Photo by Mike Brothers
Best Moultrie County Spellers: front from left: Zach Kursell, Alternate Brett Johnson, Carson Gillis, Sophie Floyd; second row: Natalie Lambdin, County Champion Reagan Crouse, Josie Hale, Aastha Patel; back row: Kenli Nettles, Robby LeCates and Alyssa Thompson.

•February 17, 2016•

Xenophobic was the word Reagan Crouse spelled correctly to win the Moultrie County Spelling Bee February 10.

Crouse edged fellow Sullivan seventh grader Brett Johnson after his attempt at “Guttural”. Johnson is alternate when Crouse competes in the Regional Bee March 19 in Decatur.

The County Spelling Bee was held at the Little Theatre in Sullivan,  with 4-8 grade students from Lovington and Sullivan schools competing, after each had proven themselves the best spellers at their respective schools.

Sullivan schools Nichole Hendry read and pronounced the words for each of the 12 participating students. The county bee championship was decide in the 11th round of elimination.

The first round eliminated half of the field: Tarmac -Carson Gillis of  Lovington; camaraderie - Sophie Floyd of Lovington; philharmonic - Natalie Lambdin of Lovington; esoteric - Kenli Nettles of Lovington; molasses-Lara Herschberger; resilience-Robby LeCates of Lovington. Read More

•February 17, 2016•

By Derek Pope
for the News Progress

Bethany city council members have shown a renewed interest in renovating the village’s downtown buildings following a proposal by the four co-owners of Bethany’s newest business—The Publisher.

The new establishment, currently Bethany’s only operating bar, took the place of the beleaguered Hired Hand Winery and Saloon after opening up shop in the now closed business’s buildings and purchasing the liquor license originally granted to the previous owners.

Although it is a fresh start for the bar’s proprietors, Ron Martin, Mike Sweeney, Pam Barker, and Heidi Bruns, they will still have to face some of the same obstacles that the Hired Hand encountered when alcohol sales became legal in Bethany nearly four years ago.

Not the least of these challenges will be repairing the image of open alcohol serving businesses in the village, chiefly in the eyes of Bethany’s board of trustees.

Last May Bethany’s city council members soured to the idea of subsidizing tavern style businesses after a dispute with the Hired Hand’s owners led to the revocation of a $48,000 TIF (Township Investment Funding) loan to renovate the heating and cooling system of the downtown buildings that housed the business. The deal ended up costing Muzzy’s Hometown Heating and Cooling, a locally owned HVAC business originally contracted to do the work, a sizable injection of business. At the time, village officials expressed their dismay that the downtown buildings would not receive necessary repairs and that the botched deal would have various other ripple effects beyond that. Read More

•February 10, 2016•

By Mike Brothers

Sullivan Community Unit #300 school board approved issuing $123,000 taxable obligation bonds while discussing funding options for $5 million in Life Health Safety Improvements.

Board president Steve Poland asked whether the general obligation bonds issuance was related to the current state budget crisis.

Supt. Brad Tuttle explained that Gov. Rauner’s  economic agenda calls for a property tax freeze which could affect every district’s funding ability in the state.

By issuing the $123,000 in bonds the school tax rate will be partially buffered in the event of a freeze.

The resolution to issue $123,000 in bonds at 2.5 percent interest passed unanimously

Tim King of King Financial Consultants noted that the 15 school districts he represents all are taking the same precautions as Sullivan toward the tax freeze.

King pointed out the $2.5 billion in 0 interest statewide loans for which Sullivan applied to finance the HVAC and roofing repair costs went to Cook and collar counties school districts. Read More

Photo by Mike Brothers
Lt Col Mary Storm was selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award

New Chamber Initiative

•February 3, 2016•

By Mike Brothers

One Town, One Million Dreams initiative for Sullivan was presented to 120 Sullivan Chamber and Economic Development luncheon guests, January 29.

Executive Director Stepheny McMahon addressed the crowd in the First United Methodist Church banquet hall, explaining SCED’s new initiative. “We hope to inspire each of you to brainstorm what dreams you have…”McMahon challenged the group. “By sharing our dreams, we hope to nurture many to fruition in 2016.”

Featured speaker Tiffany Macke, U of I Extension Education in Community and Economic Development, began to demonstrate the value of dreaming.

“When I attended my first Living the Dream conference, I was challenged to come up with 100 dreams,” Macke began, noting it took her three years to complete the list.

Habitat for Humanity

“I had forgotten how to dream,” she continued, showing that the ability to dream can eventually lead to attainable goals.

Macke presented the chamber audience with a simple question: “What is the happiest you have been?”

Happy is different for everyone, but the capacity for happiness is universal, she pointed out.

The Living Dream List has two distinct challenges for silly or fun ideas and  for spectacular or serious ideas.

“The reason for both is that we need to be balanced in the dreams we hope to achieve,” Macke said. Read More

Photo by RR Best
Old fashioned soda fountain drinks and sundaes are among the attractions that remain at Dicks Pharmacy. From left: regular customer Patti Grant and Dicks Pharmacy owner Cindi Reed prepare to enjoy a hand dipped shake and green river from server Cheryl Grove.

•January 27, 2016•

By Nick Fiala
For the News Progress

Dicks Pharmacy, a well-known establishment on Vine Street in Arthur, recently came under the ownership of Cindi Reed, who owns the Oakwood Apothecary here in Sullivan. It’s part of an expansion of her business, Reed Pharmacies,LLC.

“We closed on it November 2.” Reed said. “In June of last year, I got wind that Dicks was on the market again. I hadn’t spent a lot of time in Arthur, but I knew of the pharmacy. We decided to expand Reed Pharmacies and Oakwood Apothecary and purchase Dicks Pharmacy under it.”

The decision requires a busy work schedule in order to make sure the transition is smooth for the pharmacy’s regular customers who come from all around the area.

“Dicks is really uniquely-situated, because we provide the pharmacy services in Arthur and a wide delivery radius of patients who need them,” Reed said. We’re able to provide those services to a lot of rural areas that are otherwise underserved.”

Reed’s decision was made largely out of a love for small towns and a desire to see local businesses remain free from the obstacles that come with large corporate chains.

“I was born and raised in Sullivan,” she said. “My family owns Reed Funeral Home. I went to pharmacy school in  St. Louis at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, graduated in 2008 and did almost five years at Sarah Bush in Mattoon as a clinical pharmacist. And then I heard that Hagen’s Pharmacy was going to sell to CVS Pharmacy, and I decided that I didn’t really want to see that happen which is when I decided to open the Oakwood Apothecary in 2012 from scratch. Read More