a special task force is working to *end the metra patronage culture. crews will begin repaving side streets today. the city says it will repave more streets this year than in the past... to repair the particularly harsh winter. it plans to resurface nearly 350 miles of streets and alleys. a man convicted of plotting to torture and murder a suburban landlord, is now writing letters from his jail cell... trying to dangerous man. steven mandell could face life in prison, for a foiled plot to force a strip club owner to sign over the club, then kill that owner. but in a letter to a federal judge, mandell insisted he could never hurt anyone. an assistant prosecutor says, if mandell continues to send letters to judges and police, he may face additional charges. the murder trial of oscar pistorius will soon go on break for two weeks. the judge ruled proceedings will adjourn after tomorrow and not resume until may 5-th. that's because the prosecutor is involved in another case that takes precedence over the pistorius trial. the judge says this trial, which sta

not far from the madison metra station. victim was on her way to the station from her home in park forest. 34 year-old woman told police she gave a description of her attackers believed to be in his 20s or 30s. police say the woman was walking to the station around 5:30 a.m. when she was grabbed and sexually assaulted along the trail between been street. the same man is suspected in two separate attacks on tuesday. the joint community alert has been putting many residents on the edge and ready to fight back. >> i carry a bat for protection. i have a daughter. i'm very concerned about her walking back and forth to school alone. >> police in park forest already investigating four previous attacks since march in which young women reported being dragged and battered. the suspect sketch in those cases is similar to the sketch released yesterday leading to the joint alert. however, police say it is not known yet whether all of these cases are connected. the three most recent attacks happened in the early morning hours. residents

the panel was created after metra gave the former st. ceo a controversial package. >> claims for cars damaged from potholes have more than doubled for the year. more than one thousand claims were filed with the city council yesterday. 18-hundred claims have been filed since january. that's compared to 24-hundred pothole claims filed in the last three years combined. each claim could result in a payout of up to two-thousand dollars. city officials say they have already spent more than 29- million dollars on snow plowing and pothole repair. a family in southern texas says they found a mythical creature right in their yard. a woman says her husband caught a strange creature that was eating corn in their tree. it's mostly hairless, has large claws, sharp teeth, and growls.. residents here are convinced its a chupacabra. legend says the chupacabra attacks livestock and feeds on their blood. >> he told me to come and look. i said it looked like a baby. >> what makes that noise? i guess it's a chupacabra... >> what else could it be? i think it

the report says 26-people were recommended for employment at metra by madigan.the speaker's office claims, the report is full of "factual errors". mayor emanuel has put forth a plan to pay down chicago's public pension debt, by hiking taxes and cutting benefits. 50 thousand active and retired city workers will pay about 300 dollars a year each, in additional pension contributions. and the owner of a typical 250 thousand dollar home will pay another 250 dollars a year in property tax. the mayor say he knows it's not popular... but he says it must be done. >> people contribute every paycheck into a pension that is now on a course where it will run out of money unless we do something to avert that. >> we have reservations about this deal. it's a bad deal for tens of thousands of city employees including almost 10,000 members of the teachers' union. >> the mayor's plan requires the approval of state lawmakers. and it's likely to face lawsuits from some of the city's unions. speeders who have to sign a promise to comply with a ticket. in order to break that there wou

. >> the fbi released its files on the former metra boss. he was caught embezzling. he committed suicide in 2010 by jumping in front of a train. as the board is getting ready to fire him. the fbi says he took the money to support his father and to finance a series of extramarital affairs. the documents also show that he was remorseful it meeting that he made a mistake and offer to make restitution. >> man who saved a woman from a fast approaching train shares the story of bravery. >> >> people are calling the 50 year- old a hero. although the lifelong and modest resident is downplaying what happened at the chicago avenue blue line stop when he spun into action to save someone's life. the train was coming. >> he ran down the platform. this video captured by dna in full radio shows the drum on the platform when people realize the train was rolling in with a woman on the tracks. the still frame shows him waving his arms wearing a bright orange sweatshirt desperately trying to stop the train. a transportation security supervisor was on his way to work when all of this wa

s across the on issues like metra. >> so my understanding is that a the freight railroads got together and acquired and that that spectrum shared with metro and that we have been working to facilitate the necessary license transfers, et cetera. if there is another situation we're not aware, i'd be happy to get on top of it. >> we will get back to you on that. both for your answers. >> mr. graves. >> thank you. beingmen, thank you for here and just listening to the discussion today i can only theine how difficult it is broadest issues from railroad to communications and spectrum auctions. mr. chairman, quickly, about a toposed rule that is going be changed here, or taken effect at the end of march dealing with j.s.a.s, i know the intent of the commission is to provide for andrsity in the marketplace there seems to be a lot of disagreement that that might not be the desired outcome. in fact might have an adverse effect on diversity in the marketplace. you sense that this rule change will provide more ownership of stations and broadcasting? or less minority ownership. >> more. let me give

soliciting a child for sex. 22-year-old christopher brown was arrested yesterday afternoon at the ravinia metra station in highland park. police say he communicated online with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl... and was on his way to meet her for a sexual encounter. instead, a police detective was waiting to arrest him. the cook county sheriff's office is reopening its investigation into alleged sexual abuse by a priest from chicago. just a week ago, father michael o'connell was reinstated as pastor of saint alphonsus church in lakeview, when a sexual abuse complaint in december proved unfounded. but now, a man has come forward to say he witnessed o'connell molesting a boy in 1999, at a south suburban gym. two people were injured after a car crashed into a starbucks in schaumburg. a 71-year-old driver lost control of her car and slammed into the starbucks on barrington road yesterday. police say she mistook the gas for the brakes. two customers inside suffered minor injuries. authorities say it's not likely that the driver will face charges or get a ticket. hundreds of people gathered on

