Illinois

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Blago Pleads Not Guilty in Criminal Case

Brother also pleads not guilty to corruption charges

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich and his brother pleaded not guilty to corruption charges today in a 10-minute US district court hearing, the Chicago Tribune reports. The former Illinois governor’s lawyer spoke for him as he faced several questions from the judge, including one on his education. “Mr Rod Blagojevich would...

Jackson Jr. Says He's Clean of Blago's Dirt

Congressman cooperating with House ethics probe

(Newser) - Jesse Jackson Jr. said today he is fully cooperating with a probe by a House ethics panel into his relationship with Rod Blagojevich, the Hill reports. "As I said when the Blagojevich scandal first broke back in December, I have done nothing wrong and reject pay-to-play politics," the...

Democratic Reformer Wins Emanuel's House Seat

Quigley cruises to victory in Illinois' 5th district

(Newser) - Mike Quigley has cruised to victory in the special election for Rahm Emanuel's old seat in Congress, the Chicago Tribune reports. The reform-minded Democrat had 70% of the vote in Illinois' 5th congressional district, a heavily Democratic area on Chicago's north side, with 94% of precincts reporting. Quigley plans to...

Blago, Top Aides Indicted; 'I'm Innocent,' He Says

(Newser) - A federal grand jury today indicted Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges, the Chicago Tribune reports. Indicted along with the impeached Illinois governor were his brother, two former chiefs of staff, and two businessmen. Blagojevich, accused among other things of trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat, issued a statement saying...

Feds Set to Indict Blago —and He's at Disney World

Former governor on vacation in Florida

(Newser) - A federal grand-jury indictment against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich could come today, but if it is, he’ll have to wait to see it. That’s because Blago took his family to Disney World, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. A coincidence? Probably not. But there’s no reason he needs...

Blago Singled Out Senate Contenders for Cash

List shows he targeted 4 would-be senators

(Newser) - In his race to build a $2.3 million campaign war chest last year, Rod Blagojevich listed four possible candidates for President Obama's vacated Senate seat as prospective donors, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. A list of 150 names in all shows that Rep. Luis Gutierrez, billionaire J.B. Pritzker, and...

Blago 'A Natural' in Radio Gig
 Blago 'A Natural' 
 in Radio Gig
ANALYSIS
Mar 25, 2009 10:35 AM CDT

Blago 'A Natural' in Radio Gig

Ex-gov bashes his trial, his successor; jokes about hair and lack of progress on book

(Newser) - Morning drive-time radio could be the future for Rod Blagojevich, if the impeached Illinois’ governor’s fill-in stint today on Chicago’s WLS-AM is anything to go by, Jimmy Orr writes in live-blogging the show for the Christian Science Monitor. Amid Elvis theme music and complaints about his successor’s...

Blago Gave Illinois Transit Bosses Last-Minute Raises

(Newser) - Even as Illinois budget deficit soared, a dozen Department of Transportation officials got raises in the waning days of Rod Blagojevich’s administration, the AP reports. The raises, which averaged about $6,000 a year, came on top of standard cost-of-living increases, and without any change in the officials’ titles....

Blago's New Gig: Talk Radio

Disgraced governor to host local Chicago broadcast

(Newser) - Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has a new temp job—as a radio talk show host. WLS-AM program director Bob Shomper says Blagojevich will be on the air on the Chicago station tomorrow morning, taking calls from listeners, telling stories, and talking with guests. Shomper says it's a one-time deal...

Lawmakers Sour on Governors Filling Senate Vacancies

Post-Blago, some push special elections

(Newser) - Soured by the taint of the Rod Blagojevich scandal on a US Senate seat, members of congressional judiciary subcommittees considered a Constitutional amendment that would fill interim vacancies in the body by election, rather than by gubernatorial appointment, the Washington Post reports. The selection by governors is “not only...

Church Shooter Marked 'Death Day' in Planner

Authorities baffled on motive; Lyme 'doesn't cause' shooting: expert

(Newser) - The man charged with killing an Illinois pastor during a Sunday service appears to have planned the attack, having marked the date “Death Day” in his planner, the AP reports. But authorities are still stymied over a motive behind the attack. Terry Sedlacek was a quiet kid working in...

Blago Fails to Boot Federal Prosecutor

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich has failed to get Chicago's top federal prosecutor kicked off of his case, the Chicago Tribune reports. A judge ruled today that comments made by Patrick Fitzgerald—which Blagojevich called inflammatory—did not warrant removing him from the corruption case. Nor did Fitzgerald's release of wiretap transcripts that...

Lawyer: Lyme Disease Afflicted Church Shooter

Man, 27, charged with murder in 'deteriorating' mental state

(Newser) - The 27-year-old man charged today with murder and aggravated battery in yesterday’s Illinois church shooting was suffering mentally and physically from Lyme disease, his attorney tells the Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat. Terry Joe Sedlacek was ordered held without bail, though he’s still in the hospital recovering from self-inflicted...

Slain Pastor Blocked 1st Shot With a Bible

As confetti flew, Illinois parishioners thought it was a skit

(Newser) - What drove the shooting death of a pastor at an Illinois Baptist church service yesterday remains a mystery, as more details emerge, the Chicago Tribune reports. After exchanging words with the gunman who walked toward him, the pastor blocked the first of four rounds of bullets with a Bible, sending...

Pastor Killed in Ill. Church Shooting

Three others injured, including suspect

(Newser) - Illinois state police say a man shot a pastor to death and injured others at a church during a service in Maryville. Master Trooper Ralph Timmins says the man walked down the aisle during the early Sunday service at First Baptist Church in Maryville, exchanged words with pastor Fred Winters,...

Winning Blago Book Name: Rod and the Giant Impeach

(Newser) - The people of Illinois have voted in a Chicago Tribune contest to name Rod Blagojevich’s upcoming memoir, and the winner is: Rod and the Giant Impeach. “I thought of the impeachment of the governor, and about my childhood,” the winner said of his inspiration, which scored him...

Pluto Is Still a Planet, Illinois Senate Declares

(Newser) - Having helped install a hometown boy in the White House and ousted its colorful governor, Illinois is next out to save Pluto, the Guardian reports. The state senate blasted the International Astronomical Union’s 2006 decision to demote the erstwhile ninth planet to a “dwarf planet,” and voted...

Burris Figured 'To Do Some Things' for Blago: Ex-Ally

(Newser) - John Ruff, a former associate of Roland Burris and his staff, is claiming Burris planned all along to make a trade with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the Senate seat he now holds. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Ruff, then a participant in the effort to get the seat for Burris,...

Campus Tries to Keep Booze Out of Class

St. Patty's crackdown turns profs into bouncers at Illinois

(Newser) - University of Illinois officials will search students’ backpacks and confiscate containers they suspect might contain alcohol during tomorrow’s “Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day,” the Chicago Tribune reports. Students typically pack campus bars for green beer as early as 8am, and some take drinks to class. “It...

Man Kills a Second Wife 22 Years Later

Murder of first wife didn't worry her, pastor said

(Newser) - An Illinois man has killed his second wife after serving 13 years for killing his first, the Chicago Tribune reports. Richard Wiley, who gunned down Kathryn Wiley-Motes with a Civil War replica rifle this weekend, then murdered his 17-year-old stepson and turned the rifle on himself. Wiley-Motes married Wiley months...

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