Illinois News Archives

Would you like fries with that swine flu shot? Sounds silly, but health officials in Champaign , Illinois , are serious about the effectiveness of their drive-through H1N1 vaccine program, according to the Chicago Tribune .

The only thing he's being consistent on is his inconsistency. Seems like after weeks of incendiary, obtuse and frankly incoherent rhetoric on Guantanamo Bay detainees and the probability of their transfer to the U.S. for trial and detention, Rep.

So, you think you know the drill on getting a good body. But we're not after merely good - we're after great.

Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias confronted questions about his familya s Chicago bank as he sought to boost his bid for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by his friend President Barack Obama .

Reporting from Washington - The nation's most potent law against public corruption is in danger of being scaled back or struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Internal Revenue Service is looking for nearly 3,600 Illinoisans - but not for the reasons they probably think.The IRS owes them money.Sue Hales, a spokeswoman for the IRS in Illinois, says the postal service has returned almost 3,600 tax refund checks to the agency as undeliverable.

State Police Joliet District welcomed 11 new troopers to the district. Incoming Troopers Elijah Adams, Joshua Allotey, Grant Carrolan, Andrew Dykstra, Anthony Johnson, Jennifer Kirincich, Carlton Lee, Robert Matos, Alexander Pinto, Seth Williams and Walt Willis were from a class of 67 cadets who graduated Nov.

Three sketches by Pablo Picasso have been sold for $36,000 at a central Illinois auction.

A southern Illinois lawyer is accusing a car insurance company of fabricating and bribing a witness in a traffic case.

In the decade since mass protests over the punishment of six black students in Decatur, the state's racial gap in discipline has split wide open.

While many Illinois politicians are rushing to reassure voters of their integrity, some candidates for governor have decided not to release their tax returns to the public.

Naked mole rats don't get cancer. They shrug off brushes with acid and age so well, some are older than the college-aged researchers handling them.

" Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig announced today it is giving motorists a break by suspending lane closures where possible over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.

PAT QUINN HAS APPROVED 133 CLEMENCY PETITIONS, PART OF WHAT HE CALLS A ``MASSIVE BACKLOG'' OF NEARLY 2,500 CASES BUILT UP UNDER FORMER GOV.

Cash-strapped Illinois has found some money to help pay Medicaid providers in the state.

It didn't take long for proposals to house Guantanamo Bay detainees at a nearly empty Illinois prison to spark tough talk by Republicans - across the Mississippi River in Iowa.

A plane crashed into a corn field in northwestern Illinois, killing one person and leaving two others injured.

Two owners of a Chicago nightclub where 21 people were crushed to death in a 2003 stampede down a stairwell were sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for disobeying court orders to close the building's second floor.

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CHICAGO - Amtrak says 1.8 million passengers rode its state-supported trains in Illinois in fiscal year 2009, a slight increase from 2008.

Senate Democrats cleared a major hurdle this weekend by voting to move ahead with debate on health care reform, but it was hardly a unified party standing behind the bill.

With Christmas just 30 days away, Illinois' state climatologist is offering predictions on where it will be white.

I am pleased to see that Debra Saunders has this new commentary in the San Francisco Chronicle lamenting the fact that the first use of the pardon power by President Obama will be for a turkey: On Wednesday, President Obama will issue the White House's standard hokey pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey.

Did the Senate Ethics Committee issue two reports about U.S. Sen. Roland Burris on Friday? In the report we saw, Burris was publicly admonished for giving “inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information” about his maneuverings last year to win the Senate appointment from then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich – the same Blagojevich who ...

The jobless rate rose in most Illinois metropolitan areas in October. Figures released Wednesday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security show unemployment was highest in the Rockford area at 15.7 percent.

St. Charles - St. Charles officials say they've received an increase in reports of coyote sightings, and so are issuing safety suggestions for residents of western suburb.

Illinois governor candidate Dan Hynes wants public colleges to make it easier for military veterans to get into school.

The Illinois Senate will try to find the cause of a gaping racial disparity in how schoolchildren are disciplined.

Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have announced that Toyota will recall approximately 110,000 Tundra pickup trucks from the 2000 to 2003 model years in 20 cold-weather states and the District of Columbia to fix a frame rust and corrosion problem that could cause the spare tire to fall away from the truck.

