WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

AURORA, Ill. — Illinois' second-largest city finished 2012 without a single homicide.The Beacon-News reports that Aurora was homicide-free last year for the first time since 1946.The last killing reported in the western Chicago suburb was on Dec. 21, 2011.

AURORA, Ill.  — The defense attorney for an Aurora man who house was found filled with nearly 500 birds says that weeks later there are still birds in the residence.Defense attorney Roderick Mallison said Tuesday that there are still birds inside the Aurora home that David Skeberdis &quot

Defying opinion polls that depicted a neck-and-neck contest, Democrat Bill Foster easily defeats Republican U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert in the 11th Congressional District. With nearly all precincts reporting, Foster has almost 58 percent of the vote; Biggert has 42 percent.

After a firestorm of negative TV ads in a tight race for Congress, Republican U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert and Democrat Bill Foster try to get supporters to the polls using bells and whistles.

The school district will form a committee to discuss new anti-bullying and discrimination policies, after the school board passed and then rescinded a policy on transgender students, with one key administrator being placed on leave.

After the recent shootings in Aurora, Colorado, few felt bad for alleged shooter James Holmes, who has since been charged with 24 counts of murder. WBEZ's own Al Gini wrote that he wasn't sure that our society could ever really forgive people like Holmes, or former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky. "Given the immensity of their actions, I think forgiveness is asking too much," he wrote.

The city of Aurora, Illinois has gotten a new $60,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to help pay for a special prosecutor who will go after street gangs.