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A professor actually lost out on an academic job due to his anti-Israeli musings. Beware, the following tweet is NSFW (or “not safe for work”) due to profanity. steve salaita twitter “This month, my campus, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was widely expected to welcome Steven Salaita as a new faculty member,” Cary Nelson wrote in an essay which appeared on Inside Higher Ed.com on August 8, 2014. “He was to be a tenured professor in the American Indian studies program. But a decision not to present the appointment to the Board of Trustees was made by the chancellor....

HARVEY, Ill. (WLS) -- A Harvey police officer was shot by a burglary suspect who is now holding people hostage inside a home at 147th and Robey, officials said. The officer was wounded in his arm, according to spokesperson Sean Howard, and was taken to Advocate Christ Hospital. The police officer came across a burglary in progress and exchanged fire with the offender, Howard said. The offender then ran into the home, where he is now holding people hostage. Officials do not know how many hostages are being held.

Janet Woods-Bragg of Davenport holds a sign reading "I was an immigrant and you welcomed me," in reference to scripture from Matthew 25:35 on Sunday at the "Love Without Borders" interfaith rally in Davenport. More than 100 people gathered in downtown Davenport on Sunday for an interfaith rally to support children fleeing Central America to enter the United States. Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba urged the crowd at the “Love Without Borders” event to “work for social responsibility.” He and local social service leaders helped launch the initiative in July when he suggested that the Quad-Cities host some of the immigrant...

Between 1989 and 2010, Congress rejected nearly 700 cap-tax-and-trade and similar bills that their proponents claimed would control Earth’s perpetually fickle climate and weather. So even as real world crises erupt, President Obama is using executive fiats and regulations to impose his anti-hydrocarbon agenda, slash America’s fossil fuel use, bankrupt coal and utility companies, make electricity prices skyrocket, and “fundamentally transform” our economic, social, legal and constitutional system. Citing climate concerns, he has refused to permit construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and blocked or delayed Alaskan, western state and offshore oil and gas leasing and drilling. He’s proud that...

An effort is underway to honor one of Waukegan's favorite sons, the late science fiction pioneer Ray Bradbury. Waukegan Public Library Executive Director Richard Lee said nearly all the details remain to be worked out beyond the basic idea -- a realistic statue or bust of Bradbury, who wrote evocatively of the fictional Green Town, a recognizable stand-in for his hometown. lRelated A history of Waukegan The effort echoes the push for a statue memorializing another Waukegan legend, comedian Jack Benny, a radio and early TV star honored with a downtown statue in 2001.

An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education argues that accreditation ought to be denied to Christian colleges that require professors to sign statements of faith or otherwise “draw lines around what is regarded as acceptable teaching and research.” This seems like an obvious next step in the current march of secular intolerance, so I expect we’ll be hearing more arguments like this in the future: ** Why does accreditation matter? Aside from the traditional goal of conferring legitimacy on colleges and their programs, accreditation has taken on a far more consequential role: Students attending institutions that are not accredited...

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., claims liberals are waging a "war on whites." If so, Barack Obama must be at war with himself. That's how goofy Brooks' logic sounds. But he's not nuts. It is an old reflex, when cornered in politics, to lash back with the same charge others have leveled at you — or, put another way, to project your own flaws onto other people. What's sad about Brooks' claim is his feeble attempt to play the white victim card, plucking the strings of white nationalism, just to have his way with the nation's immigration policy.

e polls show an overwhelming amount of support for Hillary Clinton and now Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., is ready to give her a boost as well. Gutierrez, who appeared on PoliticKING with Larry King, says Clinton has what it takes. “I will be happy to back Hillary Clinton, I think she has an astonishing background and a readiness," Gutierrez said. "If she’s ready, I’m ready for Hillary.”

Two summers ago a home invasion by gang members on the city's South Side went wrong when one of the robbers shot another one in the back of the head, according to Chicago police. Sixteen-year-old Douglas Bufford was killed, and 19-year-old Jermalle Brown was charged with first-degree murder. His trial begins on Aug. 15, and it may attract more attention than usual in a city plagued by violent crime, just as his arrest did. Why? Because at the time of the shooting, Douglas Bufford and Jermalle Brown were also on the Illinois state payroll, earning $8.50 an hour to hand...

I have been writing for Freedom Outpost for nearly a year and then at the former Front Porch Politics for six months before that. There was a commenter who would always come on and say that no one is coming for our guns, and yet, here we are. The evidence abounds that gun confiscation is the goal and is currently taking place. We first saw it in New York under the NY SAFE Act and then in California. Now we’re seeing it in Cook County, Illinois, former home to Barack Obama. This is why American patriots have warned against gun...

