By Doug Cunningham

Registered nurses from Chicago and across Cook County will hold a candlelight vigil Thursday to protest what union nurses say are devastating cuts in the county health care budget. County commissioners plan to cut health care 17 percent across the board. The National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association represents nurses working for the Cook County Bureau of Health. The union says the big budget cut will cause more deaths and more stress on the county's already strained health care system.