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CHICAGO (AP) - A group of prominent Latino leaders say legalizing gay marriage in Illinois would strengthen families and is "the right thing to do."

In an open letter to lawmakers Sunday, 23 Latino leaders say all families deserve to be treated with respect.

Among those signing the letter are former Chicago City Clerk Miguel Del Valle and Sylvia Puente, executive director of the Latino Policy Forum.

The Illinois Senate approved a bill earlier this month that would end the state's ban on same-sex marriage. A House committee is expected to consider it Tuesday.

If it passes the House Gov. Pat Quinn has said he will sign the legislation, making Illinois the 10th state where same-sex couples may marry.

Opponents say the proposal endangers religious freedom and diminishes the sanctity of marriage.

CHICAGO (AP) - Mary Ann McMorrow, the first woman to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court and the state's first female chief justice, has died.

Illinois Supreme Court spokesman Joseph Tybor, who was authorized to speak on the family's behalf, says McMorrow died Saturday at a Chicago hospital following a brief illness. She was 83.

McMorrow set numerous precedents. She was the only woman in her 1953 class at Loyola University School of Law, and became the first woman on Illinois' highest court in 1992. She served as chief justice from 2002 to 2005.

But when she retired in 2006, McMorrow told The Associated Press she never focused on being a trailblazer. She said she was "just trying to do the best I could."

McMorrow is survived by her daughter and her sister.

The next phase of the planned improvements to the Arch grounds is set to get underway this summer.

Crews had already planned to begin construction of the "lid" over I-70.

Now, the rebuild of Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard, which runs along the riverfront at the base of the Arch steps, will also start this year. The road will be elevated and redesigned to include bike paths and pedestrian walkways.

Funding had already been in place for the $47 million park that will cap the highway. Newly found savings from that project will help fund the other.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that engineers have determined that the concrete walls of the "depressed section" of I-70 don’t need to be replaced, as originally thought. So the $11-million cost savings on that project will fund the Leonor K. Sullivan rebuild.