can keep pain away all day. back to the news. for the first time ... hearsay testimony makes it into drew peterson's murder trial. the sister of peterson's ex-wife kathleen savio testifies that peterson threatened to kill savio. 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. our top story.... wgn's judy wang is covering the murder trial and join us live from the will county courthouse with the latest: >>good afternoon today's first witness is the sister of kathleen savio she is the first

year say witness prosecutors are attempting to introduce the statements with the defense objecting ... >>so far we have been successful in keeping a rumor and innuendo out of the court ... we will be objecting with solid grounds that hearsay should not be introduced >>the trial in its fourth day continues after the judge shut down the defense motion for mistrial ... the state's attorney duo declined to speak with reporters this morning as he called the sister of kathleen savio to the witness stand ... ... she told the court that drew peterson told her sister that she would never make it to the divorce and never see his pension ... she was killed or was found dead rather in march

of 2004 ... she told the court of things that she found what about drew peterson behavior in statements at the scene of her sister's death ... prosecutors alleged that the former police sergeant killed his wife and made it look like an accident ... the fourth wife stacy peterson disappeared shortly after ... he doesn't face charges in connection with her disappearance ... >>i think drew peterson is pleased with the way things are going so far the evidence is not going and biased we are getting our points across and so is the

prosecution is ... also on the witness list: a crime scene investigator and a lead investigator in the case ... and don't forget to tune in to special coverage of the drew peterson trial, on cltv. lourdes duarte hosts a daily wrap-up of the trial every tuesday through friday, at 7:00 p.m. she's also speaking with experts, and taking your calls. five people are killed and at least ten others wounded in gun violence in chicago in the last roughly 24 hours. a man was found dead with a wound to the head at dickens and saint louis this morning. two 52 year-old men were shot at lawler and iowa. one died at the scene. another man was also shot to death on south langley avenue. and, two 16 year-old boys were killed in a drive-by shooting at avers and ohio in the east garfield park neighborhood. a third teenager was wounded. police say the area is the site of an ongoing gang conflict. the owner of the megabus that crashed... killing one person and injuring more than 30... says the vehicle passed a full,

preventive maintenance check within the past week. the bus was on its way from chicago to kansas city... when it plowed into a pillar on i-55 near litchfield, illinois. state police believe the bus blew a tire, but the cause is still under investigation. 25 year-old aditi r. avhad was killed. she was from india, and was a dental student at the university of missouri. several passengers were trapped in the wreckage, and had to be extricated. >>i just came to and everyone was strewn about the isle and there was blood on people's faces ... administration says megabus usa has a satisfactory rating. involved in six crashes last year. over the past two years, seven drivers were given violations for driving while tired. three teenagers are due in court today for the videotaped murder of delfino mora. 17 year old nicholas ayala 18

year old anthony malcolm, and 16 year old malik jones are each charged with one count of first-degree murder and robbery. they are accused of attacking mora in an alley last month .. and posting a video of the beating on facebook. mora's family will be in court to demand justice for their father's murder.

....sealed with a kiss. gay rights activists using facebook and twitter to organize national same sex kiss day at chick fil a. it's the latest development in an ongoing debate surrounding the fast food chain. on wednesday...customers came out... in droves... waiting in long lines to snatch up chicken sandwiches...in support of chick fil a's founder. dan cathy says he opposes gay

marriage. things really heated up when chicago alderman joe moreno threatened to block chick fil a from opening a restaurant in his ward. mayor emanuel also weighing in, saying the company's values are not chicago's values. ... a complaint was filed with the state department of human- rights ... >>i think it's good they're standing up for what they believe and ... >>the owner of the downtown chick-fil-a says that no matter what happens her employees will be prepared to serve everyone this event will begin at 7:00 ... coming up next after months of negotiation pilots of a major airline agree on a labor deal ... pipes and cigars are gaining in profits as people continue to light up ...

