The state of Illinois has four new laws that Gov. Pat Quinn says will help crack down on substance abuse.

Quinn signed the following measures into law today:

Gov. Jay Nixon says legislation changing the date of Missouri's 2012 presidential primary will be on the agenda for a planned special session in September.

Nixon announced this week he plans to order the House and Senate back to Jefferson City to overhaul the state's business incentives.

Lovers of St. Louis Public Radio and classical music may have learned something new on Cityscape today from St. Louis fiddler Justin Branum and guitarist Gary Hunt: the difference between a violin and a fiddle?  "You don't spill beer on a violin," they explained.

Illinois' board of education says a former top federal prosecutor will head a probe it has launched into spending by East St. Louis' cash-strapped public school system.

Friday's announcement of the probe comes as the 7,500-student district is under state control and beset by questions about its paying millions on consultants and conventions.

The state board says the probe will be headed by A. Courtney Cox, southern Illinois' former U.S. attorney. His firm will be paid up to $100,000 a year to do the investigation, at the district's expense.

A St. Louis-area investment handler has been ordered to spend eight years in federal prison and repay more than $4.3 million to often-elderly clients he bilked.

Federal prosecutors say 32-year-old Joshua Gould, who was sentenced Friday in St. Louis, spent the money on such things as jewelry and strip clubs in neighboring Illinois.

Gould and 47-year-old David Rubin pleaded guilty in April to federal wire-fraud counts alleging they embezzled about $1.5 million from a retired couple.

Updated 11:52 a.m.

The endangered American burying beetle could be making its way to a southwestern Missouri prairie.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to work with the St. Louis Zoo to reintroduce the colorful beetle to Wah-Kon-Tah Prairie in St. Clair and Cedar counties.

The Zoo has a population of the beetles. Zoo officials say they have not been seen in Missouri in more than two decades.

(You might remember this earlier feature from our own Véronique LaCapra on the about some dedicated supporters in St. Louis joining a nationwide effort to save the insect).

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says a Metro East port project is getting more money.

Durbin announced the $8.5 million from the Department of Transportation. The money is to help build a transportation hub that Durbin says can help reduce congestion on the Mississippi River.

Durbin's office says the project got $6 million last year. The project includes a harbor, rail lines and a rail and truck facility in Madison County, Ill.

The Illinois Democrat says the facility can help the Metro East's economic competitiveness.

Springfield, Mo. federal prison officials forcibly medicate Loughner

Lawyers for the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage say prison officials in Springfield, Mo. have resumed forcibly medicating their client with a psychotropic drug.

The economic development deal struck by lawmakers will cut one of Missouri’s most popular tax credits nearly in half.

The deal between House and Senate leaders would cut the amount of Historic Preservation tax credits issued each year from $140 million down to $80 million.

Ruth Keenoy with the non-profit Landmark Associates of St. Louis, Inc., says the smaller cap would be detrimental to Missouri’s economy.  She wants the incentives to be left as-is.

St. Louis city leaders say that returning control of the city's police department should be a priority during any upcoming special session of the General Assembly.

Speaking Wednesday, leaders of the Republican controlled state House and Senate said they didn't see any problem with passing the measure.

But not everyone is on board with that plan.  

St. Louis County Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal has been a vocal critic of local control in the past and says it should not be part of any special session.