today, right in the middle of the winter season ... and lots of people are getting outside and savoring mess. that afternoon i am steve sanders. >>and i'm dina bair we welcome our viewers who are watching us around the country on wgn america and on the web ... bob jordan is live at no. avenue beach. >>many people here have taken off their outerwear running along the lakefront this is one of those bonus days whenever you get temperatures that should ordinarily be in the 30's and according to jim ramsey we get

above 60 today double above that average temperature we really take advantage ... >>even though it is january 31st you can find plenty of chicagoans today without their hats on it feels more like april well that warmth is really having a good effect ... >>i like to be out exercising >>many remember that just one year ago we were hit with one of the greatest snow storms ... >>i can't believe that people are out here in their shorts running around it's just gorgeous it feels like 60 or 70

but i know its impossible that it's that warm >>i remember the giant lizard i was making lots of money i had a snowplow service >>a service weather is not necessarily good for your pocketbook >>not for me ... >>the people you meet in this unseasonably warm weather are out to spread good cheer ... >>spring in chicago came three months early ... you should take a day off ... >>this is the closest thing i can do ... >>there are still plenty of days

left in the winter and we may still get some of those winter days ... so get out while you can >>you may have felt this ... there was an earthquake in far northwest suburban mccary last night no damage or injuries have been reported but it was felt as far as the northern suburbs of chicago nancy loo has this report >>i am standing in the epicenter of last night's earthquake it's a cornfield here in mchenry quite rare here it was felt on both sides of the state line it was a 2.4 magnitude earthquake ... a rare geological event

coming just before 10:00 p.m. last night. >>you hear about this on the west coast i never think about it around here >>the u.s. geological survey said that the epicenter was in a cannery near the intersection of chapel hill road south of route 120 the tremors were felt throughout southeast wisconsin and the northern suburbs of chicago >>i thought it was a wicked case of thunder with a warm windy weather i thought a storm was coming >>the u.s. geological survey said that microearthquakes are tough to predict because of a small size but aftershocks are certainly possible in the next 48 hours >>officials at the byron nuclear plant believe that equipment failure may have caused a shutdown yesterday investigators

say preliminary reports show that the incident was caused by a failed piece of equipment at a switchyard that supplies electricity to the plant. after the shutdown ... operators released steam to cool their reactor. the stain contained a radioactive form of hydrogen, but federal and plant officials say that the levels were safe for workers and for the public. >>a spokeswoman for the united states nuclear regulatory commission to clear the incident an unusual event the commission has four levels of emergency in this one falls into the lowest level another reactor at the plant was not affected. >>a man from the marquette park neighborhood is expected to go before a judge this afternoon charged with using a chicago police officers owned taser against him it happened during a struggle sunday night on the city's southwest side police say they try to stop 19 year-old dashawn james because they thought he violated curfew they say a fight broke out in james

punched two officers before grabbing one of their taster's james used that taser heading one of those officers in the arm >>cook county ministers may get s.a. and the way the county more candles its corpses. staffers say that the cooler at the morgue is forced to hold for more than its capacity of 300 bodies because the county lacks the money to bury them properly some ministers say that it is sacrilegious to stack bodies against one another now county board president toni preckwinkle has agreed to meet with the minister's group she has already said that some staffers at the morgue will lose their jobs >>the two skulls that found in mchenry county last week were not only real but there are also models of the county coroner said that the skulls are human but there were prepared for display that is why they were so white a boy found one near his home one week ago police found a second close by so far

no schools or laboratories reported any missing skulls. chicago is the most segregated major city in america that is according to u.s. census bureau doggo has also seen the second largest decline in segregation from 2000-2010 dallas and houston are the largest segregated citieleast segregated cities richard researchers say more neighborhoods have mixed populations because people have more access to credit and more minorities are moving to the suburbs >>navy pier is getting a makeover designers are submitting plans for what could be some very dramatic changes tonya francisco is live at the pier with more >>we are looking for new ways to make navy pier a bigger and

