Photos by Señora King
SHS Spanish Club members collected food and delivered Nov. 22.

•January 1, 2020•
By Seth Mayberry
for The News Progress

Twice over the past two months, the Spanish Club has collected food to be given to five different families in the surrounding Sullivan area.
Each member of the club was assigned a group and everyone signed up for one or more food items to be gathered and delivered on November 22 and again on December 12.
The seniors who are apart of Spanish Club went along with Amy Eller and Jodi Elzy to assist in delivering the food boxes to the families. Mrs. Eller and Mrs. Elzy work at Bright Start which is an organization that helps out families that are less fortunate.
A couple of those seniors who helped distribute the boxes had the following to say about their experiences: Read More

•December 25, 2019•
By Mike Brothers

With the quadrennial assessments published and county tax notices in the mail Supervisor of Assessments Lori Barringer pointed out Moultrie County Board members may be questioned about property tax bills.
Barringer explained that the Assessments office staff had logged some 237 hours transferring hand completed Real Estate Transfer Declarations into an electronic format. She emphasized transferring documents into electronic data would improve accuracy as well as save office time in the future.
The Supervisor of Assessments reported the Equalized Assessed Valuation of property in the county is $282,990,701 before the Board of Review accepts challenges. This is a seven percent increase over last year. Read More

•December 11, 2019•
When the Lovington village board met Nov. 12 learning Lovington Grade School’s student council had plans for a Christmas competition at Tom Conn Park.
Trustee Pam Anklam explained the student council was starting again at LGS and the 10 students involved would like to place 10 Christmas trees in the park.
Anklam reported the students would be decorating the trees with recycled materials and have the community to vote on them.
The request for lighting the 10 trees was an issued, since there was no available electricity. Read More

Photo by Mike Brothers
State Fire Marshall Matt Perez (left) announced the Fire Truck Revolving Loan program helped Sullivan Fire Protection Dist. purchase a new 3000 gallon tanker. Pictured with Perez are Sullivan Fire Dist. Chief Mike Piper, Assistant Chief Larry Edwards and Larry Peasley Maroa Fire Chief.

•December 11, 2019•
By Mike Brothers

Sullivan Fire Protection District can deliver 3000 gallons of water and dispense it in three minutes thanks to the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Program.
The new $278,335 3000 gallon tanker was on display at the Sullivan Fire department Dec. 3 when Illinois State Fire Marshal Matt Perez announced Sullivan was one of 23 communities benefiting from 0% interest loan program.
“The Sullivan Fire Protection District was approved for a 0% loan through OSFM for a new 3000-gallon tanker, a much needed new piece of equipment,” Sullivan Fire Chief Mike Piper began. “Through the program, our station has been able to purchase a new Ladder Truck and have an ambulance box remounted on a new chassis,” he continued.
“Without the Revolving Loan Program, we may not have been able to make the purchases necessary to continue serving local residents.” Read More

Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Fair displays a water jug from the Monk’s Mound in Cahokia. Small arrowheads on wall behind him.

•December 4, 2019•
By Ellen Ferrera
For the News Progress

Randy Fair’s grandmother was a full Cherokee Indian.
His grandfather had a drawer full of Indian axes and arrowheads that fascinated Randy at an early age. He believes that his love of collecting Illinois Indian artifacts was in his blood from the beginning.
It all began as a youth. “I was into hunting, fishing, trapping and finding Indian artifacts. In the 1980’s farmers were still deep plowing and I could find 20-25 pieces in a field a day. Now I’m lucky to find 2 or 3.”
Fair would spend at least 200 days a year walking the fields covering some 8 miles a day in search of arrowheads ancient clay trading pipes and other items.
Fair decided to specialize in the pottery of Illinois Indians from what is known as the Mississippian Era when Indians began to populate both sides of the Mississippi in Southern Illinois and the lower Ohio River valley.
The greatest settlement of this period from 700 AD to 1600AD was Cahokia Downs near St. Louis which, at its peak, had a population of 20,000.
The Native Americans chose the fertile flood plains to raise most of their food which consisted of maize, beans, pumpkins and squash.
They needed vessels in which to store and serve their food. Read More