•April 1, 2020•
By Supt. Ted Walk,
Sullivan CUSD #300

This week’s update is dedicated once again to items related to COVID-19 issues. As of the time of submission of this article, students in Sullivan Schools are scheduled to return on April 13, but that may have changed by the time you are reading this article.
Over the weekend, the Illinois State Board of Education released some guidance on Remote Learning. Sullivan Schools have been preparing for this scenario for weeks. Students will be able to either access materials online or complete paper copies of assignments. If the closure is extended, we will be adding additional pick-up and drop-off dates for learning materials. Though the Governor’s stay-at-home directive has an exception for picking up remote learning materials, school personnel will be delivering packets to those who are unable to come in during designated pick-up times. Read More

•April 1, 2020•
By Mike Brothers

The city of Sullivan adopted an ordinance declaring a state of emergency due to the impact of the COVID-19 virus.
With social distancing observed at the March 23 city council meeting, the session was live streamed on FaceBook from the Elizabeth Titus Library.
Due to the pandemic associated with COVID-19 the city council approved immediate suspension of all residential utility customer shutoffs due to delayed or missed payments and further suspended residential customer late payment fees or penalties through April 30,2020 Read More

•March 31, 2020•
The Illinois Department of Public Health has confirmed that a patient being treated at HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital has tested positive for COVID-19. The patient is a woman in her 50s who presented to the emergency department at St. Mary’s on Wednesday, March 25, and we received a positive confirmation for the virus that causes COVID-19 on Friday, March 27. The patient’s condition is stable. The patient is under quarantine and receiving care at the hospital.
St. Mary’s Hospital is providing all care precautions for our colleagues and patients in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and IDPH.
“We have a multidisciplinary team onsite that is continuing to keep our colleagues prepared,” said Mike Hicks, president and chief executive officer for St. Mary’s Hospital. “We continue to ask the community to do its part by practicing social distancing, washing their hands and doing all they can to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to ensure that we will continue to be prepared to care for those most in need during this time.”
The hospital continues to implement numerous precautions to identify any potentially infected persons and prevent illnesses from spreading. As a reminder, St. Mary’s has implemented a no visitor policy with few exceptions.

Virus Requires Innovation

•March 25, 2020•
By Mike Brothers

The Tuesday, March 17 election was met with challenges created by COVID-19, but Moultrie County completed the primary without incident and in record time.
The first precincts were delivered to the courthouse at 7:31 p.m. and the final precincts arrived at 8:26 p.m.
Of the 8,422 registered voters in the county 2,378 voted for a 28.24% turnout.
One measure that was taken to protect election judges was the County Clerk’s office had drive up service. Each precinct’s judges drove to the west door of the courthouse, the official packets were gathered by courthouse personnel allowing election judges to go home rather than wait inside the courthouse.
“We did this to protect the election judges,” County Clerk Georgia England said, noting once they delivered final packets they went home without entering the courthouse. Read More