•February 1, 2023•
Illinoisans will be turning up their thermostats to stay warm for the rest of the winter season, which brings an increased risk for home fires and carbon monoxide incidents. Unlike smoke, carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas only detectable by special devices and CO alarms. The Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) encourages residents to have their furnaces checked, change furnace filters, and make sure carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke detectors are functioning properly.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), heating is the second leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries, and the third leading cause of home fire deaths. Local fire departments across the country responded to an estimated average of 48,530 fires involving heating equipment per year in 2014-2018, accounting for 14% of all reported home fires during this time. These fires resulted in annual losses of 500 civilian deaths, 1,350 civilian injuries, and $1.1 billion in direct property damage. Most home heating fire deaths (81%) involved stationary or portable space heaters. The leading factor contributing to home heating fires (25%) was failure to clean, principally from solid-fueled heating equipment, primarily chimneys. Half of the home heating fire deaths were caused by having heating equipment too close to things that can burn, such as upholstered furniture, clothing mattresses or bedding. Read More

•February 1, 2023•
Applications are now available for the 2023 Irrevocable Scholarship program. This program offers one $1,500 (four year, annually renewable) scholarship. Read More

•February 1, 2023•
Applications are now being accepted for the 2023 Daily Farm Scholarship. The application is available online at www.southeasternillinois.org/students. Applications must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 14, 2023, for consideration. Read More

•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