Jurors heard about schemes involving alleged bribes and kickbacks. They learned sordid details about a star witness's drug and party binges. And they were told the governor's chief fundraiser was awarding jobs and contracts in exchange for campaign contributions.

Beginning Monday, the jury in the fraud trial former political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko will hear it all one last time, as government prosecutors and defense attorneys deliver closing arguments.

Then they must decide whether the government proved its case.

Prosecutors claim that Rezko, 52, schemed with attorney Stuart P. Levine to split a $1.5 million payoff from a contractor who wanted state permission to build a hospital in the McHenry County suburb of Crystal Lake.

Rezko also is charged with scheming with Levine to pressure kickbacks out of money management firms seeking to invest assets of the $40 billion fund that pays the pensions of retired downstate and suburban teachers.

Prosecutors claim that Rezko had so much clout with Gov. Rod Blagojevich that he could control the boards that decided such matters from behind the scenes, giving orders to some of the members.

Rezko, a Syrian-born Chicago real estate developer and fast-food entrepreneur, denies taking part in any such schemes.

Blagojevich has not been charged with wrongdoing, but the trial has badly smudged his political image.

Levine - a member of both of the boards - pleaded guilty and agreed to take the stand in exchange for a lenient 5 1/2-year sentence.

But Rezko's attorneys contend Levine is a liar and swindler who was using huge amounts of drugs that might have impaired his memory. They didn't call any witnesses in his defense because they said the government didn't make its case.

Levine is heard on numerous wiretapped telephone conversations recorded by the FBI. But Rezko's voice is only rarely heard on such calls.

The trial, which got under way March 3, has been closely watched because Rezko, a Chicago real estate developer and fast-food entrepreneur, has been a fundraiser for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

But the Illinois senator was rarely mentioned in testimony and no one has said the evidence suggested even the slightest wrongdoing on Obama's part.

The Ohio standoff between Gov. Ted Strickland and company against Attorney General Marc Dann ought to appear to followers of this year's contentious Democratic presidential primary as just more of the same.

In visits to three rural communities far east of Democrat-rich Portland, former President Bill Clinton touted his wife's economic, education, energy and health care policies and urged residents to support her in Oregon's upcoming primary, saying she remains Democrats' best hope for winning the fall election.

Dozens of students from the University of Chicago returned Sunday from a four-day multistate trek dubbed the world's largest scavenger hunt after trying to find Barack Obama's haircut and a car horn that plays "La Cucaracha," among other things.

The list of 269 items is outrageous and seemingly impossible.

Hillary Rodham Clinton toured the birthplace of Mother's Day in rural West Virginia, offering Democrats a subtle reminder Sunday that her fading candidacy remains strong among women and blue-collar, white voters.

Former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said Sunday that he thinks Barack Obama will be the party's presidential nominee and that Hillary Rodham Clinton must be careful not to damage the party's prospects in November as she continues her campaign.

President Bush spent months joking about being a father of the bride, but on Sunday he was downright wistful about giving his daughter Jenna away to her longtime beau.

President Bush spent months joking about being a father of the bride, but on Sunday he was downright wistful about giving his daughter Jenna away to her longtime beau.

In a rural Republican rodeo town, former President Bill Clinton touted his wife's economic, education, energy and health care policies and urged residents to support her in Oregon's upcoming primary, saying she remains Democrats' best hope for winning the fall election.