Illinois Government News Archives

Lyman W. Welch & Susan T. Bart have published their article entitled New Law Promotes Private Trust-Administration Agreements , 97 Ill.

A state legislator wants to fast-track hearings on the possible sale of a northwestern Illinois prison to the U.S. government so federal authorities could eventually use the complex to house Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Reporting from Washington - The nation's most potent law against public corruption is in danger of being scaled back or struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Share + Nov 29, 2009 5:20 pm US/Central Almost 3,600 Refund Checks were Returned to Agency as Undeliverable, IRS Wants to Give Money Back to Illinois Residents CHICAGO The Internal Revenue Service is looking for nearly 3,600 Illinoisans -- but not for the reasons they probably think.

Two owners of a Chicago nightclub where 21 people were crushed to death in a 2003 stampede down a stairwell were sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for disobeying court orders to close the building's second floor.

In the decade since mass protests over the punishment of six black students in Decatur, the state's racial gap in discipline has split wide open.

While many Illinois politicians are rushing to reassure voters of their integrity, some candidates for governor have decided not to release their tax returns to the public.

A White House analysis of a federal purchase of the nearly vacant northwestern Illinois prison to house Guantanamo detainees and other federal prisoners, obtained by the Sun-Times on Saturday, concludes that in the first year 2,290 to 2,960 jobs would be created, and local residents would be "excellent candidates" for 1,240 to 1,410 of those jobs.

Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias confronted questions about his familya s Chicago bank as he sought to boost his bid for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by his friend President Barack Obama .

Gov. Pat Quinn wants a quick decision on whether to move suspected terrorists to an Illinois prison.

If turkeys could fly, more of them would escape the Thanksgiving cleaver and we'd be eating salami on Thursday.

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Charleston- A $75 million project that essentially pays for itself through energy savings.

Democrat Rep. Phil Hare today endorsed the plan to house enemy terrorists at the Thomson prison.

PAT QUINN HAS APPROVED 133 CLEMENCY PETITIONS, PART OF WHAT HE CALLS A ``MASSIVE BACKLOG'' OF NEARLY 2,500 CASES BUILT UP UNDER FORMER GOV.

It didn't take long for proposals to house Guantanamo Bay detainees at a nearly empty Illinois prison to spark tough talk by Republicans - across the Mississippi River in Iowa.

CHICAGO - Amtrak says 1.8 million passengers rode its state-supported trains in Illinois in fiscal year 2009, a slight increase from 2008.

Did the Senate Ethics Committee issue two reports about U.S. Sen. Roland Burris on Friday? In the report we saw, Burris was publicly admonished for giving “inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information” about his maneuverings last year to win the Senate appointment from then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich – the same Blagojevich who ...

Illinois governor candidate Dan Hynes wants public colleges to make it easier for military veterans to get into school.

The Illinois Senate will try to find the cause of a gaping racial disparity in how schoolchildren are disciplined.

The White House and Illinois Democrats said Tuesday that their bid to hold on to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat won't be easy and their difficulties aren't just because of the scandal that engulfed ousted Gov.

" With highway fatalities down thus far in 2009, Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig today announced an all out Click It or Ticket mobilization aimed at saving a record number of lives during the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Despite many unanswered questions, the proposal to sell an Illinois prison to the federal government to house terrorist suspects is apparently moving quickly.

Sparkly reindeer-dung necklaces are going on sale at an Illinois zoo that hopes to attract the same holiday shoppers who swept up its dung Christmas ornaments last year.

Pat Quinn has created a commission tasked with making recommendations about human services in Illinois.

From a press release from the Andy McKenna campaign: The Washington Post The Fix by Chris Cillizza November 23, 2009 9. For our money, the best ads we've seen so far in the 2010 midterms are in Illinois for Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna .

A central Illinois utility company has announced it will launch a $20 million cleanup of underground contaminants at a defunct gas-manufacturing plant in Quincy.

Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation that allows Illinois servicemembers who have been injured abroad to apply for $5,000 grants.

