Foreman sets retirement date:

Lake County Judge Fred Foreman, who announced his retirement last month but set no specific date, on Thursday said leave the bench Jan. 20. Judge John Phillips was elected chief judge by his peers in December, and will succeed Foreman in that position Jan. 6. Foreman was elected as a circuit judge in 2004, then presided over the felony call from 2004 through 2012. He was unanimously elected as chief judge in December 2011. Prior to his election to the Circuit Court of Lake County in 2004, Foreman served as Lake County state’s attorney from 1980 through 1990, then as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1990 through 1993.