"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Ex-Cub pitcher Kerry Wood finds body in Belmont Harbor

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 02:29 PM PDT

Former Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood discovered the man's body floating in the water while out in Belmont Harbor, police said.

Harry Reid calls House Republicans ‘crazies’

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 01:44 PM PDT

Harry Reid calls House Republicans 'crazies'"Wacko birds" are so last season. Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, a frustrated Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid referred to some House Republicans as "crazies" when asked about the federal immigration bill's chances of passing the Republican-majority House. "The speaker has said, within a period of a little over 24 hours, we're [...]

Haunting photos, unexpected support

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 02:48 PM PDT

Prosecutors Want Jury to Hear Zimmerman CallsDay two of George Zimmerman's murder trial brought forth powerful pieces.

Obama opens 2nd-term drive against climate change

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 03:39 PM PDT

President Barack Obama wipes perspiration from his face as he speaks about climate change, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at Georgetown University in Washington. The president is proposing sweeping steps to limit heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants and to boost renewable energy production on federal property, resorting to his executive powers to tackle climate change and sidestepping the partisan gridlock in Congress. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)WASHINGTON (AP) — Appealing for courageous action "before it's too late," President Barack Obama launched a major second-term drive Tuesday to combat climate change and secure a safer planet, bypassing Congress as he sought to set a cornerstone of his legacy.

Texas senator filibusters against abortion bill

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 03:37 PM PDT

Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, wears tennis shoes in place of her dress shoes as she begins a one-woman filibuster in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Wearing pink tennis shoes to prepare for nearly 13 consecutive hours of standing, a Democratic Texas state senator on Tuesday began a one-woman filibuster to block a GOP-led effort that would impose stringent new abortion restrictions across the nation's second-most populous state.

US tones down demands that Russia expel NSA leaker

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 03:40 PM PDT

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks at a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Lavrov on Tuesday bluntly rejected U.S. demands to extradite National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, saying that Snowden hasn't crossed the Russian border as he seeks to evade prosecution. Sergey Lavrov insisted that Russia has nothing to do with Snowden or his travel plans. Lavrov wouldn't say where Snowden is, but he angrily lashed out at the U.S. for demanding his extradition and warnings of negative consequences if Moscow fails to comply. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)WASHINGTON (AP) — Rebuffed by Russia's president, the Obama administration toned down demands Tuesday that fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden be expelled from a Moscow airport in a sign that the U.S. believes he is not worth scuttling diplomatic relations between the former Cold War enemies.

Mich. farmer with 8,000 pot plants gets probation

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 03:13 PM PDT

This undated booking photo released by the Lenawee County sheriff's department in Adrian, Mich., shows farmer Edwin Schmieding, 61, who was arrested on a marijuana growing charge after authorities found 8,000 plants at his farm in 2011. On Tuesday, June 25, 2013, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman in Detroit decided not to order Schmieding to prison and instead placed him on probation. The judge said the decision was based partly to many handwritten letters from supporters who described him as a modest, selfless man who helps others at every turn. (AP Photo/Lenawee County Sheriff's Department)DETROIT (AP) — A southeastern Michigan farmer recovering from throat cancer was sentenced to probation instead of prison Tuesday for growing thousands of marijuana plants, due partly to many handwritten letters from supporters who described him as a modest, selfless man who helps others at every turn.

GOP divided on immigration; House uncertain

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 02:12 PM PDT

FILE - In this June 20, 2013 file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans are deeply split over the immigration bill now steaming toward Senate passage, with business allies pulling in one direction and tea party supporters in the other. The divide makes the bill's fate unpredictable in the House and complicates the party's campaign to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are split over the immigration bill steaming toward approval at week's end, a divide that renders the ultimate fate of White House-backed legislation unpredictable in the House and complicates the party's ability to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters.

IG: IRS credit cards used for wine, pornography

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 02:54 PM PDT

FILE - This file photo taken March 2, 2013, shows the Internal Revenue Service building at the Federal Triangle complex in Washington. Poor oversight by the Internal Revenue Service allowed workers to use agency credit cards to buy wine for an expensive luncheon, dorky swag for managers' meetings and, for one employee, romance novels and diet pills, an agency watchdog said Tuesday, June 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Poor oversight by the Internal Revenue Service allowed workers to use agency credit cards to buy wine for an expensive luncheon, dorky swag for managers' meetings and, for one employee, romance novels and diet pills, an agency watchdog said Tuesday.

Army to cut brigades at 10 US bases

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 05:25 PM PDT

FILE - This July 28, 2010 file photo shows soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division saluting during the National Anthem during a welcome home ceremony attended by Vice President Joe Biden in Fort Drum, N.Y. In a massive restructuring, the U.S. Army is slashing the number of active duty combat brigades from 45 to 33, and shifting thousands of soldiers out of bases around the country as it moves forward with a longtime plan to cut the size of the service by 80,000. The U.S. Army plans to eliminate one of three combat brigades at northern New York's Fort Drum. (AP Photo/Heather Ainsworth, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army will eliminate at least 12 combat brigades, relocate thousands of soldiers and cancel $400 million in construction projects as the first wave of federal budget cuts takes aim at military communities around the country.

