Yesterday's News
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March 09, 2010
Jury being picked in Chicago developer's trial
Alton Telegraph
CHICAGO (AP) -- Jury selection is getting under way at the trial of a millionaire Chicago real estate developer accused of bribing an alderman to push through a zoning change. Developer Calvin Boender (BOON'-der) is charged with showering $40,000 worth of home improvements on former Alderman Isaac Carothers in return for the rezoning of the Galewood Yards neighborhood. He also is charged ... <read more> -
March 09, 2010
Turner submits application to be Ill. lt gov
Alton Telegraph
CHICAGO (AP) -- Another former candidate for Illinois lieutenant governor has submitted an application to be the new Democratic nominee for the post. State Rep. Arthur Turner says he submitted his application Monday. He's been in the state legislature for more than 30 years. Former candidate Thomas Castillo has also applied. Turner came in second to Scott Lee Cohen in the February prim... <read more> -
March 09, 2010
'It's greed': Groups want to stop Ameren rate hikes
Belleville News Democrat
State regulators should not only reject Ameren Illinois' plans for a $130 million increase in electricity and gas rates, it should force the utility to give back $6 million to ratepayers, representatives of the Citizens Utility Board and AARP Illinois said during a news conference Monday. "We want to stop Ameren from getting another rate hike," said state Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson, D-East St. ... <read more> -
March 09, 2010
Durbin meeting with FEMA to talk flood maps Will relay metro-east leaders' request for a five-year delay
Belleville News Democrat
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin met Monday with leaders of Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties to hear their pleas for a proposed five-year delay in new federal flood hazard maps for the metro-east. If the delay is not granted, flood insurance rates for 150,000 residents and businesses in the Mississippi River flood plain could soar by January. Durbin met with Alan Dunstan, Mark Kern and Dale ... <read more> -
March 09, 2010
Brady ends statewide victory lap in Twin Cities
Bloomington Pantagraph
BLOOMINGTON -- State Sen. Bill Brady talked politics all day on Monday. During a fly-around tour of eight Illinois cities, the newly anointed Republican gubernatorial candidate from Bloomington talked shop with media outlets in Chicago and visited Rockford, Cahokia, Quincy, Moline, Marion, Peoria and Champaign. So by the time the day ended with a rally at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference ... <read more> -
March 09, 2010
Local officials gearing up to fight Quinn's cuts to cities, schools
Bloomington Pantagraph
SPRINGFIELD -- Even before Gov. Pat Quinn formally unveils his spending plan Wednesday, local government officials have been gearing up for a fight. Over the weekend, Quinn's budget chief, David Vaught, said the governor will outline a controversial plan to cut the amount of income tax revenue the state shares with municipalities in his budget plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Th... <read more> -
March 09, 2010
Winner of Lt. Gov's race will get virtually empty office
Bloomington Pantagraph
SPRINGFIELD -- Tucked away in a corner of the Capitol is a warren of offices that used to be home base for Pat Quinn. For six years, Quinn camped out in that second floor space on the south wing of the Illinois Statehouse, serving as lieutenant governor under Rod Blagojevich - a position that carries few duties other than having to be ready to step up if the chief executive is unable to fini... <read more> -
March 09, 2010
Audit: Tiny state agency has only one employee
Bloomington Pantagraph
SPRINGFIELD -- Created in an effort to keep the cost of electricity as low as possible, the Illinois Power Agency has only one employee and no one to handle its finances, a recent audit found. Mark Pruitt was tapped to run the agency almost two years ago, and he's remained its only employee ever since. In a new report, Auditor General William Holland found that Pruitt, a utility expert, h... <read more> -
March 09, 2010
More than 200 apply to be Lt. Gov. candidate
Bloomington Pantagraph
SPRINGFIELD -- The number of people hoping to replace Scott Lee Cohen as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor swelled to more than 200 Monday. Democrats began soliciting applications when Cohen left the race after allegations surfaced that he abused his ex-wife and held a knife to an ex-girlfriend's throat. Just as Cohen was a political newcomer, most of the applicants have litt... <read more> -
March 09, 2010
Sears Tower, Hancock architect Graham dies
Bloomington Pantagraph
CHICAGO -- Bruce J. Graham, the pioneering architect who designed Chicago's two most iconic skyscrapers, including the formerly named Sears Tower, has died at age 84, a public relations firm hired by his family said Monday. Graham died Saturday morning in his sleep at his Hobe Sound, Fla., home of complications associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to a statement from firm SCC Gross... <read more>