Illinois

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Convicted Murderer Freed by Accident in Chicago

Steven Robbins just 8 years into 60-year sentence for murder, weapons

(Newser) - Police are hunting for a convicted murderer after he was mistakenly released from custody in Chicago, where he was sent to face a drug charge while serving a 60-year prison sentence in Indiana. Indiana Department of Corrections officials said Steven L. Robbins, 44, was sent to Cook County Circuit Court...

Illinois Lottery Winner Poisoned With Cyanide

Cops now treating death as murder

(Newser) - The case of a Chicago man who died suddenly weeks after a big lottery win is now being treated as a murder, police say. Urooj Khan scored a $1 million scratchcard win in June and died the day after the check for his winnings was issued the following month, CNN...

Illinois' GOP Chair Backs Same-Sex Marriage

Says it 'honors the best conservative principles'

(Newser) - Are Republicans changing their tune on gay marriage? Illinois Party Chairman Pat Brady is. He issued a statement yesterday saying that he's throwing his "full support" behind the state's pending marriage equality legislation, saying that it "honors the best conservative principles," the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Concealed Weapons Now Legal in All 50 States

Appeals court strikes down Illinois' ban on concealed carry

(Newser) - Gun-rights groups scored a major victory today: Illinois had been the last state where carrying concealed weapons was completely illegal, but a federal appeals court struck down that ban today. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has given state lawmakers 180 days to write a law legalizing concealed carry, reports...

Ex-Cop Gets Life for 1957 Murder
Ex-Cop
Gets Life for
1957 Murder

Ex-Cop Gets Life for 1957 Murder

Slaying of 7-year-old girl is oldest cold case to result in conviction

(Newser) - A former policeman from Washington state has been given a life sentence for kidnapping and murdering a little girl 55 years ago. In what is believed to be the oldest cold case ever to go to trial and get a conviction, Jack McCullough was found guilty of murdering 7-year-old neighbor...

Jesse Jackson Jr. to Resign

 Jesse Jackson Jr. Resigns 
UPDATED

Jesse Jackson Jr. Resigns

Chicago congressman cites his health problems

(Newser) - Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress today, reports the Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune . Jackson had originally intended to hold a press conference to announce as much, but reportedly couldn't bring himself to do so thanks to his bipolar disorder. Jackson won reelection on Nov. 6, even though he didn'...

Blagojevich Scores Gig in Prison Library

It's a step up from dishwashing

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich's latest promotion isn't quite on the level of his last gig, but at least he's no longer washing dishes in his low-security prison, Politico reports. Now, instead of spending six days a week in the kitchen, he's working among the books in the prison...

Ill. Babysitter Charged With Killing 2 Kids

She says demonic voices made her kill little girl and own son

(Newser) - A chilling case out of Illinois: A woman fatally stabbed a 5-year-old girl she was babysitting and her own son, age 7 or 8, reports the Chicago Tribune . Elzbieta Plackowska told police that demonic voices in her head commanded her to save the kids' souls from the devil by stabbing...

Sandy Death Toll Hits 26; State-By-State Updates

With a lion's share of casualties in New York

(Newser) - The East Coast is picking up the pieces and searching for bodies in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, even as states further inland brace for impact. The total US death toll is up to at least 26, according to CNN , including at least 10 in New York City alone, and...

Court: Illinois Can't Force Sale of 'Morning After' Pill

Pharmacists who object on moral grounds can bow out

(Newser) - Illinois pharmacists who don't want to sell the "morning after" contraceptive pill on religious grounds now have the green light to pull it from their shelves. An Illinois appeals court ruled that the state can't force pharmacists to sell the pill, sold under the brand name Plan...

Drew Peterson Guilty in 3rd Wife's Murder

Ex-cop killed Kathleen Savio: jury

(Newser) - After five years of headlines, the Drew Peterson murder case has come to a verdict: The former Chicago-area police officer is guilty of killing Kathleen Savio, his third wife, the jury says. His maximum sentence would be 60 years. It's a victory for a prosecution that based its arguments...

Teen Held as Sex Slave Knew Captor: Police

They reportedly developed a relationship, but he wouldn't allow her to leave

(Newser) - A teenager held captive in a house for more than three years before escaping with a relative's help initially went there voluntarily but wasn't allowed to leave when she wanted to go home, an Illinois police chief said today. He said the 19-year-old St. Louis woman met the...

Cops: Teen Flees Captor After Years as Sex Slave

Police retrieve her toddler, bust man, 24

(Newser) - A missing teenager managed to a flee an Illinois home where she told police she had been held captive for as long as three years and sexually abused almost daily, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . She directed police back to the location, where a SWAT team arrested a 24-year-old man...

Joey Kovar OD'd on Booze, Coke, Viagra: Cops

Reality TV star died in Illinois woman's home

(Newser) - Toxicology results on Joey Kovar won't come in for weeks, but investigators tell TMZ that the reality TV star died from a fatal combination of booze, cocaine, and Viagra. Other sources say Kovar went to the house of a woman named Stacey Achterhof in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, Thursday night...

Drought-Ravaged Farmland Selling for More Than in 2011

Prices keep rising, thanks to federal subsidies, insurance payments

(Newser) - With a historically awful drought laying waste to fields across the country, you might think farmland prices would be down—but you'd be wrong. The average price of farmland in Iowa jumped 24% in the second quarter compared to last year, while in Illinois it rose 15%, according to...

Illinois to Firms: Paws Off Applicants' Facebook Logins

New law will make it illegal for them to request password info

(Newser) - Good news, Illinois job seekers: Would-be employers are now legally barred from demanding your social media passwords and taking a gander at those margarita madness photos you thought only your friends could see. Gov. Pat Quinn yesterday signed a law that will make it illegal for employers to ask job...

Drew Peterson Finally on Trial in Wife's Death

3-year wait ends as 'very unusual' case begins today

(Newser) - A pool of 200 potential jurors has waited three years for the Drew Peterson murder trial to begin; today, jury selection will finally begin in what's set to be a rather unorthodox case. Those selected to hear the case will listen to what is, in effect, posthumous testimony based...

Joe Walsh Blasts Crippled Iraq Vet for Touting Service

Tammy Duckworth lost both legs in the war

(Newser) - Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh is taking heat today for accusing opponent Tammy Duckworth—who lost both her legs in Iraq—of talking about her military service too much. In a video that started circulating online yesterday, the GOP rep said John McCain had been admirably reluctant to discuss his military...

Illinois Prosecutors Won't Defend Gay Marriage Ban

But some legal experts say prosecutors are legally bound to defend state's law

(Newser) - Illinois is home to a 16-year-ban on gay marriage, and some 25 same-sex couples have been gearing up for a big court fight against it. Problem is, the defense's table is looking pretty empty. The AP reports that the state's attorney general and the Cook County state attorney...

Angry Lawmaker's Tirade a YouTube Hit

Illinois' Mike Bost throws a tantrum on state house floor

(Newser) - It might be a calculated political ploy in the YouTube era or a decent argument for anger-management classes: GOP state Rep. Mike Bost went ballistic on the floor of the Illinois statehouse, complaining that Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan has too much control. "Total power in one person’s hands—...

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