Floodwaters force 100s to evacuate NE Iowa town

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 03:13 PM PDT

Jim Johnson rows his boat down Main Street, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in New Hartford, Iowa. Hundreds of residents obeyed an order to evacuate their homes in this northeast Iowa town Tuesday before floodwaters from a rising creek could strand them. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)NEW HARTFORD, Iowa (AP) — Even as he rowed his flat-bottom aluminum boat down New Hampton's Main Street, Jim Johnson didn't seem especially concerned Tuesday about the flooding that had inundated his small northeast Iowa town.

Chris Brown charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 11:37 AM PDT

FILE - In this May 19, 2013 file photo, singer Chris Brown arrives at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas. The Los Angeles city attorney's office has charged Brown with misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving without a valid license. City attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan says the charges filed Tuesday, June 25, 2013, involve a minor accident on May 21 in the San Fernando Valley. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, File)LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles city attorney's office has charged singer Chris Brown with misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving without a valid license.

Arab Idol champ in Gaza, urges Palestinian unity

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 02:56 PM PDT

Arab Idol winner Palestinian Mohammed Assaf, center, arrives to the Rafah crossing point on the border between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Huge crowds of Gazans gave a gleeful welcome Tuesday to the first Palestinian winner of the Arab Idol talent contest, thronging the territory's border crossing with Egypt and the singer's home in hopes of embracing him, but internal politics surfaced quickly. Assaf's victory in the popular contest Saturday sparked huge celebrations in the West Bank and Gaza, giving Palestinians a sense of pride. (AP Photo/Khaled Omar, Pool)KHAN YOUNIS REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians have a new voice: a 23-year-old wedding singer from a Gaza refugee camp touted as a rare symbol of national unity after he won the Arab world's top TV contest.

State reps criticize Metra's severance deal with ex-CEO

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 02:08 PM PDT

Two state representatives are putting pressure on Metra's board to explain why it approved a severance agreement that pays the commuter rail agency's departed CEO as much as $740,000.

Snowden becomes 'tasty morsel' for spies

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 01:46 PM PDT

File photo of protesters holding photo of Snowden during a demonstration outside the U.S. Consulate in Hong KongThe NSA contractor's disappearance leads to speculation that he's talking to Russia.

Putin: 'Nyet' to US request to turn over Snowden

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 01:52 PM PDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the media following a meeting with the Finland's President Sauli Niinisto at the presidential summer residence Kultaranta in Naantali, Finland, Tuesday June 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Lehtikuva, Kimmo Mantyla) FINLAND OUTMOSCOW (AP) — Yes, he's at a Moscow airport, and no, you can't have him.

Lawmaker apologizes for ‘Uncle Thomas’ tweet

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 01:22 PM PDT

FILE - In this March 15, 2010, file photo Minnesota Rep. Ryan Winkler, D-Golden Valley, talks to the press in St Paul, Minn. Winkler apologized swiftly Tuesday, June 25, 2013, for a tweet he sent that referred to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as A Minnesota state representative has apologized for a tweet in which he referred to black Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as "Uncle Thomas." Shortly after the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act was announced on Tuesday, Ryan Winkler, a Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota's 46th District, tweeted: #SCOTUS [...]

Neighbor says she saw struggle in Zimmerman trial

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 01:29 PM PDT

George Zimmerman enters the courtroom for his trial in Seminole County circuit court in Sanford, Fla. Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Gary W. Green, Pool)SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — A neighbor who partially witnessed the struggle between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin testified at Zimmerman's murder trial that she heard shouts of "no" during the fight.

Gettysburg residents seek black history museum

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 01:14 PM PDT

In this Friday, June 21, 2013 photo, Mary Alice Nutter, a 68-year-old retired schoolteacher, poses for a portrait in view of the St. Paul A.M.E Zion Church, in Gettysburg, Pa. The town's African-American community people proudly tell stories of ancestors who fought in the Civil War, of the men who buried thousands of bodies after the battle, but they also speak of the struggle to preserve that history and of a battle for equal rights that continued long after the war ended, even in their hometown. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gettysburg's small African-American community proudly tells stories of ancestors who fought in the Civil War, of a young woman who shook President Abraham Lincoln's hand and of the men who buried thousands of bodies after the battle.

Taliban attack shows militant spirit unbroken

Posted: 25 Jun 2013 05:07 PM PDT

Afghan security force members investigate nearby the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Kabul palace attack, which came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban attack at the gates of the Afghan presidential palace cast a cold light Tuesday on the course of a war that Washington remains committed to ending.