•September 1, 2021•
by Ariana Cherry
NP Writer

Senator Chapin Rose made an appearance at the most recent ALAH School Board meeting and spoke about his plan for pursuing a class action lawsuit regarding Governor Pritzker’s latest mask mandates for all schools in Illinois.
“The mask isn’t an issue, Rose said, “I am a lawyer, but I am not allowed to give legal advice,” he noted. Rose related that he has buckets of schools who have decided not to comply with the recent mask mandate, have been threatened that their funding will be taken away and will not be able to be a recognized school, etc. “They have been coerced into a position of compliance,” he said.  “What is fundamentally an unAmerican action is threatening restraint for a vote that is never going to happen anyway. I don’t care what anyone’s view is about masks or not masks - you can’t threaten an official’s license to force them to take action or refrain from taking action,” Rose added. He went on to share his idea for taking action against the mandate.
“It makes no sense for a school district to go at it alone. The idea is that everybody gets in a room and puts money in a pot to go forward in the name of local control - this is not about masks or no masks. School boards have the right to say what they want. No, JB,” he said. Rose explained that there would be a meeting for school districts who are interested in moving forward against the governor. They would share the cost of the lawsuit by pooling their money. Read More

Photo by Crystal Reed
Gary Rabine, a candidate for Governor, visited Yoder’s Kitchen in Arthur on Tuesday, August 17. The stop was part of a two-day bus tour through downstate Illinois leading up to Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair.

•August 25 2021•
Gary Rabine, a candidate for Governor, was in Arthur on Tuesday, August 17 as part of a two-day bus tour through downstate Illinois leading up to Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair where he emphasized the failed policies of the past and how they will only result in more failed outcomes for Illinois families.
“Illinois is never going to fix its problem by electing the same kind of woke, liberal politicians,” Rabine said. “Failed career politicians have declared a war on families. Whether it’s nonsense mandates, or debilitating tax increases or their horrific approach to crime, our state leaders are waging war on our families, and it is costing us dearly.”
Rabine said it is not the role of government to make healthcare decisions for individuals and families and to intrude in our lives as is happening far too frequently now. Read More

•August 18, 2021•
by Ariana Cherry
NP Writer

Concerned parents, guardians and members of the ALAH school district community filed into the high school gym Thursday, August 11, to voice their concerns about the recent mask mandate that Governor Pritzker has put into place. At the time of the public meeting, the school had voted on a safe return to school plan, citing that “masks were recommended for those who were not vaccinated,” but they wouldn’t be checking vaccination statuses, etc. The district wanted to focus more on being educators and not allowing the pandemic to get in the way. Although, with the rising cases of the new Delta variant, many of us are feeling “deja-vu”, and it seems as if we are on replay from last year as mandates and mitigations come back into our lives once again. Read More

•August 11, 2021•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer

During Monday’s meeting, the City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the personnel policy for city of Sullivan employees. The amendment says that an employee shall receive 40 hours of vacation on his first day of employment for use in the following year. The resolution took effect immediately and applies retroactively to any active full-time employee who is currently in his first year of employment.
In addition, the resolution says that an employee shall be allowed to carry any unused vacation hours credited to him on his first day of employment for his second year of employment. Thereafter, any vacation time credited to an employee may not be carried over year to year, a year being defined as an employee’s anniversary date to anniversary date.
Upon termination or resignation, employees shall receive compensation for all earned but unused vacation at the employee’s regular straight-time hourly rate as of the employee’s date of termination. The final compensation of a separated employee shall be paid in full on his next regularly scheduled payday. Upon retirement any unused accrued vacation days, as of an employee’s last physical day of work, will be used to extend out his date of retirement. The balance of unused vacation hours will be treated as a salary/hourly payment to the employee, which simply pushes back his retirement and final paycheck to a later date. Read More

Photo by R.R. Best
This mural can be found on the side of the Old No. 1 in Windsor. The mural features the American flag, a bald eagle, military helicopter, an airplane and a World War II boat with soldiers. The other side of the business will be getting a mural painted on it starting this month.

•August 4, 2021•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Justin McWhorter, owner of McQuarter’s Pub, Wurst Place, Old No. 1 and Windsor Pub, is hoping to bring some life back into Windsor’s downtown. One way he is doing this is by having murals painted on the Old No. 1 and Windsor Pub. McWhorter and his general manager are friends with Jamie Stang of Stang Arts in Effingham. Read More