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Okaw Valley Middle School Baseball Coach Charged with Sexual Abuse

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Rural Shelbyville man arrested Thursday in Findlay

April 28, 2015

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

An Okaw Valley middle school baseball coach was arrested last week after allegations surfaced that he had sexual relations with a 13-year old girl.
According to court records, Wade T. Burch, 25, of rural Shelbyville was arrested last Thursday by Illinois State Police special agent Rodney Slayback after an investigation into allegations that he was sexually involved with a 13-year old OVMS student.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Burch voluntarily met with both Findlay police chief Chris Nichols and Slayback last Wednesday afternoon at the Mattoon Police Station. There, Burch was told of the allegations against him and subsequently interviewed. According to Slayback, Burch was told repeatedly that he was not under arrest and free to go, but the rural Shelbyville man agreed to stay until having to leave to umpire a baseball game.
The affidavit goes on to explain that Burch initially denied the allegations but eventually admitted to the possibility that he had met with a 13-year old girl during the Thanksgiving break last November and that he could have possibly kissed her at that time, but cited difficulty in recalling the events due to having been drinking heavily. Read More

Redskins Summer Football Camps Set for June, July

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April 29, 2015

A football camp for both Sullivan and Okaw Valley students will be held this summer in both June and July.
Those who will be a freshman-senior beginning next fall are encouraged to attend the camp which will be held between June 8-11 and July 20-23 from 7-9 a.m.
There is a fee associated with the camp. For fee information as well as application forms, contact Sullivan High School at 728-8311. Applications need to be returned by May 4 and may be mailed to Gerald Temples, Sullivan High School, 725 N. Main Street in Sullivan.

Theft Reported at Sullivan Liquor Store Saturday

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Two male subjects are wanted in the connection to a theft that occurred Saturday night in Sullivan.
According to Sullivan police chief John Love, a 911 call was made at approximately 10:11 p.m. Saturday regarding a theft in progress at the Sullivan Package Liquor store located at 619 S. Hamilton.
According to the police report, two male subjects entered the business with one eventually purchasing two energy drinks and a bottle of whiskey while the other stole a bottle of rum valued at $20.
Love says that no arrests have been made as of Monday afternoon and that the incident is still under investigation.

Obituaries 4-29-2015: Ellen Rhoads

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RhoadsEllen Rhoads

Celebration of Life services for Ellen C. Rhoads, 79, of Olney, formerly of Findlay, were held at 11 a.m. Friday in Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan with Felix Hagerman and Vanessa Patient officiating. Burial was in Wright Cemetery in Findlay.

She died at 7:25 a.m. Tuesday April 21, 2015 in Richland Memorial Hospital in Olney.

Read More

Timberwolves Baseball Sharp in 9-1 Victory over LSA

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Photo by Keith Stewart Okaw Valley sophomore Taylor Coleman reaches for first on a throw-out attempt Monday.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Okaw Valley sophomore Taylor Coleman reaches for first on a throw-out attempt Monday.

Still, still undefeated from the mound

April 29, 2015

By Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

Okaw Valley starter Devon Still (7-0) won his seventh game in as many starts while improving the Timberwolves overall record to 18-1, after defeating Decatur LSA. Still had an all-conference day fanning 10 of the opposition over seven innings of one-run ball, and helping his own cause at the plate going 4-4 with three RBIs.
Coach Andrew Hagerman expected nothing less from his senior lefty.
“Devon pitched well which is no surprise. He located all his pitches, and he played like a senior, and he has been doing it all year.”
Still pitched out of a first inning jam thanks to a web gem by his third baseman and then struck out the side in the second, twisting right handed batters into the ground with nasty movement down and in. Still flashed some leather of his own in the third inning coming off the mound to make an excellent play on a would be bunt single. Still whirled and delivered a missile across the diamond beating the runner to first. Capping off the performance Still struck out the side again in the fifth overmatching the LSA hitters with a mix of velocity and movement. Coach Hagerman thought the defensive effort was a big factor in the win. Read More

Loop Lake Shelbyville Bike Ride June 13

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April 29, 2015

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Lake Volunteers Association are hosting the second Annual Loop Lake Shelbyville bike ride on Saturday, June 13. All rides will start from the Lake Shelbyville Visitor and will include options for a 22 mile, 52 mile or a 65 mile ride. Proceeds for the ride will benefit the Lake Volunteers Association (LVA). The LVA provides education, historical interpretation, recreational and environmental improvements at Lake Shelbyville. Read More

Understanding Illinois: Why Can’t They Be Like Me?

