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Illinois

Empty Prison in Struggling Illinois Town Might Be Next Gitmo

Charles Shaw | Posted 11.18.2009 | Politics

Read More: Guantanamo, Prisons, Military Tribunals, Closing Guantanamo, Guantanamo Detainees, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Thomson Gitmo, Thomson Illinois, Illinois, Politics News
Charles Shaw

Beyond histrionics about a wave of jihad descending upon Chicago, the truth of the matter is far closer to the desire of Republicans to keep the extralegal limbo at Guantanamo going full steam.

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The Last Time Byrd's Record Was Broken

John R. Bohrer | Posted 11.18.2009 | Politics

Read More: Joseph G. Cannon, Longest Serving Member of Congress, Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia, Bob Byrd, Carl Hayden, Robert Byrd, Arizona, Illinois, Politics News
John R. Bohrer

Today, Senator Robert C. Byrd broke the record of a one-time colleague as the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history. Let's put his long run into perspective.

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Illinois Guantanamo Bay?: Local Officials In Thomson, Illinois Welcome Idea (VIDEO)

Posted 11.17.2009 | Chicago

Read More: Thomson Correctional Center, Prison, Thomson Prison, Guantanamo Detainees, Illinois Guantanamo Bay, Illinois and Guantanamo Bay, Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Thomson Correctional Facility, Illinois, Thomson Village, Thomson-Gitmo, Thomson Illinois, Chicago News

Thomson VIllage President Jerry "Duke" Hebeler said at a press conference Monday that bringing Guantanamo Bay detainees to Thomson, Illinois, could be...

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Thomson Prison In Illinois Is Leading Choice In Obama's Search For Stateside Gitmo

AP | TAMMY WEBBER | Posted 11.17.2009 | Chicago

Read More: White House, Pat Quin, Pat Quinn, Guantanamo, Thomson Illinois, Obama, New Gitmo, Gitmo, Mark Kirk, Thompson Prison Facility, Jan Schakowsky, Thomson Prison, Chicago, Thomson Correctional Facility, Illinois, Gitmo Detainees, Cuba, Chicago News

CHICAGO — The Obama administration may buy a near-empty prison in rural northwestern Illinois to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay along with fede...

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10 States Face Looming Budget Disasters: Pew Report

AP | JUDY LIN | Posted 11.11.2009 | Politics

Read More: States Fiscal Crisis, Wisconsin, California, States Budgets, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Arizona, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Michigan, Oregon, Politics News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In Arizona, the budget has grown so gloomy that lawmakers are considering mortgaging Capitol buildings. In Michigan, state ...

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Howard Dean Stresses Importance of Grassroots Pressure on Public Option

Ellen Gill | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats, Howard Dean, Illinois, Chicago, Fifty State Strategy, Public Option, Politics News
Ellen Gill

Dean said that he thinks the public option should be Medicare, administered by the same agencies and under the same rules as Medicare.

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Health Insurers Agree To Help Pay For H1N1 Vaccinations

Chicago Tribune | Posted 10.28.2009 | Chicago

Read More: Health Insurance Swine Flu, Health Insurance Flu Vaccine, Swine Flu Vaccines, Illinois Swine Flu, Swine Flu, Illinois, Vaccinations, Chicago News

Several major Illinois health insurers have agreed to cover the costs of administering the H1N1 flu vaccine to their policyholders, the Illinois Depar...

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Readers' Photos of Fall Leaves

Huffington Post | Posted 10.20.2009 | Green

Read More: Slidepoll, Leaves, Best-Fall-Foliage-Pics, Autumn, Fall, Green Living, Fall Foilage, Colorado, New York, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Ohio, Utah, Maine, Montreal, Alabama, Nature, Illinois, New Jersey, Michigan, South Dakota, Green News

Following our slide show of the best places to go for autumn leaves, readers sent in their favorite photos of fall foliage. From Michigan to New Hamp...

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Video Poker: A Bad Bet for Illinois

Rep. Jack Franks | Posted 10.16.2009 | Chicago

Read More: Illinois Video Poker, Gambling, Illinois, Illinois Budget, Rod Blagojevich, Illinois General Assembly, Video Gaming Act, Illinois Gaming Board, Chicago News
Rep. Jack Franks

I've filed a bill to repeal the Video Gaming Act, which allows places licensed to serve alcohol to have up to five video poker machines for patron use -- the equivalent of 60 new casinos in Illinois.

