Former Mayor Richard M. Daley and his family were in attendance, standing next to Mrs. Daley's casket and accepting condolences from both dignitaries and ordinary citizens. Mayor Daley even granted an autograph request from a well-wisher at one point. more ›

Tributes are starting to pour in for former Chicago First Lady Maggie Daley, who passed away last night after a long battle with cancer. more ›

Seven Democratic Senators, including Illinois' Dick Durbin, introduced a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Citizens United decision. more ›

Baseball players dipping is no news. Shoot, the term "bullpen" came to existence when Blackwell Tobacco Company released Bull Durham brand tobacco in 1860. more ›

Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk both made statements typical of party line politicians. more ›

Extra cash flow coming in from a federal government grant will benefit not only Chicago but other Illinois cities. U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced this week that the state of Illinois will receive around $26.5 million dollars in funding to "support community development and produce more affordable housing" for its residents. The official press release by HUD provides a breakdown of how much of the $26.5 million is going into different areas in Illinois, including which housing programs the money is set to benefit. more ›

Metra wants to hike fares by about 27 percent, and U.S. senators Durbin and Kirk want an explanation. more ›

Durbin joins a dozen other U.S. senators to tell teens, "It gets better." more ›

Illinois' own U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has announced that he's going to take another stab at getting his pet project DREAM Act passed, and plans on reintroducing the bill on Wednesday in conjunction with a similar bill to be filed by U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA28) in the House. more ›

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin loves puppies, and we can't fault the man for standing up for puppy rights: Sen. Durbin has introduced a bill that requires breeders who sell more than 50 dogs a year to be licensed as well as undergo inspections to make sure that the dogs they are selling receive proper care until they are sold. more ›

In the wake of the tragedy in Japan, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) will host a bi-partisan hearing in Chicago tomorrow on safety in Illinois nuclear power plants and disaster preparedness at the Dirksen Federal Building. Illinois generates more nuclear power than any other state. Governor Pat Quinn told WGIL that he wants the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to “take a closer look” at the plants, all operated by Exelon. more ›

House Republicans are targeting $6.8 billion in transportation spending cuts across the country. Among the programs facing a removal in funding is $133 million allocated to build a bridge at 63rd and State which would allow Metra trains to pass over the Norfolk Southern tracks that also serve Amtrak lines. Dubbed the "Englewood Flyover," the project, when completed, would reduce a bottleneck affecting 80 Metra Rock Island Line trains and 60 Amtrak and freight trains a day. more ›

The Senate made history yesterday and, frankly, did the right thing yesterday, voting to end the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays and lesbians in the military. The vote stands as a landmark in gay rights and helps President Obama fulfill a campaign promise. more ›

President Obama went into Candidate Obama mode last night, stumping and raising money for Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias in his tight race against Mark Kirk. With many polls showing Kirk and Giannoulias in a dead heat, Obama's second fundraising appearance here in as many months for Giannoulias is a clear indicator that his Administration believes the seat, which the GOP wants largely as a symbolic victory, is winnable. Although making this Chicagoist staffer choose between Giannoulias and Kirk is like picking between strychnine and witch hazel. more ›

Yesterday, we reported how Gov. Quinn was against building a 'Ground Zero Mosque' in New York City. Now, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin gave his opinion and vocalized his support for a mosque (and community center) near Ground Zero today:

Durbin says he's had his differences with former President George W. Bush. But Durbin says Bush showed leadership after 9/11 by making it clear that the war was against terrorists who had perverted the teachings of Islam, not with Muslims. more ›

Per a recent interview with Gay Chicago Magazine, staunch LGBT ally U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago) is reportedly "hopeful" for progress on a number of pieces of queer-centric legislation in Congress yet this year, but has admitted it's unlikely LGBT issues will see much movement prior to this fall's midterm elections. more ›

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin had a gastro-intestinal stromal tumor removed from his stomach today. The surgery was performed at the University of Chicago Medical Center and doctors have given him a good preliminary prognosis that the cancer is not more widespread. more ›

• Cook County President Todd Stroger's troubled jobs training program lost $2,7 million and could lose even more.
• The Cook County Sheriff's latest partner in crime-fighting: garbage men.
• The attorney for Rod Blagojevich, brother and co-defendant of former governor Rob Blagojevich, admitted he regrets not calling U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. to the stand.

• News/not news of the day: we have really high taxes.
• Chicago Public Schools will tap into their reserves to help close their $370 million budget gap.
• Some father-son duos watch baseball together. This one grew pot.

