Battery plant chooses Indiana
Illinois is losing out on another EV battery plant. General Motors has announced they have chosen an area west of South Bend, Indiana, for the site of a $3.5 billion EV battery complex.
GM will team with Samsung to make battery cells for all-electric vehicles on 650 acres of agricultural land near New Carlisle. Samsung already is involved in another EV battery plant with Stellantis in Kokomo, Indiana. The “Reinventing Electric Vehicles Act” or REV, was based on attracting EV-related plants to Illinois.
Olympian dies
An Illinois native who competed in the Beijing Olympic games has died.
Ski jumper Patrick Gasienica was killed in a motorcycle accident in the village of Bull Valley. He was 24.
Gasienica finished 49th and 53rd in individual events in Beijing. He was born in Oak Park and trained as a ski jumper at the Norge Ski Club northwest of Chicago.
Store closing in Chicago
Shoppers will soon see another vacant storefront on the Magnificent Mile. The AT&T Store located on Michigan Avenue will permanently close its doors Aug. 1.
The news comes three months after a Verizon Store announced it would shutter. Employees at the store will be offered jobs at other locations in the city. Despite the recent closures, Michigan Avenue remains about 75% occupied.