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Sullivan Blue Dolphins Kick Off Four Week Run of Championship Meets

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Photo courtesy of Kim Drury
2023 Championship Team for the Sullivan Blue Dolphins
Bottom left to the top: Liam Donovan, Johnathan Iacobazzi, Nathan Rafferty, Bryce Badman, Lana Cremeens, Addy Hendry, Asher Hendry, Isaac Chambers, Cadence Schmohe, Mack Pogue, Tyler Blickensderfer, Miles Kersten, Matthew Wesselman, Ethan Schmohe, Madalyn Booker. Not pictured: Emily Crosier.

•March 8, 2023•
Submitted by Kim Drury

Sullivan Blue Dolphins kicked off a four week run of Championship meets the weekend of February 24th at the Regional Championship meet in Springfield. Fourteen swimmers started off the Championship season competing in 68 individual events at the Regional meet. Top 8 in each event make it to the podium. The Blue Dolphins went to the podium 51 times and of those 51 times 25 were with top 1-3 finishes.
Results by swimmer:
Bryce Badman, 10 and under division finished 1st in the 100 backstroke, 2nd 50 backstroke, 3rd 500 freestyle and 5th in 200 freestyle.
Tyler Blickensderfer 10 and under division finished 4th in the 100 breaststroke, 200IM, 5th 50 breaststroke, 6th 100 backstroke, 8th 500 freestyle
Isaac Chambers Open division 1st 200IM, 3rd 200 breaststroke, 5th 100 butterfly
Lana Cremeens 11-12 division 7th 400 IM Read More

Bethany Celebration Chili Cookoff

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Bethany Celebration Chili Cookoff
A chili cookoff was held at the Bethany American Legion on Saturday, February 25. There were thirteen entries. Winners were first place-Mark and Judy Seeley, second place-Kathy Tipsword, third place-Troy Stockdale, Most Unique-Kathy’s White Chicken Chili, Hottest-Mark Allen’s Traditional and Crowd Favorite-Kelsey Knopp’s Traditional.

Greenhill Cemetery Cleanup

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•March 8, 2023•
The City of Sullivan will begin its quarterly cleanup of the Greenhill Cemetery on Monday, March 20. Residents with surface flowers, wreaths, grave blankets or any other ground surface decorations should remove them by Sunday, March 18, 2023 if they wish to keep them. The cemetery personnel will not pick up any flowers in vases or on the monuments unless deteriorated. The cemetery does not have a facility to store unclaimed decorations, so if you wish to keep your items, please pick them up by this date. Please allow at least one week before replacing any items due to the excessive amount of items on various graves. All decorations, flowers and benches must be placed in the monument row. No items including mulch are allowed to be placed in the middle, foot, bordering or elsewhere on the grave site. Items that are not placed by the rules and regulations will be removed. Also any landscaping found that was not pre-approved will be removed. Questions or concerns call 217-728-8043.

LLC Spring Enrollment Up

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•March 8, 2023•
Lake Land College enrollment in workforce ready and non-degree programs are up by almost 12% at Lake Land College, following a positive Spring Enrollment Report.
The report also indicates Lake Land College remains the top choice for in-district, college-bound seniors.
Enrollment in short-term certificate programs increased by 26% and enrollment in technical/trade degrees increased by 8.64%. Both of these options prepare students to enter the workforce following completion of the program.
Students enrolled in non-degree courses saw a 3% increase. Read More

SOV Football Athletes Compete in Lift-a-Thon

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SOV Football Athletes Compete in Lift-a-Thon
A group of SOV Football athletes competed in the Taylorville Lift-a-Thon Powerlifting Meet recently. SOV finished in 2nd place behind the host school Taylorville. Other competing teams included Lincoln, Pleasant Plains, and Nokomis. The athletes competed in Bench, Squat, and Power Clean, and the total weight lifted was calculated to determine medalists. A ton of personal records were beaten on Saturday and these athletes earned individual medals:
Mason Booker: 1st in Weight Class, 3rd Overall
Aian Fryman: 1st in Weight Class, 4th Overall
Anderson Crouse: 2nd in Weight Class
Kaden Dalponte: 2nd in Weight Class
Wyatt Poyner: 3rd in Weight Class
Landry Still: 3rd in Weight Class
Garet Martz: 3rd in Weight Class
Lucas Floyd: 3rd in Weight Class

Probus Signs with Kaskaskia

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Probus Signs with Kaskaskia
Maddy Probus signed her letter of intent on Monday, February 27 to play softball at the collegiate level at Kaskaskia College. Some of her many accomplishments include the 2019 Joe Marks Award, 2021 Defensive Award Sullivan HS, 2022 Redskin MVP Award, 2022 CIC 2nd Team All Conference, 2022 Herald and Review Honorable Mention, 2022 News Gazette Honorable Mention. She is pictured with her father Mike Probus and mother Jennifer Dinger.

High Prices, Gaps in Availability Across Illinois Highlight Patchwork Child Care System

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As Pritzker makes $250M pitch for child care investment, data show the obstacles to access across Illinois

•March 8, 2023•

By Andrew Adams
Capitol News Illinois
aadams @ capitolnewsillinois.com

In some Illinois communities, finding child care isn’t just a routine task for families to work through, but a seemingly impossible dream.
In some of those places, costs are too high for middle class families to afford. In others, day cares have had to cut staff, limiting the number of available placements. Some areas, especially rural ones, have just one or two licensed day care centers for a population of hundreds of children.
Gov. JB Pritzker has made child care and early childhood education a priority in this year’s proposed budget. Since introducing his budget on Feb. 15, he has visited child care centers in eight cities to promote his “Smart Start” plan, a program of policies aimed at bolstering the child care workforce and making it more affordable for families.
“It is important to us to make sure that every 3- and 4-year-old in Illinois can go to preschool and have child care available to them,” Pritzker said during the Springfield stop on his multi-city tour. Read More

Daylight Saving Time – “Turn and Test”

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•March 8, 2023•
Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday, March 12, and the Red Cross reminds you to turn your clocks forward one hour and test your smoke alarms. Working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by 50 percent. It is important to “Turn and Test” to help stay safe from home fires – the nation’s most frequent disaster. Read More

DCEO Celebrates Women’s HERstory Month

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•March 8, 2023•
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) launched its annual Women’s HERstory Month campaign — developed to celebrate and support women-owned businesses and future female founders throughout Illinois. As part of the month-long celebration, DCEO is hosting events, launching a social media campaign, and sharing new resources to elevate and promote Illinois’ entrepreneurial women.
“DCEO is committed to uplifting communities who have historically faced barriers to business ownership, and we’re proud to spotlight and support women-owned businesses across our great state during Women’s History Month and beyond,” said Acting DCEO Director Kristin A. Richards. “In order to ensure Illinois remains the best place to live, work and do business, we continue to focus on supporting women as they continue to make progress and break glass ceilings.” Read More