Walker's Bluff Expands Management Team

If anyone still had any doubts as to
The complex reopens after their winter's break on Feb. 10, just time time for Valentine's Day.

Another Winery Opens North of Route 13

View Wineries North of Routes 3/149/13 in a larger map

There's the makings of a new wine trail in the region with the opening of a fifth winery in northern Jackson County just south of Elkville.

Lyn-Nita Vineyards opened Nov. 19 at the intersection of U.S. 51 and Coal Road, according to the Southern Business Journal. Anita Eckhardt is the proprietor.

Eckhardt said the winemaking community in Southern Illinois has been helpful and welcoming to her on her new venture.

"All the wineries down here have been just wonderful," she said. "They don't view it as a competition; they actually view it as something good for the business.

"Right now nobody feels like the market is over-saturated just yet," she added. "They feel like it's good to have more wineries here."

Jackson County is better known for the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail which runs south of Carbondale and Murphysboro and has previously decided to limit themselves to south of Route 13 and west of Interstate 57.

Twelve wineries operate on that trail, the state's first. Two more wineries have opened in the last year or so in their territory and may soon qualify for membership - Lincoln Heritage in Union County and Honker Hill in Williamson County.

'Phone Ringing' With Interest in Millennium Development

View Marion STAR Bonds District in a larger map

Sunday's Southern Illinoisan brought the latest status update for the new Millennium Development project slated for Marion's north side.

Many are interested, but nobody's signed on the dotted line yet in terms of the major anchors, though the developer hopes to have one by the end of the month.

"The phone is ringing. We've been in meetings and having conversations with several potential users. Some are performing market studies, doing their own due diligence. We hope to know more before the end of December," [Developer Bruce] Holland said. "Of course, the holiday season is their busiest time of the year, but we've been talking to some on a weekly basis."

Developers need to land at least one of the two major destination users (large retailers with the capability to attract shoppers from far away) as well as the major entertainment user before they can submit a plan for city and state approval.

Holland told the Southern that they have all the land they need at the present, though should the project expand they could acquire additional acreage. Legislation allowing the STAR Bonds District allows the district to expand up to 500 acres. It's currently under 400 acres.

Watch Out Metropolis! Cape Lands A Casino

Cape Girardeau snagged a new $125 million casino today after state gaming officials selected the city as the site of Missouri's 13th casino license, approving a  plan proposed by Isle of Capri. The city beat out two other locations in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.

The move could help the counties on both sides of the Mississippi River in Illinois and Missouri with new jobs and tourism opportunities, but it's expected to come at a cost to Southern Illinois' only existing casino at Metropolis.

Last May another Missouri casino operator touted a study that showed Cape Girardeau as the best location for the state's 13th casino, at least in terms of actually adding to Missouri's take of gambling taxes. The study by Ameristar Casinos showed the Mississippi River town with a potential to generate $87 million in gross revenue to become the state's biggest casino outside Kansas City and St. Louis.

Importantly for Missouri, but bad for Illinois, the study showed a Cape Girardeau casino wouldn't cannibalize any Missouri casino, just Harrah's casino in Metropolis.

Only a small portion -- $10 million -- of the Cape Girardeau revenue would come from another casino, and the report identifies Harrah's in Metropolis, Ill., as the loser.

Ameristar, which already operated casinos in Missouri wanted to limit the competition and not see another competitor come to the St. Louis market. A second study by the state's gaming commission that came out last week basically agreed.

"In all three scenarios, Isle of Capri-Cape Girardeau generated the highest net new casino revenue and gaming taxes, new employment, and, overall Gross Domestic Product," the study found. Casino Celebration was second in all three scenarios.

Both St. Louis and Kansas City are home to several casinos. Cape Girardeau is about 100 miles south of St. Louis. The only other casino within a close drive is in the small town of Caruthersville in the Missouri Bootheel, about 85 miles south of Cape Girardeau.

"All of the applicants have submitted proposals for medium-sized facilities but only Isle of Capri is far enough from existing Missouri casinos to minimize cannibalization," the report found.

Isle of Capri, based in suburban St. Louis, is proposing a $125 million casino along the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau.

