Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Roper thinks the James R. Thompson at Clark and Randolph would be the perfect location for a casino in Chicago. more ›

Would the registry reduce repeat crimes, or is this just a way to give victims' families peace of mind? more ›

As if Thanksgiving dinner was not enough of a gut buster, we took our annual family visit to Manny’s Deli yesterday. The line out the door was witness to this growing post-turkey tradition in the City. It was a pretty standard visit---corned beef, kreplach soup, knish---with one notable exception: not a single notable politician in the room. more ›

Speaking at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources office in downstate Benton, Governor Pat Quinn announced the opening of a new coal mine that will bring over 600 news jobs to the area - 300 in construction and 350 in production. The White Oak Mine #1, operated by White Oak Resources LLC, is the first of four mines that are expected to open in the area. "We know the people of Southern Illinois know how to do a mining job better than anyone else on the planet," Quinn told the crowd of locals and reporters gathered for the announcement. more ›

And it seems like the candidates are full-swing into campaign mode. more ›

Governor Quinn reached an agreement with AFSCME, the union which represents thousands of state workers this week that could save the state nearly $200 million. The deal brokered by Quinn’s office states that the administration won’t layoff any state workers or close offices until June 30, 2012. The union will make changes to its health insurance plan to save $70 million and slash $50 million in expenses by reducing overtime, furlough days and deferring pay raises. more ›

Now why are you still reading this? Get on over to our meet-up at Goose Island Clybourn! more ›

• Attorneys for Jerry Hobbs, charged for the 2005 murders of his daughter and her friend, say new DNA evidence connects another man to the murders and clears Hobbs.
• While Gov. Quinn trims the budget, he's also handed out a number of raises to staff members.
• An intruder wearing a skeleton mask broke into the Lakeview home of an elderly couple and hit the 83-year-old man with a baseball bat; the victim has since been treated and released.

President Obama did it. So did Gov. Quinn, who then called out his gubernatorial opponent, GOP nominee Bill Brady to do the same. Show us your tax returns. And Brady is giving reporters what they want. Sort of. He'll make his returns available for review to reporters but only for a few hours and they have to come to his campaign office to see them. Per the Tribune: more ›

A day after his idea of a proposed tax on digital downloads made headlines and raised ire across the state, Gov. Quinn is backing down on that proposal but sticking to his guns for the income tax hike. It seems the iTax was just one of the more eye-catching of a long list of proposals Quinn was spitballing with legislative leaders. Said Quinn, "We had a meeting with the legislative leaders the other day, we made a list of all the possible things that could happen. I didn’t advocate that. I’m not interested in doing that, frankly.” Under the plan, a $9.99 album would have carried a tax of 50-cents while a $14.99 movie would have carried a tax of 75-cents. It seems paying an extra fifty cents per Nickelback record didn't appeal to him, either. more ›

• In his budget address today, Gov. Quinn called for a hike of the state income tax from 3 percent to 4 percent to help avoid education cuts.
• Police have released information - including name and photo - of the suspect in last week's Southwest Side rapes.
• WBEZ has background on today's immigration rallies.

Gov, Quinn used this weekend's International Kennel Club to hit back at GOP gubernatorial candidate State Senator Bill Brady over a bill regarding euthanizing multiple animals at one time, a bill Brady himself has backed off. Said Quinn: more ›

Settle in, folks, it's gonna be a while. We tracked the main races last night and here were are, the next morning, and one is still too close to call. The race for the Governor's mansion remains heated and while the Dems race is close, the GOP race is deadlocked and a recount seems inevitable. more ›

• Police hope surveillance footage will give them leads in a shooting that happened yesterday in the Irving Park neighborhood.
• Attorney General Lisa Madigan today said that Gov. Quinn is clear to sell Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government for housing terrorism suspects currently being held at Guantanamo Bay.
• Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins, the owners of E2 who were recently sentenced to two years in jail, have asked a judge to allow them to remain free pending their appeal.

After yesterday's Tribune/WGN poll that showed current Cook County Board President Todd Stroger a distant third in that race, a new poll shows the Governor's race is heating up with the two expected front-runners, well, where they were expected to be. According to the poll of 600 likely Democrat voters done last week, Gov. Quinn has a sizeable lead with 49 percent and opponent state comptroller Dan Hynes trailing at 23 percent. Third place was "Undecided" at 21 percent. Things were much closer on the Republican side where Jim Ryan leads with 26 percent and Andy McKenna behind at 12 percent of the 600 likely GOP voters polled. State Sen. Bill Bradley had 10 percent, State Sen. Kirk Dillard had nine percent. But greater than all of these candidates was "Undecided," which came in at 31 percent. So while it seems like we're heading for a Quinn-Ryan showdown next November, the Undecided element is still large enough to make a difference, especially on the GOP side. more ›

• Investigators are looking into an incident in which one teen used a stolen car to run over another, giving the victim life-threatening injuries. The cause? A feud over a girl via a "social networking website."
• Cook County Board Pres. Todd Stroger is now turning his ire towards Gov. Quinn for signing the bill that enabled commissioners to override his tax rollback veto.
• Jay Cutler says there's no feud between him and Brian Urlacher after Urlacher's controversial comments earlier this week.

