Residents of Mayflower, Arkansas are shocked, frustrated and discouraged after an ExxonMobil oil pipeline – which many were unaware existed – burst, devastating the small town by flooding its streets with thousands of barrels of Canadian crude. ExxonMobil is cleaning up the town after an oil pipeline spilled thousands of oil all over its streets. The company’s Pegasus pipeline –... 

The U.S. Senate passed unanimously an amendment to its budget resolution on Saturday, March 24, which supported attempts to block Iran’s access to its foreign exchange reserves and limit Iran’s ability to transact in Euros. The amendment, proposed by Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, follows a letter sent last month to European Council leaders by U.S.... 

Simulation of the detection of a Higgs boson A leading scientist says the universe we live in has a limited life span and will most likely be “wiped out” billions of years from now. Joseph Lykken, a theoretical physicist with the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, made the remarks in Boston on Monday before he presented his research at a meeting of the American Association... 

A Thursday evening shooting in the west side of Chicago marked a milestone for the Windy City: for the first time since 2008, the city can likely claim 500 homicides in a single year. With still a few days to go until the new year, 40-year-old Nathaniel T. Jackson became the five-hundredth person killed in Chicago, Illinois since the start of 2012. In 2011, the city saw only 435 homicides. Superintendent... 

The most powerful earthquakes in the history of the United States happened along the New Madrid Fault in 1811 and 1812. Those earthquakes were reportedly felt more than 1,000 miles away. Scientists assure us that one day we will once again see very powerful earthquakes along the New Madrid fault. It is only a question of when it will happen. Today, the New Madrid fault zone covers portions of Illinois,... 

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama embrace Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden moments after the television networks called the election in their favor, while watching election returns at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park in Chicago, Ill., Nov. 6, 2012. Barack Obama has been elected to a second term as President of the United States. Republican candidate Mitt Romney has... 

Tens of thousands of demonstrators will descend on Chicago, Illinois this month to protest the annual conference of NATO nations, and police are preparing with the help of one million dollars’ worth of weapons and riot gear. Chicago’s law enforcement agencies have invested as much as $1 million on riot-control equipment, including at least one long-range acoustic device, or LRAD, and upgrades... 

Chicago, Illinois is expected to swell with armed security forces during next month’s NATO Summit, but will that be enough to keep the Windy City under control? Officials are now readying a massive exit strategy to vacate the entire metropolis. A memo has been sent out of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Red Cross office that confirms that officials are already taking measures to handle an emergency of... 

American Republican congressional hopeful Arthur Jones A US Republican congressional hopeful has emphasized that “Holocaust never happened” and that such an event amounts to “the blackest lie in history.” Arthur Jones, who hopes to challenge Democrat Dan Lipinski in Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District, noted that the claim of killing millions of Jews and other people by Nazis during... 

Handily defeats GOP competitors Cain, Romney and Gingrich in online and in-person contest limited to Illinois residents. 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul earned another straw poll victory tonight, this time winning 52 percent of 3,649 votes cast in an Illinois statewide Republican contest held online and in-person. Dr. Paul handily beat Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich, who... 

Operation: Ms Ruphard claims she did not get proper attention in hospital because it was Thanksgiving. A woman who weighed 278 pounds (19st 12lbs) lost both her legs after she had weight loss surgery. Mary Beth Ruphard is suing the hospital in Joliet, Illinois, where she had the operation after she had both her legs amputated when she developed blood clots. She said she went under the knife because... 

President Barack Obama’s bus During a three-day tour by bus of the Midwest, President Obama provided an early snapshot of his reelection strategy, one in which he’ll try to convince voters that his approach offers the rational path and seek to define Republicans as so unwilling to compromise they would risk financial chaos. And despite alarming levels of unemployment and a volatile market,... 

Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station in Will County in northeastern Illinois, US. Radioactive tritium has leaked from at least 48 of 65 sites of commercial nuclear power sites in the United States, investigations have shown. According to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission records, tritium a radioactive form of hydrogen has leaked through corroded pipes into the ground and that the number and severity... 

The Chicago Tribune reports that a school in Chicago has banned students from bringing packed lunches from home – unless they have a medical excuse. Principal Elsa Carmona said her goal is protect students from their own unhealthful food choices, stating: “Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school,” Carmona said. “It’s about the nutrition and... 

A recent chemical spill at a water treatment facility in Rock Island, Ill., required the assistance of an emergency relief crew decked in the very same type of hazmat suits being worn by workers at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant in Japan. Except instead of radiation, the leaked chemical at the water plant was actually hydrofluorosilicic acid, a chemical fluoride component commonly added to...