When a 17-year-old girl was caught stealing $300 worth of clothing at a mall a few weeks ago, she was charged with a misdemeanor in juvenile court. Before Jan. 1, she could have been in even bigger trouble.

Gov. Pat Quinn's plans to send less money to universities next year could show up on students' tuition bills once again, university officials say.

City and county governments in East Central Illinois say they will lose millions of dollars under Gov. Pat Quinn's proposal to cut the state's income tax-sharing program.

Despite a frigid reception from state lawmakers to the idea, Gov. Pat Quinn Thursday launched a public marketing effort to win support for a 33 percent income tax hike to support education.

Gov. Pat Quinn spoke at a Springfield middle school today as he continues his push for an income tax increase, warning that thousands of teachers will be laid off if lawmakers don't go along with his plan.

Social service agencies and others spent Thursday wondering how they'll adjust to an even smaller amount of state money if Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal is approved.

WASHINGTON, Ill. -- School districts large and small are taking action to balance their budgets as they deal with a precipitous drop in state funding.

An aide to Gov. Pat Quinn is one of five finalists who will be interviewed Friday for the top job at the Illinois Tollway.

In a filing Thursday, Blagojevich's attorneys contend they cannot adequately prepare his defense for the scheduled June 3 trial without knowing whether they have to defend against charges of "honest services" fraud.

On the same day Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias tried to shift the spotlight off his family's struggling bank and onto his opponent's bank ties, police arrested a major Giannoulias contributor and customer of the family bank as he tried to flee the country ahead of check-kiting charges.

The Illinois House moved Thursday to spare teenagers who engage in "sexting" from having to register as sex offenders.

Gov. Pat Quinn's approval is all that's needed to end the short-lived experiment of having Illinois primaries in early February.

The Illinois House voted Thursday to keep evaluations of public employees private, barring them from being released to the public.

Lawmakers are moving closer to a compromise on reforming the use of red-light cameras while a complete repeal of the technology appears to face little chance.

A bill that would require judges to impose extended sentences in some cases of death caused by child abuse cleared an Illinois House committee on Thursday.

A state registry that compiles offenders of violent crimes against children may soon include people who have shaken toddlers to death, partly because of efforts of a southern Illinois woman.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. is suing the Illinois Liquor Control Commission over its decision to deny the beer giant a license to distribute in the state.

Raising the speed limit on most Illinois interstates to 70 mph wouldn't be a big deal, Beloit resident Joe Bavone said. After all, most people drive that speed already.

MACOMB, Ill. -- Western Illinois University President Al Goldfarb is telling university administrators to cut spending next year by 3.5 percent to prepare for upcoming cuts in state funding.

Tazewell County authorities say an attempted murder suspect briefly triggered a nationwide alert when he allegedly cut off an ankle monitoring bracelet.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Central Illinois prosecutors don't want a man whose conviction was overturned in the 1993 killing of an Illinois State University student declared innocent.

The Illinois Department on Aging will move from state-owned buildings to rented space despite complaints from lawmakers that the move is a waste of money during the state's budget crisis.

Exelon agreed Thursday to pay more than $1 million to settle lawsuits filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan after the company allowed radioactive tritium to leak outside three of its nuclear power plants.

Green Party candidate for governor Rich Whitney said Thursday he'd legalize and tax marijuana and tax stock trading transactions in order to eliminate Illinois' roughly $13 billion budget deficit.

Back when he was in Glenwood High School, Alex Hartzler, 25, had a public access TV program called "The Irrelevant Talk Show."

The Illinois Senate unanimously endorsed legislation Wednesday aimed at helping community colleges deal with late payments from the state.

A handful of fees charged by county coroners could jump by as much as five times under legislation advancing in the General Assembly.

BELVIDERE, Ill. -- Students pleaded Thursday with the Belvidere School Board not to lay off teachers in the midst of a budget crisis.

Vermilion County governments stand to lose millions of dollars under Gov. Quinn's budget proposals. And the loss will mean job cuts, officials say.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Attorneys for an Illinois State Trooper who allegedly caused a crash that killed two sisters on an Illinois freeway say the charges should be dismissed.

Federal officials say Illinois is getting more than $500,000 in grants for fire departments and other municipalities across the state.

PEORIA, Ill. -- Three officials of the now-defunct Wildwood Industries, a Bloomington-based leaf- and vacuum-bag manufacturer, pleaded guilty Thursday to participating in a conspiracy that bilked 85 lenders out of $213 million.

PEORIA, Ill. -- The city has "entered into a bargain" with Google that might mean sacrificing some personal privacy if the Internet search giant decides to come to Peoria to establish an ultra-high speed connection, a Bradley University dean said Thursday.

Both political parties are taking tea party activists seriously and are wary of offending them – if they are not already actively wooing them for state races this fall. Just look at the governor’s election in Ohio. Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich openly touts his tea party credentials in his bid to defeat incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland. “I think I was in the tea party before there was a tea party,” Kasich famously told a Columbus crowd earlier this year. “This is a real movement with a real message about people’s frustrations by broken promises that leaders on both sides of the aisle would be foolish to ignore,” he went on to write in a blog posting.