25 Years Ago This Week

For the past 25 years the Sullivan School Dist. and Sullivan Civic Center cooperative program has taught hundreds of students swimming and water skills. This year more than 250 third, fourth and fifth graders participated in the two week sessions.
Instructors are Sue Weaver, Jennifer Bunderle, Bill Highland from the Civic Center plus Don Typer and Michelle Highland from the school staff.
Bobbie Bone, Carrie Wildman and Amber Romine all won individual events at the Clinton track and field meet.
The Lady Reds scored 108 points to edge out host Clinton who finished with 100 points.
Bone won the 100 in 12.9 seconds, finished second in the 200 in 26.5 and was third in the high jump with a 4’10” leap.
Wildman won the 300 hurdles in 51.9 seconds and finished fifth in the high jump at 4’8”.
Romine won the discus with an 81 foot 4 inch toss, ahead of Bone’s 80 foot 10 inch toss. Read More

•May 20, 2020•
On May 13th, the Okaw Valley FFA planted sunflowers for the USACE annual Dove Hunt that is hosted in September.
OVHS planted 26 acres in sunflowers and an additional 10 acres will be in corn for the FFA.
An additional 18 acres behind the Ag Facility is planted in corn as well.
Thanks to the generosity of Louis Coleman for the planter and John Wise for the tractor. Tanner Coleman is pictured helping plant the crops.
Tanner is home from college and will be a junior at Millikin. When Tanner was in high school he was a big part of the CORPS Project and as a Senior he worked at the CORPS during the mornings and was extended a summer job after graduating. Read More

•May 20, 2020•
By Jerry Nowicki
Capitol News Illinois

State Republican leadership is pushing for a vote in the upcoming legislative session to remove a graduated income tax amendment question from the November general election ballot.
“Times have changed dramatically since this initiative was first put forward,” Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said Monday in a video news conference. “But never more has our state’s economy been challenged than it will be, and is today.”
But Gov. JB Pritzker has said the revenues anticipated from the graduated income tax – estimated at more than $3.5 billion in its first full fiscal year before the COVID-19 pandemic – are now more important than ever amid uncertainty created by the spread of the virus.
The economic fallout from the pandemic and associated shutdowns has led to projected state revenues for next fiscal year plummeting by billions of dollars. Pritzker said at his news conference Monday that the tax, which would be in effect for only half of the next fiscal year, could bring in more than $1 billion in state revenues.
The ballot question Read More

•May 20, 2020•
Aaron Fleming, son of Steve and Jayme Fleming of Lovington, is one of 13 eastern Illinois residents among the 70 new physicians at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine who achieved degrees Saturday, May 16, in the school’s virtual celebration of commencement. The event was doubly historic: The Class of 2020 included the medical school’s 3,000th graduate during its 50th anniversary year. Read More

•May 20, 2020•
Memorial Day and Veterans Day each honor the military, though the two holidays are not the same. Memorial Day, which is celebrated annually on the last Monday in May, honors the brave men and women who lost their lives while serving in the American military. Many communities host memorial ceremonies honoring their fallen soldiers on Memorial Day, ensuring such soldiers’ bravery and sacrifices are never forgotten. While many people now view Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of summer, the weekend should not be celebrated without also pausing to reflect on and recognize the military personnel who lost their lives in defense of freedom and the American way of life. Read More