Ill. Police Sergeant Charged With 4 Rapes

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - A police officer arrested after was he spotted lurking outside a home was charged Friday with raping four women since 2002.

Two of the rape victims identified Bloomington Sgt. Jeff Pelo from a photo lineup, and police found a mask, pry bar and other items in his home that appeared to have been used in at least one of the assaults, Assistant State's Attorney Mark Messman said.

"Police believe that, based upon similarities in the assaults, that one man is responsible for all four assaults," Messman said in court.

In addition to the rape charges, Pelo, 41, is also charged with two counts of home invasion, alleging he was armed with a knife in one …

Court won't get involved in Bible club question

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to stop a school district from blocking a group of Christian students from forming a Bible club on campus.

The court refused to hear an appeal from the high school students who wanted to form the Truth Bible Club at Kentridge High School in Washington state in 2001.

The school refused to let the group be chartered as a school club. They cited the group's name, the fact that students would have to pledge to Jesus …

Incomes, Housing Strong

WASHINGTON Americans were earning and spending more last month,but only at a moderately quicker pace after unusually sharp increasesin February. The housing industry grew sharply in March despiteclimbing interest rates.

"The latest set of data suggest that the economy is emergingfrom its winter hibernation, but at a much slower pace than thatwitnessed in the fourth quarter of last year," said economist JoseRasco of Merrill Lynch & Co.

The Commerce Department reported today that personal income rose0.6 percent in March and consumer spending nearly kept pace, rising0.4 percent. The department revised estimates upward for February asunusual factors sent incomes up …

Report: Rogers in talks to buy Leafs, other teams

TORONTO (AP) — Rogers Communications declined to confirm reports that it was in talks to buy the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team and Toronto Raptors basketball team.

The Toronto Star, citing anonymous sources, reported that Rogers was negotiating to buy a 66 percent majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. Maple Leaf Sports owns the teams.

The reported $1.3 billion sale would also include Toronto FC of Major League Soccer, a minor league ice hockey team, and the Leafs and Raptors TV stations.

Rogers Communications, Canada's largest wireless carrier and one of the country's biggest cable companies, said on …

NHL Standings

All Times EDT

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

W L OT Pts GF GA

N.Y. Rangers 2 0 0 4 4 2

Pittsburgh 1 1 0 2 5 6

New Jersey 0 0 0 0 0 0

N.Y. Islanders 0 0 0 0 0 0

Philadelphia 0 0 0 0 0 0

Northeast Division

W L OT Pts GF GA

Ottawa …

Musical version energizes 'Princess and the Pea'

We aren't sure what Hans Christian Andersen, creator of theoriginal "The Princess and the Pea" fairy tale, would think of a high-energy, hilarious, contemporary spin on his classic tale, butchildren are sure to love it.

The Theatre for Young Audiences original musical production of"The Princess and the Pea" continues through Aug. 28 at the MarriottTheatre in Lincolnshire.

"'The 'Princess and the Pea' story is really only a paragraphlong. So we had to come up with our own fun story," says Terry James,executive producer for the Marriott Theatre.

This production is the first time renowned Chicago director MarcRobin and award-winning musical-theater veteran Rick …

The Challenge of Bilingualism: ParticipACTION Campaigns Succeeded in Two Languages

ParticipACTION's history (1971-2001) paralleled the recognition and promotion of English and French as Canada's two official languages. "In establishing the legal infrastructure for the official languages - first by the initial act of 1969, then by sections 16 to 23 of the Constitution Act, 1982 and, lastly, by the new Act in 1988 - the federal government made linguistic duality a fundamental part of the Canadian identity."1

During that same period, Canada became more linguistically diverse and underwent challenging debates on national unity. The French Canadian identity slowly gave way to the Francophone regional identities of the Quebecers, Acadians, Franco-Saskatchewanians, …