As an Ohio execution team tried to find a vein during an unsuccessful lethal injection attempt, prison staff sought help from a doctor - a move generally discouraged by ethical and professional medical rules - federal court papers show.

The White House and Illinois Democrats said Tuesday that their bid to hold on to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat won't be easy and their difficulties aren't just because of the scandal that engulfed ousted Gov.

Highway fatalities are down this year and an initiative from the Illinois State Police and Illinois Department of Transportation hope to save even more lives by reaching a 100 percent safety belt compliance rate.

Gov. Pat Quinn has created a commission tasked with making recommendations about human services in Illinois.

Sparkly reindeer-dung necklaces are going on sale at an Illinois zoo that hopes to attract the same holiday shoppers who swept up its dung Christmas ornaments last year.

From a press release from the Andy McKenna campaign: The Washington Post The Fix by Chris Cillizza November 23, 2009 9. For our money, the best ads we've seen so far in the 2010 midterms are in Illinois for Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna .

A Northwest Side woman has been charged with sexual assault of a child who is a female relative.

Gov. Pat Quinn expects action "rather quickly" on a proposal to sell a state prison in northwestern Illinois to the federal government to house Guantanamo Bay detainees.

An underground southern Illinois coal mine will close by the end of the year. Knight Hawk Coal says the 50 workers at the Royal Falcon mine near the boundary of Franklin and Jackson counties will be offered transfers to the company's Prairie Eagle site near Cutler, in nearby Perry County.

The hair is back. Republican Andy McKenna is launching another ad in his campaign for governor that uses former Gov.

A Navy Reservist from Freeport in northwestern Illinois has died in a noncombat vehicle crash in Kuwait.

City Schools board members aren't saying why they chose the pair of applicants they did in their search for a new director of schools.

Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation that allows Illinois servicemembers who have been injured abroad to apply for $5,000 grants.

Today, members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation joined Congressman Peter Roskam in sending a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a National Security Council briefing, after one of the five Democrat Senate candidates, Alexi Giannoulias, disclosed that he received a NSC briefing in an interview this morning .

You can now look up information about Illinois hospitals on the Web. A collection of data, ranging from prices to the number of medical procedures they perform, goes online Thursday.

Sentencing will be in March for three Illinoisans swept up in the largest dogfighting raid in U.S. history.

The Illinois Department of Transportation says where possible it will suspend lane closures along state roadways over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Republican members of Congress from Illinois have a few questions for Gov. Pat Quinn about possibly using a state prison to house Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Business appears to be slowly improving in rural areas of 11 Midwest and Plains states, but the economy there remains weak, according to a new survey of bankers.

With no margin for rebellion, Senate Democratic leaders pushed ahead Friday toward a crucial weekend test voteon their sweeping health care bill amid indications the rank-and-file would stand together on President Barack Obama's signature issue.

The pace of job losses slowed in many U.S. states in October, and the unemployment rate slipped in hard-hit Michigan, the Labor Department said on Friday, hinting the recession may be easing in some areas.

The Senate ethics committee on Friday admonished Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., for making "inconsistent, misleading or incomplete" statements about the circumstances surrounding his appointment to the seat once held by Barack Obama.

Illinois motorists have been urged to start getting ready for winter driving. The Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Tollway and Illinois State Police said Thursday that they are making final preparations for snowy and icy roadway conditions.

Pete Hoekstra, Rob Simmons and Mark Kirk are among the GOP candidates seeking an edge in the W.H. decision to try terror suspects on U.S. soil.

The two big name Democratic candidates for governor have a busy week ahead. Gov. Pat Quinn and challenger Dan Hynes will meet up at two candidate forums Wednesday.

When the nation's swine flu vaccination program began in early October, health officials predicted it was going to be "messy." They were right.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross says he will attempt to put to a vote Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to sell a western Illinois prison to the federal government to house suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay.

The long-running fight to close the troubled Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park has become the battleground for a larger debate about the quality of care for disabled adults in Illinois.

Tax increases are the only solution to a widening budget crisis that a new study says has landed Illinois among the nation's most financially troubled states, a soon-to-be-released report by a team of University of Illinois economists warns.

Sen. Robert Byrd , D-W.Va., made a rare appearance on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday to mark his 20,774th day as a member of Congress - making him the longest-serving member in history.

Republicans are blasting the decision to put five men accused of plotting the Sept.

