News – Page 342 – News Progress

Eagle Creek Task Force Forms

Posted on July 15, 2015 by webmasterJuly 15, 2015

Local officials come together to provide oversight on shuttered resort

•July 15, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A group of local officials and representatives have recently come together to form a task force overseeing the future of the long-shuttered Eagle Creek Resort.
“Some of us locally think we need to have some local control in overseeing it to make sure it continues forward,” said Moultrie County board chairman Dave McCabe. “Everyone has been wanting to get it accomplished for years now, but it never seems to get done.”
Eagle Creek was closed in July of 2009 after mold was detected. Some hope for its reopening surfaced in 2010 when Decatur-based BMDD Resorts Corp. was hired to renovate and reopen the resort. But that hope soon faded last year after the firm pulled out among disagreements with the state over the project, leaving Eagle Creek to once again sit unusable.
“With the way DNR has been prolonging this, I’m not sure whether we can be effective or not,“ said Sullivan Mayor Ann Short who is also a member of the task force. “But if we can accomplish something positive, I’ll be thrilled.” Read More

Golf Outing Winners

Posted on July 15, 2015 by webmasterJuly 15, 2015

Submitted
Golf Outing Winners
Pictured is winning team from the 21st annual Okaw Valley Academic Foundation golf outing, which was held July 10. From left to right: Andrew Fultz, Joe Fultz, sponsor Jack Scott, Ben Broadbeck, and JC Fultz.

Sullivan Police Asking Public for Help Amid Criminal Vehicle Trespassing

Posted on July 13, 2015 by webmasterJuly 15, 2015

Four unlocked vehicles targeted over weekend

• July 15, 2015 •

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Sullivan police are asking the public to keep their car doors locked and an eye out for any suspicious activity after a string of unlocked vehicles were illegally entered over the weekend.
Sullivan Police Chief John Love says that four vehicles were the subject of criminal trespass this past weekend, two of which were then taken around town before then being abandoned.
One of the vehicles was found just north of Wyman Park on Worth street and another parked in the middle of a road in front of a stop sign. Read More

Sullivan Woman in Stable Condition After Collision

Posted on July 8, 2015 by webmasterJuly 8, 2015

Victim of DUI wreck in Warrensburg

•July 8, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A Sullivan woman is in stable condition after more than two weeks of being hospitalized following a DUI accident near Warrensburg last month.
Judith McPheeters, 69, of Sullivan endured life-threatening injuries the evening of Wednesday, June 17 following a collision near Warrensburg.
According to a press release by the Macon County sheriff’s department, a call came in at approximately 6:35 p.m. regarding the two-vehicle wreck. Once on scene, responders had to extricate the 69-year-old Sullivan woman from her 2011 Chevrolet after it collided with a 2009 Ford pickup truck, driven by Ryan M. Maurer, 41, of Harristown. Read More

Sullivan Schools Approve Final Budget for FY15

Posted on July 8, 2015 by webmasterJuly 8, 2015

Better than originally projected

•July 8, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

At their monthly board meeting last month, the Sullivan school board approved a final amended budget for fiscal year 15, which came to a close June 30.
That budget, while an improvement from the initial one passed last September, was not quite an improvement from the April meeting where a tentative amended budget was presented.
Compared to that budget, the final amended one sees an increase in expenditures just over $66,000. Superintendent Brad Tuttle attributed much of the increase to recent work on the HVAC systems at the elementary and middle schools that are nearly 20 years old and have been working at half capacity. The budget also reflects some of the spending of a $50,000 grant that was received last year. Read More

2015 Miss-Mo-Do Royalty

Posted on July 8, 2015 by webmasterJuly 8, 2015

Photo by Keith Stewart
2015 Miss-Mo-Do Royalty
Pictured are this year’s Miss Moultrie-Douglas royalty, from left to right: Jr. Miss Mo-Do Kali Pierce of Tuscola, Little Miss Mo-Do Paislee Lorenzen of Newman, and Miss Mo-Do Gabrielle Uphoff of Sullivan.

