telling wgn by phone 'when he was in the state senate, president obama voted present on any controversial bill that came up.' that sentiment is echoed by other conservatives in the state, including the chicago catholic archdiocese and the thomas more society. the president is entitled to his opinion. he is only one

this is sears wgn wgn >> officials are restoring service after an earlier accident left the tracks block. if all lanes were suspended today after a semi tractor trailer lost a lotus deal during an accident on nearby highway 90 in gary. some of the steel landed on the south shore line landing on the tracks. officials say the there was substantial damage to the overhead why and the tracks. they hope to have all of the services restored by sunday. gary mccarthy announced an increase in new reward for information for a 1-year-old police killing. it was one year ago today when he was gunned down while he worked off duty at a convenience store. to with such men are charged. police are still looking for the murder weapon and other people involved. mccarthy says the case will not be closed until they have all of the suspects in custody. >> the additional reward money was raised by the chicago police memorial foundation and the fraternal order of police. >> and a chicago police officer was injured when a man smashed his head against the pavement. the police officer briefly lost consciousness. the

wgn's randi belisimo is live at the criminal courts building with our top story. he was here for a total of about one hour and 15 minutes. he'll be back here at the same time next monday after attorneys have time to decide if they will be seeking a new judge. reporters waited in the security line. the is a process done in open court. he said he would not voluntarily take himself out of the case. >> but we're having some technical difficulties. phil latest on that investigation. neighbors say they heard multiple gunshots and saw the officer had a child with him on this happened. the officers 34 years old. hours after the office server shock to the area between two apartment buildings was still blocked off. >> never know. this neighborhood is real nice. many police officers and firefighters live, one retired officer says he is not surprising given the state of the economy. someone approached the officer as he was about to take the child out of the car seat. >> he is not positive but he believes he may have hit the offender. his life is here. i met with his mother. h

we welcome our viewers who are watching us around the country on wgn america and on the web. investigators are working around-the-clock searching for answers. authorities are looking for clues. the 20 year-old took his own life as police responded to the school. in a news conference just a few moments ago state police say the investigation could take months. >> we did see a significant evidence. we are analyzing and will analyze. it is a very painstaking process. arrangements are being made to move furniture and supplies from that school to a new location so that glasses can resume. there's a story behind every life taken. little by little we are finding out more about the victims. two of the 26 victims from the school are being laid to rest there. as we mourn their death we're learning more about some of them. >>charlotte daniel, olivia, >> president obama reads a first names of the 20 children killed. we now know so much more about some of them. 6 year old jack pinto loved sports. especially football. his favorite player was victoc cruz. cruz paid tribute. 6 year old noah p

she is the wife of steve our colleague here at wgn. lots of clouds today these produced snow this morning. these things will brush the shoreline and go into northwest indiana. then a pretty good plume of snow sets up late tomorrow night feeding into indiana. not a huge amount of snow will come down up to seven tenths of an inch in this spot. freeze advisory's in florida down along the gulf coast tonight and wind chill advisory's up north we may be visited by that cold air this storm has two pieces to it. look at the radar returns there this is headed into the same terrain that saw a big snow earlier in the week. it's pretty impressive but the tallest clouds the one producing the heaviest precipitation clearly down to the south of us. we got in on that some areas particularly close to the lake. upwards of 6 in. in missouri. this is what is missing to the south. didn't know there was an evans illinois. this system will consolidate and to blow off of the east coast producing big snows and the new england. this is quite interesting, a coup

janitor's could be out of a job, there is a new company coming in to clean up at o'hare but tonight's a wgn investigation raises serious questions about the owners' ties to a reputed mob associate and a working relationship with an ex- con that goes back more than a decade the firm is united maintenance company and its owner is a prominent chicago businessman richard simon long before he ran this cleaning company was a chicago police officer moonlighting as a chauffeur to the so-called king of the janitors ben stein a notorious rush street playboy and a friend to members of the mob jim wagner investigated and he says this about stalin. >> law enforcement had stories about him taking over parties in bars with his friends he ran a maintenance company that had contracts in numerous different companies in chicago. today one of simon's top executive his ex- con, in the '80s osco was convicted of running a donnie insurance firm as part of a scheme to defraud the labor union won by his father. today the company issued a statement saying it simon purchased the business in 2009 more than 16 years af

