Hearing planned on moving Gitmo prisoners to Ill.

STERLING, Ill. (AP) - Foes and proponents of a plan to bring alleged terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Illinois are converging on a high school auditorium for the state's first public hearing on the issue.

Both sides plan rallies before the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability convenes the hearing Tuesday in the small northwest Illinois community of Sterling.

Some 50 people are scheduled to testify before the state legislative panel about Gov. Pat Quinn's push to sell the Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government to house detainees. The White House also backs the plan.

The 12-member commission could vote Tuesday evening on a recommendation to sell Thomson. Even if they oppose it, the recommendation isn't binding on the governor.