News Progress

Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Dean Mesnard with a portion of his primitive artifact collection. Mesnard is also an accomplished wood sculptor.

•November 6, 2019•
By Ellen Ferrera
for The News Progress

Although Native American civilizations are long gone from the local prairie, collectors of artifacts reveal how they lived.
Thousands of years ago after the glaciers receded North America was populated by Native Americans who traveled down the East and West coasts into the Great Plains in their search for food and shelter.
While those civilizations no longer exist their artifacts have remained in the land and today are greatly prized by collectors, not only for their beauty, but also for what they teach us about the earliest Americans.
Central and Southern Illinois were heavily populated by Indian communities -Cahokia being one of the most famous sites in the U.S. – and artifacts are still being discovered to this day.
David Cole of Sullivan and Dean Mesnard of Decatur have both acquired impressive and magnificent collections of early American Indian artifacts.
Cole, who is the Executive Director of the Moultrie County Counseling Center, began finding arrowheads and other artifacts as a child and began collecting seriously about 20 years ago. He builds his collection today primarily by trading with other collectors at trade shows.

“The joy in collecting for me is in discovering the people, their lives, tools, pottery and how these items were used in their daily lives,” Cole said. “It is always thrilling to find pieces and I have some that are 9,000 years old.” Read More

•November 6, 2019•
By Mike Brothers

Sullivan City Council met Oct. 28 continuing public discussion regarding recreational cannabis sales and reviewing tax levy options.
The ongoing discussion on cannabis concerns whether the city remains open to future sales and the resulting tax revenue or elects to opt out and receive no tax revenue or dispensaries.
City administrator Dan Flannell noted some issues concerning the state legalization have yet to be determined since Illinois is the only state to legalize sales with legislative rather than a referendum.
Comparing it to the days when the country came out of Prohibition, Flannell noted those currently distributing medical cannabis will receive priority when the law is enacted in January 2020. Read More

•October 30, 2019•
By Ariana Cherry
for the News Progress

The 2018-2019 Audit for the Sullivan School District was approved at the last board meeting. The total of all funds for the September 2019 Treasurer’s report were $12,275,866.86. The balance of the Education fund was $4,786,211.95. Transportation fund was recorded at $1,490,691.26 and the Operations and Maintenance was $1,628,165.36.
The board discussed and approved the school improvement plan.
A collection of data was shared among board members showing results of the MAP test (Measures of Academic Progress).
The MAP test is a scientifically based growth measurement system that “informs” the teaching and learning process.
The average total percent of students in grades Kindergarten through fourth grade who were at or above reading level was about 69% in the fall of 2018. In the spring of 2019, that percentage increased to 71.6. In Mathematics, students in grades Kindergarten through grades four were at 67.4 percent in the fall of 2018. In the spring of 2019, the level rose to 75.2 percent.
The goals that the Sullivan Elementary School has set include: Read More