Rice and River: A family’s approach to the changing agricultural landscape
Carbondale citizens protest against objections to City Council candidates
morrigAn cArey
mcArey@dAilyegyptiAn com
Current Human Relations Commision chair and former Carbondale City Council member Navreet Kang has filed objections against City Council candidates
Ginger Rye Sanders and LaCaje Hill, who are both incumbent councilpersons, and Ryan Reed, a challenger seeking a council seat in the April election. In response, members of the Carbondale community gathered outside of Carbondale City Hall at 5 p.m., Nov. 12, 2024 to protest the objections.
The complaints against the candidates are related to their paperwork; allegedly, each candidate did not provide a statement of economic interest before the required filing date, and none of the candidates had their paperwork securely bound “in book form” pursuant to Illinois state law.
The Municipal Officers Electoral Board was formed to evaluate the
objections and determine whether or not to take action against the candidates, possibly prohibiting them from appearing on the ballot in April. The members of the board are Carbondale Mayor Carolin Harvey, City Clerk Jennifer Sorrell and Councilperson Adam Loos. Their decision will be based on a preponderance of evidence, meaning Kang will have to prove that it is more probable than not that the candidates are in violation of the law.
Protesters saw the objections filed against the candidates as discriminatory, as all three candidates are African American, and Kang has an alleged history of racist comments. According to Councilperson Nancy Maxwell, Kang had made remarks about driving over Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020. Attendees held signs which emphasized “supporting the community” and fighting against right-wing ideology
Election delays fuel ongoing push for Jackson County voting accessibility
AnnAlise schmidt Aschmidt@dAilyegyptiAn com
As Jackson County voters wait for the final election totals, an unprecedented tie in the State’s Attorney race has added an unusual twist to this year’s election cycle and process. While the county worked to ensure accessible voting with early and mail-in options, Election Day still saw significant wait times at some polling places, reflecting the logistical demands of managing a busy election cycle, including the challenges of balancing accessibility with efficiency.
Specific turnout figures for the county are not yet available publicly.
The unofficial results for Jackson County’s 2024 presidential election show a voter turnout of 69.41%, with 22,576 out of 32,524 registered voters casting their ballots.
John Jackson, visiting professor at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at SIU, said, “70% turnout is very good by national standards and Jackson County always does that. The key difference is that this, of course, was a presidential election with all the combination of stuff going on with the media and all that.”
While turnout in presidential elections tends to be strong, local elections often struggle to engage voters to the same extent.
“Local elections are held in the spring in the even off-years, and they are pitiful on turnout,” Jackson said.
“Turnout will be 15, 20 or 25%. It’s just hardly any comparison at all, especially Carbondale city and other city elections. It’s a massive difference,” Jackson said.
Discussing factors that drove voter
turnout this election, Jackson pointed to the polarizing political environment. He said, “It was the battle between Harris and Trump, and Trump, of course, has dominated our politics for nine years now, and will dominate it for another four years. So that was the key factor, either going to vote for Trump or against Trump, probably the number one battle going on there.”
In the county and across the nation, the factors that shaped voting
Wyatt Gerard, 23, looks out the window of the combine as he harvests a field of rice on his fathers farm Sept. 9, 2024 in McClure, Illinois. Wyatt is son to Blake Gerard, a fourth-generation rice farmer in the southernmost Illinois. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto
Illustration by Dena Rendleman | @dena.rendleman
trends, according to Jackson, included immigration, the state of the economy, abortion and protecting democracy as the top four issues influencing voters’ decisions.
“Two of those worked extremely well for Trump, and the second two worked well for Harris, but not well enough,” Jackson said.
Efforts to make voting more accessible, such as extended early voting periods and mail-in options, helped alleviate some of the expected Election Day congestion.
“We’ve done so much to make voting more accessible and easier over the last 20 years, that I would say the infrastructure is really in pretty good shape,” Jackson said.
However, even with these measures, some areas saw higher-than-expected turnout, which caused delays at the polls. Carbondale’s Civic Center saw long lines on Election Day with people waiting up to four hours to cast their vote. At the entrance, poll workers informed sameday registrants that they could expect a wait of approximately three hours to vote.
The polling location, which served a significant portion of Jackson County’s electorate, experienced heavy congestion in the hours leading up to the close of voting. The delay in processing voters meant that some were still casting their ballots well into the evening, further complicating the timely release of results.
“There’s sometimes spotted places where people just turn out, or they are unexpecting the turnout to be as much as it was, but county clerks all throughout Illinois run elections very well. They do everything possible to make sure that people get to vote, and mostly that would like to keep down the long lines, but emphasize this, you could vote in Jackson County,” Jackson said.
Voters in Carbondale had multiple opportunities to vote early, with polling locations
at the SIU Student Center and the Carbondale Civic Center available for several weeks before the election. For those unable to make it to these locations, absentee voting was also available, allowing people to request ballots by mail.
“A lot of people did take advantage of early voting, but they’re probably cases where precincts are too big,” Jackson said. “They do get too big
“For many years I have asked the County Board to digitize the land records, and they refuse,” Byrd said.
Despite the county’s efforts, Byrd acknowledged that long lines were not anticipated, particularly with the availability of early voting options.
“The grace period begins after regular registration ends. This takes time to register and
“We’ve done so much to make voting more accessible and easier over the last 20 years, that I would say the infrastructure is really in pretty good shape.”
John Jackson
Visiting Professor at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at SIU
after a while, if there’s great growth or something like that. Sometimes, the County Clerk just misjudges, but they have long experience knowing where turnout is going to be the heaviest and they try to accommodate that.”
