News Progress

•March 20, 2024•

Fees increasing for the 2024-2025 school year

by Ariana R Cherry

Superintendent Shannon Cheek presented the winning bid to repair the Lovington Grade School parking lot at the most recent school board meeting. The winning bid was from Dunn Construction with an amount of $437,801, which also includes a $35,000 allowance. Cheek informed the board that the bid came in about $5,000 less than what had originally been estimated. The work also includes the entire replacement of the sidewalks and curbs that lead up to the building. “It is really needed and long overdue. We hope that the work is done before school starts for the next school year. It has been a long time coming,” commented Cheek.

It was also announced that fees will be increasing for the 2024-2025 school year. According to Cheek’s research, prices have stayed pretty consistent since the 2014-2015 school year aside from lunch fees. While the prices will increase, they still will be lower than several of the surrounding school districts. Cheek stated that most fees will see about a $5-$10 increase. Read More

•March 13, 2024•

Moultrie County has been issued a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, according to David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR).

The property assessment equalization factor, often called the “multiplier,” is the method used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties, as required by law. This equalization is particularly important because some of the state’s 6,600 local taxing districts overlap into two or more counties (e.g., school districts, junior college districts, fire protection districts). If there was no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result. Read More

•March 13, 2024•

Submitted by Janet Roney

program chairman

“Tales my Grandfather Told Me” will be presented by Steve Poland at 7 pm on Thursday, March 21, at the Moultrie County History Center on 1303 S. Hamilton, Sullivan. This will be the opening program of the Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society’s 2024 season.  

Steve’s maternal grandfather, Ray Misenheimer, was a great story teller. About once a year, he took his grandchildren on a tour of sites in his East Nelson Township neighborhood southwest of Allenville, spinning tales about the colorful people and events from long ago as they drove along. Steve, a great story teller himself, with a good memory, will share some of these stories. The public is invited to attend.  

•March 6, 2024•

North Dean, a Sullivan High School sophomore, recently received word that the entry they submitted to the 2023 Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of the Wonder/Sense of the Wild Contest tied for first place in the “Essay with a Photograph” division. They worked with retired SHS English teacher Becky Lawson on an essay called “Resilient Beauty” and submitted it with a photo that they took of wildflowers, the topic of their essay.  Read More