A Northwest Side woman has been charged with sexual assault of a child who is a female relative.

The hair is back. Republican Andy McKenna is launching another ad in his campaign for governor that uses former Gov.

Authorities say Illinois State Representative Annazette Collins was robbed at gunpoint while she and her sister were in front of their mother's home on Chicago's South Side.

Illinois is launching a new program meant to help military veterans find jobs when they return to civilian life.

A Republican congressman from Illinois says his comment that suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay follow a "savage religion" has been misinterpreted.

Tax increases are the only solution to a widening budget crisis that a new study says has landed Illinois among the nation's most financially troubled states, a soon-to-be-released report by a team of University of Illinois economists warns.

The state of Illinois is lobbying hard to land relocated Guantanamo detainees despite strenuous opposition to bringing the terrorism suspects to the United States, top lawmakers said Sunday.

Today, members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation joined Congressman Peter Roskam in sending a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a National Security Council briefing, after one of the five Democrat Senate candidates, Alexi Giannoulias, disclosed that he received a NSC briefing in an interview this morning .

An underground southern Illinois coal mine will close by the end of the year. Knight Hawk Coal says the 50 workers at the Royal Falcon mine near the boundary of Franklin and Jackson counties will be offered transfers to the company's Prairie Eagle site near Cutler, in nearby Perry County.

The Senate ethics committee on Friday admonished Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., for making "inconsistent, misleading or incomplete" statements about the circumstances surrounding his appointment to the seat once held by Barack Obama.

Illinois motorists have been urged to start getting ready for winter driving. The Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Tollway and Illinois State Police said Thursday that they are making final preparations for snowy and icy roadway conditions.

US Senate GOP primary candidate Patrick Hughes says he's opposed to Illinois selling the Thomson Correctional Facility to the feds for housing terrorists ... 'I am vehemently opposed to bringing enemy combatants, including the Gitmo prisoners, to Illinois and was also opposed the closing of Guantanamo Bay.

Republican candidate for governor Bill Brady wants to eliminate the cap on charter schools in Illinois.

A man accused of trying to kill two women in a southern Illinois church says he didn't do it.

Sen. Robert Byrd , D-W.Va., made a rare appearance on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday to mark his 20,774th day as a member of Congress - making him the longest-serving member in history.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4:15 p.m. Read more: National , Politics , Politico , Politics , Guantanamo Detainees , Gitmo , Northwester Illinois , Illinois , Illinois Republican , Republican An Illinois Republican has introduced legislation to block federal funds from transporting Guantanamo detainees to the Thomson Correction Center in ...

Gov. Pat Quinn says a deal to sell a prison in northwestern Illinois to the federal government to house Guantanamo Bay detainees "probably'' will happen.

Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes sparred over their tax plans at the first of two debates between the rival Democratic candidates for governor.

The Naperville Police Department and state of Illinois officials are announcing the kickoff of "Operation Save 100" by encouraging citizens to help save 100 lives and $100 million in associated costs by New Year's Day.

Pete Hoekstra, Rob Simmons and Mark Kirk are among the GOP candidates seeking an edge in the W.H. decision to try terror suspects on U.S. soil.

The trial for one of two brothers accused of killing a family of five in central Illinois won't start this year after all.

For nearly eight years years the people in Thomson, Illinois and the surrounding area have waited for Thomson Correctional Center to open.

Illinois has made it easier for people who have had sex reassignment surgery to change their birth certificates to reflect their new gender.

Playing tourist on his first visit ever to China, President Barack Obama drew a chilly comparison between the Chinese capital and his Illinois hometown.

There's a new president of a key northern Illinois treasurers' group. Members have elected Will County Treasurer Pat McGuire as the president of Illinois County Treasurers Association Zone Four.

The two big name Democratic candidates for governor have a busy week ahead. Gov. Pat Quinn and challenger Dan Hynes will meet up at two candidate forums Wednesday.

A millionaire power broker who was to go to trial on corruption charges alongside ousted Illinois Gov.

