University Mall

 Walked through University Mall over the weekend and I would roughly estimate that 60% of the storefronts are empty . All of the prior anchor stores have converted over to office space for Southern Illinois Healthcare and businesses that had been there for years, like Victoria's Secret and GNC had shuttered. Old Navy, Bath and Body Works and the Science Center were the liveliest places I saw. Even the theater didn't have anyone manning the ticket booth. A sign directed anyone interested to the concession stand. Still not as bad as the Marion Mall but it is hard to see anyone wanted to spend much time shopping there.

Scooter's Coffee

 Scooter's Coffee is now open on the west side of Carbondale, just before  Main splits into Main and Walnut. They picked a good location as it catches people heading to work at SEMO in the morning when they want to pick up a coffee. Locating on the south side of Walnut means comparatively easy in and out for drivers as well. When you are heading to work, you do not want to make a left turn across 3 lanes of traffic, then have to cut back across those same three lanes to get back on the road to work.

COVI-19 Numbers for June 25

 Friday June 18 Jackson County 5172 infected, 74 dead, 5084 recovered, Randolph County 4198 infected 87 dead 4105 recovered, Union County 2233 infected, 32 dead 2199 recovered and Williamson County 7824 infected 127 dead 7253 recovered.

Friday June 25 Jackson County 5175 infected, 74 dead, 5096 recovered, Randolph County 4199 infected 87 dead 4111 recovered, Union County 2238 infected, 32 dead 2199 recovered and Williamson County 7852 infected 127 dead 7268 recovered.

Rental Map

 Here is the link to a map that has been floating around the internet showing all of the rental properties available in Carbondale. The Fishers, AKA Home Rentals, look to have the largest number of properties in the area bounded by West Main on the north and Mill Street on the South with University and Oakland as the eastern and western boundaries respectively. If I recall correctly, approximately 70% of Carbondale is rental property.

Woodlawn Cemetary

 Stopped off at Woodlawn Cemetery this afternoon and noticed they had a brochure box for the pamphlet with information about the notable sites in the cemetery. However, it would be a good idea to put a sign next two or above the brochure box so as to tell interested people what the brochure is for.

Sunset Concerts Return

 Sunset Concerts returning on July 24 through the end of August

Bright Spot Award

 The repainted mural on the side of Town Square Market on North Washington won a Bright Spot Award

Gail and Linda White are the proud recipients of the Keep Carbondale Beautiful Commercial Bright Spot award. The east facing brick wall, right around the corner of Town Square Market, on N. Washington st, is a superb layer collage of graphics. Previously, fragments of faded paint still clung to the wall for years as upgrades to the building were being made. Expert repair masonry prepared the wall for the final design.

 

Mural artist Christine Brunk DeShazo was employed to make the dream come true. Met in 2019, Gail, Linda and Christine pieced together historical photographs of the building’s past. Vintage fonts and art styles were diligently researched for an amalgamation of layers. Various names, like “Siebert” was the name of the drugstore and building from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. Old commercial art articulates the industry of the day. The brick warehouse building next door was a Coca-Cola bottling warehouse for many years before closure. The weathered texture is preserved and honored while being hand drawn/painted as close to the original as possible. A collection of 80 hours paint time in 2 full weeks, the beauty of the past is vibrant again along N. Washington St.

 

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 e-mail BrightSpotAward@gmail.com.  Archives of some past Bright Spot Award winners may be found at keepcb.org.

COVID-19 Numbers for June 18

 Friday June 11 Jackson County 5166 infected, 74 dead, 5075 recovered, Randolph County 4192 infected 87 dead 4097 recovered, Union County 2232 infected, 32 dead 2194 recovered and Williamson County 7801 infected 127 dead 7227 recovered.

Friday June 18 Jackson County 5172 infected, 74 dead, 5084 recovered, Randolph County 4198 infected 87 dead 4105 recovered, Union County 2233 infected, 32 dead 2199 recovered and Williamson County 7824 infected 127 dead 7253 recovered.

Vaccination Clinic

 In case you want to get vaccinated for COVID and have not yet, there is a pop up clinic offering shots until 3 p.m in front of the Banterra Center (nee Arena) until 3 p.m. today.

Residential TIF District

The city is hosting a discussion  next Wednesday regarding expanding the city's TIF District #2 into residential neighborhoods. Seems a bit of a stretch to me as the purpose of TIF Districts is to made blighted areas more desirable, with, according to my reading, a focus on business and industrial areas, not residential, although I guess the "restoring historic properties" aspect would fall within their purpose.

Jackson County

 The Jackson County Health Department is hosting a residential hazardous waste opportunity this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 pm.  If you want to recycle something larger than 5 gallons, you have to provide an explanation. Otherwise, sign up here. 

New Exit

 IDOT has put in a new exit off Hwy 127 at Alto Pass. Apparently the bridge over 127 at that point has become unsound as it is now closed off. You now have two exits at that location, the original one on the east side that leads to Alto Pass and that drivers took to cross over the bridge to Bald Knob Cross and Peach Barn Vineyard and the new one exiting on the west that allows drivers to bypass the bridge to get to those two locations.

Bike Repair Station

 Carbondale, adding to its reputation as a bike friendly city, has this free bike repair station located out in front of city hall. Gets used a couple of times a week, at least. From what I have been told, the city has installed at least one other in town.

Flag Day

Although you would not know it from driving through Carbondale, today is Flag Day. I see the city has put out the flags along Main and Illinois  it normally puts our for patriotic observances but do not see any additional flags flying throughout the city.

