Some pictures to end the week

The week has flown by, but all weeks seem to fly by. Work continues on the wet weather treatment plant. At the end of the week there were only two more pieces of culvert to put in place and they are along Lincoln just east of Weston Cemetery. It took me a few seconds to understand what this sign said. I suspect the spelling is a joke. A second grader would probably understand it more quickly than I did.

The sign is next to the gas regulator by the entrance of the cemetery and the chain link fence on the east side has been bashed in. Perhaps that is what prompted the sign.

Work was progressing on the Iroquois Access Pipeline and there were no demonstrators. The pieces were being brought one at a time by the little tractor that is visible in the middle of the picture. I assume that this is for testing. The usual way of testing this type of plant is to run river water through it.

Progress is very apparent week to week at the future site of the O'Reilly Auto Parts store. The old foundation has now been completely removed. There were some very thick pieces of concrete at the western end that had to be broken up.

At the Elza Street Apartments bricks are being laid to form the facing of the three gables.

I noticed that ceiling fans in the ceiling of the outdoor sitting area of what will be Embers Station Brewhouse.

At SJC there is buzz about possibilities for using the campus next year. One name mentioned is the Renewable Nations Institute. The individual who heads this group was previously interested in Dana College of Nebraska, which shut its doors in 2010. Here is a newspaper piece on the college and attempts to find another use. Rensselaer may have a similar story. In another piece, the head of Renewable Nations Institute said that he had been watching 50 properties of schools that had closed and not one had reopened as a college.

On Friday St Leo University from Florida was on campus. I asked if they had had interest and the representative said that one baseball player had committed. A note from the SJC admissions office mentioned that there were several schools that would allow students to finish their degrees on-line so relocation would not be necessary. On-line education may do to brick and mortar schools what on-line shopping is doing to brick and mortar shopping.

Strack and Van Til has removed their self-checkout lanes and replaced them with two regular checkout lanes. Self service works better for gas stations than it does for grocery stores.