CRIMINAL LAW
FBI agents make arrests of alleged large-scale methamphetamine distribution network
Following a two-week sting operation led by the FBI, eight Illinoisans are facing federal charges for running a drug ring.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois said the arrests and charges are the result of a regional anti-crime task force comprised of local, state, and federal authorities.
The group was tasked with dismantling violent criminal networks in the region.
The arrests are the result of an investigation that began in late May and went through early June.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois praised the actions of law enforcement and stated that they represented an intensified effort to fight against organized drug crime in Illinois. Prosecutors said the investigation is still ongoing and more arrests could be coming.
JOBS
Stellantis takes steps to recall laid-off workers at Belvidere assembly plant
The announcement marks further progress in the fight to reopen the shuttered motor vehicle assembly plant.
The letter from Stellantis constitutes a pledge from the employer to local workers that the company will recall laid-off workers when the assembly plant reopens. When Belvidere Stellantis shut down, the workers who were laid off were given a chance to register their seniority and to state whether they would like to be called back. This registration list will be used when the plant reopens.
The reopened Belvidere plant will, it is hoped, provide jobs for 1,500 people in northern Illinois. With Ford Chicago, the Belvidere complex is one of two automotive assembly lines built by the traditional “Big Three” automakers in Illinois. The Stellantis letter was made public on Tuesday, July 8.
Wood River approves plan to build a $62 million film studio & entertainment complex
The former EnviroTech Business Park in the Metro East’s Wood River, a 105-acre site, could become a film studio and e-gaming arena. Developer WR Farm Investments LLC has won approval to purchase the Wood River business park for the construction of sound stages for film production. In a presentation to Wood River officials, the CEO of the development group explicitly credited an enhanced film production tax credit for helping to spur the proposal. As enacted in 2024 by the Illinois General Assembly, the enhanced film tax credit includes added incentives for work done on new Illinois stages and for work done in Downstate Illinois.