Illinois quick hits: MLK statue replaced; invasive carp project approved

Police chase leads to crash

A police chase beginning in Missouri crossed into Illinois before ending in a serious crash.

City of Jennings police attempted to stop a speeding Mercedes SUV in St. Louis County Monday. Police claim the driver refused to stop and crossed over the Illinois border.

The chase ended in Pontoon Beach when the driver of the SUV lost control and crashed into a concrete median. The driver was ejected from the vehicle. He was taken to the hospital with what authorities described as life-threatening injuries.

MLK statue replacedAfter nearly two years, a statue honoring a civil rights icon is available for the public to view again in Springfield.The Illinois Secretary of State’s office has confirmed the Martin Luther King Jr. statue will stand again on its pedestal near the Capitol. The statue was knocked over in September 2022, leading to criminal charges against a 24-year-old man. The statue has been in storage since that incident.Invasive carp project approvedIllinois has signed a long-anticipated project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state of Michigan allowing construction of the $1.1 billion Brandon Road Interbasin Project on the Illinois River near Joliet.When completed, the project is designed to prevent the potential devastation of the Great Lakes ecosystem by invasive carp accessing the Great Lakes from the Illinois River.The location has been identified as the critical pinch point where layered technologies could be used to stop invasive carp populations from moving into the Great Lakes.