The casino would become one of the largest tourism sites in the Heartland with the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail and the four dozen lodging operators seeing the first benefit. It will also be just 45 miles away from the new Millennium Development project in Marion.

The casino isn't slated to open until late 2012 according to the Southeast Missourian.

The project is expected to include 1,000 slot machines, 28 table games, three restaurants, a lounge and terrace overlooking the Mississippi River and a 750-seat event center at an estimated cost of $125 million.

Isle of Capri will present a preliminary development plan to the city planning commission on Dec. 8.

Marion Lands Miss Illinois Pageant

The Marion Cultural and Civic Center as well as Drury Inn landed the 2011 Miss Illinois pageant next June 28-July 2. The winner goes to compete in the Miss America pageant.

The Miss Illinois Scholarship Association announced the selection on the website MissIllinois.org. The Marion Daily Republican has the story.

The announcement of the move was posted on the Miss Illinois website Friday. The website had formerly announced the pageant would return to the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles. But that changed after the pageant's director visited Marion earlier this month.

She apparently liked what she saw. Congratulations civic center staff for landing the event.

Hunters Harvest More than 68,000 Deer So Far

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) reports that hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 68,037 deer during the opening weekend of the 2010 Illinois firearm deer season, Nov. 19-21. The seven-day firearm season will conclude on Dec. 2-5.

The preliminary total for the first three days of the 2010 firearm season compares with the first weekend harvest of 66,126 deer during the 2009 deer season and 71,894 deer during the opening weekend in 2008. The top county harvest totals last weekend were reported in Pike (1,957), Adams (1,741), Fulton (1,721), Jo Daviess (1,640) and Randolph (1,520).

Hunters harvested 99,493 deer during the entire seven-day firearm deer season last year. The preliminary first-season figures reported for each county include those deer taken on special hunt areas within that county as well as on private land.

“The opening season of firearm deer hunting offered hunters a combination of enjoyable weather and virtually-complete crop harvest,” said IDNR Forest Wildlife Program Manager Paul Shelton. “Rutting activity was still evident, so it all came together for a very successful season with a number of nice bucks harvested.”

The IDNR has issued more than 370,000 firearm deer hunting permits for the 2010 season. Most hunters register their deer harvest online through the IDNR web site or by phoning 1-866-ILCHECK (1-866-452-4325) by 10 p.m. on the day of harvest. Hunters in Boone, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, LaSalle, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago Counties take their deer to county check stations (by 8 p.m. on the day of harvest) where the IDNR registers the deer and conducts sampling for chronic wasting disease (CWD).

Approximately 60 percent of the deer taken during the first weekend of firearm hunting were bucks, identical to the first weekend of the firearm season in 2009.

The Illinois firearm deer season concludes Dec. 2-5. The muzzleloader-only deer season is Dec. 10-12. The split late-winter antlerless-only firearm deer season and the special CWD deer season are Dec. 30, 2010-Jan. 2, 2011 and Jan. 14-16, 2011. The state’s 2010-2011 archery deer season continues through Jan. 16 (except closed in firearm counties during the second firearm season Dec. 2-5).

The table below provides preliminary county harvest totals for the first weekend of the firearm deer season and comparable figures for the first season in 2009.

