Category Archives: News Section

Toy Bar’s All Wheels run

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Photo by R.R. Best
Toy Bar’s All Wheels run
Saturday, July 13th was the annual all wheels run starting at the Toy Bar. All proceeds went to Sullivan Ambucs Chapter and funds that were raised at The Castle in Mattoon went to St. Jude Runners. Last year the run was themed after the 70’s Hippie era. Supporting warm playful colors, music and all donations going to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital with the wonderful motto “Peace Out Cancer”. This year also supported a fun theme and line-up of visits for the run attendees to explore. This year’s theme was ‘American Cowboy’ in honor of Toby Keith, a popular American country music singer, songwriter and producer, whom unfortunately passed away early this year from stomach cancer. The run started at the Toy Bar, made its way over into Coles county and visited The Castle in Mattoon. Next heading over to The Bolt in Humbolt, continuing over to Shae’s in Arcola. The last two stops headed over to It’ll Do in Arthur then circling back to the Toy Bar. Sullivan Ambucs had food for purchase after the run had returned. The Toy Bar is known for their big events, namely Jeep/All Wheel runs and sporting events such as Super Bowl parties and even celebrating March Madness. The Toy Bar and the never ending amount of support from locals and visitors alike is enough to keep the energy around the events going every year.

House Blessing 2024

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House Blessing
Moultrie County Habitat for Humanity held a house blessing Sunday, June 30 in Sullivan to welcome the family of Jamie Minor to their new home. The Moultrie County Habitat board, family and friends were led in the blessing by Pastor Vanessa Patient.

Splash Pad success, power outage discussed at city council

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•July 10, 2024•

by Sharon Barricklow

The Sullivan City Council held their first meeting in July Monday night, after moving the date to accommodate the July 4 holiday. In a wide ranging agenda, the council discussed recent successes and potential changes in city services. With the opening of the Splash Pad earlier this month, Commissioner Douglas Shook said the new attraction was busy all the time. “If you haven’t driven through the park to see it you need to,” he said. “If they’re open, they’re busy.”  The council approved a $28,750 fee to Lane Services for completion of the Splash Pad parking lot and Americans with Disabilities Act parking at the sports courts.  During the public comment portion of the meeting, Commissioner MIke Kirk took questions about the recent city wide power outage. Kirk said the original problem was located on the east side of Bethany when an Ameren line had a computer malfunction.  Read More

Sullivan brother and sister become UTA National Champions 2 years in a row

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•July 10, 2024•

Submitted by Dawn Kelley

Austin and Annika Kelley of Sullivan went to the UTA (United Taekwondo Alliance) National Championships on June 21st and 22nd in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This was their second trip to nationals. Last year Austin was the 13 to 17 year-old boys board breaking National champion and this year he became 13 to 15 year-old Advanced Color Belt Traditional  Weapons National Champion. Weapons comes very natural to Austin. After being off of taekwondo for nearly 8 months, he decided to compete in weapons 4 days before the tournament, and with only 3 days of practice, he ended up winning the National title for his age rank and division. His precise moves and fast spins impressed the judges, and left the audience in awe.   Read More

‘Fairly Solid Budget’ presented for upcoming year

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•July 10, 2024•

by E. Scott England 

The Sullivan CUSD #300 school board held their first meeting of the 2024-2025 school year. Only five of the seven members were in attendance. Justin Florey and Erik Stollard were the two absent board members. Those present managed to navigate the meeting in sixteen minutes due to little to no discussion on all agenda items. Zachary Horn was the only member to engage in some discussion outside of President Jeff White and Secretary Tyson Grooms performing their officer duties.

The meeting started off with the consent agenda. These are items that routinely make an appearance on agenda either monthly, annually, or somewhere in between. The idea of a consent agenda is to expedite meetings. Any item in the consent agenda can be pulled for further discussion by the board. This is typically done when reviewing bills or other items needing further clarification. This school board once again opted for no discussion on any of the items. Read More

Arthur’s Freedom Celebration: A day of rain, sunshine, and spectacular fireworks

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•July 3, 2024•

by Ariana R Cherry 

On June 29th, Arthur’s Freedom Celebration began on a gloomy note with some intermittent showers. Despite the rain and gloomy forecast, out of town visitors streamed into the charming town, eager to witness the evening’s spectacular show. 

However, a light storm moved in bringing heavier rain, and casting a momentary shadow over the upcoming festivities. But with some answered prayers, the rain subsided by about 1:30 pm, making way for sunshine and humidity to settle in. Despite the heavy humidity, the parade marched on as scheduled showcasing the majestic horses trotting gracefully, followed by veterans, boy scouts, local organizations, young baton dancers, fire trucks and even appearances by Santa Claus and Uncle Sam himself. 

As the parade concluded, Jurgens Park and the surrounding countryside of Arthur filled with people claiming their seats, ready to be captivated by the magnificent firework show - complete with its own soundtrack. The Arthur fireworks proved to be another wonderful success, leaving attendees eagerly anticipating the next Freedom Celebration.

FY2024 amended budget approved

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•July 3, 2024•

by Ariana R Cherry 

Members of the Board of Education held a hearing for the Amended Budget for Fiscal Year 2024. Superintendent Shannon Cheek stated that since 2021 with a reduction in staff, the district has saved a total of $600,000. 

At last month’s meeting, the figures for the FY 2024 Amended Budget were shared. Education Fund: $5,216,690, Operation and Maintenance: $1,669,812, Transportation Fund: $347,349 and Working Cash: $900,798. The projected fund balances for June 30, 2024 were: Education Fund: $6,109,964, Operations and Maintenance: $1,818,594, Transportation Fund: $177,412 and Working Cash: Read More

Kirk named a Teacher of Excellence

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•July 3, 2024•

Lori Kirk, a Sullivan High School and Sullivan Middle School teacher, recently was named a Teacher of Excellence for the Regional Office of Education #11.

“It’s truly humbling to be recognized in this way. I am grateful to be part of the Sullivan Tribe with colleagues and administration that think of students first. I am blessed to be recognized with this incredible honor,” stated Kirk.

She added that “My classroom team consists of two very dedicated paraprofessionals and a group of amazing students. This award motivates me to continue striving for excellence in education.” Read More

Athletic trainer services drastically reduced for upcoming year at SHS

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•July 3, 2024•

by E. Scott England

The Sullivan CUSD #300 school board held a special meeting last Thursday to close out fiscal year 24. All seven members attended the fifteen minute meeting where they breezed through six action items with little to no discussion.

One of the main purposes of this special meeting is to approve the amended budget. This is a common practice in school districts as it is typically necessary to make adjustments to a budget that was approved ten months prior. Superintendent Walk reported that the budget this year is balanced and overall was very positive. He did caution the board that in the coming years they would most likely be presented with a deficit budget in order to spend down certain accounts. Read More

Knee high by the 4th of July 2024

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Photo by R.R. Best
Knee high by the 4th of July
Seen here in a cornfield belonging to Phil and Laura Martin of rural Sullivan is Anna Selby, Avvi Whitten, and Presley Van Loon showing that the corn is above knee high. There are fields in the county that are only a foot high as well as fields that are 8 foot high and starting to tassel.