25 Years Ago This Week

Ninety-four-year-old Hazel Bentz of Bethany was honored recently for her 13 years of volunteer services for Moultrie County. For the past six years Bentz crocheted afghans for babies which are distributed through the WIC program, CEFS and the Dept. of Public Aid.
The Sullivan Redskin football team is preparing for its ’93 season opener against the Shelbyville Rams. Senior co-captains are David Elder, Jason Wildman, Jason Moody and Bubba Farris. They lead a team of 89 this year with 20 players coming from Bethany and two from Findlay.
Roger and Sally Glazebrook have opened a framing business in Sullivan called Worth Framing. The couple said their goal is to give people what they want at a cost they can afford. The interest came when a friend gave them a print for a wedding gift, and a relative made a frame for them due to the high price of framing. Read More

•August 29, 2018•

To further drive home the message that the choices we make when traveling have life or death consequences, the Illinois Department of Transportation is displaying crashed vehicles at rest areas with a powerful reminder of the human toll that traffic deaths are having on our state.
“A fatal crash is much more than just a statistic. It means someone’s child, brother or sister, mother or father, friend, neighbor or co-worker won’t be coming home,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn. “Almost all of these crashes are avoidable. Seeing these destroyed vehicles at our rest areas makes a strong statement that each individual can make a difference.” Read More

•August 22, 2018•

Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) is launching new features on its Helpline for Opioids and Other Substances. The Helpline provides 24-hour access to individuals experiencing opioid use disorders, their families and anyone affected by the disease.
“We’re excited about launching new features for the Helpline and giving people who struggle with substance use disorder more ways to access resources and treatment options,” Gov. Rauner said. “There were more than 2,000 opioid related deaths in Illinois last year. That’s too many lives lost. We’re working to save lives and get people the support they desperately need.”
In conjunction with the launch of the new Helpline features, IDHS is hosting Opioid Overdose Training at the Illinois State Fair this week. Trainings will be held on Tuesday and Thursday from 10am – 2pm in Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti’s tent and will be led by members of the Sangamon County Health Department. Fair attendees will learn how to recognize if someone is overdosing, how to administer the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone and what to do while waiting for emergency personnel to arrive. IDHS will also be handing out more information about the Helpline to remind the public of how they can help those affected by the disease.
More than 5,000 people have called the Helpline since its launch last December and with three new features being added, Helpline Specialists will be equipped to better serve callers and increase treatment across the state. Read More

•August 22, 2018•

Sullivan Spark has enlisted the help of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University to take a proactive approach to planning for community and economic development with citizen based community planning.
The Sullivan Spark Community Planning program is a participant driven strategic visioning and planning process whereby local leaders and citizen volunteers create a long-range vision for the future of Sullivan and a plan of action for achieving it.
A series of five, three-hour sessions, involving a minimum of 25 community members will be held to discuss the questions:
• Where are we now?
• Where do we want to be?
• How are we going to get there?
• How do we make it happen?
• How do we make it happen and maintain the momentum? Read More

•August 22, 2018•

John W. Buckalew of Washington, D.C. sent this photograph that was taken in the fall of 1945. Buckalew attended the Whitfield Elementary school for six years. According to R. Eden Martin’s “The Whitley Point Record book” the photo was taken on the east side of the last school on that site. The school closed in the Spring of 1948, consolidating in the Windsor and Sullivan school districts.
Buckalew recalled the school building and entrance faced south and upon entering there were two cloak rooms on both sides of the entrance. Read More