Photo by Keith Stewart
Sullivan school administrators and staff leave the high school Tuesday morning and head north on Main Street in search of a female student who had gone missing around 10 a.m. The student was later found safe by a resident volunteering in the search effort.

Found within two hours by local resident

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A female student at Sullivan Elementary School went missing briefly Tuesday morning before being found on the west end of town.

According to Sullivan police chief John Love, the approximately 10-year old girl was originally seen running out the east doors of the school around 10 a.m. Tuesday. Sullivan PD were then contacted by the school to help in locating the child. Officer Andrew Pistorious was then dispatched. The girl’s father, who lives near the school, was contacted by both Pistorious and Sullivan superintendent Brad Tuttle. Love then notified all city utility workers, providing a description of the girl, in the event they came across a similar child. Read More

Photo by Keith Stewart
Moultrie County Historical Society family researcher Kaye Webb sorts through files at the heritage center in Sullivan.

One man’s genealogical search to find long-lost great-aunt brings surprise discovery

by Jake Dilley
Reporting in Sullivan

Peter Strandberg was in search of his great aunt, Orianna. He had never met her, but now he was in search of her. He had a birth certificate and knew that she had passed away in Sullivan. But that was about it.

Unable to locate an obituary for her, the Scottsdale, Ariz. resident reached out to the newspaper in Sullivan and contacted managing editor Keith Stewart, asking if they could locate Orianna’s record in their archives. To Strandberg’s misfortune, none could be found. But all was not lost yet. He was then directed to Kaye Webb, a local family researcher in Sullivan, who would end up helping Strandberg unearth the ultimate genealogical discovery. Read More

Council also hears update on Sullivan fireworks

by Joash Tiarks
Reporting in Sullivan

The city council Monday moved forward with combining computer networks across the city of Sullivan’s departments.

As a follow up on the discussion and recommendation made by the council at the Feb. 24 meeting, the city is moving forward to have QNS combine the computer networks of the different departments into one that can be monitored, tracked, and protected as a unit.

Previously each department had a network unto themselves, with each computer having access as soon as it was turned on. This not only exposed the city’s digital resources to potential unauthorized access but also made it impossible for the city to keep track of its resources and to monitor unauthorized activity. Moving forward, each employee will have their own personal access passcode, both for their own safety and to track web activity. Network administrators will then be able to solve problems quickly and specifically, as well as impose a web filter and block access to any unnecessary websites by department. Read More

Photo by Keith Stewart
Eagle Creek Resort’s fate is once again up in the air after BMDD Resorts, the vendor who was awarded the bid to renovate the resort in 2010, officially packed up earlier this week and walked away from the project after what they cite as a frustrating relationship with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Agreement to effectively dissolve March 15

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

The vendor that IDNR chose in 2010 to renovate and ultimately reopen Eagle Creek Resort has issued the state agency a notice of termination effective later this week.

The contract that BMDD Resorts and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources entered into in July 2010 will be terminated effective March 15, according to Dennis Ballinger, CEO of BMDD Resorts out of Decatur.

“We’ve tried not to make this a public issue, but finally, it had to,” said Ballinger in a phone interview Tuesday evening. Read More

High-voltage transmission line approved to run through county

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

The future location of a high-voltage transmission line has been moved back into Moultrie County after a hearing last Thursday.

Known as the Illinois Rivers Transmission Project, the $1.1 billion, 375 mile long, 345 kV transmission line, Ameren’s largest-ever transmission project, will span from near Quincy, Ill. and the Mississippi River all the way across the middle of the state to the Indiana border near Terre Haute. The project, which is the longest single transmission line project in state history, also represents four of six multi-value project here in Illinois that will allegedly strengthen the reliability of the power-grid within the Midcontinent Independent System Operation’s north and central regions, which is a regional transmission organization that serves all or parts of 11 states. Read More