illinois is pension system remains stuck in a crisis as lawmakers failed to approve a plan to save it good afternoon i'm steve sanders >>and i'm dina bair we welcome our viewers who are watching us around the country on wgn america and on the internet ... tom negovan is live at the state capitol in springfield with details on what happened to

>>i think it's important that everyone knows we're racing against the clock and that we must get this done as soon as possible those rating agencies are poised to decide on our work and we must get that work done and get to the mountaintop ... we have gone part of the way up and a framework that we have worked on has made steady progress over the last several mosfet on pension reform and that's encouraging but clearly we are not there yet >>it's been very ugly these last couple of days ... we need to put all of this aside and get this done ... i have some theories and ideas on this but that doesn't do anyone any good ... >>the plan is now to get that done and bring leaders from both parties together to expand on the framework of a varity agreed upon to get this pension reform

passed ... at least one bond rating agency is watching the situation and considers the illinois rating the worst in the nation this almost makes it worse they have failed to make a deal on pension reform and budget but they did manage to pass a gambling expansion bill let's to the chagrin of the governor he is again urging all lawmakers to keep their eye on the ball very important legislation done ... some new revenue-generating proposals were also approved by state lawmakers. there is a new tax on strip clubs that serve alcohol in hopes of raising money to support rape crisis centers. state budget cutbacks have reduced funding for those centers by more than twenty five percent in the past five years. an attempt to raise license plate fees to get more money for state parks, failed to pass. the measure would have raised fees from the current 98 dollars to one hundred dollars a

year. it would also have charged entrance fees to some public places... bringing in an estimated 15 million dollars the first year alone, for the department of natural resources. the bill passed in the house but it fell just three votes short in the senate. illinois state's attorneys are about to get more power to crack down on gang leaders. the state house passed a bill that makes it easier to prosecute people who enlist others to commit crimes. cook county state's attorney anita alvarez helped write the bill, and mayor emanuel campaigned for it. police superintendent garry mc- carthy says the bill will help police dismantle criminal organizations by letting authorities prosecute their leaders for the actions of their members. the austin district police station looks like a high-end store today... packed with expensive items... all of them stolen. police serving a search warrant for guns on the west side two weeks ago stumbled upon a cache of merchandise worth about 300-thousand dollars. racing bikes, cameras and

musical instruments are among the stuff stolen as recently as a couple months ago and as long as four years ago. a wisconsin contractor recovered his tools this morning. police say burglary victims who can prove ownership can claim items from 10-4 today through monday. big changes are in store for chicago's bus riders and it's good news! the cta is overhauling its entire fleet. wgn's nancy loo is live at the cta garage with all the details... nancy? >>it is a very ambitious plan that will make that overall excuse me overhaul happen it will cost millions of dollars but the city officials insist it will save money in the long run ... mayor emanuel and the cta president forrest claypool boasted of a new and improved plefleet by 2014 ...

>>we will avoid the millions of dollars in additional maintenance that will occur if we do not do this now >>this will cost half a billion dollars the cta will buy 425 new buses for 330 million and rebuild more than 1004 165 million that will belong kate service life and have them operate more efficiently for the oldest buses will go into retirement the fleet includes more articulated buses that will improve the odds of getting a seat during rush-hour ... >>commuters will enjoy that the vehicles will be maintaining comfortable temperatures at all times >>is the basic run of the bill

messed up service so that will improve ... >>this is the biggest overhaul since the public transportation system cut first created in the 1890's >>this will be better for the environment the city says that much of the funding will come from cta sales tax revenues there's no talk of this point about any future fares ... after lengthy deliberations.. a jury hands down a verdict in the john edwards corruptiion trial. what edwards had to say afterwards. a new national spelling be champ is crowned and her father is getting all the credit for her talent. and later, i talk with blues legeng buddy guy about his new memoir... when i left home.

