* An Oscar pic to start your Sunday afternoon off right…

* Here’s your roundup…

* Sun-Times | State Senate should join House in banning assault weapons, high-capacity ammunition magazines: With the Senate now preparing to deliberate on this proposed legislation, Illinois has a clear opportunity to stand for gun safety and pass a statewide ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. If we do, we’d become the eighth and 10th states, respectively, in our nation to do so. Illinois can and must be next.

* Sun-Times | Assault rifle toll familiar to ER surgeons: “There’s very little funding that goes into gun violence prevention research,” [Dr. Arthur Berg] agreed. “In the ‘90s, there were so many motor vehicles accidents, they did a lot of research to prevent motor vehicle fatalities. They don’t do any of that for gun violence. There needs to be more funding for research. We don’t even know what laws work and what laws don’t work. States are all over the place. People don’t study it because there’s no funding for it.”

* NBC Chicago | Illinois Senate Set to Vote on Assault Weapons Ban Sunday. Here’s a Breakdown of the Bill: Individuals who already own weapons that fall under the “assault weapons” are required to note the serial number with their pre-owned weapons with the gun owner’s Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (FOID) card. This process must take place with the Illinois State Police within 300 days after final passage of the bill.

* Tribune | ‘Christmas in January for legislators’: Illinois House approves pay hikes for lawmakers, statewide elected officials, agency heads: The pay raises would boost the annual salary of rank-and-file lawmakers to $85,000 from the current rate of $72,906, a nearly 17% increase. The House approved the plan on a 63-35 vote without any Republican support.

* Tribune | Developer unveils video tour of ‘reimagined’ domed Soldier Field in ‘Hail Mary’ bid to keep Bears in Chicago: The six-minute video, voiced by former Chicago news anchor Bill Kurtis, is meant to gain traction for the proposed $2.2 billion renovation of Soldier Field as an alternative to building a new stadium in the northwest suburbs. Keeping the Bears at Soldier Field might also help the cause of One Central, a proposed $3.8 billion mixed-used entertainment and transit development Landmark is hoping to build above a 32-acre rail yard near the stadium and Museum Campus.

* Tribune | The toppling of Michael Madigan: How his reign as speaker ended and Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch’s emerged: As Welch begins his second term as speaker this week, the Tribune aimed to detail the hectic behind-the-scenes machinations two years ago that resulted in the end of Madigan’s 36-year reign as head of the House, the internal fights among House Democrats to pick his successor and the beginning of Welch’s tenure.

* Sun-Times | First lady M.K. Pritzker on husband Gov. J.B. Pritzker, interviewing incarcerated women, family: “Decades ago, I met an entire family of women serving time at Cook County Jail,” she says. “The grandmother was serving time for murder. Her daughter and granddaughter were in serious criminal muck. Prison was their home. It was a nightmare.” 

* Capitol News Service | Democrats push to further expand abortion, gender care access: Under legislation passed in the Illinois House late Thursday, insurance plans regulated by the state would be required to cover – at no cost to the patient – abortion medications typically used up to about 10 weeks of pregnancy, in addition to gender-affirming medications like hormones. The measure also requires the same coverage of medications aimed at preventing HIV infections like PrEP and PEP.

* WCIA | Township Assessor Faraci chosen to replace Bennett: The Democratic Party Chairs for Champaign and Vermilion chose Champaign Township Assessor Paul Faraci to replace the late Sen. Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) as Senator for the 52nd District in the 103rd General Assembly.

* AP | Lame-duck Illinois lawmakers vote themselves a 16% raise Lame-duck Illinois lawmakers vote themselves a 16% raise: It was the first increase since 2008. Since then, lawmakers have approved automatic cost of living adjustments, providing raises in 2021 and 2022, with the next one coming July 1, noted Rep. Mark Batinick, a Republican from the southwest Chicago suburb of Plainfield.

* Energy News Network | A decade after ‘EVTown,’ Rivian is making an Illinois city’s electric vehicle vision a reality: In 2011, Normal dubbed itself “EVTown” in a marketing effort to make the city an early destination for Mitsubishi’s all-electric i-MiEV subcompact. Located 130 miles southwest of Chicago, Normal was home to the automaker’s only North American plant. And while the company never built the i-MiEV in the U.S., it agreed to reserve 1,000 cars for customers in the city.

