Sidewalks

After looking at the access ramps some house have for their occupants to get in and out, I understand the sidewalk design in Carbondale much better. It can take 30 to 40 feet of ramp to allow the user to gain access to a doorway 3 feet above the ground and the curbs are there to protect people in wheelchairs from going off the edge.  Maybe not the most elegant solution but it does work.

Freddy's

 Freddy's has closed up as well. apparently, as with Fazoli's, it shut down with little notice with employees offered the opportunity to transfer to the Marion location.

Closures

 Looks like Fazoli's here in Carbondale and Hardee's in Carterville have both closed up.  From what I have read, Fazoli's employees found out the day the restaurant closed as they were told not to come in to work.  both restaurants have had all the signage removed from the building.

Ice Cream

 Looks like a dip ice cream parlor is going in next to downtown's Yummy Donuts. Cannot read the name on the sign while driving, it is  a good idea to make your sign with easily readable fonts, but it is Chilly Something. Construction is still going on but looks as if it will open by summer.

Judges

 Since there are a whole lot of signs  up soliciting your vote for a replacement judge for the 1st Circuit, which encompasses Carbondale, here is what the Illinois State Bar Association has to say about each candidate. The short form is:

Ben Reed--Recommended

Casey VanWinkle-Not recommended

Heather Heaslett and Leonard Snyder each had too few responses for the ISBA to Recommend or Not Recommend

House Razing

 Another house has been razed near Memorial Hospital, this time at the corner of Pecan and Poplar.  Eventually I expect SIH will buy up the entire area between Poplar and University, demolish the remaining houses and expand the hospital complex further north. Hospitals, Universities and Churches tend not to care much about the historical aspects of the areas in which they want to expand.

Hawthorne Art

 Hawthorne Art has closed its gallery and event space though the buiness will be active online.  Appears not enough demand for  an additional event venue in Carbondale

Front Porches

 One of the things the snow showed was how little use a lot of front doors get.  I saw houses a week after the snow still with front steps and sidewalks unshoveled and, in many of those cases, not even footprints coming out and going down the steps. It just shows how much of our lives come out of the back door and head for the car.

Sidewalks

 Still noticing a whole lot of sidewalks uncleared over a week after the snow. At this rate, they will all be melted clear before anyone gets out to shovel them.

Sales Taxes

 A  lot of communities in Illinois increased their sales taxes at the start of the year. happily Carbondale was not among them. Unhappily, Carbondale's rate of 9.75% is still higher than all of the communities on the list save 3, at least by my count.

Snow

 Kudos to the city for getting the streets cleared.  I heard from several people that even the side streets, which have been bypassed during the past few snows, got cleared.  Even the alley running paralel  to North Oakland, which has never been plowed in the 20 yars I have lived there, got plowed this time. 

Sidewalks

 

I see the city expects sidewalks cleared by the end of tomorow. I have seen street adjacent sidewalks with 2 feet of snow piled on top of them from the plows. This in addition to the 6 to 9 inches of snow that fell last weekend. Even the city sidewalk on the east side of the civic center parking lot has not been cleared yet. Couple that with a week's worth of below zero temperatures adn it is no wonder most sidewalks have not been cleared. Hope city government sends out another notice giving people another week until the weather has warmed a bit and the heaviest snowfall in 25 years has a chance to melt.