there's more fighting reported in syria -- on the same day a un assembly vote is being taken against the government. the resolution condemns syria for using heavy weapons against civilians. it also condemns the un security council for failing to stop the violence. today's vote comes after kofi annan stepped down as un

mediator. annan had a 6 point peace plan in place, but neither the government nor the rebels accepted it. the opposition reports syrian forces have killed dozens of people in the past day of fighting. a judge in spain will take statements today from these three men... who are suspected members of al-qaeda. authorities believe they were in the process of preparing terror attacks against britain and the u-s. officials say they found explosives in one suspect's home, enough to blow up a bus... as well as training manuals to fly ultralight airplanes. two of the suspects were arrested aboard a bus heading to the french-spanish border... possibly to leave the country. farmers and ranchers are getting no help from congress on the devastating drought. it adjourned for the summer without passing a relief package. it's the most widespread drought since the 1930's. most farmers are getting help from federally assisted insurance policies. but a number of ranchers are being hurt by the congressional gridlock. the lawmakers have agreed to take up the issue again when

they return to washington after labor day. and national breast cancer charity is accused of using misleading statistics to encourage women to have mammograms ... the susan g. common for the cure mammography campaign last october is being accused of overstating benefits and ignoring risks the advertisement in question claims the five-year survival rate for breast cancer court early as 98% professors with the dartmouth institute for health policy and clinical practice say that the advertisement exaggerated claims and says nothing about the risks this is the largest breast cancer charity and it says well mammography is not perfect it is still the best detection tool available ...

cyber bullying has been the subject of several recent public awareness campaigns but new research suggests that it is not that common to separate studies of american children foundspivanpaon

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tsa and the union for airport screeners may have a labor republicans have concerns that pact could limit the tsa's ability to respond to threats and allow screeners to go on strike. the tentative contract would allow for collective bargaining rights and put a new performance rating system in place. the 44,000 members of the american federation of government employees would still have to approve the deal. coming up dean richards has a preview think you can't get great

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chicago's new pot law -- the one that authorizes police to issue tickets for small amounts of marijuana -- goes into effect this weekend. but not at lollapalooza.because the lollapalooza festival is on park district property... police will continue to make arrests -- just like before the new law. starting saturday tickets can be issued to anyone in posession of 15 grams of cannabis or less. last year, police made no marijuana-related arrests inside the lollapalooza gates. bears fans can get a sneak peek at the bears on their home turf the family festival begins at soldier field ... tickets are $8 in advance and $12 at the door last year's family festival was cut short ... because of the

problems with the sod ... ... and here is your olympic update ...

chicago's new pot law -- the one that authorizes police to issue tickets for small amounts of marijuana -- goes into effect this weekend. but not at lollapalooza.because the lollapalooza festival is on park district property... police will continue to make arrests -- just like before the new law. starting saturday tickets can be

issued to anyone in posession of 15 grams of cannabis or less. last year, police made no marijuana-related arrests inside the lollapalooza gates. and the crowds are gathering at lollapalooza! that's where entertainment critic dean richards is live. beginning in 2005, lollapalooza has called chicago home. it has gone from bringing in a total of 65,000 concertgoers to what is expected to be 100,000 per day this year. tickets have been sold out for weeks to see the 130 acts on the eight different stages. this includes: the red hot chili peppers, black sabbath, the black keys, and jack white among others ... that in addition to the many up-and- coming groups singers and d.j.s from around the world, is why this chicago tribune music critic told me it is a great thing for chicago. florence and the machine will be playing on sunday ... ... >>if i were an adventurous music fan instead of seeing the red hot chili peppers i would go see

the band playing opposite them they put out one of the best albums of the year a few weeks ago ... they are raising the bar on what the fans can expect ... >>people worry the music industry is evaporates but when you come here to lollapalooza it is a different story ... it's a different outlook ... look at how deep the field this with all of this great musical talent and all of the great musicians there are i feel very connected and this year is going to be very special ... we will be going until 10:00 and then we will branch out and go to the after party till 4:00 in the morning throughout the city so get ready it's going to be three

days of very little sleep and lots of excitement ... dean richards reporting from lollapalooza he will be there all weekend ... tom skilling is coming up next with the weather forecast ...

