i know we needed the rain. >> there is a flood watch. there could be some flooding problems this morning. give yourself some extra time. at least this morning, we will deal with the rain. we can see some heavy rain coming out of virginia and moving into the far western suburbs. parts of howard county within the next 20 minutes. there is a light rain in baltimore city. the rain will be with us off and on. maybe a few thunderstorms this morning and into this afternoon. high temperatures into the upper 70's. the evening commute will be better. we will check the seven-day forecast coming up in just a few minutes. a first we say good morning to sarah. >> we have one early morning accident at kingston road and eastern boulevard. watch for possible lane closures in the middle river.

also some closures near norfolk avenue because of police activity. the rest of the major roads look good. 11 minutes on the north and west side outer loop. this is harford road. so far so good of the outer and inner lips. so far looking at a bpretty easy ride on the west side. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> out west plans to buy airtran airways, merging the two largest discounts carriers. kim dacey joins us live from federal help with the details. >> this deal would be a billion-dollar deal. baltimore could expect to see some defects with 140 flights

already out of bwi. the merger between southwest and airtran will mean more flights for carriers. there will spend more time on parking and foods. that translates into more revenue. there are some unanswered questions. no decisions have been made about eliminating employees. there will likely be job cuts at the corporate levels. more jobs could be coming to baltimore. >> southwest gets bigger at bwi. there are more flights and more people needed to service those flights, including screening them through security. >> there are positives about the merger. there could be a decrease in local ad revenue and less competition between two local

airlines would lead to lower advertising. >> baltimore county police are investigating a homicide in the cockeysville. there was a fight at stone gate port about 11:30 last night. a male was found with head trauma and he was pronounced dead at the scene. there was a stabbing at a small. police are trying to figure out why a man was stabbed inside security square mall in woodlawn. identify theg to suspect. >> somebody approached a student here at security mall who was walking through the mall and stabbed to the victim in the back. the suspect fled from the scene. >> there is no word on a possible motive for this morning but >> the johns hopkins doctor who was shot is now home

with his family. dr. david cohen he was released monday evening. police say paul pardus was upset about his mother's medical condition and shot dr. cohen. the ken harris murder trial continues today. three men are accused of shooting him. a jury heard testimony from a dna expert yesterday. kelly miller told the jury dna was found from two unknown men. >> federal authorities would like to start checking social media outlets as part of a fight against terrorism. this could lead to a change in wiretap laws. it is legal for law enforcement to wiretap some through cell phone and chat rooms.

the law had to stop at in cryptic messages from blackberries. the obama administration is trying to find a balance between national security needs and privacy protection. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. what do you think of the possibility of expanding wiretap laws to include social media like facebook, skype, and twitter? you can e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> bob ehrlich is accusing martin o'malley of using a state agency for political gain. there was a memo saying the economic recovery of maryland slumped in july. the state experienced job growth. that memo was removed and replaced with a more upbeat

summary. the earthis calls into play thee the o'malley administration played. ehrlich is accusing o'malley of using the office for political purpose. the governor is not commenting on the matter. wbaltv.com is the place for everything you need to make an informed decision as you choose who to vote for in november. you will find all the results from the primary election and much more. it is all under the politics section of wbaltv.com. it is a senate showdown that has been brewing over night. lawmakers weighing in on an anti-outsourcing bill. >> this could punish companies that ship jobs overseas. kate amara joins us live with more on the story.

>> good morning. senate democrats are hoping a test vote on the tax bill will help them score with voters back home. with the midterm elections five weeks away and voters angry about the sour economy, senate democrats are pushing legislation, a measure they say will create jobs in the u.s. instead of shipping them overseas. >> we should reward american companies that keep good paying jobs in america. that is what the tax code should reward. >> democrats say tax cuts would be ended for businesses and it would offer incentives for companies that bring work back home. >> who in the world believes we should be rewarding corporations in our country for shipping jobs overseas? republicans >> say it is nothing more than political gamesmanship

by democrats eager to save their own jobs and are expected to block the bill in a vote today. >> this could hinder job creation in america and send american jobs overseas currently. >> it would lead to a net decrease in american jobs. >> the u.s. chamber of commerce is also strongly opposed to this bill. it has little chance of actually moving forward today. kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. back to you. >> what put a bill up for a vote if it has little chance of passing? >> it is a million-dollar question and it is all about politics. democrats are hoping their votes today will resonate with voters back home who are sour about the unemployment rate. they are hoping this test vote can be used against their republican opponents on the campaign trail.

