Photo by Crystal Reed
Prairie View Baptist Church pastor Mike Jones (at pulpit) honors Patty Bailey, Duane Gregory and Tom and Sandy Williams during the church service on Sunday, March 20. The service was part of the celebration of the church’s 75th anniversary.

•March 23, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

On Sunday, March 20 Prairie View Baptist Church in Lake City celebrated their 75th anniversary. During their church service they had testimonies by former pastors, former pastor’s wives, church members and those who had grown up in the church. They started as Lake City Bible Church 75 years ago in the little white church on their property.
In 1974, the church built the new building that they are currently using. The name was voted to change to Prairie View Baptist Church. According to Pastor Mike Jones, the church has a thriving ministry to the kids of their community on Wednesday evenings, where they take a bus out and pick them up. Read More

•March 9, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Sullivan City Council held a special meeting Tuesday, March 1, to discuss and award the bid for the water treatment plant. The bid was awarded to Grunloh Building with All Service doing filter work at a price of $10,391,688.
In attendance were Commissioners Doug Booker, Chuck Woodworth, Abbey Sherwood and Mike Fowler and Lee Beckman of Milano and Grunloh. Mayor Richard Glazebrook was absent. Read More

•February 23, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

If you are a fan of shopping on Amazon but wish you could support a local business while doing so, now you can. Emerald Isle, an Amazon resale shop opened earlier this month and will be having their grand opening on March 5 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. As part of the event they will have free donuts all day and a $50 gift card will go to the 100th customer of the day. Read More

Photo by Crystal Reed
Snow removal was being done by equipment in the parking lot of the Bethany Village Hall on Friday morning. Removal of snow was complicated by high winds that caused drifting on Thursday.

•February 9, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the local area received rain, freezing rain, sleet and heavy snow. The situation was complicated when paired with winds gusting 30-35 mph causing blowing and drifting snow, which resulted in dangerous travel conditions. According to the National Weather Service at Lincoln, the highest snowfall totals ranged from 8-15 inches within a swath situated between the Illinois River and I-70.
NWS also reported that ice amounts were brief for most areas, with the largest accumulations situated south of I-72 where one to three inches were reported prior to the heavy snowfall. Over the weekend, the area saw bitter cold with wind chills in the negatives Friday night into Saturday. Ben Deubelweiss, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Lincoln, said the extended forecast had no precipitation expected through the middle of this week.
When it comes to snow totals, Debelweiss reported that the totals they had recorded for our area included Lovington at 9.9 inches of snow, Sullivan with 5.8 inches of snow and Windsor with 10 inches of snow.
According to Moultrie County Sheriff Chris Sims, during the period of time of the storm there were large amounts of slide-offs, vehicles that spun out and stranded motorists to which the department responded.
Sullivan Township Road Commissioner Rich Rutledge said his crew of five came in Thursday afternoon, but because of snow and wind, they ran emergencies only. At 10 p.m. Thursday, they began poking holes in the accumulated snow on the roads. On Friday at 4 a.m., they ran all roads and pushed back snow. Sullivan Township is responsible for 95 township and 16 county miles. Read More

Photo by Crystal Reed
Rick Davis donates blood during a blood drive at the Sullivan American Legion on Tuesday, January 18.

•January 26, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The American Red Cross is facing a national blood crisis -- its worst blood shortage in more than a decade. The American Red Cross supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood which includes many local hospital partners. The organization has experienced a 10% decline nationally and locally in the number of people donating blood since the pandemic began and continues to confront relentless issues due to COVID-19, such as ongoing blood drive cancellations and staffing limitations.
According to a press release, in recent weeks the organization had less than a one-day supply of critical blood types and has had to limit blood product distributions to hospitals. At this time, as much as one-quarter of hospital blood needs are not being met. The low blood supply levels are also posing a concerning risk to patient care and forcing doctors to make difficult decisions about who receives blood transfusions and who will need to wait until more products become available.
An American Red Cross Blood Drive was held Tuesday, January 18, at Sullivan American Legion. According to event coordinator Jeri Davis, a total of 45 units was collected during the drive. This can help 135 patients. The Red Cross has also seen a 62% drop in blood drives at schools and colleges since the pandemic began. As a result, Gen Z, which accounted for nearly one-quarter of donors in 2019, made up just about 10% in 2021 due to the drop in on-campus opportunities. Read More