Sean Crawford talks with State Journal-Register Business Editor Tim Landis.
* Two state fairs: How did Illinois wound up with one in Springfield and another in Du Quoin; To make a long story short, former Gov. Jim Thompson rode in to bail out the Du Quoin fair in 1985; Illinois purchased the fair and farmland for $3.35 million.
* Gander Outdoors: Now the company says they plan to build a new Gander Outdoors rather than run the existing Gander Mountain in Prairie Crossings, though haven't said when or where.
* Horace Mann: The $32.4 million in catastrophic weather losses from April-June an indication of what has been a very costly year for the industry at large; the most expensive since 1994 mainly because of unusual number of early season tornadoes, hail and high winds.
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