for "religion and ethics newsweekly," i'm betty rollin in mundelein, illinois. >>> u.s.icials say heroin abuse has been rising to epidemic levels. it affects people across demographic lines, including those in small towns and in the faith community as well. earlier this year, i looked at that crisis. and one of the nation's most prominent evangelical leaders, reverend richard cizik, shared with me the story of his own son, richie, who died of a heroin overdose one year ago this month. >> reporter: for years, reverend richard cizik has been one of the nation's most prominent evangelical voices, advocating on issues from religious freedom to interfaith dialogue and climate change. now he's taking up a new cause, one he never wanted. >> this has been my whole career, really, on so many public issues. but never did i imagine it would cut so close to home or be so personal or painful. >> reporter: on december 19, 2013, cizik's 23-year-old son, richard cizik, jr. -- richie -- died of a heroin overdose. now, cizik is urging the faith community, and churches in particular, to ge

wgn's julian crews is live outside loyola's mundelein center. where the e reporrldather ju >> concluding on the campus of loyola university. there were tears of sorrow. >> extraordinary life of the victim judging by the tremendous outpouring of sympathy. this is a lost just offer a grieving family car for the greater community at large. >> any time you lose a person with the kind of vision but a kind of clarity or conviction and is tragic for anybody. >> the victim's oldest brother sharing the family's grief over the weekend murder gun down friday night to an attempted robbery. as police continue to search for two attackers are remarkably composed and accomplished pakistan family is focused on the others. >> what is not about playing the blame game, it is about understanding why this happens. how do we prevent other families from having their daughters taken away from them? >> >> that is the peace and that is the understanding. his desire to be a doctor to help those in need. >> was on a remarkable trajectory determined to bring health care to p

an interfaith prayer service for non-violence will be held this afternoon in the mundelein auditorium on campus. >> we seek peace, not vengeance, understanding, we see this as being symptomatic of a greater epidemic of poverty and violence in chicago. >> the prayer service will be held this afternoon. >> the state has cut ties with a private vendor and then ran the illinois lottery. the contract was terminated yesterday. governor clinton directed it to end its relationship star of watery group over performance concerns. only three years into the tenure contracts and targets were missed all of them. >> a sheep found wandering the streets in omaha while wearing a holiday sweater, has been reunited with its owners. the family says they didn't even realize the sheep was missing, until they saw its picture on facebook. it was posted by the nebraska humane society after the sheep was picked up over the weekend. the shelter knew it was a beloved pet, because it was so fashion-forward. >> we love him. i got attached to it. >> i like him to. the family doesn't know how they sheep got out, but