Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Chicagoland news to talk about: Find out where Chicago ranks among most congested cities.
Marriage equality legislation in Illinois was approved Tuesday by a state Senate committee, advancing the measure toward a vote of the full Senate that is expected to take place on Valentine's Day. The Illinois Senate Executive Committee voted, just as they had a month earlier, in favor of the bill, which would legalize same-sex marriage in the land of Lincoln. Nine committee members voted in favor of the bill and five against. State Sen. Heather Steans, the bill's sponsor, told the committee Tuesday, "Same-sex couples want to marry for the same reasons we all do. Civil unions have created a second-class status," according to Chicago Pride. The Skokie Police Department has been working around the clock with Chicago and other area …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Chicagoland news to talk about: High school safety drill to include police shooting blanks.
Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan will be leaving prison and heading to a halfway house after serving more than five years for corruption. His departure from prison follows a rich, if ignominious, history in Illinois of ex-governors arriving in and departing from prison. Of Illinois' last seven governors, four have ended up going to prison. They are: Rod Blagojevich, 2002-2009, convicted on corruption charges; George Ryan, 1999-2003, convicted of racketeering Dan Walker, 1973-1977, plead guilty to bank fraud; Otto Kerner. 1961-1968, convicted of bribery. As Illinois becomes the fourth and most populous state to give undocumented immigrants permission to drive, nagging concerns remain about whether there are enough safeguards to avoid the …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Chicagoland news to talk about: Cubs plan Wrigley Field renovation that could cost $300 million.
Under pressure from gun-control advocates, Chicago-based Groupon abruptly canceled all gun-related deals in North America on Friday. The move sparked anger and even boycotts from some gun business owners who say their deals were immensely popular and that the online coupon company failed to notify them of the change. Gun control proponents applauded the move. "We, along with other groups, had been applying pressure to Groupon for some time now because we were disturbed by the flippant nature of previous gun deals," said Ladd Everritt, director of communications at The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. A Winnetka murder victim’s sister has turned into a gun control activist. In 1990, Nancy Bishop Langert, …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Chicagoland news to talk about: Grayslake teachers go on strike.
With flu deaths up to 27 in Illinois -- up drastically from the zero deaths from the virus reported last year -- Gov. Pat Quinn is urging any individuals who haven't already to get a flu vaccine. Gov. Quinn on Monday said that he's already gotten a flu shot this season and that other Illinoisans should follow his lead as the state is one of many nationwide currently experiencing unusually high flu activity. As of Monday, the state is one of 24 with "higher-than-normal" flu activity. Customs officials made the shocking discovery of 18 severed human heads at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Monday. As of Tuesday morning, investigators were checking to ensure the human heads with skin still on—and wrapped in plastic—were less sinister …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Chicagoland news to talk about: North suburban video arcade pulls violent shooting games.
The Illinois House voted 65-46 on Tuesday in favor of a bill to give driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, after advocates argued that the legislation could make the roads safer and prevent people from driving without insurance. The bill will now go to the desk of Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who plans to sign it. The state Senate already approved the measure, also with bipartisan support. “I want to commend members of the Illinois House for their bipartisan passage of legislation that will help ensure every Illinois motorist is properly licensed and empower more immigrants to become stronger contributors to our economy," Quinn said in a statement after the vote. "Not only will Senate Bill 957 save lives, it will save Illinois …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Chicagoland news to talk about: Kirk to return to Senate one year after stroke.
Illinois lawmakers on Wednesday resume efforts to fix the state's woefully underfunded state pension systems even as a new forecast suggested that the state will have to come up with $1.1 billion more in the next fiscal year to fund state pensions. Legislators will begin meeting on Jan. 2 for the final time before a newly-elected legislature takes office later in the month. The so-called lame duck session is considered a good time to pass controversial measures because some lawmakers are retiring or were defeated and no longer have to answer to voters at the polls.Democratic Governor Pat Quinn has been pushing for action, warning that the pension liability grows by about $17 million a day and the state's credit ratings could be lowered …
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Chicagoland news to talk about: Frat members charged in NIU death start to surrender.
Thirteen of the 22 Northern Illinois University students facing criminal hazing charges in the death of David Bogenberger, 19, formerly of Palatine, turned themselves into police Tuesday. Members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity started to surrender after 22 arrest warrants were issued Monday. According to reports, five people were charged with felony hazing, and 17 face misdemeanor charges. Two male prisoners escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago's South Loop early Tuesday. The men have been identified as Jose Banks, 37, and Kenneth Conley, 38. The two were last seen Tuesday morning in the Tinley Park, Ill. area, about 25 miles from the Chicago facility. A search is now underway for the men -- cellmates and both…
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Chicagoland news to talk about: Quinn pushes for marriage equality bill.
Gun-rights advocates claimed a major victory on Tuesday when a federal appeals court in Illinois struck down the state's ban on carrying concealed firearms, in a ruling that may have national repercussions if appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Before the 2-1 ruling, Illinois stood as the last state in the country maintaining an absolute prohibition on the carrying of concealed firearms by private citizens. The majority opinion, by Richard A. Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, found the ban on concealed weapons was unconstitutional under a 2008 Supreme Court decision overturning a sweeping handgun ban by the District of Columbia. The Supreme Court's decision in 2008 firmly established a constitutional right to armed self-…
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Chicagoland news to talk about: Illinois legislators among best paid in the country.
The Illinois state Senate voted on Tuesday to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain temporary drivers licenses, and sent to the House the measure that would make Illinois the most populous U.S. state to allow such licenses. Only Washington state and New Mexico allow drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants, while Utah allows driving permits. Republican leaders in the Illinois state legislature earlier on Tuesday announced their support for the proposal, after Hispanics voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in the November election. Illinois has some 2 million Hispanics, according to the 2010 Census, and lawmakers said there are an estimated 250,000 undocumented immigrants in the state. Illinois’ legislators are among the highest paid …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Chicagoland news to talk about: Legalized marijuana, concealed carry could be decided in lame duck session.
Alex Campbell, a former Glenview resident and Mt. Prospect massage parlor owner, was sentenced to life in prison Monday for sex-trafficking, forced labor, harboring illegal aliens, confiscating passports to further forced labor and extorting four foreign women whom he mentally and physically abused while forcing them to work for him, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Justice Department announced. “The seriousness of Campbell’s crimes cannot be overstated, nor could the government put into words the magnitude of harm or the life-altering consequences of Campbell’s actions," prosecutors argued in urging a life sentence, according to a press release from the Justice Department. It's considered a lame duck session, but Illinois lawmakers will …
Brian
1:51 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
You can talk all you want about essence, but as I said in another message board in response, isn't the essence of marriage love? more ›