News Progress

25 Years Ago This Week

Rochelle Boyd of Lovington and Roy Culp and Cheryl Roberts, both of Gays were honored during a reception held at Lake Land College. Boyd has been with the college since August 1972 and is one of eight employees retiring. She was the special projects coordinator in the office of continuing education.
Neil Simon’s production of The Odd Couple is on the stage of The Little Theatre-On the Square though July 17. Oscar Madison is played by theatre fave Jack Milo and Felix Unger is played by Michael Haws.
A heated debate arose at the Sullivan School Board meeting when architects presented their total bid for the new elementary school. The board is working with a budget of $5 million and the projected cost is $5.118 million.
Sullivan Living Center employees of the month are Toni Hollingsworth, Gretchen Johnson and Joy Scott. Read More

•July 17, 2019•
United Way of Decatur & Mid-Illinois (UWDMI) is announcing investment in multiple Moultrie County programs and is looking forward to seeing measurable, community impact following the completion of the recent Community Investment Process.
Each year, UWDMI focuses on investing in the most effective, efficient, and integrated community programs in Moultrie County — programs that are moving residents towards self-sufficiency or that are allowing residents to live independently with dignity.
While UWDMI facilitates the Community Investment Process, it is Moultrie County residents who volunteer on the investment panel that choose where to invest the community’s resources.
Thanks to the generosity of Moultrie County businesses and individuals, the volunteer investment panel was able to invest the community’s resources in six local programs for the next two years. Read More

•July 10, 2019•

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said today that his office does not share information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any other law enforcement agency on the issue of a person’s legal status in the United States.
White made his comment in response to published stories saying that ICE and the Federal Bureau of Investigation use photos from drivers license offices nationwide as a means to identify undocumented persons. Illinois was not mentioned as one of the participating states. White’s statement serves to underscore this fact.
“If an individual is being sought by a law enforcement agency for criminal activity, we fully cooperate with authorities, but we do not specifically disclose the person’s legal standing.”[/s2If]

•July 10, 2019•
By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Mattoon’s Quadrangle Book Club. The club was organized Tuesday, May 25, 1943 at a 1 p.m. luncheon in the U.S. Grant Hotel and was originally named the Quadrangle Club. By its 50th anniversary in 1993 the name had changed to Quadrangle Literary Club and around 2012 it became the Quadrangle Book Club as it is known today.
The charter members of the Club were Mrs. J. N Judt, Mrs. Joseph Heiman, Mrs. Lawrence Daily, Mrs. D.H. Bone, Mr. Horace Batchelor, Mr. A. E. Arvedson, Mrs. Alice Edwards, Mrs. Walter L. Nash, Mrs. R. E. Crum, Mrs. Clarence Warren Dole, Mrs. J. R. Hashbarger, Mrs. Newland Tutwiler and Mrs. Paul Harris.
The officers were Mrs. D. H. Bone, President; Mrs. Walter Nash, Vice President; and Mrs. A. E. Arvedson Secretary/Treasurer.
It was customary in those days to identify women by their husband’s name, and they were so recorded in all the club’s minutes from 1943 up until 1957 when their first names began appearing in the records. Even the secretary began signing the minutes with her first and last name rather than as Mrs. D. H. Bone. Read More