EDITORIAL: Speak up, train to fight unethical behavior

Former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and others offered valuable insight Friday at the annual Ethics in Government breakfast meeting: If you don't report corruption, you're an enabler.

Ryan didn't care about us, I don't care about him

Why is everybody so sensitive about George Ryan? He was cheating us when he was in office and could care less about us.

The Daily Fix

Offering perspective on today's issues

Shaw Thoughts: Geriatric Genius

He walks slowly these days—a kind of stoop-shouldered amble—his face reflecting the aches and pains of a 72-year-old body that’s been invaded by prostate cancer, Lyme disease and a mild stroke that still affects coordination.

Federal court denies ex-Illinois governor's appeal

CHICAGO | A federal court in Chicago on Monday denied George Ryan's latest appeal seeking his release from prison, dashing what was widely regarded as the former Illinois governor's last credible hope to cut short his 6 1/2-year sentence for corruption.

Interview: Mike Flannery digs Illinois politics

With more than three decades of reporting on Chicago politics—which many liken to a blood sport—Mike Flannery, the political editor at FOX Chicago News, probably has the most upfront and personal inside knowledge of city and state politics. Flannery, who grew up in Washington, D.C., and grad…

MARK KIESLING: Let's get this Blagojevich thing behind us

I'm not quite sure what former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is waiting for.

Blago told Daniels of 'SOB's seeking Senate seat

INDIANAPOLIS | Buried deep in Gov. Mitch Daniels' new book, "Keeping the Republic," is an anecdote detailing what he says was his longest conversation ever with former Illinois governor and now convicted felon Rod Blagojevich.

Charbonneau honored for work to overturn cop entry ruling

INDIANAPOLIS | The determination of state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, to undo a recent Indiana Supreme Court decision prohibiting Hoosiers from resisting unlawful police entry into their homes has won him accolades.

GUEST EDITORIALS: May fourth felonious governor be the final one

So Rod Blagojevich is one corrupt cat who does not own nine lives, after all.

MARK KIESLING: Blago guilty, but at what cost to us?

Monday's overwhelming verdicts of guilt against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich does not change by one iota my earlier opinion that this trial was a waste of time and money.

Daley: Asphalt plant part of 10th Ward resurgence

CHICAGO | When Richard M. Daley became mayor in 1989, the Wisconsin Steel mill at 106th Street and Torrence Avenue had been shuttered for nearly a decade.

Quinn abolishes death penalty

SPRINGFIELD | After two decades of debate about the risk of executing an innocent person, Illinois abolished the death penalty Wednesday, a decision that was certain to fuel renewed calls for other states to do the same.

Quinn will decide fate of 15 on death row

SPRINGFIELD | Gov. Pat Quinn said he would decide the fate of inmates now on death row when he reaches a decision on whether to sign legislation abolishing the death penalty.

A matter of life or death

On April 6, Wayne Kubsch, a 43-year-old Mishawaka man convicted of fatally stabbing his wife and stepson and his wife's ex-husband in 1998, is set to join a list of 20 other convicted murderers executed by the state of Indiana.

Death penalty ban one signature away

SPRINGFIELD | The pressure is on the governor's pen. All eyes are on Illinois to see if it becomes the 16th state to kill the death penalty.

Death row serial killer's life could be spared again

A convicted serial killer sitting on death row in Illinois for the 1996 murder of a Hammond woman had his life spared once and possibly could again, at least in Illinois.

Death penalty decision now up to Quinn

SPRINGFIELD | The Illinois Senate voted Tuesday to abolish capital punishment, sending the historic issue to Gov. Pat Quinn and putting the state back at the center of an ongoing national debate.

MARK KIESLING: Family tragedy not a get out of jail free card

Flying beneath the radar, former Illinois Gov. George Ryan paid a visit to his dying wife Wednesday.

MARK KIESLING: Denial of Ryan request tough but not unreasonable

Not so long ago, I asked the federal government to allow former Gary Police Chief Thomas Houston out of prison so he could die among his family and friends, but apparently those in charge of such things don't read the column or didn't care.