County 2010 2009
Adams 1741 1614
Alexander 296 328
Bond 535 566
Boone 90 102
Brown 892 938
Bureau 1024 820
Calhoun 668 858
Carroll 756 698
Cass 458 494
Champaign 219 171
Christian 459 400
Clark 940 908
Clay 947 942
Clinton 588 581
Coles 560 502
Crawford 819 798
Cumberland 641 617
DeKalb 157 126
DeWitt 283 250
Douglas 131 130
Edgar 565 528
Edwards 325 366
Effingham 774 765
Fayette 1264 1336
Ford 101 74
Franklin 820 779
Fulton 1721 1725
Gallatin 402 421
Greene 986 873
Grundy 300 274
Hamilton 812 872
Hancock 1291 1215
Hardin 696 747
Henderson 449 390
Henry 545 479
Iroquois 502 387
Jackson 1502 1416
Jasper 861 837
Jefferson 1475 1606
Jersey 625 585
JoDaviess 1640 1493
Johnson 1202 1304
Kane 37 38
Kankakee 151 121
Kendall 53 59
Knox 1021 866
Lake 5 9
LaSalle 878 756
Lawrence 399 457
Lee 531 436
Livingston 454 316
Logan 285 235
Macon 200 203
Macoupin 1192 1200
Madison 651 638
Marion 1276 1374
Marshall 569 548
Mason 439 443
Massac 402 425
McDonough 738 707
McHenry 191 215
McLean 550 450
Menard 334 310
Mercer 674 551
Monroe 722 792
Montgomery 820 841
Morgan 626 732
Moultrie 232 206
Ogle 742 645
Peoria 1074 1012
Perry 823 899
Piatt 127 115
Pike 1957 2012
Pope 1294 1275
Pulaski 466 471
Putnam 355 365
Randolph 1520 1576
Richland 545 614
Rock Island 591 578
Saline 720 644
Sangamon 569 541
Schuyler 1130 1114
Scott 377 368
Shelby 1012 996
St. Clair 662 656
Stark 261 186
Stephenson 789 547
Tazewell 514 505
Union 1162 1168
Vermilion 609 472
Wabash 194 211
Warren 429 388
Washington 799 839
Wayne 1210 1247
White 662 692
Whiteside 627 501
Will 208 214
Williamson 1110 1101
Winnebago 307 269
Woodford 700 662
Total 68037 66126

New Winery Opens in Union County

The Southern Illinoisan today has the story on the new Lincoln Heritage Winery in Union County operated by Homer and Bonnie Cissell. The winery opened last week on Oct. 15.

In planning and designing their winery, the Cissell's said they wanted an atmosphere that reflected their personalities.

"We don't want a frenetic or party-like atmosphere," Bonnie said. "The great thing about the wine trail is every winery has its own personality."

"So if you want that party atmosphere, you've got a couple places you can go, and if that's not for you, you can come here," she added. "We wanted it to reflect what we enjoy when we go places."

Homer said it's important for each winery to have its own persona, both in its atmosphere and in its wines offered.

The winery is located at 772 Kaolin Road outside Cobden. They're open noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and from noon to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

You can find them on Facebook and it appears that they're still working on their website, which will be at www.LincolnHeritageWinery.com when it's up and running.

Papers Add to Story About STAR Bonds District

View Marion STAR Bonds District in a larger map
Both the Marion Daily Republican and the Southern Illinoisan have their stories online from last night's Marion City Council meeting establishing the state's first STAR Bonds District.

Monday's action means the next legal step belongs to the Illinois Department of Revenue which has to approve the district's creation.

Although the developers did not identify any prospects by name, the Southern reports that Holland said the destination users could be identified within the next two months.

By law, Millennium Development must include at least one of the potential two destination users as well as the entertainment user in their master plan before the state will sign off on the plan.

The entertainment user is the non-retail attraction, possibly a theme park, that's necessary to attract enough visitors to the area to support the retail development. In turn, the sales tax generated by the retailers is what pays for the development of the entertainment user.

The legislation is designed to require both sides of the equation to be in place or the plan can't work and won't be certified by the state in the first place.

The law allows for a STAR Bonds district of 300 to 500 acres. The new district is just 366 acres, which leaves 134 acres that could be added later if necessary.

Marion Establishes STAR Bonds District

The Marion City Council voted 5-0 tonight establishing the state's first STAR (sales tax and revenue) Bonds District north of Morgan Avenue.

Developer Bruce Holland could only publicly confirm that prospective partners were showing interest, but due to non-disclosure agreements could not name them at this time.

This is typical for major commercial developments. In the case of the Illinois Centre Mall the identity of the anchor stores came later after the initial mall announcement.

Hundley House Secures Liquor License, DiMaggio Expanding

Carbondale's historic Hundley House, now a bed and breakfast secured the approval Monday of the Liquor Advisory Board in its quest for the ability to serve alcohol to their overnight guests.

For the history of the effort check out this post from earlier this summer.

The Daily Egyptian has the current story.

In other news from the "Athens of Egypt" as Carbondale was heralded a century ago, DiMaggio Pizza, a little known pizzeria tucked away among the student housing east of campus will soon move to a larger and more visible location in the former Godfather Pizza restaurant on Route 13 at 1030 W. Walnut St.

