Meet Maya, the Asian side of Barack Obama's family

Maya Soetoro-Ng of Honolulu is the half sister of Barack Obama; (inset) Obama, 9, right, with his mother Ann Dunham, center, his Indonesian step-father Lolo Soetoro, and his sister Maya Soetoro in 1970. (AP files)

The throng of Asian-American donors drew closer, drinks in hand, to hear Barack Obama's sister describe the wide arc of his life: beyond politics and Chicago, into his childhood in Indonesia and Hawaii.


Girl, 11, shot in face, boy also hit




An 11-year-old girl was shot in the face Monday night at 131st and Rhodes in the Golden Gate neighborhood on the Far South Side after someone opened fire on a group of teens on their way home from a park. A 15-year-old boy, Anre Murphy, was shot in the foot.

Police officer shot near NW Side station

An on-duty Chicago police officer died early Wednesday after a woman took his gun and shot him near a Northwest Side police station. The woman was then shot and wounded by responding officers.

Five people, including four women, shot outside Bellwood house

Four women and one man were shot outside a Bellwood house Tuesday night.

Two stabbed at different CTA stations

Two men were stabbed at CTA train stations in separate incidents late Tuesday, police said.

Minimum wage rises to $7.75

Minimum-wage workers in Illinois are getting a 25-cent boost in pay, to $7.75 an hour.

Glitch in budget bill idles work statewide

 Nearly 40 statewide construction projects costing $30.6 million were idled Tuesday by what Gov. Blagojevich's administration called a "devastating" glitch in a budget bill sent to him this week.

Obama shows he can go right

Taking a page from President Bush, Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday he wants to expand White House efforts to steer dollars to religious groups, risking protests in his own party with his latest reach for Republican voters.