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Illinois

Pension bonds add risk to public retiree crisis
Oakland's city leaders took a risk when, rather than lay off more staff or cut services, they decided to borrow nearly $213 million to cover pension ...
Nearly 1 year after stroke, Kirk returns to Senate
Nearly a year after suffering a debilitating stroke, Sen. Mark Kirk walked the 45 steps up the Capitol on Thursday and reclaimed his seat in the U.S.
Charges dropped in Chicago high-rise jail escape
A convicted bank robber no longer face charges for climbing out of a high-rise jail in downtown Chicago on a rope made of bed sheets and leading ...
Cities chart course through pension morass
In Philadelphia, pension costs doubled in a single decade. Cities in Rhode Island dimmed streetlights, raised taxes and put off road repairs.
No. 13 FSU beats No. 16 NIU 31-10 in Orange Bowl
Laughing and mugging for the cameras, the Florida State Seminoles happily hoisted the Orange Bowl trophy as a consolation prize, their disappointment ...
Chicago's next prosecutor to be more of an insider
The lanky, soft-spoken lawman from New York arrived in Chicago with a mandate to clean up corruption-plagued Illinois. And after a decade on the job, ...
Do gays need a church of their own anymore?
On that Sunday in 1968 when Troy Perry borrowed a minister's robe and started a church for gays in his living room, the world was a very different ...
Bobcats end 18-game skid with 91-81 win over Bulls
Squandering a healthy lead is nothing new to the Charlotte Bobcats — hanging onto one is. Kemba Walker had 18 points and eight rebounds, and the ...
Bears fire coach Lovie Smith after 9 seasons
The Chicago Bears reached the Super Bowl under coach Lovie Smith and consistently boasted a formidable defense. However, they missed the playoffs too ...
Tribune exits bankruptcy with new TV-focused board
More than four years after crushing debt and plunging advertising sales forced it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Tribune Co.
Illinois Sen. Kirk to return a year after stroke
Nearly a year after a stroke left him barely able to move the left side of his body, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk is expected to climb the 45 steps to the ...
Violence, gangs scar Chicago community in 2012
It was February, the middle of lunch hour on a busy South Side street. The gunman approached his victim in a White Castle parking lot, shot him in the ...
Bears miss playoffs despite 26-24 win over Lions
Jay Cutler led the Chicago Bears to victory, then uttered three words that must have felt awkward coming out of his mouth. "Go Pack Go," he said.
Illinois dragging its feet on huge pension problem
Illinois, a state with a reputation for political wheeling and dealing, backroom handshakes and 11th-hour bargains, is dragging its feet on the one ...
'Tragic number': Chicago reaches 500 homicides
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says the city has logged its 500th homicide of the year. McCarthy issued a statement Friday calling the ...
Terry Glover, Ebony managing editor, dies at 57
Terry Glover, the managing editor of Ebony magazine, has died of colon cancer at her Chicago home. She was 57. Ebony announced on its website that ...
Mississippi River drops, threatening barge traffic
The Mississippi River level is dropping again and barge industry trade groups warned Thursday that river commerce could essentially come to a halt as ...
Chicago mobster Calabrese dies in federal prison
Chicago mobster Frank Calabrese Sr., a hit man who strangled victims and then slashed their throats to be sure they were dead, has died in a federal ...
New laws at a glance: Eyedrops, brakes, Facebook
As 2013 begins, many states are enacting new laws dealing with gay rights, child safety, abortion, immigration and other perennial concerns.
SMU good fit for Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown
Larry Brown was a young assistant on coach Dean Smith's staff at North Carolina in the mid-1960s when he turned down his first head coaching offer.
Airports trade layover horror for 'terminal bliss'
Getting stranded at an airport once meant enduring hours of boredom in a kind of travel purgatory with nothing to eat but fast food. These days, it ...
Bowers lifts No. 12 Missouri over No. 10 Illinois
After a long wait, Jabari Brown is finally feeling like part of the Missouri basketball program. Making his first start of the season, Brown had 18 ...
Boeing engineers use spuds to improve in-air Wi-Fi
If the wireless Internet connection during your holiday flight seems more reliable than it used to, you could have the humble potato to thank.
Cincinnati professor nominated for Nobel dies
Elwood Jensen, an award-winning University of Cincinnati professor nominated for the Nobel Prize for medicine for work that opened the door to ...
Snowstorm weakening after dumping snow in Midwest
The first widespread snowstorm of the season weakened as it moved east Friday, but not before it dumped more than 1 ½ feet of snow in Michigan and ...