Traditional American Food

 Had someone asking for suggestions for food today and was hard pressed to think of any local place that serves traditional "American" food such as burgers, steak, chicken, eggs, etc. The only places I could direct them to were Mary Lou's,  Harbaughs, Dale's Burger Shack and Giant City Lodge. Am I missing any places in Carbondale that are not chains?

Primo's

 From what I have heard, Primo's Pizza is moving out of its Park Street location into the old Wiffle Boy's Pizza location on East Main. No information as to when the move will take place though but likely later this fall

West Side Burger King

 After months, the west side of Carbondale will no longer be devoid of fast food. The replacement Burger King, which is a "test format" store, with drive through and walk up but no inside dining, is scheuled to open between October 10 and 15 (yes,of this year. Sheesh!)

Jennifer Fuller

 Appears that Jennifer Fuller has moved on from WSIU. I have not heard her on the radio or Capitol View in weeks and she no longer appears on the station's staff list.

Stix

Drove through downtown after the Off the Rails Concert ended (Did not attend the concert but I was working late) and noticed that, while there was a decent amount of foot traffic in the Hangar 9 and Trax area, Stix was closed. I have not heard if they got hit with any citations or maybe they were opening even later than 10 in the evening. still, since I have seen a line out the door earlier in the semester, it seems stranges to see the place shuttered on a Saturday night.

Quigley Hall

 According to faculty who work in the building, the electrical system in Quigly Hall is woefully out of date. At the time the bulding was contructed, engineering design was done on paper and fashion merchandising primarily relied on sewing machines. Now both colleges use computers and CAD, which draw a lot more power, straining the outdated electrical system. In addition, the HVAC system is so old that faculty need fans and air conditiong units during the spring and summer and heaters during the winter, adding more stress to the system. . It is amazing they do not have more electrical outages in the building than they do.

Quatro's Owner Found Dead

 According to this, Quatro's owner Blake Morrison, who purchased the restaurant last yearfrom longtime owner Steve Payne, was found dead while on a cruise with friends through the Bahamas.  Morrison was found Wednesday morning lying near the pool deck on the ship. Quatro's will continue to operate while family decides what to do.

clorox Shortage

 The current shortage of Clorox wipes and other products is not due to an outbreak of viruses or FOMO or even supply shortages but a cyberattack upon the company. Who the heck cyberattacks a cleaning products company?

SIUC Infrastructure

 SIUC really needs funding dedicated to repairing its current infrastructure. From what I have heard, and correct me if I am wrong, there are fewer than a dozen maintenance people on staff to make repairs to HVAC systems, electrical systems, etc. For a campus the size of SIUC that is woefully understaffed. Some if the equiptment is so old, maintenance cannot find parts for them from regular sources and are forced to look for them on sites like eBay.

I did read that the state is directing funding to the university but I also read it was for new buildings. Unless the administration plants to replace obsolete buildings like Graul, the money needs to go into upgrading current facilites.

Enrollment Up

 I guess any improvement is good but SIUC is making waaaay too much out of an increase in enrollement of 230 students. The univeristy for years has positioned small decreases as evicende that its new programs are "turning the tide" and the univeristy is about to "turn the corner". If those miniscule decreases didn't matter, than a 2.3% increase shouldn't either. Of course, since it is the most positive news about enrollment in a decade, I cannot blame the administration for trumpeting it but before they break their arm by patting themselves on the back, let's see what numbers are like in Fall of 2024.

Too Much Open Space

 I was talking with another retailer and we both agreed that downtown Carbondale, among other problems, has too much open space. Not green space, which would be fine, but parking space, which is rather suprising given the compaints I have seen about the lack of parking in downtown. I think more the complaint is the lack of "free" parking in downtown. 

The north end of the Strip is separated from the south end but a large stretch of parking. Walk past Old Town Liquors and you have Big Chill nee Dairy Queen sitting alone in the middle of a comparatively large parking area before getting to the Varsity Center. On the other side of the street, one you pass Pag's Pizza, there is parking, then the Amtrak Station, then more parking before reaching Walnut.

Once Booby's reopens, that will help matters some as it will help pull customers from the south end towards the north, but that is still a whole lot of empty space for potential customers to walk past.

Spirit Halloween

 You can tell Halloween is slowly getting closer when the seasonal Spirit Halloween opens up, this year in the empty Bed Bath and Beyond. Incidentally, Unofficial Halloween will take place Oct 28, the same day as most of the city's Official Halloween events.

Big Chill

Should be getting a new neon sign for downtown's Big Chill, to replace the removed Dairy Queen sign. The new one uses font very similar, though not identical, to the removed sign. Plans are to have it in place by October.

Blocko's Closing

 According to this Facebook post from the owner, Blocko's Restaurant will close permanently this Sunday. No details as to why although the owner did say the past week since the shooting was terrible.

Harold's Reopening

 Harold's Chicken has been closed for a few months but the reopening will take place at noon on Sept . 20  . Given the amount of excitment the chain generated when it opened in Carbondale, I was rather suprised to see it close so quickly. Heard there were staffing problems but that is second hand. Anyway, glad to see them opening again.

