in just five days, drew peterson's murder trial begins.... he's in court this midday for a pre-trial hearing. 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 amy rutledge is live in joliet with details on today's hearing:

drew peterson walked into the courtroom looking the same ... he had the same confidence he glanced at us with a sly smile ... he is on trial for the murder of his wife kathleen savio ... this is an evidentiary hearing both sides are gearing what are to be permissible in court as evidence ... there's an animated video that the state wants to produce to argue its case against him along with certain witness statements ... defense attorneys cannot give us many details but what everyone is concerned about is jury selection people were assembled to two years ago when this initially began with all the attention the case has garnered sense including a made for television movie the judge concedes that sitting a jury will not be easy ...

>>you don't know the effects of that movie ... things like that can make picking a jury difficult ... they may have lost a third of the original jury pool ... questionnaires had been sent to the original pool defense prosecutors all getting the questionnaires back today ... we have a starkly seen drew peterson march in and out of this court house we are told that we will not see that anymore will only see him in the courtroom ... the family of kathleen savio will also be present in the court room they say they're looking forward to this trial beginning they said

they haven't had a chance to grieve for their loved one they hope the trial will help ... chicago public school officials and the chicago teachers union are expected to reject the non- binding recommendations of an independent arbitrator.. as his report is released to both sides today. wgn's tonya francisco reports: >>jean-claude brizard said that he hoped the report would help the two sides find middle ground in negotiating but what came back was clearly a disappointment ... the arbitrator's called for the teachers to get a very big race little more than 35% during the next four years mainly because of a longer school days ... officials say that will push the district deeper in debt the cps faces $665 million in deficit the raises in the first year alone would cost the district into a $30 million forcing 4000

teacher layoffs ... >>thank you for the report ... the cps in the cpu will have to do the tough work to come to agreement ... that 35 percent increase is not tethered to reality ... >>board members should have realized that teachers should of been fairly compensated for more hours of work ... the teachers were also criticized for not acknowledging how well they were compensated in the last contract at a time the economy had been changing ... people fear a strike is inevitable if an agreement cannot be reached ... >>i don't agree that we haven't moved it is a difficult conversation but it is ongoing

we're meeting every day to try and make this happen ... >>brizard said he is pushing his board members to reject the plan he cannot afford it ... there's a cpu press conference later after the meeting today ... karen lewis says that the mayor needs to compromise if he wants to avoid it teacher strike she said she has the authority to call that in 30 days ... president obama is announcing plans today to recognize and reward top educators. the president's plan is to create a new national science technology, engineering and math master teacher corps. it would start with 50 teachers who will be paid an additional $20,000 a year for their multi- year commitment. the program would be expanded over four years to include ten thousand master teachers. the obama administration will launch the new teacher corps with one billion dollars from

the president's 2013 budget request. a ten-month old boy from gary is hospitalized in chicago after falling from a third story window. kyan powell, fell from the window while his mother was sleeping at their apartment in the 500 block of van buren street. the mother, 26 year old tiesha powell, was initially arrested, but police released her almost immediately... deciding there was no neglect. the boy apparently fell from a window that had a loose screen. he was flown to chicago for treatment due to the severity of his injuries. so far, no word on his condition. sauk village leaders are working on an emergency plan... to fix the town's contaminated water supply. they held a public meeting last night to discuss the problem. the illinois e.p.a. says... it found dangerous levels of vinyl chloride in the drinking water. this chemical can increase the risks of liver cancer and other health problems. last spring, residents voted to get their water from lake michigan, but that solution may take too long, and be too expensive. >>we're not talking money

politics or anything it's about the health and safety of an entire town >>this is scary and i have lived here all these years i used to drink the water for years now our drink bottled water of course ... village leaders are expected to present a plan to provide bottled water to residents until there's clean tap water available. more than half the country is in some stage of drought right now... but the full effect on next year. that's according to a u.s.d.a economist. this is the largest drought the nation has seen since the 1950's. it's prompted disaster declarations in 26 states -- and a series of emergency conservation measures. in indiana, state police are stepping up their "flick it and ticket" enforcement. they want to make sure cigarettes do not spark fires. anyone who tosses a lit cigarette from a moving car could be fined up to $10,000. pilots for united-continental have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike. they're frusturated they haven't reached a deal on a new contract with management, despite two years of negotiations. the national mediation board will now look into the matter. if it believes the two sides

