The Associated Press

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn wants to suspend about $1 billion in state income tax payments to cities and counties unless he gets legislative approval to borrow billions of dollars to pay overdue bills.

Quinn floated the plan in draft legislation he showed lawmakers earlier this week. It was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.

Good morning! Here are some of today's starting headlines:

Fed. judge gives corps OK to break Missouri levee

A federal judge is giving the go-ahead to the Army Corps of Engineers' plan to intentionally break a Mississippi River levee in southeastern Missouri.

The break could happen as early as this weekend to spare a flood-threatened Illinois town just upriver. Friday's ruling in Cape Girardeau turns back Missouri's bid to block the corps from blasting a hole in the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County, just south of Cairo, Ill.

The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi says that two American makers of fighter jets are out of the running for a multibillion dollar contract for the Indian air force.

The defense arm of one of the two American companies, Boeing Co., is based in St. Louis.

Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin were both bidding for a slice of the $11 billion Indian deal for 126 fighter jets.

A statement from U.S. Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer says that the news from India's Defense Ministry was "deeply disappointing."

The Missouri Senate has passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would alter term limits for state lawmakers.

Currently, House and Senate members can serve no more than eight years in their respective chambers, although they can switch chambers and serve another eight years across the Rotunda.

Army Corps of Engineers to Decide on Levee Breach this Weekend

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will wait until this weekend to decide whether to punch a massive hole in a Mississippi County, Missouri levee to protect Cairo, Ill.

The mayor of the small city isn't waiting that long to take action.