Lady Redskins take 3rd at LPC Meet

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•May 14, 2025• SHS Girls Track finished in 3rd place with 82 points at the LPC Meet on Friday in Arcola. They also had 5 athletes garner All Conference accolades and several new season personal records. Riane Bear is the new LPC Champion in the High Jump with an outstanding 5’4” 1st place performance, an inch shy of the school record. The 4 x 400 relay of Bear, Julia Moody, Kaylee Smith, and Avery Renfro ran a huge season PR of 4:28 to finish the meet with another LPC championship. Renfro ran an amazing anchor leg of 1:02 to come … Read More

Redskins win championship

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•May 14, 2025• Last Friday night, the SHS Boys Track team won the Lincoln Prairie Conference Championship for the second year in a row. With three of their top senior athletes out with injuries this season, competing for another championship was a very tough challenge, but they had a lot of guys step up with huge performances to help finish on top.  A big highlight was Mason Booker running a 40.04 in the 300m Hurdles to set a new LPC record and also reset his SHS record, and a 15.44 in the 110m Hurdles to set another new conference record.  … Read More

Letter to the Editor: 5-14-5025

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State lawmakers must curb illicit vape sales in Illinois In my professional life as a former senior special agent with the ATF and now as an educator teaching in secondary and higher education throughout Illinois, I have a unique view into both the criminal underworld and the communities it harms. I strongly support HB2634 because I believe it is critical to protect our state from the dangerous networks infiltrating our schools and neighborhoods through the illicit vape trade.  From an enforcement perspective, illicit vape sales and associated crimes aren’t isolated violations. They are part of complex trafficking systems that rely … Read More

Remembering who we are…….58

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The Hike to Mattoon •May 14, 2025• by Janet Roney When I was a child, my Grandmother Shuman told me that when my great-grandmother Mary McPheeters Shuman was a little girl playing in her yard, Abraham Lincoln once waved at her as he rode by on the old Charleston Road that passed through our family farm. That story and others inspired my life-long interest in local history and old trails.  In the summer of 1982, I suggested that our family hike the old Charleston Road from our home north of Sullivan to Mattoon. Our son, Clay, was twelve and daughter, Cynthia, … Read More

Lovington’s “Farmer’s Market”: Event created to bring community together

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•May 14, 2025• by DM Williamee The Lovington Farmer’s Market began on May 8th, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., 130 W State Street, in Lovington. The brainchild of lifetime Lovington resident Lisa Kamm, who was inspired after attending local Mapping Group meetings. From those meetings, Lisa was driven to create an event that would benefit the Lovington community, and thus the Farmers Market was born: a free place for vendors (no charge, but bring your own tables, signage, displays, etc.) to set up and offer their wares, and a place for the community to purchase those items. … Read More

Utility rate increase approved by City Council

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•May 14, 2025• by Sharon Barricklow Public utility costs will be going up for Sullivan residents after the City Council passed several rate increases at their meeting Monday night.  The council approved a four and one half percent increase in electrical rates on the recommendation of Commissioner Mike Kirk who said wholesale electric rates continued to rise.  … Read More

Obituaries 5-14-2025: Charles Lawson

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Charles Lawson Charles “Charlie” L. Lawson, 75, of Sullivan, passed away 7:28 a.m. Friday, May 9, 2025, at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, Mattoon.  Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Thursday, May 15, 2025, at McMullin-Young Funeral Home, Sullivan. Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 16, 2025, at McMullin-Young Funeral Home, Sullivan. Burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery, Sullivan. Memorials may be made to the Allenville Christian Church: 201 S. Allen St. Allenville, IL 61951 … Read More

Obituaries 5-14-2025: Rev. James Helton

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Rev. James Helton Rev. James R. Helton, 80, of Sullivan, passed away at 9:29 p.m. Friday May 9, 2025 in Memorial Medical Center, Springfield. Celebration of Life services will be 11:00 a.m. Thursday May 15, 2025 in the New Life Church, Sullivan with Pastor Dave Dolan officiating. Visitation will be 5 – 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Reed Funeral Home, Sullivan. Memorials are suggested to the college fund for Gracee Helton. Online condolences may be sent to the family at reedfuneralhome.net.   … Read More

Obituaries 5-14-2025:

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Henry “Ted” Atkinson Henry Theodore “Ted” Atkinson, of Bethany, passed away on Tuesday, May 6, at his home. He was 85. Graveside services will be at 12 noon on Friday May 16, 2025, in the Marrowbone Township Cemetery, Bethany with military rites conducted by the Bethany American Legion Post # 507. There will not be a visitation. Online condolences may be sent to the family at reedfuneralhome.net. Arrangements by the Reed Funeral Home, Sullivan. … Read More