•February 1, 2023•

By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer

Several questions arose while my wife and I were driving to a place that would surely serve us Italian bread: Does bread raise or does it rise? Does the baker raise the dough or rise it? What the heck is a transitive verb?
Questions like these constitute about 85% of our conversations.
So today we’ll take a look at “raise” and “rise” and their various usages and homophones.
Let’s start with the issue of bread.
Although I’ve heard it expressed both ways bread indeed “rises.” I often supplement my research by plugging words and phrases into Google’s Ngram Viewer, which tracks usage in books published in the United States.
I compared “the bread rises” to “the bread raises,” and what I got was interesting. Read More

•January 25, 2023•
Moultrie County Habitat for Humanity is accepting applications for the 2023 house build. Applications are open to qualifying individuals interested in residence specifically within Bethany or Sullivan, where donated properties are located. Requirements for Habitat for Humanity home ownership are: need for adequate shelter, ability to pay the monthly mortgage which averages between $450 and $550 per month (estimate based on 3 bedroom, 2 bath home), willing to invest 250-500 hours of sweat equity, attending educational classes for homeownership, decent and responsible credit, bankruptcy fully discharged for one year, no court ordered debt, all family members to live in the home must pass background check. Read More

•January 25, 2023•
On January 2nd and 3rd the Shelby County Retired Teachers Association presented six $100 mini grants, one to each of the school districts in the county. Classroom teachers submitted proposals in November and recipients were selected by a grant committee. Partial funding for the program came from a Community Day Event held in July at Monical’s Pizza of Shelbyville. SCRTA, a local unit of the Illinois Retired Teachers Association, is pleased to be able to help current classroom teachers as well as retired educators.
“We’re very proud of our county, our teachers and our retired teachers,” said SCRTA President James Sparks who presented the awards.

Photo submitted
Windsor’s team of Ryann Ibanez and Vanessa Fritscher of Windsor Elementary School wrote a proposal involving the development of a non-verbal playground communication system. Their building principal is Mr. Jon Will.

Photo submitted
Okaw Valley School teacher Shari Bruyn received the mini grant for the Okaw Valley district. Her proposal involves the use of ear protection needed to teach Geometry in a creative construction class. Her building principal is Mr. Matt Shoaff.

•January 25, 2023•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer

In last week’s column I fielded a letter from a reader who feels headlines are often unfair to trains or, presumably, the engineers who operate them.
That’s understandable, given that trains cannot stop on a dime or swerve to avoid collisions. And that leaves people crossing tracks or their vehicles generally at fault when a train comes into contact with someone or something.
Former state Rep. Paul Froehlich came up with a few options he thought would cast the train and engineer in a better light:
• “Car stopped on tracks causes train collision”
• “Truck driving around lowered gate gets hit by train”
• “Train hits pedestrian running across tracks” Read More

•January 18, 2023•
Students begin a new school year hoping to do their best in the classroom. When those hopes are overcome by academic struggles, students may need a little help to get back on track.
Students and their parents must keep in mind that no school year is derailed by a poor performance in the year’s opening months. There’s plenty of time for students to rebound, and the following are some ways for students to get back on strong academic footing.
• Make it a collective effort. Rebounding from a difficult start to the school year may require a collective effort on the part of students, their parents and educators. Concerned parents can reach out to teachers to learn where students are struggling and seek recommendations about what to do to help them rebound. Once those areas are identified, students, parents and educations can work together to devise a plan to help kids improve. Read More