Hangar 9 has a sign flashing on the marquee that they will close until Jan 7th. No idea why as I would think that New year's Eve would be a very busy night for them. The parking lot by The Cellar is full as are the lots around PK's
On the other hand Thai Taste has closed the whole week between Christmas and New Year's, which again I thought would be a particularly busy time for them.
More a personal note but my long time neighbor Bob Spain passed away last week. Visitation is today from 4 to 7 at Meredith Funeral Home with a memorial service at 7 p.m. He was retired for as long as I knew him but at one time owned the long closed Frankie's Bar and Grill in downtocn Carbondale.
Was tooling around downtown Carbondale after service Chirstmas Dinner at St. Francis Xavier Churst and was bemused tonotice that the only places open, besides mine, were alcholol related establishmented. ABC Liquor, Hollywood Lounge and PK/s all were open and had customers. Of course, PKs does advertise on its sign that it remains open 365 days a year (usually).
Friday Dec 17 Jackson County 8835 infected,114 dead, 8514 recovered, Randolph County 5978 infected 102 dead 5780 recovered, Union County 3361 infected, 52 dead 3361 recovered and Williamson County 13716 infected 182 dead 12813 recovered.
Friday Dec 24 Jackson County 89039 infected,115dead, 8649 recovered, Randolph County 6122 infected 102 dead 5929 recovered, Union County 3427 infected, 52 dead 3361 recovered and Williamson County 4004 infected 184 dead 12813 recovered.
No city council meeting on the 28th. newxt one will be Jan 11th. I understand that most personel will be off until Jan 3rd.
"The Carbondale City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 28, 2021, has been cancelled. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council is Tuesday, January 11, 2022."
appears that when Spring semester starts at SIUC, everyone will be required to get tested within 48 hours after returning to campus. Non vaccinated staff and students will be required to continue to get tested every week through the semester.
Might be a good idea to have several testing locations on campus so as to not run everyone thorugh Grinnel Hall.
Friday Dec 10 Jackson County 8673 infected,111 dead, 8401 recovered, Randolph County 5861 infected 101 dead 5699 recovered, Union County 3351 infected, 49 dead 3333 recovered and Williamson County 13358 infected 178 dead 12813 recovered.
Friday Dec 17 Jackson County 8835 infected,114 dead, 8514 recovered, Randolph County 5978 infected 102 dead 5780 recovered, Union County 3361 infected, 52 dead 3361 recovered and Williamson County 13716 infected 182 dead 12813 recovered.
Mayor Henry referenced Kozy Cakes in his State of the City address but I was not sure where it was located. Appears, according to their Facebook page, on Sweets Drive on the eas side of town and opened at the end of August. Alwasys glad to see new business coming to the city.
In case you want to read it, here is the transcript of Mayor Henry's State of the City address. Due to the effects of the pandemic, the room was not nerly as full as it has been during past State of the City Addresses. I would estimate around 120 or so in attendance with plenty of seating space remaining Pre-epidemic addresses drew easily twice that number with standing room only for latecomers.
A couple of items of note:
SIUC- I still think it too early to proclaim that SIUC has turned attencance around. The univeristy has seen a leveling off of declining attencance in past years, following by proclamations that the university has "turned the corner", only to have enrollment drop again the next year. Wait a few years and see if increases are consistent before proclaiming things fixed.
Multi-modal Transit Center--The mayor is exaggerating a bit when he stays the city has made signifcant process towards the Multi-modal transit Center. The city has selected a design team but does not expect to see ground broken until Fall 2022 at the earliest. Maybe they have made some decisions but last I heard, the council had not finalized the design.
Solar Energy-The city has certainly embraced it with panels on top of the civic center and a field of them sout and east of the Public Safety Center. Moving all city vehicles to electric powered will be costly in the short term but should save money over the next 5 to 10 years.
