A Long Winding Road to the Animal House

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•September 30, 2015• By Mike Brothers NP Managing Editor This column is rooted on the number of stupid human tricks I have done. The beauty is I never lack for suitable, or maybe unsuitable, stuff to write about. Seemingly, an innocent request from daughter-in-law Crystal prompted another incident. A few weeks ago Crystal sends me a photograph of this cute little zoo for stuffed animals with the question: “could you build this?” Here we can begin to see why the fundamental reason many of my stupid human tricks end with me striking myself in the forehead with an open palm … Read More

Obituaries 9-30-2015: Maxine Howard

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Maxine Howard Funeral services for K. Maxine Howard, 96, of Dalton City were held at 1 p.m. Monday, September 28, 2015 in McMullin-Young Funeral Home in Bethany. Burial was in Marrowbone Township Cemetery in Bethany. She passed away at 2:34 p.m. Thursday, September 24, 2015 in Imboden Creek Living Center in Decatur.  … Read More

Remember When? 9-30-2015

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Compiled by Bekki Ferguson-Stevens 25 Years Ago This Week Sullivan High School will crown a new queen this Friday during homecoming festivities. Senior candidates are Stacey Anderson, Laura Pound, Angie Johnson and Misha Coy. Princess attendants Mandy Collins, Jennifer Daily and Nicki Wood will also take part in homecoming festivities all week at Sullivan High School. Bryan Yoder of rural Lovington recently took home seven prizes for his corn exhibits at the Illinois State Fair. He dedicated his prizes to Howard Phillips of Arthur, superintendent of the Moultrie-Douglas Fair for many years. Sandi Cameron was recently elected president of the United … Read More

Redskins Shut Out Meridian Hawks

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•September 30, 2015• By Matt Kracht NP Sports Reporter The only suspense was in the coin toss before the game as Sullivan/Okaw Valley quarterback Ty Molzen lit up the Meridian Hawks for over 200 yards passing. SOV outgained the Hawks 416 total offensive yards to Meridian’s 83, and the stingy Redskin defense kept the Hawks out of their own red zone for the entire game and out of the SOV end of the field for all but two possessions. The Redskins won the coin toss and never looked back in a totally dominant offensive and defensive performance to take this … Read More

Recent Obituaries: Roy C. Barker

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Roy C. Barker Roy C. Barker, 56, of Mattoon, formerly of Sullivan passed away 9:54 a.m. Tuesday, September 22, 2015 in his home, Mattoon. Funeral services will be held 1:00 p.m. Saturday, September 26, 2015 at McMullin-Young Funeral Home, Sullivan. Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. before the services Saturday. Burial will be at a later date. Memorials may be made to Sarah Bush Lincoln Cancer Center. Roy was born November 7, 1958 in Decatur, the son of Cecil and Lillian (England) Barker. He married Barbara S. Fugate on August 3, 1997 in Allenville. Roy worked … Read More

Understanding Illinois: Third Time’s a Charm, Says Reform Backers

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•September 23, 2015• By Jim Nowlan NP Guest Columnist This column runs the risk of being boring (“So what’s new?” readers wonder) because we have been here before. But the topic of redistricting reform is important. It represents the one fundamental thing you can do to refresh Illinois politics, say its backers. In Illinois, members of the state legislature draw their own districts, and as a result in the last election, 97 percent of incumbents who ran for re-election won; most ran without opposition. Surprised? We call it a process in which legislators select their voters rather than vice versa. … Read More

Southern Illinois Women’s Economic Summit Coming to Effingham

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•September 23, 2015• Sally Rutledge-Ott, regional director for the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce | Illinois including the Chicago suburbs and eastern Iowa, is announcing that the upcoming Southern Illinois Women’s Economic Summit will be held in Effingham Wednesday, September 30. This event, co-hosted by the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce, will take place at the Thelma Keller Convention Center in Effingham. Summit attendees will hear from keynote speakers about the economic impact of women in business in Illinois, learn about new initiatives to assist the continued development of diversity in purchasing, and … Read More

A Time to Honor Direct Service Professionals

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•September 23, 2015• By Susan Sullivan Rauch Executive Director of the Beacon “People with developmental disabilities have special needs, but their basic needs are the same as everyone else’s. The need to have a home, learn useful, relevant skills; work; and develop and sustain relationships with people they care about and who care about them.” Author Unknown The Moultrie County Beacon has done this in Sullivan since 1968, yet many of our citizens have only a vague notion of what we actually do and whom we actually help. This isn’t such a surprise for our first 30 years we really … Read More

Training Gap Addressed by No Job Left Behind

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•September 23, 2015• By Mike Brothers With some 500 production related jobs opening in the next few years the need to train local students is in growing demand. On Sept. 18 representatives of No Job Left Behind from Coles, Douglas, Shelby and Moultrie counties gathered at Faith Lutheran Church in Sullivan to find out how to best meet that demand. Dr. Mike Rudibaugh , GIS professor from Lake Land College, analyzed results from the 2015 gap survey sent to 131 employers in the region. What Rudibaugh learned was the growing need for production employees is in a region that is … Read More

Lady Reds Face Tuscola in First Conference Match

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•September 23, 2015• The Lady Redskins hosted Tuscola Thursday, Sept 17 for the first conference volleyball match up. Tuscola’s powerful front line proved too much for Sullivan, winning 12-25 and 15-25. “Our defense did a great job of picking up the hits,” coach Krista Smith said noting they also made several good volleys. “As a team we did better at covering tips and dumps tonight,” she continued. “We look forward to using this as an opportunity to strengthen our offense and build on positive teamwork.” In the effort Alyssa Marshall had three kills and 14 digs for the Lady Redskins. … Read More