BC-IL--Illinois News Digest 6pm, IL
Here's a look at AP's general news coverage at 6 p.m. Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the AP-Chicago bureau at 312-781-0500 or chifax@ap.org. Herbert McCann is on the desk. AP-Illinois News Editor Hugh Dellios can be reached at 312-920-3624 or hdellios@ap.org.
A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories and digests will keep you up to date. All times are Central.
Some TV and radio stations will receive shorter APNewsNow versions of the stories below, along with all updates.
TODAY'S TOP STORIES:
U OF ILLINOIS-MEDICAL SCHOOL
URBANA, Ill. - University of Illinois trustees have approved a plan to open a new public-private medical school at the Urbana-Champaign campus. The unanimous vote on Thursday means the university and Urbana-based Carle Foundation hospital will negotiate the details of the hospital's pledge to provide $100 million to the project over 10 years. The school's startup costs are estimated at $100 million. It would open in 2017. The school would be independent of the existing College of Medicine in Chicago. By David Mercer. SENT: 505 words, photo.
XGR--HIGHER EDUCATION
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The presidents of several public universities testify before a Senate panel that Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposal to slash higher education by roughly $400 million will prompt significant setbacks, including layoffs of hundreds of staff members and drastically scaled back programs. The officials - from Eastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University and Western Illinois University - say the 31 percent budget cut would roll back state support to a level they haven't seen since the 1980s. By Kerry Lester. SENT: 610 words.
STATE POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
MEDICAL MARIJUANA-ILLINOIS
CHICAGO - The Illinois Department of Agriculture is handing out permits to medical marijuana growers, even as a new lawsuit adds momentum to the cause of failed applicants who'd like a court review. Growers have months of construction ahead, including installation of security systems, before they can plant, but the permits bring them a step closer to what's likely to be a late fall harvest. In a second lawsuit against the state, White Oak Growers LLC, an unsuccessful applicant, says the department broke its own rules when it selected corporations for a limited number of cultivation permits. The complaint, filed Wednesday in Cook County, seeks to block a permit to Cresco Labs LLC. By Carla K. Johnson. SENT: 505 words.
ILLINOIS GOVERNOR-PARK GRANTS
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has suspended state grants for park district construction projects as Illinois faces an estimated $1.6 billion budget deficit. The indefinite suspension affects parks projects across the state, including ones in Decatur, Mount Pulaski and Streator. Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said the governor's office "is taking actions necessary to address the fiscal crisis that the governor inherited." Democrats in the state legislature had hoped to boost revenue for the budget by renewing a temporary income tax increase that expired Jan. 1. SENT: 280 words.
AROUND THE STATE:
GROCERY STORE SHOOTING
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - An eastern Illinois man has been retried and resentenced to 65 years in prison - 30 years more than he originally received - for shooting his brother to death in 2010. Brian Maggio of Savoy was resentenced Wednesday in Champaign County in the death of 32-year-old Mark Maggio. Maggio pleaded guilty in 2011 and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. But Maggio claimed on appeal that his sentence was too little. It was a ploy to get a retrial in hopes of a lesser sentence. But the effort failed when Judge Heidi Ladd on Wednesday sentenced him to 65 years. SENT: 340 words, photo.
OBIT-WILLIE BARROW
CHICAGO - The Rev. Willie Barrow, a front-line civil rights fighter for decades and a mentor to younger generations of activists, died Thursday in Chicago. She was 90. Barrow was a field organizer for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., marched on Washington and Selma in the '60s and more recently focused concern on Chicago's gun violence and changes to the Voting Rights Act. Barrow helped organize sit-ins and boycotts in the South with civil rights icons including King, Rosa Parks and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. By Jason Keyser. SENT: 535 words, photos.
INDONESIA-US WOMAN DEAD
BALI, Indonesia - An American man charged with murdering his girlfriend's mother told an Indonesian court Thursday he was angry after the victim threatened to kill his unborn baby and strangled him hard for about half a minute. Tommy Schaefer, 21, and Heather Mack, 19, are being tried separately by Denpasar District Court, where they are charged with premeditated murder for the death of Sheila von Wiese-Mack last August in Bali. They could face a firing squad if found guilty. The victim's badly beaten body was found in a suitcase on a taxi. Testifying at the trial of Mack, Schaefer told the court their relationship was not endorsed by his girlfriend's mother. SENT: 500 words, photos.
IMMIGRATION-ISRAEL BOMBINGS
DETROIT - Calling her a "terrorist" from decades ago who has turned to "good works," a judge sentenced a Chicago activist on Thursday to 18 months in prison for lying about her convictions for bombings in Israel when she sought U.S. citizenship. Rasmieh Odeh, 67, also was stripped of her citizenship and will be deported, probably to Jordan. But she will remain free while she appeals the conviction, a process that could take more than a year. "The offense is serious but it's not extremely serious," said U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain. Odeh helps run Chicago's Arab American Action Network, an education and social services agency, and more than 100 supporters filled the courtroom or spilled over into another room to watch a video feed of the hearing. By Ed White. SENT: 510 words, photos.