Jackson County Clerk and Recorder, Frank Byrd, said, “This year voter turnout is everything I hoped for, I believe people wanted to get involved in the process of electing leaders who have their best interests in mind.”
He said, “Unlike most of my counterparts I pride myself on making every available means to have voting accessible, with two vote-by-mail retrieval boxes and many days of early voting in my office and at the Carbondale Civic Center and SIU. Many jurisdictions do not offer all these options. I feel the voters deserve the best. I welcome any discussion moving forward, of course, all government offices are funded and the Jackson County Board dictates the money.”
Additionally, Byrd has advocated for technological improvements in county records.
vote, and that leads to long wait times,” Byrd said.
In 2020, he implemented a voting center in the courthouse, which saw success during the presidential election, and he has continued to use it in subsequent elections.
On Election Day, the delay in releasing the final vote totals was due to some voters still casting their ballots at the Carbondale Civic Center. Vote counting came to a halt around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, and results were delayed for several hours, with the first official update released at 1:58 a.m. Wednesday.
“I was not going to release any totals until everyone had a chance to vote,” Byrd said. “So, until everyone got their chance to cast their ballot I would not give numbers. The only challenge was to accommodate the Election Day voter.”
Looking forward, Byrd is exploring new ways to engage voters and improve information dissemination.
“As of now, I’m in discussion to have a County
Clerk Facebook Page where students and the public can get accurate information and voting times and dates,” he said. “This alone will help get more voters engaged and information disseminated in a timely fashion. I would welcome student leaders in a discussion on how to make their lives easier when voting.”
He also said that the Facebook page will hopefully give voters a link to online registration, which could combat long wait times.
Byrd also noted his dedication to improving accessibility for students. “I understand the complexities of being a student. My son attended SIU, and we are forever thankful to have such a prestigious university in Jackson County. I plan to do whatever is possible to make voting accessible,” he said.
Moving forward, Byrd said he plans to focus on these voter needs and accommodate them more effectively.
“I want to look over the data and possibly talk to students about what they would like to see moving forward in general elections,” Byrd said.
The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute has played a role in promoting political engagement, with programs designed to improve the public’s understanding of politics and encourage participation, but Jackson also stresses the importance of focusing on local politics to increase voter engagement.
Jackson said, “We are always doing civic engagement and doing civic education…we are always interested in doing what we can to raise the level of civic literacy.”
He said, “We need more people to be concerned about local politics and local elections, and those of us who are concerned about civic education are always looking for ways to do that better. It’s a job for the educational system and it’s a job for the media.”
Staff reporter Annalise Schmidt can be reached at aschmidt@dailyegyptian.com.
‘The community is super accepting of us’: New businesses open on the strip
Joslyn Cole JCole@dailyegyptian Com
Over the course of the past month, several businesses have relocated to The Strip in Carbondale, including Neon Tiger Tattoo, a new tattoo shop, and Artistic Minds, which was previously in The Strip but had to relocate due to lack of space in the previous building. Also, Plaza Records and Mike’s Music, which used to be located in a shopping center on the east side of town, have found a home on The Strip Plaza Records has been around since the early ‘70s and was originally in The Strip, but 20 years ago, they moved to the outskirts of town. They opened their new location last month in the former Cristaudo’s Bakery dining room.
“We have been trying for at least the last five or 10 years to make our way back downtown for the purpose of just being closer to the center of things,” owner Marcus Lappin said. “Wanted to be within walking distance to attract foot traffic and just try to bring the Carbondale Strip back.”
Plaza Records carries records, CDs
the toughest part of being the owner,” Lappin said. “Keeping people coming in, keeping their interest and keeping this stuff relevant. I’m just trying to keep interest in the store.”
“We try to adjust to the community by carrying what they’re interested in, whether it be records, CDs or carrying local music, but we really base that off of the feedback that we get from the community,” Lappin said.
After the relocation of Plaza Records, the amount of foot traffic flowing into the store increased, Lappin said.
“We’ve been seeing lots of new faces and more people walking by and stopping in on a whim,” Lappin said. “So that’s something we didn’t experience before. Although people would drive over there, we didn’t get people who were just walking through town.”
Neon Tiger Tattoo opened up on S. Illinois Ave across from the Chamber of Commerce, right next to Mary Lou’s Grill. Founder Matt Stanton is trying to promote his mindset from employee to employer.
“It’s been interesting trying to find
“We’ve been seeing lots of new faces and more people walking by and stopping in on a whim...that’s something we didn’t experience before.”
- Marcus Lappin Owner of Plaza Records
and local music. The popularity of vinyl has been on a rise for a few years, and Plaza Records have been able to provide that for their customers.
“Keeping the business alive has been
CITY COUNCIL
FROM 1
and actions in Carbondale.
One resident who attended the protest was John A. Logan University student Adam A., who asked to be referred to by his last initial.
“(Kang) has specifically targeted council members that have a large influence over the Black community of Carbondale,” A. said. “We are out here today to push back against that, as well as generally his fascist rhetoric.”
Around 20 members of the Carbondale community attended the protest. They were largely quiet, except for passerby on Walnut St. and Illinois Ave. honking their horns in support, including Rye Sanders.
Another attendee of the protest was SIU student Dustin K., who asked to be referred to by his last initial.
“For me, why I’m out here is because of community,” K. said.
“I think supporting community is really important and that means
“But here I try to be here three hours before everyone else and I try to be the last one out.”
Since he was 18 years old, Stanton said he worked in a shop where artists would make their customers feel like their ideas were stupid. He couldn’t make his own path in the industry there. He was working on the shop for five and a half months and in that time, he was working in a home studio.
