m. extreme heat and a severe drought.... the combination is detrimental to crops and people, but also your home. good 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. wgn's tonya francisco is live with what every homeowner needs to know. tonya: this is the worst drought that we have seen since 1962 we've seen the impact it's having on the grass and the trees but one place that's not always apparent as the foundation of your home the lack of moisture in the soil can cause her

foundation to settle shift or crack when that happens you must call and the professionals ... it's not the sound and homeowner wants to hear the sound of a jackhammer in your basement it but it can happen and not all cases are as severe when that happens you need to figure out that the longer the problem goes unaddressed the bigger the problem will get ... >>by the house moving it can crack by the soil pulling away from home there are gaps for water to travel down along the foundation and into the home ... >>how long will it take to fix something like this >>it depends on the nature of the problem is simple crack can be repaired for a few hundred dollars interior or exterior but in this case this customer had a more widespread problem where we had to remove the basement flooring and install a drainage

system and a submersible pump ... >>that can cost thousands of dollars and a home is at risk for having this sort of problem old or new city or suburb all homes are at risk your best bet is to be proactive when you see a problem call professional immediately the excessive heat has prompted illinois officials to revive a program that helps families cool their homes. $10 million has been set aside for the low-income home energy assistance program. funds are available to homes with senior citizens young children or someone in poor health... with an income of no more than 50% above the federal poverty line. people can apply for assistance until july 27th by calling: 877-411-9276 a railroad employee asked for a track inspection right before that deadly freight train derailment in glenview earlier this month. 28 cars of a union pacific train jumped the tracks along

shermer road.. causing the bridge to collapse. burton and zorine lindner were found dead in their car in the rubble beneath the bridge the next day. at a meeting last night.. union pacific officials said an employee responsible for maintenance called a track inspector to check out the area.. but the inspector didn't arrive before the derailment. railroad officials blame the derailment on extreme heat that caused a kink in the rails. defiant gang members appear to be sending a message about crime-fighting efforts on the west side. police say they vandalized officer's personal cars outside a police station. wgn's amy rutledge is live at the 10th district station in the lawndale neighborhood with the story. amy: >>police confirmed between 10 and 15 cars were vandalized overnight ... these are officers personal vehicles and not their scorecards there were attacked with graffiti and scratched ... there were in the east and the

west lots of the 10th district ... the mayor announced last week that this is a target for a gang and drug crime-fighting initiatives we spoke to people around the police station many said more needs to be done we spoke to a storeowner that was robbed at gunpoint a few weeks ago he agreed more people need to be out on the street ... >>they're more worried about drugs and stuff like that but people are getting shot innocent people are getting shot and the police is not doing enough about that ... >>we spoke with the chicago crime commission about this overnight property damage to these police officers vehicles >>they say that it's not uncommon to see this happening when they're having impact on a

place with great violence ... we spoke to a number of business owners and people in the area who were afraid to go on camera they say they're afraid of retaliation and that in itself is a problem because it is difficult for witnesses to come forward with any information ... police are still looking for a man they say robbed two banks in the suburbs within hours of each other. both happened on sunday. this is the man who investigators say approached a tcf bank teller in the jewel- osco on south mannheim road in westchester around 11:00 a.m. he handed the teller a note demanding money, and implied he had a gun. police believe a second person was with the robber and got away with a bag of cash. about three hours later ... a tcf bank at a jewel-osco in schaumburg was held up. the robber also handed the teller a note and hinted that he had a gun. a former lake county judge is

cleared of d.u.i. charges, but was convicted of resisting and obstructing a police officer. the daily herald says david hall was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and fined a thousand dollars yesterday. prosectors argued hall was drunk when a vernon hills police officer pulled him over 4 years ago. he was pepper-sprayed when he refused to get out of his car. hall's attorneys successfully fought to have evidence showing his blood alcohol level above the legal limit thrown out. the chicago police department is paying millions in overtime to keep officers on the street to fight a spike in summer violence. a police spokeswoman says more than 200 additional officers are out on patrol thanks to the overtime initiative. she says the total tab for summer overtime could hit $14 million. the money is already budgeted and is about the same amount that's been spent in previous summers. but this year, the police department says a big increase in homicides is forcing it to spend the money in what it calls a more "targeted" way.

