Category Archives: Top Stories

Mattoon Woman Has Signed Speech From When Nixon Appeared in Sullivan

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Photo by Crystal Reed.
Shirley Watkins of Mattoon with a six page speech of Vice President Nixon’s that she has saved from the day he came to Sullivan for the buffalo barbecue 60 years ago.

•October 7, 2020•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer

On September 22, 1960, a buffalo barbecue was held in Wyman Park where the Vice President Richard Nixon spoke. A few weeks ago marked the 60th anniversary of that event.
We wrote a story about Steve Jenne’s buffalo barbecue sandwich that he managed to save that day but he isn’t the only one who has a souvenir from that day. Shirley Watkins of Mattoon, who grew up in Sullivan ended up having a souvenir fly out the car window of Nixon’s motorcade that day. Read More

Buxton’s Garden Farm Hosts Market

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Sophia and Hannah Grandon pick out pumpkins during the Buxton's Garden Farm Harvest Field Market last Saturday.

•September 30, 2020•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The harvest spirit was alive at Buxton’s Garden Farm this past Saturday and people packed the property for the business’s Harvest Field Market. The event was in its fourth year and it included food trucks, pumpkins, crafts, home décor and much more. According to Paula Buxton there were 2,000 people in attendance at this year’s market.
Buxton said that compared to previous years this was their biggest market due to COVID-19 and having more vendors. Read More

Steve Jenne Details Adventures of Nixon’s Buffalo Barbecue Sandwich in New Book

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Steve Jenne with his book “The Sandwich That Changed My Life” which he wrote with Scot England.

•September 23, 2020•
Steve Jenne, formerly of Sullivan, remembers when Richard Nixon visited Sullivan 60 years ago. Jenne’s boy scout troop was tasked with being security for Nixon as he sat at the picnic table at the buffalo barbecue that was held in Wyman Park on Sept 22, 1960.
Jenne doesn’t just have memories he actually was able to take the sandwich that at that time Vice President Nixon had taken a bite out of when no one was looking. He recalls his memories of Nixon’s visit to Sullivan and how the sandwich he obtained that day has changed his life in a book titled “The Sandwich That Changed My Life!” by Steve Jenne with Scot England.
According to a previous article in the News Progress a bunch of wild eyed 20 and 30 somethings sitting at a barbecue 50 years ago came up with the idea of trying to get presidential candidates Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy to come to Sullivan and debate. The debate was to be reminiscent of the historical Lincoln-Douglas debates, dreamed the young Moultrie County residents. Read More

County Board Approves Variance

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•September 16, 2020•

By Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The Moultrie County Board approved an application from Shady Crest Market for a variance to build 25 feet from the west property line for an addition to the existing business last week. According to Wilbur Gingerich, the expansion will be 13,000 square feet and will allow them to add on more deli, bakery and store space.
The board heard guest speakers Laurrie Minor and Cassie Yoder talk about Economic Development and COVID-19. Minor said that it looks different how they market the county now with Covid.
The Illinois Department of Tourism recently released some figures for the county. According to Minor, the travel expenditures went up by 3.7% and the local tax revenue went up by 4.8% but none of these correlate to camping, that is just what the hotel to motel tax generates. Read More

Science Hallway at SMS Gets Facelift

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Submitted photo
Teachers painting the mural in the science wing of Sullivan Middle School. From left to right: Crystal Allen, Nicole Garrett, Marissa Wright and Troy Rogers.

•September 9, 2020•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer

This summer the second floor science hallway at Sullivan Middle School received a facelift. A 50 foot mural was designed, traced and painted on the wall from floor to ceiling.
The mural was the idea of teacher Troy Rogers and parent volunteer Megan Harden. The two stated that the project took about 43 hours total including sketching, planning and the actual application of paint to the wall. Read More

Colonel Golinghorst Visits Chip’s Marine to Learn More About Shelbyville Cubes

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•Septe

Photo by Crystal Reed
From left to right: Lee R. Mitchell, Environmental Stewardship Lead with the Army Corps of Engineers, Chip Christensen and Colonel Kevin Golinghorst with a Shelbyville cube. The cubes are placed in Lake Shelbyville by the Lake Shelbyville Fish Alliance.

mber 2, 2020•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Members of the Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance received a visit from Colonel Kevin Golinghorst last week at Chip’s Marine in Sullivan. Golinghorst is the new commander in charge of the St. Louis District Army Corps of Engineers.
While in the area he toured the Bo Woods Campground, Lake Shelbyville Water Trail and other areas around Lake Shelbyville. While at Chip’s Marine, owner Chip Christensen talked to Colonel Golinghurst about the Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance and showed examples of the Lake Shelbyville cubes which are structures placed in the lake to help develop fish populations.
The goal of the Alliance is to place several thousand of the habitat promoting structures in the lake to help restore sport fishing habitat.The cubes are 4 feet square and 5 feet tall and give small fish cover in the lake. Read More

Coffee, Cookies and Conversation with the Mayor

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Photo by Ellen Ferrara
About 20 people attended last Wednesday’s Coffee with the Mayor held at the Sullivan McDonald’s..