“Staying in one place didn’t let me do it,” Stanton said. “I kind of had to carve my own way to make waves in the industry. The way I wanted to do it was I always wanted to have a place that felt more inclusive.”
myself as the owner or like, put myself in those shoes. Used to be, whenever I was tattooing, it was like: I showed up, handled whatever I had to handle, and then I could go home,” Stanton said.
everyone in the community. That means regardless of race, religious views, anything.”
He then added, “I think we need to come together and we need to say no to dangerous right-wing policy that is very exclusionary, and I think that there are people trying to shoehorn their way into our community with not the best interests in mind.”
Many protesters also attended the city council meeting at 6 p.m., and stood in support of Southern Illinois Pride in Action board member Tara Bell, who expressed disapproval for the city’s decision to allow Kaitlynn Wheeler, a trans exclusionary activist to speak at the Carbondale Police Department on Oct. 10, 2024.
“While I understand the city’s obligation to allow free speech in public forum spaces, it seems such content would apply to public areas like the parks, the steps of city hall, events within areas rented by the city, and the like,” Bell said.
“Hosting a known TERF (transexclusionary radical feminist)
“You know, there’s so many old tattoo shops and old heads that like you walk in and you immediately feel unwelcome there,” Stanton said. “You talk to people and they make
you feel like your ideas are stupid or that you know, you got to get put on a waiting list. You can talk to somebody and it’s like, that’s not what I want to feel like when I go to the tattoo shop. So I wanted to kind of make an area there, a space that was like, from the moment you walk in, you’re like, ‘oh, this is welcoming.’”
The SIU and surrounding community has been extremely welcoming to a new tattoo shop, Stanton said.
“I was worried that the community would kind of take it as like, ‘Oh gosh, another tattoo shop,’” Stanton said.
“But it’s been overwhelmingly positive and we’re here literally turning people away at the door because of how busy we are.”
Neon Tiger Tattoo wants to be as welcoming as possible to customers, Stanton said.
“Everything that you come in the doors with will be heard. There are no stupid ideas unless you come in with something hateful,” Stanton said. “You know, for the most part we try to cater to everyone, and make sure that all ideas are heard. There’s no bias on genders or sexuality or race.” Stanton wants to get involved in SIU and the community. He said he has already started to create plans to do that.
“Any kind of charity or work we can do to get involved with that, we’re all about it. Actually this month, we’re going to be doing an event every year called TAPS. TAPS is where we do big flash events,” Stanton said. “We get a whole bunch of people in here, we do tattoos, we partner with PKs, host a silent auction, we’ve already made some art that we’re going to put
within a meeting room at the police station which other groups do not have information about or access to rent, gives the impression that the City of Carbondale harbored this speaker and is supporting anti-
transgender rhetoric.”
When Bell began to speak on the issue of Kang’s objections, Mayor Carolin Harvey asserted that it is an issue for the Municipal Officers Electoral Board, not the City
has not yet been
Citizens of Carbondale wave signs made of cardboard, poster board, and sheet paper for protest outside of Carbondale City Hall. Nov. 12, 2024. Photos by Daylin Williams | @photosbydaylin
Matt Stanton tattoos a leg of a customer at Neon Tiger Tattoos Nov. 14, 2024 in Carbondale Illinois. Photo by Alexis Lessman | lex_lessman_photography
SIU researchers develop technology to deactivate virus germs and microorganisms
Jamilah lewis Jlewis@dailyegyptian com
SIU research students are looking into ways to deactivate or stop virusspreading germs with chemical technology in hopes it can help mitigate future virus outbreaks.
Chemical and Biomolecular Sciences professor Punit Kohli gathered a team of local high school students, SIU students and assistance from researchers like Dr. Jose VargasMuniz from the College of Agriculture and Scott Hamilton-Brehm from the Department of Microbiology to develop this research.
The research group also collaborated with molecular microbiologist Micheal Olson from the SIU Springfield location who supplies them with other deadly bacteria to test.
According to the published research paper, the device uses electrically polarized nanoscale metallic (ENM) coating to deactivate a diverse scale of microorganisms in less than 10 minutes of usage.
The research microorganism being used is gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria that could be harmful to humans and have seen positive outcomes.
Kohli said his initial idea was to make a device that could go in masks to self-sanitize with hope it will protect people from COVID-19 more than they already do. He involved PhD chemistry students Aswad Ali and Annie Vargas-Lizarazo and began research.
“So, we needed copper two (CuO) and then we needed to make the surface conductive, so we also have that kind of resources here,” Ali said. “We started doing one step at a time, and then those experiments, we ultimately made some devices, and we tested those devices for the microbe deactivation. We started with two different bacteria, grampositive and gram-negative bacteria from Dr. Hamilton-Brehm’s lab, and then it showed us promising results.”
The device itself is a small steel wool type of material in the middle for current flow. It requires four batteries with opposite wires on both sides that will react to make the voltage current that powers it.
Ali said when potential is applied to the microbes in a medium like water, it will produce a reactive oxygenated and chlorinated species.
“Through the chemical reaction between the material we have here, our active material here is copper II and for the conduction,” Ali said. “To make it conductive, we add silver nanoparticles. So combining all of these, it has a chemistry.”
The use of gram-negative and positive bacteria is the resource they have at the school, and both have differences in resistance towards infections.
“That is the main reason we started with both of these, because we do not know which particular gram-positive
or particular gram-negative bacteria can cause more of the damage to human health,” Ali said. “Later, we moved to fungi and viruses as well, because at that time, the main focus was to deactivate viruses like COVID-19.”
