Illinois

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'Senator Oprah' Sounded Good to Blago

Then-gov considered media titan to succeed Obama as senator

(Newser) - As Rod Blagojevich considered possible successors to Barack Obama as US senator from Illinois, he came up with one name "no one can assail": Oprah Winfrey. As the former governor's corruption trial dragged on today in Chicago, prosecutors played a tape from December 2008—after Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett...

Blago's Lawyer: 'The Guy Ain't Corrupt!&quot; He's a Dupe!
Blago's Lawyer: 'The Guy Ain't Corrupt!' He's a Dupe!
trial opener
Jun 9, 2010 8:24 AM CDT

Blago's Lawyer: 'The Guy Ain't Corrupt!' He's a Dupe!

He was taken in by 'the Bernie Madoff of Chicago,' Tony Rezko

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich is an honest man who "didn't take a dime" of illegal money and simply trusted the wrong people to handle his fundraising, the former Illinois governor's attorney said yesterday in a theatrical opening statement at Blago's corruption trial. "The guy ain't corrupt," said attorney Sam...

Judge Bars Blagojevich From Tweeting in Court

But he can still talk to the press

(Newser) - Geez, now Rod Blagojevich is going to have sit still during his corruption trial. The judge today blocked his perfectly rational plan to issue live tweets from the courtroom, reports the Chicago Tribune . Judge Zagel didn't bar Blagojevich from making his many public statements before and after the proceedings, though...

Cops May Have Found Stacy Peterson

TMZ says Drew spilled the beans to a fellow inmate

(Newser) - In what might be the mother of all jailhouse confessions, TMZ is reporting that Drew Peterson blabbed to a fellow inmate how he killed missing wife Stacy Peterson, and who his accomplice was. The inmate allegedly told cops, who tracked down the accomplice, who took them to private hunting grounds...

Obama Speech Rained Out
 Obama Speech 
 Rained Out 
memorial day
May 31, 2010 2:55 PM CDT

Obama Speech Rained Out

With president in Illinois, Biden lays wreath at Arlington

(Newser) - Driving rain and an electrical storm forced President Obama to cancel his Memorial Day speech today at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Illinois. "A little bit of rain doesn't hurt anybody but we don't want anybody struck by lightning," he told the crowd, which was gathered in an...

Senate Candidate Lied About Navy Award

Rep. Mark Kirk fixes his official bio

(Newser) - These are dangerous times for politicians with war records on their resumes. Republican congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois—a Senate candidate for President Obama's old seat—has admitted that his official bio was wrong in declaring that the Navy once gave him the prestigious Intelligence Officer of the Year Award....

Palin to Girls Team: 'Go Rogue,' Snub Ariz. Boycott

'Them're fighting words,' Palin says of canceled trip

(Newser) - The girls of a suburban Chicago high school basketball team should "go rogue" to get around their school's boycott of Arizona, Sarah Palin urges. "Keeping the girls basketball team off the court for political reasons? Them are fighting words," she told a crowd of 4,000 at...

Chicago-Area Rail Chief Takes Own Life

Beleaguered Philip Pagano steps in front of commuter train

(Newser) - The head of the Chicago area's commuter rail system, who had been placed on leave last week as Metra investigated allegations that he paid himself a $56,000 bonus without authorization, committted suicide this morning—by walking in front of a train from the system he headed. Philip Pagano, 60,...

Alleged Jewel Thief Leaves Trail—in Snow

Police had no trouble following suspect to relative's house

(Newser) - Police in Illinois used a cutting-edge technique to apprehend a suspected jewel thief: They followed his footprints in the snow. When a Des Plaines woman came home Tuesday night to find a man rifling through her jewelry, the culprit fled out her back door, reports the Chicago Tribune . Police arrived...

Illinois' Political Culture Is Even Worse Than NY's

But scandals in both states makes it a close race, notes Gail Collins

(Newser) - Illinois and New York both have such awful political cultures that it's tough to decide which state is the biggest loser, writes Gail Collins. Both states have governors who were forced out by scandals and whose successors are mired in controversy, although at least Eliot Spitzer isn't going to be...