better place >>five teams of designers from chicago and around the world have put together their vision of what an extreme makeover would look like one team wants church reformto transform the gardens ... another team wants to create a series of boardwalks and marina slips ... a third design will create a glacier shooting up out of lake michigan and in the winter it would freeze over to become a jagged ice sculpture 1/4 design is all about an urban forest at the crystal gardens the fifth and final design would

create a wage shaped platform with amazing views of lake michigan while sprucing up the south docks for pedestrian traffic ... at some point the fantasy will need to meet reality officials have only budgeted $85 million for this project >>we are holding firm to the budget we want to see what these plans will do and we will go from there ... three teams will make formal presentations tonight at the museum of contemporary art the remaining teams will make there's tomorrow night and the board will make a decision toward the end of february or mid march ... coming up at noon the divers and their underwater search for the

15 people that remained missing aboard the costa concordia italian cruise ship ... on the day of the florida primary new gingrich is dealing with a lawsuit that's been filed by a chicago area musician and the occupy d.c. protesters had to court in a last-ditch effort to be able to stay put

part of the recovery mission at the costa concordia is called off today ... the cruise ship crashed into a reef off the coast of italy about two weeks ago when the captain deviated from his route. for at least 17 passengers are confirmed dead, and 15 others are still missing. italian officials decided today to end the search is in the part of the vessel that is submerged.

they say that it is simply too dangerous. but the rescue teams will still look for victims in the part of a ship that is above water >>we're now hearing the chilling 911 calls from the deadly chain reaction crash on a florida interstate >>all my god what is going on! >>witnesses called police late saturday and reported the crash as as they were happening ... 10 people were killed in those auto crashes officials say visibility was poor due to the thick smoke it came from a nearby fire at least 12 cars and seven semi trucks were involved at the drivers said that it felt like the end of the world >>florida voters are at the polls today and mitt romney appears to have a strong lead over rival newt gingrich >>we are in full swing here in

florida there are 50 delegates at stake in this winner-take-all state primary mitt romney enjoys a double-digit lead in the polls and is hoping for a big victory >>a win in florida a state with a large rivers population hit hard by the recession could strengthen mitt romney is argument that he could be the one to go all the way in the general alexian in november >>florida senator marco rubio has not yet endorsed a candidate but he predicts tonight's winner should take the republican nomination >>this voters said that she switched her allegiance from the new gingrich to mitt romney ... >>i'm hoping we get a candidate who does not have any surprise

skeletons come the general election >>i am in this race where ronald reagan was in 1976 will go all the way to the convention we will win in tampa and with your help we will be the nominee for the republican party >>rick santorum and ron paul have moved their campaigns to states it further down the calendar ... mitt romney may win the battle in florida but the war is far from over >>the nevada primary is saturday michigan is in february both states are expected to go for mitt romney and newt gingrich is banking on the southern states in march >>if you live in florida and you lose your job you may not find work for quite some time florida

has the nation's highest rate of long-term unemployment. about 53% of unemployed people in florida were out of work for more than six months last year. the housing inclusion is a big reason for this. unemployment soared when the building boom in florida came to a halt in 2007 peaking at 12% a little over one year ago the jobless rate eased a bit over the past year dropping just below 10% >>now that his daughter is out of intensive care and on the road to recovery rick santorum is back on the campaign trail ... >>his three year-old daughter, up belloc, almost died over the weekend from a case of pneumonia her condition has improved enough that she is already out of intensive care santorum will visit cairo today >>color rana todayado today..

newt gingrich is facing a lawsuit for using a popular song on the campaign trail by of the tiger by the '80s group survivor one of that group's founding members frankie sullivan says that it gingrich's breaking copyright law he claims that he does not have permission to play i of the tiger at any click political events his music publishing company of palantine illinois is now suing for damages when asked if newt gingrich could continue to use the song if he got permission sullivan had no comment >>president obama held the first-ever virtual town hall meeting from the white house yesterday. the 45 minute forum streamed on gogol plus the white

house you tube channel and on the whitehouse.gov web site president answered a range of questions from people who submitted through you tube including in evanston woman who wanted to know how to talk to children about economic hardships >>i would remind this generation that previous generations had tougher times ... we have always come out on top >>the town hall meeting is the latest move in the president's social media campaign which also includes twitter and facebook >>prince william is being deployed to the falklands. the prince will leave next month for training as a rescue pilot. he will spend six weeks on his tour of duty before returning home to britain the timing of this deployment is a sensitive one it is the 30-year anniversary of the falklands war prince william's on coal the duke of york served as a helicopter

pilot in the 1982 conflict argentina invaded the falkland islands only to be defeated by a british task force >>coming up next the day's top business stories and later in the lunch break we will explain what rattlesnake bites are and how to make them

