A spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton tells The Associated Press the proposal to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples will get a committee hearing Thursday but there aren't currently enough votes to pass it on the floor.

Spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon (rih-KEE'-shuh ful-AHN') says she doesn't know how many votes there are for the plan or when it might be called. Some Democrats were not in attendance Thursday. Phelon says no Republicans supported it.

Cullerton's Democrats have 35 seats in the Senate - five more votes than needed for passage.

The Legislature is in lame-duck session until Jan. 9, when the new session is sworn-in.

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The Illinois Republican climbed the steps of the Capitol on Thursday and claimed his Senate seat.

Kirk was greeted at the foot of the Capitol steps by Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday. Biden and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia were at Kirk's side as Kirk used a four-pronged cane to climb the 45 steps.

He earned rousing applause from fellow senators, the Illinois congressional delegation and others.

Kirk waved and smiled. He paused several times to greet well-wishers.

During his recovery from the stroke, the senator endured an intensive, experimental rehabilitation regimen that is often compared with military boot camp because of its intensity.

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In a statement Thursday, NOM said it will form a PAC in Illinois and spend $250,000 to oust any Republicans who support gay marriage. The statement also called on Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady to resign "for violating the national GOP platform and urging state Republicans to redefine marriage."

“Any Republican in Illinois who betrays the cause of marriage will be casting a career-ending vote and will be held accountable to their constituents,” Brian Brown, NOM’s president, said in a statement. “We will spend whatever it takes – hundreds of thousands of dollars if necessary – to remove them from office, just as we did three of the four turncoat Republican state Senators in New York who were responsible for gay ‘marriage’ passing there."

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In Rhode Island, the Providence Journal reports, state Rep. Arthur Handy says he will introduce a bill in the General Assembly on Thursday, the first day of the 2013 session.

From the Journal:

Handy has said that the legislation will include, as it has in past versions, language granting religious groups protections, if they object to same sex unions as a matter of their religious beliefs.

Citing the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, a 2011 version of Handy's gay marriage bill stated that every religious institution has "exclusive control over its own religious doctrine, policy, and teachings regarding who may marry within their faith, and on what terms."

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More than 24 hours after the escape, the robbers, Kenneth Conley, 38, and Joseph Banks, 37, the self-proclaimed “Moor,” remained at large today with dragnets of heavily armed federal and local law enforcement officers on their trail.

The men were last seen in a south suburb and are believed to be traveling together. The FBI offered a $50,000 reward this morning for the escapees’ capture, which is about $550,000 less than Banks reportedly took in just two robberies where, brandishing a pistol, he vaulted bank counters and stuffed stacks of money into a bag.

So-called Moors are typically black nationalists who, like their kissing cousins in the antigovernment “sovereign citizens” movement, deny the jurisdiction and authority of the government. For the Moors, that is based on the theory that they are the real sovereign natives of North America, and the whites who came later and their government have no right to rule them. As a rule, the various Moorish groups have produced little or no violence, even if their view of history is unique.

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The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed a lawsuit in Illinois this morning against Armslist.com -- a Craigslist style listing site for firearms on behalf of the family of Jitka Vesel, a 36-year-old Czech immigrant who was murdered by a jilted lover. Vesel was fatally shot with .40-calliber handgun purchased illegally on the site. According to the Guardian, Armslist is among 4,000 websites which engage in gun-selling in the U.S.

The suit comes a day after a high profile shooting at an Oregon mall killed three including the gunman.

It is currently totally legal for individual, unlicensed gun dealers --  classified as "private sellers" -- to sell weapons online or at gun shows without carrying out background checks on customers. It's a loophole that "has been widely denounced by gun control advocates," noted the Guardian's Ed Pilkington. However, in the case of Vesel's murder, the killer was a Russian immigrant and lived out-of-state therefore did not qualify to legally buy the firearm from the seller who posted it on Armslist.

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The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Jackson submitted his letter of resignation to House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday. WBEZ also reported that Boehner spokesman Michael Steel has confirmed that he received the letter.

Jackson did not wage much of a campaign for re-election this year, but won his race anyway. His replacement will be chosen by a special election, which will have to be called by Gov. Pat Quinn, also a Democrat.

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From the Chicago Sun-Times:

"As part of the deal being negotiated by former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, Jackson would resign his post citing health reasons, plead guilty to misusing campaign funds, repay the campaign funds used illegally and he would possibly serve time in prison, according to the report."

Jackson is accused of allegedly using those funds to redecorate his home, and reportedly to buy a $40,000 Rolex for a female friend.

