SOME BUDGET FUNDS RESTORED
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has restored some spending to the state's crumbling budget, but the decision won't prevent layoffs or keep Illinois historic sites open.

The money, however, should keep the doors open at state parks and drug-treatment centers, however.

Nothing is certain as officials face a budget deficit that could reach $2.8 billion before the fiscal year ends.

Blagojevich recently asked lawmakers to give him authority to make 8 percent cuts in nearly all parts of the budget, saying it was necessary to combat a growing deficit.

But lawmakers generally criticized the idea of giving Blagojevich such broad authority, particularly when he dropped the proposal in their laps without any warning or consultation.

ILLINOIS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CLIMBS
The unemployment rate in Illinois rose to 7.3 percent in October, up from 6.9 percent the month before.

It's the fifth consecutive month of job loss for the state, which had a 5.3 percent unemployment rate this time last year.

Illinois Department of Security Director Maureen O'Donnell says that even though Illinois has a diverse economy, the national economic slowdown has had a negative effect on the state.

She says federal assistance is needed to help create jobs.

The hardest hit sectors according to the numbers released Thursday are construction, which lost 4,100 jobs since last month, and financial activities, which lost 2,200 jobs.

The national unemployment rate was at 6.5 percent in October, compared with 4.8 percent the year before.

BIODIESEL PLANT OPENS
The owners of an eastern Illinois biodiesel plant have opened it months after buying the facility from its builders.

Blackhawk Biofuels says the plant in Danville, on the Indiana border, can produce up to 45 million gallons of fuel a year. The fuel's made from vegetable oil.

Blackhawk said Wednesday in a news release that it expects the plant to sell biodiesel by the end of the year. Blackhawk, which is based in Freeport, about 30 miles west of Rockford, says the plant employs 27 people.

The company bought the plant just before Biofuels Company of America completed construction.

NEW SENATE LEADERSHIP
There's a shakeup at the statehouse, with lawmakers resolving leadership battles on both sides of the aisle.

Illinois Senate Democrats Wednesday night picked Chicagoan John Cullerton to become their leader, putting him in line to become Senate president in January.

And Senate Republicans resolved a leadership battle of their own. They elected Christine Radogno of Lemont, making her the first woman to win one of the Legislature's top leadership posts.

Cullerton and Radogno will start their new jobs in January when a new General Assembly is sworn in.

It will be the first major changes in the Springfield cast of characters since 2003, when three of the four legislative leaders entered their current positions.

RALLY FOR PONTIAC PRISON
Opponents of Gov. Rod Blagojevichs plan to close Pontiac Correctional Center took their concerns to Springfield.

Standing outside the state Capitol on Wednesday, officials of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and others claimed the prison's closing will disrupt families lives and risk the safety of Illinois prison inmates and employees.

The governor says he wants to cease operations at the aging Pontiac prison and fully open the newer Thomson Correctional Center, claiming the move would save the state about $4 million a year.

Opponents of the closure say not only won't the state save that much money, but also the Pontiac-area economy will suffer deeply without the prison. It is the county's second-largest employer behind Caterpillar.

CRIME DOWN AGAIN IN ILLINOIS
Crime in Illinois fell by more than 3 percent last year, continuing a 13-year slide that resulted in 210,000 fewer crimes than in 1994.

That's according to data released today by the Illinois State Police.

Each type of offense, from murder to theft, dropped in 2007.

It's a trend that experts attributed partly to tougher drug laws and dispersal of dense, high-poverty neighborhoods.

Police agencies around Illinois reported 456,000 serious crimes in 2007, a 3.1 percent drop from the year before. That's nearly 32 percent fewer crimes than the 666,500 reported in 1994, the last time the number increased.

Murders fell 4.3 percent to 752 last year.

Law enforcement reported drops in every other category of serious crime: rape, robbery, battery, burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson.