Boys and Girls Club

 It looks as if the Boys and Girls club will reopen next month, the Marion club at its old site and the Carbondale one in the First United Methodist Church. $200, 000 raised which will not fund the organization for very long, especially once it hires an executive director.

Steering Committee

 If you want to help develop the next comprehensive plan for Carbondale, the steering committee is now seeking members. I still have a copy of the last comprehensive plan on my shelves someplace and it has been used by citizens to point out when the city is proposing a program that appears to veer away from the plan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CARBONDALE -

Do you love Carbondale? Do you have ideas about how Carbondale could continue to thrive? If so, you have an opportunity to be involved in shaping the City of Carbondale’s future. Since the 2010 plan, Carbondale has evolved, along with market preferences. Now is the time to update the plan to reflect the changes the city is experiencing and set a positive course of action for the future.  

The City of Carbondale is calling all interested applicants to apply to serve as a volunteer member of the Steering Committee for the updated comprehensive plan for the City. As a member of the committee, you will help bring insight and perspective to the planning process and ensure that the community’s voice and vision are a central part of the plan. 

We are seeking committee members who are connected to our broader community. Whether you are a long-time resident, a business owner, student, or someone who simply loves Carbondale, your perspective is valuable. This is an exciting opportunity to work with fellow community members and city leaders to create a plan that will guide Carbondale towards a vibrant and prosperous future for years to come! 

The application process will close on Friday, August 9th. 

We encourage you to join your fellow community members in this exciting opportunity. If you have any questions, please reach out to Carbondale’s Senior Planner, Molly Maxwell at mmaxwell@carbondaleil.gov. 

Click the link here: https://forms.gle/cgEocw4KteJkwort5 to apply! The application can also be found on the City’s website, www.explorecarbondale.com, under Permits and Applications. A printed application can be completed at the front desk at City Hall.  

More Business Opening

 jackson County has seen an 88% increase in the number of businesses opening since 2019, putting the county among the top 25 in the state in terms of new businesses over the last five years.

Shootings AND Stabbing

 Two reports of shootings, a stabbing and a vehicle theft all yesterday on Lewis Lane and East Sycamore.. Busy day for the police. Apparently a busy night as well according to a friend who was doing a ride along and did not get finished until 5 a.m.

City Council and Liquor control commission

 Here is the agenda for next Tuesday's Liquor Control Commission and City council Meetings.  According to the agenda, The Hilton appears to want a secondary liquor license so it can sell package liquor on site. In addition, This & That wants a secondary restaurant license so it can run a bakery out of its kitchen. Also, I think SI Pawn is applying for a zoning variance so it can move to North Illinois next to the Thrift Shop, as that area, for whatever reason, is zoned for automotive and wholesale businesses. 

Saluki Takeover Tours

 Originally I thought these were a form of outreach to new students but now I see they are instead outreach to alumni. with the steady decline of state funding, reaching out to alumni for support is becoming more important to all universities, not just SIUC. Of course, given the steady decline in students, it is hard to create a lot of excitement about campus events. Until the university manages to come up with something to significantly turn around enrollment, and not by just 1 or 2 percent, it will be hard to create much excitement. 

SCOTUS Lawsuit

 Yep, this lawsuit is likely why the city council held a special session to repeal its bubble ordinance. Council does not want to spend the money defending an ordinance that has a good chance of getting struck down before the current Supreme Court, especially when the city already has ordinances on the books that accomplish the same thing.

Southern Hills

Drove into SIUCs now abandoned Southern Hills residential complex. A gate blocks vehicles from driving past the first parking area but it is easy to see that SIUC is letting the entire area, save for one building, go back to nature. It looks as if one building is being used for maintenance offices but the other building are getting covered with vines and parts of the structure are falling off. Seems quite a waste of the buildings, which thirty years ago were used for graduate student and family housing.

When SIUC started shrinking dramatically, there was talk, 20 years ago,  of converting the buildings into a upscale retirement community for SIUC alumni but adapting the buildings for retirees, especially the 2nd floor units, was too costly to pursue, I guess. Nothing ever came of the plan and the rehabilitation of the buildings would be too expensive now.

Ordinance Repealed

 The city council met last Saturday and voted to repeal Ordinance 2023-03, dealing with limiting protests at women's health clinics in the city. Vote was 6-0.  I would guess the executive session was called in response to pending litigation against the ordinance and council decided it was better to rely on already existing ordinances to prosecute disruptive protesters, rather than using the power of government to target them specifically. 

SIU Leaders Get More Money

 Given the number of unfilled positions at SIU and that the university still has not seen a consistent increase in attendance during Lane's term in office, a raise for top administration seems a bit pre-mature, especially since the numbers are still less than half the number of enrolled students at its peak in 1990

Preservation Commission

 Preservation commission meets next Monday. Agenda is below. Not a lot of reports from the committees. going to see if I can make the meeting and ask about plaques for places identified as historically significant in Carbondale.

1. Roll Call & Introductions

AGENDA

The City of Carbondale Preservation Commission

Monday, July 15th, 2024

5:30 P.M.

Civic Center, Room 112

200 South Illinois Avenue

2. Approval of Minutes: June 17th, 2024 regular meeting

3. Communication and Reports:

a) Educational and Technical Assistance Committee

a. No Report

b) Nomination and Hardship Committee

a. No report

c) Work Plan Committee

a. No Report

d) Certificate of Appropriateness Committee

a. No report

e) Preservation Month Subcommittee

a. No Report

4. Old Business:

a) None

5. New Business:

a) Discussion on the consultant recommendations made in the Historic Building Survey

for the Northeast Quadrant

b) Identify possible next local register nomination(s)

6. Comments from the Public, Commission Members, or Staff

Cannabis Tax

 Carbondale received just under $35000 in revenue from cannabis in the fiscal year that ended last month. Carterville got a bit over $9000 and Murphysboro, $11,000. 

special City Council Meeting

 It appears the city council will hold a special meeting this Saturday, July 13, to vote to repeal Ordinance 2023-03, which had been enacted last year to limit the ability of protestors to approach clients at women's health/abortion clinics in Carbondale. According to the reasoning, there are other ordinances on the city books providing sufficient protection so this ordinance was not needed. Although I am not a lawyer, I would guess there was some pushback or threats of legal action for passing an ordinance targeting protests by a specific group.

Carbondale Vision 2030 Goal 2

 The second goal in the Carbondale Vision 2030 Strategic Plan. As with Goal 1, there are a lot of strategic initiatives for the city to address and DEI programs have really been a target of Republican lawmakers in recent years.

Goal 2:  Establish programs, processes, and networks to address diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice.

 Strategic Initiatives

  Explore possibilities for revising responsibilities for the Human Relations Commission or another entity to address citizen complaints. 

 Develop processes to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and equitably. 

 Create a diversity action plan for City operations. 

 Identify ordinances that contribute to exclusionary zoning.

  Create a Police (or Civilian) Review Board to address citizen complaints and advise the city on potential policy changes. Couldn't the Human Relations Commission do this? Seems what the first Initiative is aimed at.

 Identify and address systemic racism in institutions within Carbondale. 

