Category Archives: News Section

ALAH District Short Another State Payment

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Reduction in funding causes change of summer maintenance, insurance policies

•July 22, 2015•

by Ariana Cherry
Arthur/Sullivan Reporter

At their meeting last Wednesday, the Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond school board discussed being denied a fourth state aid payment and how that looks to impact projects.
“We didn’t receive our fourth payment from the state which equaled about $80,000, ” said Superintendent Kenny Schwingel.
While the district didn’t expect to receive that missed payment from the state, it did still put them short for funding toward extra projects. The district had several projects for summer maintenance that were needing to be done, but because of funding issues, they had to be put on hold for the next school year. The total cost of the maintenance projects was over $105,000, but after taking a second look at the list, it was narrowed down to $70,000. Some of the projects that were put on hold include putting up a second hitching post, new storage shed and repairing/replacing the entrance at Arthur Grade School. Read More

Eagle Creek Task Force Forms

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Local officials come together to provide oversight on shuttered resort

•July 15, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A group of local officials and representatives have recently come together to form a task force overseeing the future of the long-shuttered Eagle Creek Resort.
“Some of us locally think we need to have some local control in overseeing it to make sure it continues forward,” said Moultrie County board chairman Dave McCabe. “Everyone has been wanting to get it accomplished for years now, but it never seems to get done.”
Eagle Creek was closed in July of 2009 after mold was detected. Some hope for its reopening surfaced in 2010 when Decatur-based BMDD Resorts Corp. was hired to renovate and reopen the resort. But that hope soon faded last year after the firm pulled out among disagreements with the state over the project, leaving Eagle Creek to once again sit unusable.
“With the way DNR has been prolonging this, I’m not sure whether we can be effective or not,“ said Sullivan Mayor Ann Short who is also a member of the task force. “But if we can accomplish something positive, I’ll be thrilled.” Read More

Golf Outing Winners

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Submitted Golf Outing Winners Pictured is winning team from the 21st annual Okaw Valley Academic Foundation golf outing, which was held July 10. From left to right: Andrew Fultz, Joe Fultz, sponsor Jack Scott, Ben Broadbeck, and JC Fultz.

Submitted
Golf Outing Winners
Pictured is winning team from the 21st annual Okaw Valley Academic Foundation golf outing, which was held July 10. From left to right: Andrew Fultz, Joe Fultz, sponsor Jack Scott, Ben Broadbeck, and JC Fultz.

Sullivan Police Asking Public for Help Amid Criminal Vehicle Trespassing

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Four unlocked vehicles targeted over weekend

• July 15, 2015 •

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Sullivan police are asking the public to keep their car doors locked and an eye out for any suspicious activity after a string of unlocked vehicles were illegally entered over the weekend.
Sullivan Police Chief John Love says that four vehicles were the subject of criminal trespass this past weekend, two of which were then taken around town before then being abandoned.
One of the vehicles was found just north of Wyman Park on Worth street and another parked in the middle of a road in front of a stop sign. Read More

Sullivan Woman in Stable Condition After Collision

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Victim of DUI wreck in Warrensburg

•July 8, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A Sullivan woman is in stable condition after more than two weeks of being hospitalized following a DUI accident near Warrensburg last month.
Judith McPheeters, 69, of Sullivan endured life-threatening injuries the evening of Wednesday, June 17 following a collision near Warrensburg.
According to a press release by the Macon County sheriff’s department, a call came in at approximately 6:35 p.m. regarding the two-vehicle wreck. Once on scene, responders had to extricate the 69-year-old Sullivan woman from her 2011 Chevrolet after it collided with a 2009 Ford pickup truck, driven by Ryan M. Maurer, 41, of Harristown. Read More

Sullivan Schools Approve Final Budget for FY15

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Better than originally projected

•July 8, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

At their monthly board meeting last month, the Sullivan school board approved a final amended budget for fiscal year 15, which came to a close June 30.
That budget, while an improvement from the initial one passed last September, was not quite an improvement from the April meeting where a tentative amended budget was presented.
Compared to that budget, the final amended one sees an increase in expenditures just over $66,000. Superintendent Brad Tuttle attributed much of the increase to recent work on the HVAC systems at the elementary and middle schools that are nearly 20 years old and have been working at half capacity. The budget also reflects some of the spending of a $50,000 grant that was received last year. Read More

2015 Miss-Mo-Do Royalty

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Photo by Keith Stewart 2015 Miss-Mo-Do Royalty Pictured are this year’s Miss Moultrie-Douglas royalty, from left to right: Jr. Miss Mo-Do Kali Pierce of Tuscola, Little Miss Mo-Do Paislee Lorenzen of Newman, and Miss Mo-Do Gabrielle Uphoff of Sullivan.