exapnding a gunshop... a hearing will be held tonight on whether to allow a gun shop in lincolnwood to open a new indoor shooting range. "shore galleries" wants to build the new facility just a few steps from the chicago city limits, and from the campus of school district 74. current law prohibits gun shops within a half mile of a school, park or residence. but if passed, a new zoning law will reduce that area to 800 ft. people around the world can now get an education at the university of illinois... for free. this fall, the university will offer seven free online courses to an unlimited number of students. courses include organic chemistry... microeconomics... and programming for smartphones. the urbana-champaign campus is just one of many universities that have offered courses on the web; however, these courses won't count toward a degree. coming up next: the search for two young girls from iowa who disappeared friday. plus: a deadly shooting in canada after a house party turned violent. and: a relative of george zimmerman makes serious allegations against the accused neighborhood watchman.

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families of two missing iowa girls are hoping for the best but bracing for the worst. the young cousins.. 8 year-old elizabeth collins, and 10 year- old lyric cook.. disappeared friday during a bike ride in

evansdale, iowa. their bikes were found later at a nearby lake. authorities dragged the lake on sunday, then began draining it yesterday.. hoping to rule out the site. about a thousand volunteers came out saturday and sunday to help search for the girls. it's as though they disappeared into thin air in broad daylight >>it's baffling to figure out the pieces to this puzzle looking at it just doesn't make sense ... the families are cooperating fully with the investigation. authorities say there are no signs of foul play, and they're treating it as a missing persons case. they've suspended the volunteer search effort for now, saying that adding more people would not help at this point. a witness who was interviewed in the case against george zimmerman ... has accused him of sexually abusing her as a child. recorded testimony from the woman known as "witness 9" was released yesterday. she also claimed zimmerman's family was racist. witness 9 is reportedly zimmerman's cousin.

>>growing up he and his family always made statements rick guarding black people that they don't like black people if they don't behave like white people ... she claims zimmerman sexually abused her when they were children for about a decade. zimmerman's lawyer says her testimony is irrelevant and inadmissible. zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of trayvon martin. a young man and woman were killed and 20 other people were hurt -- including a baby -- when shooting broke out overnight at a street party in toronto. one of those injured in the shooting is now in police custody as a "person of interest". investigators say it's too early to say what prompted the shooting at a barbecue block party. many of those injuried were hurt in the panic that followed the shots fired. the city takes pride in its relatively low crime rate as opposed to united states cities and it takes pride in that statistic ...

the c.e.o. of a security contractor who recently acknowleged he won't be able to provide enough guards for the olympic games in london, faces harsh questioning from british lawmakers today. nick buckles was awarded a $444 million contrat to supply more than 10,000 guards. but, he said only 4,000 are trained and ready so far. he told british legislators today that he regrets signing the contract. lawmakers were outraged he still wants an $89 million management fee. republican presidential candidate mitt romney plans to campaign today in the pittsburgh area.. where he's expected to step up his criticism president obama over alleged favoritism in federal grants and loan guarantees. a super-pac backing romney brought in 20 million dollars last month. the pac is called "restore our future".. and its june fundraising was way up from the previous month, when it raised just over four and half million. the big increase is due in large part to a ten million dollar donation from a casino owner. president obama turns 51 on august 4th.. and he'll be celebrating his birthday here in chicago.

the obama campaign says for three dollars or more.. supporters will get a chance to be one of the guests at the president's birthday bash by being entered into a raffle. this year's chicago celebration probably won't have quite the pizzazz of last year white house birthday barbecue in the rose garden.. where stevie wonder jay-z, tom hanks and other celebrities were in attendance. coming up next: the best jobs for women. also ahead: a shock to the tech world.... yahoo introduces their new c.e.o. and later in lunchbreak: we're making a classic italian seafood pasta dish: "frutti di mare" the folks from villagio ristorante in roselle are here!