 Publicize the purpose of the Human Relations Commission. 

 Identify areas of unequal opportunity and access in Carbondale and begin creating a plan to improve resources for all

  Create a staff report identifying codes and regulations that hinder opportunities for minority entrepreneurs. Despite its reputation, Carbondale is a business friendly town. Just follow the codes and regulations.

  Develop business training seminars tailored to the minority community to assist with business startups. 

 Require planning staff and Planning Commissioners to attend trainings and compile research on current zoning philosophies, such as Form-Based Code and Unified Development Zones, as they work on the update of the Comprehensive Plan. 

 Explore opportunities to address poverty and food insecurity in the community. Grants to already existing programs?  No need to create new one when we have existing food pantries. Could use more shelters but need staffing for that. 

  Create a Youth Advisory Board. Could a subcommittee of the HR Commission do this rather than creating a new board? 

 Provide targeted assistance to the minority business community. How? Grants? Seminars?

 Review alternatives for encouraging minority representation in the workforce. How?

 Consider a city-supported program to assist minorities to learn about and obtain employment in the trades. 

2 Problems with Downtown Carbondale

 Oh, I know there are lots of problems with downtown but from my point of view there are two huge ones that need addressing to make downtown a viable shopping area

1. Walkability--downtown is split into two parts, the square and South Illinois. The Amtrak and FirstMid parking lots are a line of demarcation dividing the two area and there is no good reason for a shopper to make the effort to walk from the south end to the north end  and vice versa because most of the businesses in downtown are

2. Destination stores--The businesses in downtown are not the sort of retailers that encourage browsing from one store to another . They are the reason the customer comes into downtown. They shop there and then leave. We have a number of barber shops, smoke shops, liquor stores, hairdressers and tattoo shops that bring people into downtown but they come to patronize those stores and then leave. No one goes from one smoke shop or liquor store to another to see what the other stores have. There is crossover between restaurants and Big Chill as well as the Varsity Center and restaurants and Big Chill. We even see some crossover between Castle Perilous and restaurants but generally people do  not come downtown to shop and get a meal.

It would be nice to see some parking lot infill and more shops that encourage browsing and movement from one to another, but we are not likely to see any additional retail space in either parking lot given the number of empty storefronts on South Illinois.

Walgreen's

It looks as if both Carbondale Walgreen's are safe from closure at least for now. Walgreen's plans to close over 2100 locations over the next three years but, according to this list of currently announced stores targeted for shuttering in Illinois are primarily in the Chicago region

Harold's Chicken

 For all the ballyhoo about Harold's Chicken opening, and there was a lot of it as I remember driving by and seeing a line waiting to get in, it sure didn't last very long. Zeenah's Palace will be opening in its location on July 8th

Schwartz Building

 The Schwartz Building, at the corner of Main and University has sold. The building had sat empty for several months, after the last tenant, Exit Realty, moved out and several squatters moved in by breaking windows and gaining access. The new owner plans to leave the exterior pretty much as it is and do a lot of rehab work, including replacing all the windows. 

I see the window with the "Moist" graffiti, which has been there for about a decade, has already been replaced. 

SI Pawn

 From what I hear, SI Pawn is looking to move from its current West Walnut location to a spot on North Illinois, likely next to the Thrift Shop. Would actually be a good symbiotic relationship.  People can take their items into SI Pawn, then, if SI Pawn does not want them, donate them to the Thrift Shop next door.

Zoning Commission

 Zoning Commission meets this coming Wednesday. Only thing on the agenda is a request for a zoning variance for a ground mounted solar system:

ZBA 25-01: Camille Bugg of StraightUp Solar, on behalf of Lana Crawford, is requesting a

variance from Section 15-3.4.6.B.2 of the Carbondale Revised Code, which outlines the City’s

setback regulations for ground-mount solar energy systems. The property is outside

Carbondale city limits, but within the City’s 1.5-mile zoning jurisdiction, and in an RR, Rural

Residential, District.

Carbondale 2030 Goal 1

 Here is Goal 1 from the Carbondale 2030 strategic plan:

Goal 1:  Provide a high quality-of-life and foster a sense of community. 

Strategic Initiatives

  Create a subsidy for internet, modem, installation costs, and fees to make broadband more affordable to residents. --Good. With the federal government's subsidy for internet for low income households expiring, this would be a real boon to them. Households qualifying under the federal program received $30 a month towards covering internet service and from what I have read, that was a real help.

 Continue to improve parks and recreation for those parks that are the City’s responsibility.-- I have seen some needed improvements at Marbury Arboretum, which really needs greater publicity and families use Turley Park on a regular basis.

  Conduct more year-round community-oriented programs for youth/young adults.  Continue supporting programs like the Boys and Girls Club and operations at the Eurma C. Hayes Center. --Also good, though maybe matching funding for each rather than an annual stipend. One complaint I have heard about Carbondale, among many, is that the city does not have much for youth to do. The Park District had a BMX track at one time, remnants still are by Evergreen Terrace, and there was a push for a skate park several years ago. Slabz, downtown, shows there is demand for a skate park and one accessible and outside would give youth another option for entertainment. 

 Publicize the positive aspects of Carbondale being proactive, using social media, and embracing the diverse nature of the community.  Establish a social media content team to promote all city departments and services. --Yep, Carbondale is the most diverse community in southern Illinois. I have had customers at the store tell me they moved here because of its diversity. Embrace it and let people know about it.

 Partner with civic organizations to improve the aesthetics of the entire community and the westend welcoming corridor into Carbondale.-- Good lord yes. All 4 approaches to Carbondale are ugly, though the trees and median on the east side presents the best appearance. Still, coming in from the west and east, the visitor sees freestanding businesses and strip malls, not as bad as Marion but still, they look as if they have just been dropped there. Murals are an improvement but we need colorful ones greeting people as they come to town, not just maroon and white Saluki murals . The north entrance is urban blight but could be improved with another sign welcoming people to the city and more plantings, as could the south end.

 Fully fund and publicize incentives for home ownership.--Yes, publicize the programs the city has to convert rentals into owner occupied units as well as funding for repairing homes owned by lower income residents. 

  Consider implementing a summer jobs program for youth/young adults --Consider or implement? Thinking about doing one meets this initiative but does not accomplish anything. Good program though. Maybe summer trash cleanup, especially along the entry ways to town.

Pag's Sold

 Has been in the works for several months (and Pag's has been looking for a buyer for several years) now but the official transfer of Pagliai's Pizza took place today.  Will be interesting to see what, if any, changes the new owners make.

Carbondale Vision 2030

 Found the current version of the Carbondale strategic plan while poking around on the city website. That's....a lot of stuff for the city to accomplish in 5 years. Of course a number of items are continue what we are already doing and consider doing this or that. 

Google Street View

 If you would like to see how your property has changed over the years, use Google Maps to look up its address, then click on Street View. In the black box in the upper left hand corner, click on See More Dates and the other photos Google Street View has taken of that location will appear at the bottom of the page. Street View photographs my house every 4-5 years so I can see how my dogwood tree has grown over the years.

