Thinking About Health: Prescription Drug Prices Climb into the Stratosphere

News Progress Posted on by

•July 15, 2015• By Trudy Lieberman Rural Health News Service There’s no getting around it. Americans are using more medications and spending more for them. The latest evidence just came from Express Scripts, the pharmacy benefit manager, which acts as a middleman between drug makers and employers. The number of Americans—almost 600,000—with yearly medication costs of more than $50,000 rose 63 percent from 2013 to 2014. The group of patients with costs over $100,000 nearly tripled. By any measure these are huge increases that don’t signal much hope that the U.S. can bring down its medical spending, which is now … Read More

“Wizard of Oz” Brings the Charm to Little Theatre Stage

News Progress Posted on by

•July 15, 2015• By Dan Hagen NP Theatre Critic The Little Theatre’s family-focused season, which began with “Mary Poppins,” continues today with “The Wizard of Oz.” And yes, it’s THAT “Wizard of Oz,” the 1939 MGM film version with which the world is most familiar, slightly expanded and extended with a song by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Fantasy is a much simpler sell on film, of course, and there’s a moment or two when the capable performers could use a little extra special effects help. Mollyanne Nunn, for example, tries valiantly to be ethereal as Glinda the Good … Read More

Sullivan Quality Lube Opens Under New Family Management

News Progress Posted on by

Plan is to source parts, oil locally •July 15, 2015• by Joash Tiarks Reporting in Sullivan Through life it is necessary to deal with many different routines; a morning routine, a health routine, a school routine, a routine of yearly events. But for the routine of regular vehicle service there is a new option in town. Jeff Smith, along with his six sons and one daughter, has recently leased the vacant garage on Jackson St., across from McDonald’s, to open Sullivan Quality Lube. “We’ve been open for (a few weeks) now and we are seeing about 70 people a week … Read More

Sullivan Police Asking Public for Help Amid Criminal Vehicle Trespassing

News Progress Posted on by

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 … Read More

Sarah Bush Lincoln Philanthropic Group Awards More than $ 56,000 in Grants

News Progress Posted on by

•July 8, 2015• WomenConnected, a giving circle within the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Foundation, awarded grants totaling $56,406 to 18 programs and services at the Health Center, bringing the group’s total amount of grant funding to $426,604 since 2004. WomenConnected is comprised of 74 women from Coles and surrounding counties who through their membership contributions, help fund and direct the expansion of services provided by Sarah Bush Lincoln. Programs and services receiving WomenConnected support this year include: Heart Smart for Teens; Center for Healthy Living scholarships to help people who cannot afford the services; SBL Dental Services for urgent restorative … Read More

Free Self-defense Class July 18 in Sullivan

News Progress Posted on by

•July 8, 2015• The Moultrie County Counseling Center will sponsor a self-defense class free of charge to the public Saturday, July 18 in the Vineyard Church, located on South Route 32 in Sullivan. Classes will be available from 10-11:30 a.m. for ages 8-12 and from 12-1:30 p.m. for ages 13 and up. Teaching the classes will be Joe Kennedy of “Industrial Martial Arts” in Mattoon. Kennedy is a third degree black belt and has been in the martial arts field for eight years. In addition, Sheriff Chris Sims and Police Chief John Love will make an informational presentation regarding community … Read More

Sullivan Woman in Stable Condition After Collision

News Progress Posted on by

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 … Read More

Obituaries 7-8-2015: Jennie White

News Progress Posted on by

Jennie White Genevieve “Jennie” White, 91, of Sullivan passed away at 12:45 a.m. Friday, July 3, 2015, in Mason Point in Sullivan. Funeral services were held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, in McMullin-Young Funeral Home in Sullivan. Burial was in Greenhill Cemetery in Sullivan.         Jennie was born February 16, 1924, in Sullivan, the daughter of Earl and Jennie Ruth Hieland Ray. She married Lynn A. White September 8, 1941, in St. Charles, Mo., and he preceded her in death July 25, 2012. She was a member of First United Methodist Church in Sullivan. She loved her family very much, enjoyed playing … Read More