Endswell Walnut Street Development

It appears that the plans to re-purpose the Walnut Street Baptist Church building as low income apartments have fallen through. From what I understand, Endswell, the company planning the redevelopment, did not succeed in obtaining the tax credits and state financing it sought and, without that funding, the planned housing complex is not financially viable.

Ferguson Protests on the Square

Shot of the protesters on the C'dale Town Square last night about 6 p.m. One of the local tv stations, WSIL, I think, had someone broadcasting live from the other side of the street.

Election Candidates

Here are the final candidates for  office for next May's council/Mayor election.

Candidates for Mayor:

L – Jane Adams, 606 West Elm Street

L – John “Mike” Henry, 1210 West Hill Avenue

Candidates for City Council Member:

L – Navreet Kang, 613 South Terrace Drive

L – Adam Loos, 512 West Pecan Street

3 – Angela K. Kaye, 113 North Lark Lane

4 – Rebel Pinkston, 1230 West Short Drive

5 - Tom Grant, 5370 Springer Ridge Road

L - Anna Durrett, 800 ½ West Main Street

L - Lance D. Jack, 1026 North Bridge Street

All Mayoral and City Council candidates run on a non-partisan basis, which means they are not affiliated with a specific political party for the municipal election.  They are also elected at-large rather than from wards, which entitles them to receive votes from all areas of the City. Once the Mayor and Council Members are elected, they represent the entire City and all of its citizens, not just one geographic area or one particular group of people.

The Candidates-elect will take office on May 5, 2015.

Ferguson Protests in Carbondale

Saw about 3 dozen people on the Carbondale Town Square about 10 p.m. last night. A few moved out into the road but the overwhelming majority contented themselves with standing on East Main's shoulder and holding signs up for cards. Also saw about a dozen people inside Curbside watching the televised reports.  Streets quiet otherwise, though I did hear that the Carbondale Police Department had called in a number of extra officers just in case. Councilwoman Jane Adams was out and about last night as well but have not heard about any of the other council members.

Another protest is scheduled for 5 p.m. today, also at the Town Square pavilion

Ferguson Verdict Watch

Carbondale is on the list of planned locations for "direct action training" in the wake of the verdict from the grand jury investigating the Ferguson jury. Some forn of action is scheduled for sometime tonight at the Town Square Pavilion. No indication if they will meet prior to the verdict announcement or afterward.

Christmas Lights and Banners

Driving back from St. Louis last night, I notices civic lights up in Redbud, Sparta and Ava. Banners advertising the Lights Fantastic parade have festooned the utility poles in Carbondale for over a week now but I see the city has turned on the lights around the square as well. Oh, well, it is only a week earlier than normal.

Trees

Given the comments I have read about the appearance of the east end of Carbondale, especially the stretch of East Main from west of University Mall to Woodlawn Cemetary, I hope the city considers planting trees in the stretches of tree lawn that line both sides of East Main all the way into downtown. The city has put trees along side South Giant City Road, which will certainly improve the appearance of that stretch of street and East Main could certainly use the same treatment. Hopefully the city, or some civic organization such as Keep Carbondale Beautiful, is considering or will look into such a project.