Devon Butler, a linebacker for Northern Illinois University who was wounded in a drive-by shooting on April 5, announced during a press conference in DeKalb on Friday that will not be playing in 2011. Butler was released from a Rockford-area hospital last Tuesday, but he has a long recovery in front of him, having suffered from a collapsed lung from the shooting. He explained during the press conference that he will start physical therapy in six months, and in the meantime, he will be concentrating on classwork and regaining his strength. "I'm going to take my redshirt year," said Butler, a junior from Pembroke Pines, Florida, via the Chicago Sun-Times. "The doctors have laid out what I need to do to get back to the classroom and also the football team." more ›

The news around Mark Kirk's apparent flip-flop over his vote against $26 billion in aid to keep teachers in classrooms and cops on the street got a little thicker yesterday. To wit, Kirk, who was for the jobs bill before he was against it, said in a statement that he voted against the bill because it added $5 billion to the federal deficit. Rich Miller at Capitol Fax explained the issue in depth, getting to the heart of Kirk's reasoning behind his vote. The Congressional Budget Office, which scores the estimated cost of congressional spending, found that the bill would reduce the deficit by $1.4 billion over ten years. When analyzed in the context of the Pay as You Go statute, which was enacted in 1990 and requires that all increases in direct spending or decreases in revenue generation are to be offset with other spending cuts or revenue hikes, that portion of the CBO analysis says that the bill actually adds $12.6 billion to the deficit. But that, too comes with a caveat: "Excludes savings in Titles II and III that would result from changes to programs and rescissions of funds previously designated as emergency, which total about $14 billion over the 2010-2020 period." Which, in short, says that the increase in the deficit doesn't take into account $14 billion in savings from other cuts and spending reductions - exactly what supporters of the bill had agreed to do to ensure its passage. more ›

It seems like he might be. That's because yesterday Congress sent a $26 billion jobs bill to President Obama's desk in an emergency session, passing the House on a 247-to-161 vote, largely along party lines. The bill, which provides funding to help avoid teacher layoffs while also funding positions for police, firefighters and nurses nationally, includes $10 billion for teacher positions and $16 billion to help cover state Medicaid payments. Kirk had said as recently as Monday that he would support the bill. “I'm inclined to vote for that legislation,” Kirk told the Sun-Times. “As a Republican moderate, my view is we should not add to the deficit. This legislation does make a number of cuts. ... that make it deficit-neutral. And it would keep teachers in the classroom.” more ›

We already talked about the bad news of area foreclosures increasing. But when will housing prices turn around? Moody's Economy has put together a forecast on when prices in the U.S. housing market will recover. According to a report published on The Real Deal, a website with a focus on the New York and Florida real estate markets, the Chicagoland Metropolitan Area should see prices recover sometime between 2014 and 2019 - not the most reassuring report for home owners that are feeling pinched right now, but substantially better for those of us that live in the Midwest. Florida and the Southwest can expect to see prices begin to recover sometime around 2030. The overall national recovery should start to happen sometime around 2020. more ›

No one’s happy about the economy right now and it doesn’t seem that anyone is happy about the stimulus package either. Whether someone is shouting socialism or directing other vitriol at President Obama or some fuzzy numbers and bad data show up in the records, the stimulus package can’t seem to get a break. Now, the Chicago Tribune reports that the $6.4 billion Illinois received doesn’t seem to add up to many new jobs. more ›

It's easy to overlook today's fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall along the Gulf Coast. Of course, it's been four years since the storm came ashore and the stories have faded into the background as the city of New Orleans and the smaller communities along the Gulf Coast continue the slow road to recovery, but there are still a few stories of local interest in connection with the anniversary. more ›

In spite of all the previous secrecy around Mayor Daley's "wishlist" for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, the mayor finally announced plans to spend nearly $20 million in federal funds Wednesday. $2.3 million of the federal funds will be used to prevent the closing of four mental health clinics in the city. The rest of the funding will go to help the unemployed, homeless, poor workers and military veterans access social services that track people into job training and placement, as well as substance abuse programs. Nearly $2 million will go to support small businesses with hiring. more ›

A plane from World War II was pulled from Lake Michigan near Waukegan on Friday. The plane was an SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber, used for training. Joseph Lokites was the pilot of the plane, who apparently made a mistake when switching fuel tanks. He switched to an empty tank, the engine stopped, and the plane ditched in the lake. The airplane sank, and Lokites was rescued. more ›

The family of Sun-Times columnist Rev. Andrew Greeley have something to be thankful for: he's vastly improving following a fall several weeks ago that left him critically injured. He's been moved to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago for recovery. His spokeswoman, June Rosner, said, "It's a big step forward. He no longer belongs in a critical care unit." Greeley was injured in a fall while exiting a cab on November 7. more ›