Friday November 20 Jackson County 2405 infected, 30 dead, 1962 recovered, Randolph County 1974 infected 26 dead 1707recovered, Union County1039 infected, 21 dead 619 recovered and Williamson county 3162 infected 74 dead 1662 recovered.
Tres Hombres announced on their Facebook page that, due to cold weather and the inability to heat their patio properly, they have decided to temporarily close until the weather warms up or the situation with COVID-19 changes.
Research says that the most likely spots to catch and transmit viruses are in bars, restaurants and gyms, where people stay for a long period of time and breath recirculated air, which may contain the virus. I know of one man who died of COVID-19 after going out to eat at a local restaurant and another who contract the virus and got extremely sick but appears in recovery.
Another thing to consider is that no restaurant or bar wants the publicity that would come with an outbreak of COVID-19 among its patrons.
Typically the Murdale Farmer's Market ends its season today but from what I heard at the market this morning, assuming the weather remains nice, it will run for a couple of more weeks.
Confluence Books is now open in the Stotlar House at 705 West Main. Dealing in used books, the store offers curbside pickup only for now.
Just a reminder that, although the Lights Fantastic parade is canceled for this year, a number of floats will be parked in the concert venue space on South Washington Street. Viewing starts at 6 p.m. on Dec. 5th and runs through December 6th
In case you desperately need something tomorrow, here is a list of chain stores that will have open hours. Most of them have given up on getting a jump on Black Friday, especially with a pandemic and all.
Looks like some of the traditional Carbondale Holiday events will take place this season: lighting of the Christmas tree and the downtown cookie walk. In stead of a parade, some of the Lights Fantastic floats will park in the concert venue along South Washington Street. Much like the downtown Trick or Treating event, it appears that Carbondale Main Street will set up tables with cookies in front of participating venues throughout the downtown area and provide a map to those locations. I guess that means the businesses will not be expected to provide their own cookies this year.
Apparently there will also be the traditional Holiday Window Contest as well but have not heard anything about any of these events other than the mention in the Southern.
Looks as if Longbranch has reopened for take out and deck dining. Open Friday Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Glad to see another restaurant reopened, even if only for a limited schedule.
The downtown Carbondale Dairy Queen will close for the season today, likely around 9 p.m. Likely will reopen in late February.
Next Saturday is the last Saturday of the year for the Murdale Farmer's Market at the outside location at Murdale. After that, it moves inside to the east End of University Mall starting December 5th. The market has announced it will offer curbside pickup but not sure how that will work. Apparently you put in orders through the market website and someone will bring the order out to you.
Looks as if we are just going to ignore Thanksgiving for the most part this year. SIH Memorial Hospital put up lights along University and Main this week and I have seen lights appearing on houses throughout town for the last couple of weeks. The revolving memorial that graces the town square every holiday season also got installed this week.
Found the following characteristics about Carbondale from an email about a sustainability neighborhood proposal forwarded by D. Gorton
Carbondale is/has:
1) A low income base2) One of the highest college educated populations in Illinois and the United States (Carbondale is rated in the top 3%)3) The youngest cohort in Illinois* (depending on the next census and the enrollment at SIUC)4) The most diverse community in regards race, age, religion, sexuality and gender in the region, if not the state.5) There has been continued support for action on Climate change, income inequality, and social injustice as the biggest threats to building strong, sustainable communities. These challenges define the current priorities of our community.
If you are interested, here is some information on how the planning is progressing for maintaining and protecting the Western Crab Orchard Watershed, a process that started back in 2018
And they are filing already. Three seats up in next year's election:
Four (4) candidates have filed their nominating petitions for Carbondale City Council Member.
1 – Carolin Harvey, 109 South Tower Road
2 – Nathan Colombo, 229 Hunt Rd.
3 – Jeff Doherty, 2918 Kent Drive
4 – Tyrone Taliq Montgomery, 809 N. Springer
Both Carbondale City Hall and the Secretary of State's Drivers License Facility on Old RTE 13 announced they would close for the foreseeable future, starting today. Offices are still available by phone and email but no walk in traffic. Despite the increase in cases, I doubt very much that the state will announce another statewide closure of businesses. Too much negative pushback for a second round but it and the city can close the facilities under their respective control.
Incidentally, if you have not done so already, today is the last day to pay your county property taxes.
Friday November 6 Jackson County 1802 infected, 27 dead, 1559 recovered, Randolph County 1530 infected 19 dead 1392 recovered, Union County 845 infected, 21 dead 545 recovered and Williamson county 2317 infected 66 dead 1362 recovered.
