SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday deemed the first known black Roman Catholic priest in the United States to be "venerable," positioning the former slave for possible...

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts state senator accused of driving drunk has reached a deal with prosecutors to avoid a conviction.

The agreement was announced Tuesday in Quincy District...

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts state senator accused of driving drunk is set to go on trial.

Brockton Democrat Michael Brady was pulled over by Weymouth police in March 2018 and...

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) _ J.Jill Inc. (JILL) on Thursday reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $4.4 million.

On a per-share basis, the Quincy, Massachusetts-based company said it had net income...

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a western Illinois woman to five years in prison for an October fire that killed her 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter.

BOSTON (AP) — Health officials in Massachusetts say a child has tested positive for measles after visiting a number of locations in the Boston area that could have resulted in exposure to other...

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a western Illinois man to five years in prison for an October fire that killed his 8-year-old son and a 5-year-old girl.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — Transit police in Massachusetts say four people have been arrested in connection with an assault hours after the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes in a playoff...

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — Transit police in Massachusetts are looking for a group of men who appeared to be Boston Bruins fans they say "viciously beat" and seriously injured a man at a trolley...

HANNIBAL, Mo. (AP) — The company that operates the Quincy (Illinois) Herald-Whig and other media outlets is buying a daily newspaper from across the Mississippi River.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on the flooding in the Midwest (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

The Mississippi River at the Quad Cities in Iowa and Illinois has reached a new record high.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — Stop & Shop is acknowledging that it has limited its offerings during a strike affecting 240 supermarkets in New England and is apologizing to customers for the...

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — Supermarket and labor union officials are resuming negotiations as workers in southern New England are on their third day of a walkout.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — Two men have been charged with attacking a pregnant woman in Quincy.

The Patriot Ledger reports 19-year-old Tyrese Johnson-Nurse and 18-year-old David Russell were...

BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman has been bitten by a wild animal about a month after a 16-year-old girl in a nearby town was bitten by a coyote.

PITTSFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say DNA analysis has confirmed that human remains found last year along the Mississippi River are those of a western Illinois man who went missing after a boat...

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — At a sea turtle hospital housed at an old New England shipyard, a biologist leans over a table and uses a needle to draw blood from a sick loggerhead before tagging its...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A state audit released Monday contradicted former Gov. Bruce Rauner's claim that his administration had done everything federal experts recommended to remedy a deadly 2015...

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — Budget concerns at libraries across Illinois are causing a variety of issues, including delayed building projects and cuts in staff, hours and new book purchases, officials...

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man has been found guilty of raping and killing his girlfriend inside her apartment a decade ago.

Joseph Beatty faces life in prison without parole after...

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — The lawyer for a Massachusetts special education teacher charged with assaulting students says the allegations were made up by a disgruntled teacher's aide.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — Dozens of firefighters battled a multi-alarm blaze south of Boston that started in one building and quickly spread to several others.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man who spent nearly a day on the run after allegedly shooting and killing his friend has been held without bail.

HINGHAM, Mass. (AP) — Police in Massachusetts are warning a scammer is using the identity of a Hingham police sergeant to solicit money on dating sites and social media.

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — A western Illinois man has made his first court appearance in connection with an October house fire that killed two children.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man has been convicted of trying to buy sex from someone he believed was a 16-year-old girl.

Anthony McCaffrey was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday after being convicted of human trafficking of a child under 18 and engaging in sexual conduct for a fee with a minor.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts cab driver is being praised by police for helping an 87-year-old woman from being taken by a classic scam.

Richard Spencer, who drives for Yellow Cab of Quincy, tells The Patriot Ledger he sensed something was wrong when the woman he was driving Wednesday told him she was going to Walmart to purchase thousands of dollars in gift cards.

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — Two western Illinois residents have been indicted on involuntary manslaughter and endangering the life of a child charges in the death of two children.

The Herald-Whig in Quincy reports 8-year-old Toby Brewer and his sister, 5-year-old Emma Kramer, died in an Oct. 12 fire.

BOSTON (AP) — Authorities say a 44-year-old Massachusetts man found bleeding and unconscious outside a war veterans' organization post has died from his injuries.

A spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey says Christopher McCallum died Monday at Boston Medical Center after undergoing treatment.

BOSTON (AP) — The architect of a nearly $2 million real estate investment scam who spent more than two decades on the lam before his arrest in 2017 has been sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.

