•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

Photo by Ellen Ferrara
Kevin Corley, a retired teacher and school administrator from Shelbyville, spoke at the Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society annual dinner on Thursday, November 18.

•November 24, 2021•
By Ellen Ferrara
NP Writer

Members and friends of the Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society gathered November 18 for the annual dinner meeting at the Sullivan American Legion Hall. The guest speaker was author and historian Kevin Corley.
Corley taught history and coached several sports for many years in local high schools. Since retiring, he has pursued his real love of writing about the history he had shared with his students. His particular focus has been on some of the darker historical events in central and southern Illinois.
His first novel, “Sixteen Tons”, tells the incredible, violent story of central Illinois coal mining from 1898-1933. Corley used a power-point presentation with photographs for each of his five novels. Read More

Photo furnished
Command Sergeant Major Richard Carroll from the Illinois National Guard speaking to a crowd at Sullivan VFW on Veterans Day.

•November 17, 2021•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Sullivan VFW welcomed Command Sergeant Major Richard Carroll of Mattoon to speak about what it means to him to be a veteran on Veterans Day.
In June 1987, he was 17 years old and stepped off the bus at Fort McClellan in Alabama. He revealed that he joined the National Guard for the discipline and focus. In the summer of 1990, he was working security at the State Fair in the National Guard tent.
The next thing he knew, a few months later, he found himself in the middle of the desert during Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. Carroll exited the Army in 1995 to pursue a family and his career in law enforcement. “It just never left me, and I think a lot of people who have served feel the same way,” he said. Read More