Vargas-Lizarazo said it was a challenging process at the start to find someone to test the microbes since their work focuses more on chemistry. With the help of other researchers like Hamilton-Brehm, Vargas-Lizarazo was able to be lab trained in order to properly test the microbes.
“During all (of) this process, we have struggled to find the chemistry, but we have many meetings, many discussions, and we found that our specific reactive oxygen and chlorinated species, they’re responsible to deactivated microbes,” Vargas-Lizarazo said.
One of the main reasons for pursuing this research is the number of outbreaks that happen every year, Vargas-Lizarazo said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there was a measles outbreak infecting over 10 million people globally in 2023. In the U.S., flu season continues throughout the years with around 34 million symptomatic illnesses, 15 million medical visits and 380,000 people in the hospital for it.
According to an NPR article made in October of this year, the CDC has seen an increase of mycoplasma pneumonia in children in the U.S.
When it comes to the amount of people sick from viruses globally, Vargas-Lizarazo said we see the numbers but not the full impact,
so opening their studies up to more dangerous diseases will hopefully mitigate these yearly outbreaks in the future.
Kohli said the device should act as an extra push for cleansing when talking about things like antibiotics which are still always needed, but sometimes don’t fully die out.
“If the mechanism is really through reactive, oxygenated and chlorine species, we should be able to kill, if under the right condition, almost all the bacteria and viruses they can see,” Kohli said. “Because they don’t care, they discriminately go and contact a cell or a particle and they deactivate it through different mechanisms.”
When looking into previous research on ENM, Kohli said he didn’t find much on it, possibly being the first to do it, which makes him more excited to develop and share this knowledge.
“If we can actually create new knowledge and understand the basic fundamental processes involved, that is very rewarding,” Kohli said. “I think with the help of students we think that ENM probably has (a) lot more potential.”
If developed further, Kohli said it can be implemented in face masks, on flat surfaces, handles, in hospitals and many other places.
“The other motivation was all the funding that at least I get, and both Annie and Muhammad Ali are supported through public money,” Kohli said. “I think that it’s our responsibility to contribute, if we can, through our knowledge through and through the making
reporter Jamilah Lewis can be reached at
Undergrad Cordelia Hankel (left), and graduate student MD Aswad Ali (right) work together in a lab in Neckers Hall that is dedicated to investigating how to kill supergerms at the nano level Nov. 12, 2024 in Carbondale, Illinois. Libby Phelps | lphelps@dailyegyptian.com
Professor Punit Kohli works at the front of the lab along with other researchers who are studying how to kill super germs at the nano level Nov. 12, 2024 in Carbondale, Illinois. Libby Phelps | lphelps@dailyegyptian.com
Rice and River: A family’s approach to the changing agricultural landscape
LyLee Gibbs @LyLeeGibbsphoto
Editor’s Note: This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center and the Saluki Local Reporting Lab Tufted fields of a golden crop stretch miles long near the mighty Mississippi River in southernmost Illinois. It’s an early September morning and the start of the day waits only on the morning dew to dry off the field. Blake Gerard stands at the top of his deep red, dust-covered combine preparing for harvest and realizes he needs a towel from his truck. He calls down to his 23-year-old
son Wyatt, who is now his right-hand man.
The sun rises further into the sky on a busy morning for the Gerards, a four-generation family that has laid claim to farmland in the river bottoms of southern Illinois.
But the textured, golden crop the Gerards tend to is not wheat, which is bountiful through Illinois, but rather rice, his brand of rice — and there’s 2,000 acres of it.
“People said you can’t grow rice here,” Blake Gerard said. “I had the crop growing in the field and they’re like ‘you can’t grow rice, we’re in Illinois, they grow rice in Louisiana.’”
It didn’t start with water-based agriculture.
The Gerard family began with wheat, alfalfa, corn and other row crops in the 1940s when Blake’s grandfather Harold Gerard made his move from a small island in Cairo to the small village of McClure. Blake’s father, Harold Lynn Gerard, continued on with the row crops until it evolved to soybeans. It wasn’t until 1997 after flood waters once again rushed through the McClure area that Gerard knew he couldn’t keep withstanding the water. Times were changing and he needed to as well if he wanted the family’s operation to survive the unpredictable
Mississippi and the warmer, wetter climate. So, in 1999, he turned to experimentation and planted his first rice crop of only 40 acres – adding the title of one of the nation’s northernmost rice producers to his resume.
“You know, ‘93, ‘95, ‘97 we had floods, and I’m like, I could grow something that’ll grow in water,” Blake Gerard said. Now, he is owner of Cahokia Rice, a lowglycemic, high-protein strand.
Grown worldwide, rice is a primary staple in half the world’s diet. In the United States, six primary states lead the way in production that accounts to 2% globally according to
USDA. The USDA doesn’t list Illinois as a production state – it isn’t known as home to a suitable climate for efficient rice growth – however Gerard is pioneering the way for northern rice.
“There’s only six right states but really there’s like eight or nine,” Blake Gerard said. “There’s Florida. You got your six, you know, California, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri, but then you also have Illinois, Tennessee, Florida, a little bit in Oklahoma.”
Early April commenced the planting of Blake Gerard’s 26th rice crop – and as the year progressed, it looked to be a more successful one.
“It’s definitely better than average, and it was just a good growing season for it, it was warm,” Blake Gerard said.” We didn’t have cold weather, much cold weather.”