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The Hanged Census Worker: Why Appalachia Hates Feds

Gail McGowan Mellor | Posted 09.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: Whiskey Rebellion, Barter System, Stockholder, Marijuana, Prohibition, Feds, Newport, Civil War, Infrastructure, Moonbow, Grass, Occupational Safety, Nancy Pelosi, Environmental Movements, Coal Mine, Right to Vote, Mohawk, Lawless, Bill Tweed, Boss System, Indefeasible, Beverly Hillbillies, Hung, Ca, Louisville, George Washington, Appalachian, Civic, Tennessee, Census Worker, Mountaintop Removal, New York City Boss William Tweed, Civil Rights, Census Taker, Mystery, Kentucky Constitution, Second American Revolution, Food Safety, Pot, U.S. Constitution, Pittsburgh, Public School System, Declaration of Independence, Indiana Constitution, Cumberland Plateau, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Inalienable, Daniel Boone National Forest, Bill Sparkman, Bluegrass, Ohio, Slavery, Lexington, Illinois, Coalmine, Federal Agents, Women’s, Appalachia, Hemp, Public Health, Daniel Boone U.S. Congress, Irish Immigrants, Democracy, Middle Class Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Pennsylvania, Mountain, Capitalism, Bossism, Meth, Consumer, Murder, Labor, Southeastern Kentucky, Prison, Oxycontin, Big Coal, 1791, Fbi, Self-Organizing, Indiana, Hanged, Politics News
Gail McGowan Mellor

The U.S. government began its life back in 1791 by shafting the Appalachian area. People have not forgotten it, perhaps because it has yet to stop happening.

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Honest-Services Fraud: Law Used To Indict Blagojevich Challenged As Vague

AP | MIKE ROBINSON | Posted 11.12.2009 | Chicago

Read More: Supreme Court, Jeffrey Skilling, Blagojevich, Springfield, Conrad Black, Chicago, Rod Blagojevich, Politics, Vague, Honest-Services Fraud, George Ryan, Corruption, Illinois, Chicago News

CHICAGO — Among the corruption charges faced by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is a statute of just 28 words with enough pop to send big n...

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Christopher Kelly Dead: Ex-Blagojevich Fundraiser Found Dead Just Days Before Prison Sentence Was Set To Begin

AP | MIKE ROBINSON | Posted 11.12.2009 | Chicago

Read More: Corruption, Blagojevich, Blagojevich Scandal, Christopher Kelly, Politics, Kelly Dead, Rod Blagojevich, Chicago, Illinois, Fundraiser, Fundraising, Christopher Kelly Dead, Chris Kelly Dead, Blagojevich Corruption, Chicago News

CHICAGO — A former chief fundraiser for ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich died Saturday, just days before he was to begin serving at least ei...

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Rep. John Shimkus Walked Out On Obama Speech Out Of "Frustration"

Huffington Post | Posted 11.10.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gop, Rep. John Shimkus, Shimkus, Congress, Obama Health Care Speech, Obama Speech, Walk Out, Illinois, Shimkus Obama, Barack Obama, Politics News

While U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) has been pilloried for yelling at President Obama during his address to Congress Wednesday evening, one of his Repub...

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Rod Blagojevich Adds Author to His Resume

The New York Times | MONICA DAVEY | Posted 10.22.2009 | Media

Read More: Blago, Publishing, Blagojevich Book, Rod Blagojevich, Books, Illinois, Media, Blagojevich Family, Media News

Normally, people charged with crimes wait until their cases are resolved to write memoirs -- saving themselves and their lawyers legal headaches. But ...

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No Blacklisters Please: Decency in P3 Contracting

Michael Likosky | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics

Read More: Dulles Airport Expansion, Dorchester Tunnel, Balfour Beatty, United Kingdom Informaiton Commissioner, Public-Private Partnerships, Connecticut, Texas, p3, North Antelope Rochelle Mine, Chicago Parking Meters, California, Public Works, Highway 130, Virginia, City of Norwalk Parking Authority, Economic League, Blacklisting, Wyoming, LAZ Parking, Metro Goldline, Alfred Cunningham Bridge, Privacy, Massachusetts, Alameda Corridor, North Carolina, Illinois, Vinci, Politics News
Michael Likosky

The United Kingdom Information Commissioner recently named Balfour Beatty and LAZ Parking Company's parent, Vinci, as having funded a secret 15-year long blacklisting operation.

