UPDATE: AP:

One of the jurors at former Gov. George Ryan’s racketeering and fraud trial appealed to the judge to protect her from “shouting profanity and personal attacks'’ within the jury room, according to transcripts of meetings among lawyers that were unsealed Friday.

The complaint came in a March 20 note to Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer from juror Evelyn Ezell of Chicago who was later dismissed and replaced with an alternate juror for an unrelated reason.

“Do I have to accept being called derogatory names, shouting profanity and personal attacks?'’ Ezell said. “Can you please address this issue because this has been going on for the last couple of days.'’

Pallmeyer sent jurors a note directing them to “treat one another with dignity and respect'’ but one day later rejected a motion for a mistrial from Ryan’s attorneys, who said the note showed that Ezell was being coerced or intimidated into reaching a verdict.

Pallmeyer said there was no sign that Ezell would be intimidated.

The judge later dismissed Ezell from the jury after finding she had checked “no'’ on a jury questionnaire when asked if she had ever been involved in criminal proceedings. Court records showed she had brushes with the law although she had never been convicted.

· Here’s that Keith Olbermann bit I told you about this morning. (Video is here and Larry has more)

The reason prosecutors describe an official as an official A is when there‘s pejorative information about that person, and the person has not yet been indicted and had a chance to defend themselves. But we‘ve looked at prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald‘s record as far as designating people as official A or official B, and in every single case we have found, Keith, that prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, when he designates somebody as official A in an indictment, that person eventually does get indicted themselves.

· RRS: Topinka blames gov for ‘dysfunctional’ state

· Tribune: Guv’s `Straight Talk’ ad not quite straight

· Mike Lawrence: What lesson was George Ryan to draw when editorial writers and lawmakers of both parties applauded him for engineering a major infrastructure program predicated on revenue increases he pooh-poohed while campaigning?

· Whig: Questions about how to proceed with selecting a replacement for U.S. Rep. Lane Evans have been sent to the Illinois State Board of Elections and probably will be forwarded to the Illinois attorney general.

· Kadner: Daley wins as suburbs continue to squabble

· Mixing drinks — and history

· Beachwood Reporter: You get the feeling that the Chicago Tribune, which got the ball rolling when it discovered criminal cases in the backgrounds of two jurors in the George Ryan trial who were then dismissed, would now just like to see the whole mess go away.

· BGA react to Ryan verdict

· God Bless the Patriot Guard Riders

· Rep. Yarbrough introduces impeachment resolution

· Illinois’ Dirty Little Secret

UPDATES:

· AP: Walter Jacobson, a Chicago television news anchor, reporter and commentator for nearly 40 years, is leaving WFLD-TV, the station announced Friday. The 68-year-old Jacobson was the lead anchor at the Fox-owned station’s “Fox News at 9″ from 1993 until he was replaced in 2004 by Mark Suppelsa. Since then he has hosted a Sunday morning news and analysis program and has given commentaries on the 9 p.m. news show.

· Smashing Pumpkins back in studio

TIME-KILLER UPDATES:

· Bluetooth laser virtual keyboard. Wow.

· Perfect for old press releases (or new ones, for that matter).

· Beatles Catalog to be Offered on iTunes

· Todd? Is that you?