Blocko's Update

 Carbondale police have arrested a male juvenile for the shooting at Blocko's restaurant on Sept 2 and are seeking another juvenile in conjuction with the shooting but he has not been located yet. The victim is still in hospital but stable and Blocko's has reopened.

Stabbing

 If it bleeds, it leads. Stabbing yesterday afternoon in the 100 block of East Jackson on the north side of the square. The victim's injuries were serious but not life threatening and they were transported to hospital. The attacker fled the scene and was later arrested on East Grand Avenue and charged with domestic batter. 

Fight

Last Saturday night, after a basketball game in the old high school complex some 300 kids started a fight in the parking area. Police arrived and the fight quickly ended with little to no co-operation with the police. There was rumor of at least one knife used during the fight but authorities found no weapons or injuries. One person did contact police with an injury afterward with a minor injury but no medical attention needed.

Missing Person

 Update:  Jan Borowitz was found safely in a wooded area near her home shortly after 11 am. this moning. Somewhat dehydrated but otherwise OK

From the Williamson County Sheriff's Office:

Missing Senior Citizen

Williamson County, Illinois - The Williamson County Sherriff’s Office is asking for help from the public in locating a missing senior citizen. 

Janet Borowitz, 81, has not been seen since Saturday, September 9, 2023, at approximately 10:30am. 

Borowitz is believed to have walked away from her residence in the 5000 block of Bald Eagle Lane, Carbondale, Illinois, which is located in rural Williamson County. 

Borowitz is described as 5’ 0”tall and weighing 100 pounds; she has blue eyes and blonde hair.

Anyone who knows Borowitz’s whereabouts is asked to call the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office at 618-997-6541. 

From her daughter in law Becky Borowitz Facebook page

"For anyone waiting to help… the authorities have a procedure in place so we are not sending folks into the woods.

But, I can assign roads to check.

My mother in-law’s wearing a long sleeve, off white shirt, black tennis shoes, and black pants. She is very small in weight and height. In this picture she is smiling. I would assume she is not smiling and may appear distressed.

Please keep your eyes open in these areas…

If you live in these areas, please check your property, barns, porches, sheds, out buildings. She has been gone since Saturday and probably hasn’t had anything to drink or eat.

Little Grassy Campground

Boskeydell

148

146

Smaller roads along Grassy Road

Giant City Park

Smaller drives on Boskeydell Road (west of Giant City School)

Giant City Road

Spillway Road

Rocky Comfort Road

Devil’s Kitchen Campground

Giant City Campground

She likes Barnes & Noble"

Chango's

 According to the owner of Sal's Bistro, adjoining restaurant Chango's should reopen about the middle of September. I see they already have a fresh coat of paint on the building.  I know several people who will be very happen when this occurs.

SIUC Enrollment Up

 SIUC enrollment up about 2.3% or 252 more students, over fall 2022, at least so far. I have heard second hand that a number of students dropped out of the university this past weekend, maybe enough to wipe out that increase. I certainly hope not and, while I am certainly glad to see any increase, this 2.3% increase is comparable to the small decreases the unviversity saw in numbers over the past 30 years. Every year since 1990, student numbers dropped a tiny percentage, statitically tiny but it certainly added up over three decades. 

If the administration sees 2.5% increases in student numbers over the next three years or so, it has reason to pat itself on the back but a 2.3% increase is just staunching the bleedling, It will take 2-4 more years of similar numbers before SIUC can say its strategy to increase enrollment has worked.

Paul Simon Public Policy Institute 25 Anniversary

 The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and has two events scheduled one at the end of this month in Chicago and one at the end of October here in Carbondale. Mildly bemusing that the Chicago event is scheduled on  a Friday night, when generally people are planning for things to do for the weekend. with drinks provided before the event and refreshments afterward. Meanwhile, Carbondale's event gets scheduled for Monday night, a weeknight on which a lot of people do not want to go out as they have to go to work or class on the following day.

Stop Lights

 Really wish the city would change the left turn lights on the stop lights in town to only yellow and green, no red. I can see being cautious (yellow) when making a left hand turn across oncoming traffic but having to sit there while the light is red when there is no oncoming traffic seems a waste of both time and gasoline. State law does say that turning left on red onto a one way street is legal, although city government may pass ordinances making doing so illegal

Bloko's Temporarily Closed

 According to this post from the Carbondale Police there was a shooting at Bloko's on S. Illinois this afternoon about 4:20 with one person shot and critically injured enough to require hospitalization. A post on Facebook says the injured person was the restaurant's owner and the release from the police says the victim and alleged shooter knew each other. 

Edited to correct Bloko's spelling

Golden Corral

 Appears the Carbondale Golden Corral is not temporarily closed as I posted earlier this week. According to the company website, the location has "permanently closed". That happened pretty quickly. I guess the company used the excuse of the sewer leakage and HVAC problems as a reason to shutter the doors and then, after that was doen, post that the restaurant would not reopen.

That leaves only one buffet style restaurant in Carbondale Qin Guan.