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nine days of jury deliberations produced a not guilty verdict in the trial of former presidential candidate john edwards. he was aquitted of accepting illegal campaign contributions to cover up his affair and love child. other counts. despite being found not guilty, edwards admitted he is not morally innocent. >>i did an awful awful lot that was wrong, and there is no one else responsible for my sins ... federal prosecutors haven't said whether they'll re-file the charges on which the jury deadlocked. more violence in syria...a week after the massacre that left 108 civilians dead... 12 factory workers were hauled off a bus and executed on thursday by pro-government gangs. they were lined up against a wall and shot, said an oppositon group. the u-n human rights chief has called for syria to grant access to investigators. syrian government claims the attacks in houla last week were the work of terrorists. the u-s and british ambassadors to the u-n call syria's claim a lie. defense secretary leon panetta again called upon the international community to demand the resignation of

syrian president bashar al assad. the house of representatives has rejected a bill banning abortions based on the sex of a fetus. the bill would have imposed fines and prison terms on doctors who perform abortions on women trying to choose the gender of their child. 246 house members backed the measure, while 168 voted against it. most republicans supported the bill, and most democrats opposed it. supporters argue the bill protects the civil rights of unborn children. opponents say it's another assault on legalized abortion. friday rush hour will likely be even more hectic as president obama comes to town later today. the president is visiting chicago to attend a series of fundraisers for his re-election campaign. one is at the chicago cultural center, where 350 people are expected to attend with tickets starting at 25-hundred dollars. the other two events are at private homes, to which tickets cost nearly 36-thousand dollars per guest. he's scheduled to leave the city at about noon, tomorrow after spending the night at his home in kenwood.

an eighth-grader from san diego is the new national spelling bee champion. >>guetapens snigdha nandipati won last night by correctly spelling guetapen which means an ambush, snare or trap. she said it was not difficult because she'd seen the winning word before. snigdha credits her father for her talent which began when he would ask her to spell out signs they would see on their daily commute to kindergarten. the day's top business stories our next and is a chemical found in some clothing and furniture also in your peanut butter?

later in the lunchbreak we will be making light and delicious i'm a marathon runner, in absolute perfect physical condition and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue... he was just... "get me an aspirin"... yeah... i knew that i was doing the right thing, when i gave him the bayer. i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. so he's a success

story... [ laughs ] he's my success story. [ male announcer ] learn how to protect your heart at i am proheart on facebook. 3w@%zu@s÷÷h7?/pç@? ;p,?#? uxçñxúpqpñxñófú]pkpvsó+wpo÷iáñ÷pí÷]x÷n0to ñxlñó?ç@@÷/÷p]@zw@o@í@ñxu÷s ó@ñ:o?çwfuxó(wo3÷?lñú:p>ó÷w?÷ow@>nógçñxy uñzío@ñçéwúu@?ñqeçñw?kónsúuñús@óú?pí@pd

bursting with more flavor. [ crunch! ] we're live here from the new york stock exchange ... the jobs number is out and it was really bad the united states created only 69,000 jobs during the month of may far short of what was expected by economists the unemployment rate went up to 8.2% ... that was the smallest number of workers at it in one year the stock market is reacting sharply lower today in trading ... the dow jones erased all gains that we have seen thus far this year ... there are also

due to disappointing manufacturing reports growing at a slower pace last month as factories are scaling back on production and inventories are lowering ... concerns about europe are also playing on the markets ... crude oil is at its lowest level in nearly eight months ... demand for fuel and gas could also be tumbling because of the european debt crisis ... crude oil is now trading at $83 a barrel ... it is hoped it will translate to the easing at the gas pumps for motorists ... donald trump is putting his trump tower apartment on the market for $32 million ... that's the highest asking price

in the chicago area topping the michael jordan highland park property ... still ahead -- could the superbowl be coming to chicago? but first -- blues legend buddy guy stopped by to talk about his new memoir... and music. and speaking of music.. we have live music this midday from chicago's own "3 in counting". they will be performing tonight at the double door.

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you're quite the trendsetter. [ male announcer ] for money-saving coupons go to handrenewal.com. unforgettable experience ... i have had the good fortune of jamming with this blues legend buddy guy. thank you for being

here >>thanks for having me steve it's always a pleasure >>this is real this is a great story ... your arrived in chicago september 1957 with not much money but big dreams ... >>i don't know if you would call it a big dream steve i was the only child of five leaving my mother at the time i knew she was always worried about all of us whether or not we would make it wherever we went ... i was a long way from louisiana we had never been separated them many miles apart before you are here in chicago >>i did want my mother to know i was here a couple of months and hungry ... i heard someone else

tell this story ... but i met a few people where if he went by their house in new you are hungry ... ... the wife would go into the kitchen to eight and keep me company and then the husband would go and eat dinner ... you would play but there would never servia ve you anything >>i would tell people that i was hungry ... but they just wanted

to hear me play ... jimmy reed came to see me in chicago ... people would warn me about chicago about getting mugged ... i was leading a club and he stepped out of a car and he bang to me upside the yearear.. i thought i was getting mugged ... >>he was an early influence but who are some others ... >>t. bone walker b.b. king muddy