It too secured approval from the Liquor Advisory Board for a license. The new location will include an expanded Italian menu.

Meanwhile Chili's restaurant continues its construction in front of Dick's Sporting Goods in the old K-mart parking lot across from the University Mall.

STAR Bonds District Boundaries On Display

The proposed new STAR Bonds District map went on display today at City Hall in Marion (but not online as one might expect in the 21st Century).


View Marion STAR Bonds District in a larger map

The boundary is less than the 500 acres maximum and is closer to 400 acres I think. It includes the 43.52 acre-tract behind Menards, but I can't remember if it included the 3 acre outlot immediately to the east (Lot C). Marion Heights LLC is planning on keeping at least two of the outlots to sell themselves on either side of Stadium Drive between Blue Herons Drive and Morgan Avenue.

On the east side of the interstate the district includes almost all the land north of Morgan up to Longstreet, then east to about a quarter mile east of Russell Street, except it does not include the residential area north of Morgan in the trailer park, up Peabody Lane, Emery and Cash Streets.

On Russell Street the district does not begin until north of the Northernaire subdivision and the homes along Cox Street.

The map and legal description will remain on display at City Hall for at least a week before the council officially approves it, which I'm assuming will take place next Monday.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Revenue has posted its proposed rules for regulating the STAR Bonds District. As expected based on their public statements, the rules are even more restrictive than the legislation itself, though for the most part they seem reasonable.

Read them yourself and offer comments at the Department of Revenue STAR Bonds website.

Millennium Developers Meet with Wineries

Representatives from the Millennium Development coming to Marion, state Reps. John Bradley and Mike Bost, and area winery owners met together to discuss how they could work together.

Today's Southern Illinoisan has the story.

If they could have only invited the regional tourism director to the meeting. Oh, we don't have one due to the state's budget crisis.

Revenue Hearing on STAR Bonds Uneventful

Around 40 community, elected officials and local business owners attended tonight's hearing/briefing by the Illinois Department of Revenue at John A. Logan College in Carterville.

Probably the biggest news was the agency's website now has a dedicated page for the Marion STAR Bonds at http://tax.illinois.gov/LegalInformation/STARBonds.htm.

So far the only information posted is the legislation and the notice for tonight's meeting. It also has an e-mail to contact the agency about the issue.

By Labor Day, the agency will post for comment and review the draft rules and regulations to implement the legislation. As additional items come up, they too will be posted at the site.

Officials present tonight included four from the state agency; Bruce Holland and his two nephews on his development team; state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton; state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion; Mayor Robert Butler and most of the Marion City Council which moved tonight's regular meeting until Wednesday in order to attend. Marion's city administrator, treasurer, past and present city engineers and the Marion chamber executive were all present as well.

Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole came, but did not speak. George Sheffer, owner of Carbondale True Value and president of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce took an active part in the questions and comments as did recently retired SIU-Carbondale Chancellor Samuel Goldman.

Mount Vernon's city manager Ron Neibert and its economic development director both attended with pointed questions coming from the former.

From Franklin County some of those in attendance included Franklin-Williamson Regional Superintendent of Schools Matt Donkin, Allan Patton from the Franklin County Regional Economic Development as well as businessman Bruce Morganstern of Pheasant Hollow Winery at Whittington.

JALC President Robert Mees welcomed everyone to the college. He too had at least one trustee present, Jake Rendleman.

(I know by this point this particular blog entry reads more like an old-fashioned social happenings article, but since I'm not writing for a newspaper, I can do this.)

Mike Clemons, manager of policy and development at the Department of Revenue outlined the goal of the project as set out by the legislation and endorsed by Gov. Quinn, the role of his agency in the development and what principles the agency would follow in carrying out its mission.

The goal he said was simple — creating jobs, new jobs he clarified later as opposed to jobs just shifted from one community to another. "Jobs for a lifetime," he quoted the governor.

Clemons explained the law requires Marion to come to the Director of Revenue for two key approvals in this project. The first is the District Plan and the second is the Project Plan.

