* Boy, 15, Shot Dead In Marquette Park

A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed over the weekend in the Southwest Side’s Marquette Park neighborhood.

The shooting happened at 8:25 p.m. Sunday in the 2500 block of West Lithuanian Plaza Court, according to a report from police News Affairs. Officers responded to a call of shots fired, and when they got to the scene ,they discovered the victim on the sidewalk, according to police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer.

* N. Illinois Marine dies in combat in Afghanistan

The Department of Defense says 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Alec E. Catherwood of Byron died Thursday.

The department says Catherwood was conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when he died.

* New ISAT lets kids pass with more wrong answers

Back in 2006, it took 36 of 56 points — about 64 percent — to pass the fifth-grade reading test. Now, it’s 31 points, or 55 percent.

The third- and fourth-grade reading tests used to require 61 percent of possible points. This year, it’s 54 percent.

Compared with 2006, fewer correct answers are required to pass 11 of 12 Illinois Standards Achievement Tests in reading and math, state data show, raising questions about how much students really have to know.

Meanwhile, passing rates on the exams have risen, assuring parents and the public that schoolchildren are making gains.

* Budget stewardship common theme in sheriff’s office races throughout Central Illinois

* Retiring could pay for aldermen

Twenty-two of the city’s 50 aldermen also would be eligible, when they retire, to keep some or all of their campaign funds, a Chicago Sun-Times review finds. The amounts they could walk away from office with range from as little as $629 to $2.4 million. […]

The amount of campaign money that the aldermen could keep is largely a matter of whether they took office — and took in campaign contributions — before June 30, 1998.

An Illinois law enacted that year barred state and local officials from converting campaign funds to personal use but also left an exception: Anyone who had money in their campaign accounts as of the 1998 date could keep the amount they had in the bank then whenever they eventually might retire.

* Aldermen’s campaign kitties

* Sun-Times: Cutting county perk a good idea

* $30M? Feds rip Blago lawyers on cost of retrial

n a 34-page filing Thursday, prosecutors said Sam Adam Jr. and Sam Adam Sr. made statements to the media that included made-up numbers and outright lies, all in an effort to speak to the next jury. Blagojevich was convicted of just one count — lying to the FBI. He faces retrial on 23 other counts next year.

The filing takes the Adams to task, saying they made up numbers, telling TV crews a retrial would cost the government up to $30 million.

Prosecutors say that sum nearly equals the annual budget of the U.S. attorney’s office, including rent, civil cases and salaries and expenses of more than 150 non-Blagojevich prosecutors.

* Blagojevich comparison ignites heated exchange in Utah’s gubernatorial race

Near the end of an otherwise uneventful hourlong debate on KSL Radio Thursday, Democrat Peter Corroon compared the influence of contributions to Gov. Gary Herbert on the award of government contracts to the disgraced Illinois official.

“You know the person who did the research on this issue said it was the worst they’d seen since Rod Blagojevich in Illinois,” Corroon said after Herbert asked him to apologize for suggesting he helped a contributor get a federal permit.

That led to the candidates arguing on the air.

* Marin: Justice finally catches up to ‘Fast Eddie’

* Brown: Trademark grin nowhere to be found in court

* Tribune exec Abrams resigns over ‘offensive’ e-mail

* Peoria councilman is released from jail

Peoria City Councilman Dan Irving was released from jail Saturday night after spending more than 24 hours in custody on a charge of domestic battery.

* Does Lollapalooza get sweetheart deal from city tax man?

* New CPD School Gang Team Works To Resolve Conflicts, Avoid Violence

* Hunting the hunters: Multi-jurisdictional task force targets gangs, drug trafficking

* Bloomington police seize $1.5 million in cocaine

* Metra to offer ‘quiet cars’ for passengers who can’t stand cell phone chatter

Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said he has received about 250 e-mails about the quiet car idea since the Bi-Level issue came out. Passengers are “overwhelmingly in favor of it and we’ve received some really thoughtful responses.”

Metra asked passengers to comment on issues like whether the designated quiet car is needed on non-rush hour trains, and whether it would work on crowded Burlington Northern trains. Metra also asked riders how it would be enforced — whether peer pressure alone would keep the noise down or if conductors would need to be called in to mediate noise disputes.

* Steinberg: Quiet cars on Metra? Oh baby, it’s not a sound idea

* Maggie Daley hospitalized in Washington

* Maggie Daley should be released from hospital soon

* Kaneland school chief will have voice in budget

* Local educators respond to documentary on failing public schools

Mark A. Bailey, president of Naperville Unit Education Association, didn’t entirely agree with the movie’s message.

* Hearing Tuesday on proposed newspaper delivery law

The proposed law would require those delivering to private residences to get a permit and would make it illegal to deliver to homes with “no soliciting” signs posted. Those without signs would still get unsolicited papers and handbills, but the new law would require distributors to secure them, to keep them from blowing away in the wind.

The law would also prohibit newspapers and other printed material from being delivered to vacant homes, and would also make it illegal to affix any printed matter on public property, including telephone poles and lampposts.

* Chicago Heights housing program ends

Most of the $500,000 that city officials set aside to help residents with down payments on homes in the city was used up, and the rest is staying in the city’s capital projects fund.

According to city officials, 56 people used the program to help them buy homes in the city, spending about $340,000. About $15,000 was spent on marketing, advertising, copying and other items, according to documents obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request.

* Tribune: School’s out … again?

Here’s today’s math quiz: When does 138 = 176?

Stumped?

Answer: On Zion Elementary School District 6’s calendar.

The state requires students to attend school for a minimum of 176 days a year. But a thicket of state laws, rules and waivers lets local districts chip away at class time, clip school hours and cut the number of full-length days kids come to school, Tribune reporter Diane Rado wrote recently.

* Bean, Durbin announce $2.8 million grant for Barrington

* Confusion surrounds Pingree Grove clerk position

* Decisions to trim Rockford’s budget remain painful

* RI County clerk candidates look to restore voter trust

* Chamber study finds Q-C more educated than in 2007

* Three seats are the focus of Peoria County Board races

* McLean Co. looks to complete search for admin soon

* Pantagraph: McLean County Board has acted responsibly

* Service seen as key in Macon County sheriff’s race

* Police say Decatur streets safer

According to arrest numbers from the police department, DUI arrests have been down since September of last year, with sometimes dozens fewer arrests made over the same month in the previous year. Last year saw DUI-related arrests sometimes topping 80 in a month and never falling below 43. This year had some months with 70 arrests, but several with as few as 28.

* Herald & Review: County Republicans wrong on school tax

* Taylorville school voters face tax issue

* Timeline set for FutureGen storage site search

The FutureGen Alliance, a partnership of coal companies and utilities, announced Friday that a request for site proposals would be released no later than Oct. 25.

* Danville to discuss wage freezes for mayor, treasurer

* Tax auction key issue in Madison County treasurer election

* Republicans to press ahead with probe into property tax auctions

* Jack decided to re-apply while talking to DE reporter

* Southern: Let’s find solutions to levee problems