* Sun-Times | COVID relief fraud probe includes over 50 employees in Cook County Clerk of Court Iris Martinez’s office: More than 50 employees of Cook County Clerk of Court Iris Martinez are suspected of defrauding a federal program intended to help small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesman said Friday. The clerk’s inspector general is working with Cook County’s inspector general’s office, which is conducting a separate investigation of employees who work for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, according to Martinez spokesman James Murphy-Aguilú.

* WSIL | Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director to step down: Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Director Colleen Callahan will be resigning from the position on Monday, January 16.

* Shaw Local | Bill before Illinois Senate would make sex ed mandatory in public schools, but allow students to opt out: As amended, House Bill 5188 would require all public school districts to provide instructional content from the National Sex Education Standards but will allow for any individual student or their parent to opt out, Illinois State Board of Education spokeswoman Jackie Matthews said. The curriculum standards were set in Senate Bill 818, which was signed into law last year as the framework for public schools to adopt sexual education curriculum. That law allowed Illinois school districts to opt out, and many of them did.

* Lake County Journal | Democrats choose Hall to fill Bush’s seat in Senate temporarily: Gurnee resident Terry Hall was appointed to the Illinois Senate seat formerly held by Melinda Bush. Hall will build on the legacy Bush has left in the Senate as a champion of women’s reproductive rights, gun safety, criminal justice reform and so much more. 

* Shaw Local | Tom Bennett named Jason Barickman’s successor in Illinois senate: Bennett, who was re-elected to represent the 106th House District in November, was selected Saturday to succeed Jason Barickman in the 53rd Senate District, after Barickman resigned in December. The 53rd District now takes in southern La Salle County, southern Bureau County and a portion of Putnam County, including Streator.

* Shaw Local | House speaker Welch will join Joliet MLK event: Proceeds from the event will go to the Michael Austin Clark Upward and Onward Certification Scholarship created in honor of the late president of the Joliet chapter of the NAACP and used to help develop local entrepreneurs.

* The Telegraph | Costello optimistic for agriculture in 2023: “Illinois has always been — and will always be — an agricultural state. And this year, we continued to lay the groundwork for a thriving, sustainable agricultural industry for generations into the future,” said Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

* NYT | Once Told to Move to the Back of the Bus, Jesse White Became an Illinois Institution: Mr. White came through it all as perhaps the best-known and best-liked officeholder in Illinois. Looking back, he said his approach to governing exemplified a kinder, more flexible brand of politics that could be an antidote to today’s partisan rancor. “You cannot walk into a room and take all the marbles off the table — you have to leave some for someone else,” Mr. White, a Democrat, said at his office in downtown Chicago, where decades’ worth of plaques, photos and sports mementos lined the wall. “You have to figure out a way to reach a happy medium.”

* Tribune | Lightfoot, García make first appearances at mayoral candidate forum: For much of the forum, the candidates focused on the issues instead of attacking one another or dropped anecdotes about their personal ties to people with disabilities. Lightfoot, for instance, noted that her father was deaf. García highlighted his wife’s multiple sclerosis and grandchildren in special education.

* NBC Chicago | Chicago Mayoral Candidates Face Off at Forum Focusing On Issues Affecting the Disabled Community: The forum was organized Access Living of Chicago, an advocacy center dedicated to helping disabled individuals, and primarily focused on issues pertaining to the disabled community. Candidates addressed key issues affecting disabled Chicagoans, including housing and mental health services.

* Tribune | New York Post says Robert Crimo III, Highland Park shooting suspect, prank-called reporter on New Year’s Eve: Crimo III used the inmate telephone system to contact the reporter, who previously tried to reach Crimo III, around 7 p.m. on Dec. 31, Christopher Covelli, Lake County Deputy Chief, said in a statement. After the reporter accepted the call, the two exchanged quick hellos before Crimo III made a joke and hung up.

* AP | Damar Hamlin — still in critical condition — tweets thanks to well-wishers: Doctors described Damar Hamlin’s neurological function as “excellent” Saturday as the Buffalo Bills safety continued making progress in his recovery after having to be resuscitated on the field in a game Monday in Cincinnati.

* Tribune | Illinois knocks off No. 14 Wisconsin 79-69 for its 1st Big Ten win of the season: “That’s how good we can be,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “But you can’t get derailed with a distraction or something that goes awry. So you have to fight. We got to a point (recently) where we weren’t playing very hard, and that’s not our culture.”