I Like Illinois

Visitor center to be built by Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

Details: Friday, January 10, 2020 10:05 AM

The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust has announced new plans for a visitor and education center to be built at the architect’s former home and studio. The home, located in Oak Park, has been open as a public museum since 1974.

An estimated 90,000 visitors come to see the property each year. When the property next to the home went up for sale, the trust saw an opportunity and decided to make the purchase.

“It has for a long time been apparent that having a visitor’s center would be an important next step,” said Celeste Adams, the president and chief executive of the trust.

Eat more soy beans!

Details: Thursday, January 09, 2020 11:22 AM

Soy Beans The meat alternative trend has been on a steady increase, and it has the potential to substantially cut carbon emissions. Gaining momentum and popularity, meat alternatives, like the Impossible Burger, could shape a meatless future. A future where the human diet consists of less meat is potentially vital to the overall health and conservation of the environment.

According to the Sierra Club, 27.0 kilograms of CO₂ are emitted for every one kilogram of beef consumed. Also, Beef cattle are responsible for a quarter of the emissions from American agriculture. The UN released a statement last August noting if humans universally ate less meat, worldwide emissions could potentially decrease as much as eight gigatons annually. Soy beans, one of the main ingredients of meatless meats, may be one of many answers to combat meat-related CO₂ emissions.

Illinois Rated #1 for Protecting Animals

Details: Thursday, January 09, 2020 10:03 AM

For 11 consecutive years, Illinois has been ranked the best in the nation for its animal protection laws by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. The Animal Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1979 by a group of attorneys and is renowned for its defense of various species through the legal system, prosecuting innovative cases to end animal cruelty and broadening animal rights.

In the organization’s most recent rankings report, they rated Illinois as “top tier,” commending our state for its adequate term definitions and exceptional standards for basic care.
The U.S. Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report is considered the most dependable and longest running report of its kind. The fund assesses over 3,400 pages of statutes and ranks the states based on 19 different categories of animal protection.

What brought Illinois to number one? Policies such as:

Rivian Electric Motors secures $1.3 billion for a new plant in Normal, Illinois

Details: Tuesday, January 07, 2020 11:44 AM

Truck image Rivian, a new electric truck manufacturer and competitor to Tesla, is gaining support from investors at both Ford and Amazon opening a factory in Normal. Rivian brought in almost $3 billion from investors in 2019 and looks to use that money in Illinois to start rolling off the line by the end of 2020.