May 24, 2013
St. Clair County Judge Held Pending Drug Charge From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Michael Cook, a St. Clair County judge, was in federal custody Thursday, pending what a source close to the...
View ArticleMay 27, 2013
'Bad Is My Middle Name': Belleville Judge Faces Heroin, Gun Charges From the Belleville News-Democrat St. Clair County Probation Officer James K. Fogarty told a federal agent that he sold cocaine to...
View ArticleMay 28, 2013
Ex-Gov. Thompson Disappointed By 'Partisan Rancor' In Springfield From the Associated Press Former Gov. Jim Thompson says he's watching Illinois lawmakers closely as the legislative session draws to a...
View ArticleMay 29, 2013
U.S. Attorney: Courthouse Drug Scandal Investigation Is 'Ongoing And Dynamic' From the Belleville News-Democrat After a hearing for a St. Clair County probation officer who told an FBI agent that he...
View ArticleMay 30, 2013
Cook Resigns From The Bench As He Faces Federal Charges From the Madison County Record St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael Cook resigned on Wednesday, less than a week after he was charged with...
View ArticleSupreme Court Denies Request For Rehearing In Fennell Case
From the Madison County Record If it were up to Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, the state high court would rehear a St. Clair County asbestos case dealing with forum. But,...
View ArticleMay 31, 2013
Hot-button Issues Pile Up For Springfield Finale From the Chicago Sun-Times Five months of debate, negotiation and procrastination among lawmakers led to a high stakes Friday adjournment showdown that...
View ArticleJune 3, 2013
'Please, Joe, Get Up': 911 Tape Recounts Discovery Of Judge's Cocaine Death From the Belleville News-Democrat With his friend and fellow judge Joe Christ lying unresponsive on the bathroom floor of a...
View ArticleJune 4, 2013
Fitch Downgrades Illinois Credit Rating From the Chicago Tribune A major investor ratings service further lowered Illinois' worst-in-the-nation credit rating today following lawmakers' inability to...
View ArticleJune 5, 2013
Ex-probation Officer Implicates 'Prominent' People From the Belleville News-Democrat In asking a judge not to release a former St. Clair County probation officer on bond, a federal prosecutor said the...
View ArticleJune 6, 2013
Rauner Takes On ‘Union Bosses’ As He Jumps In Race For Governor From the Springfield State Journal-Register Venture capitalist Bruce Rauner on Wednesday officially entered the race for the GOP...
View ArticleJune 7, 2013
Madison County Prosecutor Will No Longer Enforce No-Carry Law In Illinois From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn hasn’t yet signed newly passed legislation that would allow concealed...
View ArticleJune 10, 2013
Editorial: Have Illinois' Problems Outgrown Its Leaders? From the Chicago Tribune As students, we learn that self-governance relies on good faith: We elect to office the candidates we view as most...
View ArticleA Host Of Legal Measures Awaits Governor’s Review
From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin During his customary postmortem at the end of the legislative session a little more than a week ago, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan struck a critical tone while...
View ArticleJune 11, 2013
State Dems Agree To Work On Pension Reform, But Ready To Point Fingers If It Fails From the Chicago Sun-Times Illinois’ Democratic leaders agreed Monday to try to get comprehensive pension reform past...
View ArticleJune 12, 2013
Legal Groups Count Session As A Success, Say More Work Left From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Several components of legal groups' legislative agendas were fulfilled by the General Assembly this...
View ArticleJune 26, 2013
Supreme Court Guts Key Voting Rights Act Provision From the Wall Street Journal The Supreme Court nullified a core provision of the Voting Rights Act in an ideologically divided ruling that eroded a...
View ArticleJune 27, 2013
Supreme Court’s Ruling Won’t Help Same-sex Couples In Illinois Now From the Chicago Sun-Times The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on Wednesday to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act would do...
View ArticleJune 28, 2013
No Pension Compromise In Sight As Special Committee Begins Work From the Chicago Tribune The first meeting Thursday of a special committee tasked with brokering a compromise on how to overhaul the...
View Article2013 Madison Asbestos Filings On Pace With Last Year At 793 Year To Date
From the Madison County Record With nearly six months down and six to go, it appears that Madison County is on track to at least match last year’s record-breaking number of asbestos filings. Figures...
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