the word came from mac-neal hospital in berwyn this morning. topinka suffered a stroke yesterday... and she died, hours ago, of *complications from the stroke. judy baar topinka started out as a newspaper reporter and editor. she went on to have a long history with the illinois republican party. she was once party chairman. she served as state treasurer from 1995 to 2007. she ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006 -- the first republican woman to win her party's nomination for the state's highest office. she returned to become comptroller in 2010. judy baar topinka was 70. joining us now on the phone is our political analyst paul lisnek. good morning paul. >> obviously this is shocking. >> we were shocked as well. obviously, she was a politician who had widespread respect across the state. >> she was one of those crossovers. illinois is a blue states until the election recently but it wouldn't came to her, all bets were off. while she was a fiscal conservative, on social issues i would call her liberal. she was pro-choice and pro gay rights and a leader in the effort for same-sex m

he's in berwyn and again reporting some rain there.light rain, mist, drizzle, that's what we've been dealing with all night long and if you love the whether you can be featured in our newscast. become an eyewitness weather watcher like these folks. sign up now at cbsphilly.com/watchers. take a look at what we're dealing with outside and notice the ben franklin bridge. obscured in fog right now. looks a little worse about an hour ago so the fog kind of comes and goes and it can come up on you quickly. you can see patches of fog on the bridges on many of the roadways. not seeing a lot of heavy rain now but that will change as we head through the overnight. a lot of cloud cover and mist and drizzle. radar often has a hard time picking up those fine particles of precipitation but doesn't have a hard time picking up what we're seeing off to our south. all this rain lifts in from the deep south right into our area. you can see the heavy rain in tennessee and that's all moving northward through the overnight hours but especially during the da

. >> christian of berwyn loves the pressure. >> i perform best under pressure that is why i'm here. >> and cleo says pressure what pressure? >> i am good. doing good. don't i look calm? >> you do look calm and it's making me feel calm. but in the end maybe lisa palmer has the right idea, she says she has not gone christmas shopping yet and is not starting now. >> i am window shopping and for me christmas is about family and spreading the love and going where the love is. >> reporter: i love her at tude i have to say, if you are stretching your luck and have not gone shopping yet. most malls across the region including the cherry hill mall close at 6:00 tonight. good luck. reporting live walter perez, channel 6 "action news." >> switching live to south philadelphia, this is the line outside of termany brothers bakery. we are inside of the bakery, this is a third generation 39-year-old philadelphia tradition here and the folks are here all day. lets take a look at the scene at the bakery before the sun came up, people started lining up to get their holiday sweets at midnight and the doo

checking in with chris in berwyn 59 degrees mostly cloudy conditions there and he says wet warm and cloudyd travel weather for santa. we'll have to check in with santa in a minute. i want to take you down into delaware where we check in with john in newark and he reports 59 degrees. temperatures more than 20 degrees above average for this time of night and this time of year. if you would like to be an eyewitness weather watcher you can be featured in our newscast by becoming an eyewitness weather watcher. sign up now at cbsphilly.com/watchers. santa is now making his way into the united states. we'll tell you more about that in a minute. take a look outside and you can see not the best travel conditions for the big guy. a little foggy, cloudy but the rain has tapered for the moment. let's take a look at santa's location. last seen in tampa florida heading for make john georgia. he's heading up the eastern seaboardly we don't have an eta in philadelphia but in the next couple hours we can expect santa to make his approach. we are still tracking santa in philadelphia as we zoom into our area

temperatures generally right around freezing give or take to up say four, 5 degrees, on either end here, berwyn right at freezing, and kutztown, gladstone, in the 20's. no wet weather throughout yetment expect to start picking up as early as this afternoon for the central pennsylvania region moving on east with time, tomorrow just looking like an all-out wash out. there may be break along the way specially early in the morning, i would say, but i would just expect that could you get wet at any time. come sunday, left over shower, then it is clearing out of here, and it is certainly good news for the eagles game, skies clearing, but keep in mind the winds will kick in, too, and that means, that colder high of 46 will probably feel that much colder. vittoria. over to you. >> thank you so much, katie. still, great news in traffic land. no delays on any of the majors. it is still very quiet. let's get outside, and take a look shall we? ninety-five through the construction zone at cottman avenue. you will notice moving southbound, which would be the tail light moving beyond you without a hitch look

fired from his law firm after charges of having sex with underaged girls. 56-year-old brian meehan of berwyn was fired from bishop dorfman construction man and bishop the first bore his name. meehan faces several chafers after investigators say he had sex with a teenaged girl several times in his downtown office. the da says the victim was held captive by a germantown couple who hired her out up to 20 times week. >> happening right now an investigation into fire bombs forced a local familiarly from their home. their germantown house caught fire early this morning and tonight the red cross is helping eight people including two young children. right now police are trying to figure out who targeted the home and why. fox 29's dave schratwieser is live at police headquarters. dave? >> reporter: lucy, this is the second time that home has been targeted in a suspicious fire in a month. the last time being novembe november 9th. tonight a citywide arson task force is looking into this and family members are saying enough is enough. >> they're cowards. they're really coward. >> reporter: choice words

