Tag Archives: Illinois

Chicago’s WBEZ reports: The Democratic-led Illinois Senate voted Thursday to compel President Trump to release five years’ worth of his personal income tax returns or be barred from appearing on the state’s presidential ballot next year. The state is joining a movement of other Democratic states that aims to force the president to open up his personal finances by releasing …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Lori Lightfoot won a resounding victory Tuesday night to become both the first African-American woman and openly gay person elected mayor of Chicago, dealing a stinging defeat to a political establishment that has reigned over City Hall for decades. After waging a campaign focused on upending the vaunted Chicago political machine, Lightfoot dismantled one of its …

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: Lori Lightfoot jokingly refers to herself as a “triple-threat” because she is an African-American woman vying to become Chicago’s first openly-gay mayor. Now, her sexuality is the subject of a dishonest and deceptive flyer distributed to parishioners at black churches on the South Side and elsewhere. On one side of the flyer is a picture of …

Chicago’s ABC affiliate reports: An active shooting situation has been reported at the Henry Pratt Company in southwest suburban Aurora in Kane County. The Henry Pratt company is located in the 400 block of South Highland Avenue. The shooting was confirmed by Kane County Sheriff. At approximately 2:20 p.m., several SWAT officers were visible outside the Henry Pratt building and …

NBC News reports: Police were responding to reports of shots fired at Mercy Hospital in Chicago on Monday afternoon. Anthony Guglielmi, chief communications officer for the Chicago Police Department, said there are reports of multiple victims on Twitter Tuesday. One suspect was shot as searches of the area were continuing, authorities said. Mercy Hospital is 26 blocks south of the …

Fox News reports: Fox News is projecting billionaire J.B. Pritzker will be the next governor of Illinois. Pritzker, a Democrat, cruised to victory over Republican incumbent Bruce Rauner, Libertarian Grayson Jackson, and Conservative Party candidate State Sen. Sam McCann. Some polls from the closing days of the race had Rauner trailing by double digits. Despite the bleak outlook, the governor …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is launching a new TV ad on Tuesday that’s provocative for its use of a bleeped-out profanity to describe the future of Illinois if Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker wins and serves in government alongside House Speaker Michael Madigan. The scene is a wedding ceremony with look-alikes for Pritzker and Madigan standing in …

The Chicago Tribune reports: The more than 700 students enrolled at St. Ben’s this year were greeted by 30 new bright blue pull boxes on the walls, fixtures installed because of concern about the possibility of a deadly school shooting. The school also spent $40,000 on new security cameras. More than 20 schools in Illinois, including St. Ben’s, now have …

The Illinois Dispatch reports: Republican party officials are withdrawing support for 17th Congressional District candidate Bill Fawell after reviewing alleged conspiracy theories posted by Fawell on social media. Fawell, 64, will face U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, in the November general election. State Republican party chairman Tim Schneider, Rock Island County Republican party central committee chair Drue Mielke, and Republican …

The Chicago Tribune reports: An Illinois House Republican lawmaker who had been appointed to the General Assembly’s sexual harassment task force resigned Wednesday following his ex-girlfriend’s allegations of improper sexual activity online, House GOP Leader Jim Durkin said. State Rep. Nick Sauer, of Lake Barrington, was accused by an ex-girlfriend of sending nude photos of her to other men online, …

Politico reports: A former girlfriend of Illinois state Rep. Nick Sauer has filed an official complaint accusing the first-term Republican of creating a fake Instagram account and populating it with nude photos of her to lure men into “graphic” discussions. According to the complaint filed by ex-girlfriend Kate Kelly with the Office of the Legislative Inspector General and obtained by …

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: Camilla Hudson wanted to use a manufacturer’s coupon at CVS on North Broadway on Friday night, but a manager who said he’d never seen a coupon like that called the police, she said in a Facebook post. “So, THIS just happened: I had the police called on me for attempting to use a coupon @ the …

The Peoria Journal-Star reports: Attorneys for former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock plan on asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the former congressman’s ongoing public corruption case. In a motion filed Monday afternoon, Schock’s attorneys asked the Urbana-based U.S. District Judge Colin Bruce to continue a stay in the case while they file the paperwork asking the high court …

Politico reports: Illinois Republicans botched four opportunities to stop an avowed Nazi from representing their party in a Chicago-area congressional district. Now they’re paying the price. Arthur Jones, a Holocaust denier who will appear on the November ballot as the GOP candidate against Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski, has become campaign fodder for Democrats as they seek to defeat Gov. Bruce …

Politico reports: The federal prosecutor who has led the investigation into former Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) for more than three years is officially off the criminal corruption case, just as it appears to be finally heading for trial. Timothy Bass, a veteran prosecutor who heads the public-corruption unit for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Central Illinois, notified the federal court …

The Belleville News-Democrat reports: Timothy V. McLean, 34, of Glen Carbon has been charged with four counts of hate crime, three counts of institutional vandalism, one count of violating the Cemetery Protection Act, and 14 counts of criminal damage to property. McLean was arrested within 24 hours of the discovery of hundreds of swastikas painted on graves in Sunset Hill, …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday proposed reinstating the death penalty in Illinois for mass killers and people who slay law enforcement officers as part of his rewrite of a gun control bill. The death penalty provision would create a new category of homicide called “death penalty murder,” which could apply to adults who kill police …

The Chicago Tribune reports: A man charged with threatening violence at gay bars in Lakeview was accidentally released from Cook County Jail this week and remains at large, officials said. Officials say an apparent communication breakdown between the state’s attorney’s office and the sheriff’s office led to the release of Shane Sleeper, 31, on Tuesday night. Sleeper was arrested in …

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: The federal indictment hanging over the head of former congressman Aaron Schock repeatedly references the official rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. Trouble is, some of them are pretty vague. Or so says Schock. And his attorneys insist the judicial branch has no business deciding what they really mean. To do so would be a …

The Chicago Tribune reports: The U.S. Supreme Court has for the second time rejected an appeal by imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich of his convictions on corruption charges. The justices did not comment Monday in letting stand the convictions and 14-year prison term that Blagojevich is serving. He’s scheduled to be released in 2024. His convictions included trying to extort …