Category Archives: Top Stories

County Clerk England Honored with Zone Three Clerk of the Year

News Progress Posted on by

Now to compete for statewide honor

Photo by Keith Stewart Moultrie County Clerk Georgia England was honored recently with clerk of the year for zone three, which comprises 21 counties in central Illinois. She will now have the chance of being selected as Illinois’ Clerk of the Year as one of four finalists. If selected, she could go on to be chosen as Illinois’ elected offical of the year.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Moultrie County Clerk Georgia England was honored recently with clerk of the year for zone three, which comprises 21 counties in central Illinois. She will now have the chance of being selected as Illinois’ Clerk of the Year as one of four finalists. If selected, she could go on to be chosen as Illinois’ elected offical of the year.

by Barry Featheringill
Sullivan Reporter

Moultrie county clerk Georgia England was overwhelmed when at the zone three monthly meeting of Illinois Association of County Clerks & Recorders (IACCR) she was named “County Clerk of the Year”. So overwhelmed in fact, that upon returning to her office in Sullivan, she almost forgot to tell her staff.

England had no idea that she would even be nominated for the honor.

Zone 3 is made up of 21 counties (of the 102 counties in the state of Illinois) covering the east central counties from Clark to Christian then north to Woodford and then back to the state line at Kankakee.

In September all 102 county clerks will be voting on the county clerks of the year from all four zones of the state of Illinois. The county clerk selected as clerk of the year for the state will then compete for elected official for the year for the entire state competing against elected officials such as county treasurer, county coroner, and circuit clerk from all four zones

In 2001, when England’s husband Gerald, who was county clerk at the time, passed away, Georgia recalls her former boss Steve Wood telling her jokingly that she could do the job as he knew her work ethic and “if she didn’t take the county clerk position, she was fired”. Read More

Moving It Out of Moultrie

News Progress Posted on by

ICC approval of transmission line, denial of parts, likely to be appealed

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

MoultrieMap

Courtesy of Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois
Moultrie County, show here, went largely unaffected by the Mt. Zion to Kansas portion of Ameren's Illinois Rivers Transmission Project that was approved, in part, Tuesday morning by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

In its expected order Tuesday morning, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved the Illinois Rivers Transmission Project, including the Mt. Zion to Kansas segment that largely detours around Moultrie. The approval came in the form of issuing a certificate of public convenience and necessity, but not without condemning the 150-day expedited procedure, though legally taken by Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois to complete this process.

At the open meeting held in Chicago, the commission voted 3-1 in favor of granting the certificate to ATXI, with chairman Doug Scott the lone opposition, while commissioner John Colgan was absent. Scott did begin the discussion by clarifying that his office had four edits to the order, all of which are inconsequential to the Mt. Zion-Kansas route itself. Read More

St. Jude’s Mattoon to Peoria Run a success for Moultrie County runners

News Progress Posted on by

Seven area runners make commitment

Kirk Whitaker
Arthur/Sullivan Reporter

At the start, runners were greeted with crowds, balloons, and a spirited sendoff before heading west out of Mattoon the morning of August 2 en route to the Peoria St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

At the start, runners were greeted with crowds, balloons, and a spirited sendoff before heading west out of Mattoon the morning of August 2 en route to the Peoria St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has aided children and families for 50 years by trying to solve the traumatic and catastrophic diseases that particularly affect children. And for seven area runners, they made an effort to help St. Jude do just that, by committing a weekend full of running, not to mention fundraising done throughout the past year.

Read More

Tuesday Night Rally Full of Vigor as Seniors Question Upcoming Frozen Meals

News Progress Posted on by

Full VFW room echoes with questions of "why?" as Oct. 1 deadline looms

by Katie A. Davis
Sullivan Reporter

Photo by Keith Stewart Katherine Butt of Sullivan listens as area seniors took to the VFW in Sullivan Tuesday night, filling its banquet hall in order to ask questions as well as vent about their frustration over the expected shift to frozen meals come October 1. After Eastern Illinois University announced earlier this year that it would cease sponsoring the Senior Peace Meal Program, a bidding process began that eventually awarded CRIS Healthy Aging Center of Vermilion County.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Katherine Butt of Sullivan listens as area seniors took to the VFW in Sullivan Tuesday night, filling its banquet hall in order to ask questions as well as vent about their frustration over the expected shift to frozen meals come October 1. After Eastern Illinois University announced earlier this year that it would cease sponsoring the Senior Peace Meal Program, a bidding process began that eventually awarded CRIS Healthy Aging Center of Vermilion County.

Local seniors want to keep their hot meals.

That was the sentiment expressed by local senior advocates at a Tuesday rally to save Peace Meal, a senior nutrition program that provides hot meals to local seniors in need four days a week.

Peace Meal will serve its last meals Sept. 30. Starting Oct. 1, the CRIS Healthy Aging Center, based in Vermilion County, will provide frozen dinners for distribution to local seniors, to be delivered twice a week.

Eastern Illinois University announced earlier this year it would no longer continue sponsorship of the Peace Meal program, sparking a bidding process that included a new sponsor for Peace Meal, Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.

Only two bids -- CRIS Meals and Peace Meal -- were submitted to the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging, which funds the senior nutrition program, and according to Mike O’Donnell, the agency’s executive director, the CRIS bid exceeded marks for many categories such as the number of meals it projects to serve.

Read More

Durbin honored with Illinoisan of the Day

News Progress Posted on by

August 16 to be named John W. Durbin Day by Gov. Quinn

by Florence Hallford
Lovington Reporter

“I never realized I did that much.”sz-Durbin
Those humble words belong to Lovington resident John Durbin, who says he was surprised when he received a phone call informing him that he had been named Illinoisan of the Day, an honor created in 2009 by the Illinois State Fair Museum Foundation that seeks to applaud 10 outstanding Illinois residents each year; the decision is largely based on volunteer service.
“It is the key ingredient,” says Doug Kamholz, a member of the foundation.
And Durbin has a whole pantry full of just those ingredients.
When he lived in Sullivan, Durbin performed Read More

No business like show business: LTOTS unveils summer 2013 schedule

News Progress Posted on by

Photo by Keith Stewart Little Theatre on the Square executive director John Stephens sorts through headshots and resumes for the 2013 season cast. Each year's cast is decided upon in March, while the lineup of shows is decided a full year in advance.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Little Theatre on the Square executive director John Stephens sorts through headshots and resumes for the 2013 season cast. Each year's cast is decided upon in March, while the lineup of shows is decided a full year in advance.

By Mallory Murphy

Sullivan Reporter

Each upcoming season actually starts before the current season begins. In April of this year, as patrons gear up for the 2013 summer season, Stephens and his team will actually be picking the 2014 season line up. They use data from surveys, along with comments collected from patrons to choose which Read More