ARPA Funds Awarded to Moultrie County Beacon

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•July 20, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The county board approved a motion to distribute $90,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Moultrie County Beacon for loss of revenue related to the inability to have the Light House Cafe open and the annual Otto Center fundraiser. Treasurer Stephanie Helmuth said a review is necessary because some of the calculations are loss of revenue and some due to loss of residents in general. The committee agreed that the loss of revenue from Light House Cafe and Otto Center fundraiser were directly impacted by COVID-19.
Tyler Graven said that the roofing project on the Moultrie County courthouse is moving along. The Building and Grounds committee will have a meeting Wednesday, August 3 at which time the county farm will be discussed. County Clerk Georgia England noted that the farm had been advertised for two weeks, but they had received no applications. It has been placed in the paper as a legal ad, but she suggested running it as a regular advertisement. Read More

Moultrie County Clerk Resigns During Meeting

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•July 20, 2022•

by Crystal Reed

NP Writer

Moultrie County Clerk Georgia C. England resigned toward the end of the Thursday, July 14, county board meeting. Prior to the announcement, Ann Wheeler, who works as an election judge, read a letter commending England and her staff. In her letter, which may be found in this week's issue, she said that she was concerned when she heard about accusations made on Facebook and elsewhere of corruption and fraud in the local election. She finds those accusations absurd.
England read her letter of resignation to a standing room only audience and noted that she had during her time with the county navigated it through more than 30 elections. Later in the letter she noted that it is not the position but rather the people who are bringing her clerk tenure to a close several months earlier than planned. "Moultrie County could be so much better than what it has become, but unfortunately, too many people are choosing to emphasize political parties over the best person for the position." Read More

Fourth of July Raffle Winner 2022

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Fourth of July Raffle Winner
The Sullivan Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development held their 50/50 Fourth of July Raffle. This year’s winner is Kamryn Landreth who received $4,414.50. She is pictured with Grant Wade of the SCED Board of Directors.

Petersen Health Care Announces Closure of Mason Point

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•July 13, 2022•
Petersen Health Care has announced the closure of Mason Point in Sullivan on September 12, 2022. The decision to cease operations was made necessary due largely to unsustainable, poor financial performance due to longstanding state of Illinois reimbursement shortfalls, the current regulatory environment, the cost of maintaining the aging physical plants, and the many challenges caused by the ongoing pandemic, most notably staffing and labor issues. Read More

City Council Has First Reading Of Appropriations Ordinance

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•July 13, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The City Council had the first reading of the appropriations ordinance during Monday night’s meeting during which Bob Ingram had questions concerning the ordinance. “This is not the actual budget,” Mayor Richard Glazebrook said. “If we were to buy the property behind us or to the side of us, it’s in the appropriation so we could do it.”
Treasurer Sarah Golden said that concerning the appropriations ordinance there is no specific land or building they have discussed purchasing at this time for the city building. Commissioner Abbey Sherwood stated that at a previous meeting the council had voted publicly that the city would be rebuilding the city building of two stories at the original location on the square. Read More

Sullivan Fire Department Offering Cadet Program

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Photo by R.R. Best
The first two cadets in the Sullivan Fire Department’s cadet program are Konnor Randol and Landry Still. The department plans to have two academies per year in January and July.

•July 13, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The Sullivan Fire Department is offering a program for teens who have an interest in working as a firefighter in the future. The cadet program is for 16-18-year-olds and is a three-month academy that the department is offering in-house on topics including equipment, CPR and ladders. It is a foundation program getting participants acquainted with how the department does things. Read More

Antique Farm Equipment Used to Harvest Grain at Illinois Amish Heritage Center

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Ed Yoder uses a binder that was built in the 1930’s to harvest grain in a field at the Illinois Amish Heritage Center last Tuesday. The Illinois Amish Heritage Center will be holding Steam Threshing Days on Friday, August 5 and Saturday, August 6.

•July 13, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

A piece of antique farm equipment was used to harvest a field at the Illinois Amish Heritage Center, 3.5 miles east of Arthur last week. According to Ed Yoder of Kemp, the binder, which is used to harvest oats, wheat and rye, had been in his family for a long time and was built in the 1930’s. The binder was powered by a team of four Belgian draft horses.
The equipment had been sitting idle for 10 years. Two years ago in Iowa, Yoder’s father put up items including the binder for auction. “I bought it and did very little work on it,” Yoder said.
When the binder goes through the field, it cuts the grain and gathers it into bundles. Later in the day the bundles are shocked, which means the bundles are set upright in the field so that they can dry. Yoder revealed there are plans to harvest oats every other year and harvest corn in the years between. Read More

Moultrie County Residents Vote In Election Primary

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•July 6, 2022•
Moultrie County residents had the opportunity to exercise their right to vote last Tuesday, June 28. Residents cast their votes for county officials and congressional and state officials. The results that came out of this recent election are unofficial will not be finalized until Tuesday, July 12.
The unofficial results for County Clerk were recorded as Lisa Ozier 1,388 votes and Linda Qualls at 1,392 votes as of last Tuesday night. According to Jamie Helton, election deputy with the Moultrie County Clerk’s office, the results are not yet final because they must wait to allow for absentee ballots to come in the mail. She said that there are 4 ballots that were absentee that they are waiting to get back.
Stephanie Helmuth ran unopposed for the county treasurer’s seat. Also running unopposed for county sheriff was Gary Carroll.

More results were:
County Board
Aaron Wilhelm 1,501 10.59%
Marsha Kirby 1,353 9.54%
Julie R. Kinert 1,208 8.52%
Larry Wayne Stacy Jr. 782 5.52% Read More

Bethany Author Publishes First Book

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Photo furnished
Bethany resident Denis Durham and his children Evan and Ellie hold copies of his recently published book “Elizabithia, The War Against Musical Tyranny and The Search For Lost Music Trees”.

•July 6, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Denis Durham of Bethany has published his first book. He stated that the story is an allegory of the family court system in the United States. The book contains musical elements and references to judges and attorneys.
It took Durham two years to write the book which was published in April. The characters in the book represent him and his two children, Ellie and Evan. In the book there is an imaginary land called Elizabithia, and there the characters learn about trees that have different music notes and musical references. He incorporated Okaw Valley schools into the story, and there is also a mention of an ancient library to learn what has happened to the trees. Read More