can't reach a deal, the pilots could hit the picket line after a 30-day cooling-off period. a strike would mean about 13,000 pilots would walk off the job. a grand jury has indicted seven people ... on charges of trying to steal federal grant money. dean nichols ... a one-time campaign treasurer for former state senator rickey hendon .. is at the center of the case. federal prosecutors say the fbi set up a sting in which people paid five-thousand dollar bribes ... in hopes of getting 25- thousand dollar federal grants for bogus human-service programs. the u.s. attorney's office says nichols expected to get 12 hundred dollars commission on each grant he helped facilitate. two of the seven defendants are cook county corrections officers. they've been suspended. senator hendon resigned abruptly last year .. but is not named in the indictment. chicago's top internal watchdog says the agency that enforces the city ethics ordinance ignored evidence of gifts to a former city employee. a report from inspector general joseph ferguson says emails, expense reports, and personal admissions of gift giving were among the evidence that three

companies gave the former employee more than $3,500. in gifts.. including meals and sports tickets. but the board of ethics decided there was too little proof to punish the companies. the employee was fired for unrelated reasons. attorneys for a former powerbroker who tried to extort a campaign contribution on behalf of ex-governor rod blagojevich... is asking for a delay in his sentencing. 77 year-old william cellini was convicted of trying to squeeze the contribution from the producer of the oscar-winning movie, "million dollar baby". he's scheduled to be sentenced on monday. prosecutors want him to go to prison for up to eight years. but, they realize he has health problems, which could mean a lesser sentence. coming up next to the latest on the deadly attack against a top syrian officials ... a florida man stops there are

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syria vows that those responsible for an attack that killed the syrian defense minister and three others will be held accountable.. even if they're outside the country. the defense minister and deputy minister, and a top security adviser to the president were among those killed today in a massive bombing at a national security building in damascus. they're the highest ranking syrian officials to be killed in the 16 month long uprising against the regime of president bashar al-assad. the deputy defense minister was also assad's brother-in-law. an investigation into the

reconstructon in iraq has uncovered excessive waste and fraud by some u.s. agencies. a report from the special investigator for iraq reconstruction reveals of the 51 billion dollars spent to rebuild iraq... an estimated six to eight billion has been lost to waste... fraud... and abuse. the exact amount can never be known due to poor record keeping by the u-s agencies involved in the effort. these agencies include the departments of state and defense as well as the u-s agency for international development. a warning -- this video may be disturbing for some viewers. an elderly man in florida stopped an armed robbery in progress. one of the two robbers can be seen here entering a cafe with a gun... but he wasn't watching behind him. 71 year-old samuel williams jumped up, pulled out his own gun and opened fire. both robbers panicked and tried to escape. one was shot in the arm, the other in his rear and hip. both were later caught and arrested. williams is licensed to carry a concealed weapon. he does not face any charges. japan is restarting its second nuclear reactor today.... even though there are concerns about faultline. all of japan's 50 nuclear reactors were closed in the aftermanh of the fukushima crisis last year... after the area was struck by an earthquake and tsunami. the number four "o-hi" reactor starting up today, is about two hundred miles west of tokyo. it's expected to reach full operation by tomorrow. the number three reactor at the plant was reactivated earlier this month. an island of ice twice the size of manhattan broke off from a greenland glacier this week. scientists have been watching a long crack near the northern tip of the glacier for several years.

the 59-square-mile iceberg is expected to enter the strait where it will break up into smaller icebergs. but it could take a while. in 2010... the glacier lost an ice island four times the size of manhattan. pieces of that iceberg can still be found along the canadian new details leaked about the i-phone 5 that may leave you with mixed feelings. the good news... the i-phone 5 could be lighter than its predecessors. a source reports apple will integrate touch sensors into l- c-d screens eliminating the need for a second screen. a single screen is expected to improve image quality. however...the i-phone five may use a new 19 pin connector making all current i-phone accessories obsolete. analysts expect the i-phone five to hit stores this fall. coming up next: at&t announces a new data plan to compete with verizon ... and in the lunch break we're making three mediterranean

