"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

AP sources: Obama to limit carbon at power plants

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 04:58 PM PDT

The Capitol Dome is seen behind the Capitol Power Plant in Washington, Monday, June 24, 2013. The plant provides power to buildings in the Capitol Complex. President Barack Obama is running out of time to make good on his lofty vow to confront climate change head-on, and Congress is in no mood to help. The executive actions and regulations Obama announces Tuesday will take years to implement. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's national plan to combat climate change will include the first-ever regulations to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, as well as increased production of renewable energy on public lands and federally assisted housing, environmental groups briefed on the plan said Monday.

Adverse weather causes train delays, power outages

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 05:41 PM PDT

A storm system approaching from the west has resulted in the National Weather Service issuing a severe thunderstorm warning for all of Northern Illinois tonight.

Game 6: Bruins 1, Hawks 0

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 05:39 PM PDT

Chris Kelly scores to give Bruins 1-0 lead over the Blackhawks.

House investigators: Disability judges are too lax

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 04:20 PM PDT

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 11, 2013 file photo, the Social Security Administration's main campus is seen in Woodlawn, Md. U.S. House investigators say Social Security is approving state-rejected claims for disability benefits at strikingly high rates for people who might not deserve them. Compounding the problem, the agency often fails to do required follow-up reviews to make sure people still qualify for benefits months or years later. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security is approving disability benefits at strikingly high rates for people whose claims were rejected by field offices or state agencies, according to House investigators. Compounding the situation, the agency often fails to do required follow-up reviews months or years later to make sure people are still disabled.

Rights case ruling favors Colo. transgender girl

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 04:20 PM PDT

FILE -In this Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, file photo, Coy Mathis, left, plays with her sister Auri, at their home in Fountain, Colo. Coy has been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder. Biologically, Coy, 6, is a boy, but to her family members and the world, Coy is a transgender girl. The New York-based Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund plans to explain a ruling by the Colorado Civil Rights Division that allows Mathis a 6-year-old to use the girls' bathroom. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley,File)DENVER (AP) — Colorado officials say a suburban Colorado Springs school district discriminated against a 6-year-old transgender girl by preventing her from using the girls' bathroom, in what advocates described as the first such ruling in the next frontier in civil rights.

Tightrope walk over Ariz. gorge draws 13M viewers

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 04:17 PM PDT

Aerialist Nik Wallenda near the end of his quarter mile walk over the Little Colorado River Gorge in northeastern Arizona on Sunday, June 23, 2013. The daredevil successfully traversed the tightrope strung 1,500 feet above the chasm near the Grand Canyon in just more than 22 minutes, pausing and crouching twice as winds whipped around him and the cable swayed. (AP Photos/Discovery Channel, Tiffany Brown)LITTLE COLORADO RIVER GORGE, Ariz. (AP) — Aerialist Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk over a gorge near the Grand Canyon drew nearly 13 million viewers to the live television broadcast.

Immigration bill clears Senate test

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 05:32 PM PDT

FILE - In this April 18, 2013 file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. At the start of a crucial week for far-reaching immigration legislation backed by the White House, the Senate headed Monday for the first test vote on the measure offering the prize of U.S. citizenship to millions and pouring new technology and manpower into the border. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Historic immigration legislation cleared a key Senate hurdle with votes to spare on Monday, pointing the way to near-certain passage within days for $38 billion worth of new security measures along the border with Mexico and an unprecedented chance at citizenship for millions living in the country illegally.

Documents show IRS also screened liberal groups

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 04:01 PM PDT

FILE - In this June 6, 2013 file photo, acting IRS commissioner Danny Werfel testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Werfel unveils his plan to fix an agency besieged by scandal. President Barack Obama ordered Werfel to conduct a 30-day review of the IRS when he appointed him last month. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service's screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed, the new head of the agency acknowledged Monday. Terms including "Israel," ''Progressive" and "Occupy" were used by agency workers to help pick groups for closer examination, according to an internal IRS document obtained by The Associated Press.

Nadal stunned at Wimbledon in 1st round by Darcis

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 03:47 PM PDT

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts as he loses a point to Steve Darcis of Belgium during their Men's first round singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)LONDON (AP) — Just like that, in a span of 15 days, Rafael Nadal went from French Open champion for a record eighth time to first-round Grand Slam loser for the only time in his career.

Profanity, theatrics mark first day of Zimmerman’s trial

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 02:27 PM PDT

Don West, a defense attorney for George Zimmerman describes the shooting of Trayvon Martin to the jury while holding an evidence photo of a gun during opening statements in Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court, in Sanford, Fla., Monday, June 24, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank,Pool)SANFORD, Fla.—One of the most anticipated murder trials in recent memory began with a torrent of profanity from the prosecution and a knock-knock joke from the defense. The state of Florida's case against George Zimmerman began on Monday with the expected debate about whether the man who shot and fatally wounded 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in [...]

