House makes lynching a federal crime, 65 years after Till
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sixty-five years after 14-year-old Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi, Congress has approved legis...
Actor Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty to restored charges
CHICAGO (AP) — Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty Monday to restored charges that accuse him of st...
Ex-Gov. Blagojevich returns to Chicago, maintains innocence
CHICAGO (AP) — Rod Blagojevich returned home to Chicago early Wednesday, shaking hands and signing autographs after Pres...
President Trump goes on clemency spree, and the list is long
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has gone on a clemency blitz, commuting the 14-year prison sentence of former I...
Ex-Wisconsin receiver surrenders, charged in double-homicide
CHICAGO — A former University of Wisconsin football player who is the brother of a standout in the 2011 Super Bowl surrendered to Chicago police on Sa...
Voter registration error risks deportation for immigrants
CHICAGO — The day Margarita Del Pilar Fitzpatrick applied for an Illinois driver's license upended her life. When a clerk offered to register her to v...
Unique Illinois privacy law leads to $550M Facebook deal
CHICAGO — Adam Pezen, Carlo Licata and Nimesh Patel are among millions of people who have been tagged in Facebook photos at some point in the past dec...
Chicago’s former top cop consulting local cannabis company
CHICAGO — A former head of the Chicago Police Department is advising a local cannabis company on security after more than $200,000 was stolen from it ...
Dosunmu’s shot lifts No. 21 Illinois over Michigan 64-62
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As the final seconds ticked away in a tie game, Ayo Dosunmu was being guarded by Zavier Simpson, one of the top defenders in the Bi...
Illinois sees first legal sales of recreational marijuana
CHICAGO — The sale of marijuana for recreational purposes became legal Wednesday in Illinois to the delight of pot fans — many who began lining up hou...
Illinois governor clears thousands of marijuana convictions
CHICAGO — Illinois' governor granted more than 11,000 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions on Tuesday, describing the step as a first wave of t...
Bond set at $5M for suspect in Illinois triple-killing
PONTIAC, Ill. — A judge set a $5 million bond Friday for a state corrections officer who's charged in the Christmas Day shootings of his wife, adult s...
British man accused of hacking US health care companies
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A British man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to U.S. charges alleging that he and co-conspirators in an international hacking group c...
NDSU, NAU, Illinois St put players on FCS All-America Team
Defending national champion North Dakota State placed two players on The Associated Press FCS All-America first team and five players overall on the t...
Rochester diocese request led to beatification delay
NEW YORK — The Catholic diocese of Rochester, N.Y., confirms it made the request for further investigations that prompted the Vatican to take the rare...
Fiat Chrysler, auto union reach tentative deal on contract
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler reached a tentative agreement Saturday on a new four-year contract, which includes a total of $9 b...
Michigan, Illinois set to usher in recreational pot sales
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — James Daly is eager to make marijuana history on Sunday, when he plans to open the doors to Arbors Wellness, beckon the lengthy lin...
Illinois officer fined $350 for illegally parking patrol car
CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. — A northern Illinois police officer has been ticketed for parking his patrol car in a handicapped-accessible parking space.
Embattled Illinois prosecutor announces bid for reelection
CHICAGO — A prosecutor who came under harsh criticism when her office suddenly dropped charges against actor Jussie Smollett and is now the subject of...
Lobbying by sitting Illinois lawmakers under scrutiny
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A federal bribery charge against an Illinois state legislator has led to questions about whether lawmakers should be allowed to lo...
Wiseman gets restraining order to play; Memphis wins
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — James Wiseman had 17 points and nine rebounds hours after getting a temporary restraining order to play amid an NCAA ineligibility ru...
Complaint: ‘Jane Doe’ beaten, burned, discarded in Wisconsin
MILWAUKEE — A woman known for two decades simply as "Jane Doe" after her battered remains were found on the edge of a Wisconsin cornfield was a cognit...
Illinois marijuana law aims to undo harm of war on the drug
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — When lawmakers crafted the law legalizing marijuana in Illinois, they tried to make sure it would right what many see as past wron...
Report: Trump surveyed donors on freeing Blagojevich
CHICAGO — President Donald Trump has again broached the idea of freeing former Illinois governor and one-time "Celebrity Apprentice" contestant Rod Bl...
Man surrenders after authorities edit photo to add costume
KANKAKEE, Ill. — All it took for one fugitive in Illinois to turn himself in was a little photo manipulation.