Illinois

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5 Shot Outside Chicago High School

Attackers opened fire as South Side students exited basketball game

(Newser) - Chicago cops are hunting gunmen who shot five people outside a South Side high school, reports the Chicago Tribune. The attackers opened fire from an SUV last night as a basketball game at Dunbar High School was ending. Witnesses say the gunmen pretended to fire before shooting into a crowd...

Outgoing Chicago Dem Is Lone Nay in Blago Vote

Milton Patterson won't say much beyond having 'gut feeling' about proceedings

(Newser) - The one nay vote in today’s Illinois House impeachment of Rod Blagojevich was from Chicago Democrat Milton Patterson, the Chicago Tribune reports. Patterson said he wasn’t defending the disgraced governor. “I went by my own gut feeling,” he said. The lone “present” vote belonged to...

Blago Remains Defiant, Quotes Tennyson
Blago Remains Defiant, Quotes Tennyson
UPDATED
Jan 9, 2009 2:49 PM CST

Blago Remains Defiant, Quotes Tennyson

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich says he's not surprised by today's vote to impeach him because the Illinois House has been out to get him for a year now, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. "It happened kind of fast," said the Illinois governor, who called a defiant news conference to reassert his...

Ill. House Votes to Impeach Blago

114-1 vote marks first for state

(Newser) - The Illinois House wasted little time today in voting to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, with just one representative in the 115-member chamber voting against the measure. It’s the first time in Illinois history the governor has been impeached. A Blagojevich spokesman says the governor won’t resign, which means...

Panel Backs Impeachment; Burris: No Favors Asked

(Newser) - Roland Burris told Rod Blagojevich's impeachment panel today that no shady business was involved in his Senate appointment, Bloomberg reports. “I would never participate in anybody’s quid pro quo,” Burris told Illinois lawmakers. Hours after he testified, the 21-member panel voted unanimously to recommend impeachment, the Tribune ...

Obama Serves Reid Humble Pie, Chicago Style
Obama Serves Reid Humble Pie, Chicago Style
OPINION
Jan 8, 2009 2:02 PM CST

Obama Serves Reid Humble Pie, Chicago Style

President-elect's reversal on Burris straight from rough-and-tumble Windy City roots

(Newser) - Barack Obama served Harry Reid up a Chicago-style, deep-dish slice of humble pie this week, telling the Senate majority leader to seat Roland “Tombstone” Burris, John Kass writes in the Chicago Tribune. Reid, for his part, “scarfed it down in front of reporters, without a fork, all but...

Burris Ties to Blago Include Donations, Job for Wife

Senate aspirant no stranger to pay-to-play politics

(Newser) - Senate Democrats are lauding Roland Burris as a faithful public servant who happens to owe his appointment to a crooked governor, but the Illinois politician has some pretty close—perhaps suspect—ties to Blagojevich, the Chicago Tribune reports. Burris and affiliates in his lobbying firm contributed $20,000 to Blagojevich...

Ill. House Panel: Impeach Blago
 Ill. House Panel: Impeach Blago 
Jan 8, 2009 11:41 AM CST

Ill. House Panel: Impeach Blago

Body documents numerous charges against governor

(Newser) - The Illinois House panel investigating Rod Blagojevich today released a report recommending his impeachment, the Chicago Tribune reports. The 69-page draft includes a laundry list of offenses, including misuse of state funds, refusing to release federal subpoenas to the public, and the much-publicized pay-to-play allegation. The committee said the governor’...

Obama Pushed Dems to Take Burris

Aides made calls to senior senators before today's decision

(Newser) - Barack Obama may have had something to do with the Senate’s apparent about-face on Roland Burris, a congressional aide tells the Huffington Post. Obama reps contacted senior Democrats before they began moving today towards accepting the Blagojevich appointee, despite the Illinois governor’s ongoing corruption case. After meeting with...

Reid Backs Off, Leaves Burris to Court

Has 'no problem with him personally'

(Newser) - A far cry from the political shunning of just days ago, Majority Leader Harry Reid ushered would-be senator Roland Burris into his office this afternoon, and emerged saying that an Illinois court decision could go a long way toward seating the Blagojevich appointee. “We don't have a problem with...

