News Progress

Board approves budget for 13-14 fiscal year

by Derek Pope
Bethany Reporter

Okaw Valley administrators have released their budget for the district’s 2013-2014 school year and the numbers appear promising.

A downward trend in the deficit two years in a row seems to indicate that administrators are curtailing a budgetary shortfall that arose back in 2011. The progress comes despite significant uncertainty in federal and state funding for schools throughout Illinois, particularly for smaller districts such as Okaw Valley, and amidst the appointment of a new superintendent for the district, Kent Stauder, following former superintendent Joel Hackney’s resignation this summer.  Read More

Barry Featheringill
Sullivan Reporter

In a brief city council meeting Monday, Sullivan officials approved the rezoning of property along the railroad tracks near S. Worth and Wagoner streets.

Commissioner Mike Kirk abstained from voting, as the property is located right across from his personal property. Kirk did express concern about drainage, and Jan Haegen of the zoning board pointed out that “before any building could be done, plans will have to be submitted and issues such as the water run off would be addressed at the time.” 

The property owner, Bryan Vahling, requesting the change from R-3 to B-1 stated the “project would not be completed until sometime in the spring at the earliest,” and that he would have an engineer do a site plan before any work was done. It was also noted that much of the property along the railroad track is zoned for commercial usage. The council approved the rezoning with two commissioners and the mayor voting yes, one council member absent and one abstaining from voting. Read More

Prior damage to street motivates redirect

by Derek Pope
Bethany Reporter

Bethany’s village council has come forward with a new traffic route for grain semis during this year’s harvest in an attempt to maintain roadway conditions inside of town.

Officials are urging farmers to familiarize themselves with the new route and adhere to it for their benefit and to help the community as a whole.

In recent years, Robinson Street, the main roadway access to Bethany’s grain elevators, has seen extensive damage from increased semi traffic, particularly semis that line up while waiting to unload their crops. In an attempt to minimize further damage to the roadway, officials are instead asking farmers to wait on St. John Street should a queue form as multiple farmers try to access the grain elevators during busy harvest times.  Read More