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at&t is responding to the verizon wireless shared data plan with one of its own beginning next month it will have plants that began at $85 a month for unlimited calling and messaging and 10 different devices can be combined ... both companies are trying to get consumers to buy larger data plans ... intel is cutting its annual forecast ... the semiconductor maker said profit fell 4.3% in the second quarter because of

its chips power more than 80 percent of the world's personal computers and it's a broad tech indicator ... slowdowns in china could be bad news for other tech companies waiting to report ... the new young ho si eco marissa mayer is beginning her new job six months pregnant ... directv customers missing viacom channels will be pleased to know that the company is closer to restoring those channels as agreements are progressing ... they had failed to reach agreement on programming fees initially ...

the residential real-estate market is strengthening even though certain other economic indicators are not picking up coming up next he is on a mission pastor corey burke's continues his fund-raising walk across the country to raise awareness about violence in chicago and still to come we have antony and the tramps performing live in the studio they are releasing their debut album this week which they recorded right here in chicago ...

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bond is set at $75,000 for the woman accused of stalking should theo epstein police say that kathleen kearney showed up at his home in lakeview after finding his address on the internet she is from massachusetts and has no ties to chicago theo epstein said that

the woman stopped him when he worked for the boston red sox when police asked her why she was in the area she said she wanted to invite him to church in north suburban couple could face jail time after 21 cats were found living in squalor in their home ... the animal rescue organization tales of hope contacted police after visiting highland park where the couple lived there charged with 21 counts of unlawful treatment of animals each count can carry a penalty of six months in jail and up to $1,500 in fines these cats were taken to shelters where there will be some treatment three of them have since died several others need surgery for certain infections a man on a mission to give kids an alternative to street violence is back on the road today chicago pester corey

brookses off on the second leg of his walk across america nancy loo has this story ... >>earlier today they were downtown spreading the word about their journey they hope to raise $15 million to build a community center for at risk kids in woodlawn the vent kicked off in new york last month and reached chicago over the weekend the pastor says the rest of this walk will be difficult ... >>it will be hard going west once we hit the tip of texas and new mexico and arizona so that's the stuff we're trying to get prepared for to see how we will do this that will be the tough part ... the team has plenty of water packed in a support vehicle volunteers will be checking up on the walker says they pounded the summer pavement's ... they have already covered lots of ground from new york to illinois the pastor said he encountered

countless compassionate people who have donated about $600,000 thus far toward this community center many of them aware of the deadly violence that is plaguing chicago this year pastor burke's hopes to arrive in the l.a. sometime in october when he hopes to be closer to the $15 million fund-raising goal live in the woodlawn neighborhood i'm and nancy loo still to come tom skilling as with the full weather forecast think you can't get great auto insurance coverage and a great rate? think again! mary switched to allstate got an agent, and saved $326.00 on her car insurance. john switched, got an agent and saved $263.00! drivers who switched to allstate saved an average of $375 a year on car insurance. and allstate will send you two bonus checks a year every year you stay accident free with our safe driving bonus. when i switched to allstate my savings

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off in the city but in the western and the southern suburbs it's still pretty warm ... there are some towering cumulus clouds here are some pictures from a purdue university students these were taken in the northwest suburbs near gurnee and then downtown we have laura peters sending us buckingham fountain photographs with towering clouds over the skyline ... and this is from the lake of the hills area ... and then there's another one in libertyville ... not everyone has seen these this is a

volatile atmosphere packet willooking north along lake shore drive from the hancock building ... we're looking at the thunderstorm watch situation ... and the heat advisory situation today there will be 100 degree heat indexes in the southwestern suburbs ... there's high pressure coming pushing the heat down further on the map we had 99 degrees at o'hare 100

degrees at midway ... not since the dust bowl in the 1930's have we seen this many consecutive 100 degree days at midway ... in 1988 we had eight in the chicago area are not consecutively ... rockford hit 100 degrees yesterday today it is 85 degrees that are hair out at o'hare end up in wisconsin and michigan there are some new records this is how much cooler it is then it was 24 hours ago

readings are down around 12 degrees ... you can see the wind blowing and the front on the map we're looking at the heat index readings also going down but the southwest suburbs are the exception it still blazingly hot and uncomfortable there ... even though we have cooled off it's still very humid the mold spore cancer higher the pollen counts are a bit lower ...

