•December 9, 2020•
The Moultrie County Food Pantry candy fundraiser broke a record with the amount of candy sold and the amount of money to be donated to the pantry from the sales. The Moultrie County Food Pantry teamed up with Flesor’s Candy Kitchen again this year for the fundraiser, which was done through mail order to the COVID-19 pandemic. Flesor’s Candy Kitchen will be writing a check to the Moultrie County Food Pantry for $1,700, which is 20% of the total sales. All candy orders will be available for pick-up at Catherine’s Gallery on December 16.
webmaster
Capital Recap: Pritzker Says State Far From Out Of ‘Danger Zone’
•December 9, 2020•
By Capitol News Illinois
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have fallen from their second-wave highs, but the death toll from the disease continues to mount.
While Gov. JB Pritzker said Monday he was encouraged by the trend in the 18 days since the state levied Tier 3 mitigations, he added, “the numbers still have a long way to go to move away from what could reasonably be called the danger zone.”
“In other words, the surge on top of a surge that national experts have said might define the holiday season is still the focus of our attention,” Pritzker said at his daily COVID-19 briefing in Chicago.
From Saturday through Monday, the state reported another 372 deaths, an average of 124 each day over the three-day span. The death toll surpassed 13,000 since the pandemic began, rising to 13,343 among 796,264 cases and 11.1 million test results reported.
Statewide, the rolling seven-day average case positivity rate was 10.3 percent Monday, the 15th straight day it has hovered between 10 and 11 percent.
At the end of Sunday, there were 5,190 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois, an increase of 30 from the day prior. For the seven-day period ending Dec. 6, there were 5,484 people hospitalized each day on average. That’s a decrease of 461, or about 7.7 percent, from the week prior, the second week in a row the average decreased.
Approximately 28 percent of hospital beds remained open statewide, and Pritzker said COVID-19 hospitalizations are still 14 percent above spring highs. Read More
Early Deadlines
•December 9, 2020•
The Moultrie County News Progress and The Fish Wrap will have early holiday deadlines for advertising and news. For the Wednesday, Dec. 23 edition of the News Progress and Dec. 24 edition of The Fish Wrap deadline is noon Friday, Dec. 18. The following week Wednesday, December 30 and December 31 edition deadlines are noon Wednesday, December 23. Have a Happy Holiday!
Obituaries 12-9-2020: Vera Estella (Jividen) Myers
Vera Estella (Jividen) Myers
Vera Estella (Jividen) Myers, 94, passed away peacefully in her home, surrounded by loved ones, on December 4, 2020. Read More
This Has Been an Interminable, Irredeemable Year
•December 9, 2020•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer
If you had to choose one word to sum up 2020, what would it be?
Interminable?
Irredeemable?
Abominable?
Guano?
These are definitely in my Top 10. Come to think of it, these are probably the one-word reviews of my column on Twitter.
But if you work for Merriam-Webster and you have a tradition of coming up with a Word of the Year, you look beyond yourself and do some statistical analysis of words that people are looking up in your online dictionary in increasing numbers. Read More
Covid-19 Update
•December 9, 2020•
The Moultrie County COVID-19 update for December 5-7, 2020 is 46 additional cases of COVID-19 with ages ranging from 1-101. The total residents tested positive to date is 1,006. Total COVID-19 related deaths to date is 11.
Christmas Lights Contest
•December 9, 2020•
The Village of Bethany is going to continue the tradition of the Christmas Light Contest!
If you would like to participate:
1) Stop in, comment or call the Village Hall at 665-3351 to get your name on the list
2) From now until December 25th, make sure your Christmas light display is on from dusk until 9pm.
Our judges will come by at some point in that time frame to judge all the displays and will choose the winners!
This year’s prizes are:
1st Place: $100 Utility Credit
2nd Place: $50 Utility Credit
3rd Place: $50 Utility Credit
(4) Honorable Mentions $25 Utility Credit
We can’t wait to see all the beautiful Christmas light displays!!
Santa’s Coming to Findlay
•December 9, 2020•
The Findlay Fire Department will be taking Santa through the streets of Findlay on Saturday, December 19 starting at 4:00 pm. The parade route will be announced on the Findlay Fire Department Facebook page. Look for the lights on the big red truck as we drive by. If your child has his or her Christmas list ready, Santa will have his elves pick it up as he drives by.
Safety When Decorating for the Holidays
•December 9, 2020•
The holidays are here and that means many will be decorating their homes. Hanging up decorations is fun, but keep in mind, holiday decorations can increase your risk for a home fire. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) more than two of every five home decoration fires occur due to decorations being placed too close to a heat source. More than one-third of home decoration fires are started by candles. The NFPA also reports that US fire departments responded to an average of 780 home structure fires per year that began with decorations between 2013-2017.
More than half of home decoration fires in December are started by candles. Candle fires peak in December followed closely by January. The top three days for home candle fires are Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve. Before you head to bed or out for the evening, extinguish all lit candles.
Moultrie Moment of the Week
Pictured above is the Moultrie County Courthouse covered in Christmas lights in 1964. Please submit photos to the News Progress for future consideration. Originals will be saved for return or forwarded to Moultrie County Historical Society. If you have any other information, please contact the Moultrie County Historical Society at 217-728- 4085.