House OKs releasing local funding with additional money

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The Illinois House has endorsed a partial spending plan that frees up $1.9 billion for local governments, but also adds money for public safety in a compromise with Gov. Bruce Rauner. Language that releases already-collected tax money for cities and counties for road upkeep and emergency-dispatch services passed Wednesday and moves…

UPDATED: California police respond to shooter report

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) – 2:30 p.m. PT: Police say the attackers who killed an estimated 14 people at a Southern California social services center came prepared with long guns. San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan declined to say what kind of weapons they used at the Inland Regional Center. Burguan says a motive wasn’t yet…

Secret Service officer is indicted in sexting case

DOVER, Del. (AP) – A Secret Service officer accused of trying to solicit sex from an undercover agent he thought was a 14-year-old girl has been indicted on a federal charge of trying to transfer obscene material to a minor. The single-count indictment against Lee Robert Moore was issued Wednesday, the same day a hearing…

Super PACs dole out cash, whether candidates like it or not

WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump calls them a “crooked business” and Bernie Sanders says they’re “corrupt” organizations “buying elections.” But that barrage of insults hasn’t stopped the political groups known as super PACs and their donors from showing the two presidential candidates some love. A super PAC allied with a union that endorsed Sanders over…