WSIU News Morning Update February 13, 2026 in Carbondale, IL

I'm Leah Lerner reporting WSIU News. Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said he is trying to sound the alarm on the Trump administration's threats to election integrity. In a speech on the Senate floor, Dick Durbin said President Trump wants voter rolls from individual states to push unwarranted purges and disenfranchise voters, especially voters who aren't likely to support him in the next election. In fact, he said the Justice Department has now sued dozens of states for their voter roles. This is textbook authoritarianism, vintage fascism, and I fear the President of the United States is working to rig the system to ensure that Republicans never lose another election. Dick Durbin said he and the American people will do everything in their power to save the democracy from a president who the Illinois Democrat said has such disdain for the Constitution and democracy. Illinois has introduced a passport to help people explore the state's history ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary. The limited edition Travel Guide was launched Wednesday at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield. It features a list of close to 60 locations statewide that show Illinois' path through the centuries, from the Cahokia Mounds to the Obama Presidential Center. Gabrielle Lyon is the chair of the Illinois America 250 Commission. She says the passport will also help shine a light on Illinois' civil rights movements and underrepresented stories. I hope that as you look through this passport, as you travel to these places, as you encourage other people to do that, the part of what happens is that these stories are uplifted. Passports are free and currently available through Illinois America 250's website. With Valentine's Day tomorrow, the Better Business Bureau recommends looking out for romance scams when dating online as AI tools and cryptocurrency are lending new dimensions to old scams. In the years since generative AI has become commonly available, scammers have been using it to tailor-fake romantic conversations. Text generated by AI eliminates traditional giveaways like misspelled words and poor grammar. And scammers can use automated AI chatbots to talk to more. people and identify potential targets. You could read more on this on our website, WSIU.org.