Shooting

There was a shooting shortly after noon yesterday at the intersection of Springer and Main. According to police reports, a black male stepped out of a car and fired shots at another vehicle heading west on Main Street. No indication as to whether any of the bullets hit the car but, since Confluence Books was across the street and unable to move, a bullet hit a window in the building, though I did not see anything boarded up when I drove by this afternoon, so may have already been replaced.

Thank goodness no one was injured.

Zeenah's Palace

 Zeenah's Palace, a Nigerian-American restaurant, will open in the Wall-Grand Plaza on July 1st. Rather eclectic hours:  10 to 10 on Sunday and Monday, 4 to 10 Tuesday through Thursday, and 10 to 1:30 and 8:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Nice to have even more variety of restaurants from which to choose.

Properties for Sale

 According to Zillow ,there are a slew of properties for sale in the area of Carbondale bounded by Mill, University, Oakland and Walnut. Around 60 by my count, most I would bet are Home Rentals properties, which means they are not in the best of shape,

SIU Credit Union

 From the sign, SIU Credit Union will move their corporate offices into the back of University Mall, where Service Merchandise was located once upon a time. Now all mall management needs to do is find a corporate office to take over the Macy's wing and leave Bed Bath and Beyond open for Spirit Halloween each fall.

Celebrate 618

 Celebrate 618, sponsored by the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce takes place this week, since 6-18 falls in the middle of the week. A number of local businesses are offering 618 themed specials good 6/17 through 6/21. A few though, are only available on 6/18 so take advantage of them today.

Primo's Pizza

 Primo's Pizza announced on their Facebook page they are closed "indefinitely". Since the business asked anyone with gift cards to contact them about redemption, I would guess this is not a short term indefinitely.

Juneteenth

 Here is a list of the scheduled Juneteenth activities in Carbondale for the rest of the week. In addition, federal, state and city offices are all closed

• Senior Citizens Brunch 10:30 Monday, June 17 at Carbondale Civic Center
• Carbondale At The Table 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 18 at the Carbondale Civic Center. Call Dianah at 618-457-3282 to register.
• Juneteenth Celebration 6 p.m. at John A. Logan Community College.
• Kimberly France discusses her book “Black Settlements in Southern Illinois” 6 p.m. at University Mall
• Chalk the Sidewalk goes on all week from East Walker Ave to East Larch Street

PrideFest

 PrideFest has take over the downtown Square this Saturday afternoon, both the pavilion area and the Washington Street event space. Since no stage has been set up, at least as of 3 p.m., I would guess that, while there will be music, I doubt they will be putting on a show requiring a formal stage.

Cooling Center

 The Carbondale Warming Center has opened as the Cooling center for those needing respite from the heat. No word as to whether the Civic Center will also open as a cooling center next week

As we approach high heat indexes this weekend, we wanted to remind our community that the Carbondale Warming Center, located at 608 E College Street, is available for those who need reprieve from the heat.
The lobby will be open for individuals to rest inside an air conditioned space and water and Gatorade will be available for free. No public restroom is available to those walking in for temporary cooling relief.

Individuals may still register as guests to stay at the Carbondale Warming Center facilities where they will have full access amenities including the restroom and shower. Spaces are more limited during the summer due to the upstairs overflow space being unavailable at this time.

Donations are always welcomed and encouraged for the Carbondale Warming Center. At this time they are seeking bags of ice, water, and snacks (especially cooling ones such as popsicles). The Carbondale Warming Center is staffed 24/7. Doors are locked for security purposes at 10:30 PM and re-opened at 6 AM.

Downtown Restaurants

 By my count, three downtown restaurants have closed within the past 6 months or so:  Natcho Fries, Blocko's and SauSeas. Also by my count, three new ones have opened up since the start of the year:  Ripley's This n That and Booby's. So at least we are maintaining parity. Without major renovations, the only places additional restaurants could open on the strip are the Natcho Fries and Sausea locations and maybe the 7 Spice Grill, though given how long that place has been empty, it would take some major work to reopen.  I would include Chicago Hot Dog, but that building has been sold and Artistic Minds Tattoo is moving into it later this year.

Charlie's Fast Lube

 After about 6 months in business, Charlie's Fast Lube on East Main quietly closed up about two weeks ago. The Anna location is still in business, though.

Backflow Problems

 If you are having problems with sewage backing up into your basement, the city may help you install a backflow prevention device.  Requirements are:

• City of Carbondale sanitary sewer customer 

• Owner-occupied residence 

• Documented evidence that a residence has experienced a sanitary sewer backup in the basement during or following serious rain events due to storm water surcharge 

• Reported backup on file with the Utilities Dept. that was determined to be a sanitary sewer main issue and not an issue on private property by City staff. 

• Discuss the problem with the Water & Sewer Supervisor to confirm the backup is being caused by a sanitary sewer main issue 

• Obtain Utilities Dept. approval and a plumbing permit from the City’s Building & Neighborhood Services Dept. prior to notifying the plumber to proceed with the work in order to ensure reimbursement 

If you meet the requirements, the city will reimburse 90% of the cost of the device and its installation.  Read more about the program here.

Lewis Lane

 According to city plans, work is supposed to start on Lewis Lane, hopefully sometime this year, but I would be willing to bet it gets put off until after the multi modal transit system building gets completed. The plan for Lewis Lane is to reduce the width from 4 lanes to two and provide parking and a bike lane or two on the street.

Electric Rate

 The city sent out another email reminding electrical customers in the city that the new electric rates will kick in July1 although the price will only go up about a half cent a kilowatt hour, which is still pretty cheap. We had one of the companies in the store a  couple of weeks ago that pitch a lower electric rate because they can search among different suppliers. The problem is, from what I have found is that, like teaser internet or cable rates, the price is really low up front but jumps significantly when the initial contract ends. 

The City of Carbondale participates in an electric aggregation buying group with 94 other communities known as the Southern Illinois Aggregation Partnership (SIAP). Through this, the City of Carbondale has a contract with Homefield Energy that keeps electric prices at a fixed, steady rate throughout the year, instead of fluctuating as with other energy suppliers. The new aggregated rate from Homefield Energy will be

$0.091/kWh. This is a 12-month fixed rate from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.

However, this summer Ameren’s rates are sitting at a slightly lower cost. The new price-to-compare will be $0.08136/kWh from Ameren’s BGS-1 electric supply service this summer (June 1, 2024 – September 30, 2024) compared to Homefield Energy’s new aggregated rate of $0.091/kWh. The non-summer numbers from Ameren will not be official until late September for the period of October 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025.

The slight increase in the Homefield Energy rate from it’s previous rate of $0.08473/kWh to $0.091/kWh is attributed to capacity costs increasing for our region for the annual capacity planning year running June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025. Homefield Energy also had to procure additional energy hedges for December 2024 through

June 2025 and the markets have continued either holding steady or slightly increasing for energy commodity prices.

