Free Republic

CHICAGO (AP) - As attorneys and defendants scanned jurors faces for favorable signs during ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial, most couldn't get a read on the pokerfaced grandmother at the far end of the jury box taking meticulous notes. JoAnn Chiakulas, a retired state employee, turned out to be the lone holdout standing in the way of a conviction of the ousted governor on charges he tried to sell President Barack Obama's old Senate seat. Nine days after jurors deadlocked on all but one charge against Blagojevich, Chiakulas publicly defended her resolve for the first time in an interview...

Chicago - Jurors who handed down a single guilty verdict against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich have said there was one hold out who kept them from convicting Blagojevich of one of the most serious allegations: that he tried to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama. Sources tell CBS 2 News that the holdout juror is Jo Ann Chiakulas, a retired state employee. She used to work for the Illinois Department of Public Health, had been a director of teen counseling for the Chicago Urban League

Here's what Fox local news in Chicago reports: Jurors who have been interviewed so far will not identify the juror, other than to say the juror was a female. FOX Chicago News reported that speculation is centering on juror Jo Ann Chiakulas of Willowbrook, after a second-hand acquaintance said that she has been saying for weeks that she would find Blagojevich not guilty. Chiakulas is a retired director from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Contacted Tuesday night, she told FOX Chicago News she would call on Wednesday if she wished to talk about the case. On one count at...

Undecided California lawmakers get an earful on health bill By Michael Doyle McClatchy Newspapers Published: Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010 - 4:50 pm Last Modified: Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010 - 7:09 pm WASHINGTON — Public and private pressure is building on Central California lawmakers and others who say they're undecided on the big health care bill. That's the price of wait-and-see. E-mails are piling up. Telephone lines are crashing. Republicans and labor unions are running competing ads. Fox News and the Drudge Report are retailing GOP rumors and some constituents on all sides of the issue are getting impatient. /snip As...

Michael Crabtree celebrated his 22nd birthday Monday. As an unwanted gift, multiple reports surfaced that the 49ers are poised to drop their offer to the No. 10 overall pick out of Texas Tech. Citing team sources, Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports wrote that Crabtree's continued absence makes him less valuable to the 49ers on a prorated basis and added, "Translation: The team just reduced its offer and will continue to do so with each passing week." A day earlier, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported that the 49ers sent a letter to Crabtree "modifying" their offer. Responding to the Fox...

UPDATED: Demo senators strike note of defiance in maintaining holdout By W. Gardner Selby Express-News Staff Writer Web Posted : 08/04/2003 3:15 PM ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Eleven Democratic senators entered their second week away from Texas in a local hotel today by singing a song crediting them with outsmarting U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. DeLay, the House majority leader, has been blamed by Democrats for pressuring Gov. Rick Perry to call repeated special sessions for the purpose of imposing more Republican-leaning congressional districts. Several senators sang along with visiting guitarist Steve Brooks, who wore a “Killer D’s” T-shirt referring...