Jury selection in the retrial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is entering the home stretch after dragging on for longer than expected.

Thursday should be the last day of questioning of would-be jurors by U.S. District Judge James Zagel. He told attorneys Wednesday that opening arguments would take place Monday.

After a week of jury selection, 42 people are in the pool of potential jurors. Zagel says he only needs a few more before picking the final 12 jurors and six alternates.

One person the judge agreed to dismiss was a woman who had tickets to "The Oprah Winfrey Show." She had worried jury duty would force her to miss it.

Another person bumped was a school teacher who the judge said displayed "terrible grammar" in his questionnaire.