A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for the entire CBS 2 viewing area until 10 p.m. today.

An ex-convict suspected in a grisly killing spree that left eight people in two states dead within a matter of days was well known to his hometown police department, but the chief said Wednesday he never expected Nicholas T. Sheley

The buyer of St. Francis Hospital hopes to close on the deal by the end of the month after the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board Wednesday approved transferring the Blue Island hospital's certificate of need.

Traveling more than 9,700 miles from the Australian shores of the southern ocean, a giant Southern Rocklobster found itself a new home at the Shedd Aquarium.

Gov. Blagojevich on Wednesday called on the General Assembly to return to Springfield on July 9 and 10 to fix the shortfall in the 2009 budget passed by lawmakers in May.

Stocks gave up a brief rally Wednesday and resumed the selling seen inrecent weeks after factory orders showed their the weakest performancein three months in May. In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 33.96 to 11,348.30.

American Airlines Inc. acknowledged it will furlough 900 flight attendants this summer as part of its employee reduction plan announced in May. "These are difficult, but necessary changes given the unprecedented challenges we face with overcapacity in the industry," said

Federal officials say fugitive hedge-fund swindler Samuel Israel has surrendered to authorities. Israel was supposed to report to federal prison June 9 after being convicted of bilking hedge-fund investors out of $450 million.

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for the entire CBS 2 viewing area until 4 p.m. today.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has again closed the spa at the Hampton Inn in northwest suburban McHenry after results from a culture test proved positive for the Legionnella bacteria.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is halting construction on dozens of projects across the state because of wording in the budget bill sent him this week.

An ex-convict suspected in a grisly killing spree that left eight people in two states dead within a matter of days was well known to his hometown police department, but the chief said Wednesday he never expected Nicholas T. Sheley

The McHenry County man accused of possessing a deadly toxin found in puffer fish remains in federal custody following a brief hearing in federal court this morning.

A teenage boy was critically wounded in a shooting Tuesday night at a church that also provides shelter to girls and young women in the South Side Washington Heights neighborhood.

A Chicago Police officer was shot and later died early this morning after a woman grabbed his gun near the Belmont Area Police Headquarters. CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports.

Starbucks Corp. has announced it's closing 600 underperforming stores in the United States. The Seattle-based premium coffee company also announced Tuesday it expects to open fewer than 200 new company-operated stores in the United States in fiscal 2009.