Judge expected to rule on R Kelly request to fly to Dubai
CHICAGO (AP) – A Chicago judge is expected to rule on whether to let R. Kelly travel overseas to perform several concerts to help the cash-strapped singer pay legal and other bills as he faces sex-abuse charges.
Alternative rockers Shinedown coming to Illinois State Fair
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Alternative rock band Shinedown will appear at the Illinois State Fair in August.
R Kelly defense emerges, including saying accusers are lying
CHICAGO (AP) – A strategy seems to be emerging for how R. Kelly and his legal team intend to defend him against charges of sexually abusing three girls and a woman.
2 charged in child abuse death of 2-year-old boy in Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) – A woman and a man have been charged in the death of the woman’s 2-year-old son, who had sores and bruises on his body when authorities were called to a Chicago home.
Illinois unemployment 4.3 percent, unchanged since November
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The unemployment rate in Illinois was 4.3 percent in February.
Illinois bank robber, 82, gets jail, home confinement
BENTON, Ill. (AP) – An 82-year-old man who says he was desperate when he robbed an Illinois bank has been sentenced to 10 weekends in jail.
Chicago alderman pleads guilty in federal corruption case
CHICAGO (AP) – A prominent Chicago alderman who told a judge last year that he wasn’t going to accept a plea agreement that was planned for his federal corruption case has changed his mind again and pleaded
Fire at DeKalb airport causes $250,000 damage
DEKALB, Ill. (AP) – Officials say an early morning fire in a maintenance building at the municipal airport in DeKalb caused an estimated quarter-million dollars in damage.
Illinois State Police face 2nd suit over warehouse shooting
CHICAGO (AP) – A second lawsuit has been filed against the Illinois State Police for issuing a firearm license to the convicted felon who killed five people and wounded several police officers when he opened fire at
Semi-trailer strikes, seriously injures Illinois trooper
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (AP) – An Illinois State Police trooper was seriously injured when a semi-trailer struck him and his squad car while he was responding to a multi-vehicle accident.
2 charged in child abuse death of 2-year-old boy in Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) – A woman and a young man from Chicago have been charged in the child abuse death of the woman’s 2-year-old son, who had sores and bruises on his body.
Former northern Illinois chief charged with eavesdropping
HINCKLEY, Ill. (AP) – A former northern Illinois police chief has been charged with official misconduct for allegedly recording a conversation with her boss.
Chicago’s $8.7 billion O’Hare Airport expansion underway
CHICAGO (AP) – The $8.7 billion expansion of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has gotten underway.
Men found crammed in SUV accused of entering US illegally
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) – Federal prosecutors say 14 men from central and South America were found crammed in an SUV when the vehicle was pulled over last month on Interstate 64 in southern Illinois.
New federal charges filed against indicted police officers
CHICAGO (AP) – Additional federal charges have been filed against two Chicago police officers already accused of lying to judges to obtain search warrants and then stealing cash and drugs from the properties they searched.
Attorneys: Church list of accused Illinois clergy incomplete
CHICAGO (AP) – Advocates for clergy abuse victims say their list of 395 priests or lay people in Illinois who have been publicly accused of sexually abusing children is far more extensive than the names already released
R. Kelly asks judge to let him travel to Dubai to perform
CHICAGO (AP) – Cash-strapped R&B singer R. Kelly wants a judge to let him travel to the Middle East to perform several concerts, saying he has struggled to get work in the U.S. since his February arrest
Gov. JB Pritzker tours flooded areas of northern Illinois
FREEPORT, Ill. (AP) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker has toured flooded northern Illinois neighborhoods and asked the state’s emergency operations center to expedite help to affected areas.
Ground broken on terminal expansion at O’Hare airport
CHICAGO (AP) – Ground has been broken on the first phase of a $1.2 billion expansion of a terminal at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
Collinsville man charged in Edwardsville couple’s killings
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) – A 23-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of an Edwardsville couple.
Preschoolers allegedly punished by standing naked in closet
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) – Two teachers in Illinois are on paid leave as authorities investigate allegations that one forced preschool children to stand naked in a closet with the door open as punishment for misbehaving.
Illinois man pleads not guilty in deputy’s fatal shooting
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) – An Illinois man has pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing him of fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy who was trying to serve an arrest warrant at a hotel.
Waukegan’s Ray Bradbury statue to be dedicated in August
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) – An August dedication is planned for a statue of famed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury in his hometown of Waukegan.
Politicians show solidarity with striking CSO musicians
CHICAGO (AP) – Striking Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians have picked up the support of some members of Illinois’ congressional delegation and the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Drug suspect escapes arrest after group threatens officer
CHICAGO (AP) – A suspected Chicago drug dealer avoided arrest after a group of people threatened to harm a police officer attempting the arrest.
