chicago bears receiver sam hurd back in court this afternoon for a bond hearing on federal drug charges that afternoon i am steve sanders. >>and i'm dina bair we welcome our viewers who are watching a ceramic country on wgn's america and on the web we have randi belisomo with the top story >>a thousand pounds of marijuana and 10 kgs of cocaine a week that is what the bears receiver sam hurd allegedly told his friend he was planning on pershing on 2 chicago city streets he was earning $2

million a year as a chicago bear but authorities say he was looking to make more the receiver was arrested outside of morton's steak house in rosemont after a meal when one of two suppliers came in carrying a bag of cocaine >>never has a wholesale dealer /f. leeatlete.. done anything on this scale >>authorities planned to transfer sam hurd to dallas to face another drug charge of legal analyst with espn.com said this all reflects on the bears' front office >>they absolutely should have

known about it if he was under active investigation by a federal agency at the exact moment that they signed him somehow suppose it security operation of the chicago bears' front office did not discover anything about this guy >>he was possibly going on a drug by >>the arrest should not impact the game against seattle on sunday >>this guy is a marginal player it's not as though there will miss him on the field that much >>whether nada! will affect the rest of the team remains to be seen >>he was doing high end sales those with lots of money possibly teammates or other players around the league >>the key witness in the case against former penn state

football coach gerry sandusky testified in court today that he believed that jury sandusky was molesting a 10 year-old boy in a locker room shower and 2002. mike mcqueary appeared in a pennsylvania court from this morning for a hearing against former penn state athletic director tom curley and finance official gary schultz they are charged with lying to a grand jury about their knowledge of alleged sex abuse by jerry sandusky mike mcqueary testified today that he saw jerry sandusky and the boy from about 6 ft. away and they looked into his eyes he did not see the alleged abuse but he heard sounds and he was embarrassed and shocked he said he told former coach joe paterno about the incident the next day and he says he also spoke with the two university officials gamow in san francisco baseball legend barry bonds is scheduled to be sentenced for obstruction of justice barry bonds was found guilty last april for giving evasive

testimony to a federal grand jury and a steroids probe of pro athletes in 2003 a jury deadlocked on perjury charges singer was not proven that bonds lied about ever taking steroids prosecutors are asking for a 15 month prison term his lawyers want probation of fine and community service >>rod blagojevich is asking to be sent to prison with a rehab program because he is reportedly addicted to alcohol the chicago sun-times says that he can't sleep without drinking and also says that it does not appear that he takes sleeping pills or abuses and the other drugs zero of prisons accept blagojevich proposal to go into a program and he completes it he will not a year off of his 14 year sentence and serve the last six months of this term in a halfway house >>the re-mapping battle for chicago swards wages on today i received one side submitted their proposal to city officials

alderman on both sides say are only a percentage point off from agreeing on a re-mapping of the city's 50 wards but still there is no compromise so that latino caucus and their white allies filled their own map with the court jester day after they could not come to terms with members of the black caucus the re-mapping needs to reflect the latest census numbers showing chefs among hispanic white and black populations around the city >>in spite of two weeks of private meetings the black caucus now says there will file their own napping at least 41 of the city's 50 alderman must approve a map to make it the official document but a group of 10 alderman who cannot vote in favor of the map can challenge it by taking the issue voters in a march primary election like what happened in the early 1990's that cost the city more than $30 million >>she was arrested for drunk

driving released by police and instructed killed when she walked out onto an expressway now the family of diana paz is trying to get more information about why police let her go muriel clair is live in the loop with a family is getting results of the blood alcohol level at the time of her death >>she was indeed intoxicated when the westchester police released her from custody >>the blood alcohol level said she was double the legal limit to tests were done so this information tells us that she was in fact intoxicated contrary to what the state police provided to the media >>back in september when 25 year-old diana paz was pulled over on the eisenhower expressway by a state police officer she was intoxicated and

driving the wrong way the trooper took her to the westchester police station where she was charged with the deal lot a few hours later she was released she told police that she had no money in a family and a ride portia's the the be taken to the bp gas station soon after she was dropped off their she was struck and killed by a pickup truck as she was walking along the eisenhower expressed way >>the police still maintain that she was alert and she was coherent when she bonded out of jail >>we're just hoping to get answers really soon >>at this point the family made a point of saying that they are not looking for money they are not falling up by following a lawsuit what they want is more

