•December 22, 2021•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

John Vander Burgh was appointed to the Moultrie County Board during their monthly meeting Thursday, December 9. He fills the vacancy left by Dave McCabe who resigned in November. Vander Burgh and his wife Heidi live in Bethany and their three children have attended Okaw Valley schools. He has a farm, a forensic accounting firm called 20/20 Forensic Accounting and Vander Burgh Financial Services.
Vander Burgh is an MBA, a CPA and a certified fraud examiner. He has worked in public accounting firms, national corporations and banking. In addition to now being a Moultrie County board member he is also the treasurer of the Okaw Valley School Board.
“I feel a civic responsibility to use my God-given abilities to help,” Vander Burgh said. He continued to say that he doesn’t have any preconceived notions about the board position; he just wants to help in a leadership capacity. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, family activities and being involved in church.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Mayor Richard Glazebrook recognized members of the Sullivan Middle School 8th grade girls basketball team during Monday’s council meeting. The team won regionals by beating Pana then went to sectionals and defeated Marshall. This past Saturday they played Washington Middle School and lost.

•December 15, 2021•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The Sullivan City Council approved the tax levy totaling $811,329.
The council voted to accept a bid from Wallace Excavating in the amount of $34,350 for the Wyman Lake Island Project. This was budgeted for the fiscal year using TIF funds.
Mayor Richard Glazebrook introduced an ordinance eliminating the position of city administrator and establishing the position of chief of staff for the city of Sullivan. Commissioner Abbey Sherwood suggested the council look at changing some things with the ordinance before approving it. A few of the changes are taking out a residency guideline, having the termination be by majority of vote rather than by the mayor, assisting with the budget and other items.
“As it’s written, I think it needs to be cleaned up,” she said. Sherwood said that the chief of staff is proposed to be over employees but she thinks that is the commissioner’s responsibility. “I think the goal of this position shouldn’t be directed to the positions running smoothly,” Sherwood said. Glazebrook postponed the ordinance. Read More

•December 8, 2021•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

A program from the University of Illinois Extension held at Mid-Illinois Senior Services and Community Center is helping to keep brains active with fun activities. According to Cheri Burcham, University of Illinois Extension Family Life Educator, brain health is a hot topic because there is a huge population that is aging. The program called Wit Fit meets monthly at the center. Read More

•December 1, 2021•
by Ariana Cherry
NP Writer

Members of the ALAH school board met at the Atwood Grade School at their recent school board meeting held November 17. Superintendent Shannon Cheek reported that some of their bills were a bit larger than usual - one of the reasons being that they had both bond payments and interest that needs to be paid. There was nothing new to report in the treasurer’s report, but Cheek stated that the district received a payment from transportation; although it was the first they had received for this calendar year.
The audit for the calendar year through June 30, 2021 was presented. The district received financial recognition with a 3.9 Financial Score. Financial recognition is the highest level in the financial finding process. This recognition was also received in last year’s audit. In the treasurer’s bond finding, there were no bank accounts overdrawing the shares, and balances were being kept where they needed to be. The district’s debt is a total of $2.89 million dollars. COVID had an effect in some parts of the audit such as attendance, which was mainly because of many students having to quarantine or do remote learning during the last school year. The 305 School District attendance was down 86 students. The auditor mentioned that in most of the reports they did, these figures were all over the board for many school districts. Read More