we welcome our viewers who are watching us around the country on wgn america and on the web. from 26th and california... on donne trotter's arrest. he was transported to the police locked up from the court at about 530 this morning. he is facing felony charges. is charged with attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon. a board is found a 25 caliber beretta in his garment bag and a clip containing six live rounds in the pocket. the gun was not loaded. he tried to tell police that he worked less as a security guard and did not realize the gun was in his bag. he does have a valid firearm owners id. the budget negotiation among state democrats was not that the senate investigation yesterday. he is among several potential contenders to run for the democrat nomination for jesse jackson jr. is vacated seat. we will keep you updated on what happens inside. a man whose trial was one of the first in illinois to allow cameras in the courtroom is being sentenced today in kankakee county. 20-year-old demetrious jones was found guilty of the murder of 27-year-old marcus sanders. he cou

let's go live to halas hall where wgn's rich king is. hey rich. he is a out of there is a good coach. confirmed about an hour ago after stories broke this morning. after nine years as coach of the bears. missing the playoffs five out of the last six years did him in. a nine year career here in chicago. it began pretty well. he was coach of the year his second year. he is always in charge of the defense. the defense did well over the years. he had no offense. the offense struggled this year. it was hoped to be better. it did not work out that way. it eventually cost him his job. not enough points, not enough victories. >> changes and always a bad thing. sometimes it can be good. nobody wants to really change our attend about changing. now it is upon us. that is what it is. but he got to keep moving forward and whoever we get as our next coach. >> there's a lot of opportunity out there for him. we want him to be here but it is not the scenario. he is a great coach. he is a great man. >> am anxious to see what they do. i'm going to go home and away f

and as you saw tonight on wgn the bulls had georgia on their mind as they took on the hawks. the highlights, later in sports. break this holiday, share everything. share "not even close." share "you owe me..." share "just right." the share everything plan. shareable data across 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. hurry in for a droid incredible 4g lte by htc for $49.99. [ male announcer ] years ago, when the inventors of twix unveiled their bar the tension between them reached a breaking point literally. so they divided the production between two separate factories. each factory took a vastly different approach. left twix flowed caramel on cookie while right twix cascaded caramel on cookie. left twix bathed in chocolate while right twix cloaked in chocolate. both bars as different as the vastly distinct men who invented them. to this day, sharing nothing but a wrapper and an ill-designed driveway. try both and pick a side. cooking can be a balancing act. a little too sweet, or a little too salty, and it can throw everything off. baume and brix, a new restaurant in river

tuned to wgn news next. >> a high school student has been killed until an apparent hit and run. police say no witnesses have come forward. >> tonight there seems to be more questions than answers a in of this case. police are asking for the public's help. >> tonight a moment of silence to remember classmate and friend. a young but life cut short after police say mickey was struck and killed just after 12:30 saturday morning. >> the first officer of tried and found a bystander's giving cpr. the man was pronounced dead at the same. >> police are calling this a hit and run. so far no witnesses have come forward. earlier, the roadway was aligned with cars. off camera his father described him as a mature and smart. he was born in ethiopia before moving to the united states as a child. school officials expressed sadness. he was a committed member of the cross-country and track team. our thoughts and family are with -- are our thoughts are with family and friends at this time. >> tonight in the cross-country and track coach remembers a person who was a scholar and a decimal merit winne

that has the defocus or blur on it that really helps you focus on the subject. >> tony's bosses at wgned the result. their miniature chicago has become a youtube hit. and the station's most popular on-air promo. >> i think i've gotten so many hits on a video like this is because people love their city. i mean, chicago's a great town. >> it's just the pure pleasure of seeing the city look different. so sort of charming and harmless in a way. >> sam calls his new york video the sand pit. in its first seven months, it has more than 750,000 online hits. >> i didn't really expect the response to be as big and positive as it has been. it's something i thought would maybe generate interest for me and be popular, but i didn't expect it to kind of explode in the way that it did. >> you almost get to this point where every city wants to have it. when you're seeing your own city that way, it's familiar yet different. it lets you see your own city in a different light. >>> gee whiz, i sure do love counting. i wonder how high i can go. let's find out. one, two, three, four, five, six. >> and so it

in east chicago, sean lewis wgn news. >> police are asking for help from the public and finding the man who fired shots into a home where children were sleeping. it happened early this morning. police say bullet went through a wall in struck a mattress where one of two children was sleeping. no one was injured. police suspect the shooting is part of an ongoing gang feud. they have increased patrols in the area >> a fire this morning at a senior housing high-rises sent to people to the hospital. an 87 year-old suffered burns to 25 percent of his body. the 67 year-old was in fair condition. the blaze broke out about 10:00 in the morning in an eighth floor room. fire officials are still looking into the cause >> charges were filed against the mother and aunt of two children killed in a deadly fire on saturday morning in englewood. tatiana and britany meakens are facing felony child endangerment and other charges. tatiana meakens is the mother of two year old javaris and 3 year old jariyah meakens. britany meakens is their aunt. police say the children were left unsupervised in the home and

