A court-ordered monitor says she has been swamped by last-minute claims from people who say their lack of clout prevented them from getting jobs with the City of Chicago.

Earlier this year, the city settled a nearly 40-year-long legal battle to stop political hiring at City Hall. The $12 million settlement will go to those who say they have been discriminated against in the city’s hiring process.

Noelle Brennan says 1,451 people have submitted claims contending they were harmed by city’s hiring practices between 2000 and the end of last May.

Although Brennan says she doesn’t know the total value of the claims filed, she says they probably total more than $12 …

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An FBI investigation was launched Tuesday evening after two trains jumped the tracks near the same spot.

Only one train remained there as of about 10 p.m. Tuesday. The first train to derail was moved up the tracks around 9:30 p.m. minutes ago. But dozens of workers remained at the site and expect to be here for a better part of the night to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

As CBS 2’s Dana Kozlov reports, Metra workers carefully inspected portions of the South Shore Electric line tracks as two trains sat idle on parallel tracks. The first, headed to 93rd Street from Chicago’s Millennium Station, derailed shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday. The second train was trying to avo…

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After weeks of delays, protests and legal challenges, a women’s health clinic that performs abortions has opened in Aurora, but activists are committed to driving it out of town.

The Planned Parenthood clinic on Aurora’s East New York Street officially opened Tuesday morning. Its opening was delayed because Aurora officials would not issue occupancy permits while a review was under way into Planned Parenthood’s use of a subsidiary, Gemini Office Development, to build the clinic.

On Monday, Mayor Tom Weisner announced that reviews by three different attorneys found no legal basis to deny an occupancy permit to the clinic, even if Planned Parenthood was less than forthcom…

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A chemical explosion and fire at a hydroelectric generating plant outside this mountain town trapped five workers in a water tunnel about 1,000 feet below ground.

All five were alive and were communicating with rescuers, Clear Creek County Emergency Director Kathleen Gaubatz said.

It was not clear whether the workers were hurt. Crews were rappelling down a 55-degree incline to reach the them.

Gaubatz said epoxy paint had exploded but the structural integrity of the dam was not compromised.

The Cabin Creek Station plant, owned by Xcel Energy, is about 30 miles west of Denver.

“They’re up a ways from the fire, a safe distance, waiting for …

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All that wet summer weather may come back to haunt anyone who wants to pick a pumpkin for Halloween.

CBS 2 North Suburban Bureau Chief Katie McCall reports, some pumpkin farms lost part of their crop to the soggy ground.

John Didier’s farm in Prairie View lost some of its crop to this summer’s storms.

“Pumpkins like it on the hot and dry side, and we had that a little this year, but we had a wet August and that affected it,” Didier said.

He lost about 30% of his pumpkins to flooding, but between his farm and another in DeKalb County, Didier says he has enough to meet the demand of customers like Cameron Cohen.

The 4-year-old searched fo…

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A former fire chief and his wife have been convicted of defrauding an elderly woman out of thousands of dollars after they befriended the woman three years before her death.

Former Joliet Fire Chief Joe Drick and his wife, Cheri, were found guilty late Monday of theft by deception, financial exploitation of an elderly person, and conspiracy to commit financial exploitation of an elderly person. Sentencing was set for Dec. 12.

The Dricks were accused of taking nearly $200,000 from Gladys Farrington, with whom they formed a friendship in November 2002 after the couple gave the 82-year-old a ride on a cold day. She died at age 85 of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Dric…

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Blackwater chairman Erik Prince vigorously defended his private security company on Tuesday, rejecting charges that his staff acted like a bunch of cowboys immune to legal prosecution while protecting State Department personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I believe we acted appropriately at all times,” Prince, a 38-year-old former Navy seal, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

In written testimony, Prince insisted that his guards opened fire only after being shot at, but he never got the chance to say that because it is now a criminal case, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

The State Department has asked the FB…

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