Illinois

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Dead Dad's Sealed Letters to Kids Lost in Tornado

Annmarie Klein's brother gave her the letters before his 2005 death

(Newser) - Annmarie Klein knows she's blessed to have survived the tornado that leveled her family's central Illinois home, and she understands most of the things they lost—the Jacuzzi, 60-inch TVs, diamond jewelry, the convertible—can be replaced. That's not true for a mint green box that contained...

Amid Tornado Cleanup, Hope Arrives Via Led Zeppelin

Pastor's husband finds album sleeve from 'Houses of the Holy'

(Newser) - When your town is decimated by a tornado, you'll take solace wherever you can find it. In Gifford, Ill., that just happened to be in form of a sleeve to Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy album—found, of course, by the pastor's husband in the rubble...

Dying Woman Gets Last Wish: Right to Marry

Couple won't have to wait for Illinois law to kick in

(Newser) - A federal judge has decided to allow a lesbian couple in Illinois to get married before death splits them up. Gov. Pat Quinn signed a same-sex marriage bill into law last week, but it doesn't allow weddings to begin until June, which might be too late for Vernita Gray...

Illinois Is 16th State to OK Gay Marriage

'Triumph of democracy' as church attempts exorcism

(Newser) - Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn invoked Abraham Lincoln as he signed a marriage equality bill into law, making the state the 16th to legalize gay marriage—and the third in the space of a month, after Hawaii and New Jersey. Lincoln "said our nation was conceived in liberty," the...

Thousands Homeless as Midwest Reels From Tornadoes

6 dead as damage from scores of twisters still being assessed

(Newser) - The extent of destruction is still unknown after scores of tornadoes ripped through the Midwest yesterday , killing at least six people and decimating entire neighborhoods in the hardest-hit towns in Illinois. The National Weather Service says the tornadoes were spawned by an unusually strong and fast-moving storm system that moved...

Illinois Lawmakers OK Gay Marriage

Governor has promised to sign measure into law

(Newser) - Gay marriage won yet another big fight tonight, as state lawmakers in Illinois gave their blessing, reports the Chicago Tribune . Gov. Pat Quinn has promised to sign the measure into law, which would make Illinois the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage. DC also allows it. The first weddings in...

Illinois City OKs Dig for 1922 Massacre Victims

About 2 dozen killed in labor dispute in Herrin

(Newser) - A notorious labor dispute nearly a century ago in the city of Herrin, Ill., left nearly two dozen non-union and union miners dead. Now researchers are digging into the local cemetery to find them. The city council has given a team led by a geologist at Eastern Illinois University the...

Minneapolis Mayor to Gay Chicagoans: We'll Marry You

Meanwhile, the VA changes tune on benefits, and Texas GOP fights anti-discrimination law

(Newser) - Gay marriage still isn't legal in Illinois, and Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak is making a boldfaced attempt to take advantage of that. Rybak is headed to Chicago today to announce a new ad campaign urging gay Windy City residents to cross the border and get hitched. Rybak will hold...

Chicago Teen's Death Could Be Case of Mistaken Identity

Daquan Boyd, 18, dies the day before Illinois' gov signs new gun legislation

(Newser) - Yet another Monday brings with it stories of another bloody weekend in Chicago. The Tribune has two particularly wrenching stories:
  • In the first , an 18-year-old was shot dead on Saturday while coming home from a neighborhood festival. He was killed less than a block from a police station, in what
...

No. 20: Illinois Legalizes Medical Marijuana

Law goes into effect in January, with strict conditions

(Newser) - Illinois became the 20th state in the nation to allow the medical use of marijuana today, with Gov. Pat Quinn signing some of the nation's toughest standards into law. The measure, which takes effect Jan. 1, sets up a four-year pilot program for state-regulated dispensaries and 22 so-called cultivation...

The States Most Likely to Legalize Gay Marriage Next

Keep your eye on Illinois, New Jersey, and Hawaii

(Newser) - With gay marriage back in California , gay rights activists are now looking ahead to the next battleground states, reports NBC News . So which states can we expect to see take up the fight now? Your best bets, according to advocates: Illinois almost passed legislation this year, and might have a...

Chicago's Pride Parade Looks to Boot Politicians

Campaigners angered by failure to pass same-sex marriage bill

(Newser) - Campaigners enraged by Illinois lawmakers' failure to make the state the 13th to legalize gay marriage want the politicians banned from this year's Pride Parade in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reports. A same-sex marriage bill passed the state Senate in February, but the House's spring session adjourned without...

Illinois GOP Chair Exits After Backing Gay Marriage

Pat Brady opposed party platform

(Newser) - The head of the Illinois Republican Party is stepping down after publicly backing gay marriage in January. Pat Brady's support for a measure currently under state consideration ran counter to the party's platform; he said his stance was personal and not made in his capacity as party chief,...

Man Who Killed 5 Saved Wounded Girl: Police

Officials unsure why Rick Smith took 6-year-old to neighboring home

(Newser) - The man who police say killed five people in Manchester, Ill., yesterday turns out to have been the one who helped save the 6-year-old girl he shot, reports the Chicago Tribune . Officials don't know why Rick Odell Smith carried the bloodied girl to a neighbor's house after his...

Grandma, Kids Among 5 Dead in Illinois Shooting

Incident leads to car chase, closed schools

(Newser) - Five people, including two children, were killed and another child was injured in a shooting this morning in the tiny Illinois town of Manchester, which is home to just 300 people. The suspect managed to evade police for nearly three hours, but was ultimately captured after a high-speed chase in...

Kelly Cruises to Victory in Race for Jackson Jr. Seat

Vocal gun control supporter faces tough challenge in House

(Newser) - Robin Kelly has, as widely expected, cruised to an easy victory over her Republican opponent in the race for the Chicago-area House seat vacated by Jesse Jackson Jr.'s resignation . Kelly—a firm supporter of gun control whose primary campaign was bankrolled by Michael Bloomberg —won after raising...

Mother, Son Square Off in Mayoral Battle

Wendy, Randall Casey vie for leadership of Dixmoor, Ill.

(Newser) - They say all politics is local. Well, it doesn't get much more local than the race to be president of Dixmoor, a small Illinois village where two of the candidates are mother and son, reports NBC News . Randall Casey may still live under his mother's roof, but the...

One Dead in School Bus Rollover in Illinois

25 students on bus, but only minor injuries reported

(Newser) - A school bus rollover in northern Illinois this morning has killed the driver of one car involved in the accident, reports the Chicago Sun-Times . There were approximately 25 elementary school students on the bus at the time of the accident, and most were taken to nearby hospitals, though their injuries...

Illinois Sinkhole Swallows Golfer

But Mark Mihal is OK

(Newser) - Florida isn't the only state dealing with sinkhole troubles : On an Illinois golf course Friday, golfer Mark Mihal suddenly dropped into one. "I was standing in the middle of the fairway," he tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . "Then, all of a sudden, before I knew it,...

Feds to Illinois: You Deceived Investors

SEC settles with Illinois over underfunded pension system

(Newser) - Federal regulators accused Illinois of securities fraud today, saying officials had misled investors about the shaky state of the state pension system, the New York Times reports. The SEC said Illinois had issued false annual reports for 15 years claiming the state was keeping up with its required payments to...

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