State Senator Dave Koehler joined representatives from the governor's office, Fulton County and the Spoon River Partnership for Economic Development to announce that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is opening nearly 4,400 acres for new hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities.

The land is part of 14,000 acres that the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago purchased in 1970 to dispose of safe, non-toxic debris by restoring strip-mined land. Today, the site is home to a healthy herd of deer, wild turkey, quail, waterfowl and more.

Once seen as a woman’s issue, breast cancer is a national health issue that affects men, women and increasingly younger adults. Illinoisans should be aware of traditional diagnostic issues and prevention methods in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

There are several types of breast cancer, a malignant tumor that starts in the cells of a breast. The disease occurs mostly in women, but men are susceptible to the hereditary disease as well.

Kankakee County has just received good news for future employment in the form of a second facility expansion to a resident biotherapy company’s Bourbonnais Township campus. The second development plan follows a recently completed 140,000-square-foot expansion. Bourbannais Township’s 64-acre campus will be undergoing another $240-million, 300,000-square-foot expansion that will be ready for production in 2017.

“The recent investment in private infrastructure in Kankakee County illustrates the confidence the corporate world has in the Southland,” State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D – Chicago Heights) said.

CHICAGO — State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago 16) stood with Governor Pat Quinn and other high-ranking officials on Saturday to announce the building of a new South Side Metra stop on the Rock Island Line. This project is the culmination of a 5-year effort in which Senator Collins lobbied, fought and advocated for the $21.5 million in state capital funds.

“The people of Auburn Gresham and adjoining communities deserve this opportunity; the opportunity for job creation, community engagement and economic development,“ said Collins.