we are recycling into those triple digit temperatures once again ... >>it will not be everywhere but some spots will see this it could be the warmest weather we have seen in 10 days ... we will get a break for sunday and monday and next week we will get a bit of a break ... what a beautiful day we have today we could have had what could of banned a million-dollar rain in downstate illinois ... more rain they have seen in one year 4 in. in quincy had it only fallen one month earlier the farmers could have during the corn pollination and the crops could of been in better shape ... timing is certainly everything

... we are looking at these mean storms working their way through the dakota region ... there's lots of moisture in the air out west spinning of these storms ... downstate illinois received much-needed rain in the area hardest hit by the throat ... it diddrought these people have not seen much rain at all it did not cover a wide enough area ... here are the accumulation totals for this region: in chicago we had a beautiful day the 37th day above 90

degrees we're looking at the highest temperature in 10 days tomorrow reaching triple digits ... we're expecting some powerhouse storms tomorrow night. there are advisory's in these red areas on the map for excessive heat as you can see ... there is concern for wild fires and fire in general in the western states ... there's a pattern change that is occurring ... there could be some severe weather coming from the southwest ... as we cycle into next week the warmest air takes residents to the southwest region from chicago

we hope to get some air that is not quite as hot ... tomorrow for much of the day we have beautiful sunshine until the jets stream gets into the mix with the cold front producing storms tomorrow night in particular there is an outlook for severe weather the thunderstorms are combining with the high altitude wind factors ... triple digit heat index is in the mix ... this will be followed by air that is dry on sunday ...

we are currently at 89 degrees here in chicago ... we are three degrees warmer now and it was 24 hours ago ... we are looking at record high temperatures yesterday for oklahoma ... some areas have had 30 days of 100 degree temperatures to kansas in particular is feeling the heat ... there are high mold spores and low to moderate pollen counts watch those sunburn * bring your sunscreen and where it ..ear it!

there is a cooling effect from wind off of lake michigan especially at soldier field right now ... after today there will only be 990 degree days to go to break this record for the most 90 degree temperatures it only happened 24 years ago and 1988 ... in line do you remember all of the iran this tornado outbreaks well these are weighed down in these drought environments this year thank goodness for this if there is any upside to this throat we are seeing it is the lack of the tornado ... i will update the forecast

toward the end of the broadcast we will also take a quick look at that tropical formation headed for the gulf from the caribbean ... there's a chance of an isolated thunderstorm chances are low for today ... partly cloudy warm and more human ...id tomorrow the hottest we have seen in 10 days ... sunshine with some cloud cover the high temperature 97-100 degrees with the threat of thunderstorms in the evening sun there will be very nice lower humidity the high will be in the '80s 86 degrees is forecast for sunday

here in chicago time for today's trivia: in which state are the blue ridge mountains located? a. virginia b. alaska c. utah the answer is ahead in this hour of the wgn midday news.

and now the official drawing of the illinois lottery ... here are the winning pick three numbers: 6 8 1

here are the winning pick four numbers: 0 3 6 4 in medwatch:

more americans than ever are kicking their cigarette habit... but it seems many are turning to cigars. the cdc says that while overall consumption of smoked tobacco products declined 27 percent between 2000 and 2011... the use of non-cigarette smoked tobacco products increased 123 percent during the same time. price may be a factor since products like pipe and loose tobacco and cigars are taxed significantly less than cigarettes. health issues linked to smoking cost taxpayers 193 billion dollars annually in direct health care expenses. exercise may help those suffering from both heart failure and depression. up to 75 percent of individuals suffering from congestive heart failure also develop depression. both disorders are commonly seen in nursing home residents. a duke university study introduced 90 to 120 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise into participants' weekly routines. the results showed improved cardio-respiratory fitness and increased stamina as well as psychological benefits.

