State

BOLINGBROOK (AP) – Family and friends of Michael Pearson and Francheska Velez understood that their joining the military could cost them their lives.

HILLSIDE (AP) – An attached garage.

CHICAGO – Candidates for Illinois governor are split over a national health care plan with all but one Republican saying the state should opt out if it can, a position rejected by Democrats Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes.

CHICAGO (AP) – A Cook County Jail employee has been accused of stealing money from inmates as they were processed into the facility.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A teenage driver safety program run by the Illinois Department of Transportation has been recognized for using peer programming to try to reduce the number of teen driving-related deaths.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Charges have been filed against three men accused of beating a man who sleepwalks after they found him asleep

EAST ST. LOUIS (AP) – An Army veteran admitted in federal court Friday that he plotted with his wife to bilk the U.S. government by faking paralysis after a car wreck to get disability benefits and avoid being deployed to Iraq.

CHICAGO (AP) – Police say a 42-year-old Chicago woman was killed on her way to work when two drug suspects fleeing from officers crashed their minivan into her car.

CHICAGO (AP) – Illinois senior citizens can continue riding for free on mass transit, but the perk means other commuters could see their fares increase.

CHICAGO (AP) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says $5 billion in business tax credits will be going to more than 90 organizations in struggling communities nationwide.

CHICAGO (AP) – Health authorities concerned about childhood obesity are urging parents to make this a healthy Halloween.

PECATONICA, Ill. (AP) — Some lucky Illinois residents have had a chance to see something very rare in the sky above them.

GENEVA, Ill. (AP) — Kane County Board Chairwoman Karen McConnaughay says the Kane County Sheriff's Department could run out of money in as soon as late next week.

CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban businessman who wanted five restaurant locations at Chicago airports has been arrested on bribery charges after allegedly paying $9,000 to an indicted city official cooperating with federal investigators.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois secretary of state's office is offering incentives designed to convince more than 300 employees to leave their jobs by year end.

CHICAGO (AP) — One of three men involved in a violent bank robbery on Chicago's South Side has pleaded guilty to charges that could land him in prison for 20 years.

WALTONVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A group proposing a southern Illinois plant that would convert coal into synthetic natural gas has the state's go-ahead to start construction.

CHICAGO (AP) — Senate candidate Mark Kirk sought support from Sarah Palin as he faces criticism from more conservative Republicans in Illinois.

BENTON, Ill. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a southern Illinois doctor has agreed to surrender his medical license after admitting he illegally dispensed methadone, tampered with a witness and obstructed justice.

CHICAGO (AP) — A former handyman convicted of killing seven people at a suburban Chicago fast food restaurant has been sentenced to life in prison.

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois was cleared Wednesday to start enforcing a hotly debated law requiring that a teenage girl's parents be notified before she has an abortion, after a vote by the state's Medical Disciplinary Board.

ANNA, Ill. (AP) — A southern Illinois plant that makes flatbed trailers soon will be closing, costing about 75 workers their jobs.

CHICAGO (AP) — President Barack Obama's top health chief is urging states and communities to help enroll more uninsured children in government health insurance programs.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois lawmaker's wife will nearly double her state salary thanks to an appointment Tuesday from Gov. Pat Quinn.

CHICAGO (AP) — With opponents speaking out at health care town halls and "Tea Party" demonstrations, supporters of President Barack Obama gathered Tuesday in the Chicago park where hegave his election night speech to celebrate and encourage his mantra of change.

CHICAGO (AP) – With opponents speaking out at health care town halls and “Tea Party” demonstrations, supporters of President Barack Obama gathered Tuesday in the Chicago park where he gave his election night speech to celebrate and encourage his mantra of change.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois is close to adopting the first limits on campaign donations in its long, sordid political history. But nothing is simple. The legislation, which Gov. Pat Quinn says he plans to sign, contains loopholes, delays and gray areas that raise important questions.

CHICAGO (AP) — Gov. Pat Quinn is asking Democratic primary opponent Dan Hynes for an advertising truce.

CHICAGO (AP) — As Democratic leaders in Washington try to round up votes to pass health care reform legislation, U.S. Sen. Roland Burris on Monday stuck by his demand for a public option, calling any provision that would let states opt out not as strong.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn won't say why one of his top aides is stepping down.

CHICAGO (AP) — Jury selection has begun for the murder trial of Andre Crawford, a Chicago man accused of the rapes and murders of 11 women between 1993 and mid-1999.

CHICAGO (AP) — It's unclear if Illinois will start enforcing a hotly debated abortion notification law this week after all.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan will file candidacy petitions to run for the Republican nomination for governor.

CHICAGO – Physicians in Illinois this week must begin notifying a parent or guardian when a girl younger than 18 seeks an abortion – a rule abortion opponents long have sought, but which critics say could keep minors from seeking safe procedures.

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — Police in Rockford say two people were shot to death and twopeople were wounded at a Halloween party.

CHICAGO (AP) — Authorities have ruled the death of a 3-month baby from Chicago a homicide.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) — GE Consumer and Industrial says it plans to close a plant based in Bloomington that employs nearly 100 workers.

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Police in Peoria say a 16-year-old boy has died after being shot in the back.

CHICAGO (AP) — Rich East High School has seen state test scores for its 11th-graders improve by a stunning 37 percent during the last two years — a gain so impressive that regional education officials asked the Park Forest school to host a seminar to help others emulate its success.

MOUNT PULASKI, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say a 97-year-old man has died after his vehicle became caught in floodwaters in central Illinois.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. (AP) — Authorities in the northern Chicago suburb of Northbrook say a freight train has derailed and struck a second, standing train.