Stories by Amanda Vinicky

Applause broke out Monday morning as Illinois delegates got word during their meeting at the Republican National Convention that a judge dismissed the federal classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.

Even with conventions choreographed down to tiny details, the unexpected can still happen. Here’s a look at the floor fights, street battles and other memorable convention scenes that were uplifting, outlandish or just plain awkward.

Illinoisans in Wisconsin for their first Republican National Convention say they’re excited about the week ahead and motivated by their passion to see former President Donald Trump reclaim the White House.

“God spared our great leader Donald J. Trump,” said U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Springfield), kicking off the breakfast. “The darker it gets the brighter we can shine.”

The decision, which can be appealed and may be overruled by a higher court, brings at least for now a stunning and abrupt conclusion to a criminal case that at the time it was filed was widely regarded as the most perilous of all the legal threats the Republican former president confronted.

The 3.4 magnitude tremor struck just before 3 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The convention’s first day is still expected to focus on the economy even after Saturday’s shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania in which the former president was injured.

Illinois might be a solidly blue state when it comes to presidential elections, but the Land of Lincoln still has plenty of big-money donors backing conservative candidates and causes. With the Republican National Convention upon us, here’s a look at the Illinoisans who have been spending big so far in this political cycle.

“There is no place in America for this kind of violence — for any violence. Ever. Period. No exception. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized,” President Joe Biden said.

The FBI early Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as it pressed its investigation. An FBI official said investigators had not yet determined a motive.

Investigators were working Sunday to gather more information about Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who they say opened fire from a rooftop outside the rally venue in Butler before he was killed by Secret Service.

President Joe Biden said Sunday he has directed US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle “to review all security measures — all security measures — for the Republican National Convention.”

At least one attendee was dead and two spectators were critically injured, authorities said. The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter — who it said attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, a farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania — and that Trump was safe.

Before Saturday’s apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, there have been multiple instances of political violence targeting U.S. presidents, former presidents and major party presidential candidates.

Donald Trump’s campaign says he is “fine” after what law enforcement officials are treating as an apparent assassination attempt during a rally. Illinois officials reacted to the news. 

President Joe Biden said he is grateful former President Donald Trump is safe after a shooting at his rally in Pennsylvania. Speaking from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, about two hours after the shooting, Biden said, “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence.”

At 6:02 pm Saturday, to the strains of “God Bless the U.S.A.,” former President Donald Trump took the stage at fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, waving at the cheering crowd and settling into his regular rally speech under a scorching midsummer sun. A few short minutes later, the shots rang out. 

“Last Comiskey” is a book-length valentine for a place once called the “Baseball Palace of the World.” An affectionate account of the last season at Comiskey Park, the book also recalls monumental moments from the 1970s and ‘80s.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the diminutive sex therapist who became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics, has died. She was 96.

For all the usual stagecraft, the Republican National Convention that opens Monday is different from Donald Trump’s previous nominating affairs.

Less than two weeks after celebrating the hatching of four endangered piping plover chicks at Montrose Beach, Chicago is mourning the loss of two of the little ones.

The swim had been planned for Sept. 22, billed as the first such event in nearly 100 years.

President Joe Biden attempts to save his campaign. And heading into the Republican National Convention, the state GOP names a new chair.

Bird-friendly window film is being installed on the convention center’s approximately two football fields’ worth of glass. Work on the $1.2 million project began in early June and is expected to take approximately three months.

Attorney Kathy Salvi ran unsuccessfully against incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth in 2022. Salvi assumes the post July 19, the day after the Republican National Convention wraps in Milwaukee.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago charged the hospital’s former chief financial officer Anosh Ahmed, its chief transformation officer Heather Bergdahl and the medical supply company owner Sameer Suhail with multiple counts of wire fraud in connection with the alleged scheme.