WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Drought Monitor, updated Thursday, shows about 92 percent of Illinois as abnormally dry, including several counties in northwest Illinois in extreme drought.

President Barack Obama has cast his ballot early, returning to his hometown of Chicago to drum up support for early voting.

Their lives on hold for years, young adults are now making big moves in the fledgling economic recovery, leaving college towns or parents' homes and heading out of state at the highest rate since the height of the housing boom.

Three new programs target advanced manufacturing, information technology and culinary and hospitality industries

Federal officials say a Vernon Hills accountant has admitted to bilking clients out of more than $1.8 million over nearly six years.

Microsoft is kicking off a campaign for its newest operating system, Windows 8, at a five-hour event at New York's Pier 57. Designed to run on both PCs and tablet computers, Windows 8 heralds the biggest change to the industry's dominant operating system in at least 17 years.

The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes rose only slightly, suggesting sales may level off in the coming months after solid gains in the past year.