Photo by Mike Brothers
Adam White and River Edwards were joined by the Sullivan Redskins basketball team wearing pink and teal socks with ribbons to honor those fighting breast and cervical cancer.

•February 3, 2016•

No One Fights Alone
We wear these ribbons to show our support for our two team mothers who are battling cancer.
Please show your support for them, and all cancer patients, by wearing one of these ribbons.
Thank You
Sullivan Redskins Basketball Team.

On January 19 basketball fans in Sullivan were greeted with this message at the gymnasium entrance. Inside the Sullivan High School gymnasium the whole Redskin team came to the floor wearing one pink and one teal sock each for the first time.

Over Thanksgiving two players, Adam White and River Edwards, found out their mothers Lis White had breast cancer and Sarah Edwards cervical cancer.

“Adam first decided wearing the pink and River started wearing teal to honor their mothers’ battles with cancer,” Adam’s grandmother Sue Durbin explained.

Sue discussed the pink and teal sock idea with friends Doug and Sherry Farris while sitting in the stands during the first game of the year. Their grandson Bryce had indicated the team wanted to do something to show their support.

The Durbins and the Farrises put their energies together, deciding to provide the boys’ basketball team with pink and teal socks with appropriate ribbons to represent breast and cervical cancer.

“It took four trips to Decatur and three trips to Mattoon, but we finally found the right shades of pink and teal,” Doug said of the effort. Read More

•January 27, 2016•

By Mike Brothers

Objections to presidential candidates petitions will delay official general primary ballot release past the first day of voting in Illinois, February 4.

Moultrie County Clerk Georgia England announced that the presidential candidates’ petition objections to the State Board of Elections are not anticipated to be resolved before the first day of voting in the general primary election, since the names on the questioned petitions will have to undergo individual review.

“Our instructions from the State Board are to explain to voters who attempt to vote February 4 that ballots are not available,” England said, noting the voter may return to the clerk’s office on the anticipated rescheduled date of Feburary 16 or have a ballot mailed for absentee voting when it’s available.

The State Board of Elections advised county clerks and election commissioners throughout the state of Illinois that they are hoping to have the ballot certified and to their offices by February 11.

“Once final certifications from the state board of elections are received, they will be forwarded immediately to our vendor, Liberty Systems, for preparation and programming of the voting tabulators allowing us to finalize ballots and open for voting,” England said of the process. Read More

•January 20, 2016•

A donation to the Moultrie County Animal Shelter could make adopting a pet easier following Moultrie County Board action January 14.

Arlene Aschermann, chair of public health, safety and welfare presented terms to accept a $10,114 donation from the David A. Woodruff Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust, to be used for  animal control.

Aschermann’s moved to accept $10,114 from the David A Woodruff CRAT to expended only for the sole ad exclusive benefit of the Moutlrie County Animal Control Department for the purpose of increasing pet adoptions and decreasing rate of euthanasia including without limitation, costs of spaying, neutering, veterinary care, food and shelter.

In an additional motion the board unanimously approved creating a voucher program for animals adopted from the shelter. Once the pet is spayed or neutered the county will reimburse the owner up to $60 toward that expense. Read More

Tickets printed in the patrol cars around Moultrie County make for easier reading and required some extra training. Sullivan officer Joshua Qualls is responsible for the smooth operaton of the eCitation system within the city.

Tickets You Can Read 

•January 13, 2016•

By Mike Brothers

The days of trying to decipher a police officer’s handwriting on a traffic citation are over in Moultrie County.

The Moultrie County Circuit Clerk’s office became the first office in the sixth judicial circuit to implement eCitations.

Circuit Clerk Cindy Braden explained the eCitation program is up and running in Bethany, Lovington and Sullivan police departments as well as the Moultrie County Sheriff’s Department.

She explained the eCitation is not only timesaving for the officer issuing the ticket but improves the process with more accurate and legible information for the courts to process.

“Not only does the eCitation save the officer time but will hopefully get them off the roadside quicker, making stops safer,” Braden said.

An officer with an onboard computer inputs the driver’s information from the state database onto the eCitation, identifies the violation and prints out a ticket inside the patrol car. One copy goes to the driver and another to the circuit clerk for filing.

Sullivan Police Department officer Joshua Qualls has been designated trainer and general IT consultant locally, as officers get acquainted with eCitations.

“One of the biggest advantages is legibility of the ticket,” Qualls began, noting once the information is inputed, three copies will be printed in the car clear enough for the courts and the violator to read. Read More

Photo by Nick Fiala
Pastor Jill Walker examines one of the original paintings left behind when the structure was built as the Catholic Church in Lovington which remained open from 1915 until the late 1980s.

Pastor Sparks Reconstruction

•December 30, 2015•

By Nick Fiala
For the News Progress

With God, all things are possible. It is not only a Bible verse but the driving force behind efforts to restore a century old Lovington church.

A preservation and remodeling project is taking place at the Revival Church building in Lovington. It is spearheaded by Pastor Jill Walker, former volunteer senior pastor of the Revival Church of Lovington and Mattoon and the head of Jill Walker Ministries.

JWM repurchased the building in mid-October.

Constructed in 1915, the church was first used for worship by the Catholic Church until the late 1980s.

JWM had originally purchased the building from the Catholic Diocese in 1989. Pastor Walker preached there until May of 2010.

JWM gave away the building to a major denomination with everything in it as a gift. But last September, Pastor Walker became determined to get the building back when she found out it had been sold to a third party who planned to use it for something other than ministry.

Despite originally turning down the first offer to sell the building back, the owner reconsidered only eight days later and accepted, allowing Pastor Walker and her ministry to begin remodeling and preserving the century-old church.  Read More