Patch Flash: Quinn to Announce Budget Cuts, Prison Closings

On Wednesday afternoon Governor Pat Quinn will lay out his 2012-2013 budget plan, which reportedly includes closing several state facilities and some cuts to state agencies. Quinn is also expected to propose $2.7 billion in cuts to Medicaid spending. "Everybody in the state is going to be affected by this downsizing of state government,'' Quinn's budget director, David Vaught said. The hardest hit by the cuts, however, will be the Illinois Department of Corrections. 

An Oak Lawn youth baseball league board suspended its president during a special meeting on Monday for a racist comment he posted on his personal Facebook page about the late singer Whitney Houston.

A suburban Chicago man faces several felony charges after allegedly staying in a Joliet, Ill. motel room with his dead girlfriend's corpse for two days -- and buying alcohol with her money instead of immediately notifying authorities.

In what could be a stunning architectural loss, a beautiful Wilmette residence with ties to three prominent 20th century architects--including Frank Lloyd Wright--could be demolished by a new owner who inquired last week about razing the site for new construction. 

A Palatine man who took his girlfriend's 8-year-old son and did not return with him has been charged with aggravated kidnapping. 

An investigation by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office revealed around $20,000 and 100 Hyrdrocodone pills was stolen from the home in unincorporated McHenry. The McHenry County Sheriff's Office and Crime Stoppers of McHenry is asking the public to provide information into the theft.