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Sullivan City Council Approves Ordinances Related to TIF District

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•December 14, 2022•
by Crystal Reed

The Sullivan City Council meeting began with a public hearing on the levy and assessment of taxes for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2022 and ending April 30, 2023. The total levy is $1,204,613 which is up from prior years because TIF 1 has expired. Treasurer Sarah Golden said the tax rate is no higher than it was 10 years ago and the public will not see their tax bills go up.
The council addressed several items in regard to TIF District 4. The first item authorized the execution of a Professional Services Agreement with Jacob and Klein, LTS, The Economic Development Group and city of Sullivan. The group will provide technical advice to assist the city with the TIF.
Another resolution was a third amendment to Sullivan Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District 4 Central Properties and Investments, LLC Redevelopment Project. Mayor Richard Glazebrook said the area is located on Hamilton Street on the east side across from Industrial Way Road and will be apartments. The third item was another proposed third amendment to TIF 4 Legacy Post Frame Home, LLC Redevelopment Project. Read More

Holiday Hours for MCHGS

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•December 14, 2022•

The Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society will be closed from Friday, December 23 until they reopen on January 5, 2023 at 9:00 a.m.
This has been a very busy year for the Society from acquiring a new building, moving and setting up the library and the museum with many new ways to research historical and family records and setting up many new displays in the museum that depict Moultrie County history and the people of Moultrie County who lived and work here.
Plans being made for a Grand Opening to take place in the Spring along with many outdoor displays that will take place during the new year.

Mobile Food Pantry in Sullivan

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•December 14, 2022•

The University of Illinois Extension in cooperating partnership with Decatur Catholic Charities and Sullivan United Methodist Church will be holding a mobile food pantry on Wednesday, January 11 from 4-5 pm at Sullivan United Methodist, 216 W. Jefferson, Sullivan (across from the firehouse in Sullivan). A mobile food pantry delivers a 2 week supply of food per family in rural communities. Any individual or family that does not have a steady food supply qualifies to receive food. No financial information is required to qualify. This distribution is open to all, not only residents of Sullivan. Sign up deadline is by Wednesday, January 4 at 4:30 pm by calling 217-259-2920 or 217-728-8521. Once your form is completed by phone, you will be given a number to bring with you on the day of distribution. If you lose your number, you need to bring identification. The food will be distributed according to your household size on January 11 from 4-5 pm at the Methodist Church in the parking lot across the street.

Winter Wonderland in Windsor 2022

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Windsor Royalty Enjoys Windsor
Wonderland
2022 Little Miss Harvest Picnic Brystol Wiltermood spent time at the Windsor Wonderland event on Saturday, December 3.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Writing to Santa
Kaysen Shaw put his letter in Santa’s mailbox on Saturday, December 3 in Windsor. In addition to writing Letters to Santa earlier in the evening children could visit with him at the Windsor Storm Memorial Public Library.

Sullivan’s Downtown Christmas Celebration 2022

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Photo courtesy of Molly Tenuto
Dove, Inc. Hosts Santa’s Little Helper Workshop
Staff from Dove, Inc. hosted Santa’s Little Helper Workshop during Sullivan’s Christmas activities on Friday, December 2. The indoor activities were quite popular. Activities included cookie decorating, Letters to Santa and a variety of crafts. They also served hot dogs, chips and hot chocolate. Pictured from Dove, Inc. are Jennifer Tolladay, Becky Comstock, Andrea Kocher and Jamie Houchins.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Making Christmas Crafts
Marlee Weaver shows the necklace that she was making at Santa’s Little Helper Workshop on Friday, December 2. Activities included making necklaces, decorating cookies, writing letters to Santa, coloring pages and more.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Writing a Letter to Santa
Lyla and Cade Nadler wrote Letters to Santa at the Masonic Temple in Sullivan as part of Santa’s Little Helper Workshop which was organized by Dove, Inc.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Sullivan Singers Jr. Sings Christmas Carols
Members of the Sullivan Singers performed Christmas songs during the Christmas festivities in Sullivan. Sullivan Dance Studio dancers also performed as well.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Visiting with Santa
Cooper, Waylon and Tucker Atchison visited with Santa during Sullivan’s Christmas festivities. Children were able to share their Christmas wishes with Santa throughout the evening with a short break in visits during the Christmas parade.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Free Christmas Ornaments
Lori Poorman of Agri-Fab gave out free Christmas ornaments during the Sullivan Christmas activities on Friday, December 2. The ornaments have the word Joy with a manger scene and star in the “o” of the word.