Federal prosecutors say 69-year-old Scott Wolas, formerly of Quincy, was also sentenced Monday to three years of probation and ordered to pay full restitution to his victims, $69,000 to Social Security and Medicare, and more than $318,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman charged with killing her 9-year-old daughter and her unborn son nearly a decade ago has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The Patriot Ledger reports that the ruling in 47-year-old Xue Fang Chi's case came Thursday after a two-day bench trial. She was committed to a state psychiatric hospital.

RANDOLPH, Mass. (AP) — Police in Massachusetts say an argument over a car sale escalated to the point that one man took out a gun and fired two shots at another man.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered a health and safety audit of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs after a case of Legionnaire's Disease was discovered at the Manteno veteran's home.

The Democrat toured the home Friday before signing an order for a report within four months on agency health and safety issues and communications procedures.

RANDOLPH, Mass. (AP) — Officials say drug charges against a Massachusetts town councilor will be dismissed if he completes nine months of probation.

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BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) — A 21-year-old college student who suffered serious injuries after being struck by a car has died.

The Patriot Ledger reports that Lucas Flint, of Braintree, died after a Dec. 15 crash that authorities blame on drunken driving.

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — State officials are ready to display the final master plan for redevelopment of the Illinois Veterans' Home in Quincy.

The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs has scheduled an open house Tuesday at Lippincott Hall on the campus. The public may view the plan from 4 to 7 p.m.

BOSTON (AP) — An accountant who stole nearly $600,000 from the Massachusetts company she worked for has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison.

Federal prosecutors say 30-year-old Thanh Tam Tao Huynh, a Canadian citizen who was living in Quincy at the time, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court. She was also ordered to pay back the money and is subject to deportation upon completion of her sentence.

Huynh, who also went by the name Tiffany Huynh, pleaded guilty in June to wire fraud.

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — A top administrator of a South Carolina college will become the next president of Quincy University in western Illinois.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — Massachusetts authorities say a man in his 50s who drove his SUV off a pier and into the water was able to get back to shore and was taken to a hospital.

State police say the man drove through a railing at the Nut Island pier in Quincy shortly before 9 a.m. Saturday. Officials say the vehicle went completely underwater, but the man was able to get out quickly.

Police haven't released the man's name. He was taken to Boston Medical Center in unknown condition.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois House took the rare step Wednesday of erasing from its record a Democratic legislator's remark suggesting she'd like to infect the water supply of a GOP colleague's loved ones with "a broth of Legionella."

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A former Massachusetts middle school teacher already charged with molesting one student is now facing allegations that he assaulted a second student.

Jeffrey Knight was released without bail after pleading not guilty Wednesday to five new charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. He pleaded not guilty charges involving the first student in September.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) _ J.Jill Inc. (JILL) on Wednesday reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $6.7 million.

On a per-share basis, the Quincy, Massachusetts-based company said it had net income of 15 cents.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 9 cents per share.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — People who are harmed or injured in incidents that are the state government's fault will be eligible for damage awards of as much as $2 million after the state House voted to override a veto by Gov. Bruce Rauner Tuesday.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Latest on the Illinois General Assembly's fall session (all times local):

4:20 p.m.

People who are harmed or injured because of state government actions are now eligible for damage awards of as much as $2 million.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — Firefighters in Massachusetts knocked down a fire at a chemical plant over the weekend.

Authorities say the fire at Quincy's Twin River Technologies broke out Saturday night and firefighters responded around 8 p.m. Quincy Fire Chief Edward Fenby says crews were at the plant for about two hours and no one was hurt in the fire.

WYANET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois man who was killed on Thanksgiving when his farm tractor collided with an Amtrak train was newly married and 25 years old.

The Bureau County sheriff's department identified him as Andrew Frese (FREEZE) of Buda. The crash occurred Thursday in Wyanet, near Princeton, in north-central Illinois, while Frese was towing a tank of anhydrous ammonia, a type of fertilizer.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman originally charged with assault and battery in connection with the death of her 11-month-old niece is now facing a murder charge.

The Norfolk district attorney says 28-year-old Shu Hsu was arrested on the upgraded charge on Tuesday.

Hsu, of Weymouth, was originally charged in March with assault and battery on a child causing serious bodily injury in the death of Chloe Chen. She pleaded not guilty and was free on $200,000 bail.