chester springs now 32 degrees and 33 in phoenixville while berwyn seeing 31 degrees.not everybody will experience that. all get winds increasing during the day. ten miles an hour right now with gusts to 21 miles per hour in the pocono mountains. that will make it feel chillier than the actual temperature that will climb close to the 40 degree mark this afternoon. goes warmer over the weekend and more sunshine, too. that low pressure is finally pulling away. 44 degrees with partly sunny skies on saturday and bright sunshine for sunday. 47 the high after another cold morning down to 31 degrees and then monday is looking nice and sunny. high of 52 degrees on monday. clouds return, but still mild tuesday with a chance of some rain showers. and then we dry out wednesday and thursday. >>> 50s look nice. 5:52 a.m. right now. and take a look at the roads. things are pretty quiet morning. we'll keep our fingers crossed it stays that way this friday. >> let's see if it is for now. katy zachary has a look at all the cameras on the roads. katy? >> classically at 6:15 that always

. >> and in berwyn chester county there is beautiful music.ts of different creative endeavors have a huge place for our folks. >> i like to make music. it is my dream come true. >> the music is the main thing. i like real loud sounds, soft sounds, some of them wait for a really big sound. >> and, they involve the entire person. it is cognitive. it is typical, social, emotional and spiritual. it touches them on every level. >> we have to work hard, we have to pay attention. >> we break the music down, note by note, measure by measure, line by line and we practice this over and over again until each one of us have our own part memorized. >> ♪ >> they love to perform, it gives them an opportunity, to demonstrate their talents, in their community, and to be appreciated, for the skills that they have. >> i love this sound. >> ♪ >> the sound is beautiful. >> i got all of my friends, they really like it, you know, all of my friends like it. me too. it is really nice. >> big evening there. >> beautiful. >> yes. >> isn't it. >> yes. >> one of the thing

with 100,000 lights, and this year people will do it, and can donate to the make a wish >>> and, berwynof sound, loud sound, soft sounds. some are really big, big sounds. >> and, the bells involve the entire person, it is cognitive, it is will physical, social, emotional and spiritual, it touches them on every level. >> we have to have dedication, we have to work hard. >> we break the music down, note by note, measure by measure, line by line, and we practice it over and over again until each one of us have our own part memorized. >> ♪ >> they love to perform. it gives them an opportunity to demonstrate their talents to the community. it should be appreciated for the the skill that they have. >> i love the sounds. >> ♪ >> it sounds beautiful. >> it is really fun. i have all of my friends. they really like it, and all my friends like it. it is really nice. >> ♪ >>> well, good cause now this one comes from the larry rule in levittown, bucks county, lights on stony brook drive are brilliantly timed to music. you can tune in on your own car radio what a show. you can tune in on your own car

with 100,000 lights, and this year people will do it, and can donate to the make a wish >>> and, berwynke, a lot of sound, loud sound, soft sounds. some are really big, big sounds. >> and, the bells involve the entire person, it is cognitive, it is will physical, social, emotional and spiritual, it touches them on every level. >> we have to have dedication, we have to work hard. >> we break the music down, note by note, measure by measure, line by line, and we practice it over and over again until each one of us have our own part memorized. >> ♪ >> they love to perform. it gives them an opportunity to demonstrate their talents to the community. it should be appreciated for the the skill that they have. >> i love the sounds. >> ♪ >> it sounds beautiful. >> it is really fun. i have all of my friends. they really like it, and all my friends like it. it is really nice. >> ♪ >>> well, good cause now this one comes from the larry rule in levittown, bucks county, lights on stony brook drive are brilliantly timed to music. you can tune in on your own car radio what a show. you can tune in on yo

. >> okay, in berwyn chester county... >> well, before you do that, let's go to the news room. >> i'mt so >>> and the rest of that story is, mike jerrick each one of those m and m's too he will tell you later on. good morning, merry christmas i'm sue serio. unusually warm for a christmas morning and we still have some rain around. so before we get to weather we will take a look at a few headlines for this december 25th. >> ♪ >> there it is, midnight mass at the cathedral basilica of saints peter and paul on the ben franklin parkway. that celebrated traditionally at midnight to commemorate birth of jesus being born at night. more masses on the schedule for cathedral throughout the day-to-day. >>> overseas, pope francis celebrated christmas eve mass at the vatican, little foggy there, pontiff says the world need tenderness and people are desperate for god's patients, god's closeness, and god's tenderness, just hours before this mass pope francis talked to the phone on chris taps in iraq living in the refugee camp who have been driven from their home from islamic state terrorist. >>> loc