•August 17, 2016•

The 55th Annual Arthur Mennonite Relief Sale will be held August 26 and 27 at the Otto Center, ½ mile south of Arthur.

The activities will begin Friday at 4:30 p.m. with a pulled pork BBQ dinner and the auction at 6 p.m. On Saturday a pancake and sausage breakfast runs from 6-10 a.m., with the auction beginning at 8 a.m. The silent auction is from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The children’s activities begin Saturday at 8 a.m. and feature a train ride around the grounds. The children’s auction will begin at 10 a.m. A featured activity for the children will be a petting zoo. Read More

Photo furnished Pictured left to right are Calvin G. Schultz, Director of Bank Services, Jeffrey A. Rice and Brian E. Daniell, partner.

•August 17, 2016•

West & Company, LLC has purchased the bank consulting practice of Jeffrey A. Rice which was effective July 1.

Rice founded his firm in 1982 and has engaged in the performance of directors’ exams, loan reviews and compliance audits.

“It was very important to me that my company be sold to a reputable firm that shared my commitment to the provision of client services at the highest level,” said Rice. “I am confident that West & Company, LLC is that firm,” he added.

“We are pleased to serve as the successor firm to Jeffrey A. Rice and are pleased to add bank consulting services to the list of services provided by our firm,” said Brian E. Daniell, partner-in-charge of the firm’s accounting and auditing group.  Read More

•August 10, 2016•

Be alert for children walking or riding bicycles and stopped school buses.

Illinois State Police (ISP) District 10 Commander, Captain Louis Kink, is reminding motorists that area schools will soon open their doors and begin the new school year. The start of the school year means an increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic around schools.

Motorists need to be watchful for children walking and riding their bicycles to school and children darting out from between parked cars. Motorists also need to be on the lookout for slowing and stopped school buses. As parents drop off their children before school and pick them up after school, there will also be an increase in vehicle traffic during the morning and evening commute. Extra travel time should be planned to allow for the increase in traffic. Read More

•August 10, 2016•

By Gerald Tilley
Social Security District Manager

Look who’s over the hill! In August, we will be celebrating the 81st anniversary of Social Security. Although Social Security’s overall structure remains the same, it’s impossible to overlook the changes in the economy and advancements in technology that made it necessary to transform our programs into what they are today.

In 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, which gave birth to Social Security, (almost) as we know it today. The program was created primarily as a response to the growing rate of poverty within the elderly population. Here we are in the future, and Social Security has come a long way from 1940, when Ida May Fuller became the first person to receive a benefit check. In 2015 alone, almost 60 million people received Social Security benefits.  Read More

•August 10, 2016•

Free activities for children and families will give Illinois State Fair visitors a chance to sample the great outdoors in Illinois at Conservation World at this year’s state fair on Aug. 12-21 in Springfield.

Conservation World is a 30-acre park with grass, shade trees, and ponds located on the northwest corner of the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Conservation World is easily accessible through a pedestrian gate near the Junior Livestock Building and via a state fair tram stop next to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) headquarters.

“The tradition continues at Conservation World with plenty to do for kids interested in spending time outdoors and great ideas for families looking to spend time together,” said IDNR Director Wayne Rosenthal.  Read More