Burris: No public plan, no vote on health care
WASHINGTON (AP) For Democrats determined to get a health care bill, Sen. Roland Burris is like the house guest who couldn t be refused, won t soon be leaving and poses a plausible threat of ruining holiday dinner. Suddenly, he can no longer be igno...
 0.9K - Oct. 19, 2009; scored 222.0 Vocal group lobbies against Chicago bid
CHICAGO The mayor, the president and Oprah Winfrey may hope to return to Chicago from Copenhagen with the 2016 Olympic Games, but some around town hope the International Olympic Committee deems the Second City the second city. As in second to Rio d...
4.3K - Sep. 30, 2009; scored 222.0 Fall TV preview
NEW YORK What can you say about a fall TV season most distinguished by the leap to prime-time by Jay Leno? Not exactly a fresh face after 17 years as host of The Tonight Show, Leno has the most-anticipated, most talked-about new show on the netwo...
8.8K - Sep. 4, 2009; scored 251.0 Kennedy seeks speedy replacement
BOSTON (AP) A cancer-stricken Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has asked Massachusetts leaders to change state law to allow a speedy replacement if it s necessary for him to surrender his seat, fearing a months-long vacancy would deny Democrats a crucial vot...
6.4K - Aug. 20, 2009; scored 309.0 Blagojevich appointee will not run in 2010
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Roland Burris gambled that he could accept a U.S. Senate appointment from a political pariah and still be seen as an honest, hardworking public servant. He lost. Burris was permanently tainted when he happily took the offer f...
1.0K - Jul. 10, 2009; scored 254.0 Even in disgrace, Blagojevich finds the spotlight
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been rejected by the people of his state, bounced out of office by legislators and indicted by federal prosecutors. But in the world of entertainment, he's a hit. Television, radio, theater...
5.4K - Jun. 17, 2009; scored 448.0 Blagojevich wants to tap campaign fund
CHICAGO (AP) - Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has made a fresh plea for permission to tap campaign funds to help pay legal expenses in his corruption case. Attorney Sheldon Sorosky argued Friday before U.S. District Judge James Zagel that a hug...
0.5K - May. 2, 2009; scored 222.0 Racketeering indictment against former Gov. Blagojevich all about money and lots of it
CHICAGO (AP) - The federal racketeering indictment against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is all about money, and lots of it - including the big bucks he is accused of trying to collect selling or swapping President Barack Obama's former U.S. S...
1.0K - Apr. 3, 2009; scored 254.0 Illinois gets back to work with a new governor
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Illinois lawmakers spent seven weeks using impeachment to scrub away the ethics stain of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But his successor says that doesn t mean the notoriously corrupt state has been cleaned up. Today is a begi...
4.2K - Jan. 31, 2009; scored 483.0 Governor wants to mend flaws
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Now that Rod Blagojevich s scandal-ridden tenure as governor is over, Gov. Pat Quinn said today he s ready to get to work and mend the flaws in state government. This is a time for governance and reform. Politics we can do tha...
6.8K - Jan. 30, 2009; scored 532.0 Illinois Gov. Blagojevich asks to make closing argument at impeachment trial he had boycotted
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) After days of studiously avoiding the impeachment trial that could remove him from office, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has reversed course, saying he wants to offer a closing argument Thursday. His request to speak shocked ...
1.1K - Jan. 29, 2009; scored 277.0 Illinois senators hear governor's own voice as FBI recordings are played at impeachment trial
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Gov. Rod Blagojevich was hundreds of miles away, but his voice captivated the Illinois Senate Tuesday as impeachment prosecutors played FBI wiretaps of conversations in which he seems to demand campaign contributions in excha...
1.6K - Jan. 28, 2009; scored 309.0 Impeachment trial rolls on
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) The impeachment trial of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has begun its third day with Blagojevich once again a no-show. The Illinois senators weighing the governor s political fate have listened to his voice captured on a secre...
3.8K - Jan. 28, 2009; scored 470.0 Blagojevich: Play the FBI tapes
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich began the second round of his media blitz today, reiterating his claims that his impeachment trial is unfair and that he wants all of his conversations taped by the FBI released to show he s innocent ...
5.6K - Jan. 27, 2009; scored 532.0 Illinois governor turns to airways for defense
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Though Illinois lawmakers are launching an impeachment trial today that could remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office, the governor himself will be far from the capitol building instead chatting with Larry King and the wome...
1.1K - Jan. 26, 2009; scored 309.0 Ill. governor launches a PR counterattack
CHICAGO (AP) Launching an all-out media blitz as his impeachment trial draws near, Gov. Rod Blagojevich compared himself Friday to an honest, hardworking cowboy about to be lynched by a band of black-hatted political insiders eager to raise taxes....
1.2K - Jan. 24, 2009; scored 293.0 Poll finds high hopes for Obama, ecomonic plans
NEW YORK (AP) Americans believe Barack Obama is on track to succeed and are optimistic he can help revive the struggling economy, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. Public expectations for his performance in office far exceed those for any ...
5.2K - Jan. 17, 2009; scored 254.0 Illinois governor to administer Senate oath
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) In an ironic, surreal scene, impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich will preside briefly over the chamber that holds his political future in its hands. Today, Blagojevich was to swear in the Illinois Senate, which will decide in a ma...
1.0K - Jan. 14, 2009; scored 277.0 Illinois lawmakers vote 114-1 to impeach Blagojevich
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached Friday by Illinois lawmakers furious that he turned state government into a freak show, setting the stage for an unprecedented trial in the state Senate that could get him thrown out of of...
4.9K - Jan. 10, 2009; scored 493.0 Lawmakers prepare to impeach governor
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office. A simple majority vote will ...
1.2K - Jan. 9, 2009; scored 277.0 | 
