Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Kari and Troy Rogers family Drew and Dalton with exchange student Zdenek Roza (center).

Becomes a Family Experience

•May 23, 2018•

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

A few years ago Kari and Troy Rogers decided having an exchange student would be an enriching experience for their two sons, Drew and Dalton. The boys were old enough and involved in a lot of school activities they could share. Troy teaches science at Sullivan Middle School and Kari is a social worker in Champaign. And so, the search began.

They researched several accredited agencies online where they could review pictures and profiles of potential candidates. Zdenek Roza ( “Z”) of the Czech Republic was their choice.  “He had the same reddish brown hair as our sons as well as a love of sports,” Kari said.

Applications and profiles were exchanged and last fall Z arrived in Sullivan.

Z, as he prefers to be called, grew up in Trutnov, a town of about 35,000 near the Czech/Polish border. His parents are divorced and remarried so he is part of a blended family of five sisters and three brothers or, as he says, “five brothers if you include my two new Sullivan brothers.”  Read More

Major grant winners

•April 25, 2018•

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

On Thursday, April 5 the Sullivan Community Education Foundation (SCEF) awarded more than $40,000 in mini and major grants for various academic and community projects.

The awards ceremony at Sullivan First United Methodist Church marked the Foundation’s 14th year of improving the lives of others through education.

Mini grants are awarded in amounts less than $1,000, and there were 14 recipients in this category including $420 to the Mid-Illinois Senior Services for educational programs.

Major grants are for more than $1,000, and there were eight awards with $12,000 going to re-purpose the middle school library. Read More

•April 4, 2018•

By Eden Martin
NP Guest Columnist

Editors Note: This is the final installment in the News Progress series on the 1896 Lynching of Grant Atteberry in Moultrie County. The series was researched and written by Sullivan native historian and retired attorney Robert Eden Martin. 

The Aftermath

The day after the night of the hanging, February 13, a short private service was conducted in the dead man’s home by a Methodist preacher. During the service, the widow reportedly “grew hysterical and between sobs exclaimed, ‘How could they be so cruel.” Her friends had difficulty in getting her to leave his coffin, but taking one last look she supposedly exclaimed, “Oh, God, Grant, does this part us forever? Oh God, Have mercy upon us.” As the widow bent over the coffin crying, the children were in an adjoining room sobbing loudly.

(These lurid adjectives and quotes may strike the reader today as “fake news” — particularly in light of the fact that the service was supposedly “private.”)

After the short service, the body was taken to the cemetery in a hearse, with one vehicle following — containing Grant’s widow, her sister, a brother, and a neighbor. The newspaper said a number of people, possibly as many as 75, followed the remains to the cemetery either out of respect or curiosity. The county paid $9 in costs for the burial — $7 for the coffin, and $2 for a shroud. Read More

Tim Wilkerson

•March 21 2018•

By R.R. Best
News Progress Publisher

That was Tim Wilkerson’s greeting to all of us when he walked in the front door of the News Progress. And, of course, his was the biggest smile.

Tim and I would spend many hours sitting in the front office of the paper discussing the different ways we could fix all the problems of the county, city and, especially the newspaper, as customers would come and go. Our favorite argument was that of Windows versus Macintosh computers. Most who knew Tim knew he was a computer guru. He ran his own computer fix-it business after his retirement from the service, which is what brought him into our office that first day.

That day was right after the death of my father, Robert E. Best, back in 1993.

I had no knowledge of computers or spreadsheets or tax prep or all the other things it takes to run a business. Nor did my mother, except that she could write stories for the paper on her Mac. Tim was our lifesaver. Read More

•February 28, 2018•

By Eden Martin
NP Guest Columnist

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles dealing with the lynching on the Moultrie County courthouse lawn researched and written by Sullivan historian, native and retired attorney Robert Eden Martin.

As one newspaper put it, Grant Atteberry and family shook the dust of Shelbyville from their pedal extremities yesterday, going to Sullivan. If ever a man charged with crime played in big luck, Grant Atteberry was one of them. His escape from conviction was a surprise to all, including the attorneys who defended him and was due to two causes — first, the defense put up by his attorneys, and second, bad management on the part of the prosecution. At least that is the way the people talk it.

It Wasn’t Over for Ulysses Grant Atteberry

After Grant’s close shave in Shelbyville, it is not surprising that he chose to relocate. We do not know why he chose Sullivan. His sister-in-law and her family — Roxy, wife of brother Ed (who was still in the insane asylum in Kankakee) — also moved to Sullivan. Read More