* Some preliminary data…

* To the roundup…

* Crain’s | Anatomy of a Springfield miracle: Labor, biz both win : It’s not often that the Illinois General Assembly—on the same day, nonetheless—passes separate pieces of major pro-business and pro-labor legislation. Yet, that’s exactly what happened in Springfield yesterday as lawmakers passed bills that finally could put Illinois in the game to lure big new manufacturing plants and guarantee paid-sick leave for millions of workers downstate and in Chicago suburbs outside of Cook County.

* Press Release | Statement by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Illinois Becoming Ninth State to Enact an Assault Weapons Ban: Illinois has now become the ninth state across America to pass an assault weapons ban and take bold action to keep weapons of war off America’s streets. Today, President Biden commends the leadership of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, House Speaker Chris Welch, Senate President Don Harmon, Representative Bob Morgan, and the numerous advocates, survivors, and elected officials whose tireless efforts turned the pain of Highland Park and other acts of gun violence into meaningful action on behalf of all Illinoisans.

* Journal Standard | Freeport-area sheriff’s office won’t enforce new assault weapon ban laws: “As the custodian of the jail and chief law enforcement official for Stephenson County, neither myself nor my office will be checking to ensure that lawful gun owners register their weapons with the state,” the sheriff said in a statement Wednesday.

* Fox 2 | Some Illinois sheriffs say they will not enforce the assault weapons ban: – LaSalle County Sheriff Adam C. Diss and Knox County Sheriff Jack C. Harlan, Jr. announced that they do not plan to enforce the newly enacted assault weapons ban, according to identical letters released Wednesday.

* Journal Star | City Council approves $90,000 payment to controversial Peoria police officer: The Peoria City Council voted on Tuesday to accept a deal offering a payment of just over $90,000 to police Officer Jeremy Layman in exchange for his resignation. Layman was initially fired in February 2018 for alleged violations of Peoria Police Department policy, including wearing a “Baby Daddy Removal Team” T-shirt and making disparaging comments about residents of Peoria’s predominantly Black South Side on social media.

* Block Club | Ald. Jim Gardiner Obsessed Over Facebook Comments, Launched ‘Terror Campaigns’ Against Critics, Former Staffer Testifies: Gardiner would ask his “fan boys” and supporters to reply to the negative comments to shut them down and harass people, King said. He even pulled old police records of a constituent who criticized him and had critic Pete Czosnyka‘s garden ticketed, King said. “At a certain point, if you are somebody who has something negative to say about Jim, you’re seeing all these small, little terror campaigns, you’re going to silence as a result,” King said. “You’re going to self-silence.” … The FBI, the Chicago Board of Ethics, the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office and the Office of the Inspector General have launched investigations into Gardiner’s conduct. He also faces multiple lawsuits and allegations he withheld ward services from critics, used foul language to describe women and other potential misconduct. 

* WBEZ | Feds Hit An Illinois Charter School Chain With A Big Fine: Concept Schools Inc. — which has four publicly-financed campuses in Chicago and dozens of other charter schools in the Midwest — allegedly engaged in a bid-rigging scheme to steer federally funded technology contracts to insiders.

* Bloomberg | Southwest Air hit hardest after FAA outage, adding to woes: The delayed trips amounted to about 46% of Southwest’s schedule, according to data as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time from tracking service FlightAware. American Airlines Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. each delayed about a third of their planned flights, while 29% of United Airlines Holdings Inc.’s schedule was affected.

* Sun-Times | Firefighters battling blaze at LaSalle chemical plant: Residents near a northern Illinois chemical plant were told to shelter in place Wednesday as firefighters responded to a fire that sent smoke plumes towering over the plant and prompted the plant’s evacuation.

* Sun-Times | Landmark status for historic West Side church is first step of many Chicago should take to preserve houses of worship: A city panel will vote Thursday on whether to grant preliminary landmark status to a historic West Side church — a move that’s good news to anyone concerned about the fate of Chicago’s architecturally-significant houses of worship. The Commission on Chicago Landmarks will decide if Greater Union Baptist Church, 1956 W. Warren Blvd., is worthy of the honor. The 137-year-old brick-and-terra cotta beauty by the noted architect William Le Baron Jenney should be a shoo-in.

* Inaugural snippets from the bird app…