northbrook benton harbor, highland park and kenosha are feeling the effects of the lake cooling right now ... currently it's around 78 degrees here in downtown chicago ... we still have some very dry lawns ... here is a shot from schaumburg, and kankakee ... and geneva ... it's been 47 days since significant rainfall this is the time of year when you lose 1 in. through evaporation ... we see thunderstorms in the forecast ... there will be

overcast skies this afternoon the high temperature will be 88 degrees out at o'hare ... the northeast winds will keep the lakeside community is much cooler ... about 50 percent of the area will feel those thunderstorms over night ... tomorrow humid warm mixed clouds ... more thunderstorms to forecast ... 90 degrees will be the high temperature for the day on friday mostly sunny the high temperature 86 degrees and a lot less human .id... the heat will be back this weekend we will talk more later

in the broadcast ... time for today's trivia: nelson mandela celebrates his 94th birthday today. in which country was he born? a) mali b) tanzania c) south africa the an

time for sports: fest's the cubs and marlins game took a back- seat to the chicago reunion of ozzie guillen

carlos zambrano and mark buerhle. but guillen was the only one who made it on the field. the fans booed him during a pitching change. the cubs already down 1-0 in the fourth... and travis wood gives up a 2-run home run to omar infante... his eighth. same score next inning, with the bases loaded and no outs... newly acquired carlos lee hits his 17th career grand slam. wood gives up eight earned runs in his first loss in a month. 9-5 the final, as the cubs snap their 6- game home winning streak. ron santo enters the baseball hall of fame this weekend, but wgn's coverage starts tonight on the nine o'clock news. dan roan will be in cooperstown until sunday night, for our hall of fame special "celebrating santo: ron goes into the hall." you can see it sunday night at 9:30 on wgn and wgn america. phil humber pitched six innings in his return from the d-l. the sox lead boston in the fourth, and kevin youkilis does it again with a 3-run homer...

his fourth since the trade. it's still 6-2 in the fifth... there's a liner to left, but dayan viciedo makes the diving catch to save a run and end the inning. sox win 7-5, and increase their lead to three-and-a-half games. bulls opening summer league play against the celtics.... bulls down 4 in the 2nd... the celtics turn it over and at the other end, jimmy butler follows a miss with a dunk... he had a game-high 25 points. bulls top draft pick marquis teague struggled in his debut only making four shots and going 13 of 17 from the field with six turnovers. bulls lose 79-74. that's a look at sports. your live illinois lottery drawing is next.

good afternoon. here is the midday drawing ... let's get started. here are the winning pick three numbers: 3 9 3

the power ball jackpot is $100 million ... here are the winning pick four numbers for today: 1 0 5 5 have a wonderful afternoon and it could blocgood luck [ 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. ♪ home protector plus, from liberty mutual insurance, where the costs to both repair your home and replace your possessions are covered. and we don't just cut a check for the depreciated value -- we can actually replace your stuff with an exact or near match. plus, if your home is unfit to live in after an incident we pay for you to stay somewhere else while it's being repaired. home protector plus, from liberty mutual insurance. because you never know what lies around the corner. to get a free quote, call... visit a local office or go to libertymutual.com today. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

