Now that the Alabama and Mississippi Republican primaries are over, the candidates are setting their sights on the next big state: Illinois. Except for the densely populated area around Chicago, Illinois tends to be a fairly conservative state. With 69 delegates up for grabs and a chance to criticize President Obama on his home turf, the candidates will likely continue to ramp up their rhetoric to sway Midwestern voters.

A storm system moving across the Midwest Wednesday morning caused tornadoes from Kansas to Kentucky.  At least twelve people were killed; six deaths were reported in the city of Harrisburg, Illinois alone where the most damage occurred. The severe weather also tore through country music resort city Branson, Missouri destructing the heart of the city's tourist district.

When future generations look back on this election, the first after President Obama's dramatic victory in 2008, will they see it as a repeat of the 1994 Gingrich Revolution? An unraveling of the Obama agenda? Or a chance for the president to rebrand himself?

Democrat Alexi Giannoulias debated against Republican Mark Kirk, last night. This was the second of the three televised debates for the pair who are deadlocked in the Illinois race for U.S. Senate. Both men hope to win the seat vacated by President Barack Obama in 2008.  

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich may have dodged a bullet yesterday after a Chicago jury found him guilty on only count of lying to federal agents. The jury was hung on the other 23 charges against him. After the verdict was read, Blagojevich told reporters, "this jury just showed you ... that on every count except for one, on every charge except for one, they could not prove that I did anything wrong."

In a surprising move, ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich decided he would not testify in his corruption trial. Rob Wildeboer, criminal justice reporter for Chicago Public Radio, believes this was a wise move on Blagojevich's part. "I don't know what he could say to convince jurors about those tapes," he told The Takeaway. The defense strategy has shifted from putting Blagojevich on the stand to trying to prove that the government's case is too weak to find Blagojevich guilty.

Ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is scheduled to take the witness stand this week to testify in his own defense at his federal corruption trial. In the five weeks since the trial began, prosecutors have played many recordings of the former politician using countless expletives in multiple profanity-laced tirades. Now, when Blagojevich takes the stand, law experts say he will have to win over jurors, leave behind his notoriously arrogant attitude and even admit some faults.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a new law mandating police departments across the state to send rape kits to the Illinois State Police laboratory or an approved lab within 10 business days of acquiring the evidence. Illinois is the first state to pass such a law, which will go in to effect on October 1st. State officials hope that more and faster scrutiny of evidence will increase the number of arrests for such cases, which now stand at only 11 percent: The national average is 22 percent. Similar laws have increased arrests in other cities, including New York and Los Angeles. 

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is in court today for the first day of his political corruption trial.

Blagojevich faces a handful of charges including perhaps the most salacious one – the charge that he allegedly tried to sell President Obama’s old Senate seat.  If Blagojevich is convicted, he could be the fourth Illinois governor to head to federal prison in the past 40 years.

Illinois has a long history of political corruption. Four of the past eight governors have been indicted on corruption charges, and dozens of other public officials have been convicted on similar grounds. In February, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Scott Lee Cohen, stepped aside after allegations that he had abused his wife.

The federal government needs a place to move the detainees from Guantánamo Bay if they hope to close the detention camp, as President Obama has promised. Moving terrorism suspects onto U.S. soil is a controversial move opposed by many – especially Republicans. But there are also those who support the idea and believe it could be beneficial in a time of high unemployment. One of the places the government is considering is Thomson Correctional Center, in the small town of Thomson, Ill. We speak to Tony Arnold from Chicago Public Radio, along with Illinois state Rep. Mike Boland, a Democrat whose district covers Thomson.

In a gruesome story, police outside Chicago are investigating a scheme by cemetery operators to dig up graves, dump the bodies, and re-sell the burial plots. Over 200 plots in the traditionally black cemetery of Burr Oak in Alsip, Illinois, were opened and re-sold. For more details of the story, we go to Lolly Bowean, a reporter with the Chicago Tribune, who is covering the story.

Disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is back in the news today. His former chief of staff, John Harris, has plead guilty to fraud charges in a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago. He has also agreed to cooperate with the investigation into Blagojevich, which could be key for the prosecutor's fraud case against the former governor. For more The Takeaway turns to Rob Wildeboer, Criminal Justice and Courts reporter for WBEZ in Chicago.

There's yet another chapter in the tale of ousted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and the Senate seat left vacant by Barack Obama. Secretly taped phone conversations between then State Senator Roland Burris and the disgraced former governor's brother were released to the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee yesterday. Burris, now a senator, still claims that he was not involved in any plan to funnel money to Blagojevich in return for the Senate seat. Rob Wildeboer is a reporter for Chicago Public Radio and he has been following the story closely.

Sen. Burris has been making adamant denials of any wrongdoing:

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been indicted on a number of federal corruption charges. His brother and two aides were also indicted late Thursday, April 2. We've been following the story closely for months, to see our complete coverage, click here.

When Barack Obama selected Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, he left an opening in the U.S. Congress. Voters in Illinois just voted in the primary to choose the Democratic candidate for the seat and there were 23 candidates. While it looks like Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley won, for some local insight on the crowded race we turn to Tony Arnold, a reporter for Chicago Public Radio.

Senator Roland Burris is promising to fully cooperate with a new investigation into his contacts with the administration of now-ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But while he may be talking to investigators, he says he'll no longer be talking to reporters. Especially not at the Chicago Tribune. Joining us now is Robert Wildeboer is a criminal justice reporter for Chicago Public Radio.

Yesterday was the second day of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment trial, and state legislators got a special treat. The FBI released some snippets of the Governor’s taped conversations. There were no f-bombs and no direct references to President Obama's Senate seat. None the less, some legislators said the recordings made the Governor's alleged misdeeds more real. Amanda Vinicky of Illinois Public Radio gives John and Adaora an update on the proceedings.

Instead of defending himself in the Illinois Statehouse, Governor Blagojevich hit the media circuit. On Monday he defended himself on The View:

Things aren’t looking good for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, whose impeachment trial starts today. His lawyer, high profile defense attorney Ed Genson, has stepped down. And a federal judge has ruled that four of the secretly recorded tapes of Blagojevich’s conversations should be released to the state Senate, which is conducting the impeachment trial. Amanda Vinicky, reporter for Illinois Public Radio, joins Adaora and Katherine with a look at the Governor’s future.

There’s never a dull moment in Illinois State Politics. Today, Governor Rod Blagojevich will preside over the swearing in of the very same state senators that will later this month decide whether or not to remove him from office. The Takeaway talks to Amanda Vinicky, a statehouse reporter for Illinois Public Radio.