illinois comptroller judy baar topinka. she passed away early this morning of complications from a stroke.

good afternoon. i'm steve sanders. and i'm dina bai >> the accolades and just pouring in. she was quite a woman. she had a very successful political career that has spanned several decades. she was in the state house and senate. she was the first female treasurer to serve in the state of illinois and then went on to become controller.comptroller. left many more friends than enemies. the state has lost a great treasure in the passing of jusdy baar topinka. >> choose a very good friend over many years. current words and thoughts have been pouring in all their apparent the warm sentiments are testament to the full and vibrant life and she lived.

like many politicians to leave a trail of some of our relationships and meanspirited common spirit >> well liked rock along a successful political career. former gov. jim thompson and george ryan. >> she was smart tough one speaking campaigned in a way that everyone could respond to her carriage and hard- charging bundle of energy. fueled by coffee's cigarettes and a high octane personality. she always had a bright smile strong handshake and is outspoken and unafraid to voice their opinion. was preparing to be inaugurated next

month for second four year term. democrats and speaker issued a statement read, she brought a special approach to every aspect of her life. in illinois is a much better place because of her efforts. >> neighbors who knew her reacted. >> never had any doubt. did not sugarcoat it. unfortunately that is will we need in today's politics. >> she was a great neighbor. >> sheila simon ran against her in the race for state comptroller. she had these thoughts about the women who defeated her. >> and of the things we shared which is music. i was a banjo player and she was an accordion player. we joked about playing to of the most unappreciative instruments forappreciated ange.

member sitting in her office on the less said many years ago saying i did not know you're a musician and played the accordion >> that is what she would do many times. she left. she'll be greatly missed. >> >> thank you for sharing the personal story. gov. lamar responsible for appointing a replacement. >> it is not clear if the governor reported someone. >> have a passion for serving the people of illinois that he called a passion for life. >> for more than three decades seabrook their relentless work ethic and determination to attack physical

fiscal challenges. >> in a statement the governor-elect said earlier this morning and illinois lost one of the all- time greats. >> always only caring about what was best for the people of our state. the gulf and remembered topinkathe governor remembered topinka. >> politics when it is all said and done his people. she was a people person. those her. as i said a moment ago was a force of nature. >> many politicians agree you could not say no former gov. jim thomson shared one of his favorite stories. >> your out campaigning in her neighborhood one

day. she was complaining that the state had not given enough money for sewers. sewers and not a state sewers. sewers and not a state responsibility. i climb down the sewer with her and got out as quickly as i got in. >> >> it is amazing as you listen to all these attributes. you're not hearing what a fine politician. these are also personal. all filled with humor and love to. that to me to says she was very different in some other politicians. >> such a wonderful

person. could bring them busy and that the war. >> one that seems to transcend partisan politics. that is a rare combination. she was certainly a republican but when it came to social issues she did not walk the republican line by any means. she was not afraid not to. i was in springfield on the same sex and marriage took place. they were on the floor and everybody was having a conversation. >> here was the republican comptroller of the state. she did not need to be there. she wanted people to know that she too was supportive of that kind of progressive measure in the state. >> she took voters to task after she lost to rob local of

this. >> this is what you people did. if she had become governor of this clear focus would have been different. >> her physically conservative nature that would have really shown through. when you take a look at some of the things that have happened, same- sex marriage or the social issue. this would have been a republican governor would give so-and- so's into law. absolutely was nobody who could be packed. >> the last time i was there she said you have to come up to my office i want to show you some stuff. >> i did she call that stuff that she picked up from cried sales. >> all of this other kind of stuff. probably paid $5. boy was too proud of it and she loved to

show it off. >> tell me how that might work. one of the possibilities is >> we do not know if governor clinton make an appointment. i'm going to go out on a limb and say i think he will. >> the question is how long does that appointment last? >> it would be until the governor steps and here that is not the constitution says. it says it would be until the next election. could set a date for an election. could be in february. >> assuming that chris rauner would like his own person and they're my guess is he would set an election sooner than later. he may also go to court and tried to challenge it. >> that is not what the constitution says. promised we would talk about an name. sheila simon is interesting. nothing at the lieutenant governor with talk about

today. >> if the governor, and were to appoint her as a democrat however long, of course it would leave the office of lieutenant governor open. >> our constitution does not care or replacing lt. gov.. it says the governor's office let it go. >> she was indeed be loved by so many every party line. >> a special web page to three alarm fire that was burning at the well- known south loper restaurant. >> the fire began around 1030 this morning at the chicago firehouse restaurant. >> the restaurant is located in a former chicago fire station. all started when refers had an

accident. >> part of the roof later collapsed on to the second floor. >> chicago city council meets this midday for the last time this year. all the men are expected to improve tax regulations. >> an alleged sex assault by an uber driver. assault by an uber driver. >>

