Flood Warning

 Looks as if the area is under a flood warning until sometime tomorrow morning. By my estimate, we have already received 3 inches or almost 8 cm since last night.

COVID-19 Numbers for Feb. 26

 Friday Feb. 19 Jackson County 4605 infected, 68 dead, 4863 recovered, Randolph County 3959 infected 82 dead 3864 recovered, Union County2127 infected, 28 dead 2064 recovered and Williamson county 6983 infected 115 dead 4252 recovered.

Friday Feb. 26 Jackson County 4638 infected, 68 dead, 4527 recovered, Randolph County 3976 infected 82 dead 3882 recovered, Union County2139 infected, 30 dead 2089 recovered and Williamson county 7034 infected 116 dead 4252 recovered.

Shots

 Morons on East Sycamore Street decided to shoot a gun yesterday evening . Witnesses identified a car that the suspect was in but when police stopped it, they found two other people, a couple of guns, one stolen and an illegal quantity of marijuana. The shooting suspect, Jalen Cobb, is still at large and police consider him armed and dangerous. One of the two in the car is still being held while the other was released with a notice to appear. Never a good idea to try making your point with a gun, especially when you already have a record or a stolen gun in your car.

Koppers Kleanup Kompleted

 The city announced today that cleanup of the location of the old Koppers wood treatment plant site has been completed. The plant chemically treated railroad ties for about 90 years with chemicals leaching into and contaminating the soil. Cleanup of the site started, under EPA auspices back around 2004 with the first phase completed in 2010. The discovering of more contamination meant another decade spent removing contaminated soil from the site and reseeding the property. The city had hoped to enter into a contract with a company named Brightfields to install a solar array on the site, as Brightfields had experience in installing solar on contaminated properties but local opposition scuttled the plan.

10 Shared Principles

 In case you are interested, here are the 10 Shared Principles adopted by the Carbondale Police Department and the NAACP. This is something that police departments across the state are adopting.

Candidate Forums

 With the City Council election coming up in about a month, the League of Women Voters is sponsoring three candidate forums. Given the discussion that has popped up over the proposed Police substation and the variety of candidates running, might be worth a listen

The League of Women Voters will sponsor three virtual forums in March for candidates running in the April 6th Consolidated Election.  The forums give voters access to see and hear the views of candidates for Carbondale City Council on March 11, for Carbondale Grade School District #95 on March 16th and the John A. Logan Board of Trustees on March 18th.   All events begin at 6:30 P.M.

Registration for the online events is on the the Carbondale Public Library website at carbondalepubliclibrary.org.   Scroll down the page and look for the calendar on the right side.  Click on the date of the event and a registration page will appear.  Click on the blue highlighted “Register Here!” to receive a Zoom invitation.

Candidates for Carbondale City Council are:  

Carolin Harvey, Nathan Colombo, Jeff Doherty, Tyronne Tariq Montgomery, Ginger Rye Sanders, Nicholas Smaligo, Melvin “Pepper” Holder, Jessica Bradshaw, and Joshua Liechty.

Candidates for Carbondale Grade School District #95 are:

Catherine Field, Markida Roper, Carlton Smith, Erin Connelly, and Corey Cawthon.

Candidates for John A. Logan Trustees are:

Brent Clark, Angelo Hightower, Glenn Poshard, Jacob “Jake” Rendleman, and John Streuter.

The League of Women Voters encourages informed and active participation in government.  The March forums provide opportunities to learn about local candidates who will affect the future of Carbondale and the John A. Logan College District. 

Roundabout

 The city is moving forward on the roundabout on Chautauqua. From what I understand, this is a test project to see if roundabouts are feasible for high traffic intersections in the  city.  The Chautauqua location has fairly high traffic, higher than I expected when I asked, but not as high as some of the East Grand locations under consideration if this trial proves feasible.

Coivd-19 Numbers for the Week

 Friday Feb. 12 Jackson County 4569 infected, 68 dead, 4835 recovered,

Randolph County 3948 infected 81 dead 3828 recovered,

Union County2113 infected, 26 dead 2029 recovered and

Williamson county 6923 infected 112 dead 4234 recovered.

Friday Feb. 19 Jackson County 4605 infected, 68 dead, 4863 recovered,

Randolph County 3959 infected 82 dead 3864 recovered,

Union County2127 infected, 28 dead 2064 recovered and

Williamson county 6983 infected 115 dead 4252 recovered.

City Council Meeting

City council meets remotely this Tuesday. Here is a link to the agenda should you have a mind  Nothing major on it that I see but would expect some locals to come comment on the proposed police substation in the Hayes Center 

Civic Center Vaccination Clinic

 Drove by the Civic Center just before 6 p.m. on this, the first day of vaccinations offered there, and it appears the word has gotten out, as the parking lot was packed. My neighbor scheduled a vaccination for this morning and said the staff was very courteous and professional, getting her in and out in less than 30 minutes. Of course, as more people showed up, that time may have lengthened. Currently, you have to be 65 or older, a long term care resident, health care worker or a front line essential worker to sign up with those with underlying health conditions eligible starting Feb 25.

Crab Orchard Watershed

 In case you want to have a say in planning for the Crab Orchard Watershed plan, you can contribute  here 

Vaccinations at Civic Center

 If you want to get a COVID-19 shot, the Civic Center is taking appointments starting Friday. Plentting of time slots available too.

Snow

 Looking at assorted reports, it appears we received anywhere from 4 to 8 inches in the Carbondale area.  The wind blowing it around produced drifts of  3to 4 feet deep.  I measured one spot near downtown that had not drifted that was  8" deep.Town square parking lots have  not been plowed as of mid afternoon and I nearly got stuck in the un plowed Staples lot.

