Friday May 21 Jackson County 5118 infected, 73 dead, 5001 recovered, Randolph County 4167 infected 86 dead 4069 recovered, Union County 2219 infected, 32 dead 2185 recovered and Williamson county 7710 infected 125 dead 7138 recovered.
Friday May 28 Jackson County 5136 infected, 73 dead, 5031 recovered, Randolph County 4180 infected 87 dead 4086 recovered, Union County 2226 infected, 32 dead 2187 recovered and Williamson county 7747 infected 127 dead 7162 recovered.
Went into a store, not in Carbondale, with an "All Customers must wear masks" sign on the door. Not "Masks suggested" but "required" . Needless to say, none of the staff nor any other customers wore a mask. What bothered me about the situation was not the people not wearing masks but the sign and its lack of enforcement. The place also had "We card hard" and no admittance to the video gaming area by anyone under Age 17 signs posted. If they are not going to enforce their sign posted on the front door, why would anyone expect them to enforce the other signs posted. ?
The traditional Memorial Day celebration Carbondale holds at Woodlawn Cemetery will be truncated this year. Instead, there will be a flag raising ceremony with rifle salute at 10 a.m. Following the ceremony, , the city had erected a self guided tour to veteran's graves in the ceremony which will be available until noon.
Every semester for my Principles of Marketing class, I have my students survey over 1000 Southeast Missouri State Students regarding their social media use, so If you want to reach a college student, these are probably the best platforms to use. Unfortunately, unless you make your messages compelling, they are likely going to swipe right or ignore them. After all, just because you put the message out does not mean anyone will read it. So here they are in order, along with some comments as to why:
1. Snapchat--used to keep in contact with one another. For a lot of students has replaced texting. Very easy to ignore advertisements though
2. Instagram--People like looking at pictures. Much more so than text only
3. TikTok--not even on the radar last year. Now a very popular way to spend time. Has replaced YouTube for a lot of students
4. Facebook-Viewed as used by parents and grandparents. Students don't use it as much for them selves and a number only keep accounts active because their parents and grandparents do.
5. Twitter--not visual. Lots of text and can be hard to follow.. Viewed as primarily used for news. Easy to lose the context of messages.
Discord was also referenced but was not referenced enough to reach the top 5. Linked In is also used but primarily for job searching so if you are trying to reach college students, Snapchat or Instagram are probably your best bets.
Back in 1980, while Saturday Night Live was on hiatus, NBC replaced it with a travel series titled Roadshow. One of the episodes featured a segment on Carbondale's Halloween 1980 celebration with an appearance by John Candy. Here it is
The owners of the buildings at the far end of South Illinois do not seem to realize their property is less than desirable now. Three quarters of the retail space in the Evolve property have sat empty since the apartment complex opened and most other locations at that end have not had a tenant in over a year.
I was going to email Rep. Bost and ask for his reasons for voting to not support an investigation into the causes of the Jan 6th Riot. Happily, he emailed this out so I did not have to do so.:
On Wednesday, the House voted on legislation to establish a commission to investigate the events of January 6th. Let me be clear, those who committed crimes on January 6th should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I support the efforts of Congress, the Department of Justice, and the FBI to better understand how the attack on the U.S. Capitol took place and what could have been done to prevent it. But if we are going to establish another investigative commission on top of the several committees and law enforcement agencies already examining this issue, then we should be taking a balanced look at the full scope of political unrest in our country, including the unrest and violence that took place in our streets months before the election. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi has refused to do so; and for that reason, I could not vote in support of this commission.
Friday May 14 Jackson County 5092 infected, 73 dead, 4966 recovered, Randolph County 4155 infected 85 dead 4064 recovered, Union County 2217 infected, 32 dead 2168 recovered and Williamson county 7674 infected 124 dead 7119 recovered.
Friday May 21 Jackson County 5118 infected, 73 dead, 5001 recovered, Randolph County 4167 infected 86 dead 4069 recovered, Union County 2219 infected, 32 dead 2185 recovered and Williamson county 7710 infected 125 dead 7138 recovered.
Was speaking with another Carbondale resident who had been looking for work and heard the same story from them that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. They had contacted several local businesses with "Help Wanted" or some variation thereof out and either did not hear back after the contact or were told that, despite the sign, the business was not actually looking for anyone.
I know some businesses say they are always hiring "If the right person comes along", but given the perception that there is a shortage of employees, if your business is not really short staffed and having to offer full hours and trying to get staff to take overtime, as at least one restaurnat in town is, take down the Help Wanted sign
The International House of Pancakes on the east side of town has quietly reopened. It reopened for a short time last summer when restrictions loosened and it looked as if the pandemic might wind down but when cases started spiking again, the establishment shut down and just reopened within the past week.
Although I never thought Alto Pass got enough traffic to warrant a second exit off Hwy 127, apparently someone did. The state is putting a second exit on the west side of 127, making it, I suppose, easier to get off the highway to visit Bald Knob Cross. I did not think the cross pulled in enough traffic regularly to warrant a second exit but maybe I am wrong. I know the times I have gone there for Easter sunrise services, traffic has backed up for a mile but the Cross, as far as I can tell, does not offer events of that magnitude that often. If someone more familiar with Cross operations could let me know as to traffic there, I would appreciate it.
From what I hear, Carbondale is getting a Smoothie King on the east side of town. Construction taking place in the lot just west of Qin Gong, where Gator's Automotive stood for many years.