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this month that was an expected higher gasoline prices are cutting into people's budgets and more americans feel that jobs are harder to come by companies are just not hiring fast enough in their mind >>we will have another update on the job market when the government releases its numbers this friday >>chicagos home values fell 6% over the past year ... it was among the biggest drop in the nation and there's another wave of foreclosures keeping a lid on home prices the banks macy's another 1 million homes across in the states this year ... stocks are stumbling again ... sears is taking a hit because there are reports that there may

be another landing freeze ... c i t may pull its plug on supply company financing ... tellabs is making severe cuts dropping sales are forcing layoffs ... that's a look at the business headlines today defiant occupy protesters in the nation's capital are promising to stand their ground. protesters along with camping gear stood firm as the noon deadline set by the national park service passed yesterday fact they have also laid a tarp over the statue of civil war general james mcphearson whom the park is named after they're

calling it a tent of dreams the occupy d.c. protesters have been in place since october some say they do not plan on moving >>indiana as on the cusp of becoming the 23rd state with a so-called right to work law. a republican controlled committee and the state senate there passed a bill yesterday that would give people the option of joining a union at unionized workplaces the full senate is expected to vote on legislation tomorrow the state's republican governor is expected to sign that measure supporters of the bill say that it will help to create jobs while labor groups say that it is union busting and will hurt workers with lower wages. >>gov. pat quinn is expected to emphasize the positive when he delivers his state of the state message tomorrow. aides say that governor quinn will focus on jobs helping working families and his administration's accomplishments such as the state's growing export industry while he will touch on issues

such as public employee pension reform in rising medicaid costs the governor is expected to mostly steer clear of the state's ongoing budget problems until his budget address on february the 22nd. governor quinn has 81 week to decide if cameras that bust speeders will be put up in chicago ... those cameras would be set up within one block of parks and schools motorists would be fined between $5,100 mayor rahm emanuel is strongly in favor of those cameras but the city residents are over numbingly against some the governor has until next monday to decide what to do about the legislation if it doesn't take any action the bill will become law later this year >>the chicago police department is cracking down on motorists with fraudulent disability parking placards. a team of 21 officers checked 54 vehicles parked in disabled spaces in the

loop this morning police officials said that people unjustly used disability placards prevent those who actually need them to park offenders face a $200 fine and possible car impoundment secretary of state jesse white is also supporting the effort to punish those motorists that are breaking the law >>a new postal stamp is being unveiled to honor a chicagoan and legend in the publishing industry that story's coming up next and later mcdonald's says it will stop using a food [♪...] >> announcer: bank robbery certainly is a frightening crime. after all, bank robbers stole $43 million in one year. but identity thieves? try 37 billion! and guess how identity thieves are getting some of that money. by taking over our bank accounts.

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>> announcer: don't spend another day without lifelock. call now! try lifelock's service risk-free for 60 days. lifelock is the only identity protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. no one provides more comprehensive identity protection than lifelock. if you're not convinced after 60 days, simply notify lifelock and you won't pay. and to keep your documents out of the wrong hands, we'll even add this personal shredder-- a $29 value-- absolutely free with your enrollment. don't wait another minute. call now or go to lifelock.com. lifelock service guarantee cannot be offered to residents of new york. indelible mark on the african american publishing industry. julian crews is live on south michigan avenue with the unveiling of the johnson h johnson stamp.

