Since 2009, 76 counties in Illinois abstained from participating in the program. more ›

It looks as though two of the three anti-abortion ads featuring President Obama's face and the tagline "Every 21 minutes our next possible leader is aborted" have been covered by opponents to the billboards less than a week after they were erected. The Tribune received a statement from a loose coalition of "social workers and community members" who didn't want their names used, claiming responsibility. more ›

In a sit-down described as "cordial and productive," President Obama sat down with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Sgt. James Crowley, the Cambridge Police officer who arrested Gates a few weeks ago as Gates tried to enter his own locked house. The furor over the incident intensified last week when President Obama said that the police had "acted stupidly" in the manner in which they arrested Gates. A Pew Research Center poll found 41 percent of those polled disapproved of Obama's handling of the situation, 29 percent approved, and 30 percent fell into the "don't know" category. Afterward, Crowley indicated he and Gates planned to meet again. Whether the sit-down will cool tensions over this incident - which has seen things as wild as FOX News host Glenn Beck saying Obama, "has a deep-seeded hatred for white people," - remains to be seen and the President now moves on to other issues such as the economy (is it really rebounding?) and health care (still facing much opposition). In the meantime, Slate also breaks out a great list of cinematic sit-downs over beer. Hard to beat #1. more ›

• Cook County Circuit Court clerk Dorothy Brown had no problem accepting gifts from employees until the Tribune came calling.
• What began as a simple break-in at a house in Matteson led to that town's biggest pot bust ever.
• Students rallied at Northwestern yesterday in support of classmates who say they were the victims of racial profiling.

The American Civil Liberties Union, along with several prominent civil rights groups, are asking Governor Blagojevich to end the practice of so-called "consent searches". more ›