•October 10, 2018•
Jalon Warren waived a jury trial at an October 9 hearing in Moultrie County Circuit Court.
Warren, 18, of Sullivan will appear in court at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 8 for a pretrial motion hearing.
Warren was charged in connection with a threatening note found in a Sullivan High School restroom in March 2018 which prompted early dismissal of school. Read More
Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Happy Retirement. Left to right: Asst. IGA Manager Karen Golden, Donut Lady Peggy Booker, IGA Manager Pat Stinson and Bakery Manager Angela Cuttill.
•October 10, 2018•
By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress
After 35 years, Peggy Booker, “the doughnut lady of IGA” will be retiring. The public is cordially invited to her retirement party 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, October 12 at Sulllivan IGA. Cake and punch will be served.
Peggy grew up in Sullivan and rode a pony to school. She had one brother 17 years older and another five years older to spoil her and take her places girls of her age seldom got to visit.
She graduated high school in 1952 and married William Booker the same year. Because she married she had to forfeit a scholarship she had won to Eastern Illinois University as was the custom in those days.
She and Bill raised five children including one set of twins. Read More
Photo by R.R. Best
Head on Crash
Moultrie County Sheriff Chris Sims directs traffic with a demolished GMC dually in the background. A Mattoon man was killed and two Sullivan men injured in the 2:20 p.m. crash on CR800N in Moultrie County October 3. Sheriff Sims’ reported Albert Mokrejs, 20, of Mattoon was traveling east in a Ford passenger car and crossed over the centerline hitting a westbound GMC dually head on. Mokrejs was pronounced deceased on the scene by Moultrie County Coroner Lynn Reed. Driver of the truck, John R. Grooms, 70, and passenger Paul R. Voegel, 76, both of rural Sullivan were transported to Carle Hospital with injuries and later released.
Following impact the GMC truck ended up on its passenger side in the north roadside ditch. The Ford spun around, crossing back over the eastbound lane, ending up on the south shoulder facing west. Both vehicles received extensive front end damage.
Sheriff Sims noted the crash investigation by the Moultrie County Sheriff’s office is ongoing.
Photo furnished
LFD Fields Several Fires
Lovington Fire District had a busy week. On Wednesday October 3 two fires were called in at the same time Lovington Chief Gary Smith explained. Mutual Aid was requested from Bethany and Hammond for a field fire on County Road 700 E. Lovington firefighters responded to a combine fire on 2500N to assist Dora Fire District. Lovington was the first on the scene and the combine was fully engulfed. Darren Powell had been driving the combine and was there and also a past fireman. They helped pull a line while the chief turned on the pump. The wind was blowing hard enough to make it hard to get to the fire. Dora Fire Dept. arrived and started a line from their truck.
Shortly after Mt. Zion and Long Creek departments arrived with three trucks. The airport truck was directed to the field that was burning from sparks off the combine. Jeff Davis contributed a tractor and disk to contain the fire spread. Bethany and Hammond got the first fire extinguished and came over to assist. There were seven trucks and approximately 17 firemen, one tractor and driver on the scene. Mt Zion fireman reported someone called it in, and they responded even though it was out of their district. “With a fire like this and us being a volunteer fire unit, it’s everyone’s district,” Smith said.
As the Lovington firefighters returned to the station and filled the tank with water they received another call of a field fire east of Lovington on 1200N. Lovington responded with Hammond and Arthur on their way to back up. While the Lovington truck started spraying water, Steve Helton, who was disking for Mark Yoder across the road, came over and helped by disking around the border to keep that fire from spreading.
•October 3, 2018•
Early voting gained popularity with numbers doubling according to Moultrie County Clerk Georgia England.
“September 27 was the first day of early voting, and comparing the number who voted Thursday to the number on the first day in November 2016, we doubled,” England said.
In November 2016 15 people voted on the first day of Early Voting. Read More
•October 3, 2018•
By Ariana Cherry
for the News Progress
Members of the Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond School Board had a budget hearing and passed the FY2019 budget at their last scheduled meeting.
The total expenditures for the year totaled $13,441,616.00. Superintendent Ken Schwengel noted that the district still has not received state transportation reimbursement and is anticipating a payment of $135,000 from last year. Read More
•October 3, 2018•
By Ariana Cherry
for the News Progress
Sullivan has been looking into new and innovative ways for the city to track energy use and read meters.
City Clerk, Monte Johnson shared a presentation with members of the Sullivan City Council recently for a new AMI System (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) through Nexgrid. After looking through various options, Johnson introduced Nexgrid reporting on a trip he made to their headquarters to see how the software and its application worked.
Through Nexgrid, customers will have the ability to download widgets/apps to their computers, phones or tablets and actually see their energy use in real time and adjust accordingly to see how they can save on their monthly bills. Johnson noted that implantation will take some time as the city will have to manually put everything in – such as receivers and other devices.
There will be new meters for reading energy use, and the city will be able to see the information from office desktops. After everything has been installed, there won’t be a need for individuals to personally go out and read every single meter. Read More
Photo by Mike Brothers
Bicyclists supporting the 500 mile Gold Star ride stopped at the Sullivan American Legion for lunch then rode on to support the annual scholarship ride honoring Illinois National Guard members who lost their lives serving overseas.
Cyclists Visit Sullivan American Legion
•October 3, 2018•
By Mike Brothers
Always remember! Never Forget!” was the shout out given by 34 Gold Star bicyclists as they left Sullivan Sept. 26 heading for Paris.
Following lunch served by Sullivan American Legion Post 68, the group gathered for the second 57 mile leg of the four day 500 mile endurance ride.
Gold Star ride coordinator Dave Helfrich announced that Sgt. Garrett Smith of Sullivan had given his life while serving in the lllinois National Guard. Smith is among 34 members of the Guard who lost their lives overseas and honored during the four day ride.
The Gold Star Mission ride raised $34,000 for scholarships which were presented to 34 students in the state last year. Read More
•October 3, 2018•
By Rock Bass
for the News Progress
What the heck is The Fish Wrap?
One year ago this week Best Newspapers Inc., publishers of The Moultrie County News Progress, started printing The Fish Wrap which is mailed free of charge to 8500 households.
Why Fish Wrap?
For several months during the 1990s Bethany schools had been in negotiations with the Sullivan School District about possibly consolidating.
Hollis Dick, owner of HO Dick Transfer, had a history of involvement with the Bethany School District. His father had been a standout Mustang athlete and went on to serve as president of the school board in addition to starting a trucking business in 1957.
During that time Sullivan Supt. of Schools Richard Voltz was a weekly columnist in the News Progress and had written several articles promoting the consolidation of Bethany and Sullivan schools. Read More
Photo furnished
Corn harvest with teams of horses is among the farming techniques demonstrated at the Illinois Amish Heritage Center.
•October 3, 2018•
A new special event, Harvest to Home, will be held at the Illinois Amish Heritage Center three miles east of Arthur on Friday and Saturday, October 19-20. The event will start at 9 a.m. each day and continue until 8 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.
The fall harvest was the culmination of the farm year. Corn had to be picked, processed, and stored. It was often stacked into corn shocks in the field or picked by hand and thrown into a nearby wagon.
All of the steps of harvesting and processing corn will be demonstrated at the inaugural Harvest to Home event at the new Illinois Amish Heritage Center. Activities during the two-day event will include corn cutting and shocking, corn harvesting with corn pickers, shelling corn with small and large shellers, harvesting and shredding of corn stalks, and grinding corn into corn meal using an early grist mill. Read More