they want to talk about some big changes that could be ahead. a good afternoon i am robert jordan >>and i'm dina bair. we welcome our viewers who are watching us around the country on wgn america and on the web. wgn's muriel clair is live at cps headquarters with the top story >>to are to be closed altogether too are slated for consolidation 6 are in the final stages of being phased out and 10 are turnarounds' where the

students remain in the school building but the staff gets replaced this is unacceptable to some parents and a number of teachers as well a group comprised of both voice its opinion prior to the meeting of the cps board today >>we can function if the board and our legislators give us the funding we need to support our schools we can make our schools great! >>adding to the discontent the school officials are considering adding 12 new charter schools over the next two years and parents and teachers are both asking why? the school board is affected to vote on mess after recess today this could be a very long day.

nearly 100 firefighters were called to put out an extra alarm fire in the west garfield park neighborhood ... flames spread to a nearby store threatening residents of an apartment house upstairs it began in a chinese restaurant is on known how many were displaced nobody was injured the red cross has spent assisting >>the owners of the cubs have just bought some valuable land across the street from wrigley field paving the way for a major development there. the ricketts family paid $20 million for the property just west of wrigley on clark street where a mcdonald's restaurant now sets the rickets paid mcdonald's more than one and half times the value of the property the family has not said what they plan to do with the land but the rockets have said

before that there would like to develop properties around the ballpark >>a tax break package that's expected to keep sears and chicago's financial exchanges in illinois is headed for governor quinn is desk he is expected to sign the bill which also provides tax breaks for small and midsize businesses for individuals however the lawmakers say this sets the stage for more illinois companies to ask for special tax relief to keep jobs from leaving the state the shrimp means that lawmakers will need to evaluate how the state taxes its businesses >>a program to help parents on their children's college education may be a billion dollar bailout from the state the college illinois fund could run out of money by 2020 to2 a study shows that the program could require $1.6 billion to

try for the next 25 years the program allows parents to pay in advance for state schools analysts say that the shortfall will come about when the fund begins to pay for those contracts in 2022 lawmakers nanny to drum up ways to save the program governor quinn has supported the move to suspend new college illinois contracts they will pay the fine to skate a group of france says a fine from the village of tinley park is worth it for their homemade hockey rink to of the friends admit to using water from a village fire hydrant to fill the ranks said they could play hockey this winter they will have to pay a fine and reimburse tinley park for the cost of 26,000 gal. of water which will be about $130 a hockey rink which even has a penalty box is built in a private backyard so police say that they can keep it coming up next on and the u.s.

postal service delays closure of thousands of facilities across the country what it is hoping congress can deliver in the meantime the money is missing and so is the explanation of

tribute to the soldiers who fought and died in the conflict. the president and the first lady visited fort bragg in north carolina this morning. it thanked service members and families for support as the war is brought to a close all united states troops are scheduled to be out of iraq by december 31st. about 150 will stay behind to help iran arms sales nearly 4500 american troops died in the nine year war

>>the u.s. house has passed the republican plan to extend the payroll tax cut but the fight is not over yet the house approved the gop plan on a vote of 294- 193 largely along party lines it extends the payroll tax cut short as the weeks that people receive unemployment benefits and speeds up the government approval process for an oil pipeline from canada to texas state senate democrats oppose the bill and the white house says that president obama would veto the bill holiday recess is scheduled to begin next week but the president wants the recess put off until there is a deal nearly 30,000 workers at the united states postal service will keep their jobs for now the u.s. postal service has agreed to postpone the layoffs and the closure of 250 facilities until next may 15th illinois senator dick durbin and other lawmakers could convince the postal

service to hold off so they can find a way to save it from its budget problems the postal service is almost broke racking up $5 billion worth of debt this year >>the bankruptcy case involving failed brokerage m f global will be back in court today a day after the company officials were grilled on capitol hill the senate agriculture committee held a hearing yesterday on the m f global downfall listening to testimony from customers and from three top officials including former chairman and ceo jon corzine an estimated $1.2 billion in customer funds is missing from the bankrupt firm ... >>it's clear that something was amiss and needs to be discovered what that was >>john corzine will be back in the witness chair to answer more questions tomorrow at another hearing before the house financial services committee >>authorities investigating the

death of a florida a&m university drum major say they have uncovered possible employee fraud and misconduct at the school the florida department of law enforcement said that investigators uncovered potential violations of law as part of the probe into the apparent hazing death of marching band member robert champion. the department has not said what those violations might be but they say the investigation into those allegations will be handled with separately from the death investigation >> santa monica california is trying to avoid controversy this holiday season when it comes to religions and faith the santa monica nativity scenes committee held a lottery system this year to determine which groups get spots in palisades park this year atheist's 118 of those 21