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Blagojevich Book Says Rahm Wanted "Placeholder"

AP | DEANNA BELLANDI | Posted 10.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Blagojevich Book Deal, Illinois, Rahm Emanuel, Rod Blagojevich, Speaker of the House, 2010 Senate, Politics News

CHICAGO — Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says in a new book that White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel wanted his help in arranging to l...

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Water Utilities Lack Proper Filters For Weed-Killer

Huffington Post Investigative Fund | Danielle Ivory | Posted 11.04.2009 | Green

Read More: Iowa, Herbicide, Indiana, Epa, Ohio, Utilities, Filtration, Lawsuit, Syngenta, Huffington Post Investigative Fund, Atrazine, Filter, Kansas, Weed-Killer, Tillery, Water, Missouri, Illinois, Drinking Water, Green News

Results from a federal drinking water monitoring program show that many public water companies are ineffective at removing a widely used weed-killer f...

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David Hoffman To Resign Inspector General Post And Run For Senate

NBC Chicago | Posted 09.26.2009 | Chicago

Read More: Daley Administration, Inspector General, Senate, Illinois, David Hoffman, Chicago, Chicago News

Chicago's Inspector General, David Hoffman, is close resigning his post in the Daley administration so that he can run for U.S. Senate, sources say....

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The History of Drama (Part One)

David Dean Bottrell | Posted 09.24.2009 | Living

Read More: Entertainment, Show Business, Writing, Hollywood, Illinois, Family, Living News
David Dean Bottrell

All those years of listening to my family spin their outrageous tales had in fact been a master class in recognizing which part of a story could be funny, which part held the most drama or suspense and how to leave your listeners panting for more.

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Why I Support Dan Hynes for Governor of Illinois

Adlai Stevenson III | Posted 09.12.2009 | Chicago

Read More: Adlai Stevenson Endorses Dan Hynes, Adlai Stevenson Endorsement, Adlai Stevenson, Illinois Governor, Illinois, Illinois Politics, Dan Hynes Governor, Dan Hynes, Dan Hynes Endorsement, Illinois Governor 2010, Illinois Governor Race, Chicago News
Adlai Stevenson III

Dan Hynes can restore the politics, little remembered, that made the Land of Lincoln a great state rather than an object of national mockery.

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State Budgets Take Big Hit As Consumers Cut Back On Gambling

wsj.com | CONOR DOUGHERTY | Posted 09.10.2009 | Business

Read More: Casino Revenue, Nevada State Budget, Gambling, Illinois, California State Budget, Illinois Budget, Business News

States' revenue from casinos, slot machines and lotteries is falling for the first time in many of the 48 states that have grown to depend on gambling...

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An American Retiree, Jailed In Morocco For 13 Months, Shares His Story

GlobalPost | Posted 09.06.2009 | World

Read More: Drug Trafficking, Moroccan Jails, World, Vacation in Morocco, Morocco, Moroccan Prison, Spain, Des Moines, Drugs, Drug, Vacation in Spain, Middle America, Illinois, King of Morocco, Morroccan Jails, World News

RABAT, Morocco -- When Moroccan guards came to release Illinois retiree James Douglas Willson from prison, he believed that they'd come to shoot him. ...

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Mark Kirk and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Summer

Senate Guru | Posted 09.03.2009 | Politics

Read More: Politics, Military Regulations, Mark Kirk, Chicago, Economy, Alexi Giannoulias, 2010 Senate Races, Senate, Illinois, Il-Sen, Politics News
Senate Guru

Mark Kirk hasn't had a single good thing to point to, but he has had a whole lot of "D'oh!" come his way, and largely of his own doing.

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Behind the Scenes with a Real Iron Chef

Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn | Posted 08.29.2009 | Style

Read More: Barbecue, cancersuckschicago.com, Bbq, Cookoff, Mike Lake, Tana Shupe, Kcbs, Candy Weaver, Shannon Il, Todd Johns, Mike Davis, BBQr's Delight, Illinois, Lotta Bull, Fast Eddy's, Pork, Barbeque, Warth, Cookshack, Style News

Competitive barbecue may be the fastest growing sport in the nation. Many of the cooks are part of a band of roving gypsies who drive for days to go for gold and glory.

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Medical Knowledge Used to Depend on Grave Robbing

Kate Kelly | Posted 08.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Medical Students, Body Snatching, Illinois, Grave Robbing, Politics News
Kate Kelly

It was only two hundred years ago that "resurrectionists" would routinely raid cemeteries in order to provide cadavers for dissection classes in medical schools.

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