Moultrie County Swears in New Officials and Board Members

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•December 7, 2022•
Moultrie County Circuit Judge Jeremy Richey swore in new county officials during a ceremony on Thursday, December 1. Those sworn in were County Clerk Linda Qualls, County Treasurer Stephanie Helmuth, County Sheriff Gary Carroll, and County Board members Scott Buxton, Tyler Graven, Kenny Graven, Bill Voyles, Aaron Wilhelm, Travis Phelps and Joshua Roe. County Board members John Vander Burgh and Marsha Kirby will be sworn in at a later date.

 

Photo by Kristi Hart
Carroll Sworn in as Moultrie Co. Sheriff
Gary Carroll is sworn in as the new Moultrie County Sheriff by Moultrie County Circuit Judge Jeremy Richey.

Photo by Kristi Hart
Helmuth Sworn in as Moultrie Co. Treasurer
Stephanie Helmuth is sworn in for another term as Moultrie County Treasurer by Moultrie County Circuit Judge Jeremy Richey.

Photo by Kristi Hart
Qualls Sworn in as Moultrie Co. Clerk
Linda Qualls is sworn in as the new Moultrie County Clerk by Moultrie County Circuit Judge Jeremy Richey.

Photo by Kristi Hart
Moultrie Co. Board Members Sworn in
Scott Buxton, Kenny Graven, Aaron Wilhelm, Tyler Graven, Joshua Roe, Travis Phelps and Bill Voyles are sworn in as county board members.

Students Decorate Courthouse Tree 2022

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Photo courtesy of Kristi Hart
Students Decorate Courthouse Tree
The Christmas tree at the Moultrie County Courthouse is ready for the holidays after Morning Project HELP and Early Childhood and Afternoon Project HELP kids from Okaw Valley Elementary School decorated on Thursday, December 1.

Obituaries 12-7-2022: Evelyn Harris

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Evelyn Harris

Evelyn Lenora ‘Nory’ Harris, 86, of Sullivan, passed away at 6:36 p.m., Monday, November 28, 2022, in Aspen Creek of Sullivan.
Celebration of Life services will be 2 p.m., Saturday, December 3, 2022, in Elim Springs Church of Jesus Christ with Vanessa Patient and Brigham Hagerman officiating. Visitation will be 1 p.m. until service time. Interment will take place in Greenhill Cemetery in Sullivan, Illinois, immediately after the service. Arrangements are by the Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at reedfuneralhome.net. Read More

English Students Express Opinions in Letters to the Editor

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•December 7, 2022•
Editors Note: The following letters to the editor were submitted by Cami Badman’s honors English students at Sullivan High School. Studnts picked a debatable topic of their choice and used the techniques they learned in class. Several letters were provided to us and we have chosen to print the following letters. They will be spanned out in the next couple of weeks so check out our next week’s edition for more.

Dear Editor,

The debate of increasing the federal minimum wage is ongoing and a very common topic within our politics today. Many states have taken this into their own hands, and either raised the wage or kept it the same. It is in our country’s best interest to not raise the wage to $15.00 an hour as it would raise unemployment levels and the price of goods, creating an increase in poverty. “The Congressional Budget Office projected that a minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $10.10 would result in a loss of 500,000.” 500,000 jobs lost is a significant amount and this estimate is only accounting for the job loss if the wage went from $7.25 to $10.10. Many politicians are pushing for the minimum wage to be set at $15.00 per hour, which would cause even more unemployment, putting too many people without a job. Read More