New City PR Person

Just received this press release from the city:

The City of Carbondale would like to announce that Amy Fox has been named Public Relations Officer, effective September 12, 2016.  Ms. Fox was born and raised in the Midwest where she attended Franklin College in Indianapolis, Indiana, double majoring in broadcast journalism and public relations.  Upon graduation, she received her start in broadcasting at KMOT-TV in Minot, ND. She most recently served as reporter and news anchor at WSIL-TV in Carterville, IL.   Amy will be working in the City Manager’s office and can be reached at afox@explorecarbondale.com.  

Fox worked as a morning news anchor for a couple of years at WSIL before moving to the WSIL evening news team earlier this summer.

Noah's Lounge "Re-opened"

The "For Rent" sign is gone from the front window of Noah's Lounge on West Jackson and the doors have opened at least one Friday night since SIUC fall session started. No idea if this means consistant hours or not, though.

"Free" Parking

It appears we may have some free parking in downtown where the T. J. McFly's, Golden Galleon, Animal Crackers building used to stand. The spot has been graded and graveled to replace the parking lost when the lot across the street was sold to provide space for the Hilton At Home hotel. A look around the lot did not show any sign of payment required, besides the already existing row of meters along the back end of the lot, which had already been in place prior to the demolition.

Illinois State Up

According to this article, enrollment at Illinois State is up 1.1%, compared to the 7.5 % decline at SIUC. Three other universities besides SIUC also expect declines in enrollment. While the state budget no doubt has a roll in the declines, I have to wonder why while Illinois State posted an increase when other state universities saw declines.

Manhunt Ended

Dejun Booker was caught earlier today on a side street in Jonesboro, a good 7 miles east of where he was last seen in the Dug Hill area.

Dug Hill Dragnet

Drove through Dug Hill, the hill Hwy 146 cuts through east of Ware, about 9:15 this morning and saw 5 police cars with flashers on pulled alongside the road. According to this, they are searching for an armed burglary suspect at large in the area.

Underpass a No Go

According to IDOT, Carbondale, barring some new technology will never see an underpass or an overpass , for that matter, on Main and Walnut to alleviate the traffic blockages caused by trains coming through downtown. Due to the closeness of Highway 51 to the rail crossing, any under or overpass put in place would have to start near the Public Library, almost 2 and a half blocks away. That would take too much construction and likely require some demolition of downtown buildings.

So, that leaves the really awkward intersection and underpass on West Mill. The traffic light there, however, might get replaced by a roundabout. The city plans to test roundabouts in a couple of other locations in town before locating one in such a high traffic spot.