State News

SPRINGFIELD – The U.S. Supreme Court granted an extension Tuesday for Illinois's attorney general to decide whether to appeal a court order permitting the state's gun owners to carry concealed firearms.

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Legislature's special session will cost about $40,000 a day, which includes a $111 daily payment to lawmakers to defray the cost of food and lodging while they work in the state capitol.

SPRINGFIELD – Unable to overcome a stalemate on the state's $97 billion pension crisis, Gov. Pat Quinn and legislative leaders are working on a new plan that involves forming a bipartisan committee this week and reconvening the Legislature for an additional session in July.

CHICAGO – There is a new attraction in Chicago's famous Millennium Park. It is called "The Screen."

CHICAGO – Illinois residents using mobile phones are wasting $1.4 billion a year by signing up for the wrong cellphone data plan, according to a consumer advocacy group's study released Tuesday.

CARMI, Ill. – The list of Illinois counties where prosecutors have decided not to prosecute people for carrying concealed weapons is growing.

CHICAGO – Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday signed into law the nation’s strictest regulations for high-volume oil and gas drilling.

PONTIAC – Since the late 1990s, there's been a much-whispered rumor that a handgun was smuggled into Pontiac Correctional Center, a myth told behind the walls of the maximum-security prison.

CHICAGO – In his first public remarks since stepping into the race for Illinois governor, former White House chief of staff Bill Daley on Monday criticized both Gov. Pat Quinn and Attorney General Lisa Madigan for not doing more to break a logjam over fixing the state's nearly $100 billion pension crisis.

EAST ST. LOUIS – An East St. Louis program aimed at helping at-risk students is celebrating after every high school senior enrolled in the program graduated and was accepted to college.

CHICAGO – Gov. Pat Quinn wants Illinois residents to buy fruits and vegetables that are produced in-state.

SPRINGFIELD – Fatal motorcycle accidents are up 13 percent in Illinois, according to data from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois university employees would pay more toward their pensions and receive annual retirement-pay increases tied to inflation in a reform plan the Senate president supports, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

SPRINGFIELD – As lawmakers strain again this week to find a fix for the state's $97 billion pension crisis, the stalemate between House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton highlights the evolving relationship between two powerful Democratic friends who've seldom had such a prolonged disagreement on such an urgent issue.

CHICAGO – The city of Chicago, which plans to close dozens of schools this summer to save money, has received 11,000 requests for help getting children to their new schools along safe-passage routes.