Falling home prices raise fears of new bottom
Tax credits and historically low mortgage rates have failed to lift home prices so far this year. Prices fell 0.5 percent in March from February, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday .

The co-creator...See Story

 

BP internal probe focuses on other companies' work
COVINGTON, La. – Oil giant BP said its internal investigation of the unchecked Gulf oil spill is largely focused on work done by other companies as a new government report Tuesday showed workers at the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling a...See Story

 

Ex-Detroit mayor gets up to 5 years in prison
DETROIT – Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced to up to five years in prison Tuesday for violating the terms of his probation stemming from his conviction for lying under oath about an affair with his chief of staff.

Kilpatric...See Story

 

Congress sends Obama sweeping Wall Street bill
WASHINGTON – Congress sent legislation to President Barack Obama Thursday that imposes sweeping new regulations on Wall Street and creates new protections for millions of consumers.

The Senate's 60-39 vote came nearly two years after a finan...See Story

 

Congressional panel prepares hearing on Asian carp
A congressional panel is preparing to hear from Obama administration officials about their plan for protecting the Great Lakes from Asian carp.

The House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment has scheduled a hearing on the plan f...See Story

 

Offshore drilling here to stay, but changes coming
NEW YORK – BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has focused attention on the petroleum industry's loose regulation and failure to plan for the worst.

That is going to change, experts say.

Regulators are likely to make permit...See Story

 

Blagojevich, promoting book, denies wrongdoing
CHICAGO – Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is on a media blitz as his book hits the shelves.

The book gives Blagojevich's view of the scandal that led to federal charges that accuse him of — among other things — trying to sell the U.S. S...See Story

 

Jumbled bones at cemetery may be hard to ID
Human remains strewn amid overgrown weeds have deteriorated into jumbled bones. Paper records in a rusted metal cabinet have dissolved into dust.

Days after horrified relatives learned that former workers at a historic black cemetery near ...See Story

 

Illinois leading nation in bank failures for 2009
SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois leads the nation in bank failures so far this year, and a banking group warns that more failures are likely.

But experts say the state's top ranking is largely because Illinois has more banks than any other state.See Story

 

Life in Obama's Chicago neighborhood
CHICAGO (AP) — A jogger has to alter his route because of security barricades. But a local barber shop is enjoying a tourism boom. And neighborhood residents have gained a reason to brag to friends — all thanks to President Barack Obama.

Alt...See Story

 

Chicago crime down 10 percent so far this year
Chicago police say there was a 10.4 percent drop in total crime citywide in June compared to the same month last year.

Officials say the city recorded fewer than 200 homicides in June, a 12.7 decrease from June 2008. Overall, violent crimes ...See Story

 

Palin tops Blago for sitting duck award
JUNEAU, Alaska -- The National Society of Newspaper Columnists chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the winner of its annual Sitting Duck Award, a tongue-in-cheek honor that pokes fun at the most ridiculed newsmakers in the United States.

Pali...See Story

 

Soldier subdued by stun gun shoots 2 Fla. deputies
NICEVILLE, Fla. – Two deputies from a troubled sheriff's office in Florida had no warning a confrontation with a National Guard soldier accused of beating his wife would turn deadly, the sheriff said.

Deputies Burt Lopez and Warren "Skip" Yo...See Story

 

CTA's first hybrid bus bought with stimulus funds
The Chicago Transit Authority has its first articulated hybrid bus paid for with federal stimulus funds.

The CTA plans to buy a total of 58 such buses with around $50 million of federal funds. That's part of nearly $250 million in federal st...See Story

 

Rare earthquake rattles northern Ill.; no damage
CHICAGO – A small pre-dawn earthquake has hit northern Illinois, startling residents as far away as Michigan and Iowa, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the 3.8-magnitude earthquake hit abou...See Story

 

Daley to apologize for parking meter problems
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says the city "totally screwed up" the implementation of a $1.15 billion lease of city parking meters to a private operator.

That's according to a published report of a Daley speech prepared for an appearance Tu...See Story