EXCHANGE-DESIGN CLASS
GALESBURG, Ill. - In Lonny Miller's Engineering Design class, high school students are using the latest technology to design everything from dream homes to cars. The Engineering Design class at the Galesburg Area Vocational Center is in the middle of its car project. The class's nine students will use a 3-D printer to build miniature cars that they'll race down the hallway. The cars will be powered with CO2 cartridges. "I'm guessing they'll go about 60 feet in two seconds," Miller said. By Ben Zigterman. The (Galesburg) Register-Mail. SENT: 845 words, photos.
IN BRIEF:
-ILLINOIS COMPTROLLER-DEATH RESOLUTION: Lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly have paid a memorial tribute to former Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka. SENT: 130 words.
-CHICAGO-LUCAS MUSEUM: There's no immediate sign "Star Wars" creator George Lucas might take his museum elsewhere after a federal judge in Chicago ruled a lawsuit seeking to stop construction along Lake Michigan can go ahead. SENT: 130 words.
- ILLINOIS UNEMPLOYMENT: The state's unemployment rate declined to 6.1 percent in January, another in a series of monthly declines. UPCOMING: 130 words.
- CHICAGO-LUCAS MUSEUM: A Chicago federal judge says a civil suit seeking to block George Lucas' museum from being built along Lake Michigan can proceed. SENT: 130 words.
- NAPERVILLE STABBINGS-VERDICT: A 30-year-old Naperville man has been convicted of fatally stabbing a second-grade teacher at a crowded bar more than three years ago. SENT: 130 words.
- MARIJUANA-AVOCADO SHIPMENT: The Cook County Sheriff's Office says it found 2,100 pounds of marijuana hidden in a shipment of frozen avocado pulp. SENT: 130 words.
- ROCKFORD-MURDER FOR HIRE: A 33-year-old Rockford woman is accused of trying to hire a hit man. SENT: 130 words.
- LEVY ACQUISITION-DEL TACO: Del Taco is being acquired in a deal valued at about $500 million by a Chicago acquisitions and merger company. SENT: 130 words.
- SOUTH SHORE-EXPRESS TRAIN: The South Shore commuter line next week will launch its "Sunrise Express" train that will travel from South Bend to Chicago in less than two hours. SENT: 130 words.
- MISSISSIPPI RIVER-PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE: Work to replace a closed-off pedestrian bridge to a Mississippi River island at Moline likely won't be finished for years. SENT: 130 words.
- ILLINOIS-REHABBING BUILDINGS: The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency says a federal tax credit effort to rehabilitate historic buildings has pumped more than $726 million into the state economy. SENT: 130 words.
- RADIO HOST-TRESPASSING: A St. Clair County jury has found a Belleville talk radio host not guilty of trespassing on a local politician's property. SENT: 130 words.
- OLD VIDEO-BASKETBALL: The Illinois High School Association says they've discovered some of the earliest high school basketball film footage around. SENT: 130 words.
- FOOD PACKAGING-CHEMICAL: The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $425,000 grant to a pair of Illinois State University researchers studying a chemical found in many food containers. SENT: 130 words.
SPORTS:
HKN--BLACKHAWKS-COYOTES
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Antoine Vermette returns to Arizona for the first time since being traded to Chicago when the Blackhawks face the Coyotes. By Jose Romero. UPCOMING: 750 words. Game starts at 9 p.m. CT. Photos.
BBO--GIANTS-WHITE SOX
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Will Ferrell makes appearances for both teams as the Chicago White Sox host the San Francisco Giants. The comedian is expected to play nine positions plus DH in five games in the Phoenix area on Thursday as part of an HBO special benefiting cancer research. World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner starts for San Francisco and Hector Noesi goes for Chicago. UPCOMING: 450 words, photos. Game starts at 5:05 p.m. CT.
BKC--B10-MICHIGAN-ILLINOIS
CHICAGO - For all the setbacks Michigan endured, it turns out the Wolverines weren't ready to go away without making at least a little more noise. They sure let it out against Illinois. Aubrey Dawkins scored 18 points and Michigan pounded the Fighting Illini 73-55 Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman added 15 points and eight rebounds. Zak Irvin scored 14, and the ninth-seeded Wolverines (16-15) advanced in the tournament after dropping eight of 11 games. They will meet No. 6 Wisconsin, the top seed, in the quarterfinals on Friday. By Andrew Seligman. SENT: 650 words, photos.