He has a general unspoken principle: Plant anytime in April, whether it be the first of the month or the tail end, and the early, green
rice will sprout from the soil around May 5. This year was different. The acres filled with sprouts around April 20 and never slowed down – putting him two to three weeks ahead. A mix of Wyatt’s help and a gentle spring helped the season run smoothly. Farmers far and few between are Wyatt’s age, and Blake Gerard said he believes it’s now or never to get started.
Blake Gerard was in his early 20s when he left school at Mississippi State in 1990 to take helm of the Gerard family farm following his father’s death. Wyatt, now a similar age, made the decision to leave the University of Missouri to follow in his father’s footsteps.
The choice was an easy one. The routine of 12-hour days spent in the classrooms of Mizzou grew long and Wyatt grew restless. His time spent at the university was far longer than he wished. He thought to himself ‘why spend half the day indoors when he could be spending the same amount of time outside?’
He left for the summer to find new scenes outside of the river’s flatlands and Alaska became his home until his return in the middle of August.
Now, he’s shaping up to be the next Gerard generation to reap the wet and muddy river soil of McClure. Wyatt is learning all the ins and outs from his dad, a yearlong process that never really stalls.
Wyatt jumped right into the mix upon his return home. Harvest was around the corner and Blake needed the extra hands.
Blake spent long days in the driver’s seat of the combine in the spring, row by row, laying seeds down into the soil. He spent days alone in the warm summer scouting fields and pumping water. Wyatt now sits in the same combine seat, reaping the crop his father planted months prior. Blake is much more at ease knowing the responsibilities fall between the two of them.
With 30 years of experience, Blake Gerard is just good at rice, and when you’re that
good, Wyatt sees no reason why one would ever want to quit, he said.
“I don’t think he’ll ever retire,” Wyatt Gerard said. “I think he’ll like die like putting in a levee gate.”
Four generations of the Gerards have farmed in the changing landscape of Illinois agriculture, growing with the climate. Blake has increased his rice acreage exponentially from his original 40 acres, and he said he believes by the time Wyatt is his age, Cahokia Rice would be producing three times its current amount.
So, Blake stands over Wyatt’s shoulders and gives him directions – a learning process for if he so chooses to fill his fathers shoes down the line.
“I’m just trying to learn all I can from him,” Wyatt Gerard said.
Editor-in-chief Lylee Gibbs can be reached at lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com or @lyleegibbsphoto on instagram.
Blake Gerard walks across a field of rice to scout for weeds as he talks on the phone May 16, 2024 in Olive Branch, Illinois. Gerard scouts his fields regularly to check for weeds and other imperfections as the crop grows through the season. Photos by Lylee Gibbs @lyleegibbsphoto
Blake Gerard looks over the shoulder of his son, Wyatt Gerard, as Wyatt repairs the damaged teeth on the header of their combine while harvesting soybeans Oct. 23, 2024 in McClure, Illinois.
Old family photos of the Gerard family farm sit on a table in Blake Gerards office Oct. 23, 2024 in McClure,
Blake Gerard looks down
white pipe he installed just moments prior in a rice field May 28, 2024 in Olive Branch, Illinois. Gerard installed the pipe, known as a riser, using duct tape to stop the field from draining in order to let two inches off the field from a pipe located parallel on the opposite side.
Blake Gerard reaches down to grab a blue shop towel from his son Wyatt Gerard as the two prepare the combine to harvest a rice field early morning Sept. 11, 2024 in McClure, Illinois.
Blake Gerard looks out over the horizon at the setting sun behind a cloud of smoke from a harvested field he control burned just prior Oct. 23, 2024 in McClure, Illinois.
Blake Gerard holds a nearly ready-for-harvest rice plant he picked from a field to check its progress Aug. 8, 2024 in McClure, Illinois.
the
Jackrabbits flex might in beatdown of Salukis
Nick PfaNNkuche NPfaNkuche@dailyegyPtiaN com
It was another long Saturday on the gridiron for the Salukis as the South Dakota State Jackrabbits offense ran rampant.
Amar Johnson led a Jackrabbits running game that tore the Dawgs apart, with 14 carries for 157 of the teams 288 rushing yards and two of the five touchdowns.
“That’s what they’ve hung their hat on, is running the football at a high clip and they did that effectively today.” Hill said.
The Salukis had no answers for the Jackrabbits, and only after finding themselves down 41 in the third quarter was Michael Lindauer able to connect with Allen Middleton for a 48-yard touchdown.
“We weren’t good enough to make it a game today.” head coach Nick Hill said.
The Salukis took a business trip up to Brookings, South Dakota on Saturday, Nov. 16 for a date with the twice defending national champion South Dakota State Jackrabbits. The Salukis, coming off a home win, dropped yet another game with a final score of 41-10.
The Salukis got the ball first and got into enemy territory on two plays, in part due to a penalty on the Jackrabbits. SIU then faced a fourth-and-short and went for it, but an incomplete pass would give the ball to the home team.
On their first offensive play of the afternoon South Dakota State broke off a 43-yard gain to get to the Dawgs 21 where they would then convert on third down to get inside the 10. After a touchdown got called back for a penalty on the offense, the Jackrabbits settled
for a field goal.
On their next possession, SIU wasn’t able to move the ball enough and faced a fourth-and-one from their own territory and went for it again, knowing they’d have to make big plays to stay in the game. The Salukis were unable to pick it up and turned the ball over on downs.
Coming off the turnover on downs, the SIU defense did its job and forced a South Dakota State punt. The Salukis were able to pick up a first down, but wouldn’t get much further and themselves punted.
As the second quarter began, South Dakota State’s offense woke up. Three big passing plays got SDSU up to the 11 yard line, setting up Jackrabbits running back Angel Johnson for a 6-yard touchdown.
