•March 13, 2024•

Submitted by Janet Roney

program chairman

“Tales my Grandfather Told Me” will be presented by Steve Poland at 7 pm on Thursday, March 21, at the Moultrie County History Center on 1303 S. Hamilton, Sullivan. This will be the opening program of the Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society’s 2024 season.  

Steve’s maternal grandfather, Ray Misenheimer, was a great story teller. About once a year, he took his grandchildren on a tour of sites in his East Nelson Township neighborhood southwest of Allenville, spinning tales about the colorful people and events from long ago as they drove along. Steve, a great story teller himself, with a good memory, will share some of these stories. The public is invited to attend.  

•March 6, 2024•

North Dean, a Sullivan High School sophomore, recently received word that the entry they submitted to the 2023 Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of the Wonder/Sense of the Wild Contest tied for first place in the “Essay with a Photograph” division. They worked with retired SHS English teacher Becky Lawson on an essay called “Resilient Beauty” and submitted it with a photo that they took of wildflowers, the topic of their essay.  Read More

•February 28, 2024•

by Crystal Reed

Hi, my name is Crystal Reed and I have been the Writer for the Moultrie County News Progress since late July 2020. I have recently decided to resign my position at the publication and my last day will be Friday, March 1. When I made this decision, I weighed my options and did a lot of thinking about what I should ultimately do. In the 3 years and 7 months or so that I have served in this role, I have met many people and learned so much about the communities in Moultrie County.

However let’s back up and go back to 2020 for a minute. Some people are not aware of the circumstances of how I ended up in Sullivan and at the News Progress. Shortly after the State of Illinois was shut down in 2020, I was furloughed from my employer in Effingham. I can’t express to you how difficult that was for me, it was the first time since I got out of college that I was unemployed for longer than a few months or so.  Read More

•February 28, 2024•

by Ariana R. Cherry 

The ALAH School district continues to focus on the needs of its facilities. There are some places on the roof of the AHGS that have significant leaks. Superintendent Shannon Cheek had noted at January’s Board of Education meeting that he wanted to get ahead of things before they became a problem. At the meeting on February 21, the Board of Education approved Cheek to go ahead and solicit bids for roof work to be completed for summer 2024. The cost estimated could be anywhere from $200,000 to $240,000. The Lovington Grade School is also in need of pavement work, in which the board also approved Cheek to solicit bids. The estimate of cost for that is $410,000. Principal Andrew Peralta and his students at the Arthur Grade School are beginning to get excited for restroom repairs as some of the classrooms have already begun their plans for moving class until the renovations have been completed.  Read More