in uptown, sean lewis, wgn news. >> the nephew of the former mayor will make his first appearance in eight courtroom tomorrow. he has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. >> he was processed at 26 and california on friday. he was not booked into the county jail. his whereabouts tonight are unknown. tomorrow he is due in court for the first time >> richard vanecko is facing a count of involuntary manslaughter. he was processed at the leighton criminal court building, friday afternoon. police took his mugshot...and his fingerprints. the 38 year old nephew of former mayor richard daley...now lives in costa mesa, california. the charge stems from the death of david koschman. during an altercation on division street... koschman was knocked to the ground.. hit his head..and later died. that was in 2004. with a special prosecutor -- dan webb-- appointed in april... a special grand jury....re- examined the case. and..the indictment came down, last monday... the grand jury concluding: vanecko "recklessly performed acts ... likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another.." that f

telling wgn by phone 'when he was in the state senate, president obama voted present on any controversial bill that came up.' that sentiment is echoed by other conservatives in the state, including the chicago catholic archdiocese and the thomas more society. the president is entitled to his opinion. he is only one voter. >>the bills author says the bill strikes a balance protecting churches from having to consecrate marriages it wishes not to... yet affords couples equal marriage rights under the law. the velocity of public opinion is changing so rapidly that i think were all surprised at how this is happening but in every corner of the state of illinois from chicago to carbondale.. people are talking to their friends.. their co workers.. their families... folks at their synagogues and their churches and theyre deciding that theres no good reason to treat one family different than another family >> working to ensure a safe new years in chicago. next, the c-t-a says is bringing back their traditional penny fares. also ahead, we're learning more about why a russian jet-liner slammed into t

we welcome our viewers who are watching us around the country on wgn america and on the web. live with our top story. >> the very latest on the manhunt which is being led by the fbi. it is believed that they fled together possibly toward the southwest suburbs. want to show you a live picture. i believe we have a live picture of sky cam 9. the fbi says the two suspects were seen earlier today in the southwest suburbs. that is what led investigators to the home of one of the suspects. we saw investigators going in. the combination of fbi agents. >> want to show you a picture of the rope that is hanging out of the window. it is like something you have seen a movie. 5:00 was the last time that there to sell was checked. it is not until a 40 5:00 a.m. at that they realize that the guards were missing. it is an astonishing feat of acrobatics. look how high he came up. he could nfl. i imagine you cannot come out of the building with orange jumpsuits in downtown chicago and not stick out like a sore thumb. it is amazing indeed. both of the inmates are convicted bank robbers. he tried

for today's recipe, or to watch the segment again, log on to wgn tv dot com slash midday.snapping fingers: oh, those boys are much too much! those boys are much too much! we got the spirit we're hot, we can't be stopped! we got the spirit! we're hot! we can't be stopped! we're gonna beat 'em and bust 'em... announcer: the smallest moments can have the biggest impact on a child's life. both chanting: let's...get... a little bit rowdy. r-o-w--whoo!--d-y. announcer: take time to be a dad today. one more time. call or visit fatherhood.gov to learn more. time now for the answer to today's trivia question. we asked: on this day in 1869 the first u.s. patent for chewing gum was issued. which main ingredient was traditionally used ? a. chicle b. beeswax c. paraffin the answer is a. chicle is the gum from a tropical evergreen tree. paraffin and beeswax all had been ingredients, but chicle proved the best. learn something every day. we are saying goodbye to an organized area of rain. it had visibility down to fractions of a mile. more will develop. there is the forecast this evening

. >> reporter: but wgn's weekend co-anchors in chicago do a version of this in the first commercial break of every show. the trick is to time it -- >> ten seconds! coming up to a voice-over. >> we made it! >> reporter: so they finish just before the commercial ends. but none of these commercial break dancers -- ♪ >> reporter: none of them did it when tia ewing did. >> this was at 4:15 in the morning! >> now people know who you really are? >> yeah, that's who i really am. i'm crazy. >> reporter: this is one beyonce fan who puts the ring in anchoring. jeanne moos, cnn. ♪ if you lake it, then you should have put it a ring on it ♪ >> cnn, new york. >> love her. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront" next, breaking news on north korea's launch of a long-range rocket. what we're learning about just how much control the country has over that satellite. plus, erin burnett has an exclusive interview with defense secretary, leon panetta about this launch. she also talks with him about syria, what we're learning tonight about the forces loyal to president bashar al assad, and how s