display spock's there are two areas to display jesus mary and the three wise men and one to celebrate hanukkah coming up next advice on getting your spending under control and later do you have trouble getting your

business headlines ... comments from german chancellor angela merkel are leading investors in downbeat on the european debt crisis the market is not doing well today the doubt and the nasdaq are all lower in trading ... colt is

experiencing a huge sell-off trading at 1586 an ounce ... the delta airlines' ceo expects more consolidation across the global industry to additional joint ventures and traditional merger models kelloggs general mills leslie and units of kraft foods are suing a crisi egg suppliers in a price fixing scheme ... businesses are now spying on customer iss to note behavior in

stores beyond anything having to do with theft to you tend to shop beyond your means? instead of heading to the sale rack like your budget tells you to do do you sometimes go for the luxury instead here is advice on how to know if you are spending is out of control ... we have jennifer weigel of trib- u ... it's a very individual thing ... one person's form of luxury differs from another's ... so you need to ask yourself what does this expenditure mean in my

life? you need to know if you're having it is harmful ... are there any telltale signs? are you hiding things from your spouse are you lying about your spending ... and set limits allocate your credit card for certain types of ... and then there are those misconceptions about quality when shopping ... we spoke to some narrow specialistsbrain specialists about

behavior'ss when it comes to decision making with consumption ... if it is controlling you and you are not controlling it meaning spending and choices ... you need to work this out. your checkbook and your calendar do not lie how you spend your time and how you spend your money are important factors in your ability to balance these

tasks and habits ... to read more or for other life lessons please take this one head over to chicago tribune .com/trib-u

a federal judge has ruled that a chicago tribune reporter does not have to turn over her notes from an interview in the williamcellini corruption case. the newspaper was fighting a subpoena by the williamcellini attorneys to turn over notes taken by a reporter who had interviewed juror candy shoelace last month after selenthe

conviction it was revealed chilliest failed to disclose that she had to felony convictions on her record the attorneys for williamcellini are appealing the case based on that discovery at a hearing today federal judge james zagel said the reporter did not have to turn over her notes because the juror did not say anything of merit ... >>it is now illegal to sell synthetic marijuana products and chicago the herbal products are commonly sold as an cents under the names of " k-2 " and head trip businesses that sit still sell them can be fined $1,000 and lose their licenses to operate city officials and illinois attorney general lisa madigan said that the products are dangerous and need to be removed from store shelves ... >>and nationwid statewide ban on synthetic

marijuana takes effect new year's day >>chicago is a new curfew law has led to more violations. police say they caught more than 4700 children, member 18th-december 5th. that is 600 more than that same period last year. the new law set curfew for children younger than 12 years old at 8:30 p.m. sunday- thursday and 9:00 p.m. on friday and saturday police say more than 200 children younger than 12 years old but violating first curfew in the past few months the chicago city council is holding its final meeting of the year to date one of those topics that aldermen are considering how to best honor former first lady maggie daley ... marcella raymond it is live

not one alderman we spoke to is opposed to honoring maggie daley with the chicago cultural center assuming her name ... she was a champion for the arts in chicago ... renaming the institute in her honor is a fitting tribute of in the opinion of most >>it's a wonderful way to pay tribute to a wonderful woman who sacrificed on behalf of this city >>maggie daley was totally committed to promoting the arts particularly encouraging artistic endeavors in young people here what a fitting tribute >>i think it would be a wonderful yet jester something

that would trulyand fitting tribute and would do a lot for the city of chicago in terms of keeping her legacy alive >>there are other issues that the city council will be addressing having to do with taxi cabs here in the city ... that vote will take place at the next council meeting the beginning of next year please stay with us the tom skilling full forecast is coming

up next

good afternoon everyone ... we have rain falling in the area most of our observance stations have had over 1 in. this is the biggest grain event in nearly one month here in the city we have wind on the storm is east side it is december the 14th at the normal high temperatures 35 degrees yet o'hare and midway are showing 48 degree

temperatures we are pushing 50 degrees and the warming continues we will hit a high of 56-57 degrees tonight ... southerly wind is increasing across the metropolitan area there is visibility reduction and some areas due to the fog and moisture the storm center is near sioux falls a south dakota the wind is blowing out there ... 6:00 this evening into tomorrow morning will be windy here in chicago ... the temperatures will drop during the day tomorrow. the warmest temperature will be when we wake up tomorrow and it's all down word from there ... there are heavy rains are

