There's lots going on in Springfield this week, and Tom Kacich is there covering the local angles. Look for his reports online and in the pages of The News-Gazette.

Today he'll be watching a House committees discuss another concealed carry bill (the House Agriculture Committee approved a different bill last week) and a student voting bill like the one sponsored by Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign, that passed out of the Senate  Elections Committee last week.

Wednesday promises to be even busier with Gov. Quinn's budget speech around noon and lots of committee action including a last chance for the four-day school week proposal by Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, and deliberations on a Danville casino license, video-gaming opt-out, elected University of Illinois trustees and General Assembly Scholarships.

Kacich will be back to cover the Champaign County Board tonight hearing tonight on reducing the size of the county board and/or single member districts.

In Wednesday's paper, Lynda Zimmer writes in her Kitchen Chat column that Irish cooks are smiling this week along with some recipes to show why. She also continues her series about food allergies with a look at people whose lives are complicated by multiple intolerances.

In Sports, we'll have reports in tomorrow morning's paper from two huge prep basketball games tonight. Champaign Centennial and Mahomet-Seymour clash in a 3A sectional game at Centennial, while Salt Fork seeks a trip to state in 1A playing against Peoria Heights in the super-sectional at Illinois State University in Normal.

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