Illinois

A motorist zipping along Veterans Memorial Tollway near Lemont, Ill., wouldn't think twice if a large green-eyed bug splattered on his windshield, but Dan Soluk would be heartbroken. The demise of even one Hine's emerald dragonfly is of grave concern to Soluk, a biologist whose life's work is studying the endangered species. Only a few thousand adult Hine's emerald dragonflies are believed to inhabit Illinois each summer, and many of them live about 100 feet below the deck of the tollway bridge spanning the Des Plaines River Valley.

Christopher Kelly, a key figure in the federal corruption investigation of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has died. A onetime confidant and top fundraiser for Blagojevich, Kelly was accused of using his office to leverage campaign donations and benefits for himself and his family. In a surprise move Tuesday, a day before his scheduled trial, the roofing business owner pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud as part of a kickback scheme to illegally obtain $8.5 million in work at O'Hare International Airport.

The University of Chicago Medical Center says the infection that killed a scientist may be connected to bacteria he researched that cause bubonic plague. The university said Saturday that its researcher studied the genetics of harmful bacteria including Yersinia pestis , which causes the illness. The researcher died Sept. 13. His name and age haven't been released. The medical center says the bacteria he worked with were a weakened strain that isn't known to cause illness in healthy adults.

Two men who professed devotion to Al Qaeda -- one a convert to Islam, the other a Jordanian native -- were charged Thursday with plotting to blow up buildings in Illinois and Texas. In both cases, the men thought they were working with Al Qaeda operatives when they were really working with undercover federal agents. One man, according to authorities, planted what he thought was an explosive outside a Dallas skyscraper, while the other parked a van, supposedly armed with a bomb, outside a federal courthouse in Springfield, Ill. The devices were fakes.

A federal judge sentenced an Al Qaeda "sleeper" agent to eight years in prison Thursday -- about half the time prosecutors had requested -- because the agent received what the judge called "unacceptable" treatment in a U.S. Navy brig. U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm could have sentenced Ali Marri to as much as 15 years. Prosecutors had endorsed that, presenting testimony that he remained a threat. But Mihm handed down the lighter sentence of eight years and four months in consideration of what he called "very severe" conditions under which Marri was kept during the almost six years he was held without charges in a U.S. Navy brig in South Carolina.

In addition to housing foreign detainees, an Illinois state prison could become a site for military trials of those charged with acts of terrorism, an administration official acknowleged Monday. As the Obama administration works to identify a detention facility for prisoners transferred from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, federal officials also are considering sites to hold military commission trials for at least some of the suspects.

Motorists convicted of driving drunk will have to install breath-monitoring gadgets in their cars under new laws taking effect in six states this month. . The ignition interlocks prevent engines from starting until drivers blow into the alcohol detectors to prove they're sober. Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska and Washington state began Jan. 1 requiring the devices for all motorists convicted of first-time drunk driving. South Carolina began requiring them for repeat offenders.

OK, put on your thinking caps. It's time for a very short -- but very appropriate -- pop quiz. Question 1: On what day is Presidents Day celebrated? ("Tomorrow" is not a sufficient answer.) Question 2: When is Abraham Lincoln's birthday? That's it. Pencils down, please. Presidents Day is observed the third Monday in February. Also known as Washington's Birthday, it's been a federal holiday on this date since 1971. Feb. 12 is the correct answer to Question 2. You're forgiven if you got that one wrong.

Edgar F. Callahan, 80, former chairman of the National Credit Union Administration, who was credited with rescuing the credit union industry by guiding it through a period of deregulation, died March 18 of a blood disorder at his home in Sacramento. A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Callahan earned his bachelor's in mathematics and master's in educational administration at Marquette University. He spent much of his life in Illinois, where he taught high school, coached sports and served as principal and then superintendent of the Catholic schools in Rockford, Ill. He went on to work for the Illinois state government as director of financial institutions, supervising 2,000 consumer finance companies, 1,200 currency exchanges and more than 1,000 state-chartered credit unions.

Jeff Jordan came to Illinois without much more than a famous name. His talent didn't earn him a scholarship, and there were few, if any, on-court expectations. Illinois fans called Jordan's arrival two years ago a nice story -- legend's son picks Illinois -- and wondered how often his dad might catch a game at Assembly Hall. But people who've known Jordan since he stepped on the court at Loyola Academy in Chicago's north suburbs say he brought something else with him south to Champaign -- a chip on his shoulder.