I know three people who contracted COVID-19, one from a family member who caught it at work and the other two likely from when they went out to eat. From what I understand, current best practices are the lest time you spend in a place, the less likely you are to contract the virus. so staying any place where you might contract it for a lengthy period of time can lead to infection. Of those three people, one recovered fully after a week or so, one is still in the process of recovering but prognoses looks good, and one passed away.
In case you are interested, here is a list of the businesses that received BIG program grants in round one and round two. Most of the applicants, like Don Taco, Mary Lou's and The Cellar, in round one received $20,000 while in round 2 Flame received $140,000, Tres Hombres $130,000 and Hangar 9, $100,000
In case you are interested, Treesong has posted a list of southern Illinois restaurants in and out of compliance with Illinois COVID-19 restrictions. As far as I know, all restaurants in Carbondale that a members of the Chamber of Commerce are in compliance with the restrictions.
SIH Healthcare has about 45 people currently getting treated for COVID-19 and has opted to put off elective surgeries until later in the year. This means no bariac surgery or hip or knee replacements for the for the foreseeable future As we move into colder weather, restaurants and bars are going to have extra expense warming the outside seating areas. Problem with just leaving them alone and up to individual responsibility is that bars, restaurants, gyms and churches are the sources for most COVID-19 infection. It would be nice if the state and federal government would get more grants and stimulus out to help restaurants and bars as they are the ones taking the greatest hit during the epidemic.
the line of cars waiting for testing for COVID-19 at the SIH unit on West Main street stretched around the block yesterday. heard on the news this morning that SIH currently is caring for about 50 cases of COVID-19 in Carbondale and Marion. Although cases have increased drastically over the past couple of months, fatality rates remain comparatively low, likely reflecting the increased number of students, their propensity for gathering in groups and the relative resilience they have towards the disease.
Steve Gough, founder of Little River Research and Design here in Carbondale, passed away Nov. 2 from renal cell carcinoma at age 62.
Sat is on the Q&A for the Downtown Transmodal Center this afternoon. Most of the discussion, although I got in about late, came from local contractors inquiring about how to place a bit for various contracts on the project. I did find out that, should the transmodal center come to pass, the building currently housing Carbondale Cycle will be demolished, with the city working to find another location for Carbondale Cycle. Too bad though, as I always thought it said a lot about Carbondale's status as a bike friendly community to have two bike shops directly across the street from one another.
Collection of winter clothing, baby care products and feminine hygiene supplies at the Town Square Pavilion this Saturday. A number of flyers posted around downtown but no hours of collection provided.
From what I have been told, if a restaurant offers inside seating in violation of the current emergency orders, there is nothing the city or the police department can do about it. Such a violation falls under the jurisdiction of the Jackson County Health Department so one would need to report violations to them not to Carbondale's city hall
If you would like to weigh in on the proposed multi modal station, you can request access to a meeting on the subject form 3 to 4 p.m.on Nov. 9. Here is a link to information about the proposal and to request access to the meeting
How to get people to accept a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available? Have LeBron James, Dwayne Johnson, the Kardashians and other social media "influencers" get a shot live on Instagram. A lot of people follow and pay attention to them and some one as well known as them getting the shot would help convince people it is safe. It worked with "The King" and polio
Here are the results for Jackson County. The county itself went heavily Trump/Republican whilst Carbondale went Democratic (of course). The "Justice for Molly " campaign proved pretty effective as Cervantez beat Carr for the States' Attorney office while only a couple of hundred votes separate the candidates for coroner It still bemuses me that former Green Party candidate for governor, Rich Whitney, who racked up 10% of the vote during his run of a decade or so ago, cannot muster enough local support to get a seat on the Jackson Country Board.
The city has posted a planning document for the proposed downtown multi modal transportation hub. Looks as if the total cost will run around $14.5 million
In case you are going out to vote today, here is the list of polling places in Jackson County. Drove by two of them this morning on the way into work and saw no lines, unlike lots of other places in the country
The Carbondale Main Street Candy Scavenger Hunt was a resounding success with some 150-200 kids running from store to store to get the candy placed on table outside of them. The staff had made up several hundred bags of treats and ran out about 3:30 in the afternoon. Happily, we at the store (Castle Perilous) were also giving out candy and had bought a couple of extra bags which we gave to the Main Street staff to replenish their tables. Incidentally, the store had about 70 trick or treaters over the course of the day, starting out about 10 a.m. and petering out about 7 p.m.
Drove through downtown after 9 p.m. and only saw two groups of costumers walking around. A couple of the bars may have been having "private parties" inside as a few people were hanging around outside a few but there was no "Open" sign on.
