Six counties in 60 seconds

Blago’s wife talks appeal:

In her first interview since her husband, Rod, reported to prison, Patti Blagojevich expressed her frustration with delays in the appeals process that she hopes will free the former governor. “It’s incredibly frustrating, I mean, my girls miss their dad,” she told Fox News Chicago. “He’s missing their birthdays. My daughter had her 16th birthday just the other day.” Patti Blagojevich told the station that lawyers working on the appeals process have been trying to gettranscripts from the trial in order to start the process, but those have been unavailable due to a court reporters five and a half-month leave of absence. The former governor reported to prison March 15 to begin serving his 14-year sentence on corruption charges.

Workers get delayed raises:

Hundreds of unionized workers at two Illinois state agencies will be getting the pay raises that Gov. Pat Quinn canceled last year. The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports the raises will go to almost 1,700 employees at the Department of Revenue and another 56 at the Criminal Justice Information Authority. Quinn spokeswoman Kelly Kraft says the administration has determined those agencies have sufficient funding to pay the raises after seeing more retirements and attrition than expected. Kraft says the raises will cost more than $3 million. Quinn last year canceled pay raises for about 30,000 unionized employees at 14 state agencies, saying the General Assembly didn’t allocate enough money.

Amnesty on overdue books:

The Chicago Public Library is offering an amnesty program on overdue materials for the first time in 20 years. The amnesty program runs from Aug. 20 through Sept. 7. Fines will be waived on all overdue books, CDs, DVDs and other materials regardless of how long they are overdue.

Health programs get grants:

Illinois health officials have announced $3.5 million in grants to communities for projects that reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The We Choose Health grants from the Illinois Department of Public Health were announced Monday. Some recipients including the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District are getting money to encourage smoke-free apartment buildings and outdoor spaces. Others, including the Rock Island County Health Department, will promote pedestrian and bike-friendly routes for children to use when traveling to school. The funding comes to Illinois through the Affordable Care Act, the national health law, and is part of a multi-year initiative. The Community Transformation Grant program supports states and communities that address the causes of poor health in America.

38 years for drug trafficker:

A leader of a Chicago street gang who federal prosecutors claimed ran a heroin market on the city’s West Side has been sentenced to 38 years in prison. Dana Bostic was sentenced Monday for allegedly controlling a faction of the New Breeds street gang that sold heroin in a 12-block area.

Prosecutors said Bostic was regularly “at war” with rival gangs and had a reputation for violence. He was arrested but not convicted in 2002 in the murder of a rival gang member. According to prosecutors, Bostic earned thousands of dollars a day in heroin sales. Bostic was arrested in August of 2010, and in February admitted he headed the drug trafficking ring. Four men arrested with Bostic have been convicted on drug charges.