Tagged: illinois

The director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is retiring from full-time employment with the state. 65 year-old David Vaught retired Wednesday. His retirement came after an Illinois Inspector General’s Office report that found abuses of hiring laws at DCEO. It also criticized the DCEO for failing to adequately review appointees’ qualifications.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says deer hunters in the state have killed more than 5,000 deer than they did last year. Just in last week’s firearm season opening weekend hunters killed more than 72,000 deer.

A worker has died after being trapped in machinery Saturday at a Saline County, Ill., mine. The incident happened at Willow Lake Mine.  The operation, which employs about 460 people, is run by a subsidiary of Peabody Energy Corporation. Peabody Spokesperson Meg Gallagher says 30-year-old Chad Meyers of Goreville died after being pinned by a continuous mining machine he was operating.

Illinois' home foreclosure rate rose 6 percent in October compared to the previous month, and was 19 percent higher than in October of last year. A RealtyTrac report released Thursday shows Illinois with almost 15 thousand foreclosure filings last month, the third-highest rate in the nation. Filings include default notices, auction-sale notices and bank repossessions. Nationally, October's foreclosure activity rose 3 percent from the previous month but fell 19 percent from October of 2011.

The Illinois firearm deer season begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday.  It will conclude November 29th through December 2nd. Hunters harvested more than 98,000 deer during 2011's seven-day hunt. So far this year, about 334,000 permits have been issued.