SIUC Closing

 SIUC has already announced an administrative closure for tomorrow. This means that everyone stays home and faculty are not even to attempt holding classes remotely , as they could today. By not offering remote classes tomorrow, it keeps students and faculty who may not have reliable internet access at home from traveling to a location that does have internet access.

COVID-19 Numbers

 Friday Feb. 5 Jackson County 4511 infected, 68 dead, 4303 recovered, Randolph County 3915 infected 78 dead 3791recovered, Union County2096 infected, 25 dead 1980 recovered and Williamson county 6848 infected 110 dead 4134 recovered.

Friday Feb. 12 Jackson County 4569 infected, 68 dead, 4835 recovered, Randolph County 3948 infected 81 dead 3828 recovered, Union County2113 infected, 26 dead 2029 recovered and Williamson county 6923 infected 112 dead 4234 recovered.

Joe C. Passes Away

 Was wondering why Sound Core has been closed the last few days. Joe Castrejon AKA Joe C. passed away from cancer

Upswing

 SIUC sees an "upswing" in attendance for this spring. I certainly hope they are correct but, based on  the number of times, almost every year for the past 30, the administration at SIUC has said they see an upswing in attendance, I will wait and see if it continues for a few semesters. Basing expectations of turning the corner on one semesters results is statistically unsound. If you look at SIUC attendance over the  past 30 years, each year's decline ahs only amounted to a percent or two, small in itself, but over time they have added up to an attendance decline of over 50%

ice Lawsuits

 A comment on yesterday's post reminded me a major reason why SIUC decided to close the university today. Back in the day, 15-20 years ago, the University would clear sidewalks but not scrape, salt or sand them, and not close. This lead to a number of falls by faculty, staff and students, totaling over 200 after one snowfall. Lawsuits and medical bills likely led to the change in policy

SIUC Closing

 Due to the nasty weather. SIUC will close tomorrow. That is highly unusual. I remember going to classes there back in the 1990s when there was 6 inches of snow on the ground and everything else in town had closed.

Super Bowl

 Dunno if any of you watched the Super Bowl the other day but not a lot of other people did. Ratings across all platforms were 96 million viewers, lowest viewership since 2006

COVID-19 Numbers

 Friday Jan. 29 Jackson County 4419 infected, 66 dead, 4186 recovered, Randolph County 3876 infected 76 dead 3719 recovered, Union County2035 infected, 25 dead 1895 recovered and Williamson county 6718 infected 109 dead 3983 recovered.

Friday Feb. 5 Jackson County 4511 infected, 68 dead, 4303 recovered, Randolph County 3915 infected 78 dead 3791recovered, Union County2096 infected, 25 dead 1980 recovered and Williamson county 6848 infected 110 dead 4134 recovered.

Eurma Hayes Police Resource Center

 Not certain the community is split  on the idea of a police resource center at the Eurma Hayes center. From reading the article, it sounds as  if the BOD for the Center is looking at the resource center as a way to bring some much needed funds to help cover costs at the center, while others are concerned about expanding the police footprint in the city. Since the Center is supposed to provide much needed services to the northeast side of Carbondale, I  am not sure if running the center "like a business" is the best way to approach the Center's problems. 

I would like to see Carbondale police out and walking around more. I remember a few eyars ago the Arbor District, after a few break-ins in the area, pressed the CPD to put more police on foot in the area instead of relying on officers in cars. I don't think anything came of that  initiative though although it does appear the Department reported over 5000 foot patrols in 2020

City Council Meeting

 In case you want to voice your opinion to the City Council on the proposed police substation in the Hayes Center, or any other topic, there is a council meeting via Zoom next Tuesday night. Details are below:

The Carbondale City Council will hold a remote access meeting utilizing GoToWebinar at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.

 

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, this meeting will be held remotely only.

 

The agenda for the meeting is attached. To view the agenda and attachments in their entirety, please visit this link:  http://www.boarddocs.com/il/coc/Board.nsf/Public  

 

Citizens who wish to access the meeting by audio only:   +1 (562) 247-8422        Access Code: 125-666-212

Citizens seeking to attend the meeting through GoToWebinar as an attendee can register for the meeting at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7795093651044068368  Webinar ID: 462-102-123

 

Please use the following email address to send your Comments and Questions relating to this City Council meeting: council_questions@explorecarbondale.com

 

Comments and Questions for the meeting can be submitted at any time of day or night.

SIUC Spring Attendance

 SIUC Spring attendance down 3.7% from spring 20202, although 85% of freshmen returned. Fall returns and applications are "promising" but they have been promising every year since 1991. Do I know how to fix it? No. I do think SIUC took advantage of a couple of factors to build growth that the university has proven unable to replicate today:

1. Long term vision--Delyte Morris headed the university for about 3 decades

2. GI Bill . The GI bill meant lots of returning vets could and did attended college and SIUC recruited lots of them.

3. International studnets--SIUC was an early recruiter of international students. Now every university goes after them

Historic Preservation Award

 In case you want to nominate your own building, or someone else's, the nomination process for the Carbondale Historic Preservation Award is open until March 1. I think winning the award gets  you placed on a list of properties but the only list I can find on the city website lists the properties that won in 2019. Maybe there is a master list somewhere?

Help Wanted

 Not here but given the number of Help Wanted signs posted in town, I find it amazing anyone who wants a job cannot find one. Of course, that is the key. I spoke to a staff member at the Post Office this week. They said Carbondale had hired 4 new staff members a couple of weeks ago and 2 of them didn't even last a week.

Restaurants

 Still trying to find out who  the other 4 Carbondale restaurants that got cited for seating customers along with Mary Lou's . I have heard rumors that two of them were Sergio's and Fujiyama's but nothing for certain and no indication as to why the local media mentioned Mary Lou's as a violator but not the other 4.