News Progress

•September 2, 2020•
Is your child ready for Kindergarten?

This early childhood group is for getting ready to enter Kindergarten. We will give you the materials you need in order to prepare them.
Meetings are two times a month on Friday at 10:00 a.m. starting September 18.
Every student will receive a back pack and folder.
It’s a great opportunity to socialize with peers and learn how a classroom setting will work.
This class is completely free. When we meet it will be ran like a preschool class with a circle time, craft, and lesson.
Come in or call the library at 728-7221 to register. Class size is limited.

Home school program Read More

Dear Editor,

I just bought a Saturday August 15 Herald and Review newspaper and read where Moultrie County is now placed on Virus Warning List.
I am very concerned with the lack of public precautions that I observed just last week when my family bought a pizza to enjoy eating at Sullivan Wyman Park. I was so shocked and very concerned when I observed 8 young people and 1 park squirrel drink from a drinking fountain that is still turned on at the park! Read More

25 Years Ago This Week

A Bethany man remained in critical condition after his farm tractor was struck by a locomotive. James, A. Sharp, 63, of rural Bethany was being treated in the intensive care unit of St. Mary’s Hospital. According to a report from Chris Sims of the Moultrie County Sheriff’s Department, Sharp’s tractor was traveling north on county road 2.25 E south of US Route 121 towards an Illinois Central Gulf railroad crossing while ICG train #8032 was approaching the crossing at 35 mph. The train engineer blowing his whistle, saw the tractor approaching the crossing and realizing the tractor wasn’t going to stop, activated the train’s emergency stop. The train struck the rear of the tractor, separating it from the farm implement it was pulling. Sharp was thrown from the cab of his Allis Chalmers 7060 tractor.
Eleven month old Shelby Page DeOrnellas, daughter of Tony and Laura DeOrnellas, took first place in the Pretty Baby Contest held in conjunction with the Pony Express Days in Mt. Zion. She was entered in the 7 to 12 month old category with 23 other contestants. A total of 152 babies were entered in the contest sponsored by the Mt. Zion Junior Women’s Club. As a first place winner she took home a trophy, ribbon and a gift certificate from Miller Photography in Mt. Zion. Read More

Illinoisans can use app to draw their own communities

•August 19, 2020•
By Rebecca Anzel
Capitol News Illinois
ranzel@capitolnewsillinois.com

Reformers say it’s time for Illinoisans to “advocate for themselves” when lawmakers redraw the state’s political boundaries in a few months.
That’s the message the Coalition for Honest and New Government Ethics, or CHANGE Illinois — a group that has long advocated for changes to the redistricting process — intends to deliver through an online application its helped develop.
Using Representable, residents can input information about their communities — geographic borders, historical information, cultural and ethnic members and economic factors — to draw more “actionable” maps for use by lawmakers during redistricting, said company co-founder Preet Iyer. Read More