Bethany Bar Closes for the Summer, TIF Funds Revoked

Posted on July 8, 2015 by webmasterJuly 8, 2015

Village also hears petition concerning rental utilities

July 8, 2015

by Derek Pope
Bethany Reporter

At the end of May, Bethany’s first bar in decades decided to close—at least temporarily. The Hired Hand Winery and Saloon, located in Bethany’s downtown district, formally announced the closure on their Facebook page on May 31, pledging to return to business in August. The reason they cited for the closure was an extended family summer vacation, but the announcement came unexpectedly following the approval of a sizable loan from the village’s township investment funds (TIF) intended to aid in the business’s summer operations.
Prior to the village board’s approval of the loan in April, the owners of the Hired Hand and its sister business Echoes Studio, Shane and Erin Weybright, approached the village’s TIF committee with an appeal for funds that they deemed necessary for keeping the two establishments operational throughout the summer and ultimately in the months and years to come. They requested the necessary money to install a new heating, and more importantly, air conditioning system in the outdated downtown buildings that housed the businesses. The Hired Hand’s ownership said that during their first year of operation, the complete lack of an air conditioning system so badly hurt their summer business that it may ultimately be impossible to financially endure another summer without one.
Bethany’s TIF committee and village board ultimately agreed, approving a recommendation to award the Weybrights a $48,000 five-year forgivable loan, in part to improve the downtown buildings themselves, which must be repaid in part should the business permanently close or be sold within that time frame.
The decision was not without objections, though. Read More

Sullivan Teacher Dies After Being Struck by Vehicle

Posted on July 8, 2015 by webmasterJuly 8, 2015

Christina Sanders, 30, pronounced dead Thurs.

•July 8, 2015•

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A Sullivan elementary school teacher was pronounced dead last Thursday evening after being struck by a vehicle the Tuesday prior.
According to the Moultrie County sheriff’s department, Christina Sanders, 30, of Sullivan was pronounced dead at Carle Hospital at 5:33 p.m. Thursday.
Shortly before 7:13 p.m. Tuesday, June 30 Sanders was struck by an automobile while jogging along county road 850E just north of the Bruce-Findlay road according to the sheriff’s department. The release further adds that the automobile was being driven by Kali Forsyth, 18, of Sullivan. Sanders, who was a first grade teacher for the Sullivan school district, was taken by a Life Flight helicopter to Carle Hospital Tuesday evening where as of Wednesday morning she was in critical condition prior to her passing Thursday.
According to a report by WCIA-3, Sanders’ was an organ donor. Read More

Talking Education

Posted on July 8, 2015 by webmasterJuly 8, 2015

Submitted
Talking Education
A group of local educators recently met with State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) to discuss education issues in the state. Pictured, inside Sen. Rose’s Capitol office are (back row, left to right): John Harwood, Dan Allen (Sullivan H.S. teacher), and Ted Walk (Sullivan H.S. assistant principal). Front row: Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), Steve Poland, Brad Tuttle (Sullivan superintendent), and Erik Young (Sullivan H.S. principal).

Mo-Co Places All Teams In Top Four At State

Posted on July 8, 2015 by webmasterJuly 8, 2015

Submitted
Mo-Co Places All Teams In Top Four At State
The 2014 season saw the Mo-Co Rush enjoy one of their most successful trips to the NSA State Tournament with four of five teams placing in the top five. The three 2015 teams bested that by all finishing in the top four at this year’s tournament in East Peoria. Both the 18U and 12U finished in third place, while the 10U finished in fourth place. The 10U had a shot to make it three for three in the top three, but let a 4-1 lead slip away in the final inning. Regardless all three teams played at an extremely high level and it was a momentum builder heading into the final three tournaments of the season. The 12U has a record of 46-20-1 on the season, while the 10U has a spring/summer record of 29-20 and 31-27 overall. Tryouts for the 2016 season are scheduled for August 1 and 2. For more information on the Rush and their upcoming tryouts go to www.mocorush.com. Pictured above are the 10U: L-R: Ryli Kauffman, Mia Harris, Mikaela Moore, Kinley Hill, Keira Hohlbauch, Bailey Bennett, Katie Honchell, Kayla Schippel, Mackenzie Condill, Alaina Moore, Alisha Frederick, and Charley Condill.