Sun Times

(WHEATON) In a legal first for the Chicago area, a DuPage County judge formally agreed Thursday to allow media cameras to record Johnny Borizov’s upcoming triple murder trial.
But to make the two cameras less obtrusive to jurors and witnesses, Judge Daniel Guerin ordered the removal of three light bulbs from the ceiling above the rear corner where the cameras will be located.
Without the lights, the cameras -- one video, one still -- will be virtually invisible in the back of the 140-seat Wheaton courtroom, Guerin said.
“I sat in the witness box and I couldn’t see the camera,” Guerin said during a final hearing on the issue.
The Illinois Supreme Court moved last year to allow broader media access to courtroom proceedings, including allowing cameras to record trials.
Several Illinois counties already have conducted trials that included video coverage, but Borizov’s will be the first such trial in the seven-county Chicago metro area.

Friday, April 19

11:30 – 4 PM  INBA Board Meeting   Cunningham Room

4 – 7 p.m.        Hotel Check-In and Registration

6 -   8:30          Opening Reception  Eastland Ballroom

Saturday, April 20

Here are the winners for the 2013 SINBA Awards. The winners will be honored at INBA Spring Convention in Urbana on April 20th. Congratulations to the winners. Even if you didn't place this year, please consider attending the INBA Conference to receive your judging sheets. The volunteer judges took considerable amounts of their own time to look over your entries and provided invaluable advice that will help you moving forward.

A Quick Guide to Guns

(Information from the Illinois State Police presentation to INBA on March 23, 2013 in Springfield, Illinois)

Guns- an overall term generic term for firearms. Another generic term is "weapons."  

 The INBA Board of Directors will hold a Special E-Meeting beginning this Friday, March 15, at 5:00pm. The purpose of this meeting will be to accept the resignation of Tamara Starks, and to hear nominations and vote on a replacement for that position.

If you have recommendations, or would like to serve, please e-mail President Jennifer Fuller at jennifer.fuller.wsiu@gmail.com

SINBA -- Students in the Illinois News Broadcasters Association Awards
2012 Entry Form

DEADLINE: All entries must RECEIVED by Friday, March 1 2013 at 5:00 p.m.

ENTRY FEE: $15 for paid SINBA members; $20 for non-members.

Proceeds beyond award costs go to the INBA's Scholarship Fund. Payments and entries must be submitted electronically. Instructions on how to submit payment are located further down the page. Entries must have been broadcast between March 9, 2012 and February 28, 2013.

Students may submit series reports, but they will be considered as one story. Entrants are not required to submit the maximum number of stories in a category. You can enter more than one category as long as the proper entry fee is submitted for each, and each entry is clearly marked on your YouTube/Vimeo page, or in the case of audio, each entry is in a separate, clearly marked e-mail to sinbaawards@gmail.com.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - The chief judge for six circuit courts in eastern Illinois says it could be a long time before those courts join others around the state now allowing cameras and recording equipment.

Sixth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Dan Flannell told The News-Gazette in Champaign (http://bit.ly/12hrjc8 ) this week that most of the judges in the district say they aren't yet ready to be part of a state pilot program. The circuit includes Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Macon, Moultrie and Piatt counties.

Flannell isn't opposed to joining the pilot program, but says he won't force it on other judges.

Flannell has set up a committee to monitor the program elsewhere and report back to him.

The Illinois Supreme Court last year OK'd the pilot program. More than two dozen counties have allowed courtroom cameras.

The agenda for the January 26th Board Meeting is now online. You can download it here.