Illinois

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Dems May Lose Obama's Old Senate Seat
 Dems May 
 Lose Obama's 
 Old Senate Seat 

LYNN SWEET
Nov 16, 2009 10:00 AM CST

Dems May Lose Obama's Old Senate Seat

Illinois field isn't scaring GOP frontrunner Mark Kirk

(Newser) - The Democratic field for President Obama’s old Illinois Senate seat is anemic enough to make a GOP win a real possibility, Lynn Sweet writes. The candidates—only one of whom has run for office, ever—haven’t phased the Republican frontrunner, Rep. Mark Kirk. The statewide Dem establishment seems...

Ill. Dems Rally Around Plan to Take Gitmo Prisoners

Quinn, Durbin say detainees at empty prison would create 3,000 jobs

(Newser) - Illinois' governor and senior senator spent yesterday feverishly trying to regain momentum on their plan to use a nearly empty maximum-security prison 150 miles from Chicago to house Gitmo detainees. With federal officials visiting Thomson Correctional Center today, local GOP lawmakers had gone on the offense Saturday, calling it a...

Prison in Illinois May Replace Gitmo

Thompson site is top contender, but local congressmen are opposed

(Newser) - The leading contender to take Guantanamo Bay's prisoners when it shuts down is a federal prison in Illinois, sources tell the Chicago Tribune . The near-empty facility in the small town of Thompson, about 150 miles west of Chicago, would take an unspecified but "limited" number of Gitmo's remaining 215...

9 Other States Have Calif.-Sized Fiscal Messes

Ariz., Fla., Ill., Mich., and NJ among others facing crises

(Newser) - California has by no means cornered the market on enormous financial problems at the state level, with a report out today saying Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin are also at tremendous risk. The Pew Center sees widespread unemployment, huge budget deficits, and the...

Student Journos in Court Over Murder Investigation

Northwestern's acclaimed Innocence Project under fire

(Newser) - A group of Illinois journalism students found themselves in court yesterday, accused of flirting with and paying off sources during a 2003-2006 investigation for the Medill Innocence Project. The Northwestern students claim to have uncovered evidence exonerating Anthony McKinney, convicted in 1982 of murdering a security guard. Both sides went...

Town Fights Public Boozing With Warm Beer
 Town Fights 
 Public Boozing 
 With Warm Beer 
bottoms up
Oct 23, 2009 11:10 AM CDT

Town Fights Public Boozing With Warm Beer

Hope is drinkers won't crack a can on the street if it's not frosty

(Newser) - Arlington Heights, Ill., is tackling its public drinking problem with a novel weapon: beer. Warm beer. Starting in January, stores won't sell single-serving bottles or cans of beer cold. You can still buy that tallboy, but the town is betting problem drinkers will be less likely to crack open...

Cabbies Ask for Vomit Penalty
 Cabbies Ask for Vomit Penalty 
Sep 24, 2009 3:36 PM CDT

Cabbies Ask for Vomit Penalty

Chicago drivers want messy drunks to pay $50

(Newser) - Chicago cab drivers want drunk passengers who vomit in their cars to pay a $50 fine. Drivers today asked the city for the penalty along with an overall rate increase of 22%. Chicago cabbies are among the lowest paid in the country, with wages averaging $4.38 an hour over...

Chicago Day-Care Home Used for Dogfights

Cops make arrests after raids in Maywood, Ill

(Newser) - Chicago police raided an Illinois day-care center that apparently doubled as a brutal dogfighting operation. Ten children were being watched at the private home at the time of the raid. A swing set used by the kids was only 10 feet from a bloody garage where a “vicious” pit...

Blago Memoir: 'I Didn't Do Anything Wrong'

And he might move to New York, where no one has told him to 'F off' yet

(Newser) - When it comes to political memoirs, Rod Blagojevich’s The Governor: Finally, the Truth Behind the Political Scandal That Continues to Rock the Nation “is surely unsurpassed” in the areas of “febrile self-defensiveness and look-over-there deflections and deceptions,” writes David Remnick for the New Yorker. “No...

