Southeast High School has had a lot to celebrate this year, and the Springfield City Council took notice. First, Wynton Gage was honored for his poetry reading. Wynton will soon attend the national Poetry Out Loud contest in Washington DC. After being recognized by the Mayor, he performed Emily Brontë’s “Often rebuked, yet always back returning.” You can watch it below.

The Southeast Basketball team was also celebrated. They made it all the way to the state final; the furthest the team has ever gone. Their season ended 26-4.

Other city business handled tonight was the TIFF district on Lumber Lane. Alderman McMenamin raised the issue of supporting a new business with TIFF support when that new business would compete with existing businesses in Springfield. Alderwoman Turner answered saying that the new business would actually be located within the city limits, while the competitors had fought to stay outside the city legally but not geographically. That vote passed 10-0.

Allen Reyne was formally appointed to the position of Fire Chief of the Springfield Fire Department. Alderman Theilen discussed amending either the language or the interpretation of the dog barking ordinance, due to complaints about noise. He also said that he was aware of the issues withe Chatham Road, and that it was being worked on.

Plans to add a tourism office on the Old State Capitol Plaza were also discussed. This office would be shared with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which manages many Lincoln sites. It is thought that by having the office located more centrally, it will be better able to serve tourists.

In other Lincoln news, the fate of Lincoln’s internment document. This is the original handwritten document detailing Lincoln’s placement in his tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery. The city owns this document. The presidential library was seen as the best place to protect the artifact, Alderman Theilen wanted to ensure the city did not lose de facto ownership of the item.

A coalition of pro-Second Amendment groups rallied at the capitol Saturday afternoon. Despite the rain, more than 100 people attended the rally organized by the National Constitutional Coalition of Patriotic Americans (NCCPA). The Springfield rally was part of a nationwide event protesting recently proposed gun control legislation.

Tom Shafer and Corey Proctor spoke about three bills in particular that are especially worrying for gun owners, HB 1664, HB 1465, and HB 1469. HB 1664 would allow police to seize  an individual’s guns based on an anonymous tip that the gun owner was a threat to themselves or others. Shafer described this as not only an attack on the Second Amendment, but also a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment which protects against unreasonable search and seizures. He laid out several cases where such a system could be easily abused by individuals with a grudge against a gun owner.

Other individuals from around the state spoke about their personal reasons for supporting gun rights and the Second Amendment. The need for self defense against random crime was a common theme, but the threat from a tyrannical government was also mentioned frequently. The Holodomor famines in the Soviet Union were mentioned, and Larry Williams from Peoria discussed examples far closer to home. You can watch his speech on the fate of Native Americans below:

The NCCPA event was the smaller of the two pro-Second Amendment rallies planned this week. In addition to the weather, Shafer blamed scaremongering in the local media for the lower turnout. He told me there was never any plan for open carry at this event, and no one did. The Illinois State Rifle Association’s (ISRA) Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (IGOLD) will be held at the Bank of Springfield Center this coming Wednesday, April 25th. Several thousand people are expected to attend IGOLD.