Wednesday, Nov 18, 2009 * This interpretation of Gov. Pat Quinn's comment during a debate with Dan Hynes this morning is a bit of a stretch, but it may come back to haunt Quinn But it was Quinn's use of the term "missions accomplished" that was unusual for a Democrat.

Gov. Pat Quinn says a deal to sell a prison in northwestern Illinois to the federal government to house Guantanamo Bay detainees "probably" will happen.

A Republican congressman from Illinois said Tuesday that his comment that suspected terrorists imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay follow a "savage religion" has been misinterpreted.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4:15 p.m. Read more: National , Politics , Politico , Politics , Guantanamo Detainees , Gitmo , Northwester Illinois , Illinois , Illinois Republican , Republican An Illinois Republican has introduced legislation to block federal funds from transporting Guantanamo detainees to the Thomson Correction Center in ...

The University of Illinois and its graduate instructors reached a tentative agreement Tuesday that may end a day-old strike at the Urbana- Champaign campus.

Several Illinois lawmakers say the Chicago area would become a terrorist target if Guantanamo Bay detainees are moved to a prison in western Illinois.

Illinois has made it easier for people who have had sex reassignment surgery to change their birth certificates to reflect their new gender.

Playing tourist on his first visit ever to China, President Barack Obama drew a chilly comparison between the Chinese capital and his Illinois hometown.

There's a new president of a key northern Illinois treasurers' group. Members have elected Will County Treasurer Pat McGuire as the president of Illinois County Treasurers Association Zone Four.

Dems at risk of losing Obama's old Senate seat Democratic Party leaders in Washington -- and the Obama White House -- failed to recruit a candidate strong enough to scare Rep.

A millionaire power broker who was to go to trial on corruption charges alongside ousted Illinois Gov.

The Obama administration is considering buying the Thomson Correctional Facility in rural northwestern Illinois, about 15 miles northeast of Clinton, Iowa, to house terrorism suspects from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The U.S. Senate bid by Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias picked up an endorsement Sunday from an Illinois congresswoman.

A coalition of Midwestern states is studying the creation of a college-credit exchange that could make it easier for some people to finally earn their degrees.

Dan Hynes and Pat Quinn are preparing to face off in the battle for the Democratic nomination for Illinois governor.

Indiana Conservation officers say an Illinois man has died in a high-speed crash inside the Indiana Dunes State Park.

The members of a union representing graduate employees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced Sunday that contract negotiations with the university have stalled and they plan to go forward with a planned strike Monday at 8 a.m. The sticking point, according to a statement released to the press, was whether or not the school ...

A nearly empty, maximum-security prison in northwestern Illinois may end up housing Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Andy McKenna may keep spending on TV ads throughout the holidays A February primary usually means a timeout in campaigning while voters are preoccupied with the holidays.

Illinois is to receive nearly $100,000 in federal money to fight health care associated infections, or infections that some patients contract while in a hospital or outpatient clinic.

Gov. Pat Quinn says the federal government may be interested in using a near-empty prison in northwestern Illinois.

Another region of Illinois is reporting its first H1N1 death.A This time public health officials in southern Illinois say they are dealing with a person who died from the H1N1 virus.A The Franklin-Williamson Bi-County Health Department is not releasing many details of the death, only saying that someone passed away from the virus.A Doctors are not ...

House Democrats missed opportunities to improve the House-passed health care bill when they rejected Republican ideas to limit lawsuits and give states more flexibility to enact innovative changes, a GOP lawmaker said Saturday.

As they work to shutter the controversial detention center, federal officials are talking to Illinois officials about buying the Thomson Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison about 150 miles west of Chicago.

A one-room schoolhouse on the Dickson Mounds Museum property may be making its way onto the National Register of Historic Places.

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write! Saturday, November 14, 2009 A DuPage County , Illinois jury has sentenced Brian Dugan to death for the February 25, 1983, abduction, rape, and murder of ten-year-old Jeanine Nicarico from Naperville .

In a day of developments, impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich says that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on other pending cases could free him of most of the federal corruption charges against him.

President Abraham Lincoln is shown in an undated portrait. It's inevitable that a new book about the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 would seek out analogies between that remarkable event and the election of Barack Obama in 2008.

The state of Illinois has launched a new campaign aimed at reducing the number of fatalities on Illinois roadways this year by at least 100.

