On Friday, December 19th, American Legion Riders Post #68 Director Rick Read presented a donation to Elizabeth Houser for her Sullivan ‘Christmas Crew’ charity on behalf of the American Legion Riders. This annual donation helps fund the charitable organization’s activities throughout the holiday season, ensuring a Merry Christmas for all. … Read More
•December 31, 2025• by E. Scott England The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) recently sent out a referendum ballot to the 802 member high schools. Twelve bylaw changes were on the ballot with all twelve being approved. Several proposed changes were a little controversial, with changes to the 2026 high school playoffs leading the charge. Over 90% of the districts voted on the proposed change, with 377 voting yes, 252 voting no, and 96 choosing to abstain or not vote. The playoff expansion, set to go into effect next season, expands the number of teams per class from 32 to … Read More
•December 31, 2025• by Sharon Barricklow The Sullivan City Council used the last meeting of 2025 to approve an electrical rate increase Commissioner Mike Kirk said had been a long time coming. “We knew this and said this was coming last spring,” Kirk said. “We tried to put it off through the air conditioning season but now it’s time.” … Read More
•December 31, 2025• The library will be closed on December 31st and January 1st in observance of the holidays. Story times will be every Wednesday- January 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th at 10:00 a.m. The bounce house will be available after the story and craft times. Every Monday at 9:00 a.m., the ETML hosts a Memory Cafe. This is a social gathering for individuals with dementia and their caregivers. The Memory Café is helpful by providing information and support from others who also have loved ones who struggle with memory loss. Homeschoolers: January 8th and 22nd. If you have a … Read More
Marion Lee Haile, 73, of Mattoon, formerly of Bethany, passed away at 11:10 a.m. Monday, December 22, 2025 in the Odd Fellow Rebekah Home, Mattoon. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday, December 26, 2025, in the Reed Funeral Home, Sullivan. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Saturday, December 27, 2025 in the Gholson Funeral in Dahlgren, Illinois. Celebration of Life services will be 2:00 p.m. Sunday, December 28, 2025, in the Gholson Funeral Home, Dahlgren, Illinois with Pastor Dustin Haile and Pastor Doug Fultz officiating. Visitation will be on Sunday from 1:00 p.m. until service time. Burial will be in the … Read More
•December 24, 2025• by E. Scott England The Sullivan Lady Redskins continued their dominance of the Lincoln Prairie conference last week. They hold the top spot with a record of 4-0 in conference play. The first game of the week was against the ALAH Lady Knights. The week wrapped up on the road against the Unity Christian Lady Lions. Home against ALAH ALAH came to Sullivan riding on the heels of their victory against Heritage. A smaller team with not a lot of depth on the bench, the Lady Knights struggled from the start against Sullivan and their widely rotated … Read More
•December 24, 2025• by DM Williamee In what can only be described as heartbreaking, a Lovington family was displaced last week, the week before Christmas, after their home was destroyed by a fire on the afternoon of December 15th. Local support efforts began immediately to assist them, with a call to action by the community of Lovington. A Facebook post shared that clothing items were the immediate need of the family. In addition, gifts were accepted for the family at the ‘Breakfast with Santa’ event, allowing the family to have a Christmas celebration. A “GoFundMe” page was set … Read More
To the Editor, The News Progress I read the recent article regarding water levels, drought conditions, and strain on Sullivan’s water supply. What was missing from that discussion was not data, but honesty. I live in Sullivan Township. I do not receive Sullivan city water. I pay my water bill to Moultrie County Rural Water, and the water delivered to my home comes from Lake Mattoon, a surface water source known for algae blooms and recurring boil advisories that township residents are not always clearly or promptly notified about. This matters because while township residents are being told there are … Read More
Log Jams and Sandbars •December 24, 2025• by Janet Roney The old man fishing from the Kaskaskia River bridge at Vandalia said, “It’ll be smooth sailing from here to the Mississippi, boys! There’s no more logjams for the rest of the river.” This was good news to my three older brothers (teenagers at the time) and my father in the summer of 1952. They had lost track of the number of logjams they had portaged around since leaving Findlay a few days before. Every portage meant unloading their fourteen-foot wooden outboard motor boat, Ida, dragging the boat, motor, and supplies … Read More
2015 Shawnee Communications (Shawnee) and MultiCorp, Inc., announced that Shawnee, a rural provider of telephone and high-speed internet and other telecommunications services in five southern Illinois counties, acquired MultiCorp, Inc., the holding company of Moultrie Independent Telephone Company (MITC) and MITC’s affiliated companies, including One-Eleven Internet Services and Moultrie Telecommunications. When inclement weather struck, the Sullivan School District delayed school opening by two hours. In an effort to accommodate parents with morning obligations, the district opened the Sullivan Elementary School Gym at 8:00 a.m. The Sullivan High School Gym was opened with supervision for middle and high school students who … Read More