waters little walter ... i played with all those guys and i played from the guy that might be learned from muddy waters learn from ... >>all those bluesman ... >>i was disappointed because i could not read music. none of them were able to read music i learned later. >>you were considered a wild

man? >>i stood up and saw that night i had to stand up to play well ... people were wondering ... >>there are lessons here about sticking with convictions in going by your got ... you didn't change your style ... >>chess records wanted me to change my name. they thought it wasn't good enough for a stage name ... b.b. king showed up in 1958 when i saw him i was planning sweet little angel with no record deal ... i told him

they want me to change my name in order to make a record ... he told me i could use his initials ... but i followed my first instinct ... i wanted my mom to know me ... i just couldn't do it. >>i wrote a song about that steve, ... >>we love the book is a wonderful read >>thank you steve we have to get together and play once again >>you can call me anytime buddy >>get ready i have a show in

mind i am putting you up for ... >>stay with us tom skilling is coming up for the weekend for castecasy

you tell us today is the first day of summer ... really? >>mother nature has thrown us a bit of a curve ball but it will begin to feel like summer as the weekend arrives ... yesterday's

temperatures and weather was more of a wet springlike day on like the record breaking spring we have been having that has been unseasonably warm and sunny now here is the big storm with those welcome rain showers ... this has been months in the making ... it has been nice to get the moisture and the accumulations of that grainrain... we can still expect some scattered showers and thunderstorms but we will see some sunbreaks today ... we'll have daytime heating tomorrow with scattered afternoon evening showers and a forecast

for sunday with significant rain coming overnight into monday ... we have had an amazing temperature dropped 97 degrees sunday to 54 degrees that is the biggest drop during the month of may in 59 years here in chicago ... that's an unusual change. we have had been above normal run of sunshine much of the country is beginning to warm up we will have low 60s today we will have low 70's tomorrow low '70's...... great

low 80s on sunday we are sitting in a pool of cool air currently the winds are gusting over 20 mi. an hour in some locations around chicago it will be a breezy afternoon ... humidity 64% the water temperature is down to 62 degrees in lake michigan last year june 1st was 81 degrees here in chicago all of the pollen counts are lower today it will be breezy and warm tomorrow we can expect scattered showers

or thunderstorms late tomorrow the first five days next week will be above normal and we will increase gradually so the first half of june will turn out to be mild and warm temperatures on sunday will go into the 80s ... we will get to see some beach weather before the weekend is over the wind will dominate the weather pattern through tomorrow sunday looks dry most of the day with sunshine but the next system will come in from the northwest bringing sunday night monday morning showers and

thunderstorms. partly cloudy skies beginning tomorrow. thunderstorms ending the weekend sunday evening. we have no advisories' but we do see incredible heat happening in the south west 103 degrees and las vegas is hot northwest indiana seems to be

missing out on some of these rain storms cloudy damp, blaster this afternoon the high will be 62 degrees today 12 degrees better than yesterday plus straight today blustery wind and overcast tomorrow with some rain later it will be warm at the lakefront here's to summer... we are leaning on the hot side of

things we will say... time for today's trivia: what is a plant called that sheds its leaves before winter, or during a dry spell? a.) deciduous. b.) evergreen. c.) temperate.

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time for sports. mayor rahm emanuel wants chicago to host a super bowl... and the nfl isn't completely ruling it out. nfl commissioner roger goodell joined emanuel to recognize soldier field as the first officially certified "green" stadium in the league. new york will host the super bowlutdoors in 2014, and proves chicago can host such an event. soldier field has the smallest capacity in the nfl, but goodell says things like infrastructure would also be considered in any future bid. former bulls and notre dame baseketball player orlando woolridge, has died. woolridge was drafted in 1981, and played in chicago for five seasons. he also played for several other teams until his retirement in 1994. woolridge suffered from a chronic heart condition, and was pronounced dead at his parent's home in louisiana last night. he was 52. cubs president theo epstein denies a report that he would be willing to trade short stop starlin castro. "usa today" quotes two cubs officials saying everyone except jeff samardzija is available for a trade.

epstein says there's no truth to it, and the team is looking to build around castro. the cubs start a ten- game road trip in san francisco tonight on wgn. while the white sox host seattle. blackhawks forward patrick sharp recently returned from the hockey world championships and visited kids at an elementary school in lagrange park yesterday. the visit was a reward for them collecting donations for goodwill. of course, sharp was asked about his teammate patrick kane and the recently- posted pictures of him partying. sharp says kane is a good kid... he's not concerned about him, and he'll always stand by him. that's a look at sports. your live illinois lottery drawing is next.

