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.