If you wish to participate in the City's negotiated aggregation rate you do not need to do anything further after receiving your letter. If you DO NOT wish to participate, you must Opt-Out. Instructions will be on the letter or you can call Homefield Energy at 866-694-1262 to opt-out. The deadline to opt-out is June 19th, however there will be no penalties or early termination fees if you choose to opt-out at a later date. Here is the press release

Opt-out letters were recently sent out for the new aggregation rate by Homefield. There is an opt-out period currently happening until June 19th for all eligible residents which includes the following:

1. Residents currently enrolled with Homefield Energy under the previous aggregation rate of $0.08473/kWh

2. Residents currently being served by Ameren’s basic generation service for electric supply, regardless of if they opted out of the previous aggregation rate.

Residents who opted out previously, or moved within or into the City since the last opt-out period, may still have Ameren as their electric supplier and were mailed an opt-out letter by Homefield for the new aggregation rate beginning next month. These people can opt-out now before the June 19th deadline and will not be subject to Ameren’s minimum stay requirement since they will not be getting dropped by an electric supplier.

Minimum stay requirement from Ameren comes into play when a customer is receiving electric supply from a retail electric supplier and returns to Ameren’s electric supply service. If they do so, they have 60 days to select a new retail electric supplier and if they do not choose one, they must remain a customer of Ameren’s electric supply service for an additional 10 months (12 months total being on Ameren’s service).

South Illinois

 For whatever reason, most of the storefronts north of College Street are filled with one form of business or another. It is the ones south of College down to Grand that have problems, especially the strips of storefronts behind Geologic Oddities and Trax. If your storefront sits empty for that long, it may be time to take a look at the rent you are charging and include some things in the rent that you normally would not. Triple net is great if you have renters clamoring for your space but makes it harder to rent the space to prospective tenants.

Indian Restaurant

 No idea what the name is but apparently a new Indian restaurant will open later this summer in the plaza where Moe's Southwestern Grill is located. From what I gather, it is going into the location formerly occupied by the short lived Gud Fud Soul Food restaurant

Qin Guan

 Asked the front desk at Qin Guan this evening about the citations for health violations the restaurant received. According to him. the notice was posted two days, the restaurant made the needed changes and they got their certification back again. 

Grocery Sales Tax

 Under this year's state budget, the 1% sales tax on groceries ends in 2026. However as a sop to local municipalities, which got the money from the 1% tax, the budget also gives local governments the power to institute a local sales tax on groceries, without passing a referendum. Given that our city council passed an ordinance keeping in place a 1/4% sales tax put in place to fund school roof repairs,  that was due to expire several years ago, I would not be surprised to see a vote on establishing a local tax on groceries after the expiration of the grocery tax.

Carbondeli's

 Spoke yesterday with one of the contractors doing work at  Carbondeli's. Due to other jobs, the work is taking longer than projected and the owners now target the end of  August for opening.

Grand Avenue Closed

 Grand Avenue, between Illinois and Washington, will close next week for repairs to the railroad crossing. Expect to see the Mill Street Underpass get a lot more use:  From the press release

Grand Avenue will be closed from June 3rd-June 7th between Illinois Avenue and Washington Street due to Canadian National Railway construction improvement projects. Detours will be clearly marked in this area.

At the Table Dinner

 Final "At the Table" dinner of the spring takes place June 18th.  From the press release:

The City of Carbondale, Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen, and the Carbondale Branch of the NAACP invite members of the community to attend the Carbondale “At the Table” Dinner & Dialogue series on Tuesday, June 18th 2024 at the Carbondale Civic Center.

The City of Carbondale will celebrate Juneteenth during their final Carbondale “At the Table” event this spring. Representatives from the African American Museum of Southern Illinois will briefly discuss how they serve the region and the significance of Juneteenth. The discussion topic for the evening is Resilience, Racial Justice, and the Racial Healing Journey. The theme honors Juneteenth while capturing the overall goals of the Healing Illinois initiative.

The City of Carbondale has been thrilled to present the Carbondale “At the Table” Dinner & Dialogue Series over the past few months. The Carbondale “At the Table” Dinner & Dialogue Series brings an intersection of topics ranging from culture, racism, history, and racial healing to the table through facilitated conversations so that community members from diverse backgrounds can engage in dialogue while enjoying a community meal by Cristaudo’s Café & Bakery.

The upcoming event is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 5pm and the Dinner & Dialogue will begin around 5:30pm. Seating is limited and registration is required. To register click here. For more information, please contact Dianah McGreehan at dmcgreehan@explorecarbondale.com or call 618-457-3282.

Southern Illinois Music Fest

 the 20th annual Southern Illinois Music Fest started last Saturday and runs through the 7th. This is a marquee event for SIUC and attracts musicians from all over the world. Here is the schedule Here is the schedule should you want to attend a few performances. 

Flags

 If you drove through downtown Carbondale yesterday, you may have seen the flags lining Illinois Avethe flags lining Illinois Ave and Main Street between the railroad tracks and Illinois. The local Lions club has been putting them up on national holidays for over a decade now and it is quite an impressive sight.

West Mill Shooting

 Shooting on West Mill Street Saturday May 25 about 11:30 am which puts it right across the street from the University. No mention in the police message of any injuries so it appears it was "just" gunfire with no injuries as the release made no mention or any injuries or hospitalization.

City Council Agenda

 The city council will meet Tuesday night. Here is  a copy of the agenda.  Notable items on it include:

Proclamations of June as National Preservation Month and Gun Violence Prevention Month

Announcement of the owners of 206 S. Poplar, 302 N. Poplar, 615 S. Tower Road and 801 East Walnut Street as recipients of Historic Preservation Awards

Presentation of the City Wastewater Treatment Master Plan

Consent agenda including appointments to boards, hiring Kerber, Eck, & Braeckel for audit services for 2024, hiring TWM, Inc for water main replacements, entering into a contract with Placer.ai for access to their location intelligence software (tracking movements in the city through cell phone GPS).

Studying reducing the minimum square footage of a single house from 800 square feet.

Hiring Planning NEXT to update the city Comprehensive Plan.

Adopting the City Wastewater Treatment Master Plan presented earlier in the meeting

Adjournemnt.

StoryWalk

 Green Earth has a Story Walk trail installation  in the Oakland Preserve trail system. each month a new story gets put into the Story Walk boxes. Pretty nice thing for Green Earth to do and yet another thing for families with young children to do in Carbondale.

S, Lewis Lane

 The section of Lewis Lane just south of Highway 13 Eastbound is closed. Telephone and electric lines down across the street. Closed since about 1 this afternoon but will likely reopen by sunrise tomorrow.

Rental Committee

 The city is looking for people to serve on a committee to research rental unit housing license planning committee . Looks like there will be 13 people on this committee which is probably about 6 people too many. Here is information if you are interested in serving:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CARBONDALE -

The City of Carbondale is researching rental housing unit licensing. This will be a substantial and important update to the current rental housing regulations. As part of this process, the City Council has directed staff to solicit for interested parties who wish to serve on a rental housing licensing planning committee. If you have a desire in serving on this important committee, please submit a written letter of interest via email to Mayor Carolin Harvey charvey@explorecarbondale.com . Your letter must include your name, address of current residence, reason for interest in the committee, and a detailed description of your background or resume. All inquiries will be confidential until the appointments are made. All letters of interest shall be submitted by June 4, 2024. 