here are the winning pick three numbers: 0 1 1 the power ball jackpot is up $164 million here are the winning pick four numbers: 4 6 7 5

[ crack of bat ] ball. ball. [ crack of bat ] [ male announcer ] hanging out with cal has its benefits... so does taking one a day men's. go to stayinthegame.com to enter for a chance to meet me and watch the 2013 mlb all star game.

in today's medwatch.. poison in

your peanut butter? a new study found flame retardant chemicals in many popular food items. reasearchers at the university of texas school of public health tested foods from dallas-area supermarkets-- including fish, meats, and peanut butter. of the 36 foods tested, 15 had detectable levels of a flame retardant. the chemical is used in thermal insulation, electrical equipment and consumer products. researchers say the levels found are not dangerous but further studies should be conducted. eating dark chocolate every day for 10 years, could lower the chances of heart attacks and strokes in some high-risk patients... says, a new study published in the british medical journal. researchers predicted the effects in 2000 people who were at a high risk of getting heart disease. the results are shown for only dark chocolate containing at least 60 to 70 percent cocoa... and not milk or white chocolate. caution is advised against sugar or calorie intake over an extended period.

lunchbreak is next. we are making some spicy shrimp paired with a cool gazpacho shooter. [ kate ] most women may not be properly absorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about

absorption. [ sponge ] this season's new beauty trend? hands that feel soft and silky smooth! ooh...she's got the look. what's her secret? the gloves? dawn? i don't believe it. [ male announcer ] it's a dishwashing sensation... dawn hand renewal with olay beauty. it contains revitalizing proteins to help smooth skin on hands -- improving their look and feel in just five uses. [ sponge ] soft, smooth... fabulous! you're quite the trendsetter. [ male announcer ] for money-saving coupons

go to handrenewal.com. it's time for a lunchbreak... executive chef carol buckantz from hilton indian lakes resort is back with us today. it smells delicious here ...

today we are making cajun shrimp ... 16-20 sauteed in a pan with cajun seasoning you can do this in advance or have them chilled... gazpacho has lots of veggies with spices and garlic some people add bread to make it decker we will keep this a little bit thin ... we will put this in a shooter glass to serve

i am putting the chopped vegetables and to a food processor you can and v-8 juice or tomato juice ... and certainly tabasco ... you can add other spices for more heat ... worcesertershire sauce garlic .... process this. this will get to a soupy consistency. you don't want this to be a thick puree.

it will be smoothed... i will pour this into a pitcher and you can find these shot glasses and at most party stores or glassware retailers ... pour the soup into these shot glasses and a reserve on a tray for serving >>such a great idea ... >>this recipe will make 20 or 25 and he will garnish that with

shrimp. this year we are doing a father's day brunch featuring beer. dad food good barbecue and carving station.... last year we had a great big crowd and we are doing a repeat we have a new shrimp tempura appetizer made with rice flour betteratter the seafood bisque is

popular as well we have an amazing recipe that people come from all over to taste and we have some great deserts f. french apple tart with vanilla ice cream ... and in death by chocolate hilton indian lakes resort is located at 250 w. schick road in bloomingdale. and for more information on today's recipe or to watch the segment again.. log on to: wgntv.com/midday.

and now the answer for today's trivia question: what is a plant called that sheds its leaves before winter, or during a dry spell? a.) deciduous. b.) evergreen. c.) temperate. the answer: deciduous.

we had some nice rain overnight and we needed that ... the northern and central sections of the chicago area were hit with the heaviest rainfall here are some accumulation totals: the drop-off was in the southern suburbs... the buffalo grove reading is questionable but currently it's 54 degrees in gary indiana ... 58 degrees in naperville ... and there are those clouds ... and fox lake has clouds in the area as well

we have another system allowing warmer air this afternoon will go into the low 60s by tomorrow we will see low to mid 70's and then low to mid '80s on sunday and monday the warmest year next week will be wednesday and thursday the temperatures are definitely in a warming. 12-15 degrees above normal ... we will be in the '70s tuesday wednesday with a some land from the lake wind conditions off the lake ... we will have a world-renowned climate scientist from the university of illinois speaking at an event this weekend

thanks for joining us today. we hope you have a great weekend... we leave you with more music from chicago's own "3 in counting" they'll be performing tonight at the double door.