Ferris Bueller House Could Be Torn Down

It's on list of endangered landmarks

(Newser) - The suburban Chicago house where Cameron killed his dad's Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off is on a list of endangered Illinois landmarks, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Highland Park home is on the market for $2.3 million and is at risk of being torn down. The preservation group...

Drudge's Play of Bus Beating Draws Critics

(Newser) - A fight on a school bus in Illinois is generating lots of attention across the country. A videotape of the incident shows black teens beating a white classmate while some onlookers cheer, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Police are investigating but have backed off an initial statement that the attack...

Ex-Blago Aide Dead From 'Overdose'
Ex-Blago Aide Dead From 'Overdose'
Sep 12, 2009 7:10 PM CDT

Ex-Blago Aide Dead From 'Overdose'

Christopher Kelly says he spurned feds in Blagojevich case

(Newser) - An important figure in the federal corruption case against Rod Blagojevich died today, the Chicago Tribune reports. Christopher Kelly, a former fundraiser and confidante to Blagojevich, died from salicylate intoxication, a county medical examiner's office said. Salicylates are found in pain relief and anti-inflammatory medications. One law enforcement source called...

Talk Show Host Grills Blago
 Talk Show Host Grills Blago 
Sep 11, 2009 4:20 PM CDT

Talk Show Host Grills Blago

Bonnie Hunt tells former governor to take responsibility

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich got unexpectedly tough treatment from Bonnie Hunt on her talk show today, the Chicago Tribune reports. In what was probably supposed to be a routine stop on the former governor’s book tour, Hunt, an Illinois native, instead pressed Blago on why he doesn’t take responsibility for...

Prez May Skip Trip to Pitch Chicago Olympics

IOC chief says there's no clear favorite ahead of next month's vote on 2016

(Newser) - President Obama is keeping the team behind Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics guessing on whether he'll head to Copenhagen to personally address the International Olympic Committee before members make their choice next month, the Chicago Tribune reports. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says he isn't aware of any...

Missing Ill. Boy Found Hidden Behind Wall at Grandma's

Mother charged in connection with 6-year-old's disappearance

(Newser) - Authorities in Illinois have found a boy who’d been missing for nearly 2 years hidden behind a wall in his grandmother’s house, and arrested his mother and grandmother in connection with his disappearance, the Chicago Tribune reports. “It was a good day today,” one official said,...

Chicagoans Cool Off on Olympic Bid

Financial concerns drive lukewarm public support

(Newser) - Local support for Chicago's bid to play host to the 2016 Olympics has fallen sharply, with public opinion evenly split, the Chicago Tribune reports. Just 47% of Chicagoans in a new poll support the mayor’s initiative—a 14-point slide—while 45% oppose it. The main issue is expense: 84%...

Blago Book: Senate Deal 'Routine' Politics

Former Illinois gov admits only 'routine' backroom dealing

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich’s memoir makes the case for his innocence with a lot of help from Shakespeare, the Chicago Tribune reports. While blaming his woes specifically on five enemies, he likens his plight to that of Othello and Lear. “You might as well throw in a little Richard the...

Judge Jails Yawning Man for 6 Months

(Newser) - Make sure you've had a good night's sleep before going to court in Illinois. Clifton Williams, 33, went to support his cousin during a hearing on a felony drugs charge, but during the sentencing he stretched his arms and let out a loud, distracting yawn. His cousin got just two...

Blago Bereft? Hit GovernorRod.com

Former guv launches his site, finally

(Newser) - Looking to book Rod Blagojevich for a speaking gig, but just weren’t sure how to get a hold of him? Now you can reach him with the click of a mouse, thanks to his new website, which the ousted governor named—of course—GovernorRod.com, the Chicago Sun-Times reports....

Babies' Graves Vanish From Ill. Cemetery

(Newser) - Police declared the whole of Burr Oak cemetery in the Chicago suburbs to be a crime scene last night, after hundreds of families reported empty or missing graves, including an entire section of the cemetery called Babyland, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Relatives will be barred from the site for about...

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