It seems that something has fundamentally changed in the collective view of the Chicago Waterways System recently. Not long ago, discussions of disinfection and separation from the Mississippi River system were dismissed as unrealistic or far-fetched, “the Chicago River is what it is…” A year ago, the idea of candidates for the U.S. Senate agreeing that they river should be cleaned up seemed inconceivable. more ›

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin joined seven other senators yesterday to introduce a bill, the Public Transportation Preservation Act of 2010, that would provide $2 billion in emergency funding to transit agencies nationwide to reverse fare increases and service cuts. more ›

Some are beginning to question just how much longer Rahm Emanuel will be occupying the office of Chief of Staff for President Obama. Which, of course, leads to a couple other questions - who gets the seat next, and what would Rahmbo do afterwards? He's already expressed an interest in taking the mayor's office, he's long desired to be Speaker of the House and the head of the Democratic National Convention, and then there are those pesky "placeholder" rumors about his initial appointment to his current position. Couple all this with the growing drumbeats about the unnamed "administration official" who might have, sorta, accidentally, illegally offered Joe Sestak a gig to drop out of the race with Arlen Specter. So what's the deal? more ›

Illinois senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) toured Louisiana yesterday with Louisiana senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, along with some officials from the Obama administration to address the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Durbin remarked on BP’s handling of the spill, deemed by the White House as the worst in U.S. history, saying “In my mind, BP no longer stands for British Petroleum. It stands for Beyond Patience.” He went on to say that the Obama administration would pressure BP to clean up the spill and bear the cost. more ›

Thirteen Chicago LGBT activists were arrested yesterday during a sit-in demonstration in Sen. Dick Durbin's office. The activists demanded passage of the LGBT job protections bill known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and entered the office at noon with the hope of having Durbin, a co-sponsor of the bill, sign a pledge of commitment to its passage. more ›

Coming off the Obama Subpoena SNAFU - and the emergency meeting with the judge it prompted - you'd think Team Blago would collect itself before moving forward. Nope. The defense today has subpoenaed another heavy hitter of Illinois (and national) politics: U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. The Associated Press reports: "Durbin told reporters he only talked to Blagojevich once about the Senate seat. Durbin says the phone call lasted about 10 to 15 minutes and he suggested 10 to 20 people to consider for the vacancy." Durbin also talked about the chances of embattled Democratic senatorial candidate Alexi Giannoulias, saying he thinks Alexi can still take the seat in spite of all those issues around his family's bank. more ›

With the recent announcement that Supreme Court Justice (and Chicago native) John Paul Stevens will soon retire from the nation's high court, speculation has been growing over who President Obama will tab as Stevens' replacement, including a few with Chicago connections. But now a Slate feature that breaks down their Top 21 candidates includes a name we hadn't really considered before: State Attorney General Lisa Madigan. more ›

The U.S. Senate today passed a package of changes to the health care reform bill passed earlier this week (and signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday). After a series of procedural maneuvers brought by the GOP, the bill passed by a final tally of 56-43. Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Roland Burris (who at one point last year threatened to vote 'no' on the bill), both Democrats, each voted in favor of the bill. Just as with the main bill's passage in the House, Republicans voted unanimously against the bill. They were joined by three Democrats: Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Ben Nelson of Nebraska. There was one no-vote by Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) who was sick. Minor tweaks of the bill - necessary after Republicans pointed out two provisions violated congressional budget rules - mean that the bill must once again pass the House before it goes to President Obama to sign into law. The House first approved the Reconciliation bill on Sunday night by a vote of 220-211. more ›

The foreclosure crisis is far from over, according to a new report released from National People’s Action, a grassroots research and organizing group in Chicago. The study shows that a home in Chicago was foreclosed on every 22 minutes throughout 2009, a total of 23,200 homes. This is a 16% increase since last year. The report also highlights foreclosure “hotspots,” pointing out the areas that have more than two new foreclosures per city block. more ›

Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning brought the issue of the filibuster front and center, as news of his refusal to bring an extension of unemployment benefits to a vote wound its way through the news cycle yesterday. Democrats, who've been frustrated by an inability to bring legislation to a vote on the Senate floor without a supermajority of 60 votes, were quick to make political hay out of Bunning's obstruction. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (SC) and DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen (MD) held a conference call for the media yesterday, highlighting what they see as an abuse of a procedural maneuver in congress. "Jim Bunning has done more to draw attention to the procedural abuses in the Senate than ever before," Van Hollen said. "This is part of the wake up call for Americans that Republicans are abusing the rules in the Senate." more ›

Unemployment benefits for nearly 15,000 Illinois residents without jobs dried up today thanks to a filibuster by Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning. The Senator is blocking legislation that would extend unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits for millions of Americans, because he wants details on where the money will come from and prefers it didn't come from stimulus funds. more ›