Senate faces key vote on immigration

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 01:43 PM PDT

FILE - In this April 18, 2013 file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. At the start of a crucial week for far-reaching immigration legislation backed by the White House, the Senate headed Monday for the first test vote on the measure offering the prize of U.S. citizenship to millions and pouring new technology and manpower into the border. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama campaigned from the White House for immigration legislation on Monday in advance of a Senate test vote on a bill calling for more than $30 billion worth of new security measures along the border with Mexico and offering a chance at citizenship for millions living in the country illegally.

Send him back: US urges nations to return Snowden

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 03:59 PM PDT

A TV screen shows a news report of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at a shopping mall in Hong Kong Sunday, June 23, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. grasped for help Monday from both adversaries and uneasy allies in an effort to catch fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. The White House demanded that he be denied asylum, blasted China for letting him go and urged Russia to "do the right thing" and send him back to America to face espionage charges.

IRS chief: Agency also screened liberal groups

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 03:32 PM PDT

FILE - In this June 6, 2013 file photo, acting IRS commissioner Danny Werfel testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Werfel unveils his plan to fix an agency besieged by scandal. President Barack Obama ordered Werfel to conduct a 30-day review of the IRS when he appointed him last month. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service's screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed, the new head of the agency acknowledged Monday. Terms including "Israel," ''Progressive" and "Occupy" were used by agency workers to help pick groups for closer examination, according to an internal IRS document obtained by The Associated Press.

Series of bomb attacks in Iraq kill at least 42

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 12:40 PM PDT

Shiite Muslim worshippers gather at the holy shrine of Imam Abbas during the annual festival of Shabaniyah, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam, in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of evening bombings near markets in and around Baghdad and other blasts north of the capital killed at least 42 people and wounded dozens of others Monday in the latest eruption of bloodshed to rock Iraq.

APNewsBreak: Wing walker, pilot had clean records

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 02:39 PM PDT

A stunt plane loses control as a wing walker performs at the Vectren Air Show just before crashing, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. The crash killed the pilot and the stunt walker instantly, authorities said. (AP Photo/Thanh V Tran)CINCINNATI (AP) — An aerobatic pilot and a wing walker killed in a fiery crash at an air show over the weekend had clean safety records, according to Federal Aviation Administration records released Monday, when new details emerged about the lives and love stories of the fallen performers.

Rapper 'Fat Joe' sentenced in NJ for tax case

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 03:32 PM PDT

FILE - This Dec. 20, 2012 file photo shows rapper Fat Joe, whose real name is Joseph Cartagena, leaving court in Newark N.J. Cartagena is being sentenced sentenced Monday, June 24, in federal court after he pleaded guilty in December 2012 to failing to pay taxes on more than $1 million of income in 2007 and in 2008. The Miami Beach resident was prosecuted in New Jersey because some of the companies he earns money from are incorporated in Somerville. (AP Photo/Samantha Henry, file)NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The former chart-topping rap star known as "Fat Joe" was sentenced to four months in prison Monday over his earlier admission that he failed to file federal income taxes for two years.

Malibu fight involving Scottie Pippen investigated

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 05:30 PM PDT

FILE- This March 1, 2012 file photo shows former NBA player Scottie Pippen during an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore. Authorities are investigating a fight involving the former Chicago Bulls star and a man outside a popular Malibu sushi restaurant Sunday, June 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen was questioned Monday about his weekend fight with an autograph-seeker that left the man hospitalized with a head injury.

Zimmerman portrayed as vigilante in Fla. shooting

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 02:37 PM PDT

George Zimmerman waits for his defense counsel to arrive in Seminole circuit court for his trial, in Sanford, Fla., Monday, June 24, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank/Pool)SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — George Zimmerman was fed up with "punks" getting away with crime and shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin "because he wanted to," not because he had to, prosecutors argued Monday, while the neighborhood watch volunteer's attorney said the killing was self-defense against a young man who was slamming Zimmerman's head against the pavement.

Local school's reaction to admission ruling: A 'sigh of relief'

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 05:34 PM PDT

The Supreme Court's decision today means that, at least for now, Illinois colleges and universities that consider an applicant's race among other factors can continue to do so.

Gold Coast doorman chases off rapist: 'I had to do something'

Posted: 24 Jun 2013 01:14 PM PDT

Cornell Wrightington rushed to the rescue of a young woman who was being raped in an alley. "I thought about my two daughters, I wouldn't want something like that to happen to them," he said.