falling in the southern suburbs ... it looks as though the rain will pick up from time to time this afternoon into the evening hours here in the metropolitan chicago area ... we may even see some thunder and lightning given these clouds ... the negative charge in the atmosphere is clashing with some of that cloud cover we have ... it is what everywhere let's take a look at the rain gauge numbers are in the area

kankakee is seeing the most this is the third wettest year on record ... in may reached the second wettest year given where this storm is taking us ... here are the local temperatures at this hour: the headline is for the stormy mild weather to continue we have hours ahead of rising temperatures on this day one year ago the high was 21 degrees below was 6 degreethe low 6 degrees ... this

month is running about 13 and half degrees warmer than this time last year ... we have rain due monday next week in may and in mixed precipitation or snow ... here are one of the reasons why is it is so warm ... the cold air from the north is colliding with the jet stream and the moisture coming up from the south and the southwest that is pumping some warm air in our direction ... we will get warmer again early next week it will be into the 40's sunday and monday look at these temperatures beginning this evening in the high 50s ... we will wake up to

the high temperature followed by a drop in temperatures ending up in the upper 30s late in the day and the twenties overnight tomorrow it will rise only into the 30's on friday just slightly above normal for this time of year ... here is a layout of the rain fall ... you can presume there will be embedded thunder and lightning come 5:00 this evening ... we still have scourscattered showers from 9:00 p.m. into the early hours of tomorrow morning and of north in western illinois and wisconsin we may see some snow flurries

... we have at least one more inch of rain on its way down state last year it the metro areamuch less here in the metro area ... the mountains in arizona and new mexico and the color of iraquis are getting all the colorado rockies are getting most of the seasonal snowfall thus far ... currently it's 49 degrees at o'hare ... we are continuing our look at these moving weather maps: we still

have showers tomorrow morning and the wind is swinging around the backside from the northwestfriday ... here is the chicago forecast: not at all like december in the past ... temperatures will peak after dark today heavy rain and thunderstorms are possible 56 degrees late tonight the wind will be gusting and strengthening during the afternoon 35-40 mi. per hour is unseasonably mild with rain and thunder the temperatures will continue to rise to 56 degrees and wind will shift northwest by morning ... the sun will be back on friday with more seasonable temperatures of the mid 30's

... we define a white christmas as 1 in. of snow on the ground it is unclear as to whether we will have won this year ... i will keep you posted ... >>tall clouds are what bring the thunder ... the thank-you tom for that lesson >>it's time now for today's trivia question: which president was the first to decorate the white house christmas tree? we have the answer still ahead in our noon hour ...

man: my electric bill was breaking the bank. so to save some money, i trained this team of guinea pigs to row this tiny boat. guinea pig: row...row. they generate electricity, which lets me surf the web all day. guinea pig: row...row. took me 6 months to train each one, 8 months to get the guinea pig: row...row. little chubby one to yell row! guinea pig: row...row. that's kind of strange. guinea pig: row...row. such a simple word... row. anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.3q

we all have internal plumbing. but for some of us with overactive bladder, our pipes just don't work as well as they should. sometimes, i worry my pipes might leak. but i learned there's something more i can do. now, i take care with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems or trouble emptying your bladder do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips throat or tongue stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. so why wait ? ask your doctor today... ... about taking care with vesicare.

3q tonight. the minnesota wild lead the hawks by three points in the west. nobody on the wild is in the top 25 for scoring but they have a stingy defense. for the black hawks goalie ray emery will get his third consecutive start and fourth in five games. the puck drops at 630 this evening and and the chicago bulls are getting the most out of a shortened to training camp at the berto center are they open the preseason against the indiana pacers in indiana this friday rookie jimmy butler out of marquette has been impressing his teammates with his hard work ethic the bulls could sign free agent richard hamilton today. hamilton tweeted that he's

interested in three teams but the chicago bulls are reportedly the front runner with a two-year deal >>scotty pippin is not broke we want to make that clear so i don't end up in a lawsuit scotty pippin is suing a bunch of media outlets for reporting that he was broke and filed for bankruptcy this according to t m z cnbc.com cbs sports .com and arizona state university are among the defendants scotty pippen wants a million dollars each from each offending party and in the lawsuit claims that he has not been worth less than for it $40 million in the last 10 years the university of illinois chicago was playing late out west against oregon state flames were down in the first when the beavers a rubber boat nelson went on an 8-0 run he led all

scorers with 21 points still in the first the flames of greg travis went the length of the floor hit a layup and took a foul he led u i c with eight points but they shot just 29% they wound up losing 95-53 and are now 3-6 that's a look at sports your live illinois lottery drawing is next ... here are the winning pick three numbers: 8 7 1 here are the winning pick four numbers: 5 5 7 6

