State

CHICAGO — A lawsuit accuses a former suburban Chicago priest of sexually abusing a child for eight years and paying him to keep quiet.

CHICAGO – More than 40,000 uninsured military veterans in Illinois could have new access to health insurance under the national health overhaul law, according to a new interactive tool based on U.S. census data.

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate voted Thursday to send a union-supported pension reform bill to the House, leaving lawmakers with two competing proposals for dealing with the nation's worst state pension problem just weeks before the Legislature is scheduled to adjourn.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. Pat Quinn says House Speaker Michael Madigan's pension-reform plan deserves a Senate vote.

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal and Illinois officials are releasing plans to monitor and control Asian carp in Illinois waterways this year.

CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources wants to change permit regulations for local communities that use Lake Michigan water. The proposal is an effort to document and slow the loss of lake water.

SPRINGFIELD – Leading Illinois law enforcement organizations stepped up their opposition Wednesday to legalizing marijuana for medicinal use, warning Gov. Pat Quinn in a letter about lax motorist safeguards on a day a committee moved the measure to the Senate floor.

CHICAGO (AP) — Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says he's introducing a county ordinance on concealed carry because he's worried Illinois lawmakers won't meet a deadline to file one for the state.

KENILWORTH, Ill. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Bob Dold says he will seek another term in 2014.

SPRINGFIELD – A Senate committee approved a union-backed approach for dealing with Illinois' pension crisis Wednesday, saying it gives the state its best chance at surviving an inevitable court challenge and getting out of its nearly $100 billion mess.