“No one has pled guilty, but plea discussions are ongoing,” a source told the Sun-Times' Michael Sneed.

Jackson, who won reelection to his House seat on Tuesday, has recently spent time in the Mayo Clinic to be treated for depression bipolar disorder.

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However, owing to a backlash from parents and local conservative groups, the East Aurora school board has been forced to reconsider its policies and will recast votes on Friday. "Every one of those parents was upset that we put this policy forward, and we are now going to go back and rescind that Friday night," said East Aurora School Board president Annette Johnson. Activists and other parents supported the policies as a step toward providing a safe, supportive educational environment for all young people.

Watch the video below for further details on the school board's decision to reconsider the new standards:

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“With modern technology and science, you can't find one instance,” he said. “... There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing.”

Walsh, who is running for reelection, was quoted by WGN Radio after a debate with Democrat Tammy Duckworth. Walsh's theory about medical technology is something that anti-choice doctors have been arguing for some time, including before a recent House subcommittee over D.C.'s proposed ban of abortions after 20 weeks.

Michael Greene, a professor at Harvard Medical School, told Salon that this argument is "blatantly false."

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Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will submit a budget proposal Thursday that calls for a tax of a nickel for each bullet and $25 for each firearm sold in the nation's second-largest county, which encompasses Chicago.

Preckwinkle's office estimates the tax will generate about $1 million a year, money that would be used for various county services including medical care for gunshot victims. Law enforcement officials would not have to pay the tax, but the office said it would apply to 40 federally licensed gun dealers in the county.

Through last week, the city reported 409 homicides this year compared to 324 during the same period in 2011. Although the violence still doesn't approach the nearly 900 homicides a year Chicago averaged in the 1990s, officials say gang violence was largely to blame for a rash of shootings earlier this year.

Preckwinkle insists the ordinance is far more about addressing gun violence than raising money for a county that faces a deficit of more than $100 million next year.

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Democrats know who tends to lack ID.  They know that the threat of in-person voter fraud is wildly exaggerated.  Besides, Republican officials could hardly have been clearer about the real purpose behind these laws and courts keep striking them down as unconstitutional.  Still, Republican support remains sky high, with only one third of Republicans recognizing that they are primarily intended to boost the GOP's prospects.

How can Republican voters go on believing that the latest wave of voter ID laws is about fraud and that it’s the opposition to the laws that’s being partisan?

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At a debate last night, Walsh held up a photo of Duckworth and said: “I was marching in a parade in Schaumburg [Ill.[, Sunday, two days before the Democratic convention, when Tammy Duckworth was on a stage down in Charlotte [N.C.[ — if you can look at the picture — picking out a dress for her speech Tuesday night.”

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Cellini, 77, was once known to political insiders as the King of Clout for his behind-the-scenes influence in state government. He was convicted last year for his role in trying to get a $1.5 million campaign contribution for Blagojevich from Thomas Rosenberg — the Oscar-winning producer of "Million Dollar Baby" — in exchange for state business.

Judge James Zagel sentenced Cellini to one year and one day in prison.

Defense attorneys had asked Zagel for probation, pointing to Cellini's poor health and the limited time period involved in the wrongdoing.

Prosecutors recommended a 6 1/2- to eight-year prison sentence. They too asked Zagel to take Cellini's health into account, but noted the crime was serious because it involved public officials.

Cellini suffered a heart attack in June while undergoing a medical procedure.

"Mr. Cellini is in the twilight of his life," defense attorney Dan Webb told Zagel.

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The civil disobedience also brought attention to the strike, which has continued for weeks with no media fanfare. Workers cite unsafe conditions and low wages as fueling their industrial action, along with complaints about long shifts with no breaks and sexual harassment. Micah Uetricht reported for Labor Notes on Monday's march, the strike and the reasons underpinning it:

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For the nation’s beleaguered labor movement, the six-day strike by the Chicago Teachers Union that ended on Tuesday is proof that a strike is not suicide, as has been the fate lately for most unions.

Indeed, as the end neared and they were heady with an apparent win, the teachers’ talk catapulted from standing up for teachers to standing up for organized labor and ultimately to speaking for bullied, and exploited, workers.

In the buildup to the dispute, it didn’t seem likely that the union would be able to walk away. Not after the Illinois Legislature required the union to win a strike vote by 75 percent of its members, and not after Mayor Rahm Emanuel fearlessly carried out a number of steps that only riled up the union. But it did, with the three-year deal that its 26,000 teachers will soon vote on.

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