Roger Kirkwood
Roger Gene Kirkwood, 81, of Windsor, passed away at 5:09 p.m., Monday, May 15, 2023, in his home.
A private family service will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to The Gift: Chris Tippitt 102 W. Division Findlay, IL 62534, to the Findlay Methodist Church, 103 Daley St, Findlay, IL 62534 or the donor’s choice. McMullin-Young Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Read More
Diana Hilliard
Diana L. Arthur Hilliard, 83, of Sullivan, passed away at 10:15 p.m., Monday, May 15, 2023, in Sullivan Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. Read More
Kurt Engelhardt
Kurt Engelhardt, 52, of Sullivan, passed away May 20, 2023, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. A celebration of life will be held at the Moultrie County Beacon at a later date. Read More
Kathleen Camp
Kathleen (Kathy) Camp, 73, passed peacefully at home on Sunday, May 21, 2023.
Private family services honoring her life are planned, and Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan is assisting the family. Read More
Larry Barker
Larry Joe Barker 77 of Bethany, passed away Thursday, May 11, 2023 , at Sullivan Healthcare, in Sullivan, surrounded by family. Larry was born November 14, 1945 in Strasburg to Burl Curtis Barker and Margaret Elizabeth (Volkman) Barker. Larry married his former wife, Wanda Sue Webb, June 14, 1968 in Sullivan. They were married nearly 48 years, but Larry loved her faithfully until the very end. Read More
•May 24, 2023•
by Crystal Reed
The Sullivan City Council discussed the ordinance regarding living spaces on the square during their meeting Monday night. Commissioner Chuck Woodworth was absent.
Changes have been made to the ordinance regarding living spaces on the square. Commissioner Abbey Sherwood reported that a public meeting had been held with all parties represented, and they worked to adjust the ordinance to what the majority of the group agreed to send to Planning and Zoning. Under uses permitted, they need to add banks, and there needs to be verbiage controlling the density of the amount of people in each residence.
Sherwood noted that nothing had changed since the approval of planning and zoning, but when changes are made, it will be sent to the various parties before it comes back to the council. According to Planning and Zoning Director Kristi Hart, a letter would be attached, and properties grandfathered in would be recorded in the minutes. Sherwood said it would be possible to amend the ordinance in the future should someone want to be grandfathered. Read More
•May 24, 2023•
Has Sullivan youth sports dropped the ball for our kids?
Dear Editor,
Summer is a time for the great American game of baseball and for years our Sullivan ball diamonds have been open to all of our youth, giving them the opportunity to play recreational (rec) baseball or softball. For the last 8 years, I have had the privilege of coaching many of these kids. I care passionately about sports, particularly youth sports and the opportunities it provides for our children to develop both physical and social skills.
Last year we had 26 girls sign up for middle school softball rec league which gave us two teams, one of which I coached. This year I received an email stating there would be no girls middle school recreational softball team for Sullivan. Knowing we had so many playing last year, I was shocked to hear this. And as someone who also signed up to coach again this year, I wrote to the Sullivan Youth Sports Board asking why. Here is, in part, the answer I received: Read More
•May 24, 2023•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer
Tod Kruse has a question about questions.
“Today, I decided to ask you about the use of ‘right’ or ‘OK’ at the end of a sentence when the speaker or writer is not asking a question, nor expecting a response. This seems to proliferate in interviews, speeches and general conversations. Help.”
Thanks for your email, Tod. Was there a question? You mentioned you were going to ask me one, but never quite did. What tipped me off was the lack of a question mark.
Assuming you meant to pose one, I’ll do my best to answer.
As the editor of the paper, I might say to a reporter or one of our editors, “Why don’t you write a story about the proliferation of weasels living under people’s decks.” Read More
25 Years Ago This Week
Susan Foster, an educator in the Lovington Elementary School, was named Rural Teacher of the Year in Telecommunications for her accomplishments as a technology coordinator. The announcement was made by the Fund for Rural Education and Development, a national educational foundation located in Washington.
The Bethany school board voted to eliminate three of the four name which the district had acquired over the year and to refer to all teams, from now on, as the Mustangs. Read More
•May 24, 2023•
Lovington is going to “Celebrate Good Times” Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10. This year marks the 150th year since Lovington was officially incorporated as a village. Several organizations have joined to celebrate the sesquicentennial.
On Friday, June 9, the LHS Alumni Association will hold its annual homecoming banquet starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Church of God Family Life Center. The alumni will honor new Hall of Fame members Sally Duncan, David Kidwell, Don Bell, Jeff Davis, Elise Wildman and the 2005 boys basketball team at the banquet.
At 8:00 p.m. the band Identity Crisis will entertain village residents uptown. Food trucks will also be available.
Saturday morning, June 10, starting at 6:30 a.m. the firemen will hold their pancake breakfast at the firehouse.
The Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society will display Lovington memorabilia at the Lovington Library starting at 9:00 a.m.
The sesquicentennial parade featuring the American Legion Honor Guard, the ALAH Marching Knights, pageant queens, antique tractors, floats, fire trucks, etc. will begin at 11:00 a.m., followed by a bags tournament at 1:00 p.m.
The Lovington Community Club will hold its annual fish fry at 4:30 pm in Tom Conn Park. 25/X8 Extreme Sports with inflatables, a bake sale and several vendors will also add to the celebration.
The fireworks display will begin at dusk at the Lovington Grade School.
Village board park and recreation chairman Brittany Bates and her committee have coordinated all of the events with the other organizations.