respublica

It's peachy

Believe it or not, local peaches are ripe and Eckert's Orchards in Belleville will begin selling theirs on Saturday at the Country Store. According to reports, this is the first time peaches have been ready to pick in May and, the total crop looks to be the largest on record.

You won't be able to go and pick your own peaches this weekend, but Eckert's will have them in baskets ready to sell in their store. May be worth a Memorial Day ride over to Green Mount Road. Take I-64 to the Shiloh exit and head south on Green Mount Road.

On the Square in Belleville

Belleville's Art on the Square art fair is now ranked number as the number one art fair in the country. Not only do they get almost 1000 entry requests from artists wanting to be a part of it, but people who go to the fair buy. 

Very nice for the Belleville and all of the Metro East

Illinois' Cottage Law makes farmers markets better

Granite City's Melting Pot Market hasn't allowed vendors to sell homemade goods like jelly and baked goods during its 3 years in business, but that has changed since Illinois enacted the Cottage Law. This law allows vendors to sell these things after passing a 15 hour sanitation test and paying a $50 registration fee.

Here's the line in the story which is arguably the most over the top description of saleable food I've ever read:

"The law allows non-potentially hazardous foods, like apple pie, dried oregano or peach preserves, to be produced in a home kitchen and sold at open-air farmers markets."

 It's nice to know apple pie and oregano are now not considered hazardous. 

In other news, Granite City has a farmers market?

Sometimes neighbors just don't like each other

A couple of Belleville neighbors took their dislike for each other to the anonymous "sound off" section of the Belleville News Democrat today. One, a city worker with a next door neighbor who put the worst construction on work he was doing in a sound off in the BND. The worker actually responds in the comments, a rare public occurance.

This is why the Belleville paper is such fun to read. The sound off was called in by Not Belleville Business and the comment was written by ProudWorker. 

159

What exactly is IDOT doing along 159 in Fairview Heights? That is one of the biggest traffic jams and construction messes I've seen in a long time.  The other day I had to go down to get on 64 east, and when I got near the stoplight at the hotel it was obvious very little in the way of traffic was getting through the mall area. The left lane was closed and no one was moving at all. I turned off at Old Collinsville Road and took that to O'Fallon where I got 64.

Frankly, I'll avoid going there from now on.

And the winner is...Red Bud Illinois

Someone in Red Bud Illinois had one of 3 winning tickets from last night's big Mega Bucks lottery drawing. It was purchased at the Moto Mart in that town south and east of St Louis and local radio people are suggesting ways the Motor Mart people can use their portion (15%). Some think they can get new pumps, others think they can update the inside.

Interesting. How out of date is that Moto Mart?

So who won?

Can't find any final returns on the 108th district Illinois state repGOP  primary pitting Paul Evans against Don Weber and Charlie Meier.

But wait, the returns are in and Charlie Meier of Okawville wins the primary.

Surprised by one election?

I don't know if I'm surprised or not, but it's disappointing to wake up to find that voters in East St. Louis defeated a propostion which would have disbanded their own personal election board. If they had approved it their elections would have been run by St Clair County like every other municipality in that county.

So now they keep elections under their own personal election board. Dissolving it would have saved ESL 400,000 a year, money which they could well use for other things.  

 

Chickens moving east?

Athough nothing has been done officially, there is the beginning of a grassroots movement in Belleville to allow homeowners to raise chickens. The St. Louis side of the metro area has seen various suburbs approve backyard chicken ordinances so why not the metro east?

Spearheaded by the owner of a local t shirt shop and a second year SIU-C law student, a proposal is being tentatively worked out to hopefully be submitted to the city when law school breaks for the summer.

But there are already chicken t shirts described as : Give peeps a chance in Bellevegas," with a lederhosen-wearing chicken holding a mug of frothy beer in one wing and the Belleville flag in the other.

Not sure what this Bellevegas business is all about, certainly Belleville is not Vegas-y nor would most residents want to be.  

Anyway, the first thoughts on a chicken ordinance by the law student would be allowing 3 chickens (hens no roosters) and no slaughtering. Frankly 3 would not be a large enough number, chickens need to huddle together to keep warm in cold weather and there is an optimum number which as I remember would be 4. 

If you're going go where no one has gone before, chicken guys, think big.  Go for 8. 8 is enough.

Donuts making inroads in the Metro East

Then there were two. A new Dunkin Donut shop has opened in Fairview Heights in the former Rally's building. The company recently set up shop in Edwardsville as well.

What's the deal all of a sudden? After years of very few if any Dunkin Donuts in the St. Louis area they are springing up all over.  While we were in Florida last week we saw Dunkin Donuts everywhere, they are as common as McDonalds, but they've never come here.

I guess St. Louisans are donut fans afterall.