•August 26, 2020•
by Ellen Ferrera
for the NP

Last Wednesday was the perfect, sunny fall day for Mayor Richard Glazebrook to pitch a tent in McDonald’s parking lot and coffee klatch with Sullivan residents.
Between 7 and 9 a.m. some twenty people formed their portable lawn chairs into a tight semi-circle while enjoying coffee, chocolate chip cookies and the almost lost art of gentle conversation. Several city workers, dressed in their neon yellow, came by as did others in their vehicles to wave support for the Mayor.
Mayor Glazebrook made several announcements to the group, the first being that future meetings of the City Council would be held at the Little Theatre so more people could attend and social distancing possible. All attendees to the Council meetings must wear masks as this is the Theatre’s policy. Read More

County Board Rescinds Action Consolidating Precincts

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•August 19, 2020•
By Crystal Reed
NP Reporter

The Moultrie County Board voted to rescind a motion and action from the June 9, 2020 county board meeting which consolidated Sullivan Precincts 1 and 6 into Sullivan 1 and Sullivan 2 and 5 into Sullivan 2, placing them back to their original precincts and polling locations during their meeting last Thursday.
State statutes limit the size of precincts to a maximum 800 voters but there are a number of precincts throughout the state of Illinois that exceed that. “Consolidation would have saved the county several thousands of dollars and its actually costing us some money to put it back as it was,” Dave McCabe said.
The board heard from Derek Righter about the Final FY2019 audit by West and Co. prior to approving the audit. The fund balance increased by about $200,000 said Ryder. “Dispersements and depreciation increased by $840,000 over the previous year because the county highway had a resurfacing project that had $180,000 more this year over the previous year,” he noted “the special bridge had two projects with Dora township and Jonathan Creek township and that increased expenses by $130,000. Also, the general fund was up by $260,000 which is mainly attributable to health insurance, there was an increase in claims. Read More

14 Illinois Counties at Warning Level for Coronavirus Disease

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•August 14, 2020•

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 14 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.

Fourteen counties are currently reported at a warning level – Bureau, Cass, Clinton, Franklin, Greene, Grundy, Hancock, Jefferson, Kane, LaSalle, Moultrie, Perry, Union, Will.

These counties saw cases or outbreaks associated with weddings, businesses, birthday parties, long-term care facilities and other congregate settings, bars, sports camps, and spread among members of the same household. Public health officials are seeing people in some communities are not wearing masks, or if they are, they are being worn incorrectly. Local health departments are finding it challenging to obtain the information necessary to halt local transmission, by quickly identifying exposures from contacts of cases and businesses. Inconsistent messaging from local elected leaders are contributing to on-going transmission in some communities where there is little public concern for consequences or enforcement of social distancing, banning large gatherings, or quarantine/isolation orders.

Several counties are taking swift action and implementing mitigation measures to help slow spread of the virus. Examples include increasing the availability in testing in their community and working with local businesses to educate and spot check mask wearing and guideline adherence.

IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the county.

• New cases per 100,000 people. If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the county, this triggers a warning.
• Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the 7-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
• ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of intensive care units available in the region, this triggers a warning.
• Weekly emergency department visits. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of COVID-19-like-illness emergency department visits increase by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly hospital admissions. A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like-illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Tests perform. This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county.
• Clusters. This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increase in cases.

These metrics are intended to be used for local level awareness to help local leaders, businesses, local health departments, and the public make informed decisions about personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do. The metrics are updated weekly, from the Sunday-Saturday of the prior week.

A map and information of each county’s status can be found on the IDPH website at https://www.dph.illinois.gov/countymetrics.

27 New Positive COVID-19 Cases in Moultrie County

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20 in a Long Term Care Facility
•August 12, 2020•

The Moultrie County Health Department (MCHD) has confirmed 27 positive cases of the novel coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19). Of this total, 20 individuals are associated with the Sullivan Rehabilitation and Health Care Center (SRHCC), located in Sullivan, Illinois. These individuals who reside in Moultrie County include one staff member and 19 residents of the facility. They range in age from 20-80 years, and five are currently hospitalized.

The other seven individuals are unrelated to the long term care facility and range in age from one to 60 years. All are isolated at home. Public health officials are notifying all close contacts.

To date, 2,470 Moultrie County residents have been tested for COVID-19. Of those tests, 99 have been confirmed positive for COVID-19. Of the community cases, 12 are still in isolation.

The SRHCC has notified all residents, family members, staff and contacts. Per CDC requirements, all residents and staff have completed COVID-19 testing. All individuals who tested positive or were exposed have been isolated and quarantined for safety concerns. The facility continues to closely monitor all residents and staff. Visitation is currently restricted for the continued protection of all residents, friends, family members and staff.

The SHRCC continues to work closely with the Moultrie County Health Department and the Illinois Department of Public Health. Updates to this situation will be provided as they become available.

“On behalf of all involved, we at the Moultrie County Health Department understand that this is very stressful for everyone,” said Moultrie County Health Department Administer Angela Hogan, RN, MSPH. “We ask for your patience, understanding and support for the Sullivan Rehabilitation and Health Care Center and these special members of our community during this difficult time.”

The Moultrie County Health Department is asking all individuals and businesses to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities by using the three basic Ws:
Watch physical distance and keep six feet from others.
Wear a mask when in public places.
Wash hands routinely.
The CDC recommends that individuals who are experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms stay at home and away from other people until:
At least 10 days have elapsed since symptoms first appeared and
In the last 24 hours the individual has been fever-free without fever-reducing medication and
Symptoms have improved.
People with weakened immune systems may need to self-isolate longer than 10 days.

Information on area testing sites can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/testing.

For more information on the Moultrie County Health Department’s news, events and services, please visit www.moultriehealth.org and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/moultriecountyhealth.