Fourth fatality from derailed Amtrak
A fourth person has died following the derailment of a Chicago-bound Amtrak train. The train traveling from Los Angeles struck a dump truck Monday in a remote area of Missouri, sending seven cars off the tracks to land on their sides.
The driver of the truck was killed. There was no working crossing at the intersection.
CN to spend on rail improvements
A Canadian railroad with several lines in Illinois says it will spend tens of millions of dollars on improvements in the state.
The Canadian National Railway Company said it plans to spend $150 million to improve rail lines and crossing services as well as bridges and signals. CN has three main lines in the state, including the old Illinois Central that runs south from Chicago to Champaign and Carbondale.
Bailey gets 57% of vote in six-way race
It was no surprise that the candidate leading in the polls won the Republican nomination for Illinois governor, but the fact that it was no contest caught many off guard.
State Sen. Darren Bailey routed his competition in the primary. With 98% of precincts reporting, Bailey garnered over 57% of the vote. The closest candidate was venture capitalist Jess Sullivan with 15.7%. Richard Irvin, who was leading the race in early polling, came in third.
Contested congressional seat outcomes
Congresswoman Mary Miller, who recently picked up the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, has won the GOP nomination for the newly created 15th Congressional District over Congressman Rodney Davis.
In the 6th Congressional District, Democrat Sean Casten easily held off Marie Newman. Incumbent Darin LaHood was an easy winner in the GOP primary for the 16th congressional district.
Salvi gets GOP’s U.S. Senate nod
Mundelein attorney Kathy Salvi is the top vote getter in the crowded GOP race to face Illinois incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth in November.
Peggy Hubbard, a retired law enforcement officer from Belleville, was a distant second. Salvi has quite a fundraising hill to climb ahead of the Nov. 8 election. According to Federal Election Commission reports from earlier this month, Salvi had nearly $74,000 in her campaign coffers compared to the more than $7.6 million for Duckworth.
DeVore secures GOP’s attorney general nod
It appears the lawyer who took on Gov. J.B. Pritzker for his COVID-19 mandates during the pandemic and won is one step closer to being the attorney general of Illinois.
Thomas DeVore comfortably led Steve Kim for much of the night. The winner goes up against Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in the November election. Raoul, the son of Haitian immigrants, was sworn in as the 42nd attorney general of Illinois in 2019.