•April 13, 2016•
Congressman John Shimkus (R, Illinois-15) is accepting entries for the 2016 Congressional Art Competition through Friday, April 15. The contest is open to high school students in the 15th Congressional District.
“The winning artwork from my district will be displayed in Washington, DC, in a tunnel that connects the Cannon House Office Building to the Capitol, Shimkus said. “Hundreds of staff and visitors will see the artwork each day.” Read More
•April 13, 2016•
Varied skies and cooler temperatures prevailed as visitors attended the 50th annual Shelby County Art Show, held April 9th and 10th at the Lake Shelbyville Visitors Center.
Those in attendance viewed displayed artwork created by surrounding area youth and adult artists among the 202 adult entries and 535 junior entries and a special exhibit featuring the work of Jack West, as well as exciting demonstrations by various artists.
Children enjoyed receiving balloon art and face paintings. A special quilt was created and made available for visitors and participants to sign. The following is a list of results, including special merit awards and door prize winners:
Overall Best of Show: Jan Kappes, Arcola -- Ink on claybord “Pop Goes the Prairie #5 - Prairie Peace” Read More
Volunteers assist with preparedness, response and recovery
•April 13, 2016•
As several Illinois communities continue to recover from tornadoes, flooding and severe storms in 2015, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and local emergency management agencies are highlighting the critical roles volunteers play in disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts as part of a month-long focus on volunteers in disasters.
“Volunteers play a key role in disaster preparedness, response and recovery,” said IEMA Director James K. Joseph. “Before disaster strikes, volunteers can encourage personal preparedness to help people stay safe during emergencies. When a disaster strikes, voluntary organizations spring into action to help people in their community, region or across the country. Volunteers even play a vital role in ensuring the long-term recovery of a community affected by a disaster.” Read More
•April 13, 2016•
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) are pleased to announce a new initiative that streamlines the professional licensing process for men and women who are being released from prison.
Starting immediately, offenders who’ve completed the required coursework for Barbering and Cosmetology will be able to apply for their professional license and meet with the licensing board via video conference up to six months before their release or parole date. This common sense policy change reverses the previous approach, which prohibited offenders from starting the application process until they were already released from the institution. Read More
Photo furnished
•April 13, 2016•
Avery Schrock, of Arthur, has been named recipient of the 2016 Charles B. Shuman Memorial Scholarship sponsored by the Moultrie County Farm Bureau.
Schrock is the son of Roger and Jeannette Schrock and is a freshman at Parkland College and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign through the Pathways Program. He is pursuing a career in agribusiness management with a minor in crop sciences. Read More
Compiled by Bekki Ferguson-Stevens
25 Years Ago This Week
Bil Reedy of Sullivan was recently honored by the Illinois Secretary of State Office’s Drivers Service Department for having completed more than 15 years of service. Reedy, a public service representative for the Sullivan and Mattoon offices, has been employed by the state agency for 16-1/2 years.
A steady stream of rain in cold, miserable conditions didn’t hamper the performance of Lady Redskin Melissa Crouse and the rest of the Sullivan girls’ track team Friday as they easily dominated Warrensburg-Latham and Clinton in a meet at home. Crows led the point-scorers on the Sullivan team with wins in the 100, 200 and long jump. She also anchored the 400-meter relay team joining Janice Standerfer, Lois Craig and Heather Emel for a first place finish.
Sue McBride of Bethany, a junior nursing student at Millikin University and a licensed practical nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur, was recently awarded the 1991 Fuld Fellowship. She and 49 other nursing students throughout the United States were selected for the fellowship from more than 280 nominations. McBride, who has been an LPN for 16 years and works in the labor and delivery department of St. Mary’s, is the wife of Mike McBride and mother of Josh and Michelle McBride.
Two Sullivan High School seniors and eight juniors were inducted into the National Honor Society during a ceremony April 11 at Faith Lutheran Church in Sullivan. New 1991 members include Terri Caruthers, Megan Cooper, Stacy Crawford, Chris Edmonds, John Freese, Amanda Glazebrook, Kristen Grooms, Nathan Hutchings, Julie Norris and Corey Richardson. Read More
•April 13, 2016•
March 2016 was the 10th warmest March on record with an average temperature of 46.5 degrees, 5.2 degrees above normal. Illinois was not alone; essentially the entire US was warmer than normal in March, according to Illinois state climatologist Jim Angel, Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.
March is the latest in a string of above-normal months in Illinois going all the way back to September 2015. In fact, the September-March 2016 average temperature of 45.6 degrees is 3.9 degrees above normal and the third warmest September-March combo on record since 1895. Read More
•April 13, 2016•
There is increasing evidence that brain health is directly related to body health. However, most people think more about keeping their bodies fit or their hearts healthy than working at maintaining a healthy brain. “Wits Fitness: Brain Exercise Classes” are held every fourth Monday of the month from 1-2:30 p.m. at Mid-Illinois Senior Services (Senior Center) in Sullivan. Cheri Burcham, University of Illinois Extension Family Life Educator, leads participants through interactive activities designed to exercise the brain to maintain and enhance cognitive function and memory. The next Wits Fitness class Monday, April 25 will feature speaker Kelly Willenborg of the Healing JukeBox in Effingham. Willenborg will discuss how music can boost the brain and will share an understanding of why a person can sing lyrics from songs known in high school but can’t recall what he or she ate for lunch yesterday. Each of us was born with the ability to harmonize with a beat, and participants will learn some simple and fun techniques and benefits of hand drumming while activating both the left and right sides of the brain through easy rhythm work. Read More
•April 6, 2016•
By Kim McDonald
NP Garden Columnist
Spring has sprung! It is so great to go outside and see all the flowers and the trees blooming! I was beginning to think that spring would never come, though here I am surrounded by tulips, daffodils and hyacinths to help brighten the days. This is definitely one of my favorite seasons when I can go outside and see everything becoming green again with life.
I have started another aquaponic system such as the one I had the other year, but this year I decided to make it a whole lot bigger. In January I went out to my yard and dug some starts of some different herbs and other plants from my gardens, bought some house plants, and I started some vegetable seeds so I could have a good variety of plants for my system. It took a few weeks to get most of them to be independent of my daily care, but there are a few stragglers that I am still babying trying to get them to grow their roots down to the water flowing underneath them. The aquaponic system has given me a lot of things to focus on while I went through this past winter…I didn’t have much time to get bored. Read More
•April 6, 2016•
A mass mailing from from the Chicago based VPC is not connected to Moultrie County, and information contained may confuse some residents.
Moultrie County Clerk Georgia England announced today that all election authorities were recently advised by the Illinois State Board of Elections (SBE) of a mailing that was sent out in March from the Voter Participation Center (VPC) located in Chicago to all non-registered voters in the state of Illinois.
The SBE advised that VPC has scheduled a second mailing to go out this summer. The mailing contains a letter from VPC and a voter registration form with the name and address of the election authority for reference should the person wish to register to vote. England would like the residents of Moultrie County to know that the Moultrie County Clerk’s office is in no way connected with the mailings from the outside organization VPC. Read More