AM markets: Canada worries prop up soybeans, but not wheat

Certainly, the first set of data of many to be released on Thursday - including a monthly report on Brazilian grains from Conab, a twice-monthly briefing on Brazilian sugar output from Unica, and the US Department of Agriculture's monthly Wasde tome - looked at first sight negative for prices. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board showed Malaysian palm oil inventories far bigger than investors had expected last month, provoked by the biggest surge in output in nearly three years.

Illinois Lawmakers Vote to Make ‘Barack Obama Day’ a State Holiday

While former President Barack Obama was celebrating his birthday on Friday, Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner was signing a measure that will make his birthday, Aug. 4, a new state holiday beginning in 2018, The Hill reported. "Barack Obama Day" will be "observed throughout the state as a day set apart to honor the 44th President of the United States of America who began his career serving the People of Illinois in both the Illinois State Senate and the United States Senate, and dedicated his life to protecting the rights of Americans and building bridges across communities," the article explained.

Records: Student-loan forgiveness has halted under Trump

The U.S. Education Department has not approved any applications for student-loan forgiveness in cases of possible fraud since President Donald Trump took office, according to records sent to an Illinois senator. Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin released those records Wednesday and blasted the department for its inaction and for a June decision to delay and rewrite Obama-era rules that would have made it easier for students to get loans forgiven if they were deceived by their schools.

Group targets Forsyth GOP legislator over vote to override veto

State Rep. Bill Mitchell is one of 16 state representatives being targeted by the Americans for Prosperity-Illinois for voting to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto of a 32 percent income tax increase. The AFP-Illinois says it will run online ads and distribute mail pieces, as well as "our grass-roots presence," to hit Mitchell and the others for the tax increase vote earlier this month.

Officials: Boy, 10, among youngest victims of opioid crisis

An extended family that lost nine people to a roaring flash flood in an Arizona canyon was a tight-knit group that gathered in big numbers for nearly every occasion. Federal records show former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has been released from prison in Minnesota and transferred to a Chicago re-entry facility.

Durbin, Duckworth: Plainfield tank car derailment a wake-up call for DOT

WASHINGTON U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth today called on U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to do more to prevent railroad tank car accidents like the one in Plainfield, Illinois on June 30, 2017, in which multiple rail cars on a Canadian National train carrying crude oil derailed, causing an estimated 45,000 gallons of oil to leak out of the tank cars. "We are extremely grateful for the hard work of Plainfield's first responders, who were able to contain the spill and prevent any injuries or deaths as a result of the incident," the Senators wrote in a letter to Secretary Chao.

State receives over two million in housing and development funding

WASHINGTON U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a total of $2,058,130 in grant funding to Illinois agencies through two programs the Housing Counseling Grant Program and the Service Coordinator Program to help families, seniors, and people with disabilities who live in insured and assisted apartment housing across the state live more independent lives. "This funding will give local housing agencies across Illinois the ability to expand and improve existing supportive services for families, seniors, and people with disabilities, helping them to continue to live as independently as possible in the communities they love and know," Durbin said.

19 AGs sue DeVos for delaying for-profit college rules

Democratic attorneys general from 18 states and the District of Columbia sued U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Thursday over her decision to suspend rules that were meant to protect students from abuse by for-profit colleges. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington , says DeVos violated rule-making laws when she announced a June 14 decision to delay so-called borrower defense to repayment rules, which were finalized under President Barack Obama and scheduled to take effect July 1. In her announcement saying the rules would be delayed and rewritten, DeVos said they created "a muddled process that's unfair to students and schools."

Illinois Senate nixes vetoes of budget plan with tax hike

The Illinois Senate voted Tuesday to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes of a $36 billion budget package fueled by a $5 billion tax increase designed to start digging out of the nation's deepest budget crisis since at least the Great Depression. The Democratic-controlled chamber completed its work within 30 minutes of the Republican governor's vetoes, sending the package back to the House for an override vote that would give Illinois its first annual budget since 2015.

Ill. gov. vetoes income tax hike; Senate votes to override

The Illinois Senate voted Tuesday to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes of a $36 billion budget package fueled by a $5 billion tax increase designed to start digging out of the nation's deepest budget crisis since at least the Great Depression. The Democratic-controlled chamber completed its work within 30 minutes of the Republican governor's vetoes, sending the package back to the House for an override vote that would give Illinois its first annual budget since 2015.