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another attempted "crash and grab." this time, a high- end stor the "mag i the target. two suspects are in custody. w-g-n's tonya francisco is outside neiman marcus at michigan and superior with details. >> boards now cover the entrance to neiman-marcus. as detectives combed through the evidence left at the scene. >> 7 owns video of the latest crash and grab. >> the dodge grand caravan has pulled out of the neiman- marcus store. >> dozens of passerby's causstuck to take a picture. >> heard something strange. >> i came outside and i saw the van pulling back. >> the men had

apparently lined up the van sideways on superior to avoid hitting a huge concrete on the sidewalk. >> took them several tries but that finally broke through and started grabbing purses. >> saw everybody getting into the car. >> saw two guys coming at me. i really freaked out because i thought there were going to run me over. they ran toward the alley. >> there is no exit. >> the worker and another hotel in the area went with her to check that out. >> just laying on the ground fighting. in the face down position. >> turns out there were two men hiding. both taken into custody for questioning >> people trying to get rich or do their thing. they do not

really deserve it. >> you should work hard for your money and not steal from other people. police are not saying if this crash and grant is related to eight others. >> wording from the back muscle.reporting from the mag mile. an orland park businessman could spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of his wife. a cook county judge will sentence allan kustok today. in march, a jury convicted him of killing his wife, anita, in their home in orland park four years ago. the defense argued it was suicide. but prosecutors revealed kustok had several affas andce requea new prrs i prosecut not ha w >>uber cab service has pulled a chicago driver from the company's fleet. after a female rider says he

sexually assaulted her. the alleged attack happened last month and chicago police are investigating it 's just one of several incidents involving uber. uber has been banned in new delhi, india following allegations that one of c raped yesterday authorities in california charged a former uber driver in the death of a 6- year-old girl who was hit in a san francisco crosswalk last year. the state of california is suing uber. claiming uber misled customers about driver background checks and charged fraule airport the city of portland, oregon has sued uber to stop the service from operating in the city until it follows local gu and ofs in thailand a spabe to o ine ie >>the alleged bag- man in the two million dollar bribery scandal involving chicago's red light camera program pleaded guilty today in federal co martin o'malley was charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit bribery. he's accused of paying kickbacks to a former city transportation

official for steering the red light camera contract to the company he represented.. reflex traffic systems. >>francis cardinal george now chicago's archbshop emeritus is receiving the city's highest honor. it's happening today at the city council's final meeting of 2014. wgn's julian crews is live outside city hall. julian? >> a busy agenda for the final city council meeting of 2014. an ordinance on limiting pet coke storage. the controversial measure to force city gas stations to offer fuel that has higher levels of ethanol. before that taking center stage in a rare visit to city council. >> that has earned the admiration of all of us regardless of faith. all of us in public service. that is chicagos

highest honor. the medal of merit. city council be stealing the thunder on francis cardinal george. the mayor and others praising his devotion. >> city council taking up key environmental issues. an ordinance limiting storage. >> a controversial by product of petroleum refineries. >> most especially in massive terminal on the southeast side. city council wants to limit the size of massive pet coke ideals. there's the issue of the 15 fuel. the measure is opposed by the illinois retail merchants association.

>> council members focused on the ailing cardinal door to of course has been battling cancer. >> you have to make deep battle public. others feel they have to hide it. >> i know how hard it is sometimes. that is number one for all cancer survivors in the city and throughout the country. >> i want to thank you with all of my heart. i asked you to continue to work with the archbishop was eager to work with you.

