Updated: 10:41 AM Students in Illinois schools will no longer have to take state writing or social studies tests, starting this year.

Updated: 10:38 AM A Wisconsin man accused in a string of attacks on children and women at shopping malls has pleaded innocent.

Updated: 10:18 AM Rockford firefighters battle an early morning house fire.

Updated: 10:15 AM A Rockford man linked three years ago by DNA tests to a 1988 slaying of a teenager is convicted of first-degree murder for the crime.

Updated: 7:39 PM With each passing day, the odds are increasing that Rockford will go the entire month of July without registering a single 90° high temperature.

Updated: 6:11 PM As District 205 debates outsourcing, the Belvidere school district says it was the right direction for their district.

Updated: 2:02 PM Organizers of the Illinois Storytelling Festival say this year's edition of the long-running McHenry County event will be canceled for lack of funds.

Updated: 2:03 PM A few months ago, Barack Obama was just an underdog candidate for a U.S. Senate nomination, unknown even to many people in Illinois.

Updated: 1:56 PM Gov. Rod Blagojevich Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and numerous other Illinois Democrats are in Boston for the start of the four-day Democratic National Convention.

Updated: 12:40 PM We may soon get relief from pinching pennies at the pump.

Updated: 12:39 PM The 54 days of special sessions are going to cost us.

Updated: 11:10 PM Illinois Speaker of the House and local leaders comment on the newly approved 2005 state budget.

Updated: 10:18 PM 23 News has learned that Rockford’s School District is getting an unexpected chunk of the state's additional education funding.

Updated: 10:16 PM A state budget is approved.

Updated: 3:47 PM Residents wonder why Animal Services is not laying down the law.

Updated: 2:20 PM After more than a year in one of the most dangerous places on earth, 150 soldiers of the 32nd Military Police Company return to Wisconsin Friday.

Updated: 1:32 PM Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says the possibility of flight limits imposed by the federal government points out the need to expand O'Hare International Airport.

Updated: 1:30 PM Team officials say a Chicago Cubs employee found a third piece of concrete at Wrigley Field that apparently fell from the stadium's upper deck.

Updated: 1:28 PM Drivers who have failed to make good on unpaid tolls should keep an eye on their mailboxes.

Updated: 11:03 PM The Winnebago County Board approve two-part extension for development rich Perryville Road in Machesney Park.

Updated: 5:31 PM The Rockford school district has nearly 100 applicants for 10 vacant crossing guard positions.

Updated: 1:16 PM U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald isn't happy that Illinois Republicans can't come up with a candidate to run for his seat.

Updated: 11:35 AM Good news for corn and soybean farmers; after two lackluster growing seasons, things are looking brighter this year!

Updated: 11:35 AM Since 2001, the number of deer in parts of Winnebago County has nearly tripled. A study conducted earlier this year shows that some areas host a whopping 300 deer per square mile!

Updated: 6:03 PM More and more people are checking into the emergency room using a fake name. They're trying to get out paying for the visit, but doctors say this could be a dangerous practice.