•June 7, 2017•
12th Grade:
Straight A: Jasmine Baumbarger, Tyus Brooks, Brianna Creviston, Brycelynn Durbin, Sydney Hagerman, Moranda Matheson, Madison Uhlrich.
High Honors- 3.5 (no C’s)
Skyler Birch, Evan Blakey, JT Bland, Kailyn Boyer, Kristy Burford, Corey Clark, Taylor Coleman, Elaina Crawford, Connor Dotson, Jon Gentry, Brendon Lane, Eric Mercer, Ty Nichols, Jessica Robinson, Seth Yeakel, Maci Younger Read More
•June 7, 2017•
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White applauded the General Assembly for passing five important bills initiated by his office. “As Secretary of State, I continue to look for ways to further improve customer service, upgrade road safety and expand the organ/tissue donor registry,” said White. “I applaud and thank the General Assembly for passing these five key measures which will do just that. I urge the governor to sign each of these bills into law.” The five bills headed to the governor for consideration include:
House Bill 394 – Allow advertising to offset costs of vehicle registration reminder notices
This measure will allow private companies to pay for advertising space on vehicle registration renewals. It is an effort to further ensure the Secretary of State’s office has the funding to continue mailing out reminder notices – especially if the budget impasse continues. Restrictions outlined in the bill on who cannot put their logo on the postcards include entities licensed or regulated by the Secretary of State, any person or entity manufacturing or distributing pharmaceuticals, medical marijuana or alcohol, and elected officers, candidates for elective office and campaign committees. Read More
•June 7, 2017•
The 78h Annual Amish Country Tractor Cruise will be held Saturday, June 17 in Arthur. A 46-mile cruise will take riders on a picturesque cruise through the Heart of Illinois Amish Country that will include the communities of Arthur, Lovington and Sullivan.
Registration for the cruise will begin at 6 a.m. at Yoder’s Kitchen located on IL 133 in Arthur and departs at 8 a.m. A rest stop will be at Berle and Linda Casteel’s farm north of Lovington, and lunch will be served at Terry Warren’s farm southwest of Sullivan before returning to Arthur at approximately 3:30 p.m. To participate in the cruise a driver must be driving a tractor that can maintain a speed of 10 MPH. Drivers and tractors may be seen at Yoder’s prior to departure or along the cruise route. Read More
•June 7, 2017•
A Summer Reading Adventure” registration will begin Thursday, June 1. Adults and youth will be able to register and begin reading on this date. Special Thursday programming begins June 22 with “Stories in the Stars” with Douglas Hart Nature Center (animal guest); June 29 “Adventures with Beekle” with story and painting with artist David Zoberis. Preregistration is required for the painting event.
The Lovington Public Library is currently looking for empty shoe boxes for a summer reading craft.
An adult coloring club will be held 3:45-4:45 p.m. each Friday. The library will provide new coloring sheets, pencils, crayons and markers to use.
A librarian will be available from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Saturday, June 3 for one-on-one sessions to guide participants through the process of downloading ebooks or audio books. Average time to learn is 5-10 minutes.
Knot Just Knitting with Jan Voss is scheduled for 10:30-11:30 a.m. Mondays for anyone who enjoys knitting and crochet. Other needleworkers, crafters and skill levels are also welcome. Read More
•June 7, 2017•
The Illinois Department of Agriculture is hosting 31 international buyers from various countries including China, Myanmar, Mexico, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Vietnam, in an effort to increase export sales for the Illinois pork industry. Industry tours, such as the Illinois Pork Tour, teach potential trade partners about the benefits of Illinois agriculture and reinforces the advantages of buying high-quality Illinois products. For more than 20 years, the tour has generated over $12 million in sales for participating Illinois agribusinesses.
The tour kicks-off with participants meeting with representatives from Cedar Ridge in Red Bud. The farm was established in 1954 by the late Fred and Betty Grohmann. Their six sons now own and operate the farm, which is one of the nation’s top sellers of purebred breeding stock, exporting swine breeding stock to over 40 countries. In the last four years, Cedar Ridge Farms has exported over 1,100 boars and nearly 10,000 gilts to various countries due to the relationships built during the Illinois Pork Tour. Read More
25 Years Ago This Week
“The first rose plucked from the Broadway bouquet marking the 35th season at the Little Theatre On The Square is both ambitious and highly entertaining,” wrote News Progress editor Marion Best of “Singin’ in The Rain”.
Sullivan residents Joanna Cole and Gracie Fultz were recognized for their many years of service as organizers of Sullivan’s Red Cross bloodmobile. Cole served 18 years as chair with 37 total years as a volunteer. Fultz was an event organizer for 26 years. They turned leadership over to Joe and Joan Pound.
Thirteen Sullivan women organized a chapter of Beta Sigma Phi. Mary Ann Portwood was elected president of Chi Mu Chapter.
Tami Daily hosted the event which was attended by Karen Lane, Lisa Kincaide, Cindy Harshman, Renee England, Cindy Richardson, Amy Hemrich, Marty Jones, Patty Lehman, Theresa Linville, Terri Reed, and Bonnie Siebert. Read More
•June 7, 2017•
CJ Lyons, New York Times and USA Today bestselling indie author of twenty-one novels announced the winners of the 2017 annual IndieReader Discovery Awards (IRDAs) at BookExpo America (BEA), a major trade show in New York City. Darkroom by Mary Maddox of Charleston won First Prize in Fiction. Read More
•June 7, 2017•
A public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. June 8 in the Lake Shelbyville Visitors Center Auditorium to further discuss a proposed fish habitat project through the Friends of Reservoirs that could provide significant funding for artificial fish structure. The initial meeting was held April 25 to discuss the grants that are available through Friends of Reservoirs (FOR) and the need for angling groups to get involved if they are to have a chance at the funds. Numerous questions were raised by the user groups concerning how grant funds and donations would be handled, the application process, whether prior work would count towards matching funds, etc. Read More
•May 31, 2017•
The Bethany Alumni Association is hosting a high school tour night 3-7 p.m. June 11 at the high school as a fundraiser for the organization.
All alumni, young and old, residents and friends are cordially invited to bring family, children and grandchildren to show them where they went to school.
Visitors may sign in at the front door and tour at their leisure. Read More
•May 31, 2017•
After a cool beginning of the month, soil temperatures are rising throughout the state in mid-May, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.
Soil temperatures at depths of 4 inches under sod averaged 67.5 degrees in Illinois on May 15, 5 degrees higher than the long-term average. Daily highs were in the 60s and 70s for most of the state.
Temperatures began the month three to five degrees cooler than normal as they fell back into the 40s in northern Illinois. However, temperatures have been steadily rising since the first week. Southern and west-central Illinois had the highest regional temperatures at 69 degrees on May 15. The coolest were in the north with an average of 63 degrees. Read More