* Here’s your morning roundup…

* Sun-Times | Illinois House approves assault weapons ban: After a lengthy debate that stretched into Friday, the House voted 64-43 to pass the measure that would also ban “rapid-fire devices” that turn firearms into fully automatic weapons. It must still clear the Illinois Senate.

* Illinois Newsroom | Applicants for Scott Bennett’s state Senate seat make their case at an online forum.: The applicants had already answered a questionnaire as part of the application process. At the forum, most of them said they wanted to emulate the qualities Bennett had shown as a legislator.

* NBC Chicago | The Illinois House Just Passed an Assault Weapons Ban Bill. Here’s What HB5855 Says, and What’s Next: “We know that this topic is contentious,” Emanuel “Chris” Welch, Speaker of the Illinois House said while introducing the bill Thursday. “We also may not all agree on the solutions being presented. But what we do know is that gun violence is impacting communities in every single corner of this state.”

* CBS Chicago | New report shows how many kids on DCFS radar died in last 18 months: Of the kids dying from abuse and neglect between July 2021 and June 2022, many died from natural causes. But 18 were homicides and 30 were accidents.

* Crain’s | Out-of-state providers could perform abortions in Illinois under proposed bill amendment: Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, is proposing to expand abortion access in Illinois through an amendment to a House bill that includes granting temporary licenses to out-of-state health care providers and protecting advanced nurses’ ability to perform abortions under certain circumstances.

* NBC Chicago | Arguments in SAFE-T Act Legal Battle to Take Place This Spring, Supreme Court Says: According to a court order issued Thursday, oral arguments in the case will be scheduled in March, but an exact date has not yet been set.

* News-Gazette | In Springfield, the new Sen. Bennett reflects: “Those are the four he mentioned. It’s just that those are the four he talked about,” Stacy Bennett said. “And that’s all I feel comfortable saying. Those are the four who repeatedly came up when we talked.”

* Tribune | Plan to house migrants at former Chicago school delayed amid community pushback; mayor says city is at ‘maximum capacity’: The Woodlawn residents said they opposed the transformation of the neighborhood’s shuttered Wadsworth Elementary School into temporary housing for migrants who have been bused to Chicago. The opponents argued their already-struggling community cannot take on another influx of those in need.

* Block Club | 10 Candidates Are Vying To Replace Retiring Ald. Harry Osterman. Here’s What 48th Ward Voters Should Know: If no candidate secures 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote earners will proceed to a runoff April 4. Osterman is leaving the post after first being elected in 2011. He is part of a wave of retirements on the City Council, leading to a historic number of open seats in the Feb. 28 election.

* Tribune | Waukegan’s planned casino development clears another hurdle; ‘This is a pretty significant real estate transaction’: Once the 75,000-square-foot temporary casino opens with 50 table games, 1,000 slot machines, a sportsbook where people can wager on their favorite team and a variety of dining opportunities, work will begin on the permanent 325,000-square-foot casino and resort with completion three years later.

* Block Club | 3 Marine Leadership Academy Teachers Abused Students — And Educators Covered It Up For Years, Watchdog Says: The report also found schools are misclassifying truant students and “extra pay” for school employees skyrocketed during the pandemic.

* Politico | Democrats’ big presidential primary changes are still stuck in limbo: Major changes, like dropping Iowa from its influential first-in-the-nation slot and elevating South Carolina, are on track. But others, like pushing Georgia up into the early window or forcing New Hampshire to relinquish its longtime status as the first state with a primary, look far more difficult to achieve despite the fanfare surrounding preliminary approval of the plan last year.

* The Atlantic | How Worried Should We Be About XBB.1.5?: After months and months of SARS-CoV-2 subvariant soup, one ingredient has emerged in the United States with a flavor pungent enough to overwhelm the rest: XBB.1.5, an Omicron offshoot that now accounts for an estimated 75 percent of cases in the Northeast. A crafty dodger of antibodies that is able to grip extra tightly onto the surface of our cells, XBB.1.5 is now officially the country’s fastest-spreading coronavirus subvariant.

* Sun-Times | Teachers union says Lightfoot pulls offer of 12 weeks of parental leave for CPS employees: The mayor last year gave 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all 32,000 city employees. Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates says the same offer was made to CPS teachers and staff, something the mayor’s office denies.

* Tribune | Amid House speaker vote, Chicago Democrats brought giant tubs of Garrett Popcorn, ‘the best of all the popcorn there is’: Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., brought their colleagues Garrett Popcorn for the first day of the 118th Congress on Tuesday to celebrate the new members of the House of Representatives, and as a way to spark joy in anticipation of the long hours ahead.