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State Week: Illinois celebrates $2 billion EV battery plant; Madigan to leave his last final elected office

State Week logo (capitol dome)
Brian Mackey
/
NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS

On Friday, it was announced a large EV battery manufacturing plant will open in Illinois. A Chinese company, Gotion, plans to build a facility in Manteno, employing approximately 2,600 people. It's the latest accomplishment in Illinois' efforts to attract and promote the industry.

Also, Michael Madigan left the Illinois House Speaker role in 2021, but he held on to another job. Madigan has been the 13th Ward Democratic Committeeman since 1969. There was news this week that he won't run again.

And the man who replaced Madigan as Speaker of the House, Chris Welch, is being criticized for failed to meet with some of his staff pushing for unionization. This comes on the heels of passage of the Worker's Rights Amendment, which Welch supported.

Our panel features host Sean Crawford, Professor Emeritus Charlie Wheeler and the Chicago Tribune reporter Jeremy Gorner.

The former director of the Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) graduate program is Professor Charles N. Wheeler III, a veteran newsman who came to the University of Illinois at Springfield following a 24-year career at the Chicago Sun-Times.