Free Republic

Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka has died, less than 24 hours after having a stroke. A statement from her office says the 70-year-old Topinka died early Wednesday morning following complications from the stroke. She'd reported discomfort and was admitted to a hospital in Berwyn. After undergoing testing, she lost consciousness Wednesday and was pronounced dead shortly after 2 a.m. Topinka, a Republican, won a second term last month in a tough race with Democratic challenger Sheila Simon, the former lieutenant governor.

CHICAGO (CBS) – The pilot of a small cargo plane was killed when the plane crashed into a home a few blocks away from Midway International Airport early Tuesday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot reported engine problems shortly after taking off from Midway, and was trying to get back to the airport, but never made it. The plane nose-dived into the front of a two-story home in the 6500 block of South Knox Avenue, around 2:45 a.m., and ended up partially in the living room, and partially outside on the front lawn, its tail still up in...

An executive of a Loop company, upset that he was being demoted, walked into the CEO's office on LaSalle Street this morning and shot him twice before turning the gun on himself, police said. The executive, 59, was dead on the scene from a gunshot wound to the head. The CEO of ArrowStream, Steven LaVoie, 54, was wounded in the head and stomach and was in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

There is no question two households in the 8400 block of Carpenter in the Gresham neighborhood did not like each other. In one house an off-duty officer identified by family as Courtney Hill and his wife Cathy, in the other, 86-year-old Joe Huff JR. and his wife Hazel. Fraternal order of police spokesperson Pat Camden says the two women were fighting when one through some dirt at the other. Then both husbands come see what is going on. [snip] (summery: women argue, husbands get involved, cop's wife gets shot in arm, cop shoots & kills old man and wounds 90...

URGENT ALERT - YOUR ACTION REQUIRED ANTIGUNNERS TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS ATTACKING CONCEALED CARRY YOU MUST ATTEND TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT Gun-grabbing State Representative Laura Fine will be holding a so-called "Public Meeting" on Wednesday, January 22, 2014 in Glenview, Illinois. Joining Fine in organizing the meeting is the extremely anti-gun Cook County State's Attorneys Office along with the state's most radical gun control organization, The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence (ICHV). Fine claims that this meeting is for the purpose of answering questions the public might have about concealed carry. In reality, the organizers plan to use the...

INFORMATIONAL ALERT - What's in the CCW Bill? The concealed carry bill, HB0183 (as amended), which passed through the Senate and House by overwhelming majority, is now waiting for Governor Quinn's signature. Please keep in mind that the Governor has not signed the bill, it is not yet law. He still may Veto the bill, or he may use an Amendatory Veto. Since no one knows what the Governor will do, the synopsis of the bill will not be valid if the Governor vetoes it or uses an Amendatory Veto. Many of you have been asking what the bill contains...

Click Here! Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals seeking a 30-day delay of a mandate for the state to enact a concealed gun carry law. In a statement Monday, Madigan says she filed the motion in order to give Gov. Pat Quinn time to review the legislation passed last week. "The current stay of the Court’s mandate expires in less than one week, which significantly shortens the time set in the state Constitution to allow the governor to review legislation," said Madigan. "This request for an additional 30 days would allow...

A MESSAGE TO ISRA MEMBERS FROM ISRA PRESIDENT DON MORAN Fellow Members: As most of you know by now, a "concealed carry" bill passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly yesterday, the last day of the legislature's regular session. By doing so, Illinois has partially met its obligations as ordered by the federal appeals court. The next set of milestones includes getting the governor to sign the legislation and for the state police and other government agencies to implement the provisions of the new concealed carry law. The bottom line up front is that anyone who feels that the...

Three men were killed and at least 16 others wounded during a violent nine-hour spree of shootings across the city that began late Tuesday afternoon. The spike in violence occurred as temperatures climbed into the 80s and the city basked in the warmest weather yet this year. It also coincided with an announcement by police that the city’s troubling murder statistics were down 42 percent when compared to the same period of time last year.

ISRA Press Release: One Rampage Too Many - Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy Has To Go CHICAGO, March 31, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA): The ISRA is once again calling upon Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to fire Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy . This latest call for McCarthy's ouster comes after a mob of young thugs - estimated to be in the hundreds - swarmed the Magnificent Mile shopping district Saturday night and began beating dozens of innocent shoppers. This latest mob action appears to be the most serious in a string...