After filing candidacy papers for two offices for the upcoming February primary, U.S. Rep.

A group of Illinois Army National Guard soldiers is scheduled to return home after a year in Afghanistan.

A man charged with killing eight people in Illinois and Missouri has been moved to Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet.

The Champaign County State's Attorney issued this statement this morning: The Illinois State Police report on the investigation of the officer involved shooting on October 9, 2009, has been delivered to the Champaign County States Attorneys Office this morning.

Sixteen men have been sentenced to death in Illinois since 2003, after then-Gov. George Ryan emptied Death Row prior to leaving office.

Former President Bill Clinton warned senators against repeating history and failing to act quickly on an overhaul of the U.S. health system even as top lawmakers suggested that Congress wona t finish work this year.

U.S. Senate hopeful Jacob Meister is not your run-of-the-mill political candidate.

November 8, 2009. Governor Pat Quinn today joined with representatives from the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemana s Association to accept a $50,000 donation to the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund.

The state of Illinois has a new czar to help increase business opportunities for minority- and women-owned enterprises.

A judge has ordered psychological testing for a central Illinois man charged with plotting to blow up a federal courthouse.The tests will likely delay the Dec.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission announced it still has $66 million available to make low-interest, federally secured student loans to Illinois students through the Federal Family Education Loan Program for the 2009-10 academic year, emphasizing its commitment to making college accessible and affordable for Illinois students.

Ever since he was laid off in March, Frank Beil has been on the lookout. He keeps an eye out for cars moving slowly down the street or strangers walking along the sidewalk of his suburban Chicago neighborhood.

A first-grader in central Illinois gets to keep his autism helper dog in school, a Douglas County judge ruled Tuesday.

Graduate students who teach and research assistants at the University of Illinois have authorized a strike over a wage dispute.

On the eve of Veterans Day, Gov. Pat Quinn announced the site of the Illinois Veteransa Home at Chicago, a 200-bed facility that will begin construction in 2010.

A state-run loan program is expanding to help Illinois service members when their deployments end.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office wants to make sure people understand changes in the state's public records laws.

OXYGEN MASKS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED TO THE DEPARTMENTS, AND FIREFIGHTERS WILL BE TRAINED IN HOW TO USE THEM.

The Associated Press has asked a judge to deny a request by the attorneys of street artist Shepard Fairey to withdraw from his copyright battle over the Barack Obama "HOPE" poster.

A second soldier from Illinois has been identified as a victim of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

Clipped in full from Illinois Review . I'm sure Fran won't mind. "If there's anything that Tuesday's elections in New Jersey and Virginia showed us, it's that the public is sick and tired of the Democrats' reckless policies, like the government-run option, that create more government and not more jobs.

Video Poker gambling in Illinois is now legal but, some counties are choosing not to participate.

One of two suspects accused of killing a southern Illinois man by hitting him in the head with a fire extinguisher has pleaded guilty.

U.S. Sen. Roland Burris plans to use a stop in Chicago to outline his position on proposed changes to the way health care is provided in America.

Kathryn Gowin was already spooked after she hit a deer with her Ford Explorer last week in southern Illinois.

In the wake of Thursday's outburst of violence at Fort Hood, here is a glance at some of the worst U.S. mass shootings in recent years: April 3, 2009: A 41-year-old man opened fire at an immigrant community center in Binghamton, N.Y., killing 11 immigrants and two workers.

DEERFIELD TWP., Warren County - An Illinois man apparently shot himself in the head after firing at Warren County Sheriff's deputies responding to a domestic violence call on Saturday evening, Nov.

Rock Island County likely will spend $1 million this year sending juveniles out of the area for pre-trial detention.

A shoot-out at a Brooklyn strip club early Saturday littered the parking lot with shell casings, sent one man to the hospital, put five in jail and led the shooter to flee.

" The Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois State Diabetes Commission have launched an on-line survey to gain information about diabetes in Illinois.

The University of Illinois has received only a small fraction of the $317 million it is owed by the state for this fiscal year and has effectively frozen many open positions.

A teenage driver safety program run by the Illinois Department of Transportation has been recognized for using peer programming to try to reduce the number of teen driving-related deaths.

CHICAGO – Candidates for Illinois governor are split over a national health care plan with all but one Republican saying the state should opt out if it can, a position rejected by Democrats Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes.

