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Pulling For Paula Benefit Tractor Pull

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•September 2, 2020•

The Pulling For Paula Benefit Tractor Pull, hosted by the Strasburg Lions Club, will be held Monday, September 7 at Noon in Strasburg City Park. Weigh-in starts at 11 a.m. And entry fee is $30. All hook fees and proceeds will be donated to the Paula Jones Benefit Fund.
Entries must be signed in before class starts. Digital mph and distance board. Unlimited hooks as long as puller has paid. There are 24 pull classes.
On August 14, Paula Jones was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer. After a successful brain surgery on August 18, Paula is at home recovering. One fully healed from surgery, Paula will begin the process to eliminate the other cancer.
Paula is a 1974 graduate of SSHS and along with husband, Ron, live in Strasburg. Their children are Jordan, Nikki (Chris) Daniels, and Liz (Kenny) Fitzgerald.
The Strasburg Lions Club will be serving pork burger and hamburger meals with drinks. Profits go to the Paula Jones Benefit Fund. No cover charge to enter, but a “pass the hat” will be done throughout. the pull with proceeds going to the Paula Jones Benefit fund.
For more information call Denny Wirth at 217-254-6628.

Sullivan Cross Country Take Third In Meet

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•September 2, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports

The Sullivan High School boys’ and girls’ teams hosted cross country teams at Tabor Park in Sullivan Wednesday, Aug. 26.
The boys’ team hosted Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (ALAH), Cerro Gordo, Bement, and Teutopolis.
ALAH took first with 21 points, followed by Teutopolis’ 59 points.
Sullivan placed third with 80 points.
Chase McClure led the team with a time of 18:07. Read More

Harvest Milkweed Pods; Plant Monarch Butterfly Garden

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•September 2, 2020•
Illinois needs to plant milkweed, and a lot of it, over the next 18 years to ensure the state’s official insects, monarch butterflies, survive.
Kelly Allsup, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator, says the task of planting 150 million new milkweed stems by 2038, championed by the Illinois Monarch Project (illinoismonarchproject.org), needs public buy in.
“Major statewide strategies, such as updated roadside mowing guidelines, creating habitat in natural areas, and allowing it to grow in farmland not in production, may not be enough,” Allsup says. “Monarchs may need homeowners to plant a larger patches of milkweed.” Read More

4-H Hall of Fame Volunteers Honored

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•September 2, 2020•
Service is a hallmark of the Illinois 4-H program. The Illinois 4-H Foundation annually honors longtime volunteers and former staff members for their selfless dedication to 4-H, the University of Illinois Extension youth development program.
In 2020, 86 individuals received the Foundation Hall of Fame Award, presented during a virtual ceremony Aug. 18. Five of the honorees are being named posthumously.
The Illinois 4-H Foundation established the statewide Hall of Fame in2005 to honor and celebrate extraordinary 4-H alumni, volunteers, and former 4-H staff. Each inductee receives a commemorative Hall of Fame medallion. Read More

Fire At R. Callahan Construction

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Dronography by R.R. Best
Fire At R. Callahan Construction
Fifteen area fire departments responded to a fire last Thursday morning at R. Callahan Construction in Bethany. Bethany Fire Chief Michael Jennings said that the department received the call at 5 a.m. Thursday morning. The fire affected the north portion of the building which was purposed as storage units. Most of the units were packed full. Jennings said that the estimated amount of damage at $1 million and said that the cause will remain undetermined. Departments that responded to the fire were Bethany, Sullivan, Lovington, Findlay, Assumption, Moweaqua, Tower Hill, Shelbyville, Strasburg, Windsor, Cerro Gordo, Mt. Zion, Long Creek, Arthur and South Macon.

Obituaries 9-2-2020: Mary James

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Mary James

Mary E. James, 90, of Sullivan, passed away at 7:00 a.m. Saturday August 29, 2020 in St. John’s Hospital, Springfield.
Private family Celebration of Life services were held Wednesday morning in the Reed Funeral Home, Sullivan with Nikki Reed, Certified Funeral Celebrant officiating. There was no public visitation. Burial was in the Greenhill Cemetery, Sullivan. Memorials are suggested to the Moultrie County PAWS, Moultrie County Food Pantry or to a charity of the donor’s choice. Online condolences may be sent to the family at reedfuneralhome.net. Read More

New Dialing Procedure for Customers Within 217 Area Code

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•September 2, 2020•
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) today reminded residential and business customers served by the 217 area code to prepare for the introduction of the new 447 area code. The 447 area code will be added as an overlay to the region currently served by area code 217 to ensure continuing supply of telephone numbers for the area. An overlay is the addition of another area code (447) to the same geographic region served by an existing area code (217).
The ICC ordered an area code overlay for the 217 Area Code on August 15, 2006, to be implemented upon the exhaust of available, unassigned 217 prefixes. An overlay does not require customers to change their existing area code or telephone number. Read More

Early Deadlines

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•September 2, 2020•

Early deadline for the September 7 issue of the News Progress is Friday, September 4 for all advertising.
The News Progress will be closed on Labor Day.

Second Annual Run For Ronald

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•September 2, 2020•

The Publisher will be doing a Jeep run with all proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald House of Springfield. Sign in will start at 11 a.m. at the Publisher in Bethany and the run begins at Noon. The run is $10 per person or $25 per Jeep. All vehicles are welcome. Pauly’s BBQ will be cooking all day. Identity Crisis will be performing 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Call Mike Sweeney at 474-6148 for more information.

Colonel Golinghorst Visits Chip’s Marine to Learn More About Shelbyville Cubes

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•Septe

Photo by Crystal Reed
From left to right: Lee R. Mitchell, Environmental Stewardship Lead with the Army Corps of Engineers, Chip Christensen and Colonel Kevin Golinghorst with a Shelbyville cube. The cubes are placed in Lake Shelbyville by the Lake Shelbyville Fish Alliance.

mber 2, 2020•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Members of the Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance received a visit from Colonel Kevin Golinghorst last week at Chip’s Marine in Sullivan. Golinghorst is the new commander in charge of the St. Louis District Army Corps of Engineers.
While in the area he toured the Bo Woods Campground, Lake Shelbyville Water Trail and other areas around Lake Shelbyville. While at Chip’s Marine, owner Chip Christensen talked to Colonel Golinghurst about the Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance and showed examples of the Lake Shelbyville cubes which are structures placed in the lake to help develop fish populations.
The goal of the Alliance is to place several thousand of the habitat promoting structures in the lake to help restore sport fishing habitat.The cubes are 4 feet square and 5 feet tall and give small fish cover in the lake. Read More