Livid Softball Dad Jailed for Tirade

Ill. man also spat at deputy, earning battery charge

(Newser) - Parents, take note: An Illinois man who exploded at an umpire during his daughter's softball game was sentenced to five days in jail and anger-management classes for battery and assault, the Chicago Tribune reports. Michael Beck, 47, also spat sunflower seeds on the deputy who responded to a worried...

Blago's Impeachment Is a Go, Even Without Tapes

Panel says it has sufficient evidence

(Newser) - Members of Rod Blagojevich's impeachment panel say they will move forward despite the possibility that they might not get to hear federal wiretaps of the governor's conversations with aides and others. "These tapes are relevant evidence, we'd like to have them," said a lawyer for the impeachment panel,...

Burris Arrives at Senate, Not Allowed to Take Oath

Franken also not seated

(Newser) - Roland Burris strode briskly past the cameras through the rain into the Capitol today, demanding to be seated as Illinois’ Senator but was denied entry, CNN reports. The secretary of the Senate rejected his credentials, preventing him from taking the floor or the oath of office. It was "improperly...

Senate Clerk Rejects Burris Paperwork

But former AG says he's confident his appointment is legal

(Newser) - The secretary of the Senate blocked the appointment of Roland Burris to Barack Obama's former seat today on the grounds that Burris’ certificate of appointment lacked the signature of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, CNN reports. White has refused to sign the certificate because of the controversy over Burris’...

Prosecution Gets 3 More Months to Indict Blago

(Newser) - A federal judge in Chicago today granted prosecutors an additional 3 months to present evidence and obtain an indictment in the corruption case against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Chief Judge James Holderman said the case against Blagojevich is too complex to expect prosecutors to obtain an indictment by a...

Blago Crisis Grinds Illinois Gov't to a Halt

Scandal pushes 'dysfunctional state' into 'total paralysis'

(Newser) - The Rod Blagojevich crisis hasn’t just tarnished the Illinois governor’s reputation—it’s frozen the whole state government, the Chicago Tribune reports. Social programs aren’t getting funding, health care and education changes are on the shelf, and Blagojevich himself is isolated and mistrusted. "Absolutely, we're in...

Senate Sends Mixed Messages on Burris
Senate Sends Mixed Messages on Burris
Talk Show Roundup
Jan 4, 2009 12:06 PM CST

Senate Sends Mixed Messages on Burris

Durbin says no, Reid open to talking, and Burris a no-show

(Newser) - Roland Burris dominated the Sunday morning tongue-wagging, though the would-be senator himself was a no-show, reports the Hill. Elsewhere, mixed messages on whether to seat him:
  • Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said on This Week that the Senate has no plans to seat Roland Burris. Burris was scheduled to appear alongside
...

Reid Pressured Blago on Senate Pick

(Newser) - Harry Reid called Rod Blagojevich after the election, but before the governor’s arrest, to discourage him from appointing unelectable candidates to Barack Obama’s Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Senate majority leader sought to put the kibosh on Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Danny Davis, along with...

Ill. Puts Blago Impeachment on Fast Track

Gov's access to Homeland Security info yanked

(Newser) - The Illinois House speaker is calling lawmakers back to session early for a possible impeachment vote on Rod Blagojevich next week, the Chicago Tribune reports. The move could help Democrats block Blago nominee Roland Burris from taking Barack Obama's Senate seat, reports the New York Times. Illinois House officials say...

Blago's the 'Gift That Keeps On Giving'
Blago's the 'Gift That
Keeps On Giving'
OPINION
Jan 2, 2009 3:50 PM CST

Blago's the 'Gift That Keeps On Giving'

No end to antics for Governor Dead Meat

(Newser) - Covering Rod Blagojevich—aka “Gov. Dead Meat”—has been so much fun for Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass that in today’s mailbag column, a reader asks how much he’s paying Blago for the “gift that keeps on giving.” Kass’ reply: “As our esteemed...

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