Contract to raze decrepit Cairo housing projects OK’d
CAIRO, Ill. (AP) – Demolition of two complexes run by the troubled Alexander County Housing Authority in southern Illinois will begin next month.
Judge clears way for demolition of Rock Island courthouse
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) – An effort to save the Rock Island County Courthouse has hit a roadblock.
Lawyers to release list of accused Illinois Catholic clergy
CHICAGO (AP) – Attorneys who have represented clergy abuse victims across the United States say they are releasing a report that lists the names of every Catholic priest and layperson in Illinois who has been publicly accused
Graduate teaching assistants strike at U of Illinois-Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) – Graduate student employees at the University of Illinois at Chicago have gone on strike.
Chicago police union wants federal probe in Smollett case
CHICAGO (AP) – The Chicago police union’s president alleges that the county’s top prosecutor interfered with the investigation of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett before recusing herself and wants the Justice Department to determine if she broke any
Illinois agriculture director focusing on rural development
MATTOON, Ill. (AP) – Illinois’ new agriculture director says rural economic development and increasing broadband access are among his top priorities.
Illinois village approves immigration detention center plan
DWIGHT, Ill. (AP) – Trustees of a small village near Chicago are moving closer to allowing a private immigration detention center to be built in the area, despite pushback from activists and communities.
More than 170 evacuate due to flooding in northern Illinois
ROSCOE, Ill. (AP) – Authorities say Rock River flooding has surrounded one neighborhood in the northern Illinois village of Roscoe, leaving residents to escape in boats.
The Latest: Chicago cop’s lawyer heralds ruling on sentence
CHICAGO (AP) – The Latest on the Illinois Supreme Court letting Chicago officer’s sentence stand (all times local):
10-year-old boy killed when van flips into retention pond
HUNTLEY, Ill. (AP) – Authorities say a 10-year-old boy was killed when the minivan he was riding in ran off a northern Illinois interstate and flipped upside down into a retention pond.
Illinois home care, child care workers to get overdue raises
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – More than 40,000 employees of the Illinois Department of Human Services who provide senior care in the home and child care services will get long-overdue salary increases.
Lake Zurich park with century-old trees to become arboretum
LAKE ZURICH, Ill. (AP) – The northwestern Chicago suburb of Lake Zurich is taking a barely used park and turning it into an arboretum.
Jury convicts 30-year-old man in Illinois trafficking case
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (AP) – A federal jury in western Illinois has found a 30-year-old man guilty of conspiring to distribute cocaine and heroin.
Chicago officials call an end to “dibs” season
CHICAGO (AP) – A sign winter is over in Chicago is officials telling people to get rid of those chairs, tables and other stuff they’ve put in front of their homes to save parking spots after clearing
Edwardsville husband and wife found dead in their home
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) – A southern Illinois husband and wife have been found dead in their home.
Illinois state trooper injured when squad hit in the rear
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) – An Illinois State Police trooper was injured while conducting a traffic stop when a motorist slammed into his squad car on Interstate 80, south of Chicago.
Financial planner who defrauded customers sent to prison
CHICAGO (AP) – A five-year prison sentence has been handed a suburban Chicago financial planner who stole money set aside by a couple for their retirement years.
Energy Department spending $500M on ‘Aurora’ supercomputer
LEMONT, Ill. (AP) – The Department of Energy plans to spend $500 million to build what could be one of the world’s fastest computers at Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago.
Illinois organizations prepare for important 2020 Census
CHICAGO (AP) – Experts in Illinois say preparations for next year’s U.S. Census are important because there’s a lot at stake, including billions in federal funding and congressional seats.
25 job offers revoked after U of Illinois background checks
URBANA, Ill. (AP) – Data shared with trustees show that the University of Illinois withdrew 25 job offers across its three campuses after doing background checks last year.
Court orders new trial in Chicago police torture case
CHICAGO (AP) – A prison inmate serving a life sentence for murder has been granted a new trial after an appellate court determined Chicago police tortured him into implicating himself in the 1989 slayings of two men.
Shelters open in northern Illinois for flooding victims
FREEPORT, Ill. (AP) – Residents in northern and western Illinois continue to deal with flooding as rivers swell from melting snow and recent rains.
4 sites added for this year’s Illinois spring trout season
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Four new sites have been added for this year’s Illinois Spring Trout Fishing Season.
Caroline Kennedy to headline 2019 Judson University forum
ELGIN, Ill. (AP) – Judson University says Caroline Kennedy will headline this year’s World Leaders Forum in suburban Chicago.
Hundreds gather outside Chicago to mark mosque attacks
MORTON GROVE, Ill. (AP) – Hundreds gathered in suburban Chicago to show solidarity with area Muslims and take a stand against hate in the wake of mosque attacks in New Zealand.