•June 8, 2016•

At the request of several alumni, the Lovington High School Alumni Association will host two homecomings this year.

The summer homecoming kicks off at Tom Conn Park Friday, June17 during the Community Club Junefest fish fry from 4:30-7 p.m. Entertainment including Steve Fleming, Dennis Garmon, and others will start at 5.

Anyone wishing to help with the fish fry may contact Pam Workman at 217-358-3936 or pworkman49@yahoo.com.

Saturday morning starts with the firemen’s pancake breakfast and a bake sale at the firehouse. The bank, telephone company and library will be open so alumni may see LHS memorabilia. Read More

•June 1, 2016•

Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond graduation ceremonies were held at the ALAH gymnasium at 7 p.m. Friday May 27 with 66 candidates receiving diplomas for 2016.

Valedictorians are Jakob Brewer and Rebecca Davis.

Photo by Darian Hays
Pictured above is ALAH’s 2016 graduating class.

Brewer plans to attend Parkway Pathway to the University of Illinois in the college of engineering. His idea of success is not about how much money you make, but whether you live your life to its fullest potential.

“Procrastination will get you nowhere, and life is 10 percent about what happens to you and 90 percent  how you react.”

Davis is currently attending Paul Mitchell the School in Normal. Her idea of success is achieving your goals no matter what others think about them.

“Taking the time to grow as an adult can be more beneficial than class time.”

Madeleine Brown and Allison Irwin are salutatorians.

Madaleine is studying English through the Parkland Pathway to University of Illinois. Read More

•May 25, 2016•

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Shelbyville is gearing up for a busy Memorial Day weekend. A variety of programs are planned including tours of the dam, campground programs, and many other activities.

Beginning Memorial Day weekend, tours of the dam will be offered free of charge every Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tours are approximately 50 minutes long and begin in the Lake Shelbyville Visitor Center lobby. Small groups may sign in upon arrival at the Visitor Center. Large groups must call ahead. Tours run through Labor Day weekend. Read More

•May 25, 2016•

Moultrie County has been issued a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, according to Constance Beard, Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue.

The property assessment equalization factor, often called the “multiplier”, is the method used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties, as required by law. This equalization is particularly important because some of the state’s 6,600 local taxing districts overlap into two or more counties (e.g. school districts, junior college districts, fire protection districts). If there were no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result.

Under a law passed in 1975, property in Illinois should be assessed at one-third (1/3) of its market value. Farm property is assessed differently, with farm homesites and dwellings subject to regular assessing and equalization procedures but with farmland assessed at one-third of its agriculture economic value. Farmland is not subject to the state equalization factor. Read More

Sullivan City Council researching net-metering policies

•May 18, 2016•

By Ariana Cherry
For the News Progress

Recently, resident Mike Fowler approached the Sullivan City Council about installing solar power in his home. Fowler has never had solar energy anywhere else, but he does know it can save money.

“I have a niece and nephew-in-aw in the St. Louis area who installed a solar system two years ago, 2014, and I spoke with them, and they are very happy with their system and the amount of money they are saving on their electric bill,” he commented. “ During the summer months when the sun is shining bright on their solar panels and their air-conditioning is running full force, they get electric bills of three to six dollars per month,” he added.

Fowler is no stranger to how utilities work. He does, after all, have a background in the electrical industry. “I graduated from Lake Land Community College with an associates in electronics before becoming a journeyman electrician after serving a four-year IBEW apprenticeship. If you go back even further, I worked at the Sullivan electric plant my senior year in high school, mopping floors, and then I’d go for in for the maintenance crew on day shift and help the meter readers on second shift,” he said.

Fowler realizes that a few years have passed since he last spent time in the industry. Read More