Author: chicagoinquirer

by John O’Connor SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  — A ban on dozens of semiautomatic weapons, a top campaign promise of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, won Illinois House approval early Friday. The House voted 64-43 to outlaw .50-caliber guns and cartridges, not defining the term semiautomatic but listing specific types or brands of 20 pistols and five dozen rifles. Leading negotiations on the issue was Rep. Bob Morgan, a Deerfield Democrat who attended the July 4th parade in the Chicago Suburb of Highland Park where a gunman killed seven and injured 30. Pritzker made such a ban a main point of his reelection bid…

Download AssetsCopy StoryMore OptionsClose DES MOINES, Iowa  — Another Mega Millions drawing, another night without a big winner. No one hit all six numbers and won the estimated $940 million jackpot, pushing the lottery prize to an estimated $1.1 billion ahead of the next drawing Tuesday night. The prize is now the third-largest in U.S. history. The numbers drawn late Friday were: 3, 20, 46, 59, 63 and gold Mega Ball 13. There have been 24 drawings without a jackpot winner, stretching back for more than two months. The winless streak is largely due to the game’s long odds of…

by Lisa Mascaro and Farnoush Amiri WASHINGTON  — Republican Kevin McCarthy was elected House speaker on a historic post-midnight 15th ballot early Saturday, overcoming holdouts from his own ranks and floor tensions boiling over after a chaotic week that tested the new GOP majority’s ability to govern. After four days of grueling ballots, McCarthy flipped more than a dozen conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus, leaving him just a few shy of seizing the gavel for the new Congress. As the House resumed for the late night session McCarthy had been on the…

by Lisa Mascaro and Farnoush Amiri WASHINGTON  — Republican leader Kevin McCarthyflipped 15 colleagues to supporters in dramatic votes for House speaker on Friday, making extraordinary gains on the fourth day and the 12th and 13th ballots of a historic standoff that has tested American democracy and the GOP majority’s ability to govern. The switched votes from conservative holdouts, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus, put McCarthy closer to seizing the gavel for the new Congress — but not yet able. Republicans voted to adjourn until 10 p.m. to try again. “I believe at that time we’ll have…

by Lolita C. Baldor and Mathew Lee WASHINGTON  — The U.S. will send Ukraine nearly $3 billion in military aid, in a massive new package that will for the first time include several dozen Bradley fighting vehicles, U.S. officials said Thursday, in the Biden administration’s latest step to send increasingly lethal and powerful weapons to help Ukraine beat back Russian forces. European allies also stepped up their weapons commitments. Germany announced it will provide armored personnel carriers and a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, and France said it will soon hold talks to arrange for the delivery of armored combat…

by John Wawrow and Carolyn Thompson ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has begun to communicate in writing with his family and others who have been at his bedside since he went into cardiac arrest three days ago — and his first question was, “Did we win?” his doctors said Thursday. “The answer is yes, Damar, you won. You’ve won the game of life.” Dr. Timothy Pritts told reporters in a conference call from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Hamlin was rushed after collapsing and being resuscitated on the field during the Bills’ game against…

by Lisa Mascaro and Frnoush Amiri WASHINGTON  — For a long and frustrating third day, divided Republicans kept the speaker’s chair of the U.S. House sitting empty Thursday, as party leader Kevin McCarthy failed again and again in an excruciating string of ballots to win enough GOP votes to seize the chamber’s gavel. Pressure was building as McCarthy lost seventh, eighth and then historic ninth, 10th and 11th rounds of voting, surpassing the number 100 years ago, in a prolonged fight to choose a speaker in a disputed election. By nightfall, despite raucous protests from Democrats, Republicans voted to adjourn…

by Andrew Seligman LAKE FOREST, Ill.  — Justin Fields won’t get a chance to break the single-season rushing record for an NFL quarterback. Fields will miss the season finale against the Minnesota Vikings because of a strained hip and Nathan Peterman will start in his place, coach Matt Eberflus said Wednesday. Fields finishes his second season with 1,143 yards rushing, 63 shy of the record of 1,206 set by Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson in 2019 during his MVP season. He was one of the few bright spots in a tough first season for Chicago under Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles.…

by Lisa Mascaro and Farnoush Amiri WASHINGTON  — House Republicans flailed through a long second day of fruitless balloting Wednesday, unable to either elect their leader Kevin McCarthy as House speaker or come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority. Yet McCarthy wasn’t giving up, even after the fourth, fifth and sixth ballots produced no better outcome and he was left trying to call off a night-time session. Even that was controversial, as the House voted 216-214 — amid shouting and crowding —to adjourn for the night. “No…

by Seung Min Kim WASHINGTON  — President Joe Biden’s visit to a notoriously dilapidated bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky is a chance for him to showcase accomplishments and talk up the virtues of bipartisanship while rubbing shoulders with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. The trip on Wednesday is also about cold, hard cash. “It’s a giant bridge, man,” Biden said this week when asked about his planned trip to the Brent Spence Bridge. “It’s a lot of money. It’s important.” Indeed, the nearly $1 trillion that Biden’s administration is doling out for roads and bridges, broadband networks and water projects…