Attended the Mayor's State of the City Address this afternoon (more on that later) but one thing that struck me was that SIUC and SIH are the two largest employers in the region and SIH has spent about $132 million for uncompensated healthcare since the beginning of the epidemic
Friday Dec 3 Jackson County 8556 infected,110 dead, 8316 recovered, Randolph County 5792 infected 101 dead 5665 recovered, Union County 3264 infected, 49 dead 3150 recovered and Williamson County 13059 infected 177 dead 12813 recovered.
Friday Dec 10 Jackson County 8673 infected,111 dead, 8401 recovered, Randolph County 5861 infected 101 dead 5699 recovered, Union County 3351 infected, 49 dead 3333 recovered and Williamson County 13358 infected 178 dead 12813 recovered.
According to this, the number of reported shootings taking place in Carbondale has tripled since the start of the epidemic. Police reported 19 or fewer in the year 2019 and the revious years but 59 in 2020 and that many so far this year. I would hazard a guess that the sheer number of guns floating around the country has driven the numbers up, not only here but nationally. Gun sales went up about 40% in 202 with about 20% of those sold to first time buyers.
Caught on the news today that the BOD of Lee Enterprises, owner of the Southern Illinoisan, rebuffed a takeover bid by the Alden Capital Global hedge fund, calling the offer greatly undervalued. Alden is a venture capital fund that specializes in buying up newspapers, selling off their real estate and offering buyouts to the staff, reducing costs and pulling as much profit out of the paper as possible.
Although much of the material in the Southern comes from wire services and Lee Enterprizes other papers (when was the last time you saw a Thumbs Up Thumbs Down column), it still covers local sports and local news on the frront page as well as the odd city council meeting. We need a local paper. Research sshows that, without a local paper reporting on local politics, voter particpation drops and taxes increase, generally because residents of the community pay very little attention to the activities of their city council. Most city council meetings I have attended have fewer than a dozen people in the audience and most of those leave after their issue is adressed. Despite how the Southern has shrunk over the years, it still performs an important service to the city, one that would be further reduced should Alden gain control.
Carbondale Main Street did a fine job promoting the cookie walk last Satureay, we had roughly 150 people through the doors at the store between 4 and 5. As the time for the parade drew closer traffic dropped dastically, of course, but still we had about 18 dozen cookies ready to go and ended the night with about 2 dozen. Note to self, gluten free and oatmeal raisin cookies the least popular.
Seeing decorations for each up now. I am rather surpirsed to see at least 4 houses in town with Halloween decor still up. At least they are outnumbered by the houses with Christmas lights and decorations up.
Friday Nov.26 Jackson County 8428 infected,109 dead, 8221 recovered, Randolph County 5745 infected 100 dead 5605 recovered, Union County 3175 infected, 49 dead 3080 recovered and Williamson County 12764 infected 174 dead 12315 recovered.
Friday Dec 3 Jackson County 8556 infected,110 dead, 8316 recovered, Randolph County 5792 infected 101 dead 5665 recovered, Union County 3264 infected, 49 dead 3150 recovered and Williamson County 13059 infected 177 dead 12913 recovered.
Just a reminder that the Lights Fantastic Parade takes place tomorrow and downtown streets will start closing at 5 p.m. If you park on S. Illions prior to that, you will need to move your car prior to 5 p.m. as your car will either be towed or stuck there until 8 p.m. when the streets reopen.
I remember sitting in at meeings, during the Rita Chang administration, when the destruction of the Towers was actively discussed with the planned replacements a series of three-story halls surrouding a central commons area like those over by Campus Lake. However, lack of funding precluded the univeisty from moving forward with the plans.
Was walking thorugh Univeristy Mall the other day and I would estimate 50-75% of the storefronts are empty. Gloria Jean's pulled out so no place to even buy food out there, unless you want to get something from a vending maching. The entrance to the abandoned food court is not an extrance to the healthcare adminstration complex and the Macy's section got leased out to Spirit Halloween in October and a Christmas decoration store now. Not sure how, or if, the mall can come back from this, especially with the national decine of anchor stores.
