LOS ANGELES — No. 1 Georgia won the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship in record-setting fashion Monday night, overpowering No. 3 TCU in a gaudy 65-7 victory that marked the most dominant title-game performance in the sport’s history. The win, which featured the Bulldogs scoring the most points in any FBS national title game, makes Georgia the first back-to-back national champions of the CFP era and first at all since Alabama in 2011-12.

Here’s a link to the story.

(The Center Square) – Illinois state lawmakers are looking to give themselves a $12,000 raise with a bill that spends more than $1.7 billion of taxpayer money

Here’s a link to the story.

(The Center Square) – Arizona’s newly-independent U.S. senator and a senior Texas Republican plan to bring several of their colleagues to the southern border for a firsthand look at what she calls “Washington’s failure.”

Here’s a link to the story.

Drivers on Interstate 57 will be facing a detour next weekend as the Illinois Department of Transportation will close a portion of the highway to demolish a bridge south of Marion.

Here’s a link to the story.

Kevin McCarthy’s difficult road to becoming House speaker ended early Saturday morning after Republicans appeared to have miscounted the number of votes they needed and left him one vote short of winning the gavel, then quickly voted one last time to give him the win – with help from some of his biggest detractors.

Here’s a link to the story.

(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers are moving forward with a proposed ban on future sales of certain semi-automatic guns and magazines with more than 12 rounds.

Here’s a link to the story.

(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden said Thursday that he will visit the southern border Sunday. The announcement came in a speech on illegal immigration, where Biden promised more border security and pushed for increased legal immigration.

Here’s a link to the story.

(The Center Square) – Republican lawmakers remained divided Thursday, voting a seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th time for a Speaker of the House with no one getting the needed 218 votes to secure the spot.

Here’s a link to the story.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that he is “comfortable and confident” a state law ending cash bail that was set to take effect New Year’s Day is constitutional despite a court ruling to the contrary, but that supporters will “come back at it” if the lower court ruling stands.

Here’s a link to the story.

Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, in an interview aired Wednesday, is warning that the enormous migrant numbers being encountered at the southern border are “straining our system” as he again echoed administration calls for Congress to pass a sweeping immigration bill that includes an amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.

Here’s a link to the story.