Annual Lovington Fish Fry June 26

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June 17, 2015 WCIA TV will air daily stories about Lovington during its Our Town coverage on the Morning Show and the 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. newscasts from June 22 to June 26. The stories will feature people, places and events that make Lovington unique. The community will culminate this celebration at its annual fish fry in Tom Conn Park on Friday, June 26, from 4:15 to 7 p.m. Local singers Steve Fleming, Dennis Garmon, and Dawn Stevens Hawkins will entertain the crowd from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Each performs for half an hour. They will serve … Read More

Burch Pleads Not Guilty

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Former OV coach requests jury by trial June 17, 2015 by Keith Stewart keith@newsprogress.com A former Okaw Valley middle school coach pled not guilty Monday to counts related to the sexual abuse of an underage girl. Wade T. Burch, 25, of rural Shelbyville appeared before Judge Dan Flannell Monday afternoon along with his attorney Sean Britton for a preliminary hearing where a plea of not guilty was entered in regard to the two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault he faces. … Read More

Understanding Illinois: Animal Fat May Be Good For You

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June 17, 2015 By Jim Nowlan NP Guest Columnist A crusty dairy farmer friend recently barged into my office and unceremoniously plopped a thick book on my desk. He then harrumphed: “Now you can go out and eat a big steak and have lots of real cream on your strawberry shortcake!” The 500-page book is The Big Fat Surprise (2014) by Nina Teicholz, an accomplished writer who studied biology at Stanford and Yale and has a graduate degree from Oxford University. This is not your run of the mill, breezy diet book. It has 335 footnotes and lists almost 1,000 … Read More

LTE: 6.17.15

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A Helpful Community Over the past 6 months (and many years of research), three cousins started planning a family reunion that we weren’t sure could be done. When I first started contacting the community of Sullivan, we had no idea we would receive all the help that would be given for us to coordinate the 187th Waggoner Family Reunion that was held on May 9 and 10. We started with the American Legion who put up with my many phone calls-then the Chamber who helped with phone numbers. We then sought the Moultrie County Genealogical Society who gave us their … Read More

Moultrie County Annual Farm Bureau Meeting July 16

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June 17, 2015 By Tyler Harvey Mo-Do Farm Bureau Manager As of Sunday, June 14, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) had Illinois corn condition rated at 57% good with 19% of the corn crop excellent. Soybeans are at 90% planted as of this week with a condition rating of 58% good and 12% excellent. Driving between Tuscola and Sullivan and looking at various crops, the 2015 crop is off to a great start. We have been fortunate thus far not to have the amount of water that has fallen in Vermilion County and other places around the area. NASS … Read More

Phone Scammers Posing As Attorney General’s Reps

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June 17, 2015 Attorney General Lisa Madigan today alerted Illinois residents to a phone scam in which callers pose as representatives of the Attorney General’s office in an attempt to con people into sending money on supposed unpaid fines. Madigan’s office received several complaints last week from people who have been contacted by scammers pretending to be officials representing the Illinois Attorney General with bogus claims that the call recipients have warrants out for their arrest. Call recipients, some of whom received multiple calls, are told they will be arrested if they do not pay the fines within 30 minutes. … Read More

Monthly Historical Meeting Thursday

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June 17, 2015 The Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society will hold their monthly general meeting Thursday, June 18 at 7 p.m. in the Heritage Center in Sullivan. The speaker for the evening will be  Andy Brantner, Illinois NRCS District Conservationist for Douglas and Moultrie counties. Brantner will use a Power Point presentation to explain how the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is the primary federal agency that works with private landowners to help them conserve, maintain, and improve their natural resources. A social hour will follow the program with refreshments being served. … Read More

Sullivan Kiwanis, Back in the Business of Serving

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June 17, 2015 Local chapter receives charter Monday by Keith Stewart keith@newsprogress.com Nearly nine months of meetings, soliciting, and discussing came down to Monday evening’s charter celebration as the local Kiwanis group officially reemerged in Sullivan after shuttering several years ago. Held in a packed side room of the Red Apple Family Restaurant, the charter presentation not only included the installation of 16 members, but also three officers, and saw a show of support from various neighboring Kiwanis groups from Mattoon, Charleston, Decatur and Tuscola. And two of those groups–the Decatur Golden K Club and the Tuscola club, were instrumental … Read More

Hypnotized by “Hairspray”

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June 17, 2015 By Dan Hagen NP Theatre Critic The dress rehearsal for the Little Theatre’s second show of the season reminded me just how well Hairspray works as a musical. The John Waters story about outsiders (persecuted for their pounds and pigmentation) who are trying to get inside a local TV dance program in 1964 provides a perfect excuse for dance after dance. You realize that the large cast must be exhausted by the end of director Kevin Long’s brisk, high-energy show, although their smiles never show it. Colorful costumes by Sherri Milo are shown off to good effect … Read More

Obituaries 6-17-2015: Janet Dudley

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Janet Dudley Celebration of Life services for Janet A. Dudley, 84, of Shelbyville, formerly of Bethany and Decatur, were held at 7 p.m. Monday In Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan. Graveside services were at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Hickory Hill Cemetery in Broughton. She died at 1:07 p.m. Thursday June 11, 2015 in Shelby Manor in Shelbyville. … Read More