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Live Happy, Healthier, Wealthier Lives; Extension Can Help

News Progress Posted on by

•January 27, 20201•
We’re never too young or too old to learn valuable lessons that keep us fit, healthy, happy, and financially sound. In a tradition which has lasted decades and adapted with the changing world environment, Lessons for Living are monthly workshops which provide easy-to-understand tips for living full, rich lives.
The free online webinars, taught by University of Illinois Extension educators, are extended at no cost to the public in collaboration with the Illinois Home and Community Education units throughout the state. One may register online at go.illinois.edu/2021HCElessons. If you will need an accommodation in order to participate, please email Karla Belzer at kbelzer@illinois.edu. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs.

The monthly webinars include: Read More

D.C. Glossary A Capital Idea

News Progress Posted on by

•January 27, 20201•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer

Welcome to my D.C. glossary that, come to think of it, would have been more helpful a week ago.
• “Capitol,” with a capital C, is the building in which the legislative branch conducts its business. That goes for the building where the federal legislative branch does its thing in Washington, D.C., as well as where the General Assembly does its thing in Springfield.
Collectively, statehouses are referred to as (lowercase) capitols.
The Capitol — in most cases domed — sits in capital (lowercase, and a instead of o) cities.
• You’ve all seen the photograph of the yahoo in the ski hat carrying Nancy Pelosi’s podium around the Capitol, right?
Aha! Gotcha. He was carrying Pelosi’s lectern. From my research, Facebookers tend not to know the distinction.
That guy did look semi-menacing, but probably not powerful enough to lift a podium. Read More

NAMI Family to Family Class

News Progress Posted on by

•January 27, 20201•

NAMI is offering a free eight-session peer education program for family members, significant others and friends of people with mental health conditions. The program will be taught by NAMI-trained family members who have been there and includes presentations, discussions, and interactive exercises. The program is open to adults and those 14-17 when attending as a participant and accompanied by a parent or guardian. Sessions will be held Tuesday evenings from 6-8:30 p.m. from February 2-March 23 (March 30 if needed).
The number of participants for the program will be limited to 10-12. A meeting place in the Mattoon area is to be decided. Call Sue at 217-259-2550 or Donna at 217-273-9934 to sign up for this program and for questions. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, advocates for access to services, treatment, supports and research and is steadfast in its commitment to raising awareness and building a community of hope for all of those in need. See the website at nami.org or call the NAMI Helpline at 800-950-6264 or send an email to info@nami.org.

Elizabeth Houser Honored by COUNTRY Financial

News Progress Posted on by

•January 27, 20201•
COUNTRY Financial Representative Elizabeth Houser of Sullivan has earned a position on the insurance groups distinguished All American team.
Houser is among a select group of top COUNTRY Financial agency managers and financial representatives who qualified for the award. COUNTRY Financial has more than 2,000 agency managers and financial representatives in 17 states. Houser is ranked 145 out of the top 200 agents as of 12/31/2020. Read More

Teachers Receive Grants from Illinois Retired Teachers Assn.

News Progress Posted on by

•January 27, 20201•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Teachers from Lovington and Okaw Valley have received grants from the Illinois Retired Teachers Association. The Association had 247 applications in 2020, and these projects were two of the recipients.
Jennifer Hostetler, a third-grade teacher at Lovington Grade, was one of two recipients from this area. She will use the $250 grant she received to purchase coding robotics Dash and Dot. According to Hostetler, Dash is the most powerful robot companion that kids can use to apply and extend their coding knowledge. Packed with sensors and capabilities, kids may program the robot to move, light up, make sounds, avoid obstacles and even respond to their voices. Read More

IHSA Board Of Directors To Meet Again On January 27

News Progress Posted on by

•January 27, 20201•
by Jason Brown
NP Sports

What a difference two weeks make.
January 15, high school athletes in Illinois’ Region 6, including Moultrie County, did not have much hope for spring sports.
On that day, Governor JB Pritzker announced sports restriction rollbacks for three regions in the state, which did not include Moultrie County.
Schools in Moultrie County are located inside Region 6 and were on pause, until the Illinois Department of Public Health announced significant changes to its all-sports policy Friday, January 22.
The IDPH announced it would allow higher-risk sports to have competitions in regions that reached and stayed at Phase 4 of the state’s COVID-19 mitigations.
Region 6, which includes Moultrie County, reached Phase 4 on Thursday, January 21. Read More

Lovington Grade School 2nd Quarter Honor Roll

News Progress Posted on by

•January 27, 20201•
6th grade Straight A Honor Roll: Maxton Boddy, Morgan Casteel, Jaidyn Edwards, Samantha Fowler, Caleb Menna, Brynlee Moore, Joshua Taylor, John Williams.
6th grade Honor Roll: Tucker Casteel, Landen Franklin, Makailyn Martin.
7th grade Straight A Honor Roll: Daylon Doggett.
7th grade Honor Roll: Will Hilligoss, Alyssa Richards, Cambrie Smith.
8th grade Straight A Honor Roll: Kendall Carnahan, Lilian Edwards, Natalie Hutchcraft, Jacob Tighe.

SIUE Fall Dean’s List

News Progress Posted on by

•January 27, 20201•

The Fall 2020 Dean’s List for Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville has been announced. The following students from our area named to the list Kaitlyn Dudley and Zachary Mayberry, both of Sullivan.

Fuel Plant Fire

News Progress Posted on by

Photo by R.R. Best
Fuel Plant Fire
Windsor Fire Department was paged at 8:50 pm Monday night to respond to the FS Bulk Fuel Plant, west of Gays. When the department arrived, the fire was fully involved and they called for mutual aid for extra water. They used water for extinguishing part of the fire and the rest of the fire was put out using foam. Departments that responded to the fire were Sullivan, Lincoln, Wabash, Neoga, Mattoon, Findlay and Strasburg. The cause of the fire is currently unknown. Crews were on scene until 2 am.

Mitigations Scaled Back in All Regions of State

News Progress Posted on by

By Capitol
News Illinois

Two more regions of the state moved to Phase 4 COVID-19 guidelines on Monday, Jan. 25, meaning five of 11 regions can now allow both indoor dining and organized sports.
Region 1 in northwest Illinois and Region 2 in north-central Illinois each moved to Phase 4, which allows for indoor dining and drinking and, after last Friday’s announcement from the Illinois Department of Public Health, competitive participation in high school athletics. Regions 3 in west-central Illinois, 5 in southern Illinois and 6 in east-central Illinois are all already in Phase 4.
All regions of the state had moved out of Tier 3 mitigations as the COVID-19 health metrics continue to show improvement statewide. Regions 7, 10 and 11 were in Tier 1 restrictions as of Monday, while Regions 4, 8 and 9 were in Tier 2.
“With all regions of Illinois now out of Tier 3, we can now see that the entire state is headed down the right path,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Friday, Jan. 22. “During the summer, we were on this same path. We know that we must continue to take precautions and be smart about how we relax some of the mitigation measures, which are in place to protect our health and safety.”
Tier 1 mitigations allow indoor dining at 25 percent capacity and bar service only if food is being served.
In order to move out of tier mitigations, regions must meet certain metrics of case positivity, have staffed intensive care unit bed availability greater than 20 percent for three consecutive days and sustained decline in hospitalized COVID-19 patients on a seven-day rolling average. Read More