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announcer ] pop in a whole new kind of clean with new tide pods... just one removes more stains than the 6 next leading pacs combined. pop in. stand out. for the second time in a month.. has approved a new prescription weight loss drug. it's called qsymia, and it produced dramatic weight loss in clinical trials.. with patients losing an average of 23 pounds. but some consumer advocates are concerned about the drug's side effects.. which could include an increased heart rate hyperventilation, fatigue and anorexia. concerns have also been raised about birth defects.. because an ingredient in qsymia is an anti-convulsant that's been linked to cleft lips and palates. alzheimer's researchers are seeing promising results in the first long-term clinical trial of gammagard.. an intravenous immune therapy that's already approved for treating other immune disorders and

infections. the early stage trial measured stabilization of alzheimers symptoms.. including thinking, memory, daily functioning and mood. the small study included 16 subjects with mild to moderate alzheimers disease. doctors say four of the patients who continued treatment at the highest dosage showed a halt in the worsening of symptoms. larger studies will begin later this year. the food and drug administration says baby bottles and children's drinking cups can no longer contain the chemical bpa. manufacturers have already stopped using bpa in baby bottles and sippy cups. but the fda issued an official ban at the request of the chemical industry's main trade association.. in part, to boost consumer confidence about the products. bpa is found in hundreds of plastic items. some researchers say ingesting the chemical can interfere with the development of reproductive and nervous systems in babies and young children. lunchbreak is next. they're perfect for summer parties.... we're making three healthy mediterranean dips... hummus, baba ghanouj, and lebna.

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'.

it's time for a lunchbreak... we're making three classic mediterranean dips perfect for summer entertaining. joe and marko abd-elnour are here from "mina restaurant" in mount prospect. ... you can get lots of these and grocery stores now but they are wonderful and can taste a little bit different depending on ingredients ... >>the first one we are making is

with eggplant ... we can roast the eggplant on the barbecue ... you can roast it directly on the grill with the skin or put it in the oven for about half an hour to roast ... you want to leave it to cool down after you roasted the eggplant ... and then the skin just peels off. you combine the filling of this eggplant with garlic and salt and lemon ... and some tahini

sauce to mix in... this can be bought at the store.... you would blend to this or a mix it roughly ... it's that simple. >>i love the way you present this ... u r garnishing with paprika ...

end user of this with p.e.t.ayou serve with pita bread hummus is made with chickpeas. we like the dried kind but you can use the canned variety ... if you are using the dried chickpeas you would soak those ... and then soften them. you will boil them for nearly three hours in warm water ... when

they are soft and cool off you want to add some garlic ... again tahini sauce and salt and lemon. and the third one ... lebna.... mint garlic and this is mixed with a olive oil

looks wonderful and tastes so great ... joe and marko, thanks so much for joining us. mina restaurant is located at 1724 west golf road. to learn more, go to: mina restaurant mtprospect.com for today's recipe or to watch the segment again, log on to: wgntv.com/midday.

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here... plaque quickly starts to grow back. but now there's a way to keep the clean longer. introducing new crest pro-health clinical rinse. it's a clinical breakthrough that actually keeps your teeth 91% clean of plaque at 2 months after a dental visit. plus, it gives you these key benefits. new crest pro-health clinical rinse. crest. life opens up when you do. also try new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste. time now for the answer to today's trivia question: we asked: nelson mandela celebrates his 94th birthday today. in which country was he born? a) mali b) tanzania c) south africa the answer: south africa thanks for joining us today.

let's take a look at the radar right now ... looking at kankakee county there is a viable storm and others are popping up in the area. also to the northwest. and wisconsin and iowa. there seems to be a wave ... we will see some thunderstorms tonight ... we have warm and muggy weather. it will stay warm in the southern suburbs tomorrow and be humid in the city as well ... there was a buckle in the jet

stream giving us a little bit of relief from the heat today. i see widely scattered thunderstorms in the forecast later tonight you might see some downpours but there will not affect every area in the metropolitan region ... yesterday we were at 99 degrees in chicago ... once this wave of rainshowers settles by friday there will be a trapped in the humidity we will reach 86 degrees ... we will be back to 92 degrees saturday 95 sunday and into the

high 90s monday tuesday and wednesday so the heat wave is not over ... no drought busters yet. thanks for joining us today. we hope you have a great afternoon. remember we are back at 5:00 this evening and again at 9:00. we leave you with more music from antony and the tramps. their album debut is tomorrow night at 8:00 at schuba's on north southport avenue. to learn more go to: antonyablan.com