Mostly new

Winter seems to want to come back. Suburbs of Chicago had snow this morning and the forecast says that we may get patchy frost tonight. I noticed that the our wet weather has left a considerable amount of water at the bottom of the Babcock Quarry.

The Chamber Happenings page in Wednesday's Rensselaer Republican  announced that two businesses had had recently joined the Chamber, so I decided to pay them a visit. The first was GRG Auto Repair, just north of Jordan's Floral. I noticed them in March, and apparently they were already open at that time. The gas pumps are gone and soon the gas tanks under the concrete will be removed as well. They have a Facebook page here that gives you more information.

When I stopped by two technicians were working on two cars in the bays. A ribbon cutting is in the plans, but the date has not been set yet.

On Drexel Drive the former location of Sister Act salon has gone to the dogs, literally. It is now home to Pawsitively Pets, a new pet grooming business.

Pawsitively Pets will also have a ribbon cutting ceremony in the near future, though again the date has not been finalized.

In the picture below, which shows the tub in which pets are bathed and groomed, you can see the checkerboard floor of Sister Act is still in place. In addition to grooming dogs, cats, ferrets, and other household pets, Pawsitively Pets sells some pet supplies and cages.

I noticed a few days ago that the building that once was home to Maggie's Jazzy Cuts is now Barbie's Hair & Nail Salon. It is on Vine Street, a bit west of the elevator.

Work continues on what will be the Working Well clinic. The office will open on June 2 and there will be a ribbon cutting and a business-after-hours event at 4:00 pm on June 12.

An eagle

After a couple of years of hearing about bald eagles in Jasper County, I finally got a picture of one a few weeks ago. I did not know if I should publish it, but since the Rensselaer Republican ran an article on eagles in Jasper County a week or two ago, I decided to share my not very impressive picture. (It is taken with a point and shoot camera that only zooms a little.)

Fifteen or twenty years ago I visited the panhandle of Alaska where eagles where almost as common as house sparrows are here. They were no big deal. But they still are a big deal in Indiana.

Two years ago a pair of eagles raised a brood of young where this eagle is hanging out. Last year a storm blew down their nest and the young were killed. Hopefully they will be successful again this year.

If you are interested in learning more, there are some bird walks in the next couple of weeks--see the events on the calendar in the sidebar. (One of them is tomorrow morning.) The walks are led by one of our local birding experts, and she can tell you a great deal not just about this eagle but about other rare and unusual birds that you can see in Jasper County.

(I saw corn emerging in a field north of Renssleaer on Tuesday. I still am working on getting my garden planted, but I see others that seem completed.)

City Council meeting and a few other things

The city council meeting on Monday night was long with many things on the agenda. The first was a public hearing on the proposed fire station. Those in attendance were addressed by Jim from Synthesis Inc, a design firm from Indianapolis. He said that the main part of the building would be a pre-engineered metal building and the added office area would be conventional construction as will that part of the second floor that will be inside the pre-engineered section of the building. There will be parking for 75 vehicles, mostly because of various events that are held at the fire station. The amount of asphalt means that a large detention pond will be necessary. Fenestration has not been finalized. The basement will be a challenge, but lots of sump pumps and a back up generator should keep it dry. The hope is that funding will be set in August this year, and then serious design work can begin. (What has been presented so far are conceptual designs.) In the best case scenario construction could begin in March of 2015 and occupancy in January of 2016.

There has been some discussion about what to do with the current fire house but nothing definite has been decided. The structure is not fit for housing heavy equipment, but it should have many years of life left for other uses. 

The next big item on the agenda was a presentation by a representative from Working Well, the occupational health clinic that is set to open on June 2. The clinic will provide work physicals, drug screening, audio testing, and an array of other services for work-related health issues. The city's interest was mostly in getting the various kinds of physicals that different occupations require--physical exams for police and firemen are different from the normal check-up physical. The doctor for the office will work out of the Munster office, and the actual lab work required will be done in Hammond. The prices and the services met with approval by the department heads concerned and with the council.