information ... sometime in february the state police claims it will be through with the investigation and only at that time will they be able to release some of the information that the family is seeking >>the park grill restaurant in millennium park is suing the city of chicago the restaurant is trying to prevent the city from breaking their leaves it is seeking a preliminary injunction for more than $15 million in damages the city filed a motion in court last month to break the 20 year lease the rahm emanuel administration is not happy that the restaurant does not have to pay nearly $300,000 a year due to the terms of police >>warns restaurant group is selling its dimmest steakhouse chain it is selling it to landrace inc. in houston tx 4 $116 million the deal is

expected to be done by february whartons has 77 steakhouses in over 60 cities worldwide landrace is the owner of more than 30 restaurants including rain forest cafe and bubba gump shrimp co. >>hirsch still to come on a wgn midday news it tax cut for 160 million americans will stick around at least for a few more months we'll have details on the new budget from congress and the final debate before the crucial iowa caucuses we will break down the republican presidential debate with our political analyst paul lisnek and what would help you eat better the calorie count or time on the treadmill the new study on which is the better motivation

found incompetent to stand

trial. that ruling came down from a federal judge today. 21 year-old oscar ortega hernandez of idaho appeared in a court in washington this morning. if police say he is an assault rifle to fire shots at the white house last month. the president was out of town at the time and nobody was hurt. investigators say that ortega was acting strangely in recent months and had become obsessed with president obama. pamela fayed congressional negotiators reportedly reached a deal to fund the federal government through the end of next september preventing a shutdown for the third time this year. house leaders say they will vote on all the more than one trillion dollar measure today but both the house and senate are trying to reach a deal on the payroll tax cut and jobless benefit extension bill that could last for one more year. as a fallback they're also considering a two month extension >>we're not there yet but we're

very very close >>republican house speaker john banner said that house members could be called back to washington if the senate passes a measure extending the payroll tax cut failure to pass it could mean an average of $1,000 more next year in higher taxes for 160 million american workers >>the seven major republican presidential candidates faced off again in the last debate before the primary season begins last night's debate was and i know where the first nomination contest will be held off front-runners newt gingrich and mitt romney took turns telling boaters why each is the best man to take on president obama minnesota congresswoman michele bachman went after newt gingrich for accepting money from fannie and freddie mac the caucuses will be held on january 3rd. here with mahler analysis is host of the c ltv politics tonight program paul lisnek >>everybody was looking for

fisticuffs between gingrich and run the last night newt gingrich at the center spot on the lineup he came out fairly strong ... we have a clipping the barak obama after seven debates will not have a leg to stand on after trying to defend a terrible record and an iri ideology that is radical >>mitt romney continually taking heat for being a flip-flop for he came up with an explanation >>the anchors hit him with all of those questions mitt romney did a commendable job whether or

not you believe him he did a good job explaining all of his decision process on the major issues ... >>he was a governor and a state that a democratic legislature and unless he cut deals as close to his principle as possible nothing would get done on behalf of the constituents >>he took punches from all sides >>conservatives will continue to be unhappy with mitt romney but nonetheless he gave decent answers >>should he be going after mitt romney more? >>newt gingrich is at the seven week. . juncture the polls are

showing him declining ... mitt romney is people may have looked at with the numbers were going and decided that last night was not the night to be attacking newt. >>rick perry compared himself last night to denver broncos quarterback tim tebow ... >>rick perry is stronger than we have seen him in the past ... there is a reasonable explanation for his lack of strength ... apparently everyone is saying that his back surgery last year is giving him

laundering pain issues and a quick word about ron paul and i a why he is running strong 20,000 committed voters behind him ... but he still is in rain and the bells with conservative republicans >>coming up health insurance scams illinois leaders are warning people about buying fraudulent insurance policies and later in the lunchbreak more cupcakes is back with a spirited new year's eve inspired r

about a company allegedly

selling fraudulent health insurance to consumers if the department says reassurance health has sold numerous policies without authorization and illinois indiana ohio and wisconsin health insurance companies need to be licensed in illinois and have policies approved by the insurance department before selling coverage to customers. the department says neither reassurance nor its policies have been approved in illinois >>we're live at bloomberg headquarters in new york with the on the money report good news for the wallet inflation seems to be in check the cost of living in the united states was little changed in november ... retailers are also beefing up promotions during the holiday season ... 2012 could be a good year for automakers ...

according to bloomberg research consumers may be buying cars out of necessity the median vehicle age on the road is 10 years old and that's the sweet spot for high maintenance ... talk about spreading holiday cheer ... anonymous donors are paying off kmart layaway accounts for customers that they don't even know ... what a great holiday story ... looking at the stock market numbers the dow is up the s&p and the nasdaq are a bit lower at this hour ... there's lots of hype around the initial

public offering the largest since google ... still to come on the wgn midday news break up the boxes and the tape if you want to ship christmas presents the deadline today for one major carrier and the sounds of the caribbean are filling our studio today we have live music this midday from the steel band of

