WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unemployment rates dropped in 43 out of the 50 U.S. states and in the District of Columbia in April from a year before, according to Labor Department data released on Friday.Full story
Governor Pat Quinn asked the federal government to add 16 Illinois counties to a recent federal disaster declaration for 11 counties hit by flooding. Full story
Illinois' state universities and community colleges have agreed to gradually start picking up their own retirement costs under a preliminary deal that emerged at a public hearing Thursday, a step forward on a concept that's been debated by lawmakers for more than a year. Full story
In his “You Should Know” segment, host Steve Kornacki notes that the death toll from what is now the worst garment industry disaster in history passed 1,100, and authorities say they have nearly reached the bottom of the wreckage.
Steve Kornacki’s panelists look at marriage equality battles on the state level, and former Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party Pat Brady talks about resigning from the post after his support for gay marriage.
Advisor for LGBT Policy at the Center for American Progress Aisha Moodie-Mills, former Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party Pat Brady, Democratic State Senator Kelvin Atkinson of Nevada, and The Star Tribune reporter Rachel Stassen-Berger talk about the fight for gay marriage in Minnesota.
Rachel Maddow reports on the case of the Illinois Republican Party chairman who stepped down under pressure from critics of his support for marriage equality.
Rachel Maddow excoriates the ostensible fact checking site Politifact for researching a claim, determining the claim to be true, and then declaring it half true for reasons that have nothing to do with the fact checked claim.
**ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, SEPT. 8-9 -- FILE** A southbound Amtrak passenger train passes new four-armed safety gates installed near Sherman, Ill., in a Sept. 13, 2006 file photo. The gates stand ready along a 126-mile stretch of track now upgraded to whisk passenger trains about 30 miles an ho
Detroit Red Wings center Damien Brunner celebrates his first period goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference semifinals playoff hockey game in Chicago, Illinois, May 15, 2013. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT ICE HOCKEY)
A tractor with cultivator sits idle after being delayed by wet weather earlier this month preventing central Illinois farmers from starting their spring planting of corn crops Monday, May 13, 2013 in Springfield, Ill. A week ago, the USDA reported that just 12 percent of the nation's cornfields have