Monday was the deadline for candidates to drop from races - a la Danny Davis in the Cook County Board President's race - and to file challenges to petitions. WBEZ is on top of the latest developments with an updated candidate list as is Chicago Current. Perhaps the most noteworthy challenges come in the aforementioned Cook Co. race as both Dorothy Brown and incumbent Todd Stroger have had their petitions challenged. Brown's challenge is no surprise given the recent accusations of shenanigans but we're a little surprised to see Stroger challenged but given the heated nature of this campaign, maybe we shouldn't be. more ›

• A pair of area deaths related to H1N1 have been reported. In related news, a truck with 900 H1N1 vaccine doses was stolen in Milwaukee though police have apprehended a suspect.
• As the search continues for a hit & run driver responsible for the death of 25-year-old Rachel Gilliam, a surveillance tape is making the rounds that shows the alleged car that moments later hit Gilliam and her family is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the driver.
• With 1,000 officers eligible to retire, Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis admits he's "nervous" about retirements cutting into the CPD's already thinned ranks.

Even as the bill cutting free rides for seniors went down in flames, it seems the state legislature did manage to pass something as they sent the campaign finance reform bill to Gov. Quinn who is expected to sign it into law. Of course, the bill didn't come easy. While Democrats pushed the bill through, state Republicans have insisted that the bill doesn't go far enough in limiting donations. The bill, which passed by a 36-22 margin in the senate, marks the first time in the state's history limits have been imposed on campaign donations. For those late to the issue, the Tribune explains: more ›

AFSCME workers in Illinois scored a victory yesterday when Judge Todd Lambert issued an injunction to put the proposed layoffs of nearly 2600 workers on hold. The layoffs were scheduled to begin Wednesday, with almost 500 state workers getting the ax. Judge Lambert ruled that the State of Illinois and AFSCME must enter negotiations or arbitration before layoffs can proceed. AFSCME Executive Director Henry Bayer said, “This is a real victory for our members - those impacted by the layoffs, their families and the well-being of their communities.” more ›

As Governor Quinn struggles to find ways to balance the state budget without help from the General Assembly, an unlikely duo of litigants have filed separate suits to stop cuts in state spending and further tax hikes. AFSCME, the largest public employee union in the state filed suit in Johnson County earlier this week to prevent the 2,600 layoffs that Quinn has threatened to impose if an agreement can't be reached the cut the state's payroll obligations. And Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz has filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new video poker law as well as liquor, candy and a menu of other tax increases set to take effect September 1. more ›

Governor Quinn and Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees met this week over ways that the state and the largest union representing state employees could work out ways to save Illinois money. But neither party had much to say about the conversation. Quinn termed the meeting "constructive", and said that his office will meet with members of the union's bargaining committee to discuss avoiding potential layoffs or furlough days. more ›

State legislators may need more time to "warm up" to an income tax increase. Which is why Governor Pat Quinn will take a break from his 67 percent income tax rate hike proposal, giving legislators until the fall to make a decision. Quinn told the Tribune he would focus on passing a "bare bones budget" to meet government needs until the tax hike is reconsidered in the fall. more ›

Despite threats he wouldn't do it, Governor Quinn is slated to sign a $29 billion public works bill on Monday. Quinn had supported the bill since the beginning but had threatened to not sign it in the wake of the failure to secure his desired state budget. Quinn also said yesterday that he'd be willing to work with legislators on a five-month budget to get the state through the end of the year and buy time to work on a more long-term spending plan. [Crain's, Tribune] more ›

That's right, Illinois, it's an exciting day as the new Fiscal Year has begun and- what? There's no budget but rather a huge budget hole? Between $7 billion and $9 billion? Shit. Didn't we just boot a corrupt as all Hell governor so that the state government could right this sinking ship? Well...crap. more ›

As time runs out for a new state budget, Governor Quinn is mulling over the possibility of calling a special session to hash it out. Quinn expressed a desire to have a new budget done in the next 10 days. He told WBEZ, "I plan to get together next week with the legislators, we'll talk tomorrow about how the mechanism is, but I think they understand they may have gone home for the summer-- summer vacation -- but their work isn't done." Yesterday, Quinn said up to 10,000 state workers could lose their jobs if the budget wasn't fixed from its current state. more ›

State legislators approved a huge $29 billion public works program to create jobs and repair the state’s infrastructure, however roughly $500 million can be spent in legislator’s home districts on pet projects such as $50k for the Candlewick Lake Association, a gated lakefront community near Rockford with a 220-acre lake and a 9-hole golf course. The community did not ask for the money but according to Candlewick’s general manager, “We certainly will find good use for it,” he told WBBM. Other projects slated for grants include: more ›

House Democrats passed a 50 percent income tax hike for the next two years today, but final approval is still questionable as the General Assembly moves one day closer to adjourning.The proposal was a move to get lawmakers who didn't approve of Quinn's permanent hike on board. Although Quinn has previously said he wouldn't stand for a permanent hike, he "backed off that position today," the Chicago Tribune reports. Republicans say they "aren't ready" to vote for a tax hike, noting it also includes increasing the cigarette tax and decreasing public pension plan payments. more ›

In an effort to tackle the $11.6 billion budget deficit, Gov. Quinn proposed a pension reform plan that, according to Fox Chicago, would cut in half the amount of money put into retirement systems for state employees over the next five years. more ›

Governor Pat Quinn selected Michael P. Randle to head the state's Department of Corrections. Randle. Randle served as the assistant director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and will replace Director Roger Walker, a Blagojevich appointment. Prior to naming Randle, Quinn announced that he would make reviewing Tamms Correctional Center, the state's supermax prison, a priority. more ›