Small Towns

There used to be a lot of small towns in the area that have vanished with the trains and the growth of automobile use. Reed Station was located where Reed Station Road intersects with Highway 13 east of Carbondale, while Mount Carbon was located at the intersection of  Old Highway 13 and Highway 127. Texas Junction and Carbon Lake were both located just outside Murphysboro and were absorbed as the town grew.  The junction where the Ava Blacktop splits off Northbound 127, where the recently opened Southpaw Bar and Grill is?  That used to be Harrison. And of course, anyone driving south on 127 will see the sign for Etherton, now just a collection of houses adjacent to the abandoned railroad bed.

South 51 Closed

South 51/ S. University Ave will close for 24 hours for sewer repairs, from 5 am. March 28 to 5 a.m. March 29th between Walnut and Mill. Side streets crossing University will remain open but drivers will not be able to turn south on 51.

Community Survey

 If you want to complete the community survey and aid Zo Agency with its research developing comprehensive marketing plan, here you go.  I think we have done this a couple of times before.  Not sure why the town does not reach out to a perfectly good Univeristy and have them do the reserach instead of hiring an agency though.

Horstmans Cleaners

 If you missed it, Horstman's Cleaners, a fixture of downtown Carbondale since 1925, has closed permanently. The demand for dry cleaning has dropped markedly over the past couple of decades and, as workers age out of employment, dry cleaners are replacing them with robots.  The price of roboticized dry cleaning has also dropped. whereas it used to be that it was only cost efficient for dry cleaners with a staff of 100 or more to add robots, they are cheap enough now that cleaners that would employ a staff of 10 can do so.

From wnat I have heard, some of the equiptment Horstman's used also broke down and it is not cost efficient to replace it. Whatever the reason, another bit of Carbondale history is gone.

Tandoor &Tadka Closed

 Looks as if Tandoor and Tadka has closed. Not sure if or when  the restaurant will reopen but it sure has a lot of health department violations to correct

Tree Sale

 Keep Carbondale Beautiful will have its spring tree sale this Saturday from 8;30 to 2 p.m. at the Town Square Pavillion.  Shrubs ar3 $35 and trees are $40

City Council Meeting

 Well, this morning's city council meeting was quite well attended, so much so that some of the city council members had problems finding parking spots before the meeting started. From what I gather from attendees, only one person spoke in favor of the proposed ordinance banning camping on public property in city limits.  Everyone else opposed it.  Granted the current encampment on East College is quite an eyesore but the city did bring it upon itself.  The prior encampment was located in the woods south of where the current encampment is and Levels on East Grand and out of sight until the city decided to move it. Now we have the encamment in a much more conentrated and visible location.