COVID Numbers for June 11

 Friday June 4 Jackson County 5151 infected, 73 dead, 5060 recovered, Randolph County 4183 infected 87 dead 4094 recovered, Union County 2229 infected, 32 dead 2193 recovered and Williamson County 7776 infected 127 dead 7191 recovered.

Friday June 11 Jackson County 5166 infected, 74 dead, 5075 recovered, Randolph County 4192 infected 87 dead 4097 recovered, Union County 2232 infected, 32 dead 2194 recovered and Williamson County 7801 infected 127 dead 7227 recovered.

State Senators Filing for Back Pay

 Three former Illinois State Senators have filed lawsuits claiming that their votes against taking annual pay raises for over a decade were unconstitutional and that they should receive the back pay they voted against taking. Their argument is that, the Illinois Constitution bars legislators from voting on salary changes that take effect during the term that they vote on the change. Two of the lawsuits were filed by individual legislators but the third has filed it as a class action lawsuit, meaning that, if the court finds in their favor, every legislator would receive their back pay, which Comptroller Mendoza estimates would run to $10 million, without  having to file anything.

Mask Ordinance Expires

 It appears that Carbondale's mask ordinance has officially ended. Funny, due to the number of people not wearing masks when going into businesses I thought it had ended a couple of weeks ago. I know Mary Lou's pulled down their "Mask Required" sign sometime in May, though I see that Thai Taste is still only doing pickup and delivery.

City Council Meeting

 Listened to the city council meeting last Tuesday night. Two major issues that I caught

Approval of an ordinance allowing a cannabis retailer to to offer a consumption lounge on the premises as well, after the hours that the retail operation is closed. Since there is only one cannabis retailer in Carbondale, this was primarily focused at Consume, which had requested the permit. The lounge part of the operation, for customers to consume cannabis, will remain open for 2 hours past the closing of the retail cannabis operation at 10 p.m. and will also serve food and drink, cannabis infused I think. That question was asked by council several times and I did not get a clear answer. There was also a lot of discussion as to the cost of the lounge permit with both $100 and $500 discussed. Eventually the creation of the permit, with a $100 fee, was approved 5 to 4. 

The city is also looking into some form of electric scooter operation, with citizens able to rent electric scooters from docking stations with a credit card. One local spoke to council about their plans to start a locally owned scooter rental operation urging the council to support a locally owned operation rather than encouraging a national operation such as Wing to enter the market. No further action was taken on this by council.

Fireworks

 Sort notice but the city has announced, after skipping it last year, that  it will host the annual fireworks display on Sunday July 4th. News release does not say exactly where the display will be, but given that the news release says best viewing is in the Banterra Stadium parking lot, I would bet "Itchy" Jones Stadium. To my mind, this is a better choice than the Superblock as there is much more parking and no residential property in the area.

Mini Bikes

Was listening to city council meeting tonight and will publish a more detailed discussion tomorrow but caught that the city has seen an influx of mini-motorbikes. Some of which are ridden up to 30-40 miles per hours on the sidewalk. These are not legal for either street or sidewalk use in the city and the city has confiscated several of them over the past few month

Payday Loans

 Not sure what it says about the strength of the Carbondale economy, it it looks as if two of the payday loan places have shuttered. Quick Cash, just past Eastgate Shopping Center has a For Sale or Lease sign in front of it and the one across the street from Wendy's  has foot high grass in front of it, not a auspicious sign for an ongoing business. Of course, that does leave about three of them in Eastgate proper, conveniently located near the Little Vegas operation.

New Business?

 It looks as if the location of The Game Table on South Illinois has rented. At least there is brown Kraft paper covering most of the windows and the interior walls are getting painted a much darker color. Although parking is not great, as there are only about 8  there for the 3 other businesses currently operating there,  it is a highly visible location for traffic heading north on Illinois.

COVID 19 Number for June 4

 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.

Friday June 4 Jackson County 5151 infected, 73 dead, 5060 recovered, Randolph County 4183 infected 87 dead 4094 recovered, Union County 2229 infected, 32 dead 2193 recovered and Williamson County 7776 infected 127 dead 7191 recovered.

Asian Massage

 Have noticed 2 Asian massage locations opened in Carbondale within the past 6th months, following the one getting closed down out by Reed Station Road. There is one in the Park Place plaza behind Murdale and another located on East Walnut.

Masks

 Interesting to see how many people have stopped wearing masks when going into a business, even when there are "Please wear masks" signs clearly posted. At the store, prior to the CDC's change in recommendation, we had nearly over 95% of people coming through the door wearing a mask. Now it is closer to 80%  and we are handing out a lot more masks than we did in early May.

Nighttime Work

 IDOT or the city, I am not sure which, will start road repairs on HWY 13 Westbound tonight until I am not sure. Looks as if the work starts out by University Mall and extends west toward downtown

I am happy to see work getting done on the streets as they took quite a beating over the winter. The city spent time repairing North Oakland but the section repaired is still pretty rough and needs more work to smooth it to a level similar to the rest of the street.

Woodlawn Cemetery

 Attended the Woodlawn Cemetery Memorial Day ceremony yesterday and took the self-guided tour of the graves there. A vandal broke 4 of the tombstones during the past year. They were caught but the stones are still broken. Since these 4 date back over 125 years, they will be difficult and costly to repair as inserting dowels into them, the typical of repair, could further damage the stones.