CF Industries willing to boost its proposed takeover offer for Terra Industries

DEERFIELD, Ill. — CF Industries Holdings Inc. said Wednesday that it is willing to boost its bid for Terra Industries Inc. after its two earlier takeover offers were rejected.

Kraft Foods 2Q profit up 11 percent, but sales down on foreign currency translation

MILWAUKEE — Kraft Foods Inc. said Tuesday its second-quarter profit rose 11 percent even though its revenue slipped as the dollar’s strength weighed down international sales.

RC2 prices public offering of 4M shares at $15 per share for $57.1M in proceeds

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Toy designer and marketer RC2 Corp. on Tuesday priced a public offering of 4 million shares at $15 per share for total proceeds of $57.1 million.

Archer Daniels Midland 4th-quarter profit drops on lower average selling prices, weak demand

DECATUR, Ill. — Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit tumbled 83 percent as its results were pressured by higher corn costs, lower average selling prices and softer demand.

Southwestern Illinois village best known for its strip clubs seeks bankruptcy protection

WASHINGTON PARK, Ill. — This decaying southwestern Illinois village best known for its strip clubs has filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in five years under the weight of mounting debt and the embezzlement of more than $440,000 by two village workers.

Skeleton in a suit and tie found sitting in an empty vault at historic Chicago area cemetery

ALSIP, Ill. — Skeletal remains of a man wearing a suit and tie were found sitting in a burial vault with no casket in sight at a historic black Illinois cemetery where workers allegedly dug up bodies and dumped them in a scheme to resell plots, officials said Friday.

Caterpillar to close plant in South Africa, 193 jobs affected

PEORIA, Ill. — Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. said Friday that it will close a manufacturing facility in South Africa as it realigns its operations with sagging global demand.

Nicor profit down 21 percent in second quarter despite improving distribution business

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Nicor said Friday that its second-quarter earnings fell 21 percent as improved performance in its gas distribution business was not enough to offset a smaller profit from its shipping operations and lower corporate operating results.

Gas distributor Nicor affirms 2009 profit outlook of $2.54-$2.74 per share

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Nicor on Friday affirmed its 2009 profit outlook, saying it is starting to see the positive effect of higher rates in its natural gas distribution business.

More discarded burial vaults found at Ill. cemetery where hundreds of bodies were dumped

ALSIP, Ill. — Authorities say they’ve found discarded burial vaults in a heavily wooded part of a historic black Chicago-area cemetery where workers allegedly dug up bodies and dumped them in a scheme to resell plots.

Edwards sweeps Atlantic Championship weekend in Chicago

JOLIET, Ill. — American driver John Edwards picked up his third Atlantic Championship victory of the season on Sunday afternoon at Autobahn Country Club in suburban Chicago, sweeping both races of a doubleheader weekend.

Authorities investigating second suburban Chicago cemetery after human bone found

GLENWOOD, Ill. — Authorities are investigating a second suburban Chicago cemetery after a human bone was found lying on the ground.

John Edwards earns 2nd career Atlantic Championship win

JOLIET, Ill. — Eighteen-year-old driver John Edwards picked up the second victory of his Atlantic Championship career in the first race of a doubleheader race weekend at Autobahn Country Club in suburban Chicago.

McDonald’s 2nd quarter profit dips 8 percent on foreign currency rates, year-ago gain

NEW YORK — McDonald’s Corp. said Thursday that even though more consumers chowed down on its burgers, fries and drinks in the second quarter, the stronger dollar and a year-ago gain led profit to dip 8 percent.

Man, 63, sentenced to 3 years in prison after 18th conviction for driving on revoked license

WOODSTOCK, Ill. — A judge has sentenced a 63-year-old man to three years in prison after his 18th conviction for driving on a revoked license. Under a plea agreement entered Monday, Lonnie Harris received credit for 62 days he spent in jail after his most recent arrest, which was in Crystal Lake in June of 2007.