I was watching this process yesterday If it was not so asinine, it would be funny. 1- Have the extremely anti-gun House Leader, Michael J. Madigan, introduce a Bill that "Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the unlawful use of weapons." 2- Copy and post the text of an existing Law, in this case 720 ILCS 5/24-1. 3- Make your "technical change". In line #8, strike the word the, and replace it with the word the. 4- Create an Amendment template: AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1155 AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill...

MIKE MADIGAN READY TO INSULT YOUR INTELLIGENCE ONCE AGAIN Mike Madigan is ticked off... Why is Mike Madigan so ticked off? Quite simply, he’s ticked off because the 7th District Court of Appeals has told him plainly that the legislature must bow to constitutional authority – not to the whims of Mike Madigan. And we all know what a control freak Mike Madigan is. No, Mike Madigan is no longer in control of the concealed carry debate. The courts have said once and for all that Illinois will join 49 other states in allowing citizens to carry defensive firearms. The...

Venezuelan authorities have arrested the American captain of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship after finding three rifles on board, according to a crew member of the vessel and a U.S. embassy official. Local officials, the crew member said, suspect the vessel of arms trafficking and on Wednesday held crew members, under armed guard, at the rear of the ship while other officials interrogated the captain. The captain, the crew member added, was then arrested and taken from the ship.

William Balfour on Friday was found guilty of killing three members of singer Jennifer Hudson’s family in 2008. [snip] Balfour was found guilty of three counts of murder, as well as home invasion, residential burglary, aggravated kidnapping and possession of a stolen vehicle. The murder of the Oscar-winning actress’s family members grabbed national attention nearly four years ago. [snip to end]

A kit-built, high-performance light plane crashed Monday in central Oregon, killing two men, the Deschutes County sheriff's office said. [snip] The victims were identified as Harry Mortimer League, 68, of Chicago and Patrick Franzen, 52, of Bend. Their bodies were recovered and their relatives have been notified, Davis said. The plane was described as a single-engine Lancair IV-Propjet. The cause of the crash was under investigation. [snip to end]

ORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — A 49-year-old brigadier general who died Friday in Afghanistan of apparent natural causes is likely the highest-ranking military officer to die there, according to military records. Fort Hood announced Brig. Gen. Terence Hildner's death Saturday in a statement posted on its website. Hildner had commanded the 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command at Fort Hood since August 2010. He left for Afghanistan in December to support the NATO mission there.

ORLANDO, Fla.--It's total newt-iny on the Gingrich campaign press bus. For each caucus or primary during the 2012 presidential campaign, Gingrich's campaign has organized transportation for the reporters assigned to cover him--as is customary for nearly every presidential candidate. [snip] That working relationship pretty much stopped working this weekend, two days before the Florida primary. The trouble began when Daniel Malloy, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, started to do some simple math, [another snip] Sitting in the back of the bus that day, the penny pinching press got to thinking: [yet another snip] One by one, the reporters...

RENO, Nevada (AP) — A World War II-era plane had a video camera facing outward, and memory cards were found at the scene where it crashed near a grandstand in Reno. It raises the possibility of video of the crash that killed nine, including the pilot. [snip]

The FBI and Homeland Security have issued a nationwide warning about al-Qaida threats to small airplanes, just days before the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Authorities say there is no specific or credible terrorist threat for the 10-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. But they have stepped up security nationwide as a precaution. According to a five-page law enforcement bulletin issued Friday, as recently as early this year, al-Qaida was considering ways to attack airplanes. The alert, issued ahead of the summer's last busy travel weekend, said terrorists have considered renting private planes...

President Obama walks into the Bank of America to cash a check. As he approaches the cashier he says, "Good morning, Ma'am, could you please cash this check for me"? Cashier: "It would be my pleasure, sir. Could you please show me your ID."? Obama: "Truthfully, I did not bring my ID with me as I didn't think there was any need to. I am President Barrack H. Obama, president of the United States of America ." Cashier: "Yes, sir, I know who you are, but with all the regulations and monitoring of the banks because of imposters and forgers,...