NATIONAL BRIEFS

ILLINOIS: Gun control advocate wins

Former Illinois legislator Robin Kelly won the Democratic primary Tuesday to replace disgraced former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. She will face the winner of the Republican primary in an April 9 special election in the heavily Democratic 2nd Congressional District in the Chicago area. Kelly is a supporter of gun control and her campaign benefited from a $2 million ad funded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super PAC. The ads targeted one of her two opponents, former Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson, for her position on guns. Jackson resigned in November and has pleaded guilty to spending about $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.

NEW JERSEY: Internet gambling OKd

Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill Tuesday legalizing Internet gambling, hours after the state legislature passed a revised bill that made the changes he wanted. They included setting a 10-year trial period for online betting, and raising the taxes on the Atlantic City casinos' online winnings from 10 to 15 percent. New Jersey became the third state to legalize gambling over the Internet. Meanwhile, Christie said New Jersey will extend Medicaid coverage to 300,000 uninsured residents under the federal Affordable Care Act. The governor had previously said he was leaning against the expansion, but the financial benefits appeared to outweigh any political concerns. Christie announced the planned expansion in proposing a no-frills $32.9 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

CALIFORNIA: Search called off; a hoax?

The Pacific Ocean either swallowed an adventurous couple and two young children and their sailboat off the Monterey coast, or someone played a cruel hoax that wasted Coast Guard resources and tugged at the hearts of coastal residents over two days of desperate searching. The Coast Guard called off the search, saying nothing more could be done and that the distress calls might have been a hoax.