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service tried to get that done to date ... if you can federal express will guarantee the

packages will arrive at their destinations before christmas. the company says that it has nearly 30,000 vehicles and 70,000 employees staff nationwide to ensure that guests arrive on time and today is free shipping days if you still have holiday shopping left to do over 2300 stores are offering free shipping with delivery by christmas see if some of the stores signed up to participate are nordstrom's best by toys r us last year free shipping day sales topped $942 million and this year it's expected to bring in more online sales than black friday for a locket which retailers are participating you can go to free shipping .com. a tradition he has carried on for 47 years this morning jesse white illinois secretary of state distributed ham and turkeys to 12,000 seniors and needy families it was done to

provide food for those on the near north near west and near south side of chicago during the holiday season he also introduced in think his team of supporters in hopes that he is made a difference in the lives of people the emergency fund and n

>>there maybe a snow flurry coming from an alberta clipper overnight ... it's redding and northwest jet stream into the area we began cloudy along lake

michigan this morning and the sun is here we have some gorgeous weather it is cool but it is typically so these are the chilliest temperatures we have seen this month here in chicago but we are still 15 degrees warmer on average than we were of december last year hopefully we're saving money on heating ... we are only at the half an inch of recorded snowfall as opposed to 7 in. last year for the month. the next weather system we are keeping an eye on is something that produce tail in southern california and waterspouts ... that will trek across the rockies and make its

move on the midwest next week that could be a rain producer that can mix with snow by tuesday we are not expecting heavy amounts of precipitation however ... we took a 22 degree 12 our temperature plunged yesterday afternoon thanks to those strong wind conditions ... we have a 30 degree temperature. it is a beautiful 77 degrees down in new orleans right now even the arctic is looking at above normal temperatures that is the source region for the cold weather so with that area at this above normal those blockbuster arctic outbreaks don't happen in big ways we just

get small samplings ... we are expecting a nice day sunday for the bears came >>we have some single digit wind chill conditions in the upper midwest really feel like it's 24 degrees with hours here in chicago we have a 61 percent humidity to point of 19 that's nothing but dry air ... that alberta clipper comes in from canada it will compete with the low will dry air and that means it will be academic test whether we generate any snow flurries with those conditions there are lots of wind gusts

early this morning in kankakee and along the southern indiana suburban areas ... before the cool air hit it was 57 degrees at 3:00 this morning ... one year ago everyday with the exception of two days was below normal temperatures that month in december the headline of a little flurry is that after coming had tonight

and tomorrow we expect 37 degrees the high temperature today by sunday we will warm to 46 degrees with a rain system here monday and tuesday ... here is the forecast we have lake effect snow flurries blowing and to michigan and indiana ... there will likely be a. tomorrow where the snow flurries will ease up. tomorrow morning flurries. later in the day more flurries. there is a load of

miles pacific air coming across the area late saturday through sunday bringing the moisture on monday and tuesday showers during the day are expected monday. tomorrow afternoon expect 30 mi. per hour wind gusts. that will lead up sunday morning and get windy here sunday evening. the forecast is for skies this afternoon to be mostly sunny and temperature cold the high reading will hit 37 degrees tonight will cloud over chile with flurries beyond midnight

... saturday mostly cloudy turning crazy in the afternoon and more flurries late in the day the high temperature will be 37 once again ... it will be mostly sunny turning windy and milder sunday the temperature can reach all the way to 46 degrees. the mild pacific air will be traveling this way later in the weekend. it's time for today's trivia question samuel morrorse is

known

seahawks at soldier field this sunday. marion barber has finally broken his silence to a few reporters barbara spoke to a writer from the bears website and a sports radio reporter that was picked by the team he would not speak about his costly mistakes last week saying only that he appreciated the support that he got from his teammates to the nfl may step been since players must be made available to the media after games and during the week the bears' playoff hopes are slowly fading the jaguars' visiting the falcons atlantis matt ryan threw for 224 yds and three touchdowns and a route of

jacksonville 41-14 the falcons were adding to their wild card lead is still unclear if new bills guard rep hamilton will play in the preseason opener tonight he practiced with the team for the first time yesterday hamilton will wear no. 32 which c. j. watson gave to him the coach said he lacks the experience hamilton brings to the team he has played in 120 playoff games the chicago bulls as the pacers at 6:00 tonight in college hoops northwestern racing to a big lead against texas southern in the first there were three points scored of the game high 20 points by john sherman as the wildcats won a 20-31 on to win 81-51 north western is now 8-1 on the season that's a look at sports

