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Sullivan Quality Lube Opens Under New Family Management

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Photo by RR Best Pictured are Jeff (left) and David (right) Smith, a father/son duo that recently re-opened the Sullivan Quality Lube.

Photo by RR Best
Pictured are Jeff (left) and David (right) Smith, a father/son duo that recently re-opened the Sullivan Quality Lube.

Plan is to source parts, oil locally

•July 15, 2015•

by Joash Tiarks
Reporting in Sullivan

Through life it is necessary to deal with many different routines; a morning routine, a health routine, a school routine, a routine of yearly events. But for the routine of regular vehicle service there is a new option in town.
Jeff Smith, along with his six sons and one daughter, has recently leased the vacant garage on Jackson St., across from McDonald’s, to open Sullivan Quality Lube.
“We’ve been open for (a few weeks) now and we are seeing about 70 people a week come through,” Smith stated. “Most of those that stop in did not even know that we were open.”
A longtime resident of Dalton City, Smith is no stranger to routine maintenance, having worked as a mechanic for EK Truck Service, on Market St., for several years before branching out and purchasing a truck of his own. Read More

Sullivan Police Asking Public for Help Amid Criminal Vehicle Trespassing

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Four unlocked vehicles targeted over weekend

• July 15, 2015 •

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Sullivan police are asking the public to keep their car doors locked and an eye out for any suspicious activity after a string of unlocked vehicles were illegally entered over the weekend.
Sullivan Police Chief John Love says that four vehicles were the subject of criminal trespass this past weekend, two of which were then taken around town before then being abandoned.
One of the vehicles was found just north of Wyman Park on Worth street and another parked in the middle of a road in front of a stop sign. Read More

Sarah Bush Lincoln Philanthropic Group Awards More than $ 56,000 in Grants

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•July 8, 2015•

WomenConnected, a giving circle within the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Foundation, awarded grants totaling $56,406 to 18 programs and services at the Health Center, bringing the group’s total amount of grant funding to $426,604 since 2004.
WomenConnected is comprised of 74 women from Coles and surrounding counties who through their membership contributions, help fund and direct the expansion of services provided by Sarah Bush Lincoln.
Programs and services receiving WomenConnected support this year include: Heart Smart for Teens; Center for Healthy Living scholarships to help people who cannot afford the services; SBL Dental Services for urgent restorative care for mothers and children and oral health education to area grade schools; Healthy Kids Cooking classes; I Sing the Body Electric, an award-winning prevention program for teens; Step in the Right Direction, a diabetes prevention program; Living with Diabetes, a program that focuses on managing diabetes through nutrition and exercise; diabetic supply help; Heart Failure clinic; Building Hope Campaign, which supports the construction of a new Regional Cancer Center building; mental health books for Child Physiatrist Katie Hecksel, MD; and more. Read More

Free Self-defense Class July 18 in Sullivan

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•July 8, 2015•

The Moultrie County Counseling Center will sponsor a self-defense class free of charge to the public Saturday, July 18 in the Vineyard Church, located on South Route 32 in Sullivan. Classes will be available from 10-11:30 a.m. for ages 8-12 and from 12-1:30 p.m. for ages 13 and up.
Teaching the classes will be Joe Kennedy of “Industrial Martial Arts” in Mattoon. Kennedy is a third degree black belt and has been in the martial arts field for eight years. In addition, Sheriff Chris Sims and Police Chief John Love will make an informational presentation regarding community safety. Read More

Sullivan Woman in Stable Condition After Collision

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Victim of DUI wreck in Warrensburg

•July 8, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A Sullivan woman is in stable condition after more than two weeks of being hospitalized following a DUI accident near Warrensburg last month.
Judith McPheeters, 69, of Sullivan endured life-threatening injuries the evening of Wednesday, June 17 following a collision near Warrensburg.
According to a press release by the Macon County sheriff’s department, a call came in at approximately 6:35 p.m. regarding the two-vehicle wreck. Once on scene, responders had to extricate the 69-year-old Sullivan woman from her 2011 Chevrolet after it collided with a 2009 Ford pickup truck, driven by Ryan M. Maurer, 41, of Harristown. Read More

Obituaries 7-8-2015: Jennie White

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White, Genevieve 001Jennie White

Genevieve “Jennie” White, 91, of Sullivan passed away at 12:45 a.m. Friday, July 3, 2015, in Mason Point in Sullivan.

Funeral services were held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, in McMullin-Young Funeral Home in Sullivan. Burial was in Greenhill Cemetery in Sullivan.         Jennie was born February 16, 1924, in Sullivan, the daughter of Earl and Jennie Ruth Hieland Ray. She married Lynn A. White September 8, 1941, in St. Charles, Mo., and he preceded her in death July 25, 2012. She was a member of First United Methodist Church in Sullivan. She loved her family very much, enjoyed playing cards and was a great cook.

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Fourth of July Activity Winners 2015

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•July 8, 2015•

Below are the top places earned across various activities during this past weekend’s Fourth of July Celebration at Wyman Park:

Sack Races

Ages 0-4
1st place Tinley Stollard, Sullivan; 2nd place Easton Wickline, Sullivan; 3rd place Karsen Ragsdale, Sullivan.
Ages 5-7
1st place Kharli Kelly, Sullivan; 2nd place Brady Stollard, Sullivan; 3rd place Olivia Binnion, Sullivan.
Ages 8-10
1st place Madeline Mudd, Decatur; 2nd place Maddy Probus, Sullivan; 3rd place Emily Miller, Sullivan; Bryte Thompson, Lebanon, Ohio. Read More

Sullivan Schools Approve Final Budget for FY15

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Better than originally projected

•July 8, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

At their monthly board meeting last month, the Sullivan school board approved a final amended budget for fiscal year 15, which came to a close June 30.
That budget, while an improvement from the initial one passed last September, was not quite an improvement from the April meeting where a tentative amended budget was presented.
Compared to that budget, the final amended one sees an increase in expenditures just over $66,000. Superintendent Brad Tuttle attributed much of the increase to recent work on the HVAC systems at the elementary and middle schools that are nearly 20 years old and have been working at half capacity. The budget also reflects some of the spending of a $50,000 grant that was received last year. Read More