Tagged: heroin

Quinn to announce plan to address Illinois' drought

Gov. Pat Quinn plans  a visit to a southern Illinois farm today. The Illinois Farm Bureau says that so far, it's the sixth driest year on record. The average precipitation of the first half of the year was 12.6 inches. Much of Illinois' corn and soybean crop is suffering. Farm officials say southern Illinois is experiencing the worst of it.  Quinn is expected to detail whatever government relief may be available to drought-affected growers and ranchers.

St. Louis County officials believe a strong public awareness campaign about the dangers of heroin use are having an impact.

The county has reported 14 deaths from heroin through April 10, down from 32 over the same period last year - a drop of more than 50 percent.

A bill designed to crack down on the theft of scrap metal in St. Louis city finally cleared its first legislative hurdle on Tuesday.

The legislation's been languishing in the city's Public Safety committee since June as Ald. Donna Baringer and scrap metal companies in the city worked out a dispute over payment methods.