LEWISTOWN - The staff at Dickson Mounds Museum will be on hand from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Sunday, March 4 to identify artifacts brought in by the public.

SPRINGIFELD — While waiting to hear if he had received the Republican nomination for the president of the United States at an office in downtown Springfield, Abraham Lincoln sat in a bentwood hickory chair, on May 18, 1860.

More than 151 years later, that chair is still in existence. It has had many owners since the 1860s and for the right price you could be its next owner.

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois State Library has unveiled a new service that allows patrons to obtain reference information from them via text messaging.

CHAMPAIGN — Using funds from a $3.5 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant, a seven-university consortium led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently established the National University Rail Center (NURail Center) that will focus on railroad education and research to improve railroad safety, efficiency and reliability.

By Kathy Casstevens-Jasiek

UTICA - This has been an unusual winter. Snow fell and then it disappeared quickly. Photo opportunities are out there, offering a chance to capture unique scenes of what many consider to be doldrums. You have to be ready.

SPRINGFIELD — For the first time ever, still pictures and limited video recording will be allowed in Illinois courtrooms.

SPRINGFIELD — In the middle of the winter heating season, the Illinois Commerce Commission has allowed Ameren Illinois to raise the natural gas rates of their customers in central and southern Illinois, influencing a consumer advocacy group to appeal their decision.

EUREKA – Eureka College has been named a military friendly school by G.I. Jobs magazine. The magazine annually identifies schools with effective programs to recruit and embrace America’s military service members and veterans as students, according to G.I. Jobs publisher Rich McCormack.

The 1,518 colleges, universities and trade schools on the 2012 list

Illinois continues to show steady recovery from its worst economic doldrums since the early 1980s, but the progress remains slow, according to a leading measure of the state’s economic activity.

The UI Flash Index climbed to 93.5 in September, up from 92.0 in August. 

SPRINGFIELD — Starting this spring, Illinois residents will be able to purchase lottery tickets in the comfort of their homes.

Mikhail Gorbachev, a Nobel Prize winner and last president of the Soviet Union, will appear in Elgin at Judson University's World Leader's Forum on April 21.

State Capitol Building, Springfield, Illinois.  Photo by News Bulletin staff.

 State may need to cut pension benefits for existing employees.

James D. Nowlan is a senior fellow in the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois and has been a participant in and observer of government and politics on many levels.