Bost Meet & Greet

Mike Bost will appear at the Old Train Depot, nee Downtown Design Center at 4 p.m today to talk with voters, then catch him debating tonight at 7 p.m. at the Marion Civic Center with Bill Enyart and Paula Bradshaw. Debate also broadcast on WSIU.

Carbondale Churches

Sent by a reader of the blog, here is a map showing the religious communities in Carbondale. Perhaps not surprisingly, of the approximately 70 churches, almost all of them are Protestant. Also notable, which a couple of exceptions, Sunday morning in Carbondale still remains highly segregated.

Meet Bill Enyart

If you have a desire to do you, meet and talk with incumbent Representative Bil Enyart at the Old Train Depot at 2 p.m. this afternoon. this is the second in a series of meetings the Chamber of Commerce has set up with local national and state candidates for office.

Since polls have indicated most Americans do not know their Representatives, either at the state or federal level, this is an opportunity to find out more about them. I have always felt I ought to at least have met the people who are spending my tax dollars.

Campus Assault

Attack by six by the Agriculture building on campus. 2 in custody already. Before people complain about how unsafe campus is, remember the thousands of people who did not get attacked on campus today.

Downtown Hotel

While a hotel, or even a motel, downtown would be quite nice, where would one go?

The original plan for the Student Center called for attaching a hotel, staffed by hospitality students, to the west side of the building. Doing that now, of course, would require bulldozing large sections of Thompson Woods, which I doubt the administration would approve.

A few years ago, a developer proposed putting a hotel on the empty space just south of PK's. Nothing ever happened with that which is just as well, since I cannot see people coming in visiting SIUC or Memorial Hospital particularly enjoying the view of the Strip from their hotel windows.

No Second Term for Don Monty

In case you missed it, Don Monty announced Tuesday he will not seek a full term as mayor. Not sure if this means he will seek re-election to city council as a regular councilman but I would bet against it, leaving both his seat and the mayor's office open. I know the Chamber of Commerce is looking for "business-friendly" candidates to run for council and I rather expect to see councilwoman Jane Adams throw her hat into the ring for mayor.

B & L Photo Closed?

It looks as if longtime downtown business B&L Photo is in the process of closing down. There is a large "For Lease" sign in the window, many of the fixtures and most of the stock are gone and a notice in the window directs customers to The Printing Plant for passport photos.

B & L took quite a hit, much as Kodak did, from the advent of digital photography and moved locations about a year ago. Apparently moving closer to Quatro's and Jerry's Flowers did not help kickstart sales enough in an era when every phone is a camera.