Springfield

A trip by former Vice President Joe Biden to Springfield has been called off because of illness.

Biden had been scheduled to speak Thursday at the Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association brunch at a Springfield hotel, but the group's leader says Biden is under doctor's orders not to travel. Rock Island County party chairman Doug House says he's sure Biden will soon be back campaigning for Democrats in Illinois and elsewhere.

At Springfield High School, Ethan Doyle is an honors student, a member of the baseball team, the investment club, and an elite student group known as Superintendent’s Roundtable. But perhaps his most notable accomplishment came during the spring of his sophomore year, when he assassinated more of his classmates than anybody else.

"My mom didn’t really care but my dad, he was hyped up about it a little bit. He was excited,” Ethan says.

The Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum will debut a new exhibit detailing the 1908 Springfield Race Riots.

The exhibit will be unveiled Saturday evening as the 110th anniversary of the event approaches on Aug. 14-15, The State Journal-Register reported.

A planned visit to Springfield, Illinois, later this month by former Vice President Joe Biden, is proving to be a bigger attraction than expected.

Biden's visit on Aug. 16 is proving so popular that plans have changed to accommodate more people. He is keynoting the Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association brunch at a Springfield hotel. The brunch kicks off the Illinois State Fair's Democrat Day.

In response to a Florida massacre and the killing of a Chicago police officer, the Democrat-controlled Illinois House pushed through some gun control measures Wednesday, endorsing a bump-stock ban and a minimum age of 21 for buying assault-style weapons.

The House voted to prohibit the sale of bump stocks and "trigger cranks," which increase the firing rates of rifles, effectively making them assault-style weapons. Also approved was a bar on anyone younger than 21 buying assault-style weapons of the type used in the shooting deaths of 17 students in Parkland, Fla.

A bomb threat Monday led to the evacuation of the Illinois State Capitol building in Springfield, but the building was reopened after authorities concluded there was no danger.

Dave Drucker, a spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White, says the threat was phoned in about 2:30 p.m. Monday, and Secretary of State Police evacuated the Capitol in downtown Springfield.

Drucker says the department's bomb-sniffing dog was on the scene.

However, Capitol Police reopened the building about three hours later after no bomb was found.

More than 200 people rallied outside the state capitol building in Springfield over the weekend to show support for immigrants.

Standing in the shadow of the statehouse dome - right near a Lincoln statue - residents shared stories and support for people who have been living in the U.S. under the "Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" program, commonly referred to as DACA. The Trump administration has begun to phase it out.

Criticism is mounting over President Donald Trump’s decision to end a program protecting young, undocumented immigrants. The Catholic Dominican Sisters in Springfield recently added their voice to the crowd.

Sister Marcelline Koch said the religious group’s support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, is rooted in teachings about welcoming the stranger and treating people with dignity and respect.

Another Republican State Representative from northern Illinois has announced that he will not seek re-election in 2018.

Steven Andersson of Geneva was a leader of the GOP revolt that gave Illinois its first budget in more than two years. He cited an increasingly political and partisan atmosphere in Springfield.

Andersson issued a public statement Wednesday on Facebook.

Liberal Illinois lawmakers and citizens' groups celebrated International Women’s Day at the state Capitol.

The all-Democratic list of speakers didn’t shy away from politics. There were shots at the governor, and talk of a legislative platform focused on social services and health care access for women.

But Democratic state Senator Toi Hutchinson of Olympia Fields says there is respect for GOP women. She gave the example of Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, who launched the “grand bargain” negotiations.

A protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration order drew families from Springfield’s Muslim community.

It happened Monday at the Old State Capitol historic site.

11-year-old Aliya Hashmi says it’s her first ever protest; she thinks the president’s order targets people who have done nothing wrong.

“I don’t think it’s right, and it’s not really fair to innocent people who haven’t done anything against the Constitution, and Trump’s making a big deal about nothing, so,” Hashmi said.

Around  1,000 public safety officials are in Springfield this week for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency’s annual training summit.  

The event includes keynote speakers that dealt with the Orlando mass shooting and Flint water crisis.  Michigan Emergency Management Director Chris Kelenske stressed the importance of technology when responding to an emergency. 

The Springfield cemetery containing the grave of President Lincoln now has a monument to Purple Heart recipients.  

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

That quote, from Shakespeare's Henry V. is inscribed on the new granite monument.

It's also etched with a drawing of the medal -- a heart, emblazoned with a profile of George Washington, that hangs from a purple ribbon.

The Purple Heart is the military's oldest award, given to troops killed or wounded in combat.

  A group of people with disabilities came to Springfield Wednesday to call for Illinois to close most of its institutions for the developmentally disabled.  Advocates say closing six of the seven facilities would save the state hundreds of millions of dollars a year. 

But some people with disabilities may require the round-the-clock care that's given in the institutions. Barbara Pritchard of the Community for All Coalition says Illinois is far behind other states in offering community living options. 

A group that wants an independent panel to draw Illinois' legislative districts claims support from President Barack Obama.

Obama said politicians should not get to pick their voters in his Springfield speech this week.

He was speaking about federal elections, but the group Independent Maps says this rationale applies to the states.

Obama says politicians' enthusiasm for the idea often depends on whether their party has control of district boundaries.

State Senator Andy Manar has filed legislation that would allow Illinois to catch up on payments to the city of Springfield's utility.

The budget impasse has left the state with a mountain of debt.  

Manar represents a portion of Springfield. He says the state needs to take responsibility for its bills.  

"We owe them. We should pay them as a state government. The tax payers of Springfield shouldn't bear the burden of paying the state's bills for electricity,” Manar said.

The city of Springfield is pushing for the state of Illinois to pay its electric bill.

The state owes Springfield’s utility company about $10 million dollars. The city lights up a lot of state buildings.

But the budget impasse has left the state deeply in the red. Late notices have been sent to state accounts.

Springfield’s Mayor Jim Langfelder says he’s reluctant though to shut the power off.

“Well, the impact would be that people would be sent home," Langfelder said. "They wouldn’t be able to work in the dark or without heat.”

Illinois' unemployment insurance program will see some changes next year ... the result of something that's rare in Springfield these days as a budget stalemate persists: hard-fought negotiations giving way to a compromise.

Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration, labor, and business, all agreed on something: changes to the unemployment insurance program.

The measure awaiting the governor's signature would make it easier for businesses to prove worker misconduct.  That could decrease employer’s costs by exempting them from having to pay benefits.

Hundreds of candidates -- or their supporters -- stood in line Monday morning outside the State Board of Elections office in Springfield to turn in nominating petitions.

Anyone there before 8 a.m. could be listed first should they make it onto the primary ballot.

Theresa Mah is one of them. She's running for state representative in the second district, in Chicago.

Mah says that, when she knocked on voters' doors to get their signatures, most people were supportive. 

Others were concerned about the Illinois budget.

A candlelight vigil was held in Illinois's capital to honor police officers recently shot and killed on the job.

About 200 people gathered Saturday at the Illinois Police Officers Memorial. Organizers included a retired state police sergeant, Kim Hayes. She says one goal of the vigil was to emphasize officers are dedicated to protecting communities.

Rain didn't stop advocates for same-sex marriage, who rallied under umbrellas by the hundreds in front of the Illinois Capitol today. A measure to legalize same-sex marriage passed the state Senate earlier this year, but has stalled in the Illinois House.