New York Times best-selling author and long-time journalist Ed Klein said that Valerie Jarrett has been engaging in secret meetings with Sen. Elizabeth Warren in recent months, giving rise to speculations that the Massachusetts political newcomer is actually the administration’s choice to head the White House in 2016. “President Obama has authorized Valerie Jarrett, his most important political adviser, to hold secret meetings with Elizabeth Warren to encourage her to challenge Hillary Clinton because the Obamas do not want to see the Clintons succeed them in the White House,” Mr. Klein said during a broadcast interview on “America’s Forum” on...

Wednesday, August 6, 2014 Streetlight McCarthy: Concealed Carry Same As Drunken Driving The expert in carrying a firearm while intoxicated speaks: “This is what I said from Day One: More guns is not the solution to gun violence. That’s akin to saying everybody should drive drunk to stop drunken driving. It doesn’t work that way.” So what's giving Chicago Police Supt. McCarthy flashbacks? Something he thinks will be an excuse to restrict Concealed Carry in Illinois. After Wednesday’s meeting at Kennedy-King, McCarthy also disclosed that one of the men shot this week at a North Side nightclub had one of...

A 68-year-old Illinois man was jailed without bond Thursday after being accused by federal prosecutors of inserting sewing needles into packaged meat "just for the hell of it" at a grocery store in his hometown at least seven times over more than a year. The criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Ronald Avers said one buyer of boneless chuck roast at the Shop 'n Save store in Belleville just east of St. Louis later bit into one of the needles, and a needle slipped into a steak stuck another customer. SuperValu Inc., the Minnesota-based corporate parent of the Shop 'n Save...

The big business of education is forever altering the state university systems around the country. They have become vessels of profit and enrichment for some, and are steadily distancing themselves from the citizenry of the home state. Hiding behind diversity and internationalism, universities have moved to out of state students and ultimately the international student. Left out are the in-state students looking for a reasonable cost of a college education from their own state university. Why does college cost so much? Why does a professor who gave a lecture to a 200 seat hall ten years ago cost so much...

Elected officials addressed thousands during the People’s Mass at Fiesta Del Sol in honor of dreamers, immigrants and the 47,000 children held at detention centers across the nation. WBBM’s Kimberly Easton reports a crowd of thousands listened intently to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Senator Dick Durbin. Both Emanuel and Durbin assured the Latino community they will not turn their backs on children who are fleeing a dangerous situation. “We are here today at Fiesta Del Sol. This is a Mass dedicated to the dreamers. The action that was taken by the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday was reprehensible. This...

Archaeologists Relocating Graves Found In Yard In Oak Brook August 1, 2014 7:34 AM CHICAGO (CBS) – A team of archaeologists has been excavating the yard of a west suburban home for the past two weeks, after the residents unearthed several graves from a 19th century cemetery. WBBM Newsradio’s Nancy Harty reports property along what’s now known as Kimberly Court in the Brook Forest subdivision of Oak Brook was once part of a cemetery that was active from 1830 to 1890. Dr. Kevin McGowan, director of the Public Service Archaeology & Architecture Program at the Uiversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,...

A Bellville, Illinois man was arrested this week for sticking needles into meat packages at the local Shop-n-Save. The criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Ronald Avers said one buyer of boneless chuck roast at the Shop `n Save store in Belleville just east of St. Louis later bit into one of the needles, and a needle slipped into a steak stuck another customer.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the weekÂ’s top news, including the struggle on Capitol Hill to find a resolution to the political division on the border crisis before Congress leaves for August recess, as well as how these events will affect the November election, plus the outlook for ending the war between Israel and Hamas. (AUDIO-AT-LINK)TRANSCRIPT JUDY WOODRUFF: In Washington, House Republicans were racing to pass something on the border crisis after a day of confusion and chaos on Capitol Hill Thursday. For a taste of what went on...

Evidence of the Central American refugee crisis has crossed into Waukegan public schools, where 77 children from Honduras have enrolled as of the last week of July for the 2014-15 school year. According to Sharon Aguina, director of School District 60’s English Language Learners program, the Honduran influx has combined with a spike in new arrivals from Mexico and other nations to produce an overall 40 percent increase in immigrant students. Also contributing to the 40 percent increase are 289 new immigrant children from Mexico, compared to 206 new students from Mexico last school year. Aguino added that while some...

A music director at a Chicago Catholic parish was fired Monday after the pastor learned he had become "engaged" to his male partner. Colin Collette says his partner asked him to "marry" him in front of St. Peter's Basilica on a trip to Rome last week. On Sunday, after Collette directed the music at Holy Family Catholic Church, Father Terry Keehan asked Collette to resign. He refused, and was subsequently fired on Monday morning. Collete told the Chicago Sun-Times that he believes Keehan was pressured by Cardinal Francis George. The 23-year employee says Keehan was aware of Collette's sexuality,...