•January 15, 2020•
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced that all offices and Driver Services facilities will close in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Offices and Driver Services Facilities operating on Tuesday through Saturday schedule will be closed on Saturday, Jan. 18.
All offices and facilities will be open for business on Tuesday, January 21, 2020.
•January 15, 2020•
By Ted Walk,
Supt.Sullivan CUSD #300
I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but we had a bit of rain in the Sullivan area over this past week.
I have heard a few stories from people who were dealing with water issues in their homes, and the school was not immune to the impact of several inches of rain in a short time period.
The southwest corner of our high school took on some water Saturday morning. The response from our staff was amazing. We had five custodians, Gary Crowe, Kathy Crowe, Lyle Isaacs, Tim Lappin, Charles Redford, along with Maintenance Director, Kevin Landrus, diverting water, scrubbing, and disinfecting. Read More
Senior Peace Meal
For additional information or for reservations, please call 1-800-543-1770
Monday, January 20 - Beef and noodles, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, whole grain wheat (1), apricots
Tuesday, January 21 - Pork chop sandwich, buttered baby baker potatoes, Mexi corn & lima beans, bun, fruit juice
Wednesday, January 22 - Swissed beef patties w/tomato, onion, celery, green pepper, creamy coleslaw, dinner roll, warm fruit crisp
Thursday, January 23 - Breakfast casserole, warm rosy applesauce, fruit juice, cinnamon roll, cranberries
Friday, January 24 - Chicken parmesan, venetian blend vegetables, potato casserole, dinner roll, mandarin oranges
25 Years Ago This Week
The Sullivan City Council adopted a resolution awarding $20,000 in TIF funds to the Sullivan schools for use in updating computer labs.
Baseball and Don Bell headlined the Lovington School Board meeting. High school principal Judy Uphoff reported Lovington and Arthur will cooperate on a baseball team next season. Team colors will be purple and white.
Retired teacher Don Bell was honored for his continued support of the school district. Bell had retired after 31 years of teaching, but returned to teach again when the current business teacher quit three days before the term began.
Sullivan High School graduate Nathan Hutchings, a student at Eureka College was selected as a member of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Hutchings of Sullivan. Read More
This photo was published by MCHGS in “Moultrie Co. in the Steam Days”. It is the south side of E. Main St. Bethany around 1900. The first two buildings were owned by Joseph Dedman. The corner building was rented out but he ran a meat market out of the second building. He was known as one of the largest livestock owners in Moultrie and had a farm west of town. He owned several other properties in Bethany as well. The building on the end was a farm implement store owned by Dave Lindsay. 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.
Thomas Avery
Thomas William Avery, Jr. 62, of Findlay, formerly of Kincaid, passed away at 3:11 p.m. Monday, January 13, 2020 in Decatur Memorial Hospital.
Celebration of Life services will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan with Bob Vail officiating. Burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Friday at the Church of God in Kincaid. Visitation will also be from 9-11 a.m. Saturday morning at Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan. The family requests casual attire. Read More
•January 15, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor
Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond girls’ basketball team earned two wins this past week.
The Knights knocked off Arthur-Okaw Christian and Okaw Valley.
Monday night in Bethany, ALAH defeated rival Okaw Valley 62-34.
ALAH outscored the Timberwolves 17-4 in the first quarter and did not look back.
For the Knights, Mackenzi Bowles led with game-high 21 points, seven blocks and 11 rebounds. Read More
Photo by R. R. Best
Eli Hagerman defends against Blue Ridge in Bethany Friday.
•January 15, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor
The Okaw Valley boys’ basketball team picked up two more wins this past week to improve its overall record to 10-6 and in the Lincoln Prairie Conference to 2-0.
The Timberwolves defeated Villa Grove/Heritage High School on the road last Tuesday and Blue Ridge Friday.
Friday at home, OV took a five-point lead into halftime, then pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring Blue Ridge 16-7. Read More
•January 15, 2020•
By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist
Remember as a teen when you devised a strategy to convince your old man to let you have the family car to go on a date Saturday night? You we’re lobbying, trying to get what you wanted. We’re all lobbyists.
In big cities, state capitols, and D.C., groups you and I belong to pay money to specialists (lobbyists) to push for what they want. Society looks down on lobbyists, as likely corrupt somehow. It isn’t the lobbying that is corrupt; it’s the money that is a commodity used by groups and their lobbyists that can be corrupting. The temptation of money can induce people to trade something, possibly even a vote, for money. Money is power and, as Lord Acton famously suggested, power ultimately corrupts.
At present in Illinois, the federal government is investigating a number of Illinois politicians for possibly making unearned personal gain at public expense. The focus is on public electric utility ComEd. House Speaker Mike Madigan held the giant electric utility in a political vice grip at a period the company was desperate to save its nuclear plants and increase consumer rates. Read More
•January 15, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor
The Okaw Valley girls’ basketball team finished the week 1-3 with a win against Nokomis and a lost to Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond and Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg.
OV fell to Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 62-34 Monday at Bethany. For results, see the ALAH article.
Saturday, the Timberwolves knocked off Nokomis 29-28 when senior Kate Jeffers hit the go-ahead bucket with 28 seconds left in the game. Read More