Photo furnished
Karen Noffke and several family members have been able to take advantage of Lake Land Community College education to further their professional lives. Now she has time to enjoy grandchildren Ava and Audrey Warren who may go LLC.

•October 4, 2017•

By Erin Valentine
for the News Progress

Karen (Hendrix) Noffke has been going to school most of her life.

And from an early age, nursing was her chosen profession.

“I even have a little kindergarten story when they ask you want to be when you grow up. I wanted to be a nurse,” said Noffke. “And it came true.”

The 1981 Mattoon High School graduate left home in rural Mattoon to move to her own apartment in town soon after graduation. She chose Lake Land College’s nursing program, allowing her to support herself and continue her education.

“Lake Land was local and affordable,” she said. “I was putting myself through school so I worked every weekend at the Odd Fellow-Rebekah Home. That was a bummer back then, and I went to school Monday through Friday,” she said. She worked as a certified nurse assistant at the home (“back then, you didn’t have to be trained first”), and in two years, earned her LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) degree from Lake Land. In just two more years (1985), Noffke earned the ADN (Associate Degree in Nursing) at Lake Land, thanks to a partnership the school had with Illinois Eastern Community Colleges in Olney. Read More

Fields Wright Gets Reprieve

•October 4, 2017•

By Ariana Cherry
for the News Progress

Sullivan City Council members learned at the Sept. 11 meeting that the library cooling issue required system replacement.

City administrator, Dan Flannell reported that the air conditioner at Elizabeth Titus Memorial Library is beyond repair. “Bids were solicited,” Flannell began, “but nobody can handle a project of this magnitude.”

The present system is more than 40 years old. The total estimate of the project (for both the AC and furnace) is $83,890 with King Lar of Decatur doing the project. The furnace will be done first and then the air conditioning system.

Flannell met with the library board the Tuesday after Labor Day, and they decided to wave the bidding and move forward since this is an emergency. Library director Michelle Nolen said at least half of Sullivan’s population have library cards and that many of its patrons use the computer.  Read More

Photo furnished
Moultrie Counseling Center staff: front row left to right Penny Arthur, Pam Lawyer, Audrey Mosier, Tabitha Sill, Hollie Atchison, Katrin Lynn; back row left to right: Dave Cole, Marie Luedke, Valerie Brumfield, Aimee Crask, Jeremy Nolen, Angie Schmohe

•September 27, 2017•

CARF International announced that Moultrie County Counseling Center has been accredited for a period of three years for its Outpatient Treatment: Mental Health (Adults) and Outpatient: Mental Health (Children and Adolescents) programs. The latest accreditation is the seventh consecutive Three-Year Accreditation that the international accrediting body, CARF, has been given to the Moultrie County Counseling Center. This announcement follows a two day review completed recently. Read More

•September 27, 2017•

Federal, State, Circuit Judge and Local candidates are circulating petitions seeking nomination to office in the March 20, 2018 General Primary Election. Successful candidates winning nomination will then be placed on the November 6, 2018 ballot for election. Read More

Photo furnished
Pictured is local artist Nick Beery.

•September 20, 2017•

Sullivan artist Nick Beery will complete the third of three downtown murals in Decatur this week. This mural for the Decatur Mural Project in 2017 will be at the 200 block of W. Main St. in Decatur (east wall facing parking lot).

Beery is a freelance artist and owner/founder/creative director of Beery Method. The design for the mural is made up of a series of light, medium, and dark shapes and based on a mathematical expression/pattern structure known as the golden spiral. The golden spiral is found in nature everywhere from nautilus shells and leaves to the arms of galaxies. Read More