Tajikistan News.Net Friday 6th November, 2009 Washington, Nov 6 : A new study has shown that parents in Western countries are more controlling and dominating over their children compared to those in East Asian countries.

A man charged in a two-state killing spree will be tried in the hometown of the first person he's accused of killing.

Illinois taxpayers and businesses owing more than $1,000 in delinquent taxes are going worldwide.

Today is Friday, Nov. 6, the 310th day of 2009. There are 55 days left in the year.

U.S. Rep. Phil Hare has presented a congressional committee with 7,000 signatures seeking higher Mississippi River levees.

" Anyone with a computer can now see and hear the history of Illinois agriculture told by the people who lived it.

Champaign- Many agencies across the state are still awaiting payment from the capitol.

A man arrested in suburban Chicago is accused of gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence involving a skeleton found in southwest Ohio in 2007.

Federal prosecutors say a southern Illinois doctor has agreed to surrender his medical license after admitting he illegally dispensed methadone, tampered with a witness and obstructed justice.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's office says a state lawmaker's wife was the best of 51 applicants for a post on the Pollution Control Board.

Legislation passed by the Senate Wednesday would extend unemployment insurance benefits by 14 weeks for jobless people in all states who have exhausted their benefits.

The Illinois Republican Party is feeling positive about its chances to win key elections next year after a GOP rout in governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey.

An Army veteran who authorities say threatened to go on a shooting rampage at a Veterans Affairs hospital in southern Illinois has been indicted on a gun charge.

A vote by Illinois' Medical Disciplinary Board has cleared the path for the state to start enforced a hotly debated abortion notification law.

WASHINGTON a ' Using stimulus dollars as bait, President Obama is coaxing states to rewrite education laws and cut deals with unions as they compete for $5 billion in education grants, the most money a president has ever had for overhauling schools.

On Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Revenue posted the names of 100 businesses and individuals that collectively owe the state at least $6.3 million.

Davis, who has said he will pick a race by the Nov. 9 deadline to withdraw petitions, was one of several candidates who filed to run for Congress in his district in the Feb.

A candidate from the past has returned to run for Illinois governor. Jim Ryan said Tuesday he has more experience than the other candidates seeking the Republican nomination.

The U.S. Army is financing a new research center at the University of Illinois to develop technology for computer networks used on battlefields and in other similarly difficult environments.

As Illinois residents gear up for Halloween this year, the Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois State Police, Secretary of State Police and local law enforcement agencies throughout Illinois are warning motorists about the dangers of impaired driving.

Based on preliminary data in Illinois, the statewide average rainfall was 8.9 inches, 6.0 inches above normal.

The application period for low-income Illinoisans to apply winter home heating assistance has opened.

A former aide to Gov. Rod Blagojevich has officially signed up to run for office, and so has a former Blagojevich opponent.

It's unclear if Illinois will start enforcing a hotly debated abortion notification law this week after all.

On the night before the 2008 election, Barack Obama sounded a familiar mantra signaling the impending success of his once unlikely presidential bid.

More students passed their Illinois state achievement tests this year, but a new federal study Thursday indicated that may not be cause for great rejoicing.

An international group of scientists has decoded the DNA of the domestic pig, research that may one day prove useful in finding new treatments for both pigs and people, and perhaps aid in efforts for a new swine flu vaccine for pigs.

SPRINGFIELD – It will be at least two more months until companies are able to bid to acquire the mold-infested Eagle Creek Resort and Conference Center on Lake Shelbyville.

A former head of theA Illinois Department of Human Services who Gov. Pat Quinn appointed to lead the state's African trade office has declined the international trade post.

Arthur Call commutes three hours roundtrip to his anatomy class at community college because similar courses on campuses closer to his Indianapolis home are packed this semester.

There's a "harvest alert" on in DeKalb County, warning motorists to be aware of the many tractors, combines, wagons and trucks on roads because of this year's late harvest.

Doctors in Cook County say they're hoping children across Illinois have healthy options this Halloween along with the bags of trick-or-treat candy they gathered Saturday.

An Illinois man will be sentenced to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty on Monday to stealing $470,995.53 from a township company by accepting paycheques for a job he didn't have.

A Nashville judge will decide whether a jury will see letters and phone calls made by an Illinois truck driver accused of killing at least four women in three states.