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Performance Recognized

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Performance Recognized
Sgt. John Mauck has been awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for “superior performance of his duties” as a non-commissioned officer in Marine Wing Communications Squadron 18, First Marine Aircraft Wing, Camp Foster, Okinawa, from January 2016 through December 2018.  His commendation further reads: “Sergeant Mauck’s initiative, perseverance and total devotion to duty reflected credit upon himself and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.”  Mauck was nominated for his commendation by Commanding Officer Lt. Col. T. E. Richards.  Sergeant Mauck, a SHS graduate, is now stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twenty-Nine Palms, California.

Obituaries 1-23-2019: Charles Kinkade

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Charles Kinkade

Charles Newton Kinkade, 98, of Lovington, passed away at 4 a.m. Monday, January 21, 2019 in his home surrounded by his family.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, January 24 at McMullin-Young Funeral Home in Lovington. Visitation will be held an hour prior to the service Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Keller Cemetery in Lovington with military rites by the Lovington American Legion Post #429. Read More

Understanding Illinois: Dot Foods—Good Place, Good People, Good Pay

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•January 23, 2019•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

I have written about how rural Illinois seems to be dying. Not everywhere.
Approaching Mt. Sterling IL (pop. 1,900) from the east, one sees the typical football field bleachers and church steeples.
But my eyes are compelled to the south edge of town. A massive, pure white complex rises six stories or more, sprawling from additions over the years—like a modern-day castle, protecting its town and the rolling countryside, which it does, in its way. This has to be Dot Foods.
Only recently had I heard about this colossus in rural western Illinois. I wanted to learn more.
Early for my 10 a.m. tour of Dot, I stretched my legs on the short main street, stopping into the public library.
I chatted up the librarian, an older fellow.
“Dot Foods? I worked there once—good place, good people, good pay and benefits.”
At Dot’s state-of-the-art headquarters, under expansion, I meet Frank Moore.
A one-time local farmer, Frank worked his way up over 34 years from the warehouse floor to head a 550-employee warehouse, one of three in Mt. Sterling. Read More

Zancha’s Guns & Ammo Becomes U-Haul Dealer

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•January 23, 2019•

U-Haul Company of Illinois, Inc.has announced that Zancha’s Guns & Ammo has signed on as a U-Haul® neighborhood dealer to serve the Lovington community.
Zancha’s Guns & Ammo at 108 E. State St. Lovington will offer U-Haul trucks, trailers, towing equipment, moving supplies and in-store pick-up for boxes.
Normal business hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. Reserve U-Haul products at this dealer location by calling (217) 873-6963 or visiting https://www.uhaul.com/Locations/Truck-Rentals-near-Lovington-IL-61937/049248/ today.
Zancha’s Guns & Ammo partners Ralph Zancha and Tracy Bettinger have teamed with the industry leader in do-it-yourself moving and self-storage to better meet the demands of Moultrie County.
U-Haul and Zancha’s Guns & Ammo are striving to benefit the environment through sustainability initiatives. Truck sharing is a core U-Haul sustainability business practice that allows individuals to access a fleet of trucks that is larger than what they could access on an individual basis.
Take your picture in front of a U-Haul product, send it in and your face could land on the side of a U-Haul truck. Upload your photo through Instagram using #uhaulfamous, or go to www.uhaulfamous.com to submit photos and learn more.

Headon in Bethany

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Photo by R.R. Best
Headon in Bethany
A head on collision in Bethany Friday afternoon severely injured a Decatur woman and held up traffic for more than an hour. Moultrie County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Gary Carroll reported the accident call on Highway 121 was received at 3:22 p.m. Jan. 18. According to the accident report Shirley J. Quinlan of Decatur was westbound at the Bethany curve west of town when her car crossed the center line into the path of the eastbound vehicle driven by Camden Coleman of Shelbyville. Bethany and Sullivan Fire and Rescue squads responded transporting Quinlan and Coleman to area hospitals.

A Busy Year For SFPD

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•January 23, 2019•

Emergency Medical Services continue to be most in demand as Sullivan Fire Protection District closes 2018.
Ambulance calls and transports totaled 1290 in 2018 up from 1214 in 2017. Since 2000 the most ambulance calls reported were in 2002 with 1332. The fewest calls were 967 in 2012.
Rescue calls were the second busiest in 2018 with SFPD responding to 770 calls. In 2017 SFPD responded to 792 calls. During the past decade 833 calls were made in 2011 for the high and 416 calls in 2000 for the low. Rescue calls includes non-transport EMS services where treatment or evaluation of the patient is performed but the patient is not transported.
SFPD third service is fire calls with the district responding to 163 calls in 2018. That was up two from 161 in 2017. In 2001 the district made 175 fire calls for a high and in 2002 achieved a decade low of 122 fire calls in a year.

ALAH District Staff Completes Training

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•January 23, 2019•

By Ariana Cherry
for the News Progress

Members of the ALAH School District faculty completed ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training.
Police officers from three nearby towns (Arthur, Lovington and Atwood) and assistant principal Jared Vanausdoll helped lead the training. ALICE is a nationwide program that is used to help civilians handle possible violent threats. “I want my teachers to feel empowered and know they are doing the right thing,” remarked Vanausdoll. Within the next mont, the district will have information available for both students and parents. Read More

Martin Luther King’s Influence Resonates in Illinois

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•January 23, 2019•

By Maudlyne Ihejirika
Chicago Sun-Times

“He would have been 90 this year,” says the Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Jackson was reflecting on this year’s holiday honoring his mentor and friend.
Jan. 15 was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, celebrated nationally on Jan. 21.
As the years go by, there are fewer of those who marched with him to share their memories. But Jackson, one of his closest aides, can still recount milestone moments from King’s Chicago Freedom Movement of 1965-66 like it was yesterday.
“Our offices used to be at 366 E. 47th St., in what’s now Bronzeville, and we used to meet every Saturday morning at Chicago Theological Seminary,” says Jackson, 77, who first met the man of peace at an airport in 1964, when King was en route to pick up his Nobel Peace Prize.
Jackson then marched with King in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.
He soon joined the team of the charismatic civil rights leader and was assigned to run Operation Breadbasket, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s anti-poverty effort. Read More

Obituaries 1-23-2019: Brad Lane

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Brad Lane

Bradford H. Lane, 86, of Sullivan died at 8:30 a.m. Monday, January 21, 2019 in Mason Point in Sullivan.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, January 27 in Elim Springs Church of Jesus Christ with Vanessa Patient and Brigham Hagerman officiating. Visitation will be one hour before the services at the church. Burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery in Sullivan. Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan is in charge of arrangements. Read More

Preschool Round up

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•January 23, 2019•

It is time to think about Preschool for the upcoming school year, and available options are offered Monday, Feb. 11 and Tuesday, Feb. 12 at the First United Methodist Church in Sullivan.
Screenings are by appointment on Feb. 11 ranging from 12:30 - 6:15 p.m. and Feb. 12 from 9 a.m.- 2:15 p.m.
Project H.E.L.P. and the Sullivan School District offer free developmental screenings for birth to five year old children. Parents will have an opportunity to discover how their child is developing in the areas of speech, language, concepts and motor skills. Vision and hearing screening will also be provided free of charge.
Screenings are required for possible enrollment in the Project H.E.L.P. preschool classroom. Signed parent/guardian permission is required.
First Methodist Church is located at 216 West Jefferson St.
For an appointment call Mary Ann Portwood at 217-728-8381.