News Coverage: Dick Durbin

Tax season's over, and it's almost spring in Illinois. But the politics here ain't all roses.

As Republican candidate for governor Bill Brady flashes his tax return to reporters, Democratic former governor Rod Blagojevich calls on the president to testify at his trial. Meanwhile, it seems Dick Durbin left the White House empty handed after trying to help his friend, Alexi Giannoulias.

Here's a summary of those developments and other recent Illinois political news: Read more...

Here's a roundup of recent political news:

• As Democrats battle scandal, there's one trouble spot President Barack Obama has stayed away from: his home state of Illinois.
• Running for Obama's old Senate seat, Rep. Mark Kirk is set on derailing the president's plans.
• He's from the same state and from the same party as they are, but the president still hasn't been able to convince some Illinois Democrats to back the final health care measure.
• Lawmakers and judges in Illinois might need to wait longer to retire and collect on their pensions.
• A bill crafted by Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin was supposed to equalize penalties for possession of crack cocaine versus cocaine in powder form. But he's fine with a "bipartisan" compromise: a penalty 18 times as large for those who carry crack than for the whiter, richer folks who carry powder.
• Illinois' experiment with one of the earliest primaries in the country has come to an end. The state will now hold primary elections in late March, rather than freezing early February.
• A federal judge refused to delay the June 3 corruption trial of former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
• U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, one of Obama's staunch Chicago supporters, says he'll vote against the president's health care bill. He says the bill leaves out immigrants, producing "a change for the worse."
• Faced with DNA evidence that Asian carp have moved into Lake Michigan, the U.S. Supreme Court will reconsider whether to close two Chicago-area locks to the Great Lakes.
• Illinois House Rep. Ron Stephens as been charged with driving under the influence. The Greenville Republican is an assistant minority leader.

President Obama has followed up quickly on his "state of the union" pledge to support high-speed rail, awarding $1.23 billion to projects in Illinois.

"There’s no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains," Obama said in his address to Congress last night.

Illinois' funding will mostly pay for new high-speed infrastructure for service between Chicago and St. Louis. Read more...

Democrats will start out with an advantage in the general election if Alexi Giannoulias is the party's nominee for Barack Obama's old Senate seat, according to a new survey from Public Policy Polling.

Giannoulias leads Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk by eight percentage points, 42-34, while Kirk leads former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman 37-36 and Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson 38-36.

The numbers show Giannoulias improving since last spring, when a Public Policy poll found him tied with Kirk at 33 percent. Read more...

Many of the Block 37 shops are already open, and others are coming soon.  Credit: Geoff Dougherty

For 20 years, Block 37 was an infamous sinkhole in the middle of the Loop. Flanked by Daley Plaza and Marshall Field’s, one of the most prestigious pieces of real estate in Chicago sat barren, swallowing up idea after idea.

Though a pair of glass and steel buildings finally opened on the spot in 2009, Block 37’s demons persist — they’ve merely been pushed underground, where the Chicago Transit Authority has built the shell of a train station without any tracks. Read more...