Makanda News

Hikers looking to enjoy a few trails at Giant City State Park before winter will have to wait a little longer.

Visitation will be held today for an SIUC student who died from injuries suffered in a car accident Monday.

One man is dead and another injured after a traffic accident in rural Makanda. The accident happened around 4:30 Monday afternoon on Giant City Road just south of Touch of Nature Road.

D.J. Kennedy, 61, who plays the trombone, talks with fans while his bandmates and roadies of The Joey Odum Blues Project pack up gear Sunday after their concert in downtown Makanda for the Vulture Fest weekend.

Makanda resident Steven St. Julian will never forget the friends he lost to HIV/AIDS. St.

Weekend planner is back after a summer vacation with some offbeat ideas for a colorful weekend, from vultures and fall foliage to wild animals and something called the Leopard Percussionists: - In Makanda, Ill., with its boardwalk and artisans on U.S. 51 south of Carbondale, Ill., the 10th annual Vulture Festival is Saturday and Sunday.

Leif Faber, left, a Touch of Nature employee from Makanda, and his wife Junko, center, hold their 9-month-old son Kai as he gets his first flu vaccination at the Health Center Tuesday.

Detours tempt with signs saying Shawnee Wine Trail directly south of Carbondale and Southern Illinois Wine Trail, south and east of Carbondale.

It never ceases to amaze me how small towns in Southern Illinois can find something to celebrate, and that's a good thing.

Victor Eck of Pomona, Ill., and Kathy Duncan of Grand Tower, Ill., announce the engagement of their daughter, Jennifer Lynn Eck of Jonesboro, to Holden Charles Webb.

The 280,000 acres of the Shawnee National Forest is not a solid expanse of trees.

In this June 23, 2004 file photo, The Blue Sky Winery rises among the rolling hills and two-year-old vines near Makanda, Illinois.

In this June 23, 2004 file photo, The Blue Sky Winery rises among the rolling hills and two-year-old vines near Makanda, Illinois.

Portions of Illinois are part of America's biggest wine region, the new Upper Mississippi River Valley viticultural area.

Gas prices may not keep people from traveling this summer as they did in 2008, but the economy may still restrict vacation budgets.

Volunteer teams worked over the weekend to clear trees and debris from two Boy Scout properties affected by the May 8th severe thunderstorms.

Thousands are still without power, and leaders across the region are working to piece back together their communities.

Brett Haynes, of Lemont, and Hannah Streicher, of Kankakee, enjoy an outdoor concert Saturday at Spring Fest in Makanda.

Mushroom season leaves a short window to gather edible morels, so Piasa Winery makes the most of it.

By TESA CULLI tesa.culli@register-news.com MAKANDA - The Mt. Vernon Register-News received awards in every general excellence category announced during the Southern Illinois Editorial Association 113th General Meeting Friday at Giant City State Park Lodge.