An early penalty got the Dawgs behind the sticks which led to a third-and-long. Freshman quarterback Jake Curry, coming off his best game of the season against Youngstown State, tried to make something happen, but his pass attempt was intercepted and set up the Jackrabbits at the SIU 20.
South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski punched the ball in from the one, the start of a Jackrabbits scoring onslaught. After a quick Saluki three-and-out, Amar Johnson took a 9-yard run to the house to put SDSU up by 24.
Operating with two minutes and change in the first half after another Saluki three-and-out, the Jackrabbits were able to complete two big passes to get deep into SIU territory. Kirby Vorhees finished the drive with a four yard touchdown on the ground to push the SDSU lead to 31, which would be the only
scoring by the break.
Out of halftime, the Jackrabbits showed no signs of letting up, with two 20-yard gains into Salukis territory. Two incomplete passes set up a field goal for SDSU.
SIU still had no answers for the South Dakota State defense out of the locker room despite a change at QB, with Lindauer entering the game. Their first drive of the second half ended with an interception, and SDSU capitalized on the takeaway and capped off a long drive with yet another rushing touchdown.
On their next series, the Salukis were able to get into enemy territory for the first time since their opening drive. Facing a fourth-and-six and with nothing to lose, the Dawgs went for it. After a breakdown in coverage, Lindauer found a wideopen Middleton for a 48-yard touchdown to get the Dawgs on the board.
With Curry exiting the game early due to a nagging injury, Lindauer led the passing game with 12 completions for 145 yards and the aforementioned touchdown.
“Mike’s out here playing and competing.” Hill said.
After a largely quiet fourth for both teams, The Salukis were able to get into range for a Paul Geelen field goal with 2:17 left in the fourth. Geelen converted his seventh field goal of the season to put the Dawgs down 41-10.
The Salukis (3-8, 1-6) will be at home next Saturday for the season finale on Nov. 23 when they take on the Murray State Racers (1-10, 0-7).
Sports Reporter Nick Pfannkuche can be reached at npfankuche@dailyegyptian.com.
editor@dailyegyptian.com
Faculty Managing Editor: Alee Quick aquick@dailyegyptian.com
Editor-in-Chief: Lylee Gibbs lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com
Design Chief: Peyton Cook pcook@dailyegyptian.com
Photo Editor: Enan Chediak echediak@dailyegyptian.com
News Editor: Carly Gist cgist@dailyegyptian
Sports Consultant: Ryan Grieser rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com
Digital Editor: Bhayva Sri-Billuri bsri-billuri@dailyegyptian.com
Ad Chief: Kassity Lee klee@dailyegyptian.com
Student Managing Editor: Dominique-Martinez-Powell dmartinez-powell@dailyegyptian.com
About Us
The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of Southern Illinois University Carbondale on a weekly basis. Fall and spring semester editions run every Wednesday. Free copies are distributed in the Carbondale, Carterville, and Springfield communities. The Daily Egyptian can be found at www.dailyegyptian.com or on the Daily Egyptian app!
Mission Statement
The Daily Egyptian, the student-run news organization of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is committed to being a trusted source of news, information, commentary and public discourse, while helping readers understand the issues affecting their lives.
Publishing Information
The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of Southern Illinois University Carbondale and functions as a laboratory for the School of Journalism in exchange for the room and utilities in the Communications Building. The Daily Egyptian is a non-profit organization that survives primarily off of its advertising revenue. Offices are in the Communications Building, room 1259, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, Ill., 62901.
Copyright Information
@2024 The Daily Egyptian. All rights reserved. All content is property of the Daily Egyptian and may not be reproduced or transmitted without consent. The Daily Egyptian is a member of the Illinois College Press Association, Associated Collegiate Press, College Media Advisers Inc. and the College Business and Advertising Managers Inc.
Submissions
Letters and guest columns must be submitted with author’s contact information, preferably via email. Phone numbers are required to verify authorship, but will not be published. Students must include their year and major. Faculty must include rank and department. Others include hometown. Submissions should be sent to editor@dailyegyptian.com
Photo provided by Saluki Athletics
SIU student brightens C.A.M. with 6 figure equipment donation
Will Elliott WElliott@dailyEgyptian com
In a dimly lit back lot of WSIU, locked behind two large black metal doors, lies boxes and racks of orange plastic-covered hexagon-shaped boxes, each filled to the top with lighting equipment that can help brighten futures for SIU students.
Midway through the fall 2024 semester, the SIU School of Media Arts got a $358,522 donation of highquality lighting and grip equipment from one of the world’s largest lighting and grip rental companies, MBS Equipment Company.
The equipment arrived on two trucks from opposite coasts of the United States. The equipment was emptied in the back studio of WSIU with the careful oversight of the man behind this donation, AJ Rice.
Rice, a current student at the SIU School of Digital Media, is finishing his double-major in Cinema and Theater. Two summers ago, Rice was interning at Village Roadshow Entertainment Group out in Los Angeles when his mom’s best friend Marti Rider took him to a bar to meet some old friends including Executive Vice President & Global GM of MBS Joe Dougherty.
“So while I was in LA doing my creative development internship,
“ ...I think you just got to have people that work for it, you know?”
- A.J. Rice
SIU School of Digital Media Student
Marti took me to a bar to socialize with her old friends,” Rice said. “She knew Joe. I told him where I came from, and mainly kind of why SIU was a good pick for me. He was like ‘oh my gosh equipment! You guys need equipment? I can help you out.’”
For the next six months after that interaction, Rice was in Zoom calls with Dougherty trying to turn their bar conversation into reality.
