Triple murder jolts Chicago suburb
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Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer
Officials investigating a triple murder home invasion in a Chicago suburb will not comment on reports that a prime suspect has been arrested.
“Right now we don’t have anything to say at the moment,” Paul Darrah, spokesman for the Dupage County State’s Attorney’s Office told CNN. “Details will be forthcoming.”
Darrah did confirm that three people were killed early Tuesday morning in a home in Darien. The victims were Jeff and Laurie Kramer, and their 20-year-old son Michael, according to published reports. The couple’s daughter hid in a closet and called 911 during the attack, local newspapers said.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the killings are the first in Darien in 15 years.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports Darien has a population of about 22,000.
For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.
School chief willing to negotiate on mass firing of teachers
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CNN
The Rhode Island school superintendent who last week fired all the teachers and staff from a school whose students were performing poorly said Wednesday she is willing to negotiate now that the union has agreed to support changes.
"It is with great excitement that I read the press release from the Central Falls Teachers' Union referencing their proposed comprehensive reform agenda," said Central Falls Schools Superintendent Frances Gallo in a news release.
"It so closely mirrors my requests for assurances that I am pleased to reassure the union their place in the planning process. I do so with the belief that everyone has come to understand the meaning of comprehensive school reform."
Gallo added the school district will press ahead with its plan for improving Central Falls High School.
Video: Inside Dr. Ivins' mind
Joe Johns | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Authorities believe a scientist who advised them on the 2001 anthrax attacks was responsible. His counselor agrees. Joe Johns has the full report tonight at 10 p.m. ET.
Interactive map: Education protests
CNN
There will be dozens of student demonstrations across the country on Thursday, March 4, as people in more than 30 states protest education budget cuts. Scroll over each state to see a few of the cities where protests are planned.
Video: The next step for health care
Dana Bash | BIO
CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent
President Obama says he wants a simple up or down vote on health care. CNN's Dana Bash reports.
Students across U.S. plan to protest education funding cuts
Students at the University of California, Los Angeles, protest a large tuition increase in November.
Monica Trevino
CNN
Dissatisfaction, anger and an uncertain future have led professors and students in California and across the country to call for a day of action Thursday to defend education at state colleges and universities.
Budget cuts have resulted in canceled classes and class waiting lists doubling or tripling in California.
Whitney Thompson experienced this firsthand when all her courses at Fresno State University were dropped, setting her back an entire year. She is part of a rising phenomenon in which students take up to six years to graduate.
These "super-seniors," as they are referred to by the universities, have to take out more debt to carry the full-time load needed to maintain their financial aid and health insurance. She is now enrolled in classes that do not meet her graduation requirements.
Morning Buzz: A politician hits the cot?
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Eliza Browning
AC360° Associate Producer
Do you have to be rich to get into politics? In our series this week looking at the cost of entry, we’re reporting on whether or not you have to be rich to make an entrée into politics. It’s common for many lawmakers to have multiple homes, numerous cars and deep pockets. But tonight, Randi Kaye reports on one person in Congress who challenges that assumption. Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz spent $45 on a cot for his office and that’s where he sleeps. He said he promised to vote like a fiscal conservative and he plans to live like one too. He says he saves his family $1500 a month by sleeping on the cot and he uses a shower two flights below him. So how is his frugal lifestyle playing out at the Capitol? Randi Kaye has more tonight.
Tonight we’re reporting on Dr. Bruce Ivins, the scientist who advised the federal government during the deadly anthrax case of 2001. But officials within the government believe Ivins may have actually been the man responsible for the attacks. Ivins committed suicide before he could be indicted. His former counselor talks exclusively to Joe Johns about Ivin’s deeply disturbed mental condition, giving shocking new insight into how dangerous he was and the dramatic decline that led to his death.
Video: Aftershocks cause panic
Karl Penhaul | BIO
CNN
Fear of a tsunami in Chile after a powerful aftershock hit Wednesday sent people running. CNN's Karl Penhaul reports.
Dear President Obama #409: It's the trust ... that's the problem
Reporter's Note: President Obama is pushing for final action on health care reform. I am pushing on with my next letter to the White House. My wife is pushing me to get up off the sofa and let the dog out.
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Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Dear Mr. President,
So finally you threw the gauntlet down! After all those months of debating, hand-wringing, proposals, counter proposals, hand-offs, punts, and passes, you are at long last calling for Congress to take action on the whole health care reform effort. Vote it up, or vote it down, but get it off the table!
Uh…at least it sounded that way. You’ll understand if I’m a wee tiny bit skeptical after the stands you took on this last summer, and again in the fall, and another time or two as well if I’m not mistaken. I won’t harp on it. I know sometimes things work out the way we plan, and sometimes not. But I’m also not entirely willing to bet my chicken coop that this is the drop dead decision time either. I guess we’ll both see, huh?
That said this whole business of things not necessarily going the way we expect, I think, is a fundamental reason why many of our fellow Americans have grown so shaky about this idea. Think about it: You’ve made the case over and over again about how this will not run up the deficit. You’ve talked endlessly about how health care costs are soaring and will keep doing so unless we change course. And yet polls show people growing more, not less, skeptical.
Video: Early voting begins in Iraq
Arwa Damon | BIO
CNN International Correspondent
CNN's Arwa Damon reports on early voting in Iraq, where some say they have been prevented from voting.
