Sen. Kirk moved into Rehab Institute; family offers thanks

Sen. Mark Kirk has been transferred from Northwestern Memorial Hospital to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago to begin his physical therapy.

The Highland Park Republican is recovering from a stroke he suffered three weeks ago.

“RIC’s team of experts will spend the next few days …

Want to adopt a sidewalk? It’ll take some muscle and a snow shovel

Chicago homeowners and businesses are required by law to shovel the sidewalks in front of their property, even though the city seldom cracks the whip.

Now, City Hall is using technology to try to keep those sidewalks clear.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has created a …

Emanuel says he had nothing to do with city sticker decision

Mayor Rahm Emanuel insisted Friday that he played no role in City Clerk Susana Mendoza’s decision to pull a 15-year-old’s city sticker design because of concern it could contain symbols of the Maniac Latin Disciples street gang.

Mendoza has been taking an editorial beating for …

Feds, state, county join anti-crime blitzkrieg in two violent districts

The Chicago Police Department’s plan to target gangs and drug markets in the city’s two most violent police districts is paying early dividends and will now be supplemented by an unprecedented infusion of county, state and federal resources.

In the month since the Englewood and …

Conner on Obama playlist: From Jennifer Hudson to the Boss to Aretha to ELO to Ledisi

The chief digs his music, that much is clear. That was a credible Al Green impression President Barack Obama slipped into a speech during a Jan. 19 fund-raising event at the famed Apollo Theater. Not only did the YouTube clip of the singer-in-chief go viral, …

‘Blago Amendment’ stopping pensions for the corrupt passes U.S. House

It’s informally known as the “Blago Amendment.”

Illinois lawmakers including U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley, Bob Dold and Dan Lipinski got a provision into the anti-corruption legislation that passed the House of Representatives 417-2 Thursday that blocks former congressmen convicted of …

Congressional candidates disagree over husband’s stock holdings

Rep. Judy Biggert has been a vocal champion for the Keystone Oil pipeline that President Barack Obama has, at least for the moment, killed. Biggert, R-Hinsdale, backs the pipeline to pump oil from Canada through Nebraska to Louisiana. “I support Keystone because it would create …

Legislators want to extend lottery game helping AIDS fight

Although dollars and cents have driven most of the conversation in Springfield this spring, two Illinois lawmakers say their push to extend an AIDs awareness lottery is a moral issue that is critical to funding the “front line” in the fight against the disease.

State …

Emanuel, Preckwinkle tout $20 million saved in city-county partnership

Chicago and Cook County will save $20.5 million this year by joining forces on everything from elections, some purchasing and revenue collection to custodial services and workforce development, but the next round of cuts will be tougher, officials said Tuesday.

“It is easy to migrate …

Sen. Kirk’s brain swelling subsides; doctors reattach skull section

Doctors on Tuesday reattached a 4-inch by 8-inch piece of U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk’s skull that was removed to ease swelling in his brain following his Jan. 21 stroke.

Company accused of racially hostile workplace offers apology

A top ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corp. official apologized Tuesday for the racially hostile work environment that existed at the company’s Westchester office, acknowledged the “distress and hurt” it caused African-Americans and promised “further measures” to sensitize employees and correct past “mistakes.”

Ald. Beale helped trim cab reforms after campaign fund-raiser

An influential alderman was accused Monday of working behind the scenes to soften the blow of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s taxicab industry overhaul five days after principals of an industry trade group hosted a fund-raiser for the alderman.

The Jan. 12 fund-raiser for Ald. Anthony Beale …

The ‘blackface’ workplace: ‘I never felt more alone in my life’

Montrelle Reese said he “never felt more alone in my life” than he did when he worked as a sales representative for the Westchester office of Thyssen-Krupp Elevator. It wasn’t just the frequent use of the n-word by his white co-workers or even the blackface routine at a company meeting, he said. It was the fact that a racially hostile work environment more prevalent in the 1960s was “part of the culture,” he said.

Tobacco shop, wholesaler sue county over new tax

A Chicago tobacco shop as well as a local wholesaler are trying to stamp out a new Cook County tax on cigars, snuff and loose tobacco, saying the tax language on the books is so “unconstitutionally vague” that “you’d have to hire a fortune teller” …

Sen. Kirk upgraded to ‘good’ condition, watched Super Bowl

Sen. Mark Kirk’s condition has been upgraded from “fair” to “good.”

Doctors hope to be able to re-attach the 8-inch-by-4-inch section of his skull that had to be removed after he suffered a stroke two weeks ago.

Then the Highland Park Republican can begin physical …