From a press release from Keep Carbondale Beautiful:
May’s Keep Carbondale Beautiful Bright Spot award recipient goes to 613 Skyline rd. Linda Ward has been tending this home and garden since 1978 when she and her husband moved to the area. Now retired, Linda participates in the Evergreen Garden Club. Many of the flowers have been sourced from friends in the club. She smiles and says, “when the flowers bloom, I think of them.” The eye-catching variety of colorful irises initially caught the attention of the community, but many more blooming flowers and plants round out the beautiful array. A towering pin oak shades the west facing front yard and deck. Linda chuckles, “That was just a small guy when I moved here.” Landscaped around the front are small cacti, purple spiderwort, columbine and snap dragons. Threading up the deck and bird feeders are the magenta and orange native honey suckle vines, rising just above pink azaleas. During the afternoons, hummingbirds are seen to frequent the area for nourishment.
Friday May 9 Jackson County 5049 infected, 73 dead, 4896 recovered, Randolph County 4151 infected 85 dead 4054 recovered, Union County 2202 infected, 32 dead 2153 recovered and Williamson county 7578 infected 122 dead 7053 recovered.
Friday May 14 Jackson County 5092 infected, 73 dead, 4966 recovered, Randolph County 4155 infected 85 dead 4064 recovered, Union County 2217 infected, 32 dead 2168 recovered and Williamson county 7674 infected 124 dead 7119 recovered.
Emma and Arnie's Sandwiches closed permanently earlier this year but the Bake Me Happy, Food Co. will be moving into the space once renovations are completed
When I read this story about the ouster/resignation of the president of the University of South Carolina after it came to light that he plagiarized a commencement speech, the memory of Glenn Poshard and the scandal over the unintentional plagiarism of his dissertation came to mind. However, in the case of Poshard, he had a lot more support from the SIUC BOT as well as some faculty and staff than did Lt. General Caslen did at USC and was better able to weather the storm of negative publicity.
Cannot find anything with recent figures on accidents at the intersection of Chautauqua and McLafferty but this article, dating back to 2013, says the intersection sees 4000 to 5000 cars per day and that there were eleven accidents there prior to the one described in the article
Heading east on Chautauqua towards the intersection, the hill there makes it almost impossible to see a car pulling out from McLafferty until you are on top of it. Figuring in the number of deer that frequent the area and anything that gets people driving through it to slow down is a good idea.
The new roundabout on West Chautauqua and McLafferty is now open for traffic. The city posted a video (with music unfortunately) showing automobiles using it and you can see it here.
Generally, from what I have read, roundabouts are pretty good at keeping traffic moving. Drivers navigate the one in downtown Troy Ohio without any significant trouble I putting one at the intersection of Mill and University would help traffic flow there, though it would disrupt traffic significantly during the installation.
From what I have heard, the west side of Carbondale will get a new drive through coffee shop later this summer. The new building going in on West Main just across the street from Subway is a branch of Scooter's Coffee, a regional chain of coffee shops
Friday April 30 Jackson County 4992 infected, 72 dead, 4843 recovered, Randolph County 4140 infected 85 dead 4043 recovered, Union County 2193 infected, 32 dead 2153 recovered and Williamson county 7562infected 121 dead 7053 recovered.
Friday May 9 Jackson County 5049 infected, 73 dead, 4896 recovered, Randolph County 4151 infected 85 dead 4054 recovered, Union County 2202 infected, 32 dead 2153 recovered and Williamson county 7578 infected 122 dead 7053 recovered.
It appears that the Rustle Hill Winery complex on Hwy 51 South has sold. There is a banner up on the property announcing Food and Vine Restaurant and Wine Bar Coming Soon. Good to hear since it would be a shame for the place to set vacant and all of the facilities slowly dertiorate.
city council Meeting this Tuesday at 6 p.m. Looks as if most of the issues will be covered in the consent agenda with only the proposal to purchase no more than $4000 worth of printing services from Henry Printing this next fiscal year is the only item of import to the community up for a discussion and vote. Henry Printing is owned by the mayor so he will be recusing himself from the vote and the city has purchased printing service from his business in the past.
I noticed along with the widening of Hwy 13 east of Carbondale, IDOT is putting in an adjacent bike path. From what I remember, current Illinois law mandates, when expansion of roads like Highway 13 is undertaken, an adjacent bike path must be installed. A really good idea, esp. for a city like Carbondale, which positions itself as a bike friendly community and lies on one of the cross country bike routes.
Made some purchases at a local business today and got to chatting with the gentleman who assisted me. He is an SIUC student who leaves for the summer tomorrow so we got to talking about filling positions in Carbondale and all the "Help Wanted" signs around. Before he landed the job he was leaving, he said he and his friends had a dickens of a time getting those businesses with help wanted signs to respond. three places he applied for never got back to him after he left a message indicating his interest in the positions but the signs remained out. The fourth place did talk with him but said they currently were not hiring and just "had the sign out".
What used to be known as Curbside and the Icebox, and House of LEisure which never opened, as far as I know, is under renovation. The building sites in the 200 block of West Main was a gym and a car dealership at one time, but has been a restaurant the last 4 times it has opened.
The problem with the location is that it has no parking. In the past, they arranged for parking in the church lot across the street and/or offered valet parking. hopefully they can work out something for people to park close by.
Friday April 23 Jackson County 4947 infected, 72 dead, 4811 recovered, Randolph County 4124 infected 85 dead 4024 recovered, Union County 2184 infected, 32 dead 2149 recovered and Williamson county 7483infected 120 dead 6966 recovered.
Friday April 30 Jackson County 4992 infected, 72 dead, 4843 recovered, Randolph County 4140 infected 85 dead 4043 recovered, Union County 2193 infected, 32 dead 2153 recovered and Williamson county 7562infected 121 dead 7053 recovered.
According to Zillow, there are currently 107 homes for sale in the Carbondale area and 10 have recently sold. Not sure what the site means by recently but, since I received a monthly report, I assume in the past month.
