Susan Smith-Harmon
Tuesday's assaults were the latest in a series of violent incidents over the last month at Menard Correctional Center and other Illinois state prisons. Last Thursday, a Menard inmate died in what one official called suspicious circumstances.
Union officials say the violence is a result of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to close several prisons around the state to save money.
Tuesday's assaults happened as about 200 union members marched outside the prison in the southern Illinois town of Chester. They were protesting over what they say are growing threats to their safety.
Corrections officials say the attack led to a lockdown.
MO Senate backs quick takeover of failed schools
Wednesday, 06 February 2013 01:13 Published in Local NewsThe bill given initial approval Tuesday night is aimed mainly at the Kansas City School District, which lost its accreditation in January 2012.
Under current law, Missouri officials must wait until at least June 30, 2014, before intervening in the Kansas City district.
The Senate legislation would let the state intervene immediately after a district loses its accreditation. The state Board of Education could prescribe conditions under which the existing local school board could continue to oversee the school, or it could set up an alternative governing structure.
Those alternatives could include creating a special administrative board, merging the district with neighboring ones or splitting the district into several new ones.
UPDATE: EB I-64 reopens after tanker truck spill near Centralia, IL
Wednesday, 06 February 2013 00:44 Published in Local NewsFire crews had evacuated residents near the interstate Tuesday evening after a tanker truck hauling toxic material began leaking. Authorities say the evacuations were just precautionary.
Eastbound I-64 was closed for several hours between mile markers 61 and 69 while the material was offloaded to another truck and the road was washed down. The interstate reopened a little before 3:00 a.m.
Latest News
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8

HEALTHY QUINTUPLETS BORN IN SALT LAKE HOSPITAL
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Utah woman gave birth to a healthy set of quintuplets over the weekend with help from a team of eight doctors, one anesthesiologist and dozens of nurses en...

Early number sense plays role in later math skills
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - We know a lot about how babies learn to talk, and youngsters learn to read. Now scientists are unraveling the earlies...

DYING PA. GIRL PLACED ON ADULT WAIT LIST FOR LUNG
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The national organ transplant network has complied with a judge's unusual order and placed a dying 10-year-old girl on the adult waiting list for a donated lun...

FDA head says menu labeling 'thorny' issue
WASHINGTON (AP) — Diners will have to wait a little longer to find calorie counts on most restaurant chain menus, in supermarkets and on vending machines. The head of the Food a...

TO EASE SHORTAGE OF ORGANS, GROW THEM IN A LAB?
NEW YORK (AP) -- By the time 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan finally got a lung transplant last week, she'd been waiting for months, and her parents had sued to give her a better shot ...

St. Louis' polluted atmosphere makes air quality foreca…
Air quality forecasting officially begins Wednesday for the 2013 summer season, and St. Louis residents will want to pay attention in order to protect their health. Offici...

HOSPITALS SEE SURGE OF SUPERBUG-FIGHTING PRODUCTS
NEW YORK (AP) -- They sweep. They swab. They sterilize. And still the germs persist. In U.S. hospitals, an estimated 1 in 20 patients pick up infections they didn't have when th...

Myriad languages, cultures challenge health reform
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - While new marketplaces are being created for buying health insurance, many states are facing cultural and language hurdles in trying to promote and explain t...