Category Archives: News Section

County Board Approves Moultrie County Employee Handbook

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•March 15, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

The Moultrie County Board heard from County Treasurer Stephanie Helmuth that the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) ad hoc committee has not been meeting because they have deployed most of the funds. There are two items still in progress. One is a maintenance project and the other an ongoing animal control project. Helmuth stated that the interest earned on the ARPA funds is general fund revenue which will be transferred to that fund and is just under $14,000. She said there are $194,000 of the ARPA funds still in their possession which account for the remaining animal control project and the Stanley jail lock project.
Helmuth noted that there would be a final ARPA meeting when all the funds are fully exhausted which could be another six to nine months.
Also approved was the updated Moultrie County Employee Handbook. Michelle Liddiard said it was proposed to update the personal days from two days to five days to come into compliance with a new law which will be in affect in 2024. The personnel committee wanted to do vacation, but they went with personal days because they can’t be carried over year to year, and if someone quits, they don’t have to be paid out. Read More

City Council Amends Ordinance Regarding Truancy of Minors

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•March 15, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

The Sullivan City Council approved an ordinance amending part of an ordinance concerning minors and parental responsibility regulations during Monday night’s meeting. Sullivan Police Chief Andy Pistorius explained that the ordinance is for the school resource officer and the police officers to help enforce underage drinking, truancy and other things. This will have the offenses kept within the city and will not go on criminal records and put a fine to offenses.
He stated there are students who are missing 15-30 days which are way too much for them to graduate. Mayor Richard Glazebrook feels students will have to suffer consequences for missing school. “It’s difficult for them to do their job in keeping these kids in school,” he said. Glazebrook said they are mirroring what Charleston has done, and they have had good outcomes from implementing a similar plan. Read More

Hunter Receives Second Place in High School Film Division of Holocaust Art and Writing Contest

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Photo furnished
Natalee Hunter (second from left) received second place in the high school film division of the Holocaust Art and Writing Contest. She traveled to California with former teacher Rebecca Lawson (far left) and her parents Nathan (second from right) and Lee Hunter (far right).

•March 15, 2023•
Natalee Hunter, a senior at Sullivan High School, received a second place award in the high school film division of the Holocaust Art and Writing Contest on March 10 in Orange, California.
The contest, sponsored by Chapman University and The 1939 Society (an organization for Holocaust survivors, their friends, and families), had 241 registered schools from the U.S., Canada, Poland, Romania, South Korea, India, South Africa, Mexico, Ireland, Germany, and Philippines. After the awards ceremony Hunter and other students in attendance had the opportunity to meet Holocaust survivors and their family members.
“This experience has been incredible, and I want to encourage any other high school or middle school students to look into competing in competitions like this one. It opened up a lot of doors for me along with providing an experience like none other,” noted Hunter. Read More

Bethany Celebration Chili Cookoff

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Bethany Celebration Chili Cookoff
A chili cookoff was held at the Bethany American Legion on Saturday, February 25. There were thirteen entries. Winners were first place-Mark and Judy Seeley, second place-Kathy Tipsword, third place-Troy Stockdale, Most Unique-Kathy’s White Chicken Chili, Hottest-Mark Allen’s Traditional and Crowd Favorite-Kelsey Knopp’s Traditional.

Windsor Storm Memorial Library Welcomes New Children’s Librarian

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Windsor Storm Memorial Public Library’s new children’s librarian Amanda Elliott with the Dr. Seuss display in the library’s children’s section. The library has several activities going on currently and coming up this summer.

•March 8, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

Windsor Storm Memorial Public Library has a new children’s librarian and a variety of activities for children coming up this spring and summer. The new librarian is Amanda Elliott of Shelbyville. This is her first time working as a children’s librarian. She was formerly a teacher but then spent a decade at home with her children before re-entering the workforce. Read More

Son of Holocaust Survivors Speaks at Arthur Library

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Alex Kor, son of two Holocaust survivors, spoke about his parents Eva and Mickey Kor to a packed room at Arthur Public Library on Saturday, March 4.

•March 8, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

Alex Kor of Terre Haute spoke at Arthur Public Library Saturday, March 4, to a packed room. Both his parents were Holocaust survivors who passed away in the last 3-1/2 to 4 years. His mother was Eva Kor and his father, Mickey Kor.
Mickey Kor was born in Riga, Latvia and was the youngest of four boys. Because his father was a shoemaker, their family did not have the resources to escape when the Nazis invaded and were forced into the Riga ghetto. His father was murdered by a guard on the same day the family was forced into the ghetto, leaving his mother to move them in alone.
When the ghetto was liquidated, his mother saved his life by pushing him into the group of older boys who would be selected for slave labor. This was the last time he ever saw her. His mother and the rest of the ghetto inhabitants who were not selected for forced labor were murdered in a mass shooting. Read More

Sullivan School District Holds Community Forum on Construction Projects

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Rendering Courtesy of Sullivan School District
A rendering of what the new Sullivan High School will look like from Main and McGill. The district had a community forum on Monday, February 27 to go over the details of the elementary school addition that is currently under construction and the future construction of the new high school.

•March 8, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

Sullivan School District held a community forum Monday, February 27, in regard to construction of the elementary addition and the time line for the construction of a new high school. In June, 62.3% of voters approved a $25 million referendum to replace the middle school building with a new high school. The middle school building is 107 years old and has a number of very significant maintenance issues.
High school students will occupy the new building as well as the west portion of the existing high school. Sixth through eighth grade students will move into the existing north portion of the high school. Fifth grade students will move into the elementary school addition. Read More

OV Celebrates FFA Week 2023 with Activities

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Photos by Crystal Reed
OV Celebrates FFA Week with Activities
Okaw Valley High School FFA celebrated FFA Week last week. On Tuesday there were school wide donuts in the cafeteria, Wednesday there was a petting zoo, Thursday there was Ag Olympics and lunch and Friday students had pork burgers for lunch and it was anything but a car day. The highlight of the petting zoo was the first OV baby calf born this year. His mother was the first calf ever born at the OV Ag complex. A second baby calf was born later in the week.

New Water Plant on Schedule for July 2023 Start Up

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•March 1, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

One of the current projects for the city of Sullivan is a new water plant which is currently under construction. The original cost estimate was $8.5 million, but with the cost of equipment and supplies after COVID, they are close to $9.5 million.
According to Commissioner of Public Safety and Health Chuck Woodworth, the determination of the need for a new water plant was done by the Illinois EPA. They evaluated the current plant and pointed out the deficiencies of no redundancy of the main treatment process equipment. “There is only one softner, currently,” he said. “If it breaks down or needs to be taken out of service for cleaning or repairs, the water would not be able to be treated.” Read More

Sullivan City Council Approves Memorandum of Understanding Between City and Illinois Fraternal Order of Police

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•March 1, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

The Sullivan City Council approved a memorandum of understanding between the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (IFOP) Labor Council and the City of Sullivan. Commissioner Mike Fowler was absent.
Mayor Richard Glazebrook said this is something they are trying to use to keep and not burn out officers. The city is supposed to have nine officers. They currently have six full-time trained officers and two untrained. “We have a lot of rules and regulations we have to follow through the state of Illinois, and we are trying to make this easy as we can for these guys and still give us the protection we need in Sullivan,” Glazebrook said.
Police Chief Andy Pistorius reported they lost two good officers whom they sent to training due to scheduling. Each officer doing a 12- hour shift has four hours of overtime every two weeks. Once they bec0me full-staffed, there would not be any overtime. It would be a rotating schedule with every other weekend off. Read More