(WSIL) — Illinois lawmakers kicked off hearings Monday on a wide-ranging gun bill that would ban assault weapons and raise the age for buying a firearm.

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CNN — Donald Trump is facing a flurry of criticism on Capitol Hill, with Republican fury growing over their failure to take back the Senate and GOP leaders at odds over their strategy with the former president still maintaining a dominant hold on the party.

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Several elected Democrats — despite a great deal of success in the 2022 midterm cycle — have chosen to end their affiliation with the Democratic Party in recent weeks, raising concern over whether the party may be suffering from a retention problem as political divides continue to widen in the United States.

Here’s a link to the story at Fox News.

Wintry scenes were underway on both coasts on Sunday, with feet of snow for the mountains in the West. According to AccuWeather forecasters, the uptick in winter weather is only just getting underway, with over a foot of snow, strong winds and blizzard conditions expected for many in the northern Plains to start this week.

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“No thanks!”

That’s how majorities of the public responded when the CNBC All-America Economic Survey asked if President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump should run again for president.

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Coronavirus-related hospital admissions are climbing again in the United States, with older adults a growing share of U.S. deaths and less than half of nursing home residents up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations.

Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.

More than a hundred grassroots activists, defeated candidates and party loyalists descended on a meeting of the Illinois Republican Party’s top leaders on Saturday, voicing frustration over last month’s election results that extended the state’s one-party Democratic governance.

Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.

A federal appeals court on Friday permanently blocked the Biden administration from requiring religious doctors and hospitals to perform transgender medical services that violate their conscience, becoming the second court to do so.

Here’s a link to the story at Fox News.

EDWARDSVILLE — For six area families, Saturday marks the first anniversary of the day they lost loved ones when an EF-3 tornado struck an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville.

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MARION — When plans were being made to exchange Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner, negotiations were taking place far from Southern Illinois. But to get the trade accomplished, Bout’s journey would begin in Marion.

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