your live illinois lottery drawing is next. >>lives up from wgn tv chicago the official drawing of the illinois state lottery >>good afternoon everyone these are your midday winning lottery numbers ... here are the winning kick three numbers:pick three numbers: 5 0 3 here are the winning pick four

numbers: 4 2 7 1 $135 million is the mega- millions and jack padjackpot for tonight

he passed away yesterday from complications of an esophageal cancer. he was known for his wry sense of humor even dent in his monthly columns for his battle with cancer was public ... and in his later years, he became a strong voice for atheism a harsh critic of religion hitchens was born in portsmouth england and graduated from oxford university was 62 years old. in midwatch a new study finds a link between smoking and a type of skin cancer ... research finds women with squamus cell carcinoma skin cancer were more likely to be smokers than those without the disease and women who smoked for at least 20 years were twice as likely to develop melanoma male smokers had a modest risk of developing skin cancer the study published in the journal cancer causes control gives one more reason to kick the habit. >>what exactly does 250 cals

mean for your body it will take 40 minutes of jogging to work out off a new researcher suggests knowing the amount of time you need to jot tavernas calories of me stop you from grabbing a sugary drink researchers observe teenagers at stores in baltimore signs displaying time needed to exercise off the drinks caused a decline in soda sales while non sugary drinks like water went up in sales >>tracking the progression of multiple sclerosis doctors say iron deposits in the brain may cause the disease using triple strength mri scanners the measured iron levels in the area of the brain responsible for relaying messages when there was too much iron ms patients suffered greater physical disabilities while iron is necessary it is toxic to brain cells that high levels high iron levels have been found in patients with various neurogenic degenerative diseases fish but until now there was no way to measure iron

in the brain >>the lunchbreak is next marquette cakes will show us how to make 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.

have some pretty elegant friday's of cupcakes with champagne >>the first thing we do is make a champagne buttercream this could not be simpler we pour

half a bottle of champagne we reduce it in half by simmering at on the stove and we poured into our butter cream mixture ... >>nalut we will move to the cake batter you definitely want to experiment with champagne and chocolate tastes but we are going to do something a little bit different today here in the studio ... we are going to use a white cake batter and we are going to fold in some aren't essencee orange peel ... to make a

kir ryale we will use the black currant flavoring for the champaigne buttercream frosting. always use a uniform amount of batter into those cupcake liners ... and now we will garnish the cupcakes ... the

mimosa will be garnished with candied orange peels ... we have a cassis marshmallow for the kir royale.. and pomegranate seeds for the third cupcake ... you have wonderful things in your shop more cupcakes is located at 1 east delaware placed here in chicago for more

information on today's recipes or to watch this segment once again log onto wgntv.com/midday enjoy these decadent i got the calling to to join the service

and support the boys over there. i never thought that i would have ptsd. i thought that i had enough coping skills. i don't think anybody who goes into combat could ever honestly say that they're not different when they come home. my life's changed. what you take as a simple thing, is not so simple for me anymore. it's like a pressure cooker and you know you want somebody desperately to to trip that valve. you know, you want to like, you know, lose all of that anger d angst. i would say to those people that are out there get educated. don't brush us aside and don't count us out. hear more of their stories at usoinvisiblewounds dot org. the wounds are invisible. the stories are real.

there was a problem with the pick three and pick four lottery numbers ... and now the answer for today's trivia question: samuel morse is best known as the inventor of the telegraph but he was also an accomplished painter ... >>look at the rain passing to

the south of chicago ... and we have that alberta clipper that will produce some flurries overnight may be in the morning to ... the next weather system will be headed here from the southwest coast we will see some rain here on monday ... the light went overnight will pick up tomorrow afternoon there is mild oceanic air sweeping across the midwest we will see that on sunday the high may be 40 degrees the wind is much lighter today than it was yesterday the forecast by tomorrow morning will have a wind remain light

until later in the afternoon ... that will taper off overnight into sunday morning and later sunday we will have some more went taking us into monday and that storm from the texas panhandle will head the our direction look at the warm weather in florida right now ... we're looking at quite a mild forecast here is the 10 day forecast:

sunday and monday will be warm moderate cool down midweek 37 degrees tomorrow 46 degrees sunday light showers monday and tuesday that could mix with wet flakes of snow ... wednesday overcast thursday and friday cool down with a chance of flurries for christmas weekend ... we will keep our eyes on whether or not that track for snow chefsshifts.. >>thank you for joining us today we hope you have a great

weekend we will leave you with more from callaloo there will be hosting their cd release party tonight at the intercontinental chicago o'hare hotel 5300 north river road in rosemont.