>>he became the first african american businessman to make the forbes magazine list of wealthiest americans he was a hugely successful publisher but people today remember the importuneimportant contribution he made to the civil-rights movement ... >>he could have decided not to print those pictures but at considerable risk to his publishing company his magazine show the nation and the world the injustices ... >>he was a giant in some new ways and now robert h. johnson joins martin luther king jr. and thurgood marshall with a special honor a u.s. postal stamp ... in

front of the first major building in chicago owned and directed by an african-american we make this announcement ... president bill clinton gave robert h. johnsonjohn h. johnson a distinguished honor ... if he were alive today he would be thrilled to see his image on a postal stamp >>with a loan using his grandmother's furniture as

collateral he began a cosmetics empire and two magazines ebony and jet he refused to let racism hold him down the stamp is 43¢ it goes on sale today it is a limited edition ... jim ramsey will be coming up next with this springlike forecast you wouldn't want your doctor doing your job. so why are you doing his? only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn is actually something more serious... like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief but can also help heal acid related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related

bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. possible side effects include headache diarrhea and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. let your doctor do his job and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. that was me the day i learned i had to start insulin for my type 2 diabetes. me... thinking my only option was the vial and syringe dad used. and me... discovering once-daily levemir flexpen. flexpen is prefilled. doesn't need refrigeration for up to 42 days. no drawing from a vial. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. flexpen is insulin delivery my way. levemir is long acting insulin used to control high blood sugar

in adults and children with diabetes. do not take if your blood sugar is too low. tell your health care provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. the most common side effect is low blood sugar. other possible side effects include reactions at the injection site. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions body rash, trouble with breathing fast heartbeat or sweating. with flexpen, say good night to vial and syringe. ask your doctor about levemir flexpen. covered by 90% of insurance plans including medicare. find your co-pay at myflexpen.com. on the brink of breaking a winter weather record. alaska) and on the all-time coldest united states temperature of -80 degrees. but we will ninth know if that record is broken ...

just as the temperature dropped to minus 80 the thermometer broke at the alaskan weather station the icy temperatures there have set several records in the last two weeks ... >>what a day this is turning into your in chicago we are already at 56 degrees we still have about three hours of warming yet to go this afternoon we can see the temperatures get up above 60 degrees. almost no clouds this morning looking out doors you might see one coming from the southern direction we may even see rainshowers develop ... satellite pictures show us this little system to the north responsible for some cloud cover. parts of northwestern

wisconsin are seeing some rainshowers as a result ... there are scattered showers in the southern united states that may produce a passing rain shower downstate and into the chicago area later this evening. so light showers are all we anticipate ... temperatures across the area check out these numbers the mid to upper 50s around the chicago metropolitan area ... lake michigan is 33 degrees. the wind is still part of the story they are coming

from the southwest. blustery. along the canadian border things are deteriorating rapidly ... cold front locked in theirre we will remain mild until the weekend we will see a gush of cold temperatures saturday into sunday which will get into the 30's. for this afternoon the skies continue to be clear but clouds

will increase this evening with a chance of showers by evening we are at near record warm temperatures ... the high temperature between 58 and 62 degrees. for the next day or two we're looking at temperatures substantially above normal. the high-temperature tomorrow should be 51 degrees ... we will have the weekend temperature declines next in the broadcast >>time for today's trivia question: which state is the

only one to have a double

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time for sports ... derrick rose took the blame for the loss to the miami heat but he said he is already moving on from that ... the chicago bulls' second game of the road trip in washington ... the bulls lead early in the first quarter derrick rose drove a from midcourt and went by everybody for the layout he scored a season-high 35 points. he also had eight assists including this very nice pass to carlos boozer for a back door slam carlos boozer had 18 points and eight rebounds the bulls led the whole game and they won 98- 88 they are off today and they visit philadelphia tomorrow. for the chicago bears introduced phil emery as the fifth general manager in the franchise's

history he signed a five-year deal about a month after jerry angelo was fired he is already dismissed director of player personnel tim ruskell who was a candidate for the general manager's job phil emery said his first order of business is to use free agency to close the talent gap in the division and then focus on the draft ... >>phil emery would not comment on how he would handle the free agent matt forte but he said he had no problem inheriting lovie smith as the head coach ... >>jonathan toews returns from injury justin time for the black hawks 9 game road trip he missed a week with a wrist injury but he will begin in vancouver tonight patrick sharp returned to practice after missing eight games but his return is questionable the hawks just acquired veteran center brendan morrison from the calgary flames and he will begin on the second line the game begins a 9:00

tonight right here on wgn and now the official drawing of the illinois lottery here are the winning pick three numbers: 6 5 9 here are the winning pick four numbers: 0 8 6 4

the power-ball drawing is now at $170 million ... if you have high blood pressure, like me, and get a cold...

