(CHICAGO) The Illinois State Police were busy last Friday afternoon at shortly after 2:00, when a State Trooper conducted a commercial motor vehicle inspection on a semi-truck on I-80, up in Henry County. A subsequent search turned up 1,146 pounds of cocaine, with a street value of more than $40 million. The two drivers, from Ontario, Canada, were arrested and charged with three Class X Felonies for cocaine possession and trafficking.
(NORMAL) The Biden administration has announced that the U.S. Department of Energy will make a $6.6 billion loan to the Rivian Automotive Company to build an electric vehicle factory in Georgia. Rivian’s R1 EV’s are made in Normal and priced at $70,000 or more each. Rivian plans to produce a smaller electric SUV in Georgia with a lower price tag.
(SPRINGFIELD) Hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 54,661 deer during the first weekend of the Illinois firearm deer hunting season a week and a half ago. That’s more than a thousand deer more than in the previous years of 2023 and 2022. The highest harvest in downstate Illinois was 1406 in Jefferson County, then 1298 in Fayette, 1272 in Marion, 1118 in Clay, 1113 in Wayne, 851 in Jasper County, 788 in Crawford, 783 in Clark, 763 in Effingham, 575 in Cumberland, 533 in Richland County, 532 in White, 476 in Lawrence, 309 in Edwards, and 156 in Wabash. The final four days of the firearm season are this Thursday thru Sunday.
(SPRINGFIELD) The Illinois Department of Agriculture will be hosting the Illinois Product Holiday Market in downtown Springfield this weekend, set for Friday, Saturday, & Sunday. Located just north of the Governor’s Mansion, the Market will offer a variety of activities at no cost, designed with families in mind, including visits with Santa each day & much more. For more information and details about the special event, go to the agr.illinois.gov website.