•June 20, 2018•
The Little Okaw Valley Conference Northwest Division announced its softball all-conference teams last week.
Several area players earned honors.
For Okaw Valley seniors Grace Harlin and Natalie Jeffers were unanimously first team selections as position players. Read More
•June 20, 2018•
Fireworks will end the Bethany Celebration which opens Friday, June 22 and ends Saturday, June 23.
Photo furnished
Midwest Qualifiers from left are: Second place - Zach Williams, Caden Ellis of Sullivan winner and third place Kolten Bauer.
•June 20, 2018•
Caden Ellis, Sullivan High School golfer, won the Midwest Qualifier for the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship to be held July 29 through August 1 at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The Midwest Qualifier has been held in Decatur for more than 30 years, This year’s tournament was two days at Red Tail Golf Course, and Ellis shot a record - 3 (68, 73 - 141 total).
The Optimist International Junior Golf Championships continues to be one of the most recognizable junior tournaments in the world with more than 6,000 golfers attempting to qualify.
Annually more than 660 of the best junior golfers, representing more than 30 nations, 45 states and six Canadian provinces, converge for a week of unsurpassed competition and fellowship.
Since 1978, Optimist-sponsored golf tournaments have served as a springboard for many of golf’s greatest players.[/s2If]
•June 20, 2018•
After more than 10 years serving as a department director, Julie Moore Wolfe has opted to leave Decatur Memorial Hospital to accept a position at HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital.
“We are saddened by her decision to leave but wish her the best in all of her future endeavors and genuinely thank her for her years of devoted service,” said DMH President and CEO Timothy D. Stone Jr.
Moore Wolfe moved to Decatur in 1986 to work as the main anchor at WAND-TV. A decade later she was named president of the Decatur Chamber of Commerce. Seven years after that she accepted a position at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. She joined Decatur Memorial Hospital in 2008. Read More
•June 20, 2018•
Chloe Lynn Cordell of Sullivan was among 1,335 students earning academic degrees or post-baccalaureate certificates after the Spring 2018 semester at Western Illinois University. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Education, Early Childhood Eduction.
Bachelor’s degrees were awarded to 862 graduates.
•June 20, 2018•
Amanda Williamson, Assistant Director of Cole-Moultrie e9-1-1 updated Public Health Safety and Welfare Committee members on progress.
She explained the new microwave communications tower being constructed in Mattoon would enhance the quality of communications with Moultrie County first responders in Bethany, Dalton City, Lovington and Sullivan. Read More
•June 20, 2018•
By Scott Hilyard
Of the Peoria Journal Star
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, formerly named the Northern Regional Research Laboratory, has been headquartered in Peoria for 78 years.
Wait, the what?
Well, it’s best known as The Ag Lab, the federal scientific research operation that is the work home of 80 Ph.D. scientists and 120 support staff. Wrapped in post-9/11 wrought iron security, the building has been a solid, if vaguely mysterious, presence at the corner of Nebraska Avenue and University Street since 1940.
Created under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, The Ag Lab was one of four regional research centers built. The centers cost about $1 million each to build, equip and staff.
Then, the United States was emerging from the Depression and World War II was on the horizon. “All across this country there were large stockpiles of excess agricultural commodities,” former Ag Lab director Paul Sebesta said in 2015. “The chore was to take those excess commodities and create value-added products out of them to support the rural economy. The four centers were located in Peoria, close to the Great Lakes, in Philadelphia, one was located in New Orleans and one was located out on the West Coast, in the Bay Area. Each still exists and all four were constructed exactly the same. Read More
Edwin Robert Kirkwood
Edwin Robert Kirkwood, 94, of Sullivan, passed away 9:58 a.m. Tuesday, June 19, 2018, at his daughter’s home in Sullivan.
Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, June 23, 2018, at McMullin-Young Funeral Home, Sullivan. Visitation will be held one hour before the services at McMullin-Young Funeral Home, Sullivan. Burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery, Sullivan, with Military Rites by the Sullivan American Legion Post # 68. Memorials may be made to Moultrie County Food Pantry.
Edwin was born November 3, 1923, in Sullivan, the son of Clyde Earl and Pearl Helena (Tolley) Kirkwood. He served in the Navy as a Naval Armed Guard during World War II. He married Noretta Crowe on June 30, 1946; she preceded him in death on April 23, 2002. He attended Smyser Christian Church in rural Gays. Edwin enjoyed hunting, fishing and many other outdoor activities. He loved family activities and spending time with his grandchildren.
Edwin is survived by his daughters, Arlene (Tom) Elder of Sullivan, Cheryl Thompson of Effingham, Brenda (Roger) Moore of Sullivan and Lisa (Gordie) Wood of Sullivan; sister, Joyce (Jim) Leach of Decatur. He is also survived by nine grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
He was preceded in death by his parent, wife and one brother.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mcmullinyoung.com
•June 20, 2018•
By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist
I saw a bumper sticker the other day: Ask me how much I love my grandkids.
But do we really love them so much?
In our selfishness, speaking generally, we of the Baby Boom and earlier generations seem to be somewhat complicit in the following problems:
· U.S. debt is greater now than at the height of World War II, which had to be financed primarily with debt. The recent tax “reform” bill has some good points, yet it is to be paid for with $1.5 trillion in additional debt, which the retiree generation won’t pay for—their grandkids will.
· Most of us retirees still receive more from Social Security than we paid into it. That is changing, and for our grandkids it will be the opposite.
· We old farts receive much, much more in health care via Medicare than we pay into it, and the program will place financial heavy burdens on our grandkids.
· Dysfunction in Illinois state government over the decades will burden our grandkids with solving the wreckage. Read More
•June 20, 2018•
Deadlines for the July 4th edition of the Moultrie County News Progress and the July 5th edition of The Fish Wrap will be noon Friday, June 29.