OVHS track seniors honored
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Windsor 2025 Prom Royalty
The battle after service: Helping Veterans struggling with addiction
•May 14, 2025•
by Jody Boulay
As Memorial Day approaches, Americans nationwide prepare to honor the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. Ceremonies will be held, flags will be flown at half-staff, and families will gather to pay tribute. But amid the solemnity and gratitude lies a quieter, often overlooked truth. Many of our heroes return home not to peace but to a new battlefield, one waged within.
It’s a battle that doesn’t make headlines and is waged silently behind closed doors, far from the front lines. Military service members and veterans face unique and profound challenges that can linger long after their tours of duty end. While we rightfully celebrate their courage and sacrifice, we too often fail to recognize the invisible wounds many carry, particularly those that lead to substance use disorders.
Read MoreSHS Cameron Crowe Signs with Greenville
SHS Taylar Mercer Signs with Lake Land
Lady Redskins take 3rd at LPC Meet
•May 14, 2025•
SHS Girls Track finished in 3rd place with 82 points at the LPC Meet on Friday in Arcola. They also had 5 athletes garner All Conference accolades and several new season personal records.
Riane Bear is the new LPC Champion in the High Jump with an outstanding 5’4” 1st place performance, an inch shy of the school record. The 4 x 400 relay of Bear, Julia Moody, Kaylee Smith, and Avery Renfro ran a huge season PR of 4:28 to finish the meet with another LPC championship. Renfro ran an amazing anchor leg of 1:02 to come from behind to clinch the win for the Lady Redskins. The 4 x 100 relay of Mya Dyer, Grace Crothers, Renfro, and Kelsie Hodge also ran a season PR of 52.12 to finish 2nd in the race.
Read MoreRedskins win championship
•May 14, 2025•
Last Friday night, the SHS Boys Track team won the Lincoln Prairie Conference Championship for the second year in a row. With three of their top senior athletes out with injuries this season, competing for another championship was a very tough challenge, but they had a lot of guys step up with huge performances to help finish on top.
A big highlight was Mason Booker running a 40.04 in the 300m Hurdles to set a new LPC record and also reset his SHS record, and a 15.44 in the 110m Hurdles to set another new conference record.
Read MoreLetter to the Editor: 5-14-5025
State lawmakers must curb illicit vape sales in Illinois
In my professional life as a former senior special agent with the ATF and now as an educator teaching in secondary and higher education throughout Illinois, I have a unique view into both the criminal underworld and the communities it harms. I strongly support HB2634 because I believe it is critical to protect our state from the dangerous networks infiltrating our schools and neighborhoods through the illicit vape trade.
From an enforcement perspective, illicit vape sales and associated crimes aren’t isolated violations. They are part of complex trafficking systems that rely on cross-border deception, shell distributors, and digital marketing aimed squarely at minors. I’ve seen these products come through ports mislabeled as electronics, sold in stores without any oversight, and end up in the hands of teenagers who don’t understand the risks.
Read MoreRemembering who we are…….58
The Hike to Mattoon
•May 14, 2025•
by Janet Roney
When I was a child, my Grandmother Shuman told me that when my great-grandmother Mary McPheeters Shuman was a little girl playing in her yard, Abraham Lincoln once waved at her as he rode by on the old Charleston Road that passed through our family farm. That story and others inspired my life-long interest in local history and old trails.
In the summer of 1982, I suggested that our family hike the old Charleston Road from our home north of Sullivan to Mattoon. Our son, Clay, was twelve and daughter, Cynthia, just nine, but we were used to short hikes. On nice summer evenings, the kids and I, plus our dog, Ernie Bob, often walked down the road to visit Roger’s 92-year-old Grandfather Hall, about two miles, round trip.
Read MoreLovington’s “Farmer’s Market”: Event created to bring community together
•May 14, 2025•
by DM Williamee
The Lovington Farmer’s Market began on May 8th, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., 130 W State Street, in Lovington.
The brainchild of lifetime Lovington resident Lisa Kamm, who was inspired after attending local Mapping Group meetings. From those meetings, Lisa was driven to create an event that would benefit the Lovington community, and thus the Farmers Market was born: a free place for vendors (no charge, but bring your own tables, signage, displays, etc.) to set up and offer their wares, and a place for the community to purchase those items.
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