Jackson County

Let's how about our great local extension programs around the state.

This one today, Jackson County at Carbondale Cycle.

It's part of 4-H Exploration Day, the program all about bicycles, among our great extension offerings throughout Illinois.

Love highlighting those each day on the program.

But I'd like to share, this is something really cool that's in the book.

There's Jackson County, Illinois.

I talked to a man named Douglas.

When he grew up, this happened in 1983, so his grandfather had a farm at Jackson County, Illinois.

So they lived in Carbondale at the time.

Now Douglas lives, he works for a big pharmaceutical company over in the Boston area.

They were, did not want them back.

So they never did go put the, the canoe there, and the farmer own- or the, their granddad, he owned it for maybe like 10 more years, and now it's in the hands of somebody else.

A mountain lion may have made a temporary home here in Illinois.

Multiple sightings have been reported in the Union and Jackson County area.

Officials say they believe the sightings are the same animal.

Lions and tigers

So we got another report of that animal in September.

We've had several reports of it in September now, but the 23rd was the initial sighting.

in Jackson County, just east of the Big Muddy River, traveling toward Murfreesboro.

And then a couple of weeks later on the 13th of September, we got another verified sighting of additional trail cameras and a video actually of the animal just south of Carbondale, about eight miles.

The Carbondale battle will go to court on Tuesday.

Circuit Judge Rodney Scott will hear two suits to stop the festival, one brought by the state of Illinois, the other by concerned citizens, Southern Illinois University and the Jackson County Supervisors.

On April 17th, Judge Scott granted a temporary injunction banning further ticket sales and advertising for the festival pending a full hearing on the suits.

Trouble began for the Carbondale promoters soon after a local newspaper revealed last November that they had bought the 78-acre Miller Farm eight miles southwest of here, renamed it Audion Meadows, and planned to construct there a permanent cultural recreation facility and featuring two rock festivals a year, but also presenting Broadway shows and symphony concerts.

For charging $14 a ticket, others are skeptical at the promoters' failure to sign any big-name performers.

To date, only two public figures have spoken openly for the festival here.

One is Richard E. Richman, state's attorney for Jackson County, who asked recently, quote, what harm will come to this community if instead of becoming an armed camp, as it presently threatens to be, we took the promoters at their word and instead of trying to stop them, reasonably cooperated with them.

The other is R. Buckminster Fuller, designer of the geodesic dome and professor at the university, who said that instead of seeing the festival as a threat, quote, we should see it as a great opportunity for Southern Illinois to show the young world how understanding and sympathetic we really are, end quote.