The Rental Housing Licensing Committee will be comprised of the following community members: 

- 4 landlords 

- 4 Carbondale tenants (at least one of whom shall be a full time SIUC undergraduate currently living off campus) 

- One at large citizen. 

These committee members will serve with two Carbondale City Councilpersons and two City staff employees. 

For further information and questions contact the Community Development Manager at 618-457-3251.

Hotworx

 Carbondale now has a Hotworx hot yoga studio open on East Main Street. always glad to see a new business come to Carbondale. Apparently, and someone with more knowledge feel free to correct me, you exercise inside a sauna or sauna like atmosphere, increasing the level of sweating during the exercise. 

Multi Modal Transit Center

 Walk through of the city's unfinished multi-modal transit system building. Still pretty much a shell but you can get an idea of what it will look like. From what I understand, both the Chamber of Commerce and Carbondale Main Street will move out of the Old Train Depot into offices in the building and there will be a tourism welcome center as well.

The Natives

 If you are free this Wednesday at noon, The Natives will play the Carbondale Main Street Brown Bag Concert. The show will also stream on the Carbondale Main Street Facebook page if you cannot make the show in person.

Qin Guan

From what I have heard Qin Guan got shut down briefly last week by the Jackson County Health Department. The restaurant got whatever the problem was fixed quickly as it was open for operation again yesterday. 

Y'all RockFest

 Y'all Rockfest is currently taking place in the Washington Street Entertainment Plaza and runs until 10 tonight. Not sure what bands are playing, but they are audible 2 blocks away

Popeye's

 Looks like Popeye's has reopened, at least partially. There is now a sign in the window saying "Drive through Open". Not sure as to what the hours are though and certainly no inside dining.

Preservation Commission Meeting

 The Preservation Commission meets this Monday at 5:30 in the civic Center. Not much on the agenda, and I mean that. Aside from approving the March Minutes, there is nothing but the Preservation Award Nominees and Selection of Winners. Not even any reports about stuff.

I have no idea who the Preservation Award Nominees even are though I am certain they are listed somewhere.

Poplar Camp Beach

 Poplar Camp Beach opens for the season May 24 and is a "swim at your own risk" facility as lifeguards will not be on duty at all times. This is not just a problem for Poplar Camp Beach. There is a nationwide shortage of lifeguards with roughly a third of public swimming facilities shortening hours due to a lack of lifeguards.

William Lo

 William Lo, Executive Director of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce and General Manager of New Kahala, was the recipient of the Outstanding Service in Leadership award during the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month ceremony in Chicago today.  If you haven't joined it, check out the Southern Illinois Eats page he moderates on Facebook

Energy Study

 The city announced today it received a $400,000 grant from the Department of Energy "to  conduct a comprehensive pre-feasibility study of what our community has been calling “The Energy Sovereignty, Security, & Democracy Proposal”, a revenue-positive and replicable rural energy system model that fosters equitable American self-sufficiency and lasting prosperity for our Nation’s recovering energy communities,".

That is good but I cannot help wondering what good a pre-feasibility study will do. Shouldn't it at least look at the feasibility of a rural energy system model. Studies often get done and then tossed on the shelf.

Brown Bag Concerts

 The Carbondale Main Street Brown Bag Concerts feature The McDaniels this Wednesday at Noon. If you cannot catch them in person, CMS will stream the concert live on its Facebook page.

Southern Illinoisan

 Figured since I subscribe to the Southern Illinois digital edition, I ought to start reading it again. The first couple of pages are local news which is pretty good. One of the few places you can find local news. However, checking out the editorial page, oh my gosh. When I got the paper edition of the Southern, the editorial page was somewhat balanced, with one moderately liberal columnist, one moderately conservative columnist and Doonesbury relegated there from the comics page. 

Today the editorial page features two conservative columnists, one of which argued that unions are bad for business and for the economy, and Mallard Filmore, which is kinda like Doonesbury except conservative and lacking Donnesbury's satirical touch (and decent art).

Zoning Board of Appeals

 The Zoning Board of Appeals has a meeting next Wednesday with two items on the agenda. One deals with a request for a setback variance while the other deals with  structure size in areas zoned low density residential. 

Graduation

 Apparently some people did not realize this is graduation weekend as I had one person ask "Why are there so many cars in the Arena parking lot?" Just a reminder to expecting this week

1. more people than usual driving the wrong way on one way streets

2. really long waiting times at restaurants in town. The parking lot in front of Mary Lou's was packed this morning.

Pride of Little Egypt

 SIUC has launched a NIL (Name Image Likeness) portal for SIUC athletes call the Pride of Little Egypt. Near as I can tell, and I have not paid for access, your $8.99 a month helps support various athletes at SIUC and also allows further access to making offers to them for such things as personal appearances, shout outs on social media, autographs, etc. This is quite different from similar portals I have seen in that those are open to the public with no payment required to enter the portal. The only payment required is that made directly to the athlete. 

Maybe there is more to it, but I have no desire to pay the $8.99 to find out.

Weather

 From what I have heard, a tornado touched down in the Cedar Lake area last night during the storms. 55 mph winds over in the Harrisburg area.

Sausea's Closed

 SauSea's Seafood says on their Facebook page they have closed temporarily but no one has been updating the page and there has been no sign of any activity at the restaurant.

Eclipse Traffic

 Caught on the news last week that there was so much traffic in southern Illinois for the eclipse that traffic monitors did not show traffic in Illinois getting back to normal until around 8 p.m. that night. That's a whole lot of people exiting the area.

Intersection

 The intersection at the intersection of West Mill and the South University Ave. cutoff needs more signing to remind people that cars coming from the left no longer stop. There are accidents and near-accidents almost daily there as people turning onto West Mill from South University expect drivers coming from the S. University & S. Illinois & S. Mill intersection to stop at a now non-existent stop sign.

having people stop at the stop sign is also unsafe because the distance between the S. University and West M ill intersection and the 5 way intersection to the east is so short that cars stopping there risk getting hit by those heading south on S. University. 

Downtown Packed

 Not sure what is going on in downtown tonight, possibly students preparing for finals week. but the civic center parking is filled, street parking is filled and most of the town square parking lot is filled as well.

Zoning Board Of Appeals

 Two items were on the agenda for the Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting today

4. Hearings

ZBA 24-03: Gary Williams is requesting a variance from Section 15-2.10 of the Carbondale

Revised Code, which outlines the City’s setback regulations for new primary structures in the

RR, Rural Residential, zoning district. This request is for the following described property,

which is outside of City limits, but within the City’s mile-and-a-half zoning jurisdiction: 8

Bittersweet Lane, Parcel Number: 19-06-400-014

ZBA 24-04: David Mack is requesting a variance from Section 15-3.4.1 of the Carbondale

Revised Code, which outlines the City’s accessory structure size regulations in an R-1-12,

Low-Density Residential, District for the following described property: 875 North Norwest

Lane, Parcel Number: 15-18-428-013

Amtrak Parking

 Amtrak Parking will be closed for the next three weeks, due to construction of the multimodal transit station. Free parking is available in the city hall parking lot. Do not park in the Big Chill parking lot as they have a large sign up there warning people not to do so.