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even used confidential information. that could lead to identity theft. there is no a word yet on what information was stolen. the utilities have only said a " very small " number of customers were affected. the employee has been fired and is facing a criminal investigation. >>for smart phones make it possible to shop anywhere, any time without the hassle of holiday crowds 10 million americans shop on their smart phones but some avoided because of security concerns when experts said that you could safely shop on your phone if you take a few security precautions first always type in your information instead of speaking at into an operator in nearby thief will not be able to over here your credit card information that way >>a national survey showed in the past six months that 50 percent of smart phone users have research purchases on their

phones more than 25 percentage used their smart phones to make a purchase >>in the medical watched a lot of seniors are getting regular cancer screenings in spite of recommendations against it in your survey found among 75-79 year-old 62% to women got a mammogram during the previous two years 53 percent of women had a pap test for cervical cancer more than half of all adults in that age group had colon cancer screenings the u.s. preventive service task force recommends against routine screening for breast prostate and colon cancer after the age of 74 after the age of 65. >>women who worked in part time may be healthier and happier than the stay at home mom counterpart researchers say that women who worked well their children are infants and preschoolers had better general

health and were less likely to suffer depression stay at home mothers may be more socially isolated and working mothers which might increase their chances of getting depressed women who work part-time fare the best researchers say they were just as involved in their child's school as the stay at home mother they also provided more learning opportunities for toddlers than either the state home mother or the women working full-time a small reward could be the key to getting your children to eat their vegetables researchers found when parents gave their three or four year-old a sticker each time they took a taste of the vegetable after a couple of weeks children were more willing to eat their vegetables and lab taste tests and describe certain vegetables as

of the year ... but after the new year how can you get healthy again with your food choices? the centered chef ryan hutmacher heiress here with some good advice for the person not motivated to cook for themselves ... this mill is all about utilizing the same ingredients to create a couple of different dishes first

i will give you a salad and then a pause to recipesta recioe.. is means i will make to dishes simultaneously we will incorporate colorful vegetables ... i am building some basic flavors here in the food processor with garlic parmesan cheese fresh squeezed lemon juice parsley and olive oil i'm going to take the

largest basil leaf filled with smaller leaves and it rolled like a cigar and i will take my knife and cut thin shreds ... toss the basil in the bowl of the tomato and the herb mixture ok so now i will make the salad everything in my bowl will be used for the salad which i am making with romaine lettuce ... we have lemon juice of oil and garlic i will toss that with my

tomato and basil mixture and that is the dressing ... moving to your pasta dish ... you come home you boil the water you mix in your pasta and cook that and you drain that pasta the healthiest kind that you can find a whole wheat or brown rice pasta ... and you toss that cooked pasta into your basil tomato the herb mixture ... now this is great for a vegetarian but for the protein factor i have taken some chicken tenders

that are cooked which are best when in infused with fresh rosemary ... you serve your chicken with the salad ... or the pasta. this averages about $10. and you

can add things like balsamic vinegar or other healthy ingredients for a slightly different flavor tomorrow when you work with your leftovers ... the centered chef is beginning a 2012 new program on healthy cooking ... >>and the ideas are always so creative ... the centered chef of food studio with ryan hutmacher are is located at 177 no. ada street suite 1 01 here

in chicago

and now we have the answer to today's trivia question, which president was the first to decorate the white house christmas tree? that would be franklin pierce in 1856. happy wednesday ... is a grim looking day as someone wrote me on facebook ... the rain is falling in those southern suburbs ... and the wind is not far behind ... during the evening rush hour we will see some thunderstorms and heavy rain pour in the southern end

metro area the northwest wind will be blowing by tomorrow afternoon with bringing cooler temperatures more seasonable by friday about 35 degrees after a very warm evening tonight ... >>look at how much real estate is warmer than 24 hours ago ... that means the self and the southwest wind is carrying the warm air into chicago lake michigan is currently 38 degrees ... and the wind gusts will be picking up as the afternoon

wears on up to 32 mi. per hour ... tonight will be really windy into the 40 mi. per hour range ... the cool air will hit tomorrow afternoon ... we have a downturn in temperature coming friday and saturday but we will shoot back up to 40 degrees or so on sunday and monday we may see a rainmaker on monday that turns into a small maker by tuesday ... we will be watching those systems for snow very carefully >> thank you for joining us today we hope you have a great afternoon. remember that we are back here at 5 and again at 9 this evening