>>speaking of exercise ... friends and family of olympic gold medalist gabby douglas are celebrating her achievements today. she won the top prize in the women's all-around gymnastics event yesterday... the first african-american to ever win this contest. wgn's julian crews is live in merrillville, indiana. how's the victory party? them that it is euphoria ... there are many fans here ... her mother is from gary indiana and her grandfather lives here in merrillville ... >>it has been really nice ... >>theodore hawkins is a proud grandfather there are tears of joy and lots of emotion relatives can not stop watching

the virtuoso performance by gabby douglas the grandparents said it feels like yesterday watching her as a little child prancing around the living room dreaming about becoming this olympic gymnast and here they are after years of training and sacrifice she is now the world's top female olympic gold medal gymnast ... >>the enormity of this the two gold medals the all-around individual title and the first african american to receive this honor its in the history books she is in the history books ... >>the president at a public event yesterday spoke of how our priority is of gabby douglas ... but no one is > the people here in the merrillville and in gary

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it's time for a lunchbreak... we're learning a new, unique, way to stuff an avocado. from chif o'neill's chef alan lake shows us a technique called the acocado orb. you must see this at home ... in reality this avocado is already

stuffed and then put back together this is pretty cool ... >>i learned this technique working in switzerland ... let's begin: >>such a perfect summer meal ... >>the first thing we will do is to slice this avocado ... we are cheating with this technique we're going to cover this one more time ... we will season this with some salt and pepper ... now we will gently tap these

slices ... we are going for a way to make a sheet ... work from the center of the batch ... this is very verset tile you can stop thisersatile you can stuff this with seafood or something vegetarian or chicken rosemary and walnuts

... it all depends on your tastes and diet ... we are putting on some dressing ... what i did was poached this seafood in a traditional european poaching liquid for shellfish 5% water 20 percent white wine and the salary carrots and onions with the bay leaf we bring this to the boil wait 30 minutes we summer with another 30 minutes and poach everything and it's a flavored liquid that you would approach the shellfish into ... we are filling the avocado sheet with

this mixed seafood ... we are gathering and we are rolling and twisting ... >>when you make this with chicken you have small pieces of grilled chicken? >>that's correct you want it to be small ... >>this is such a perfect idea ... we are garnishing this with a mix of vegetables that are finely minced ... and a zest of

lemon lime and tangerine anything you find at the farmer's market is going to work just great. i am coating this with dave shallot a shallopt dijon mustard balsamic vinegar and lemon dressing alan lake, thanks so much for joining us. to learn more about chef alan go to: alan lake .com for a recipe, or to watch the segment again, log on to: wgntv.com/midday.

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spivanpaon time now for the answer to today's trivia question. we

asked: in which state are the blue ridge mountains located? a. virginia b. alaska c. utah the answer: virginia ....and we have a weather update: major heat relief is expected by sunday and monday but tomorrow will be a very hot day here we have some thunderstorms on the way ... temperatures are now at or above 90 degrees in the chicago metropolitan area taking a look at this afternoon's temperatures we will be into the '90s with modest cooling along the lakefront with the temperatures will be and to the '80s ... we have a near 100 degree day tomorrow ...

today marks the 38 day at o'hare airport where we go above 90 degrees the record is 47-48 days ... there's a storm developing in the plains states ... that will arrive tomorrow night we have a severe weather risk these may have gusting wind ... we don't expect much more rain over the next week ... an air pollution action day has been declared for today that is the ninth this year we'll have five last year

there is also a tropical storm ernesto that's moving through the caribbean where the water is warm ... it's the deep layer giving the storm lots of energy ... we're looking at all the models from the hurricane forecasters ... ... this will look to be a category one hurricane ... this could affect celt of jamaica and the next five days or yucatan ... or maybe the gulf of mexico depending where it picks up ...

we have some high water temperatures as well here in chicago ... we have a beautiful sunday and monday in the forecast the heat and the midi will be back next week have a great weekend 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.