Walleye Fest
Some scenes from the Walleye Fest in Findlay over the weekend.
Category Archives: News
Illinois Amish Heritage Center Awarded Grant
•August 3, 2022•
Illinois Amish Heritage Center recently announced that it has been awarded a Tourism Attractions & Festivals Grant of $305,000 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to help revitalize tourism in Illinois and improve our local economies. IAHC records indicate that 45% of visitors to the site are from outside of Illinois, bringing tourists and business to our community. Read More
Discovery Recount Conducted at Courthouse
•August 3, 2022•
According to Moultrie County State’s Attorney Tracy Weaver, a discovery recount was conducted at the courthouse on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 26 and 27. Present were Lisa Ozier and her legal counsel and poll watcher, Linda Qualls and her legal counsel and poll watcher, representatives from the Moultrie County Clerk’s Office including Pam Wittkowski and Jamie Helton, four election judges, Ken Gibson from Liberty Systems, LLC, Weaver and Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Dobson. Weaver said that four precincts were chosen by Ms. Ozier to be reviewed in the discovery recount and they were Dora, Jonathan Creek, Lowe and Whitley. Read More
Sullivan First United Methodist Church Music Festival 2022
Photo by Crystal Reed
Bounce House
Children enjoyed a variety of activities including a bounce house, bags and other activities during the Sullivan First United Methodist Church Music Festival on Saturday, July 23.
Photo by Crystal Reed
Live Music
Jeff Mayberry was another performer at the Music Festival held on Saturday. Also playing were Michael Dean Lewis and Jake and Mikayla with full band.
Photo by Crystal Reed
Music Festival
Michael Dean Lewis plays during the Sullivan First United Methodist Church Music Festival held Saturday, July 23.
ALAH School Board Focuses on “Where to go from here?” after School Referendum Fails to Pass
•July 27, 2022•
by Ariana Cherry
NP Writer
The recent ALAH School Board meeting was shorter than usual as there were no principal reports, and it had to be held on a different evening since there were a few board members who needed to arrange their summer schedules. Despite the public portion of the meeting being brief, there were still a few comments about the school referendum that didn’t quite get enough votes to pass during the local election.
“We can all be proud of the process we developed. I’ve had several people from the community asking me where we are going to go from here, and I tell them I am not sure just yet. We will take a breath, regroup and talk about how we want to move forward. I appreciate everyone who turned out to vote, and I know there was a lot of passion. Perhaps next time we will encourage more participation and provide more education. I commend our communities in our district that were involved with the referendum, but I think we will have to go back to the drawing board,” Superintendent Shannon Cheek said. Read More
Solar Ovens
Photo by Crystal Reed
Solar Ovens
Children in the summer reading program at Lovington Library created solar ovens on Tuesday, July 12. They were given ingredients for s’mores so they could test out their solar ovens at home. Pictured is Jenna Herschberger with her decorated solar oven.
SDS Crew Treated To Ice Cream
Photo by Crystal Reed
SDS Crew Treated To Ice Cream
On Friday July 15, it was rainy but that didn’t dampen the spirits of children in the Sullivan Dance Studio crew. Country Financial, the Houser agency, treated children to ice cream at the Sullivan Bakery. Pictured are the SDS crew, Elizabeth and Kyler Houser and Jorjia Clements of the Houser Agency.
ARPA Funds Awarded to Moultrie County Beacon
•July 20, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer
The county board approved a motion to distribute $90,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Moultrie County Beacon for loss of revenue related to the inability to have the Light House Cafe open and the annual Otto Center fundraiser. Treasurer Stephanie Helmuth said a review is necessary because some of the calculations are loss of revenue and some due to loss of residents in general. The committee agreed that the loss of revenue from Light House Cafe and Otto Center fundraiser were directly impacted by COVID-19.
Tyler Graven said that the roofing project on the Moultrie County courthouse is moving along. The Building and Grounds committee will have a meeting Wednesday, August 3 at which time the county farm will be discussed. County Clerk Georgia England noted that the farm had been advertised for two weeks, but they had received no applications. It has been placed in the paper as a legal ad, but she suggested running it as a regular advertisement. Read More
Petersen Health Care Announces Closure of Mason Point
•July 13, 2022•
Petersen Health Care has announced the closure of Mason Point in Sullivan on September 12, 2022. The decision to cease operations was made necessary due largely to unsustainable, poor financial performance due to longstanding state of Illinois reimbursement shortfalls, the current regulatory environment, the cost of maintaining the aging physical plants, and the many challenges caused by the ongoing pandemic, most notably staffing and labor issues. Read More
City Council Has First Reading Of Appropriations Ordinance
•July 13, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer
The City Council had the first reading of the appropriations ordinance during Monday night’s meeting during which Bob Ingram had questions concerning the ordinance. “This is not the actual budget,” Mayor Richard Glazebrook said. “If we were to buy the property behind us or to the side of us, it’s in the appropriation so we could do it.”
Treasurer Sarah Golden said that concerning the appropriations ordinance there is no specific land or building they have discussed purchasing at this time for the city building. Commissioner Abbey Sherwood stated that at a previous meeting the council had voted publicly that the city would be rebuilding the city building of two stories at the original location on the square. Read More