In both cases it's the municipality's job to make the application to create the STAR bonds district, and then to select a master developer to carrying out the project.

For the District Plan, the Revenue Director must determine that the plan is in the public interest. For the Project Plan, the Director "has to find that the Project Plan is in accordance with the act and in the public interest".

Clemons flatly pointed out that the agency does not view those requirements as having the "Director of Revenue as rubber-stamping it".

As to the five principles the agency will follow in its rule-making and reviewing process, they will be as follows:

1. Job creation
   
   
2. Destination development — whether the plan will possess the ability to attract visitors from other states. The goal is to avoid displacement of jobs from area to the STAR Bonds district because that wouldn't be creating new jobs. "If we are going to create jobs in a retail sense we have to attract visitors from outside the area."
   
   
3. Expertise — The project, he said, must be able to meet its job creation goals. Since the agency has no experience in economic development or STAR bonds, Clemons said they will be hiring outside consultants to help them.
   
   
4. Accountability — assurance that taxpayer funds are properly spent.
   
   
5. Partnership — "This must be a partnership that requires a group effort between state government and  Southern Illinois.

Clemons said the next critical steps would be in communications, regulations and the district application.

For communications he mentioned the state website at tax.illinois.gov, which had added the new page specifically for the STAR Bonds project. For regulations, he reiterated the agency's pledge made earlier to the area lawmakers that it the draft rules would be posted by Labor Day and would be open for comments for a couple of weeks.

The next big step would be the district application filed by Marion which could be done as soon as they had the regulations in place to give the city "a clean idea of what's needed".

Butler started off the questions with a request for clarification on fifth principal of partnership. Clemons answered with the promise that the agency would work with all concerned. The agency didn't want to be a "roadblock, but a way to partner with you".

"We we give you. If you have an issue, we'll get you an answer. If you have a question, we will address it," he added, basically a pledge that their door would always be open and if someone didn't want to drive to Springfield, then just drop them a line by e-mail.

Goldman asked about the discussion of creating jobs versus creating new jobs. Clemons made clear that based on the language of the law, they were talking about creating new jobs.

The questions and comments continued from Carbondale and Mount Vernon folks wanting assurances that the project would be designed to benefit the entire region. At one point Clemons responded with the comment that "I think it would be a shame if it didn't benefit all of Southern Illinois".

More than once either Clemons or another one his agency's STAR bonds team confessed that they were "not sure how we ended up with this. We don't do economic development".

Again, after questioning from Mount Vernon, Clemons and his team stressed that the agency would be hiring outside consultants to help them determine if the project application met the requirements of the law and particularly how it impacted surrounding areas.

A key component will be to determine how much retail trade will be drawn in from surrounding states. As far as the department is concerned at the state level it makes them no difference if it's in Rockford or Carbondale where the state taxes are collected. It's only a benefit to the state if new money comes to the table from out-of-state residents spending new money in Illinois due to the development.

Goldman added later that it wasn't just out-of-state shoppers, it would also be local shoppers spending money in the area that now goes outside the state at St. Louis, Cape Girardeau, Paducah and Evansville.

More reactions from the crowd will be in tomorrow's newspapers and tonight on Channel 3.

UPDATE 8/24: The Southern now has Becky Malkovich's story online about last night's event — IDOR Talks STAR bonds. I've also corrected the spelling on Mr. Sheffer's name and added Mr. Neibert's.

Hearing/Briefing on STAR Bond District Set for Monday

This week should see some of the first official steps taken to create the new STAR bond district for the destination development targeting Marion.

The Illinois Department of Revenue will meet with local officials and community leaders at 7 p.m. tomorrow at John A. Logan Community College in O'Neal Auditorium.

The notice explains the purpose:

Department staff will outline its role in the project, discuss what we have done to date, talk generally about where we are headed, and seek input from local leaders.

Basically, it's a technical briefing and not any grand announcement from the developers.

Mike Clemons, a communications and policy guru with the agency explained Friday that the agency is on goal to promulgate the rules by Labor Day. The agency and local officials have already been meeting and will continue to work together on this project.

"We're trying not to be the impediment," he added explaining the law makes the agency responsible for reviewing and authorizing the Marion district.