Cricket Building

 Looks as if something is going into the old Cricket location at the corner of Mill and Illinois. Windows are papered over and there are lights on inside. Good. we need more business at that end of town. Heck, we need more business at any end of town.

Damaged Tires

 There have been a spate of damaged tire reports coming from the area south of West Walnut and East of South Poplar. At least 10 incidents of damaged tires reported between April 10 and April 24. Locations include:

"the 500 blocks of South Rawlings and West Mill Streets, the 600 and 800 blocks of West Walnut Street, the 800 block of West Cherry Street, the 300 and 600 blocks of South James Street, the 100 block of South Forest, and two incidents in the 400  block of West Mill Street."

Carbondale police have increased presence in the area for the time being.

Two-way Streets

 A pair of Springfield streets are shifting from 1 way to two way traffic next month. I do not see that as happening on Walnut and Main and Illinois and University but I would like to see something to slow traffic down more in the Arbor District area of Walnut and Main. Speed limit is 30 mph going through there but cars regularly travel at 40-50 miles. Maybe just putting one of the speed monitor signs up once a month might remind people to slow down. Additional stop signs or lights are not feasible, at least as far as I can tell but something reminding people they are speeding in a residential area would help

Brown Bag Concerts

 Brown Bag Concerts start the first Wednesday in May . From the schedule, it looks as if they will run all summer this year, rather than taking a break during the heat of July

Quatro's Expansion

 Quatro's is expanding into  the space formerly occupied by Jerry's Flower Shoppe. The business has sold Quatro's merchandise out of the space for several months and has now opened an inside entrance into the area, complete with pizza slice selfie station.

Lightpole

 Dollar General truck wanted to make a turn from Northbound 51 onto west 13 and didn't judge distances very well.  We now have one fewer lightpost on Illinois as the trailer took the entire thing out this afternoon. Traffic cone now sitting on top of the base where the lightpost was earlier this afternoon. apparently the lamp had just been installed earlier this week. 

I saw a truck earlier this week make a turn  from east 13 onto North 51. The trailer cut close enough that it went up on the curb as the truck pulled it along. Truck drivers, at least in these two instances, are making the turns too quickly and misjudging the distance.

Eclipse Numbers

 Most recent numbers I have heard for the eclipse are 3019 in for Salukicon/Eclipsecon at the Student Center, 30,000 on the SIUC campus at one location or another with about 13,000 of those located in Saluki Stadium.  I estimated about 400-500 on the town square and have heard estimates of a total of 40,000 in town. 200,000 came to southern Illinois back in 2017 but I doubt we will see the same numbers when final figures are calculated as this year's eclipse passed over many more populated areas than did the 2017 eclipse

New Business Dean

 SIUC's College of Business and Administration appointed Carbondale native Dr. Marc Morris as the new dean of the college. Morris has been a member of the faculty and administration since 2004. I always prefer to see positions filled internally rather than from outside, as someone who is a member of the faulty has a better understanding of the organization that someone brought in from outside, who does not have an understanding of the dynamics of the organization and will spend months understanding its operations and relationships.

This 'n' That

New restaurant This 'n' That opened in the empty Blocko's location at the intersection of Mill and Illinois. According to the menu, the offerings are sandwiches, seafood, steak and 'meat and two" for entrees. Reviews have been good so far and I have seen decent foot traffic there since the place opened up a week ago.  

Captain D's

 According to an online post, the Carbondale Captain D's has shuttered. Just not enough business. That leaves the town bereft of a Wendy's Popeye's, Long John Silver's, A&W Root Beer and now Captain D's . Fast food places are fleeing the community.

UBreakIFix

 According to the sign in its window, The UbreakIFix phone and tablet repair shop on East Grand closed up on March 31 and the company website shows the closest location is now either Manchester Mo or Evansville IN.

Popeye's

 It looks as if Popeye's has given up the ghost. For awhile it appeared the restaurant was opening during daylight hours but for the past few weeks, the chairs have been up on tables every time I have driven past.

Carbondale Eclipse

 A few notes about the eclipse today

1. Two hour wait for a seat at Thai Taste this evening with a line extending out the door

2. Around 50+ people waiting in line to pay or get served at Big Chill Saturday night

3. Comparatively small crowd to watch the eclipse around the Town Square. My estimate was 300-400

4. Governor J. B. Pritzker and an estimated 30,000 people were on SIUC's campus at one location or another. That is about how many came to town back in 2017

5. Traffic seemed to move pretty smoothly as people started exiting the city, but I saw a picture of cars backed up at least half a mile trying to go north on 127.

6. Read people posting on social media asking visitors to leave Southern Illinois now. Are they crazy? This is the busiest I have seen the Strip since, well, 2017. I would love to see more events like this.

7. Eclipse on the Strip performers were good but needed signs telling listeners they were "official" performers and not just somebody who decided to jam on the Strip

8. Read someone wanting to know where the "real" eclipse events were instead of just the "locals with their craft fair". If you are that interested in the "real" eclipse events, well there were lots of them and you should have looked them up and planned which ones you wanted to attend before the day you arrived in Carbondale, instead of asking on social media the day of.

9. Eclipse viewing glasses sold out throughout town on Sunday. Happily, Carbondale Main Street had plenty to give away at the Washington Street Venue.

10 Eclipse t-shirts sold out as well as Eclipse color changing cups.

11. Driving problems on Carbondale' s one way streets started Friday night with numerous drivers turning the wrong way onto a one way street.

12 Although the town square lots filled up, there was plenty of parking just a block or so off the Strip. Visitors to town just did not know where to look 

any other thoughts?

Downtown Sunday Night

 Got curious as to how downtown looked the night before the Carbondale Eclipse so drove up Illinois after loading out from Salukicon.

Lots of foot traffic on the Strip with a number of stores having their doors propped open. Over 50 people in line at Big Chill though I did not see any lines waiting to get in at any restaurants. Parking was non-existent  on the Square, though there was parking available just a block away but I figure most of those were visitors who did not know where that parking was.

Hotels Cancelling

Geez, I hope this is not widespread but I have heard reports of at least one hotel in Carbondale cancelling room reservations 3 days before the Eclipse. These were reservations mad a year to a year and half ago when rooms were going for $90 a night. Now that rooms are renting for $400 a night for the eclipse, rooms reserved by families over a year ago are getting canceled and those people are either having to scramble to book rooms at much higher prices or cancelling their trip altogether. 

I figure there will be some lawsuits filed as cancelling reserved rooms without a good reason just to rebook at a higher price is, as far as I know, illegal.

Eclipse Numbers

 Upon reflection, I think we may have fewer people than the 30,000 Carbondale reportedly had in 2017. In 2017, the eclipse path went though fairly low population parts of the country. This year, the path will go through much more densely populated areas including, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Burlington, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Little Rock. They are far easier to get to than is Carbondale and have much better tourist infrastructure than does Carbondale

Paducah Eclipse

 Heard today that, despite having a full year, Paducah, which is in the path of the eclipse's totality, only started planning for events a bit over a week ago. Makes me feel a lot better about what Carbondale is doing.

