State News

SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois agency manager might have to delay retirement. A former university secretary wonders whether she’ll have to cancel vacations. A state office assistant fears he won’t be able to afford the medical care his wife needs.

CHICAGO – Seeking to keep pace with changing technology, Illinois toughened penalties Saturday for those who use social media and text messaging to organize violent “flash mobs” like those that have occurred on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue and in other tourist areas.

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois General Assembly has just two weeks left in Springfield before it adjourns for the summer, leaving lawmakers with a tight deadline for action on issues including tackling the state’s pension crisis, gay marriage and how guns will be allowed to be carried in public.

SPRINGFIELD – Medical marijuana use in Illinois is now in Gov. Pat Quinn’s hands after the state Senate approved legislation.

CHICAGO – Community groups in Illinois have been given more time to apply for $28 million in grants to help consumers learn how to shop for health insurance that will be available under President Barack Obama's health overhaul law.

CHICAGO – As the guitarist strums and softly sings a lullaby in Spanish, tiny Augustin Morales stops squirming in his hospital crib and closes his eyes.

SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois Senate panel approved a measure Thursday allowing the carrying of concealed weapons, but the committee's move followed sharp questioning from Republicans concerning whether packing a gun in Chicago should require special permission and how authorities would determine who is fit to carry.

SPRINGFIELD – Politics has long been a family business in Illinois, a place where who you know – and who you’re related to – matters more than most. But the family drama shaping up around the next governor’s race adds a new layer of intrigue in a Capitol already grappling with huge financial problems.

ST. LOUIS – More than eight decades since bootlegging gangster Charlie Birger became Illinois' last person publicly hanged, the southern Illinois city that has clung to his legend finally has the case's biggest and most-elusive relic: the gallows from which he swung for his role in the killing of a nearby mayor.

CHICAGO – A scowling Donald Trump raised his voice on the witness stand Wednesday while an attorney grilled him and then rolled his eyes at the “Apprentice” star’s answers, leading a federal judge to scold both men in open court and order them to behave.

ST. LOUIS – Six federal marshals were honored Monday for bravery for their actions during a 2011 St. Louis gunfight that killed one of their own, along with a drug suspect they were looking to arrest.

CHICAGO – Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon said she is in favor of a bill allowing the medical use of marijuana, explaining Sunday that testimony from seriously ill veterans and other patients helped change her mind.

SPRINGFIELD – Eleven Illinois counties that suffered damage from last month’s flooding have been declared federal disaster areas.

DIXON – The city of Dixon is citing a deposition by a former branch manager in its lawsuit against the bank, where former city Comptroller Rita Crundwell had a secret account that she used in her theft of nearly $54 million.