metra school at 40. visibility is quite low. waukegan only about a third of a mile.al in dekalb. 2.5 in rochelle. down in kankakee it's only about half a mile. but has only been around for a little while. we are dry. a high temperature of 47. temperatures will go wrong way. down to 40 degrees tonight. sunshine tomorrow. in this weekend. 56 on sunday. >> accident lakeshore drive just cleared. everything is looking good. i just lost my voice. the work on the dan ryan ... its getting worse. >> worst traffic report ever. get out the hair ball. it might be better this way. trust me. i hate working with a bunch of guys. >> let's get a graphic at least. >> dan ryan outbound ... you can do it. >> it's hard to be the one woman. >> summit is trendy to work and they need the traffic! i need to know! >> the cubs are kicking off their day or had to say in baseball? teeing off? we have derailed. right after our show it was pouring rain. but eveready seem to be optimistic about the season. i hope the work here at took some donuts out there from dunkin donuts to cheer them up. >> ha

the abandoned building in the 36-hundred block of south homan is next to metra's heritage corridor tracks. trains were blocked by the fire for several hours at the end of the evening rush. more than 125 firefighters responded to the fire. former state representative keith farnham goes to court today, to face charges of child pornography. the democrat from elgin abruptly resigned in march, a week after federal agents seized his personal and office computers. they say they found pornographic videos. farnham is accused of trading child porn images, and engaging in online chats in which he said he prefers sex with young children. the n-b-a will announce today how it will handle the racist remarks that were caught on tape that have been attributed to los angeles clippers owner don sterling. magic johnson says he's outraged and expects a harsh punishment from the league. at least 14 clippers sponsors have terminated or suspended their relationships with the team. sterling has not commented on the recordings. chicago's ban on smoking e- cigarettes indoors starts today. the new rule prohibits peo

and with just one-click, you can access information from the c-t-a, metra, and pace. i-phone users can find it in the app store now. the android version will be released in the coming weeks. coming up ... the not-so- obvious workers who may deserve a *tip . >> that app is religious pictures of you guys isn't it? and next in sports -- another overtime for the bulls. hey marcus! >> let's forget all about the bulls series. we're just going to do stress this morning. i'm going to show you a way to get outside and enjoy the spring weather. take everything off your mind and it's free of u-s stocks were up across the board yesterday. the dow finished up 65 points. the nasdaq added 39. and the s-and-p rose four. you tip your waiter... your hairdresser... your cab driver... but who *else should you tip? according to the co-author of "emily post's etiquette," a *lot of people deserve a little the new edition of the book recommends that you consider tipping your exterminator. your cable guy deserves a tip, especially if he has to move lots of heavy furniture to hook you up. not

and the c-t-a, pace and metra should be nothing but operating units within that agency.mayor emanuel doesn't like it... neither does the c-t-a. and the controversial plan isn't likely to advance in an election year. chicago's street sweeping season begins today. it'll run through november... and during that time, signs will be posted, alerting people about when each street will be cleaned. if you're *parked on one of those streets on sweeping day, you'll get a fifty-dollar ticket... and your car may be towed. you can find out *online when your street will be cleaned... at "chicago street cleaning dot com." an un-healthy trend is sweeping through schools in connecticut. the 17 year-old wine to the doctor and he applied to every ivy league school thinking he would get into a least one. all eight schools accepted less than 9 percent of all applicants for the class of 2018. now needs to decide where to go. princeton offered him the most generous package. >> i would like him to be my doctor when they. he seems smart. of all applicants for the class a group of new fathers are

resurfacing work over the metra track. a lot of construction not a lot of accidents though.tes coming in just a bit. >> that does it for us. >> announcer: the following is a paid presentation for luminess air. now there's a new way to completely cover your flaws, minimize wrinkles, and make you look 10 years younger instantly. >> people asked if i got botox. >> people come up to me and say, "your skin is beautiful." >> i've had two people actually tell me it looks like i have porcelain skin. >> announcer: introducing the airbrush beauty breakthrough luminess air, the most exciting new beauty product in years. it's the revolutionary new way of applying makeup that gets results liquids and powders can only dream of. >> i love it. i love the way i look. i looked in the mirror and it was like, "whoa." >> it's a miracle makeup. it's the only makeup i will use. >> announcer: today, you'll see dozens of women use luminess air and transform their faces instantl

of sanctions imposed by washington and brussels that was the warning from president putin artie's metra explains. there are possible or a circle steps that president vladimir putin i would lie and in a speech or in some comments that he made yesterday of these focused on a multinational western based energy companies that operate in russia which we will have to consider the consequences for those operating in russia in key sectors from economy including energy we do not want to resort to a talent tree steps and i hope there will be no need for this is for example our companies like exxon mobil and chevron a group both of which operate here in russia vladimir putin saying he hopes that there will not be need for these or telesur or tell you to raise doubts but apparently they are in russia's arsenal in case the situation arises washington is spinning a wheel of blame in regard to the ukrainian standoff has been turning again and is now pointing at the e.u. the criticism came in comments made by secretary of state john kerry let's find out more from marty's advantages you can who's there