Peterson trial continues:

Secret recordings between Drew Peterson and an inmate he’s accused of trying to enlist to help kill a prosecutor show that the former suburban Chicago police officer discussed selling drugs in Mexico if he gets out of prison. Jurors in Peterson’s murder-for-hire trial in southern Illinois on Tuesday heard him boast to prison informant Antonio Smith about an acquaintance with “cartel connections,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Peterson, 62, is currently serving a 38-year-sentence. If convicted of trying to arrange the killing of Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, he could be sentenced to another 60 years in prison. Smith testified Monday that Peterson, who was convicted of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, had referred to his missing fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, as a “dead woman” and said he killed her. But in the recordings played in court Tuesday, the former Bolingbrook police sergeant can be heard telling Smith that Stacy Peterson is “still alive, running around out there.” Peterson has pleaded not guilty to trying to arrange the killing of Glasgow, who helped convict him in 2012 of killing Savio eight years earlier.

ATV crash kills teen:

A teenager died after an ATV crash Sunday night in Crystal Lake, according to the McHenry County coroner’s office. Officials said an autopsy Tuesday found the boy died of compressional asphyxia, or loss of oxygen from inability to breathe due to compression of the chest by the ATV. The boy’s name and exact age haven’t been released. Police say that ATV crashed in a field around 7 p.m. Crystal Lake police are investigating.

Lucas Museum hires official:

Former U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan has been named to the board of directors for the museum that “Star Wars” director George Lucas hopes to build along Chicago’s lakefront. Duncan’s appointment will begin June 1. Duncan was in charge of Chicago Public Schools from 2001 to 2009. The Chicago Tribune reports Duncan also worked at Ariel Investments where Lucas’ wife, Mellody Hobson, is president. Lucas said he’s “honored” Duncan will work with the museum, calling Duncan “well-suited for the museum’s educational and cultural mission.” The plan to build the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts along Chicago’s Lake Michigan waterfront is on hold due to a parks group’s lawsuit. In the meantime a San Francisco officials have said they’re talking with Lucas about locating the museum there.

Law for juveniles may change:

A lawyer would have to be present when police question juveniles younger than 15 in murder or sex offense investigations under a measure Illinois lawmakers are considering that seeks to eliminate false confessions. Illinois currently mandates legal representation for children younger than 13 in those cases, even if they’re not the targets of the criminal probe. However, the two Democratic legislators sponsoring the new bill say 14- and 15-year-olds should receive legal protection, too. Juvenile interrogations were a focus of the Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer,” which showed Brendan Dassey, without a lawyer present, confessing to police about his involvement in the 2005 slaying of a woman whose remains were found near his uncle Steven Avery’s trailer.

Wrongful-death settlement:

Court documents show that relatives of a 95-year-old World War II veteran who was killed by a suburban Chicago police officer have agreed to settle their wrongful-death lawsuit. Park Forest Police Officer Craig Taylor was dispatched to the assisted-living facility where John Wrana Jr. lived in July 2013 after a staff member reported the man had become combative. Wrana was shot five times with a beanbag gun before he dropped the knife he was wielding. He died hours later. Wrana’s stepdaughter filed a $5 million wrongful-death lawsuit in June 2014. Taylor was acquitted in Wrana’s death in February 2015.

Lawmaker, U of I spar over animals:

A bill that would’ve required universities in Illinois to offer healthy cats and dogs to rescue organizations after animal testing has provoked a dispute between its Democratic sponsor and the University of Illinois. The Chicago Tribune reports that the legislation from state Sen. Linda Holmes of Aurora has stalled after the university said it already has adoption procedures in place. Now she wants universities to make their animal research protocols public. Holmes argues that the University of Illinois doesn’t support the measure because it has a vendetta against an animal rights group that has promoted the bill and it doesn’t want a spotlight shone on animal testing at its facilities. University of Illinois officials deny any mistreatment of the school’s research animals.