Several Illinois lawmakers say the Chicago area would become a terrorist target if Guantanamo Bay detainees are moved to a prison in western Illinois.

Republicans are blasting the decision to put five men accused of plotting the Sept.

Dems at risk of losing Obama's old Senate seat Democratic Party leaders in Washington -- and the Obama White House -- failed to recruit a candidate strong enough to scare Rep.

Dan Hynes and Pat Quinn are preparing to face off in the battle for the Democratic nomination for Illinois governor.

Indiana Conservation officers say an Illinois man has died in a high-speed crash inside the Indiana Dunes State Park.

We should learn more Sunday about a plan to possibly send Guantanamo Bay detainees to a prison in Northwestern Illinois.

A nearly empty, maximum-security prison in northwestern Illinois may end up housing Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski has won a straw poll sponsored by the Federation of Illinois Young Republicans, an official auxiliary of the Republican Party.

CHICAGO – Prosecutors asked a federal judge Friday to drop millionaire power broker William Cellini from Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial, while the former governor asked that the trial scheduled for June be postponed for months.

When Illinois built the $145 Thomson Correctional Center the complex was promised to bring jobs and an economic boost to the area around Thomson, Illinois.

House Democrats missed opportunities to improve the House-passed health care bill when they rejected Republican ideas to limit lawsuits and give states more flexibility to enact innovative changes, a GOP lawmaker said Saturday.

Andy McKenna may keep spending on TV ads throughout the holidays A February primary usually means a timeout in campaigning while voters are preoccupied with the holidays.

In a day of developments, impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich says that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on other pending cases could free him of most of the federal corruption charges against him.

Any conscientious citizen and taxpayer should be concerned about just what will happen whenIllinois' obsession with kicking the proverbial "can down theroad" will come to an abrupt end.

Legislative support for the proposed Illiana Expressway backed by Gov. Mitch Daniels may be gaining momentum in Illinois.

This whole town has gone MAD. Signifying that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich isn't even #1 at being mocked, Mad Magazine has awarded the Coifed One 15th place in its annual Top 20 list of dumbest people, events and things of 2009.

The Champaign County State's Attorney issued this statement this morning: The Illinois State Police report on the investigation of the officer involved shooting on October 9, 2009, has been delivered to the Champaign County States Attorneys Office this morning.

The first wave of Illinois prisoners eligible for early release will be let out today as part of a cost-cutting move, St.

U.S. Senate hopeful Jacob Meister is not your run-of-the-mill political candidate.

Illinois is to receive nearly $100,000 in federal money to fight health care associated infections, or infections that some patients contract while in a hospital or outpatient clinic.

A judge has ordered psychological testing for a central Illinois man charged with plotting to blow up a federal courthouse.

After filing candidacy papers for two offices for the upcoming February primary, U.S. Rep.

Graduate students who teach and research assistants at the University of Illinois have authorized a strike over a wage dispute.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office wants to make sure people understand changes in the state's public records laws.

A state-run loan program is expanding to help Illinois service members when their deployments end.

A news conference is being held this afternoon, Nov. 9, regarding a weekend shooting which ended in the death of an Illinois man.

The Associated Press has asked a judge to deny a request by the attorneys of street artist Shepard Fairey to withdraw from his copyright battle over the Barack Obama "HOPE" poster.

Clipped in full from Illinois Review . I'm sure Fran won't mind. "If there's anything that Tuesday's elections in New Jersey and Virginia showed us, it's that the public is sick and tired of the Democrats' reckless policies, like the government-run option, that create more government and not more jobs.

November 8, 2009. Governor Pat Quinn today joined with representatives from the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemana s Association to accept a $50,000 donation to the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund.

Kathryn Gowin was already spooked after she hit a deer with her Ford Explorer last week in southern Illinois.

Rickey Hendon is ready for a new political experience. After spending the last 16 years representing Illinois ' 5th District in the State Senate, Hendon is now running to fill the lieutenant governor spot left vacant by Pat Quinn .