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NowlanApril 29, 2015

By Jim Nowlan
Outside Columnist

I travel the state a lot. On Amtrak, from western Illinois into Chicago’s Loop, I pass from left-behind rural towns and through new middle-class housing tracts on the suburban fringe.
Next come older, wealthy suburbs like Hinsdale and farther on the mostly Hispanic towns like Cicero and Berwyn. After that it is the mean streets of poor, black and Hispanic Chicago before reaching the golden, gleaming city center on the lake.
These varied worlds don’t communicate much with one another. Few in tony Hinsdale have in their world view the poor, often violent black neighborhoods not far to the east.
When I was a child after World War II, there were more vibrant farm market towns and small cities and fewer suburbs than today. Read More

Obituaries 4-29-2015: Mary Nolan

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Nolen obit photoMary Nolen

Celebration of Life services for Mary F. Nolen, 78, of Sullivan were at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan. Burial was in Jonathan Creek Cemetery in Sullivan.

She passed away at 6:55 p.m. Friday April 24, 2015 in St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur.

Read More

Lovington Community Club Donation

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Photo by Sally Foley Lovington Community Club Donation The Lovington Community Club donated a total of $2100 to seven area organizations ($300 each), which were represented by the following individuals: seated left to right are Gary Smith (Lovington Ambulance Corporation and the Lovington Fire Department), Rodney Houser(Churches of the Lovington Area), and Leroy Fair (Lovington Alumni Association). Standing left to right are Norma Brust, Linda Alumbaugh(Christ’s Food Pantry), Darlene Barlow (Lovington Library), Jessica Mercer(Sparrows), Pam Nottingham, and Carol Smith. Brust, Nottingham, and Smith represented the community club.

Photo by Sally Foley
Lovington Community Club Donation
The Lovington Community Club donated a total of $2100 to seven area organizations ($300 each), which were represented by the following individuals: seated left to right are Gary Smith (Lovington Ambulance Corporation and the Lovington Fire Department), Rodney Houser(Churches of the Lovington Area), and Leroy Fair (Lovington Alumni Association). Standing left to right are Norma Brust, Linda Alumbaugh(Christ’s Food Pantry), Darlene Barlow (Lovington Library), Jessica Mercer(Sparrows), Pam Nottingham, and Carol Smith. Brust, Nottingham, and Smith represented the community club.

Sullivan Students Receive Sobering Message

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Photo by Keith Stewart Sullivan high school students walk by the casket of a crash victim as the mother, played by SHS social studies teacher Marsha Kirby and pastor Bil Reedy look on solemnly. Though pretend, the casket and actors were part of last Thursday’s very serious presentation on the perils of both drunk driving and texting and driving.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Sullivan high school students walk by the casket of a crash victim as the mother, played by SHS social studies teacher Marsha Kirby and pastor Bil Reedy look on solemnly. Though pretend, the casket and actors were part of last Thursday’s very serious presentation on the perils of both drunk driving and texting and driving.

Prom-wreck simulation adds tragic story to presentation

April 29, 2015

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Last Thursday morning wasn’t your typical prom-wreck simulation at Sullivan High School. Though still present were the moving portrayals of a drunk teenager stumbling out of her car, “blood” smeared on her face, local police and emergency responders rushing onto the scene–also known as the north high school parking lot–and a motionless body in the back seat of another badly damaged car, this year’s simulation was also accompanied by a presentation by Samantha Kater, a former Charleston resident who in 2011 was directly involved in a fatal DUI that killed her best friend. Read More