Bank robbed in Cairo

CAIRO, Ill. (AP) _ Illinois State Police have identified two female employees killed during a southern Illinois bank robbery.

Authorities on Friday said 52-year-old Anita J. Grace of Olive Branch and 52-year-old Nita J. Smith of Wickliffe, Kentucky, died in the Thursday robbery. A third, 23-year-old female employee was not identified but reported to be in critical condition.

Authorities say a suspect approached the women as the bank was closing. They say he forced them back inside the bank where Cairo police found the victims. All suffered stab wounds.

Jury sides with Anheuser Busch in pay discrimination trial

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – A verdict was reached in the Francine Katz discrimination lawsuit against AB-Inbev.

Moments ago, the jury found in favor of AB-Inbev meaning Francine Katz lost her case. The jury voted 9-3.

Katz sued for discrimination saying the environment at Anheuser Busch was more like a “boy’s club locker room.”

Even though she made millions of dollars at the company she says male executives with the same duties made much more.

Cubs think by changing the color of it's sign might help break the goat curse

Wrigley Field’s famous red marquee is being painted green and gold as part of the ballpark’s 100th anniversary celebrations.

The marquee was installed in 1934 and at that time, its colors were similar to “mallard green” with a “french quarter gold” trim.

The sign will display these colors for the Cubs’ homestand against the Brewers and Yankees running from Friday to Wednesday.

Once these series’ end, the marquee will return to red and white.

The sign was originally green and gold then painted red and white then purple.
None of which helped the Cubs.

by Taboola

NFL Ghetto Chimp Aaron Hernandez indicted on murder charges

BOSTON — Former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez has been indicted on murder charges in a 2012 double slaying in Boston.

Boston police spokeswoman Neva Coakley confirmed the indictment Thursday. Hernandez is already being held without bail after pleading not guilty to murder in the unrelated death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd last year.

In the 2012 case, victims Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado were shot as they sat in a car in Boston’s South End. Police have said they were shot by someone who drove up alongside in an SUV and opened fire.

Boston police have written in an affidavit there is probable cause to believe Hernandez was driving a vehicle used in the shooting and “may have been the shooter.”

Hernandez’s lawyers did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital under a federal audit

Federal auditors need to look at the White House and Springfield Illinois but instead they are here.  Federal auditors descended on Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital on Wednesday, just one day after a CBS News report alleging manipulation of waiting lists for patient care.

These "secret waiting lists," a whistleblower told CBS News, make the numbers look better and allow hospital executives to collect bonus money.

"Employees are coming to me from all over the hospital, from outpatient, inpatient, surgery, radiology," said Germaine Clarno, VA social worker and employee representative, suggesting that the practice is widespread.

The hospital reports that it provides medical care to more than 50,000 Chicago-area veterans in a year.

According to Clarno, this is how the scam works: When a veteran calls the hospital for an appointment, the veteran is placed on the secret list. An actual appointment in the computer would not be booked until an opening would arise within a 14-day window.

Clarno told CBS she believes people are faking the wait-time data to receive bonuses.

CBS first reported on problems at VA hospitals when another whistleblower, Dr. Same Foote, revealed efforts to conceal delays in care at a facility in Phoenix where as many as 40 military veterans may have died while awaiting treatment.

Eric Shinseki, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, has been under fire ever since the scandal broke earlier this year. CNN revealed that top management in Phoenix was aware of the elaborate scandal. Shinseki will testify before Congress on Thursday about the delays.

Now the scandal has reached Chicago, and federal investigators reportedly are looking into facilities in Wyoming, Colorado and Texas, too. A spokesman said this is part of a nationwide review ordered by Shinseki.

In Chicago, hospital director Joan Ricard released a statement to the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday saying she “received no evidence or specific facts about data manipulation” at Hines.

Ricard said the information Clarno brought to her attention was not a "secret waiting list" but was “a performance improvement tool.”

Veterans told CBS News that appointments in Chicago take much longer than 14 days.

"It can be anywhere between one, two, three, four months," said Paul Rodriguez, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, who sees several doctors at Hines.

Lawyer takes on Illinois Update

None of the politicians we emailed answered and we will be submitting a foia to ISP

Illinois Sheriff’s Offices admit the state isn't doing their part in re reviewing applications

While new licenses to carry concealed firearms continue arriving in suburban mailboxes, some local law enforcement offices are objecting to permits for certain individuals.

The Illinois State Police have received 1,669 objections from law enforcement agencies across the state, with about half of those coming from the Cook County Sheriff's Department. That's compared to 33,207 licenses that have been granted since Illinois first began approving licenses earlier this year.

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Concealed carry FAQ
Lt. James Popovits of the McHenry County Sheriff's office said though the Illinois State Police is responsible for the "lion's share" of the task of assessing whether someone should get a permit, the state agency doesn't catch everything. The law allows objections for what it calls a "reasonable suspicion" that an applicant is dangerous even if his or her background would not automatically trigger denial of the applications.

"Our objections would have to be on the basis the person is a threat to the public or a threat to themselves," Popovits said, giving as an example cases in which "we have information the state police wouldn't, maybe if the person didn't get arrested but posed a threat."

McHenry County sheriff officials won't say how many permits they've objected to.

About 365 applications that have triggered objections are being reviewed again by the state's Concealed Carry Review Board, according to state police spokeswoman Monique Bond. The board reviews objections from other law enforcement agencies as well as appeals from individuals who say they were denied permits unfairly. However, the board does not hear all requests.

Ben Breit, Cook County Sheriff Department communications director, said the agency has filed more than half of the objections sent to the state police, with 839 for Chicago and suburban Cook County applicants.

The Cook County sheriff's department found one applicant who had 20 arrests and another with arrests including aggravated battery with a firearm and defacing firearm markings, the department reported in February.

In Lake County, Sgt. Sara Balmes said the sheriff's office has filed 56 objections, but 25 of those applicants received permits anyway.

"The majority of them were for domestic related incidents," Balmes said of the Lake County objections.

As of Tuesday the state has approved 33,207 licenses statewide, which have been mailed to residents. There are 25,426 more applications which have been approved by the state police but are in a 30-day waiting period in which local law enforcement agencies can object to individual applications.

"If there are concerns on an application, the (review board) will determine if the objections are valid," Bond said.

In DuPage County, spokesman Paul Darrah said the state's attorney's office hasn't had a single objection so far and the department is stepping aside to let the state police handle the applications. The DuPage County sheriff's office, as in McHenry County, wouldn't say whether it has filed objections or in how many cases.

Last year, lawmakers approved legislation to comply with a federal court order to lift a statewide ban on concealed carry.

Under the state law, residents have to complete 16 hours of training and pay a $150 fee to the state police to get a permit.

After applications are filed electronically, they go through a 90-120 day waiting period, during which the state police conducts a background check and allows for other law enforcement agencies to object.

If residents feel they were rejected unfairly, either directly by the state or through another agency's objection, they can appeal it by writing a request to the state police's Firearms Service Bureau