The future of military style firearms in Illinois – Chicago Tribune

By Mitzi Trainor Last updated Jan 11, 2023

Good morning, Chicago.

gov. JB Pritzker signed into law Tuesday night a comprehensive measure that supporters called one of the nation’s toughest bans on military style firearms, immediately prohibiting their sale and giving current owners until Jan. 1 to register gun serial numbers with Illinois State Police.

Pritzker signed the bill just hours after House Democrats led final passage of the measure on a 68-41 vote, and a day after Senate Democrats approved it 34-20. Pritzker and legislators acted amid warnings from most Republicans and gun-rights advocates that the new law was unconstitutional and would face a legal challenge.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Rick Pearson and Jeremy Gorner.

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.

Four charged in the ComEd bribery scheme are, from left, consultant Jay Doherty, lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, retired lobbyist Michael McClain and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore. (Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune)

Two months ahead of trial, federal prosecutors late Tuesday revealed new details of wiretapped conversations and other evidence they intended to use against four people accused in an alleged bribery scheme between Commonwealth Edison and then-House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on March 6, promises to be the biggest political corruption trial at the Dirksen US Courthouse since ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted by a jury in 2011.

A person walks on a platform as the doors close on a Metra Heritage Corridor train ready to depart Union Station in Chicago for Joliet, Dec. 7, 2022. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Metra announced new GPS technology that lets customers see where their trains are and when the trains will reach the station, and the Chicago Transit Authority announced changes to its bus tracking system to create more reliable service for commuters.

The Metra GPS technology was slated to start Tuesday at Metratracker.com, a new real-time train tracking website that officials said will make it easier to view schedules and plan a trip.

Zari, a 4-year-old lioness at the Lincoln Park Zoo, gave birth to three cubs on the evening of Jan. 9, 2023. (Lincoln Park Zoo photo / HANDOUT)

During approximately five hours of labor, Lincoln Park Zoo’s 4-year-old female African lion Zari gave birth to three lion cubs Monday evening at the Pepper Family Wildlife Center.

At 5:02 pm, the first cub arrived. The second cub made its way into the world at 8:37 p.m. Shortly before 10 p.m., the last cub was born. All the while, their mother behaved like “a rock star,” according to zoo staff.

Park Ridge native Christopher Petersen has built a 1:8 model of the iconic Pickwick Theatre. (Courtesy of Christopher Petersen / Pioneer Press)

Christopher Petersen often describes what he does as “building memories.” He has captured pieces of Park Ridge as he and other residents remember it in a series of scale models.

He built a scale replica of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s childhood home on the 200 block of North Wisner Street, which he built for Clinton’s visit to Park Ridge in 2019 and donated to the Park Ridge Historical Society.

Bears quarterback Justin Fields walks off the field after a 29-13 loss to the Vikings at Soldier Field on Jan. 8, 2023.
(John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

When Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields recapped his season with reporters, he was asked about taking ownership of the team.

“I feel like it’s already mine,” he responded, noting how his teammates know what he wants to accomplish in Chicago and how hard he will work to get there.

A young boy (Lucas Paul) sense a paranormal presence in his home in “Skinamarink.” (IFC Films/Shudder)

The creepiest moments in the horror genre often come down to a single question provoked by slowly dawning terror; a certain degree, strategic or otherwise, of visual frustration; or a bit of both. Wait. What am I seeing here? That is the question.

With the Canadian nano-budget paranormal film “Skinamarink,” opening tomorrow night in theaters and streaming later this year on Shudder, the answer’s a bit of both, and the movie’s casting a spell more than it’s causing a lot of screams, writes Michael Phillips .