hsbc did business with firms linked to drug cartels and terrorisms and iran ... there were details of lax controls at affiliate's of the bank around the world ... there were grilled at a hearing in washington today with a expressed remorse ... on four flights from amsterdam to the united states on sunday delta air lines reports that it is taking a matter seriously where it found sewing needles and some of the food on board flights ... at 37 years old person meyer brings a legacy of engineering

expertise from google to your who where she has been appointed the new ceo ... and women continue to earn 82¢ on every male dollar ... the highest paid job is that of a pharmacist lawyers computer information systems managers and doctors also pay well as professions for women ... fed chairman ben bernanke told congress ... relieving stress can have a major impact on your brain. trib u's jenniffer weigel is here with advice on how to soothe our worries.

>>some of this can lead to addiction ... when any organ experiences stress ... pleasure centers of the brain look for triggers ... >>sometimes you want to indulge excessively and at what ever your choice ... >>according to scientists these trigger spire nonstop when you are under stress >>there's a book by aren't known

doctor about ways to actively trigger certain pleasure centers in the brain ... >>in for-6 weeks you can see a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol but you have to learn how to identify triggers and self suitoothe.... >>the important thing is to get control. if you give back or to volunteer that increases the level of oxytocin in the brain ... the stress can be promoted by fear we need to embrace some of this

to get through its >>the brain is a huge organ we is less than 5% on a daily basis >>limiting your thinking will reduce stress ... all it means is retraining the brain to adopt certain positive confident coping mechanisms ... >>lets both take a deep breath ... >>i prefer the other form of meditation that involves a little bit of exercise ... >>thank-you jennifer weigel

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a chemical that raises the risks of cancer is found in sauk village's drinking water. wgn's nancy loo is live in sauk village with details: there will be a special board meeting here this afternoon followed by a special public meeting here at 7:00 this evening there is no way to trace the source of contamination and that means an inconvenient way of life ... washing dishes is one of the few ways this woman uses tap water provided by the village like many residents here she's aware that the water is polluted >>you need to buy the water to cook you can't drink it we of to make coffee with bottled water i don't drink the water here >>spending over $50 a month on bottled water has her making plans to move her family elsewhere when she can ... off the illinois environmental protection agency has outlined the problem vinyl chloride is in

the water at a dangerous level ... >>we're doing everything possible we are working with the attorney general and other agencies to comply we want to ensure that the wells and the water that we provide the citizens will be healthy ... >>while there is minimal risk with daily exposure and just enough vinyl chloride over decades can increase the risk of cancer the problem first surfaced one year ago and " boiled over years ago when the well into the camp chemical was disabled that's commonly used in making plastics ... but now there are two other wells that are suspect ... >>now find doubt there are still contaminants in the other two wells is troubling and ridiculous >>residents are anchored over high water bills with this

threatening substance still there ... >>they ought to be subsidizing what we're doing here it's a lot on our budgets ... >>there's a referendum to build a new system to tap water from lake michigan it will take time to build and it made double the expenditures for consumers in their water bills ... right now they're being urged not to drink the water here's a further breakdown on the dangers of vinyl chloride: it's used mostly to make polyvinyl chloride plastic products. it's a colorless, flammable gas that has a mild, sweet odor. the chemical can enter the air soil and groundwater if it's not disposed of properly. if you breathe high levels of it, it can make you lightheaded and give you a headache. it may increase risks of miscarriages or birth defects in pregnant women.