American involvement in the Vietnam War was escalating, as were anti-war protests at home.

One of two suspects accused of killing a southern Illinois man by hitting him in the head with a fire extinguisher has pleaded guilty.

A shootout in the parking lot of a southern Illinois strip club has left one man wounded and five in jail.

A man charged in a two-state killing spree will be tried in the hometown of the first person he's accused of killing.

CHICAGO – Candidates for Illinois governor are split over a national health care plan with all but one Republican saying the state should opt out if it can, a position rejected by Democrats Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes.

The Chicago Teachers' Union is a gang , charged James Meeks, chair of the Illinois Senate Education committee and pastor of Salem Baptist Church, in an Oct.

Today is Friday, Nov. 6, the 310th day of 2009. There are 55 days left in the year.

Legislation President Barack Obama is set to sign Friday would extend unemployment insurance benefits by 14 weeks for jobless people in all states who have exhausted their benefits.

U.S. Rep. Phil Hare has presented a congressional committee with 7,000 signatures seeking higher Mississippi River levees.

A teenage driver safety program run by the Illinois Department of Transportation has been recognized for using peer programming to try to reduce the number of teen driving-related deaths.

What strikes me about politics over the past couple of years is how obvious it all has been.

A man arrested in suburban Chicago is accused of gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence involving a skeleton found in southwest Ohio in 2007.

" The Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois State Diabetes Commission have launched an on-line survey to gain information about diabetes in Illinois.

Federal prosecutors say a southern Illinois doctor has agreed to surrender his medical license after admitting he illegally dispensed methadone, tampered with a witness and obstructed justice.

The University of Illinois has received only a small fraction of the $317 million it is owed by the state for this fiscal year and has effectively frozen many open positions.

Mark Kirk sent a memo to Fred Malek seeking advice on how to acquire a 'quick and decisive' endorsement from Sarah Palin.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's office says a state lawmaker's wife was the best of 51 applicants for a post on the Pollution Control Board.

Illinois is allowed to start enforcing a long-debated parental notification law for teen girls seeking abortions after more than a decade of legal challenges.

The Illinois Republican Party is feeling positive about its chances to win key elections next year after a GOP rout in governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey.

On Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Revenue posted the names of 100 businesses and individuals that collectively owe the state at least $6.3 million.

A candidate from the past has returned to run for Illinois governor. Jim Ryan said Tuesday he has more experience than the other candidates seeking the Republican nomination.

A former head of theA Illinois Department of Human Services who Gov. Pat Quinn appointed to lead the state's African trade office has declined the international trade post.

The U.S. Army is financing a new research center at the University of Illinois to develop technology for computer networks used on battlefields and in other similarly difficult environments.

A Republican candidate has dropped out of the U.S. Senate race, saying he wants to avoid splitting Illinois conservatives.

The application period for low-income Illinoisans to apply winter home heating assistance has opened.

Davis, who has said he will pick a race by the Nov. 9 deadline to withdraw petitions, was one of several candidates who filed to run for Congress in his district in the Feb.

A former aide to Gov. Rod Blagojevich has officially signed up to run for office, and so has a former Blagojevich opponent.

It's unclear if Illinois will start enforcing a hotly debated abortion notification law this week after all.

In case you haven't noticed, Illinois temp Gov. Pat Quinn has been shifting from his outsider reform persona to a more insider, politics as usual politician.

Seniors will still ride for free on public transportation in the Chicago area, state legislators in Springfield said Friday.

The Illinois House will be voting today on HB 607, which, ILCAAAP says, is not a "clean up" bill like some legislators are trying to frame it as.

Arthur Call commutes three hours roundtrip to his anatomy class at community college because similar courses on campuses closer to his Indianapolis home are packed this semester.

The Illinois House of Representatives is calling for more oversight of cemeteries in the state.

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis announced his support for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cheryle R. Jackson, according to chicagobreakingsnews.com. Davis said Jackson a oehas the most experience dealing with issues, problems, hopes and aspirations,a in a statement.