The biggest problems so far is that the law is complex, occasionally confusing, and since it's the first one of its kind in Illinois, the agency has had to start from almost scratch in terms of writing the rules needed to implement the law.

Still, the Labor Day deadline matches previous comments by developer Bruce Holland earlier this month to the Southern Illinoisan that plans would get underway in September. Mayor Robert Butler also gave September as the start date in an interview this past week for an upcoming story in Marion Living.

Meanwhile, tomorrow's hearing will preempt the normal Marion city council meeting which is being moved to Wednesday. According to City Administrator Gail West the council is expected to take the first steps toward implementing the plan by annexing some of the land to be involved that's not already within the city limits.

One of the next steps will be for the council to officially find that the land in question meets the qualifications for a STAR bonds district. This step is but a technicality since the legislation was specifically written with the Marion tract in mind.

As far as details as to what may come, the public may get its best idea yet at the upcoming Community Leaders Breakfast sponsored by the Southern Illinoisan at 7 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 8, with Holland himself as one of the keynote speakers. Tickets are $15 and be purchased at www.sbj.biz.

New Fujiyama steakhouse to Open Monday in Marion

The new Marion branch of Fujiyama steakhouse is set to open tomorrow in Marion at the Illinois Centre Mall in what was originally Ruby Tuesday and a for a short time the Great American Chop House.

At least that's what the sign on the door said Friday night and their Facebook posting from seven hours ago. Check them out, search for Marion Fujiyama.

I've not tried out the Carbondale restaurant, but am looking forward to trying them.

Forby Endorses Oasis Plan for West Frankfort

State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, endorsed the Little Egypt Oasis proposal yesterday in West Frankfort, according to the Daily American.

"It's our time" he's quoted as saying in the online headline.

The proposal by local businessman Scott Williams would develop the Little Egypt Oasis on the the Burlington-Northern railroad bridge over Interstate 57, immediately south of Route 149.

The bridge is privately-owned and offers development potential. The project also calls for a new road to be built connecting Routes 37 and 149 along the old railroad right-of-way which would create a southwest bypass for area residents.

Currently the presence of the railroad bridge abutments blocks visibility for the northbound exit ramp off of the interstate which has long been blamed for a series of traffic wrecks at the site — "blood on the pavement" as highway planners would note.

With the planned expansion of I-57 to six lanes between I-64 and I-24, the problem becomes even more severe. The Illinois Department of Transportation can either remove the bridge which is no longer needed for the railroad or move the ramps.

Initially they planned to remove the bridge until they discovered the state didn't own it. Buying it would immediately raise the price of the project by millions as it cost $1 million 50 years ago when the interstate was under construction. Today's price would be significantly higher.

Now, IDOT officials are open to Plan B suggested by Williams. Basically, this would split the existing diamond-shaped interchange at Exit 65 and move the two ramps on the south side, farther south to North Road, the next road south of the bridge about a 1.5 miles from Rt. 149. Then, one-way access roads would link the two sets of ramps.

It would be similar to the ramps and access roads in Paducah where you get off at one exit, and then go down the access road until you get to the road for the hospital or Whitehaven, the historic site that houses the visitors center.

I admit even before I heard the details of Williams' plan I was in favor. I love the idea of taking a long unused asset like the bridge and making it into something that generates economic development. We've got a lot of unused assets in Southern Illinois that just need some creative thinking applied.

I'll talk about the details in another post as it's got great potential to not only create a new tourist site in the region, but also help promote all the others.

Mount Vernon Raceway Continues Its Draw

The Register-News has a nice story online about the Mount Vernon Raceway there on the west side of I-57.

Owner Rick Heck has been associated with the track since he purchased it in 1999. Attendance is down these past few years with the recession, but he notes there's still 100 cars each weekend at the track for the Saturday night races.

Two New Wineries Starting to Advertise

I picked up a copy of Carbondale Times last week for the actual purpose of checking out the ads. As a journalist I'm shocked that I did so. People are only supposed to pick up the paper for the news (or comics), not the ads.

One of the reasons I do is to check out what's new in some of the smaller tourism attractions and amenities in the region. They (and their sister publication Nightlife) seem to get to unveil the first ads for many of these establishments in Jackson and Union counties.