>> part know george with his surprising sense of humor and join in a laugh with the city council. counsel also considering a measure that could help cabdrivers adjust to taxi regulations and credit-card fees could help put more money into cabdriver's pockets. >>just ahead there may be some changes to the conviction in the murder trial of oscar pistorius. and later in lunchbreak

predict demand will drop by million barrels a day in 2015. the drop is due in part to a rise in u.s. production. fell by nearly four dozen

girls a day from october largely because of unrest in libya because of reductions in saudi arabia and kuwait. expects the non suppliers to rise by more than 1 million bar. a day. >>congressional leaders unveil a roughly one trillion dollar spendinglle winds towards a federal shut-down. the measure would fully fund more than 90 percent of the government through september. it includes about one billion dollars to deal with the flooof children he from meut a it also provides f e the govern was set to close-down thursday night. >>oscar pistorius' manslaughter conviction can be appealed. a judge in south africa ruled today.

prosecutors can appeal the ruling. the 28 year-old was sentenced in october to five ye in prison for shooting his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp back al'y as. l ofls court us isnext in sports the cubs sign a major deal. signing the biggest pitcher available in the free agency and live music from eric gales. he's on stage saturday at buddy guy's legends! saturday at buddy guy's legends! im

time for sports. the cubs stole the show on the second day of baseball's winter meetings.. signing the best left- hander on the market. jon lester chose the north side over boston and san francisco last night. the tribune reports the deal is worth a franchise- record 155- million dollars over six years with an oio20 lester i years old, a three- time all- star and won the world series twice with the red sox. new manager joe maddon says lester will have a positive influence on the patrick sharp back. on the ice for the first time in a month. blackhawks trail the vie with e minutes left... marian hossa's shot is blocked but duncan keith puts in the rebound to tie it up at two. jonathan toews is first up for the

hawks in shoot- ou scores withr. next up is patrick kane and h it with a wrist shot. the hawks are undefeated in shoot-outs this year, and win win their seventh straight, 3-2. carolina panthers quarterback cam newton has been released from the hospital after suffering two fractures in his lower back during a car accident. his truck collided with a car near the team's facilities yesterday. the panthers say newton is experiencing soreness, but no other injuries. it's unknown if he'll play on sunday. the driver of the second car

looks like we're going to have some fifties this weekend. some sunshine returning to the area which of the kind of nice. what a miserable december this has been. >> one thing that britain's this time of the year, all of the holiday decorations. snapped a shot of all of the decorations there. this is from gladstone michigan. >> we, we would share this beautiful sunrise. >> from bill valentine. bill is out kayaking along a lake. he took time out just to rest a little bit along the shoreline. >> if there is its

many of our motorcyclists from around the chicago area. look at the group prepared doing some amazing work collecting toys for children. >> the least it did not score rain and sleet or not shoveling snow fall. >> no question about that. look at the satellite view. others are just below. 32 percent of our possible december sun. that is below the 31 percent that is considered normal. here is the club this month of the year. cloudier than it typically is. temperatures have been pretty modest. 30.7 degrees.

nothing like last year. running about three tenths of a degree below normal. norma >> there to care is pulled north. you will see the bitterly cold single digit temperatures way up to the north of us. this is kind of modified arctic air. we have a 32 held down by the fact we of clouds in the area. >> quite a change. to conceive how widespread the fairly mild air as across the lower 48. 65 at this hour in seattle washington. the colder air is in retreat. mild pacific air is making its way across the country. factor in the wind and it feels like it is only 23 outside. year it had cooler than we were yesterday. it is warm and out to the west. that is a good

sign. a sign temperatures will start rebounding. 36 at midway. it is 35 at lansing. 34 valparaiso with a light northerly wind blowing. >> the windchill from 23-29. running about 23 at o'hare. wind averaging about 12 mi. per hour. the lake water temperature at 36. these are some of the warmer temperatures across our network. on the other hand go north and west of the city's lake geneva is 27 now. kind of cloud appears a lot of construction work. it is nice that is able to go on. >> there is the view from south suburban romeoville. as we

expand our view, we've been watching these cloud elements pour into the country come to see hawaii and the lower left-hand corner? it is very the wind is originating from. here's our colder air. a big nor'easter that has been spending four days along the east coast. >> this will slow the exit and warm air will build and. a reaches all the way up to hudson bay. it is a pretty impressive batch of warmer air. you consider precipitation not eased. have been getting hammered along the coastline. >> least we are not in bad. here is what our temperatures will do. today will be about normal. a little above normal tomorrow. here's what happens over the weekend. we go into double digits surplus. this is how much each day's average full day temperature will be above normal. you'll

see the high temperatures 53-54. back to colder air after that. we're on white christmas watched around here. a couple little systems to keep our eyes on. no guarantees for a white christmas. look out of the next two weeks. few systems that might produce a little snow nearby. >> afternoon flourish. you can get a peak of sunshine. >> will temperature 22. tomorrow sometime is back. it will be welcome. mild up to 23. former still on friday with a 46 degree temperature. increasing cloudiness.