Photo by Keith Stewart
2015 Miss-Mo-Do Royalty
Pictured are this year’s Miss Moultrie-Douglas royalty, from left to right: Jr. Miss Mo-Do Kali Pierce of Tuscola, Little Miss Mo-Do Paislee Lorenzen of Newman, and Miss Mo-Do Gabrielle Uphoff of Sullivan.

Bethany Bar Closes for the Summer, TIF Funds Revoked

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Village also hears petition concerning rental utilities

July 8, 2015

by Derek Pope
Bethany Reporter

At the end of May, Bethany’s first bar in decades decided to close—at least temporarily. The Hired Hand Winery and Saloon, located in Bethany’s downtown district, formally announced the closure on their Facebook page on May 31, pledging to return to business in August. The reason they cited for the closure was an extended family summer vacation, but the announcement came unexpectedly following the approval of a sizable loan from the village’s township investment funds (TIF) intended to aid in the business’s summer operations.
Prior to the village board’s approval of the loan in April, the owners of the Hired Hand and its sister business Echoes Studio, Shane and Erin Weybright, approached the village’s TIF committee with an appeal for funds that they deemed necessary for keeping the two establishments operational throughout the summer and ultimately in the months and years to come. They requested the necessary money to install a new heating, and more importantly, air conditioning system in the outdated downtown buildings that housed the businesses. The Hired Hand’s ownership said that during their first year of operation, the complete lack of an air conditioning system so badly hurt their summer business that it may ultimately be impossible to financially endure another summer without one.
Bethany’s TIF committee and village board ultimately agreed, approving a recommendation to award the Weybrights a $48,000 five-year forgivable loan, in part to improve the downtown buildings themselves, which must be repaid in part should the business permanently close or be sold within that time frame.
The decision was not without objections, though. Read More

Sullivan Teacher Dies After Being Struck by Vehicle

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Christina Sanders, 30, pronounced dead Thurs.

•July 8, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A Sullivan elementary school teacher was pronounced dead last Thursday evening after being struck by a vehicle the Tuesday prior.
According to the Moultrie County sheriff’s department, Christina Sanders, 30, of Sullivan was pronounced dead at Carle Hospital at 5:33 p.m. Thursday.
Shortly before 7:13 p.m. Tuesday, June 30 Sanders was struck by an automobile while jogging along county road 850E just north of the Bruce-Findlay road according to the sheriff’s department.
The release further adds that the automobile was being driven by Kali Forsyth, 18, of Sullivan.
Sanders, who was a first grade teacher for the Sullivan school district, was taken by a Life Flight helicopter to Carle Hospital Tuesday evening where as of Wednesday morning she was in critical condition prior to her passing Thursday.
According to a report by WCIA-3, Sanders’ was an organ donor. Read More

Talking Education

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Submitted Talking Education A group of local educators recently met with State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) to discuss education issues in the state. Pictured, inside Sen. Rose’s Capitol office are (back row, left to right): John Harwood, Dan Allen (Sullivan H.S. teacher), and Ted Walk (Sullivan H.S. assistant principal). Front row: Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), Steve Poland, Brad Tuttle (Sullivan superintendent), and Erik Young (Sullivan H.S. principal).

Submitted
Talking Education
A group of local educators recently met with State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) to discuss education issues in the state. Pictured, inside Sen. Rose’s Capitol office are (back row, left to right): John Harwood, Dan Allen (Sullivan H.S. teacher), and Ted Walk (Sullivan H.S. assistant principal). Front row: Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), Steve Poland, Brad Tuttle (Sullivan superintendent), and Erik Young (Sullivan H.S. principal).