ATC Technology says it will cut jobs and consolidate as part of restructuring

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — Vehicle remanufacturing and logistics company ATC Technology Corp. late Tuesday said it will cut jobs and consolidate certain warehousing activities in an attempt to reduce costs stemming from the upcoming loss of its Honda transmission remanufacturing program.

Tractor maker CNH global posts loss in 2nd qtr as weak construction demand trims sales

BURR RIDGE, Ill. — CNH Global NV, which makes Case and New Holland tractors for farmers and builders, said Wednesday it had a loss in the second quarter as weak demand offset cost cuts and lower production.

AP Exclusive: Worker who exposed Ill. cemetery scandal says he spoke out over job threats

ALSIP, Ill. — A gravedigger who helped expose an alleged scheme to dig up graves and resell plots at a suburban Chicago cemetery says he only spoke up after a co-worker warned him to keep his mouth shut or risk losing his job.

Caterpillar 2nd-quarter profit tumbles 66 pct as recession continues to dampen equipment sales

Caterpillar Inc.’s second-quarter profit tumbled on slumping sales of heavy equipment and the cost of staff cuts, but it saw signs that the global economy is starting to stabilize after a prolonged slide.

GOP, Democrats face politically loaded budget choices, giving opponents 2010 campaign fuel

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — In state after cash-strapped state, lawmakers are fighting a familiar partisan battle over taxing and spending with a new urgency and higher political stakes as they wrestle with multibillion-dollar deficits forcing widespread budget cuts.

Federal lawsuit accuses southern Ill. deputy of using stun gun on 3 kids at youth shelter

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A sheriff’s deputy zapped three children with a stun gun at an Illinois emergency youth shelter, threatening to sodomize one of them before choking a fourth child and throwing her in a closet, according to a federal civil-rights lawsuit.

Federal lawsuit accuses southern Ill. deputy of using stun gun on 3 kids at emergency shelter

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A federal civil rights lawsuit alleges a southern Illinois sheriff’s deputy used a stun gun on three children at an emergency shelter while a fellow deputy mistreated a fourth child.

Baxter International’s 2nd-quarter profit rises 8 percent as better margins offset sales drop

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Specialty drug and medical device maker Baxter International Inc. said Thursday its profit rose 8 percent in the second quarter on better margins, more than offsetting a decline in sales.

Owner of Ill. cemetery says he had nothing to do with dumping bodies, moneymaking scheme

ALSIP, Ill. — The owner of a suburban Chicago cemetery that’s been closed by authorities amid allegations that workers dug up bodies and resold plots says he had nothing to do with the alleged wrongdoing.

Abbott Laboratories’ 2nd-quarter profit falls on charges but lead drug regains sales momentum

Drug developer and medical device maker Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday its second-quarter profit fell 3 percent on a mix of buyout charges and lower drug sales, but the results still met Wall Street forecasts.

Records at troubled Chicago cemetery falling apart; sheriff asking court for someone to run it

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Records at the suburban Chicago cemetery where four people are accused of unearthing bodies in an alleged moneymaking scheme have been found disintegrating and rotting in a rusty file cabinet, authorities said Tuesday.

2nd Ky. widow settles lawsuit over husband’s death at southern Illinois VA hospital

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — The second of two Kentucky widows has settled her federal lawsuit over surgical care they say killed their husbands at an Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital where major surgeries have been halted for nearly two years after a spike in patient deaths.

3 dead in Illinois when Amtrak train hits vehicle, sheriff says it didn’t stop before crossing

OTTAWA, Ill. — Three people are dead after their vehicle was struck by an Amtrak train in Illinois.

Authorities to begin identifying bodies in about 100,000 graves in Ill. cemetery investigation

ALSIP, Ill. — Authorities are beginning the grueling process of trying to identify the people in about 100,000 graves at a suburban Chicago cemetery where four former workers allegedly dug up bodies to resell burial plots.

Rev. Jackson calls for expanded investigation into company that runs Ill. cemetery

ALSIP, Ill. — The Rev. Jesse Jackson has called for an expanded investigation into a suburban Chicago cemetery where four former employees are accused of digging up and dumping bodies in a scheme to resell plots.