There was a short discussion about the need for a new computer server to supplement the existing server, and its purchase was approved. There was a longer discussion about changing consumer payment budgeting for utility bills. I could not follow some of this discussion, but changes were approved. 

There were several brief bits of information provided. 115 trucks were contacted while SR 114 was detoured, some to turn around and some cited. 50% of those cited have paid their fines. 128 meals were served at the recent gas department open house promoting pipeline awareness. The Jasper County Tourism Commission has awarded money to a number of community events, including $3750 to Little Cousin Jasper Festival for a zipline and entertainment, $6500 for fireworks for the Fall Festival, $1000 for the Moveable Feast event honoring the architecture of the late Frank Fisher, and $2500 for the new Rock the Arts event.

Before the meeting I stopped by the open house for the A Home Away from Home Day Care that is now in the Horton Building. This is a business that has expanded from baby sitting in the home. The woman in charge is seeking state licensing and hopes to expand her the business. She likes the layout of the building with many little side rooms, one of which will be a nursery for infants.

Right now there are six children enrolled. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony later this month. 

The Home Sweet Home shop around the corner is now empty. It had opened last July.

Leaving the meeting, I noticed that there are additional names on the offices of Sheets Family Practice. A DeFries Chiropractic sign dominates the windows, and a small sign indicates that two nurse practitioners are working there, one on Tuesdays and one on Wednesdays, as well as a CNS, which I think is a Clinical Nurse Specialist.

The sirens work (updated)

Last night we learned that Rensselaer's tornado sirens work. They were on for about half an hour. That is an estimate--we lost power shortly after they started, and I eventually went to bed early before the power came back on. We did not get any unusual wind, though I see on Facebook that there were apparent touchdowns near Collegeville and near the Interstate at the SR 114 intersection. The forecast for this week is more rain. The toads seem excited--they were very noisy last night, though I do not know if there is enough standing water around for them to mate.

Last week's nice weather had people doing summer things, like playing in the parks or riding bikes. (Going up the slide can be more fun than going down it.)

These two kids were very disappointed that there was no water in the swimming pool, but they did have fun improving their bike and trike riding skills.

 The trees are finally getting their leaves.

SJC has finished the semester and graduated another class. The people attending the graduation got the nice weather of Saturday. If the graduation had been on Mother's Day, some of them would have been caught in last night's storms.

Update: F Dennis Riegelnegg has announced to the SJC community that he has submitted a letter of resignation to the president of the board of trustees. No date is given for his last day, but my guess is that he will stay until a replacement is hired. Also, John Nichols will be the interim VP for Academic Affairs, taking the position of Daniel Blankenship, who has accepted a position with Eureka College in Illinois.

A couple of closings

This week the Jasper County Hospital announced that it would be closing its obstetrical unit:

The many changes in the national health care system and the rapid reduction in the supply of local physicians have led to a decision that Jasper County Hospital will no longer provide obstetrical delivery services effective May 31, 2014.
...
Talks are underway with Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health in Lafayette, Indiana, and the Franciscan Physician Network, to provide an obstetrical clinic in the Hospital’s Outpatient Department. Such a clinic would allow an obstetrician and a nurse practitioner to see obstetrical patients in Rensselaer with deliveries to occur in Lafayette. The obstetrician and nurse practitioner would work closely with the local family medicine physicians to assist patients.

Read the whole thing here.

Already closed is Family Auto Sales, across from White's on North McKinley. All this is left are a few signs. I think the family that owned the dealership is constructing a new Ford-Lincoln facility in Watseka--when I drove past a week ago, a new showroom that I think is theirs was almost complete on the far east side of the town.

On the upside, we will soon have a Taco Bell near the Interstate.

Summer arrived suddenly. Because of the forecast for rain today, the farmers have been pulling all-nighters in the fields. I talked to a farmer in Newton County last night who was happy that he had finished planting his corn thanks to some very extended hours.