News from the last 30 days
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September 03, 2010
Chicago gangs to top cop: You're not playing fair
Peoria Journal Star
CHICAGO -- Calling the Chicago police chief's ultimatum to stop resorting to violence a waste of time, current and former members of some of the city's most notorious street gangs held an unlikely news conference on Thursday to send their own message to police: You're not playing fair. Representatives of the Traveling Vice Lords, Four Corner Hustlers and other gangs gathered before TV camera... <read more> -
September 03, 2010
Critics: Ill. lottery contract cloaked in secrecy
St. Louis Post Dispatch
With less than two weeks before Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn awards a lucrative, first-of-its-kind contract for the private management of the state's $2 billion-a-year lottery, some are criticizing the selection process as too secretive and questioning whether it favors one powerful bidder. Lottery officials have released little information, refusing until this week to name any companies that bid... <read more> -
September 03, 2010
Critics: Ill. lottery contract cloaked in secrecy
St. Louis Post Dispatch
With less than two weeks before Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn awards a lucrative, first-of-its-kind contract for the private management of the state's $2 billion-a-year lottery, some are criticizing the selection process as too secretive and questioning whether it favors one powerful bidder. Lottery officials have released little information, refusing until this week to name any companies that bid... <read more> -
September 03, 2010
Embattled Illinois prisons chief resigns
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Illinois' prison chief, who became a political liability to Gov. Pat Quinn during an election year because of a secret prisoner release program he oversaw, is stepping down, the governor said Thursday. Corrections Director Michael Randle is resigning as of Sept. 17. He will return to Ohio, where he had been assistant director of the state prison system, to run a community correctional facili... <read more> -
September 03, 2010
Quinn says he didn't force out Illinois prisons chief
State Journal Register
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says he did not force his state prisons chief to resign. Michael Randle announced Thursday he is quitting as director of the Corrections Department effective Sept. 17. Randle has faced months of criticism for a secret early prison release program that awarded good-conduct time off to more than 1,700 inmates who hadn't earned it. Quinn blamed Randle for the deba... <read more> -
September 03, 2010
Brady blasts prison chief as he steps down
State Journal Register
CHICAGO -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady is blasting Gov. Pat Quinn for letting his embattled prisons chief resign without a reprimand. Quinn says he's accepted the resignation of Corrections Department Director Michael Randle, who had been blamed for a secret early prison release program. Brady spokesman Patty Schuh says Randle should have been fired "long ago." She says... <read more> -
September 03, 2010
Randle's exit not total fix for Corrections
State Journal Register
Gov. Pat Quinn's re-election campaign shed what had become a major distraction this week when Illinois Department of Corrections Director Michael Randle submitted his resignation, effective in two weeks. From a political standpoint, Randle's departure was all but inevitable. Problems with the early release program his department administered a year ago created a simmering issue in Quinn's p... <read more> -
September 02, 2010
Try sunshine before a strike
Belleville News Democrat
Last week, the teachers union and school administration in Harmony-Emge District 175 were miles apart on a new contract. Both sides declared an impasse and a strike seemed all but certain. Then this week they agreed to a new three-year contract without a strike and without busting the district's budget. So what got the two sides to yes? Apparently a little sunshine. The teachers are... <read more> -
September 02, 2010
Quinn's prisons chief to resign
Bloomington Pantagraph
CHICAGO -- The Illinois Corrections chief who has been blamed for a secret early prison release program is stepping down, a spokeswoman for Gov. Pat Quinn told the Chicago Tribune. Spokeswoman Ashley Cross said Corrections Director Michael Randle is resigning as of Sept. 17 to "pursue a new opportunity." She said a replacement will be named "shortly." The newspaper reported in a story pos... <read more> -
September 02, 2010
Brady: Schools should consider skipping teacher raises
Bloomington Pantagraph
SPRINGFIELD -- State Sen. Bill Brady, the Republican candidate for governor, is taking heat from a teachers union over suggestions that school districts could consider foregoing teacher pay raises. While questioned by reporters in recent weeks, Brady said his proposed cuts to the state budget would mean schools will see less money from the state. "Local school districts could absorb that ... <read more>