“I started talking to him with other executives at MBS Equipment Company to think about ‘What would an equipment donation look like? What are the needs that I see from the school?’” Rice said.
In January 2024, Dougherty offered Rice an opportunity to intern at MBS.
Between then and the summer, the talks of an equipment donation to SIU froze. After Rice worked at MBS and finalized a list, the conversations thawed out and started back up again.
On the last day of Rice’s working at MBS in his summer internship, Dougherty gave Rice the list of what MBS was going to donate to SIU. Dougherty also pulled a few favors to make sure that SIU didn’t pay for the shipments.
On Rice’s way back from his internship, he called Robert Spahr, current director of the School of Media Arts at SIU, to break the news of the up-and-coming donation. Spahr worked quickly to clear space for the new equipment. Spahr over email, stated how the equipment would be used.
“It will be used in the classroom for our production courses and some amount of equipment will also be allocated for use by RSOs,” he wrote. “Once the equipment arrives and is inventoried, there will likely be equipment of use by other schools within the College of Arts in Media
such as the SoTD (School of Theater and Dance), and SoJA (School of Journalism and Advertising). WSIU might also benefit from some of the equipment,” Spahr wrote.
Equipment was not the only thing MBS gave SIU; They also gave their first-ever partnership. The partnership makes it possible for more donations to SIU in the future and also opens the door for more SIU students to intern at MBS.
“Think about it. The whole thing can turn around quite quickly. New building, new partnered internships
with a huge company and new equipment, you can turn the whole school around quite fast. I think you just got to have people that work for it, you know?” Rice said.
The equipment now still sits in a pitch-black backlot space, guarded behind two large metal doors waiting for students and faculty of SIU to dig into the orange plastic-covered hexagon-shaped boxes and experiment with their new equipment.
Staff Videographer Will Elliott can be reached at welliott@dailyegyptian.com.
A.J. Rice describes his internship during last summer with MBS Equipment Company in an interview with Daily Egyptian reporter Will Elliott Nov. 13, 2024 at the Daily Egyptian in Carbondale, Illinois. Daylin Williams | @photosbydaylin
Louisiana-Monroe outlast Salukis in back-and-forth game
An early 13-0 run doomed the Salukis as they played host to the Warhawks of the University of Louisiana-Monroe this Wednesday in a women’s basketball matchup.
The score bounced back and forth early in the game. Neither team was able to widen the margin or hold a lead for very long until ULM pulled away on a 13-0 run midway through the first quarter, led by Jakayla Johnson’s 7 points in the quarter.
The surges from the Warhawk offense was a theme on the night, with three double-digit runs to push their way past the Dawgs for a win.
A big part of the reason why the Hawks were able to go on such a run was with the rebounding. The Salukis were out-rebounded 18-6 in the first quarter, including giving up eight
offensive boards.
“The difference of the game in the first half was offensive rebounds.”
coach Kelly Bond-White said.
The turnovers certainly didn’t help either, with the Salukis credited with 26 of them in the game. The Warhawks took advantage of the opportunities and tallied 29 points off turnovers.
SIU was able to find their footing going into the second quarter, shrinking what had ballooned to a 10 point lead, down to five by halftime.
Isabella Palmqvist, Gift Uchenna and Kayla Cooper led the way offensively, in the first half, with six points each.
Palmqvist finished the night, going three-for-four from three-point range in an 11 point effort.
Bond-White said Palmqvist is “getting better and better.”
Uchenna provided an imposing
presence in the paint for SIU and led the team with 16 points and continued her emergence as a strong interior player for the Dawgs, drawing high praise from Bond-White.
“I think you guys saw what she could do tonight.” Bond-White said.
Out of the break, the Salukis were able to grab the lead before ULM responded with a 12-1 run to take it right back. But the Dawgs weren’t going away quietly, and made it a one point game by the end of the quarter.
Tyranny Brown exploded during the quarter, dropping 11 of her 14 points in the frame. Her 14 points was her highest mark of the season, and was the secondmost by a Saluki on the night.
“I’m really, really proud of that kid.” Bond-White said.
Much of the fourth quarter was spent in a deadlock, with neither team willing to give much, until ULM did what they
had done all night and went on a 15-0 run to help lock up a 79-66 victory.
The Salukis (0-3) will play their next game on Saturday Nov. 16, when they travel to Indianapolis to
Salukis come up short in Stillwater, fall to OKST
Ryan GRieseR RGRieseR@dailyeGyptian com
For the SIU men’s basketball team, there’s no such thing as a runaway game against Oklahoma State.
Staying true to the nature of their previous two matchups, which were decided by a combined three points, the Dawgs were within four points in the last minute.
“Happy our kids didn’t give in when we got down 18. It felt like that was important for us to grow,” head coach Scott Nagy said.
After trailing by as much as 18, the Salukis made it interesting in the last four minutes of the game, going on a 18-6 run highlighted off by Kennard Davis Jr. putting in five straight points and Ali Dibba knocking down three free throws before the Cowboys put the game out of reach with a final score of 85-78.
“We outrebounded them, we shot 50%... there’s a lot of things we did well,” Nagy said.
It was ultimately the same issues that have hurt SIU all season that sunk them in Stillwater.
“The whole game was turnovers. We know that’s been a problem for us,” Nagy said.
The Dawgs were plagued by turnovers in the first half, as Oklahoma State’s relentless, fasttwitch defense forced 10 turnovers.
“It’s what cost us the game, and we all know it,” Nagy said.
The Salukis were able to combat these by shooting an efficient 53.6% from the floor, led by Elijah Elliott’s eight points in the frame.
