oose taste. choose prego. a new year and a new management as the cubs open their season at wrigley field players and fans are especially optimistic about the season had ... good afternoon i am steve sanders >>and i'm dina bair wgn's sports director dan roan is live now at the friendly confines >>it is good good weather for opening day we have had lots of rain and the past five years but today bright blue skies on the north side of chicago is windy

and it's coming right over the top of the scoreboard ... the ballpark looks great the ivy is popping on the walls that's unheard of this time of year ... i heard in the private owners corporate party bison was served ... >>my wife growing up was a cubs fan her mother and father were big cubs fans that's a very special thing ... being in a place where you have 40,000 people behind you all the time i feel it will be lots of fun out there i wanted to go smoothly today >>it's christmas new year's and your birthday all wrapped up

into one day that's opening day for me ... >>jeff baker is having a special opening day he is in the starting lineup he is one of the best utility man in baseball he will start at first base ... he was a rookie playing third base in colorado about six years ago we began at about 1230 everyone is looking forward to baseball season 2012. wrigley field. comic legend to bill murray is at wrigley field today taking part in the festivities he will be throwing out the first pitch >>what are your realistic expectations for the cubs

>>i expect them to go all the way i expect them to win the central and the national league championship and the world series ... here is bill murray in earlier days and he keeps coming back for more in addition to the first pitch he is also singing the seventh inning stretch you can catch your live coming up on channel 9. it will begin 12:30 p.m. central ... you can see a on wgn america beginning at 12:30 p.m. central with the show next year is here followed at 1:00 by the washington nationals against the chicago cubs and assault weapons ban in cook county can be challenged in court tonya francisco is live at the thompson center with the story >>the court issued a 21 page ruling this morning that

basically allows the lawsuit that challenges cook county is assault weapons ban to go forward ... the county oppose the ban in 1993 but extended into thousand six ... gun rights advocates argued that it was too vague and it violated second amendment rights ... today the illinois supreme court ruled that the lower courts were wrong to throw out the lawsuit challenging that banned and now they want to see the assault weapons get the same second amendment rights as handguns ... >>we want another chance at the argument ... and the issue of equal protection and the supreme court upheld that we accept it but the core of this argument is whether or not fire arms like this are something special and

that was upheld so we get to start over >>gun rights advocates will be victorious in that evidentiary harry hearing so he believes, and high-school honors student was shot and killed in 2007 on a cta bus and the law was named after him ... it's integral to the overarching safety of the community according to officials >>prospective jurors will fill out questionnaires to tecca county criminal court where jury selection is beginning in the trial of the man accused of killing three members of singer jennifer hudson's family. 30 year-old william balfour is accused of shooting and killing jeff rutzen smother brother and 7 year-old nephew her brother

jason and her mother darnell donerson were found dead in the family's south side, and october 2008. the body of her nephew julian king was found three days later on the west side in jason hanson's as you the a former police officer will be sentenced today for the attempted murder for chicago police officers howard morgan as a former police officer for the burlington northern santa fe railway line in february 2005 he was pulled over for an alleged traffic violation chicago police officers claim that morgan discharge his weapon and shot an 28 times his first-round it with a mistrial in the second when he was convicted ... >>it should never have gone to a second trial ... at this hour the court hearing continues we will bring you more on the sentencing on the wgn news at 5:00 >>anti-war protesters will be

allowed to march during the nato summit after all demonstrators now have an approved protest route on the first day of next month's summit they will begin at the potential in grant park marched through loop and end up at mccormick place for world leaders will be meeting. the city finalize the protestor out last night but it could change if the secret service declares a path is unsafe and city officials have rejected a request to back the protesters of the secret service blocks them from getting near mccormick place >>when chicago's public housing high-rises were torn down residents were given vouchers to move into private apartments. and new study found that in neighborhoods with a higher concentration of archer holders crime increase by 21 percent but during that same period from 2000-2008 crime actually went down across the city researchers at the never its most effective run chicago's south and west sides a c h a spokesperson said

that support for voucher holders has improved over the years and is now a model for other cities planning to tear down public housing >> the cta and the c t u average agreement and the alarm reports that 75 percent of the union had to approve a strike but it's too early in negotiations to talk about a strike in the future coming next at noon jerry sandusky goes before a judge to request that a child sex abuse charge against him be dropped and watch out mac users we're cracking

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former penn state asistant football coach will be in court

today; as his lawyers argue to dismiss child sex abuse charges against him. 68 year old sandusky faces more than 52 counts involving sexual acts with boys dating back to 19-94. his attorneys claims those charges are vague and non- specific. prosecutors claim he met some of his accusers through a charity he created for underpriviliged children. sandusky has pleaded not guilty and remains under house arrest until his trial begins june 5th. connecticut is one step closer to becoming the next state to abolish the death penalty. after ten hours of debate.. the connecticut senate voted early today to repeal the death penalty.. and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of parole. the measure now moves to the connecticut house, where it's expected to pass. governor dannel malloy has promised to sign the bill into law. illinois, new jersey, and new mexico have all abolished the death penalty in recent years.. and new york's death penality law was declared un- constitutional. sky news in england is acknowledging today it hacked into peope's email accounts. the station says it allowed an employee to access the email's

of people suspected of criminal activity... in a case where a man faked his own death. it also says it let a journalist access the email of a suspected pedophile and his wife. these revelations come after a phone-hacking scandal brought down the "news of the world" tabloid. these developments have also seriously damaged the reputation of rupert murdoch. his son recently resigned as chairman of sky news' parent company. a nationwide salmonella outbreak sickens eight people in illinois. there have been 93 reported cases in 19 states and d-c. five of those cases came from chicago. health officials have not yet confirmed the source of the infections. many of those affected said they ate sushi or similar food before the symptoms began. ten people have been hospitalized but no deaths have been reported. illinois health officials are not advising people to avoid any specific foods. the day's top business stories are coming next ... and imagine your smart phone right in front of your eyes google will be