Last week I noticed ads for two new wineries that actually opened last year, but are now just getting into the swing of things.

The Bluffs Vineyard and Winery hosts live music on the weekends at their location just off Illinois Route 3 at 140 Buttermilk Hill Rd, outside Ava on the west side of Kinkaid Lake.

The second is Lucas Bros.' HonkerHill Winery southwest of Crab Orchard Lake at 4861 Spillway Rd, less than a mile north of the intersection of Grassy Rd., outside Carbondale.

Another site advertising is somewhat of a surprise, at least compared to past years. The new concessionaires at Little Grassy Lake Campground and Marina are advertising as well with specials for camping and boat rentals. It's been more than a decade since I rented a boat there, but they now offer canoe and kayak rentals as well. Something else is new as well, you can now buy my books there too.

Regional Tourism Office Closes

The Associated Press by way of the Southern Illinoisan is reporting that the Southern Illinois Tourism Development Office has laid off its executive director Russell Ward due to financial problems caused by the state's deteriorating fiscal condition.

Unlike local tourism and convention bureaus funded primarily through a local bed taxes, the regional tourism development offices are funding almost entirely through a state grant. Late payments over the last few years has caused the office to repeatedly borrow funds from local banks to make payroll at the start of the each fiscal year.

That in itself has become a problem because the state has ruled the tourism offices can't use state funds to make interest payments to the bank. Without a source of revenue to make such payments, the amount has simply been recycled through the bank accounts year after year.

The regional tourism office represents 22 counties in Southern Illinois. It's mission is unknown, or at least, disputed, depending on the source, especially in its relationship with the local bureaus and counties that don't have bureaus.

For the last few years the office's chief success has been maintaining the regional tourism website at www.adventureillinois.com (and previously also at IllinoisAdventure.com), and the annual regional tourism guide. When I was there we also assisted local tourism developers on their projects.

In its decade or so existence, the office has had five permanent and at least three or four interim executive directors, mostly due to the funding issue and the lack of clear mission - whether it should truly serve all 22 counties, or just those without certified tourism bureaus.

I only met my successor at SITDO once in person and a few other times by phone or e-mail. I wish him well in his future endeavors.

SITDO took the place of the former membership-based Southern Illinois Tourism Council which in turn grew out of the old Region 9 Tourism Council that existed back in the 1960s.

The move to lay off its staff comes after layoffs in the state's tourism information centers along the interstates.

Millennium Development Owners Eye September Launch

Bruce Holland, owner of Millennium Development LLC, has told the Southern Illinoisan that he expects to launch the process creating the state's first STAR (sales tax and revenue) Bond District in September.

Meanwhile, the city is working with Millennium Development LLC, the company behind the destination development, and the state on the establishment of the STAR Bond district, developer Bruce Holland said.

"It's part of the process," Holland said. "We're working with the city and the Department of Revenue to determine the actual boundaries and demographics of what goes in the district. Once that is done, we'll be closer to being able to say who (what businesses) we are working with for the actual development."

Mayor Butler told the paper that developers have already optioned nearly 400 acres and are still working on two or three other land owners. Based on what I'm hearing in the real estate industry, it looks like the district will stretch from the edge of Rent One Park east across the interstate almost to, if not right on, Route 37 north of the cemeteries.

Butler also hinted at two or three other businesses not related to Holland's development who had put their plans on hold due to the recession are back showing renewed interest in the city.

He provided no hints, but past businesses interested included two new hotels (one a new Holiday Inn Express for the lot next to MidCountry Bank) and a major chain restaurant, which was all but named as a certain Italian eatery which has danced around with the city since the Illinois Centre Mall underwent construction 20 years ago.

I don't know for sure what Butler was referencing, it could be these, or it could be some of the other larger businesses and industries looking at the city prior to the economic downturn. Either way it's a winner for the region.

In order to establish the district for which public hearings will be held, the developers have to come up with a master plan that includes at least one destination user (a large specialty retailer) and one entertainment user (theme park or other entertainment complex).

Once the city approves the district, it then goes to the Illinois Department of Revenue for approval.

The Southern's article is already online and should be in tomorrow's print edition.