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The Peoria City Council voted nine to one last night to sell a city owned parking lot in the 400 block of South West Jefferson to the parent company of World Famous Big Al’s. The so called adult entertainment club was asked to move more than two years ago, to make way for a 100 million dollar Marriott Hotel Complex. WCBU’s Tanya Koonce reports it’s an establishment that’s had a hard time finding a new home. |
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The first woman elected to statewide office in Illinois has died. Dawn Clark Netsch was 86. In January, she revealed she had ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Netsch was a Democrat, but people on both sides of the aisle Tuesday are remembering her as a committed public servant. Brian Mackey has more. |
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People decide to own guns for a variety of reasons. Some buy them for protection or hunting – or for history. IPR’s series “Our Guns” has been profiling local gun owners. Today we delve into the world of antique gun collecting. Illinois Public Radio’s Alex Keefe visited one of the country’s biggest antique arms auction houses, in northwest Illinois. |
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Wednesday brought the latest in a long line of proposals to fix the state's underfunded pension systems. The measure also comes as members of the Illinois House of Representatives are set to have a marathon debate on pensions Thursday. Illinois Public Radio’s Brian Mackey has more. |
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Colleagues and friends are remembering the late lawyer and judge Mary Ann McMorrow. She became a lawyer in an era when women were told they were taking jobs away from men, and rose to become the first woman to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court. McMorrow died over the weekend at the age of 83. Illinois Public Radio’s Brian Mackey has more on a career path that, when it began, would have been unthinkable. |
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As politicians debate gun control in Washington and Springfield, IPR has been trying to hear from local gun owners. It’s part of a series called “Our Guns” - about the many reasons Americans own them. Hunters and sportsmen have complex relationships to firearms. As IPR’s Alex Keefe learned - it’s part history, part tradition and part recreation. |
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Same-sex couples with an eye on marriage got a Valentine from the Illinois Senate Thursday. Thirty-three Democrats and one Republican voted to legalize gay marriage. Illinois Public Radio’s Brian Mackey has more. |
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Tuesday night’s State of the Union address was Illinois’ Senator Mark Kirk’s first since suffering a major stroke last year. Since then, the Republican has become one of a handful of US Senators trying to hammer out a deal to pass tougher gun control laws. Illinois Public Radio’s Alex Keefe caught up with Senator Kirk for the first time since he returned to work on Capitol Hill last month |
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In his state of the state address last week, Governor Pat Quinn endorsed Illinois Senate President John Cullerton's plan for cutting Illinois' pension costs. But it's unclear how tied Quinn is to the plan. Quinn has a reputation for changing his mind. And since the state's pension debt has taken the center state at the capitol, the governor has backed a variety of proposals and competing ideas.
Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky continues Wednesday's conversation with Cullerton. She started out asking asked him how important Quinn's position is to lawmakers as they debate the pension issue.
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Lawmakers, unions and policy groups have proposed various solutions to Illinois' pension problem. The funds are nearly 100 billion dollars in the red. A key obstacle to any cost savings plan is Illinois' constitution, which protects retirement benefits workers have already earned.
Senate President John Cullerton has remained steadfast in his belief that it may be constitutional to reduce employees' pensions if workers opt into changing them. He had proposed giving workers the choice of keeping their current pensions, but losing access to state-backed healthcare upon retirement.
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