Illinois Wrestles With Eminent Domain

"One day at the age of 82, Irene Angell received an unexpected letter. The city of Des Plaines needed her home and planned to use eminent domain to force her to sell it.

Angell lived in the home for more than 80 years. Before that, it was her father's home, and before that it was her grandfather's home.

And now, it's a Walgreens.

Opting to trade in Angell's home for a retailer with jobs and more tax revenues, Des Plaines invoked a power that local governments have used more than 250 times over the past five years for economic development, a Tribune review of court records shows.

...Municipal officials say this is nothing new and the current system should not be changed. Chicago area communities have used eminent domain in this way for decades to dream up new plans, they say."