Illinois Jeep plant idling Tuesday will cost 1,200 jobs. Some fear an auto town will become a ghost town

BELVIDERE, Illinois — When the whistle blows at the Belvidere Assembly Plant on Tuesday, it may signal the end of an era. For nearly six decades, the massive auto plant has been the economic engine of the small river city near Rockford, churning out everything from the Plymouth Fury and the Chrysler New Yorker to the Dodge Dart. But after several years of downsizing and dwindling demand for its current product, the Jeep Cherokee, Stellantis is idling the plant “indefinitely,” laying off the last 1,200 workers and perhaps closing it for good. “Everyone’s on edge,” said Kevin Logan, president of...