know it is getting close to fall. Apple Cider Doughnuts are back in stock at Rendleman's

Forums

 With all the hue and cry over the Presidential election, the local ones are those most likely to have an impact on your life and the ones on which your vote matters most. Your vote really matters in local elections so here is a chance to hear from the candidates for states' attorney and circuit clerk

Denny's Closing

 East side Denny's (actually the only Denny's) is closing due to declining sales . Apparently COvid-19 has really cut into sales and take out and social distance seating have not made up for it. The owners say they tentatively plan to reopen in Novemeber.

More Shooting

 At least this time no one got injured, only a house in the 500 block of South Poplar . With so many people buying guns, it is not particularly surprising that people want to use them.

Appliance Wizard

 The Appliance Wizard, located in Marion for a number of years,  has opened up a location in Carbondale on East Walnut about a block and a half east of the railroad tracks.

Candidate Forums

 As the election gets closer, the League of WOmen Voters has started its series of candidate forums, this year via Zoom. The first two are with the candidates for States' Attorney, followed by the candidates for Circuit Clerk. Forum starts at 6:30 and each should run about 45 minutes. Register here  

Shooting

 According to this press release, there was a shooting near the corner of Oakland and Sycamore this morning. Two people in the hospital, neither with life threatening injuries. Just shows that idiots and guns do not mix.

Construction Updates

 In case you want to keep up to date on what parts of the city are currently under construction, the city has thoughtfully compiled all of the locations where it is doing work at this location on its website. 

SIUC Enrollment Declines (again)

 For the umpteenth year in a row, SIUC posted a decline in attendance , this time 2.8% to 11,366. Administration says this is a good thing, since the drop is far smaller than the 8 to 12% drops of previous years. Still a drop though, no matter how you position it: "We are still sinking, just at a slower rate". Here is hoping the plans the current administration puts into place turns things around. What SIUC could reallyuse is someone in charge who remains there for a decade, so that they can develop and implement a long term plan.

Royal Asian Spa

 The FBI is investigating the Royal Asian Spa on the east side of Carbondale.  According to the website, $60 an hour for a deep tissue massage. If the pictures are accurate, the masseuses are pretty young. according to someone who went inside, hoping to sell advertising, the carpet was stained and it took awhile for anyone to come to the desk and the young lady who finally answered spoke little to no English.

Thai Taste Sold

 Downtown institution Thai Taste, which has anchored the corner of Main  and Illinois for over a decade and has been on the market for the past year, has finally sold. No idea, as of yet, if the restaurant will open back up for inside dining or will continue to offer take out and delivery only.

Panic Room

 Looks as if the Panic Room, an escape room operation on the east side of town, has closed down. The sign is gone, the building is filled with vintage bicycles and scooters and there is a For Sale sign n the front.