Illinois

Ben Bradley December 7, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Negotiations over new casinos in Illinois are building before an expected vote next month in Springfield. The current version of the bill calls for two new riverboat casinos in the suburbs and a land-based casino in the city of Chicago. ABC 7 …

CHICAGO — The Chicago City Council is considering a measure that would allow businesses in the city to install non-lethal electric security fences. The proposal would allow the fences if they don’t border residential or public areas, are surrounded by non-electric perimeter fences and bear posted warnings. The Chicago Tribune …

December 3, 2010, BY DAVE McKINNEY AND FRAN SPIELMAN Staff Reporters The Illinois Senate on Thursday approved police and firefighter pension legislation that Mayor Daley warned would blow a $550 million hole in the city budget, but the top Senate Democrat pledged to try softening that financial hit next month. …

So which elected officials own stakes in full-body scanning machines now in more than 60 U.S. airports? And what are those individual investments worth? We still can’t connect the dots to say that, because these Congressmen invested in these tech companies, than, ipso facto, those scanners were then put in …

Off the Markley Please take the time to read Beau Hodai’s fascinating report on the issue for In These Times. The prison-industrial complex is one of the most insidious corporate interests in the United States. The industry lobbies for and makes money from counter-productive drug laws, and–you guessed it–the continued …

Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn rehired a former top aide who resigned following ethics violations that became an issue in the governor’s race, his office said today. Jerry Stermer, who served as chief of staff before resigning in August, will return to Quinn’s administration on Nov. 29 in the role of …

November 21, 2010 By Kristen McQueary As he asked voters for their support outside Mount Greenwood School in Chicago on Election Day, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3rd), of Western Springs, noticed a burly man in his 30s wearing a “Throw The Bums Out” button. The three-term congressman hesitated before approaching …

By Reuters Posted yesterday at 5:05 p.m. Farmland values in the U.S. Midwest, one of the world’s top grain growing regions, jumped 10 percent in the third quarter compared to a year ago due to rising agricultural prices and the low cost of money, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago …

from the free-speech-isn’t-free dept This is hardly a surprise but, this morning (as previously announced), the lame duck Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to move forward with censoring the internet via the COICA bill — despite a bunch of law professors explaining to them how this law is a clear …

$15B DEFICIT | Cites doubts about gambling package November 8, 2010 BY DAVE McKINNEY Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief SPRINGFIELD — A gambling package that could raise $1 billion annually for the state appears “top-heavy” and should take a back seat in the upcoming fall veto session to raising the income …