Revised Trash Schedule

 The city of Carbondale is treating Eclipse week like a holiday week. Although city offices will be open as normal, the trash pick up schedule will move to a holiday schedule with pick up dates a day later than normal. I imaging they expect to have a lot of extra trash to collect after all of the events of the weekend. I remember anemic crowds on Friday and Saturday with far more traffic on Sunday and Monday and a flood of traffic out of town on Monday afternoon.

Eclipse Spending

 Caught on the news today that the eclipse is expected to generate about $1.5 billion in revenue, with the lion's share of that going to Texas. That makes sense since three of Texas' largest cities will fall within the eclipse's path. Other states cited as generating lots of revenue were Indiana, New York and Ohio. No mention of Illinois, which makes sense. Despite having arguable the longing period within the eclipse, we are in a comparatively isolated region with low population density and a lack of infrastructure to deal with large numbers of people.

In 2017, it is estimated about 30,000 people came to the Carbondale region. Since this is the last total eclipse until 2050, I expect about 40,000 people to visit the area.

SpringFest

 Vendor event with music in the Washington Street Event space this Saturday and Sunday. I remember this took place in the same area during the last eclipse and was pretty poorly attended, but then, IFRR, it took place on Friday and Saturday. Since most eclipse attendees did not show up until Sunday, primarily locals attended the event. Hope it pulls a bigger crowd this year but it is competing against Eclipsecon at the Student Center and The Shawnee Eclipse Fest at Shawnee Cave.

Veo

 Had a Veo representative stop by the store this afternoon. He is in town just touching base with the local Veo representatives, There are 200+ scooters in town and Veo has two vans dedicated to collecting and returning to central locations.  apparently it is a profitable operation as Veo has not plans of ending the contract.

Mike Bost Primary

I thought Rep. Mike Bost would easily win his primary race, even the benefits that an incumbent has. However, it turns out he barely beat Darrin Bailey, 51 to 49%. Voting in the Republican primary in the 12th Congressional District, Illinois largest, split along a line running north to south through Carbondale, with those living west of the line voting for Bost and those east of it choosing Bailey. The two mem did not differ substantially on policy as both support gun rights oppose abortion and criticize southern border policies. The primary difference is how the men positioned themselves with Bost portraying himself as a "governing conservative" while Bailey promised to join the House Freedom Caucus if elected. 

I fear that, in an attempt to regain the support of those who voted against him, Bost may move even further to the right. In recent months, he has voted against short term funding for the government as well as military support for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, all of which were supported by the far right.

Banks Closed for Eclipse

 Stopped by Legence Bank this week and the staff happened to mention that the bank, and apparently most banks in Carbondale, will close at 11 a.m. on April 8th for the eclipse and not re-open until the next day. they want to both let the staff see the eclipse and get home without having to deal with all the crowds.  In 2017, Highways 13, 51 and 127 were all backed up for miles as people left town right after the eclipse. I would be willing to bet something similar happens next year.

Carbondale Doomed

 Should Carbondale be flattered that it is the subject of a conspiracy theory (belief?  Very few conspiracies survive enough testing to qualify as theories)?  According to one thought floating around the internet, since Carbondale is in the path of totality again and it has been 6 years, 6 months 6 weeks and 6 days since the last one we are due by a disaster of epic proportions. 

Or, more likely, nothing happens and the conspiracists move onto the next shiny object.

Central Now

 Maybe I am blasé but I do not really think a new church is what Carbondale is looking for. By my count we have at least 20 of them in Carbondale proper and a couple more out on Old Highway 13. All serving a community of about 25,000. That's a lot of churches per capita with none of them paying property taxes

We're Number 2

 According to the Niche website, which ranks colleges based on various factors, SIUC is the second best party school in Illinois. UI Urbana Champaign ranks as the top party school. SIUC does not make the top 10 in any of the other categories such as value, best, or student life though.

Ripp's Pizza

 Looks as if Ripp's Pizza, located in the empty Keeper's Quarters location at the south end of the Strip, has a soft opening this weekend. From what I have heard, they are producing 8 slice personal pan pizzas.

Sound Core

 Looks as if something may be moving into the empty Sound Core location on S. Illinois. Remodeling going on inside the building with rolls of carpet ready to get laid.

Interim City Manager

 Stan Reno, current Chief of Police, has been named interim city manager, replacing Gary Williams when Williams steps down at the end of the month. No word as to whether Reno will maintain his position as Chief while serving as city manager or will the city name an Acting police chief to take over Reno's duties during his time as city manager

Blocko's

 Looks as if a new business will open in the shuttered Blocko's location at the intersection of Illinois and Mill Streets. Blocko's closed down after the owner was injured in a shooting in the restaurant's parking lot last fall and decided not to reopen after recovering. 

The lights are on in the building, supplies and equipment have been moved in and people are working inside, so hopefully sometime before the end of the semester

Primary Results

 If you want to look them over, here are the primary results for Jackson County. No surprise that Biden and Trump won their slots, though I was bemused to see that Biden did a bit better than Trump did, taking 90% of the votes compared to 85% for Trump. Not much competition amidst the rest of the. It looks like Darren Baily got stomped by Mike Bost and I expect that to carry throughout the district.  If voting patterns hold through out the rest of the 12th District, I figure Brian Roberts will beat Preston Nelson, who has previously run as both a Republican and Libertarian.

Water Plant

 Got some more information on Carbondale's water plant. It has the capability to treat 8 million gallons of water per day and the city uses an average of about 4 million gallons per day. The most the city ever "produced" was 6.5 million gallons and that was when SIUC's enrollment was much higher. So apparently little to no change of any stress being put on the system

Eclipse Hotels

 Looks like hotels in Carbondale and the path of the eclipse are 99% sold out the weekend of the eclipse with rooms going for up to $850. The city apparently still has space available at Evergreen Park for $500-$700 for the weekend. and apparently still has space available As the Eclipse gets closer, though, I would expect them to sell out, though not without some grumbling.

Artistic Minds Tattoo

 Artistic Minds Tattoo announced on its Facebook page that the business has purchased the shuttered Chicago Hot Dog location at the intersection of College and Illinois, just across the street from its current location. From the wording of the post, renovations started today with no indication as to when the move will be completed.

Campus Lake

 Obviously, it has been awhile since I have been to Campus Lake. I had no idea the university had razed the facilities at Campus Beach and removed the beach, replacing it with a walkway adjoining the path round the lake allowing the walker to go out over the water. From talking to a few friends, it has been there since at least 2020. Guess I need to get onto campus more often.

Rip's Pizza

 No indication as to when it will open but the old Keeper's Quarters building (old McDonald's building if you have lived in Carbondale for a long time) on south Illinois has a sign on it announcing Rip's Pizza, baked in brick ovens. Not sure if Carbondale really needs another pizza place but Newby's appears to be doing ok .

