Dawn Patrol: Quicks hits as you head out the door

Breaking news

Firefighters from the Fox Lake Fire Protection District are still trying to uncover the cause of a garage fire in Duck Lake last night. No one was injured in the blaze.

Judge to Walsh: Prove you made child support payments

A Cook County judge ruled yesterday that U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh must prove that he made nearly $100,000 in payments to his ex-wife. In the past, Walsh has called the child support claim Laura Walsh filed in early December “wildly inaccurate.” The judge also questioned why Walsh wasn't in court. The attorney answered that Congress was in session in Washington, to which the judge answered, “Well, he's no different than anyone else.” The judge says he expects Walsh to attend the next hearing, in November. Full story.

Trustees want details on complaints against chief

Two Gurnee trustees are calling for the release of some information about employee complaints about Police Chief Robert Jones, whose tenure ends Thursday with a $139,600 "retirement/separation" package. Greg Garner said the information should be released because of the amount of public money involved, but the mayor says personnel matters can't be made public. Full story.

Smoke that reached the area unlikely to return

Anyone whose lungs were effected by the smokey haze that clouded the Chicago area earlier this week can breathe easy, as meteorologists say the weather pattern that brought smoke from Minnesota to Illinois was a one-in-a-thousand occurrence. Although the fires continue to roar, National Weather Service meteorologists say clouds and rain yesterday pulled any lung irritating particles out of the air. Full story.

Urlacher mourns the death of his mother

Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher is mourning the unexpected death of his 51-year-old mother, Lavoyda Lenard. The reigning NFC defensive player of the week left the team yesterday to be with his family. It is not clear if he will suit up to face the New Orleans Saints' high-powered offense Sunday in the Superdome. Full story.

Elk Grove personal trainer saves a second life

Joe Pignone, a master personal trainer at the Pavilion Fitness Club in Elk Grove Village, saved the life of a man who had collapsed Saturday on the facility's indoor track. It is the second time in two years Pignone is being credited with saving a club member's life. Full story.

Major Grayslake house fire under investigation

Grayslake fire officials continue to investigate a blaze the nearly demolished a home yesterday while the residents were out of town. A neighbor spotted the fire, and by the time firefighters arrived, the back of the home was engulfed in flames. The home was left uninhabitable, and early estimates calculated the damage at $200,000. Full story.

Suburban hospitals named top performers

Six suburban hospitals are among 18 in Illinois named Wednesday as top performers on key quality measures by The Joint Commission, an Oakbrook Terrace-based group that is the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America. The quality measures are based on treatment for heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care and kids' asthma. Full story.

Weather

Make sure to bring a jacket after cool weather remains in place today. It'll be sunny, but the high will only reach 58 degrees this afternoon. Wind will be about 12 degrees with potential gusts of about 20 degrees. It'll remain clear but cool overnight as well, dipping to the mid-40s. Full weather.

Traffic

Stay off the Stevenson if you are commuting into the city this morning as construction is already congested and climbing. Otherwise, traffic seems to be moving along just fine early Thursday. Full traffic.

Cubs drop another to Reds

Casey Coleman lasted only three inning and the Cubs didn't have any answers for Reds pitching in dropping another game to the Cincinnatti Reds by a score of 7 to 2. Tyler Colvin, who was expected to make more starts after the Cubs traded Koske Fukudome earlier this year, did not play again as coach Mike Quade started Reed Johnson in right field. Full story.

Ozzie sees no fight in the Sox

Following another White Sox loss, this time a 6-5 decision to the Detroit Tigers, Ozzie Guillen flat out said his players no longer have any fight to win, but he hopes they play hard enough to finish the season in second place in the AL Central. “You know what's funny? Some coaches might need the $5,000, $3,000 to be in second place. (The players) might not,” he said. “But (the coaches) do. They can buy Christmas gifts for their kids.” Full story.

Judge rules Jereme Richmond can't leave the state

Top things to know from the wire

#8226; Medal of Honor for Marine lifesaver who defied death: Kentucky farmboy Dakota Meyer rescued 36 comrades under intense fire in Afghanistan. He becomes the first living USMC honoree of the post-9/11 era when President Obama bestows his award at 1:45 p.m.

#8226; Last-ditch appeal to Perry on Texas execution: Convicted killer Duane Buck is to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. if courts continue to reject his appeals and the Republican governor and presidential frontrunner does not issue a 30-day reprieve.

#8226; Swiss bank says rogue trader caused $2 billion loss: UBS warns it could report a loss for the entire third quarter as a result of the incident, which is still under investigation. It says no customer money was affected but UBS shares were sent plummeting.

#8226; Busiest U.S. border crossing reopens to pedestrians: But the San Ysidro connection between San Diego and Tijuana remains closed to U.S.-bound vehicles after a scaffolding collapse injured 11 people at the spot where about 50,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians enter the U.S. daily.

#8226; The U.S. numbers that could swing stocks: At 8:30 a.m., new data on unemployment-benefit applications, consumer prices in August and the trade deficit. At 9:15 a.m., the Fed reports on factory, mine and utility production.

#8226; New IMF chief's first major speech: Christine Lagarde, who replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn after he resigned to fight sexual-assault charges, speaks in Washington at 9 a.m. on solutions for the global economic crisis.

#8226; FDA doubt on dropping "high fructose" tag from corn syrup: Documents obtained by the AP's Thomas Watkins show a top official told colleagues that letting the corn industry change "high fructose corn syrup" to just "corn syrup" might be laughably misleading, especially with some scientists linking the sweetener to obesity.