A last-second three-pointer by Elliott left the Dawgs down one at the end of the first half, and with Elliott red-hot, in a seemingly good position to keep the game close in the second half.
Though he returned to the game, an untimely injury to Elliott, who made five three-pointers on the day, left the Saluki offense floundering for much of the early second half. The Cowboys went on a quick 10-0 run, fueled by three fastbreak opportunities.
SIU had spurts of good defense, but Oklahoma State was able to put together four runs of at least five points. The Salukis were able to answer with runs of their own, but outside of some short bursts were unable to put together any amount
of consistent offense outside of the last four minutes.
The turnovers decreased for the Dawgs in the second half, but they still gave up another eight, leaving their game total at 18. A whopping 35% of the Cowboys’ points came off of turnovers, and if they weren’t turning the ball over, they were up in SIU’s face and earning deflections.
Another problem began rearing its head in the second half too: poor paint defense. In the game, OSU put up 44 points in the lane, led by Abou Ousmane’s 15 in that area.
Ousmane feasted on SIU down low, and was able to help the Cowboy’s capitalize on the offensive glass against the Salukis. Though SIU outrebounded OK State in the game, 36-33, the Cowboys put in 17 second chance points, especially hurting SIU in the second half.
One of the biggest differences in this game for the Dawgs was their inability to get to the free throw line. SIU attempted only 11 free throws, and converted on five, good for a 45.5% clip.
Thursday’s victory was the first time Oklahoma State had beaten SIU in Gallagher Arena in over 60 years, and was their first win in the all-time series since 2005.
SIU will come back home and try to right the ship as they face the North Dakota State Bison in the Banterra Center on Monday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.
Sports consultant Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com.
Gift Uchenna shoots a basket at the Banterra Center Nov. 13th, 2024 in Carbondale, Illinois. Alexis Lessman | alessman@dailyegyptian.com
Photo provided by Saluki Athletics.
in the raffle for it. We do tattoos all day and we the proceeds go to… this year, we picked Southern Illinois Collaborate Kitchen to give our money to.”
But that’s not the only way Stanton plans on getting involved in the community.
“Just trying to get us into the college so that we can talk to kids about art; we’re hopeful to get our hands in more of the art department with the college so that we can kind of maybe do some sort of mentorships,” Stanton said. “We have also been in talks with the Chamber at SIU of the SalukiCon that happens every year. Hopefully this coming year will be the first year that we’re going to do a tattoo booth there,” Stanton said.
Artistic Minds, another tattoo shop on The Strip, is owned and was created by JP Beyler. The shop was already previously on The Strip but had to move due to lack of space. Their current space is on the corner of S. Illinois Ave, and W College St. right next to Slabz Skatepark and across from Slabz Skate Shop. The shop offers an employee lounge, waiting area, and 2 bathrooms with 4 stalls each.
“At the old location, we were kind of shoeboxed in, we had a little tiny back area for supplies, we didn’t have an area for people to eat lunch,” Beyler said. “We had one bathroom in there; there was no room for future expansion.”
Struggles with their location didn’t go away after the move.
“There was a lot more expense when we got here. We found out that the inspector had missed a bunch of stuff. The whole entire HVAC system was shot, a lot of the plumbing was shot and there was huge expenses that I didn’t think were going to happen,” Beyler said.
Beyler has advice for people who want to start their own business.
“It’s worth the risk. I’ve started businesses that failed. It hurts but just remember that you’re not alone when you’re building, that all the people that are working for you are helping you achieve that,” Beyler said. “Expect to lose, even more than once… but if you have that drive to where you know you want to be a business owner, that drive is never going away.”
Mike’s Music has been around for almost 32 years. Owner and founder Mike Ricci, had a slightly different
relocation story as relocating was not in his plans.
“We were kind of forced into moving because the ceiling at our location collapsed after a really heavy rainfall,” Ricci said. Their previous location was next to Hemp-N-Stuff Head Shop on E Main St. The new building they moved into also used to be a music store called Sound Core.
“The physical act of moving was a nightmare because we had 31 years of stuff at the other place.” Ricci said. But it only took us about four days to do the move and set things up here. So we’re still kind of getting our legs in the new place and we can’t find everything right away. For instance, it took us about two weeks to find our scissors. We ended up finding three pairs. The move was rough, but making the move is the best thing that we’ve done since we opened the doors 32 years ago.”
Ricci is planning on hosting a new show, which will be the store’s Rocksgiving Show. He does this in hopes to engage with the SIU and surrounding community more than he’s been able to from the other side of town.
“Here at the new location, we are also going to be starting having live shows in the store. As a matter of fact, our first live show since the grand opening is going to be this month, Nov. 16 with three great bands going to play: Bite Risk, Katt Holiday and So-So Samaritan,” Ricci said. “It’s going to be our Rocksgiving Show and we’re giving away a brand new Guild acoustic guitar and and M240E acoustic guitar to one of the lucky attendees, and we’re going to try to do shows like that at least four times a year.” Ricci has been the owner of the business since its very creation, and he has years of experience in being a business owner.
“Stay focused. Have a business plan. Work hard and, above all, pay attention to your business; It’s a rare day that someone else can run your business for you. Don’t be intimidated into not telling people exactly what you want,” Ricci said. “Make sure that your team is pulling on the same side of the rope.”
Sports reporter Joslyn Cole can be reached at jcole@dailyegyptian.com.
A customer walks inside the new location of Plaza Record on The Strip Nov. 14, 2024 on The Strip in Carbondale, Illinois. Photo by Alexis Lessman | lex_lessman_photography