Free Republic

Officials and visitors assembled for an Illinois tollway board meeting Thursday morning were out in record time. That wasn't because of a light agenda. Rather, the absence of board directors meant the agency didn't have enough for a quorum. Six directors are required, and only four were there at 9 a.m. when the meeting was supposed to start. Board members present were Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, the Rev. Corey Brooks of Chicago, David Gonzalez, the mayor of Chicago Heights, and Craig Johnson, Elk Grove Village mayor. Director Earl Dotson arrived shortly after the meeting was canceled. The board has been short...

EXCLUSIVE: Eight Environmental Protection Agency employees who racked up a total of more than ten years’ worth of paid “administrative leave” between 2011 and 2014 -- valued at more than $1,096,000 -- apparently did so because they were involved in “cases of alleged serious misconduct,” Fox News has learned. In a memorandum sent from EPA’s acting assistant administrator, Nanci E. Gelb, to EPA’s inspector general, Arthur Elkins -- a draft also was given to Fox News -- the agency has revealed that at least three of the affected employees have now left EPA. All of the eight “were or are...

While some governors go out of their way to acknowledge the sanctity of military funerals, Oregon’s new governor says he won’t attend them in his state if it’s inconvenient to him. Gov. John Kitzhaber is making a departure from his predecessor, Ted Kulongoski, a former Marine who was so determined to attend military funerals he would cancel out-of-town travel to attend them. In fact, Kulongoski attended more than 100 military funerals during his eight years in office.

Stephen Knolls School suffered the ignominy of failure under federal law in 2006 and 2007 for low test scores. This year, the Kensington school finally made the grade in reading and math -- only to be sanctioned for poor attendance. The challenge in this case is not truancy. Stephen Knolls serves medically fragile children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and Rett syndrome. SNIP Nine Stephen Knolls students missed 50 or more days of school last school year, some to complications from surgery, others from prolonged respiratory illness or the pain of muscle contractures....