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new york stock exchange with the on the money report ... the weekly jobless claims showed that companies are holding off on firing people in big numbers ... last week 57,000 americans filed for unemployment benefits in that number is holding steady at a four year low ... and the employment report comes out tomorrow ... there's prediction that the labor force has expanded by about 4% as people are getting a little bit more bullish on the economy ... we will have to see what happens tomorrow ... even though the stock market will be closed in

observance of good friday we will get the jobs report ... other markets will be open such as the currency and bond markets ... cupon cabin is offering prescription got drug coupons ... shoppers can now save money on popular medications like lipotor ... and mac computers worldwide have been infected with malicious software designated to steal personal information and russian cyber security firm has issued the warning most of the victims were in the united states and canada ... it is a trojan software known as flash back if you believe your computer was infected apple issued a fixed for mac users

stocks are trading lower for the third day in a row that's the latest look at business from the york stock exchange google has revealed its new gadget called reality glasses a video released by the company yesterday gives people a glimpse of what life would look like through the high-tech shades. like a smart phone attached to your head everything is just a tap away. the glasses can snap photographs initiate video chap's and give directions at the sound of the user's voice. there are made by the same team that is developing self driven cars online reaction to the glasses has already been hit with many people asking where they can purchase a pair the digital glasses are still being tweaked and tested and are not yet available in stores.

nancy loo will be the first in the wgn newsroom to have a pair i am sure of that we will be right

time for sports: baseball is back on the northside as the cubs start the season against the washington nationals at wrigley. coverage starts right here on wgn in just a few minutes... but first... ozzie guillen's marlins started the m-l-b season last night against the cardinals. no score in the first, when world series hero david freese doubles in two runs... he was three- for- five. saint louis adds on in the next inning... rafael furcal goes up the middle for another run. the defending world series champions beat the marlins in their new stadium, 4-1. derrick rose may finally return to the court tonight. he went through an entire practice yesterday and took contact. coach thibodeau says rose is a game- time decision, but rose was non-committal after practice. the bulls and celtics tip off at 8:30 tonight at the united center.

jonathan toews will not make his return tonight in minnesota. he will miss his 21-st straight game with a concussion. toews is traveling with the team, though, so there is a chance he plays in the regular season finale in detroit on saturday. center dave bolland will also miss tonight's game with an upper body injury. good afternoon everyone lots of people are gathering at wrigley field for the big cubs home opener last year we were at 46 degrees for opening day to day we will be at 49 degrees with the northeast wind blowing and lots of sunshine all of the rain is passing to the sesouth.. but the canadian pressure will keep the rain at bay

we will see note rain any time in the short-term forecast but there are 11 states under frost and freeze advisories' and there are warnings for thunderstorms downstate and they're expecting snowstorms in montana and the coming days here in chicago it will remain in the 40's today ... looking at the northern suburbs ... and an overdue indiana cockpit kankakee and valparaiso will experience frost conditions tonight ... and over at wrigley field is cool out there now the wind is blowing from the northeast and it will continue the costs will go from 17-24 mi. per hour at the time of opening pitch it will be around 49 degrees ... we have had wind gusts of 34 mi.

per hour ... here are some of the regional temperatures 38 degrees in kenosha right now we're in the 40's and 50's and various parts of the city of the lakefront is of course cooler we are 48 at midway airport right now. we are 2 mi. up the road from wrigley field here at the wgn's studios and you can see on the live camera we have some windy conditions out there much of the midwest is cooler than it was 24 hours ago by about seven degrees ... we are applauding the readings out to the western suburbs there in the

'50s otherwise we are in the 40's closer to lake michigan is cool out there we have been a wind blowing from the northeast and that will last into tomorrow temperatures may get to the '60s this easter weekend ... there is some warming on the way the midi is 58% here is the jet stream polling the canadian cooler air into the area as we look at the matt the buckle and the jet stream may bring showers to the area by saturday night's we have sprawling high pressure in the meantime showing us the extent

of this system that's bringing all of that wind ... on the weekend we will get southerly wind ... easter sunday the wind will go northwest with a gorgeous day here in chicago and last 14 years we have had freezing temperatures as late as may let's look at next week: a new pattern this year the call there will be spelling and making things really

please stand by. please stand by. please stand by. ... there is a freeze watch tonight around chicago metropolitan area away from the late not so much in the city the inland temperatures will be 30 in the far western suburbs 42 degrees in the loop and at the lakefront

on saturday we will be warming up with a height of 66 degrees sunday will be beautiful with sunshine 63 degrees monday 54 degrees overcast skies showers and tuesday we will be into the lower 50s with a cool wet week ahead we thank you so much for joining us today ... the cubs baseball is coming up right after the special " next year is here " thanks for joining us

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