News

Reporting from Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky used in this report.

Governor Pat Quinn sent a message Tuesday asking lawmakers to reject a plan that would allow concealed carrying of firearms.  But an Illinois House committee ignored Quinn and advanced the measure.   It could be called for a floor vote this week.

Quinn says he doesn't want residents carrying loaded guns.

Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich says he’s issuing a subpoena to the Finance Division of the State Department of Insurance, in order to force them to release records on banks, savings and loans, and other financial institutions across the state.

Finance Division officials have so far refused to release documents on their reviews of financial institutions, saying that state law bars them from doing so.  But Schweich says the records are needed to see if banking regulators are doing their jobs properly.

Representatives Russ Carnahan and William Lacy Clay were among the government officials with sharp criticism today for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Carnahan and Ohio Republican Michael Turner, who represents the Dayton area, pushed for the House Veterans Affairs Commitee hearing to address concerns about the cleanliness of instruments at VA hospitals.

Illinois senators have rejected a plan to streamline government across the state.

The plan would have established a commission to recommend which units of government to eliminate. Then lawmakers would have voted to accept or reject the recommendation.

Only 14 senators supported the idea Tuesday. Thirty voted "no."

Updated 1:23 p.m. May 3 with information about lawsuit:

Via the Associated Press:

A group of 25 southeast Missouri farmers is suing the federal government over its decision to blow a hole in a levee, causing their farmland and houses to flood.

Cape Girardeau attorney J. Michael Ponder filed the lawsuit Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers detonated explosives on the Birds Point levee to ease pressure from the swelling Mississippi River.