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CHICAGO (AP) - An attorney for an 87-year-old grandmother who accuses Donald Trump of cheating her in a condo deal has told jurors the "Apprentice" star lied on the witness stand.

The accusation came as closing arguments began Wednesday in the week-old trial in Chicago.

Plaintiff attorney Shelly Kulwin told jurors Trump stepped on the stand before them "to lie, evade and spout infomercials."

His voice rising, he portrayed the case as a battle between an honest woman and a powerful billionaire. He said only in other countries are the powerful guaranteed to prevail at trial. He boomed, "Not in America!"

Jacqueline Goldberg alleges that Trump cheated her when she bought properties at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago. Trump has denied the allegations.

Jurors will withdraw to deliberate later Wednesday.

   SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is holding fast to his position that legislation calling for the carrying of concealed weapons should allow city governments to decide their own standards.

   But the Democratic governor's preference goes against lawmakers, who have given such ideas a chilly reception.

   The General Assembly has until June 9 to end Illinois' last-in-the-nation ban on concealed carry because of a federal appeals court ruling.

   Quinn wants larger cities such as Chicago to be able to set up their own standards for gun-toting citizens.

   Gun-rights advocates say that would create a confusing "patchwork" of laws and put gun owners in jeopardy.

   A plan in the Senate would give Chicago-area police the ability to deny gun permits. Gun owners and Republicans are cool to the idea.

 

CHICAGO (AP) - State Treasurer Dan Rutherford says Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a point in picking out Illinois' financial problems, but Illinois businesses should stay put.

Perry is in Chicago to try and lure Illinois companies to Texas. He wants competition between the states and says Texas is a better place for companies. The Republican former presidential candidate is meeting with companies and speaking at a bioscience conference. He's made a similar trip to California.

But Illinois Republicans aren't so thrilled by the trip.

Rutherford is a Republican and considering a 2014 run for governor.  He says Perry's attempt to poach businesses should "sound an alarm to state leaders."

He says Illinois has the factors it needs for a good business climate, but it should address its nearly $100 billion pension problem.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A key Illinois senator says legislation allowing public gun possession will carve out an exception for Chicago.

Republican Senator Tim Bivins says the measure he and Democratic Senator Kwame Raoul negotiated would allow Cook County authorities to deny a concealed carry permit even if an applicant passes the required background checks.

The former county sheriff from Dixon says the rest of the state would be governed by a so-called "shall issue" law — anyone meeting requirements would get a carry permit.

Bivins says the bill is being written. He says it's not ideal but gun-rights advocates have to compromise.

A federal court has ordered Illinois to adopt a concealed carry law by June 9th.

A statewide "shall issue" bill failed Thursday in the House.

St. Louis based Anheuser-Busch has agreed to sell its stake in City Beverage, its largest distributor in Chicago. It's part of legislation that would end a multiyear battle over how alcohol is regulated in Illinois.

The Chicago Tribune reports the agreement appears in a bill expected to exit the Illinois House this week. A-B has until Jan. 1, 2015, to sell its interest in the distributorship.

     Mark Bordas, A-B's region vice president of state affairs, said in a statement, "Anheuser-Busch is pleased with the agreement reached with the Illinois legislature as it related to our minority investment in City Beverage."

Investment firm BDT Capital, which currently owns 70 percent of City Beverage, did not immediately respond to the newspaper's request for comment.

Alcohol sales are regulated in most states through a three-tier system intended to separate manufacturing, distribution and retail sales. Illinois House Bill 2606 would amend the state's liquor regulations, saying "no person licensed as a manufacturer of beer ... shall have any interest, directly or indirectly, in a holder of a distributor's license or importing distributor's license.

The Illinois Liquor Control Commission and A-B have been involved in litigation on the issue since the commission blocked the brewer from acquiring City Beverage in 2010.

     St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch is part of Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, which reported revenue of $39.8 billion in 2012.

   CHICAGO (AP) - Actors, directors and film critics have gathered in Chicago to honor the late movie critic Roger Ebert.

   The movie reviewer's widow, Chaz Ebert, welcomed her husband's fans to the Chicago Theatre on Thursday, and remembered him as a father, friend, humanitarian and journalist.

   A choir began the memorial by singing "Roger Ebert, we will always love you."

   Actors John Cusack and Chris Tucker were to speak at the event, called "Roger Ebert: A Celebration of Life," along with Ebert's friends and family.

   The acclaimed critic died April 4 at age 70 after a years-long battle with cancer. The day before his death, Ebert wrote in a post on his blog that he was taking a break from his schedule of almost-daily movie reviewing because the cancer had recurred.

CHICAGO (AP) - Former state Rep. Robin Kelly says she's still a little shocked to have won the Democratic nomination to replace former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.

She won over Democratic front runners former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson and Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale, who both called her to concede.

Kelly emerged early on as an anti-guns voice and her campaign got a boost when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super PAC poured $2 million in ads supporting her and blasting Halvorson, who doesn't favor an assault weapons ban.

Halvorson says big money won the race.

But Kelly says no one complains when the National Rifle Association pours money into races. She says she had a good team that worked hard on the ground.

Meanwhile, the race among Republicans to replace former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is too close to call.

Chicago resident Paul McKinley was leading fellow Republican Eric Wallace by about two dozen votes as of late Tuesday night. But with a handful of precincts outstanding, no winner was declared.

But regardless of the outcome, the winner will enter the April 9 general election with a huge disadvantage.

The 2nd Congressional District is heavily Democratic, and no Republican has won the Chicago-area seat in more than 50 years.

McKinley is a political newcomer. Wallace founded a Christian publishing company and ran an unsuccessful campaign for Illinois Senate in 2006.

Jackson resigned in November. He pleaded guilty earlier this month to spending about $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.

CHICAGO (AP) - Authorities say they've filed murder charges in the death of a 15 year old honor student who was shot last month near the Chicago home of President Barack Obama.

Chicago police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton said Monday that two young men are charged with first-degree murder in connection to the Jan. 29 death of Hadiya Pendleton.

They also are charged with two counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. Their names haven't been released.

Police say Pendleton was talking with friends in a Chicago park when one suspect ran toward the group and opened fire. The gunman then fled in a car.

The shooting made national headlines after it was reported that Pendleton had recently returned from Washington, where she'd performed during inauguration festivities with her high school band.