Michelle Obama in Chicago: ‘Hadiya Pendleton was me, and I was her’

First lady Michelle Obama in a Chicago visit Wednesday grew emotional, choking on her words as she explained how she struggled to bring comfort to the friends of Hadiya Pendleton the day they were to bury their friend. “I urged them to dream as big as she did,” Michelle Obama said to a group that gathered to back Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s initiative to raise $50 million and invest the money into youth programs in troubled neighborhoods.

Sen. Kirk hopes name of Hadiya powers bill

As the rancor over gun legislation in Washington ramps up, Kirk detailed his positions on gun control to the Sun-Times, making his most extensive public comments about the issue since his January return to the Senate.

Ex-Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh wants to stop paying child support because he’s out of a job

After insisting he wasn’t a “deadbeat dad” throughout his failed campaign for re-election, ex-U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh skipped last month’s child support payment and has asked to stop paying altogether. His reason: Since he’s out of Congress, he’s now unemployed.

Lawmaker seeks to regulate use of drones in Illinois — before they arrive

SPRINGFIELD-Drone aircraft are best known for stealthily zipping over the Middle East in pursuit of terrorists. But they may soon emerge as a crime-fighting tool in Illinois, prompting one state lawmaker Wednesday to introduce legislation to regulate their potential use. “Now is the time to lay down appropriate privacy guidelines,” said state Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston), the bill’s chief sponsor. “We know that the technology is not yet being widely used. That gives the Legislature time to set a series of modest restrictions that will guard the privacy of all persons in Illinois.”

Ex-Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh insists he’s not trying to stop paying child support

After insisting he wasn’t a “deadbeat dad” throughout his failed campaign for re-election, ex-U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh is still dogged by questions about child support. The flame-throwing Tea Party Republican filed court papers seeking to end his obligation to pay $2,134 per month in child support. But once again, Walsh insists he’s no deadbeat. Both he and his attorney say that since he is no longer employed as a congressman, they want to “modify” the previous agreement so that he pays 20 percent of his current salary. Walsh is not currently employed and has no salary. But that could change,

One week after attending inaugural, teen fatally shot

A week after attending presidential inauguration festivities in the nation’s capital and with dreams of a summer trip to Paris swirling in her 15-year-old imagination, Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon in the South Side’s Kenwood neighborhood.

A 4 a.m. wake-up call, long nervous wait in line — but Marquette Park’s Frazier family keeps date with history

WASHINGTON — All roads this past weekend have led to this — a 4 a.m. wake-up call for the Frazier family and their group of 98 bus travelers from Chicago and northwestern Indiana on Inauguration Day. They must leave their Harrisburg, Pa., hotel for Washington, D.C., at 4:45 a.m. to account for the three-hour ride. It would then be a three-mile walk. The march to the National Mall begins. The Frazier grandkids stop to gawk or buy the souvenirs from vendors selling everything Obama — from buttons and T-shirts to iPhone covers and a limited edition Obama dancing bear, grooving

Inauguration at a Glance

Crowd estimate: 500,000 to 700,000, down from the 1.8 million who showed up in 2009.

Barack Obama is the: 44th president

This is the: 57th presidential inauguration

Number of inaugural balls the Obama made plans to attend: Two.

Temperature during speech: 40 degrees

Length of …

Obama’s gay rights remarks: Inspiration and watershed or ‘thumb in the eye of people of faith?’

President Barack Obama’s historic inaugural comments about gay rights could influence everything from an Illinois same-sex marriage bill to kids struggling with their sexual identities, key figures in Illinois’ gay community said Monday. “I don’t think you can underestimate the power that has on a kid who is coming out of the closet or is struggling with who they are, or their family is struggling,’’ said state Rep. Deborah Mell (D-Chicago). But David E. Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, called Obama’s comments “disappointing.’’

The Inaugural Bibles

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden used four Bibles when they took their official oaths on Sunday and ceremonial oaths on Monday. The Bibles have historical significance, both personally and politically.

“The Robinson Family Bible:” This is the Bible the president used on …

Inaugural Luncheon Menu

First Course: Steamed lobster with New England clam chowder sauce, sautéed spinach and sweet potato hay.

Second Course: Hickory grilled bison, red potato horseradish cake, wild huckleberry reduction, butternut squash purée, baby golden beets and green beans and strawberry preserve and red cabbage

Third Course: …

Illinois pols’ D.C. inaugural dance cards are full

Inauguration 2013 might not have quite the pizzazz of President Barack Obama’s first swearing-in, but many of Illinois’ delegation in Washington, D.C., are still fully booked this weekend. They’re giving talks about immigration and community service. They’re painting classrooms and visiting children’s hospitals as part …

Marquette Park family off to inaugural again — after changes

A lot has changed since the Frazier family joined two million people who flooded the National Mall four years ago, determined to bear witness to the inauguration of America’s first black president. The changes aren’t limited to accomplishments that Pamela Frazier ticks off for that president. They’re also reflected in the life’s ebb and flow for an urban family.

Obama and Romney (and Springsteen and Kid Rock) enter home stretch

MADISON, Wis. — With the help of legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen, President Barack Obama drew nearly 20,000 to downtown Madison in a pre-election rally Monday as Kid Rock gave Mitt Romney a boost in New Hampshire. The increasingly weary candidates, nearly deadlocked in national polls, criss-crossed the swing states on the eve of the election in an intense fight to the finish for both campaigns. There was increasing talk that the contest was so close that it would go into overtime with possible recounts.

A Romney victory agenda will need Democratic support

Mitt Romney has talked about repealing “Obamacare,” lowering tax rates for businesses and the middle class and radically overhauling Medicare as part of the “fresh start” he envisions as president. But to think any of those big ideas happens right out of the gate if Romney defeats President Barack Obama Tuesday ignores one important factor. All trends now point toward Democrats maintaining and perhaps building on their 51-47 seat majority in the U.S. Senate. “If Romney is going to get anything done at all, other than through executive order, he’s going to have to reach across the aisle, ” said