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there are reports of a building collapse at 79th and halsted five ambulances have been called to the scene there appears to be

some people being treated at the scene we will have more on the story of when information becomes available ... mcdonald's says that it will no longer use the controversial beef additive critics describe as being slime and its hamburgers ... that's line consists of spare beef trimmings that have been treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria manufacturers use that as a filler to cut costs. pinks line has been linked to dozens of cases of salmonella and e. coli. however the usda said this it is safe to eat taco bell and burger king have also cut pink slime from their recipes ... >>in the medical watch a new type of drug to treat the most common form of skin cancer the fda has approved a drug that will be marketed under the name erivedgde it was developed to

treat advanced forms of basal cell carcinoma it is a pill that works by inhibiting what is known as the hedgehog signaling pathway research shows that when it malfunctions it can lead to development of basal cell carcinoma and other cancers >>when you visit the doctor's office thinner's normally takes her blood pressure in just one arm some researchers now say that testing the blood pressure in both arms as a more accurate indicator of high blood pressure and potential heart disease the study published in the british medical journal the lancet concluded a difference of 15 points between the blood pressure and each arm and that could signal a narrowing or harboring of arteries people with high blood pressure have an increased risk of developing heart disease stroke kidney disease and dementia >>statin is better paid may be

equally effective in men and women a new study is questioning the old belief that cholesterol lowering drugs may not work as well and women researchers at boston's massachusetts g

of texas road house is here with some interesting sounding recipes that are perfect for your super bowl party ... >>these are rattlesnake bites ... they are my favorite super bowl sunday appetizer and easy

to make at home >>go to your local grocery store to find the biggest jalapeno pepper you can find take away the rib and the seed sections when you prepare them, we are going to stuff these with shredded monterey jack cheese. these will be dipped 1/8 batterin batter ... that consists of eggs and flour salt pepper and parmesan cheese and we have some regular milk you mix that with batteret betteratter...

and you tip your stuffed jalapeno pepperdip your stuffed jalapeno pepper and then you roll that into dry bread crumbs. you refrigerate the isthese codedated peppers and you will keep these in the

freezer for 30 minutes before frying them. and this is a different appetizer ... we combine flour with cayenne pepper and i take a thin dill pickle chip makes these into the flour mixture and we deep-fried those 350 degrees three minutes ...

we serve the pickle chips with creamy horseradish sauce with some cajun seasoning ... all of these recipes are on the web site ... wgn tv.com/midday ... and we use the same seasoning in our a mixture to cope some onion but we had a little bit of sugar and wheat dip the dry mix coating the onions into a

buttermilk batter we like to have these onions cut fairly thick and thin strips not rings these are very easy and great for such a party. and you have a fabulous cake ... this was made by our texas roadhouse employees it's not something that we have available all the time but it can be ordered for special occasions.

texas roadhouse is located at 3151 tonti drive in joliet. go to wgntv.com/midday for all the information on these recipes

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only align has bifantis a patented probiotic that naturally helps maintain your digestive balance. try align to help retain a balanced digestive system. try the #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align. only state in the union to have a double sided state flag. this warm-up will last another day or so. the skies are getting cloudy over chicago and the rain is approaching from the southwest ... we have a good chance this afternoon for scattered showers ... 61 will be

the high temperature today 51 the high temperature for tomorrow it will slowly get to the '30's by the weekend there is a chance saturday and sunday may have some cold rain we have a system approaching ... we will get back into the low 40's after monday of next week ... >>thank you so much for joining us today. >>we hope you have a great afternoon. remember we will be back at 5 and again at 9:00.