George Ryan was able to be at wife Lura Lynn's side as she died last night. more ›

Lura Lynn Ryan, wife of former Gov. George Ryan, passes away in a Kankakee hospital. more ›

One of the surprising things to come out of those George Ryan deposition tapes that were recently released has been the former governor's confusion over what qualified as a general pardon and an innocence pardon. Ryan's confusion over the two could wind up costing taxpayers in lawsuit rewards or settlements. more ›

Tapes of a deposition given by former Governor George Ryan have been released, giving the public a glimpse into how Ryan has handled life in prison and how he came to make some of the pardons he did while in office. more ›

A 2010 deposition from former Gov. George Ryan is believed to be the first look into his thought process before his historic 2003 decision to commute the sentences of Illinois Death Row inmates. more ›

A University of Illinois professor has once again nominated incarcerated ex-Gov. George Ryan for a Nobel Peace Prize. STL Today reports that International law professor Francis A. Boyle nominated our former Governor for a fifth consecutive year for the prize for his moratorium on executions in Illinois. Ryan's moratorium laid the way for the current legislation passed to abolish the death penalty in this state altogether, a bill that still awaits Gov. Quinn's signature. more ›

With news of Lura Lynn Ryan in intensive care due to complications from chemotherapy, attorneys for her husband, former Governor George Ryan, filed an emergency motion yesterday to have Ryan released so that he can be at his wife's side. more ›

ABC7 investigative reporter Chuck Goudie, wearing his hat as a weekly columnist for the Daily Herald, points out a tribute to former Governor George Ryan embossed in the sidewalk outside the Goodman Theater that has rubbed some patrons of the theater the wrong way. more ›

Once again, a request by former Governor George Ryan's attorneys to have him released from his 6-1/2 year prison sentence early was met with a smackdown from U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer. more ›

For months, attorneys for former Governor George Ryan have argued for his release from prison so that he can be by his ill wife, Lura Lynn. Today, Ryan's attorneys filed a motion with medical records to back that up. more ›

Former Governor George Ryan's attorneys were in court again today arguing that he be released from prison based on the Supreme Court's narrower definitions of the honest services law. They're arguing that, under the narrower definitions, Ryan wouldn't have been convicted for receiving gifts in exchange for state contracts and leases. more ›

With the Blago spectacle in mind, two-thirds of voters who went to the polls yesterday voted in favor of adding a recall amendment to the state Constitution. more ›

As we wait to see if one former governor will ever go to jail for corruption, another who's already serving time is, once again, asking to be let out. Citing the failing health of his terminally ill wife and this year's Supreme Court decision on the Honest Services law, jailed former governor George Ryan has asked the federal judge who presided over his trial for a release. more ›

As this morning's trial proceedings began, Blago lawyer Sheldon Sorosky held a quick Q&A with reporters and according to the CNC, admitted that they might call Pat Quinn, just as the prosectuion would likely call Tony Rezko. Despite distancing himself from the former Governor, Quinn said that Blago had "always been a person who's honest and one of integrity" in 2006. Just last week, Quinn said he wasn't concerned about the trial and its implications for his current run for governor. more ›

The Illinois State Supreme Court has rejected a request by jailed former governor George Ryan to keep part of his pension. Ryan was hoping to receive $60,000 a year for his services to the state before his arrest for corruption. Justice Anne Burke was the only dissenter in the 6-1 ruling. [Sun-Times] more ›

The election of President Barack Obama topped the Associated Press's top stories of the decade for the state of Illinois. Corruption in Springfield also made the list as the Blago Saga and George Ryan's shenanigans made the list. What else did the AP see as the top 10 stories of the 2000's? Here's the full list. more ›

Yesterday the Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments regarding former governor George Ryan's pension as Ryan attempts to reclaim part of his pension. Representing Ryan was another former governor, Jim Thompson. Thompson argued that though Ryan was stripped of his entire pension - a mind-boggling $197,037 per year, according to the Sun-Times - by the General Assembly upon his conviction in 2006, Ryan should still be entitled to the pension for offices he held before he became secretary of state in 1991; he had been a member of the Kankakee County Board, a State House Rep., and Lieutenant Governor (under Thompson). Why those offices? Because he served those offices "honestly"; in other words, he wasn't charged with anything while serving those offices. The pension he'd collect for those jobs would total around $60,000. Earlier this year, a state appeals court reversed the complete stripping of his pension. Reps for the retirement system, though, are none-too-amused. The Sun-Times continues: more ›

As former governor George Ryan remains in jail, his attorney has a new target to plead to for a pardon: President Obama. Acknowledging that the president has "other things on his plate," Ryan's attorney, Jim Thompson (a former governor himself) plans on asking Obama to commute Ryan's sentence. Ryan is currently serving a six-and-a-half year prison term for racketeering and fraud. [Chicago Breaking News] more ›

This week's news about President Obama's relaxing of travel restrictions to Cuba reminded us of all the things we would love about a trip to America's Future Territory* (minus that pesky totalitarianism, of course). Cigars, rum, Hemingway, '50s era automobiles held together by spit and duct tape - ah, Cuba! So naturally our thoughts traveled back to the most high-profile Illinoisan to set foot on Cuban soil (up until Bobby Rush's recent trip) and the first American governor since 1959. Let's travel back, you and I, to Governor Ryan's humanitarian delegation trip to Cuba in October of 1999. more ›

