So far, local business did not get the expected eclipse bounce

by Steve Dunford

There were pleas from a few elected officials to get out and about this weekend.

The projections of hundreds of thousands of people were off base.  There have been tie ups of traffic in the Pacific Northwest in which is guaranteed no cloud cover.  I wonder if national and international tourists changed plans.

The search of eclipse glasses seem to be the big story here in Franklin County.  Last night, some were going for as high as $50 on some yard sale social media sites.

There is a chance of storms today that could hurt the amount to this area.  The Shawnee National forest had the most people in Southern Illinois, as the Garden of the God’s recreation area had to be closed with the weekend crowd.

The strip of Western Kentucky from Paducah to the Fort Campbell area experienced a lot of tourists, especially in the Land Between the Lakes area.

The Marion Republican reported an increase in traffic at Veteran’s Airport, formerly Williamson County Airport.  Scanner traffic was busy with planes landing yesterday morning.  They are using one runway dedicated to parking planes.

I will continue to monitor the situation, as people began to leave the area this afternoon, as traffic on northbound I-57, and State Routes 148 and 37 could be heavy.