>>still to come this midday our tom skilling has an update on the we

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it is very hot out there our reporters out in the field are wilting and things are pretty dry >>this is the most expansive drought since 1956 across the country and it's very telling ... the crops are bad. half of the illinois corn crop is in poor condition 70% or more in the state of indiana ... the weather has taken its toll on

our crops the last thing we need our crop failures in this terrible economy in the midwest ... the clouds in the sky may sparked scattered thunderstorms before the front arrives we will have a fifth day of 100 degree temperatures this is quite a benchmark it's the second greatest number of 100 degree- days in one single year in 142 years of record keeping their 16 states under excessive heat advisory's major population centers like detroit cleveland indianapolis and grand rapids milwaukee chicago quad cities

st. louis and so forth ... and there are thunderstorms advisory's out to the west we would love those to come here here are the thermometer readings ... there will slide to these southern areas tomorrow so the temperatures could drop here from these triple digits ... 110 degrees in kansas city 102 degrees in san louis 100 degrees in colombia missouri ... we could see some moisture spinning jump into the cooler air to the north that may generate thunderstorms for

chicago we live in hope ... it's the hottest year more than anywhere in the country ... we are looking in a near triple digits out at o'hare ... there is no lake priuses at the shoreline today the heat indexes are well over 100 degrees. 90 degrees in green bay wisconsin ... there are temperature drops happening over the last 24 hours however that's happening from the northwest we're looking for northeasterly winds to close down tomorrow the heat index is exactly 100

we're looking at some of the local thermometer readings lincoln park is near 100 degrees it is the 31st day of 90 degree plus temperatures ... is looking dry in places like harvard northbrook and schaumburg. please be careful with your barbeques and your cigarettes. here is the weather map we see

this storms traversing the upper midwest the national weather service calls this the worst drought since the '50s let's take a look at some of these summer season rain totals ... we're looking at a front coming into the area later tonight that may give us some scattered thunderstorms.

these can pop up in the greater chicago area. we may have a shot at additional showers and thunderstorms for tomorrow night and for thursday the heat will research over the weekend ... the high temperature today will be 100 degrees than normal is 84 degrees ... it will still be humid tomorrow with scattered thunderstorms mostly cloudy on thursday also

the possibility of thunderstorms. more later. time for today's trivia: on this day in 1924, in which olympic sport did future baby doctor benjamin spock win a gold medal? a. rowing b. badminton c. sailing the answer is ahead in thi [ 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. sweetie, you have to scrub it first. no you don't, honey. yes, you do! don't! i've washed a few cupcake tins in my day... oh, so you're a tin expert now. whoa nelly! hi, kitchen counselor here. he's actually right... with cascade complete. see cascade complete pacs work like thousands of micro-scrubbing brushes

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time for sports: ozzie guillen returns to chicago for the first time tonight, but it will be on the northside for a three- game series between the cubs and marlins. kevin youkilis got a standing ovation in his first game in boston since the trade. he's on first when adam dunn grounds out... but youkilis sees no one is covering third base, so he keeps running... the throw is bad, and he ends up scoring... he was 3 for 4. dylan axelrod gave up the tying run, but he strikes out the side in the fourth, and had eight strike outs. it's still tied at 1 run in the eighth, and with two men on, adrian gonzalez homers over the green monster. the white sox lose their first of four games in boston, 5-1. phil humber returns from the disabled list for game 2 tonight, but gavin floyd might go to the d-l with forearm tendinitis. cubs legend ron santo gets inducted into the baseball hall of fame this week, but the celebration started yesterday. the 16th annual "ron santo golf experience" has already raised more than a million dollars for

diabetes research. current and former cubs were there, along with santo's wife, vicki, who will deliever his acceptance speech in cooperstown. >>he knew about his numbers and knew he was good enough to be the best to was proud of his career proud of his broadcasting career this is the culmination the icing on the cake for the fans and for all of us it's a happy closer. wgn news will have reports from cooperstown beginning tomorrow night the coverage will culminate sunday at 930 central with a special ... your live illinois lottery drawing is next

good afternoon here are the midday drawing numbers here are the winning pick three numbers: 7 7 1 the mega-millions jackpot is $20 million. here are the winning pick four numbers: 7 6 9 4