Scandals Force Out Illinois Lt. Gov. Candidate

Chicago pawnbroker was abusive steroid addict, deadbeat dad

(Newser) - Scott Lee Cohen, the Chicago pawnbroker whose surprise primary victory in the Illinois lieutenant governor race was quickly followed by an avalanche of scandalous revelations, has quit the race. Leading Illinois Democrats urged Cohen to drop out after the public learned he'd met a prostitute at a massage therapy spa,...

Illinois Primary Could Muffle Tea Party Buzz

Moderate favored over 2 conservatives in today's Senate vote

(Newser) - If polls prove accurate, moderate Mark Kirk will emerge victorious from today’s Republican Senate primary in Illinois, beating out two more conservative candidates with tea party backing. His victory would put a dent in the tea party panic gripping the GOP, says Talking Points Memo . Republicans in states including...

Anger Fuels Illinois Primary

Former Democratic frontrunners gird for Mass.-style rebuke

(Newser) - Tomorrow Illinois holds the nation’s first primary for this year’s elections, and some are predicting the populist rage recently displayed in Massachusetts will be on display. “It’s a very angry electorate, a very volatile electorate,” a union official tells Politico . Even within the Democratic primary,...

Cat Saves Family, Goes Missing

Illinois tabby alerted owners, dog to fire in their home

(Newser) - A cat who alerted her sleeping family to a fire spreading through their house, allowing them to escape unharmed, has disappeared from their suburban Chicago home. Baby roused Josh Ornberg and girlfriend Letitia Kovalovsky, who are expecting twins, and their dog early this morning. Because the 13-year-old tabby usually "...

Blagojevich Sorry for 'Blacker Than Obama' Remark

Ex-gov says comment was 'stupid, stupid, stupid'

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich took back his claim that he is "blacker than Barack Obama," explaining that he was speaking metaphorically. "What I said was stupid, stupid, stupid," the ex-governor said in Illinois today. But he took advantage of the publicity his off-the-wall comment garnered to register his...

Crazy Carp Spark Great Lakes Brouhaha

Mich. sues Ill. in latest move to block voracious fish

(Newser) - Michigan sued neighboring Illinois last week, a most un-neighborly move aimed at blocking the invasive Asian carp from the Great Lakes—and re-reversing the flow of the Chicago River. The case is likely to end up in the Supreme Court, notes the Washington Post , and resurrects another from 1922 over...

South the Big Winner in New Census
South the Big Winner in
New Census
Dec 24, 2009 12:33 PM CST

South the Big Winner in New Census

Northeast, Midwest would lose seats if today's census was used

(Newser) - The South is gaining population and power at the expense of the Northeast and Midwest, according to Census Bureau estimates released yesterday. If House seats were distributed based on the estimates, which are believed to be a strong predictor of the 2010 census results, Texas would be the big winner,...

Blagojevich Defense Wants Obama to Testify

Lawyers seek investigators' interviews with Obama, Emanuel

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich's lawyers may attempt to get President Obama to testify in the former Illinois governor's corruption trial. The Blagojevich defense team has sought access to federal investigators' interviews with Obama and Rahm Emanuel conducted last year in order to determine whether to call the president or his chief of...

Illinois Prison Will Take Gitmo Inmates

 Illinois Prison Will 
 Take Gitmo Inmates 
UPDATED
Dec 15, 2009 6:43 AM CST

Illinois Prison Will Take Gitmo Inmates

Prison nearly empty, unemployment brutal in rural Thomson

(Newser) - A nearly vacant prison in a western Illinois town where unemployment is over 10% will be the new home of as many as 100 current Guantanamo Bay detainees. An announcement of the president's decision to acquire the 8-year-old jail is expected today, the Chicago Tribune reports. Gov. Pat Quinn and...

$3M Ill. Fish Kill Yields 1 Carp

Scientists pleased with effort to combat invasive species

(Newser) - The 3-day, $3 million attempt to purge a canal leading to Lake Michigan of invasive Asian carp has so far yielded just a single dead specimen. Biologists are still sifting through the tens of thousands of other fish poisoned in the purge, the largest deliberate fish kill in Illinois history....

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