Carbondale Eclipse

 Carbondale city government has posted a roundup of events taking place in the city to celebrate the upcoming total eclipse. Looks like a concert featuring the Woodbox Gang on the Sunday night before the Eclipse and then street busking at a number of locations on the day of the Eclipse. wonder if this year will be a replay of 2017 when everyone came into town on the day before the Eclipse and then left immediately after, causing such a traffic jam that it took about 3 hours to get from here to Marion and about 6 hours to take 51 north to the interstate.

1 Million Gallons

 That is the amount of water vanishing from the Carbondale water system on a daily basis. At this time of  year, residents of Carbondale use about 3 million gallons of water a day. Measurements from the water purification plant show about 4 million gallons going out daily. No meters in the city show any significant increases and no customers in Carbondale have reported any abnormal increase in the bills so the city has no idea where the water is going. Staff members have spent the last two months looking for the and thought they had found it last month but after patching the leak they discovered, the flow continued.

The city figures one of two things is happening. One million gallons of water escaping per day is either creating a pond or swampy area somewhere in the city, so if you see a large accumulation of water in an area  that normally does not have any, contact the city to let them know. The other likelihood is the leak is close to a sewer drain or stream and the water is flowing into it before getting to any location where it could be measured.

From what I understand, the city can process about 5 million gallons of water per day before straining the purification system so the leak is not currently causing any stress so we are okay during spring, fall and winter. However, Carbondale water use increases to about 4 million gallons per day during the summer, raising the output from the system to levels that are problematical.

Gary Williams

 City Manager Gary Williams announced he will resign the post effective the end of  March. From the sound of the press release, it sounds as if he has another job opportunity within the area and plans to accept it. Probably not the Executive Director position at Carbondale Main Street, which, as far as I know, is still looking for someone to fill the spot. Meanwhile, the city is considering applications for an interim manager while it looks for someone to fill the position.

During his tenure, off the top of my head, the city saw significant upgrades to the downtown streetscape, construction of the multimodal transit center, transfer of several parks from the Park District to the city and progress on the downtown entertainment plaza. Not bad to list on one's resume.

American Eagle

 According to signs in the window and posts on social media, University Mall's American Eagle Outfitters will close on March 17th. By my count that leaves 8 stores and the theater still open inside the mall and one with outside access only.. That does leave plenty of space for SIH to expand into.

Veo Scooters

 Veo Scooters are back!  Hurrah?  They do provide a useful form of transportation but I see more people riding them just for fun rather than actually using them to get somewhere.  Much like bicycles, they are only allowed on certain streets and bikeways in the city, which has provided this map to show where they SHOULD be ridden. Of course, where they should be ridden and where they will be ridden are typically different things.

Magickal Hippie

Magickal Hippie opened its new University Mall location yesterday .Center part of the mall near Rue 21 and Maruice's across from Hot Topic, in what was the Renaissance Trading Company location until it shuttered last December.

Mike's Music

 Mike's Music has moved out of its long time location in the strip on East Main where Plaza Records is located. Fear not, though, as it only moved across the parking lot into the storefront left vacant when Magickal Hippie moved out.

Big Chill Ribbon Cutting

 Wazo's Big Chill will hold a ribbon cutting on March 21st at Noon. Just reopening with a cool new sign and name was not enough. 

City Council Meeting

 Listening to the city council meeting. Democratic Socialists are pushing the council for a vote condemning the actions of Israel in Palestine> Councilman Loos just told them it is not going to happen and that they should devote their energy to something more useful, such as the upcoming proposed landlord regulations. The other council people appear to be trying to not bring it up for a vote without saying so. 

I tend to agree with Loos. Voting to condemn Israel at the city level makes about as much sense as the Saline County Board voting to make the county an immigrant sanctuary free zone.

Voting on a pay raise for the council, which has not had an increase in pay since 1998. All vote yes except Councilman Loos. The pay raise does not go into effect until May of 2025 and no council person may receive a raise during their term of office.

Meeting adjourned about 7:30

Roxanne Conley 2

 According to her family, there will be no funeral but a celebration of life later this spring. I expect to see quite a turnout for that.

Roxanne Conley

 Roxanne Conley passed away early this morning. Aside from being a fantastic wife, mother, sister and daughter, she was active in Carbondale for as long as I knew her. For the past 4+ years she was general manager of G&R Rentals. Before that, she owned Attitude Designs, the local Welcome Wagon franchise, and was the executive director of Carbondale Main Street. In addition, she served on the board of the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau and was active with the BNI WIN group. As active as she was, I have probably forgotten several of her positions in the city over the years.  If you know any I forgot, please post them in the comments.

Pritzker's State of the State Address

 In case you want to read Gov. Pritzker's State of the State Address, here it is. The tax on groceries is a lot less regressive than the Governor makes it out to be. Wealthier people tend to spend more on groceries so the tax hits them harder than people with lower incomes. 

Big Chill

 According to the sign in front, spring is just around the corner. The Big Chill reopenes for the season this Saturday, probably just in time for a deep freeze next week.

Meet the Mayor

 There is another Meet the Mayor event scheduled for 1 p.m. Tomorrow at the East Main Starbucks. Your opportunity to have the ear of the Mayor, at least for an hour.  Wonder if there will be any union activity while she is there?

Parking

 By the time the demoishing gets done, downtown Carbondale will have more parking than it will have buildings, at least south of Walnut. Carbondale and its landlords have a really bad track record of letting buildings run down to the point where it makes more financial sense to demolish the building than to rehabilitate it. Both the Tuscan Lodge and the old bank building on Washington Street come to mind

From what I have heard, the owner of the current house on Walnut getting demolished did not even wait until it had not tenants before starting the process. At least two of the apartments in the building were still occupied when the landlord told them to move as demolition would start shortly. 

Houses Demolished

 A second of the 3 old foursquare style houses in the 200 block of West Walnut is getting demolished this  week. From what I have heard, Hilton has purchased the row of buildings along that bstretcy of Walnut east of University and will demolish them to add additional parking for the hotel. The buildings housing Horstman's Cleaners, SI Pawn and SewALot are scheduled for demolition as well. Not sure about the Phoenix Cycle building though and removing it without doing some damage to PKs would prove difficult.

The Strip

 Heading north along Illinois Avenue from the intersection of Grand and Illinois up to Main Street, the Strip actually looks in pretty good shape as far as occupancy. There are three empty storefronts in the area where LegalSmile and Harbaugh's Cafe are. Blocko's still sits empty and only one of the storefronts in the Evolve building is occupied. De'lish is empty as is the short lived liquor store next to Bombay Olive and the Chicago Hot Dog across the street. Art Frames and the old Phoenix Cycles location are empty but Phoenix Cycles moving into both the long vacant Petal Patch location and the newly empty Leather World fills up a couple of spots and the only other empty location is the old Sound Core spot.

The real problem, as far as empty storefronts, are the strips perpendicular to Illinois. The stretch behind Trax is completely empty, although there are reports of a rage room opening in that location. Similarly, the storefronts behind Geologic Oddities are also empty as is the Wise Guy's Pizza building adjacent to Sam's Cafe.

Maybe I have missed a few but in general, the Illinois Avenue street scape is in pretty good shape, although there does not seem to be immediate demand for those empty locations. The big problem is the side streets.