in medical watch: a call to increase the recommended daily allowance of vitamin c. researchers say there's compelling evidence that the r- d-a of vitamin c should be raised to 200 milligrams per day for adults.. up from current levels of 75 milligrams for women and 90 for men. the researchers say a 200- milligram dose of vitamin c daily could help reduce heart disease, cancer and stroke. they argue the current r-d-a is less than half what it should be because medical experts insist on evaluating the nutrient the same way they do pharmaceutical drugs.. and as a result reach faulty conclusions. gold may have therapeutic as well as monetary value. university of missouri scientists have come up with a new treatment for prostate tumors.. combining radioactive gold nano-particles and a compound found in tea tea leaves. they say the gold and tea treatment could be much less harmful that chemotherapy because it requires much lower doses.. and it travels directly to the source of the tumor rather than spreading throughout the body. the researchers say the new treatment would not be a substitute for chemo but

perhaps an aid to existing therapies. a common type of dental filling is being linked to slight behavioral problems in children. a new study finds that children who received composite fillings had slightly worse social behavior five years later than kids who had other types of fillings. the researchers say the tooth- colored composite fillings may release the chemical known as "bpa".. which is linked to depression and stress in children. bpa has also been widely used in plastic food containers and other products. environmental groups say it should not be used in any products children use. lunchbreak is next. we're learning how to prepare a classic seafood pasta dish called "frutti di mare" ok! who gets occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

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it's time for a lunchbreak... in today's "lunchbreak".... we're making a pasta dish perfect for summer: "frutti di mare". filiberto jimenez is the owner of villaggio ristorante in roselle. he runs the restaurant with his family, brothers edgar and hugo ... thanks for joining us. >>you are welcome it is a pleasure ... >>i love the story you have ... you have put your talents together working and all aspects of the restaurant business ... >>we are family owned and operated >>with a concentration on fresh food items ... >>fresh ingredients ...

>>someone happen to be in the restaurant and told me that you had the best mussels.... >>thank you with this dish it's very healthy olive oil garlic, white wine....... we brown the garlic first in the pan with the oil ...... we have shrimp jumbos, fresh calamari we buy the whole

calamari and cut it into 1 half inch rings, we also add giant scallops and crab legs, we cook this for about 10 minutes and then we incorporate the rest of the ingedients.... plum tomatoes clam juice white

wine we have cooke dthe pasta se [parately we use whole weheat pasta and we serve gluten-free options as we ll..... here is the finished product:

>>that looks delicious! but we do lots of events at the restaurant we have a wind dinner where we featured two different winery's ... ... we have september 1st a special dinner for opera lovers ... filiberto, edgar and hugo, thanks so much for joining us. the family-run establishment villagio ristorante, is located at: 1242 west lake street in roselle. to learn more, go to: villaggio online.com for today's recipe or to watch the segment again, log on to:

wgntv.com/midday.

time now for the answer to today's trivia question: on this day in 1924, in which olympic sport did future baby doctor benjamin spock win a gold medal? a. rowing b. badminton c. sailing the answer: a. rowing. quite a career >>it is hot out there. if you are health-conscious you need to pace yourself and keep those fluids going stay hydrated. we are on our way to the fifth 100 degree day of this season ... the heat index readings are well

over 100 today we will be at 100 degrees on the thermometer as well tomorrow we will return to the '80s and '90s in the southern and western suburbs ... on thursday we will be in the 80's and '70's at the lakeshore ... in the far southern suburbs eric a addition mall chances of thunderstorms ... we hope to get some of that tonight here in chicago in scattered areas especially to the north we expect to see thunderstorms' overnight ... scattered thunderstorms could develop in the pre-dawn hours

tomorrow we will be hot and humid today we have a colder front passing tonight ... we have above normal rainfall predicted over the next several days but it is not an even distribution of rainfall ... we will keep an eye on this the 7 day forecast has temperatures going up to 90 degrees tomorrow we're into the '80s on thursday and friday and we will heat back up over the weekend into the upper 90s we are doing the rain dance thanks for joining us today. we hope you have a