Now that he's no longer Governor, Rod Blagojevich can turn his attention to his upcoming federal trial and, more importantly, finding a new lead attorney. Star defender Ed Genson quit Blago's legal team on the heels of Blago's media blitz, which Genson disapproved of. With that, all the ex-gov is left with is "longtime friend" Sheldon Sorosky. The father-son pair of Sam Adams Jr. and Sr. handles some of Blago's impeachment proceedings but have not yet committed to the federal portion of Blago's legal woes. The Sun-Times reports that Rod and Patti met with several prospective attorneys over the weekend in an attempt to fill out the roster. more ›

• Stick-em-up: a man robbed a Logan Square McDonald's today armed only with a stick.
• Police seized drugs and weapons as well as arrested Casey Crawford during an overnight raid at a condo apparently owned by Chicago Police Asst. Supt. Beatrice Cuello. Neither Cuello nor her daughter, who also lives at the condo, were suspected of any wrong-doing.
• A state appeals court has ruled jailed former governor George Ryan should be allowed to receive part of his pension. Ryan will receive $65,000 a year.

Okay, now we've heard everything. In the wake of his failure to get his sentence commuted by outgoing President Bush, former (and jailed) governor George Ryan has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by University of Illinois professor Francis A. Boyle. Boyle is a professor of International Law and Human Rights and this isn't the first time Boyle has nominated Ryan; it's the sixth. Boyle has been trying to get Ryan's work on ending the death penalty rewarded. Here's guessing Ryan goes unrewarded once more. more ›

According to the state's senior U.S. senator Dick Durbin, it looks unlikely that outgoing President George W. Bush will commute the sentence of former Illinois governor George Ryan. Durbin had requested the commutation for Ryan, but the Blagojevich scandal likely derailed any chances of that happening. According to Durbin, speaking at a pre-inauguration coffee, “It was very clear to me that scandal had an impact on President Bush’s decision. And I think it is highly unlikely that a pardon will be issued for former Gov. Ryan before George Bush leaves office. I think the atmosphere and environment of scandal and corruption makes it more difficult for President Bush to consider." Earlier, President Bush issued a commutation of sentences for two border guards in a move called "his final acts of clemency." more ›

While everyone is getting themselves in a tizzy over this Obama Birth Certificate issue, one of the major local political stories continues to be Sen. Durbin's (pictured right) letter to President Bush asking for a commutation of former Governor George Ryan's sentence. While Gov. Blagojevich has already come out in favor of Durbin's request (no surprise as he will probably be facing a similar fate to Ryan's very soon), earlier this week, U.S. Congressman Mark Kirk (Rep.) sent Pres. Bush a letter disputing Durbin's request and State Attorney General Lisa Madigan also said she was opposed to a commuting of Ryan's sentence. more ›

The White House has confirmed they received Sen. Dick Durbin's letter asking President Bush to commute the sentence of convicted former governor George Ryan but if they feel one way or the other about it, they're not letting on. Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "Well, I can tell you that we have received the request from Sen. Durbin, but I would not comment on the pardon process--except for to say that anyone who is eligible for a pardon can apply for one, and those requests go through our pardon attorney, which is at the Justice Department...I wouldn't be surprised if there were more before he leaves office, but I couldn't tell you how many and I certainly couldn't tell you who." For his part, President-Elect Obama said any comment from him on the matter, isn't "appropriate" at this point. more ›

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin sent a letter to President Bush today asking for Bush to commute former governor George Ryan's sentence. Ryan was convicted in 2006 of fraud, racketeering, and other corruption charges. So far, he has served a little over a year of a 6 and-a-half year sentence. Durbin has expressed concern for the health of the former governor and his wife. While prosecutors have come out against any pardon or commutation, Ryan has allegedly expressed remorse over his actions. In the letter to Bush, Durbin says:

George Ryan is 74 years old. He has lost his state pension benefits and a commutation will not restore them. He would emerge from prison facing economic uncertainty at an advanced stage of his life. more ›

But instead of taking this opportunity to come clean, Ryan has doubled down on denial: "His conscience is as clear as his mind," his wife, Lura Lynn, told the Sun-Times Tuesday. "If he had it to do over—and I've heard him say this—he would govern the same way as he did before." more ›

At a press conference in Springfield today, Sen. Dick Durbin says he's wondering whether or not former and now convicted Governor George Ryan has served enough jail time. The Trib reports Durbin saying, "I'm taking into consideration the situation with the former governor, and whether or not a commutation should be recommended to the president, and I am considering it at this moment." Ryan was convicted on 22 counts of racketeering, fraud, bribery and corruption, and has served prison time for a little over a year of his six and a half year sentence. Is this some sort of setup to get Marc Rich knocked off the top 10 list? more ›

Man, Chicago is a city of criminals and asshats, of mismanagement and lying, corruption and inertia. Just ask the AP! Today's "Corruption fighters find Chicago a challenge" says shady dealings in this town are part of the patchwork we lovingly refer to as Chicago history. more ›