>> sunday looks like you'll be getting cloudier. see you later. illinois lottery drawing is next.

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police are looking for vandals destroyed and nativity scene. it

was discovered sunday will parishioners were gathering to mark the upcoming feast. the suspects that it is seen and removed the heads from statues of mary and joseph. >> a thief stole a salvation army kettle. it happened just after 6:00 p.m. outside of the walgreen's. a salvation army spokeswoman says the bell ringer was on a break at the time. the thieves stole the kettle stand and the money. >> you'll fight to change the chicago school board from appointed body to an elected one. >> is a priority for improving public education or engaging in the public in a democratic process as it relates to a democratically elected school board. it is about inclusion. it is about democracy it is about accountability. >> if elected he

will go to springfield to prod state lawmakers to pass a bill mandating an elected chicago school board. the issue will be the subject of a non-binding referendum. currently the mayor appoints chicago school board members. >> chicago public school system making a major change to the lunch menu. part of a coalition of large u.s. school districts that have decided to serve antibiotic free chicken. only used to speed up the helm of growth. contributing to a rise in antibiotic resistant trucks. >drugs >> other participating districts include new york and l.a. miami and dallas. lunch break is coming up. we're lunch break is coming up. we're making a

im

it is a celebration of great and easy food. we're making an easy appetizer for holiday parties. she is the best- selling author of the dinner doctor. has a new cookbook out. >> and easy recipe. code to recipes. people come over unexpectedly just to get through the regular day. quite chaotic this time of the year. sometimes need those recipes the work like you know they're going to work. quickly and with ingredients at hand. >> super easy for the holidays. start with 8 ounces of cream cheese. going to head a little bit of sugar to that.

orange juice concentrate. >> alan little bit of seven mecinnamon. some orange zest. that is it. chances are a lot of these ingredients are already in your kitchen. >> hothe best thing about it. is it the consistency? >> not run out and buy concentrate. just use what you have at hand. >> all recipes from

real people. >> today you fashioned it into a christmas tree with the extra cranberries to make a festive for the season. you can do anything with it. >> it is really great on a bagel. very festive. would be perfect for a brunch. it is very festive with the cinnamon and the cranberries. i want to talk about those. this is an example of a desert and the book. a big chocolate chip cookies baked in a skillet. years ago my son got really tired.

>> ubiquity mrs birthday cake to school. it is just a chocolate chip cookie bake in a skillet. i thought what a perfect recipe. all of the ingredients in the house. faster than apportioning out of the cookies. it is not as messy as serving cake. >> thank you so much. signing copies of the book as well. they can learn more at her web site. >> follow her on at her web site. >> follow her on twitter. what if your morning routine... weren't so routine introducting one a day vitacraves chewy bites... ...complete multivitamins with nutrients like... ...b vitamins... ...and vitamin d... ...in hard shelled, chocolatey chewy bites. new from one a day

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temperatures go into the 50s. high bng the expected sun shine back tomorrow. th utherly wind flow that will blow up to the planes will be plugging into golf moisturgulf moisture. >> this is a plot of land across the midwest. you can see how the southerly wind flow begins developing right there in the plains states. the brighter colors indicate the wind will become stronger as the weekend goes on. pumping even warmer air. a warm pressurlow pressure will develop. colder air coming down the backside. mixing with rain or snow tuesday of next week. the jet stream goes way north to canada. allows the air to clear out and warm-up. that is why we get 50 degree temperatures in here over the weekend.

you can see the warmer colors coming across not only our area. they reach way into canada. pushing the arctic air out of the region. >> putting this together, here is our forecast. 43 tomorrow. 46 on friday. >> ran on monday which could mix with snow or sleet. >> we have something to look for to this weekend. >> he is on stage saturday night

in the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. these are their stories. it's been three years. i haven't talked to her since she moved. she is your mother, leah. she could call me too. you know that's not the point. you obviously feel guilty about it. remember, in the end, all we have is our faith and our family. i'll try, i guess. good. now we should pray. oh, my god! oh, my god! oh, god, rachel!