>> it is all about politics this morning. keymar, thank you. >> 71 degrees. coming up next, four children and their mother are found dead in a florida called. >> floodwaters remain at record

i thought it was crazy feeding in the fall. i always feed in the fall. but, it's the best time. feed your lawn in the fall. the fall feeding makes all the difference in the world. what the fall feeding does is build the roots.. that's when the roots sorta want nutrition. i give my lawn scotts winterguard. it's like a root building machine. it builds your lawn from the roots up. next year you get this! the stronger the roots, the stronger the lawn. all year long. the best time to feed is when it will do the most good. there's no substitute for the fall feeding, trust me. it is the best thing you can do for your lawn. i use scotts winterguard. >> welcome back. it is 11 minutes after 5:00 a.m.

we have some light rain. 73 degrees at the maryland science center. the rain will stay with us through this morning. some of the rain could be heavy. a flood watch is in effect. i think things will start to clear by lunchtime. we have a high temperature expected of 79. we will check the seven-day forecast when i come back in a few minutes. >> thank you. a terrible story out of florida. six members of a florida family are killed in an apparent murder-suicides. four children and their mother were killed. the suspect is the woman's estranged husband. there were seven children at home at the time of the shooting. >> residents are on high alert in wisconsin.

sandbags have become a common sight. the river has reached a record level. hopefully it will reside for the rest of the week. that is in st. video. >> 71 degrees on tv hill. coming up, the morning's america saves on dunkin', america runs on dunkin', with three freshly baked bagel twists for only $3, like our delicious new tomato basil or sweet chocolate chip, so grab three for 3 today. [ ding! ]

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> is the rain already causing a problem? crust we already have one problem of notes. we will keep you posted. the accident is in middle river, kingston wrote eastern boulevard. watch for possible lane closures. we do have some lane closures at norfolk avenue in the city because of police activity. we are still in pretty good

shape despite the rain coming down. 52 of the southbound j.f.x. just south of the beltway. still in pretty good shape. 70 it looks good in towards the beltway. the problems of the harrisburg expressway. this is harford road. we switch over to a live view of liberty where we are at the life free of all the way down to edmundson. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. now let's get the latest on the buses and the trains. good morning. >> good morning. we have a few bus delays. if 24 and 40 buses are running 15 minutes late. there is a diversion at pratt street and light street. light rail is on time from hunt valley to cromwell. on the marc trains, on-time service on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines. now back to tony pann.

good morning. >> we're starting out with some rain showers today. most of the heavy rain is in the western suburbs. added frederick county, parts of washington county, and howard county. some heavy rain around brown's brunswick. this is all moving north. the focus will be out in the far western suburbs. give yourself extra time. this is a wider view. lots of shower activity moving in from the south. it should move out by the early afternoon hours. you can see in this swirling over in west virginia. it will take awhile for this to pass. by 2:00 p.m., we will get some sunshine to break through the clouds. there is another system behind that that will give us a chance

for rain starting wednesday night into thursday. we will get a little bit of a break tonight and into tomorrow morning. 71 at the airport. we should be able to jump in the upper 70's this afternoon. off and on rain showers. then things will clear up late this afternoon. we could see a few thunderstorms. overnight, partly cloudy skies, cooler than last night. upper 50's and low 60's. on wednesday, the clouds will thicken up in the afternoon. there could be some rain wednesday night and thursday. 75 on thursday. maybe some more rain friday night and saturday. then it will turn kind of chilly up. mid 60's's on sunday and monday. overnight lows in the 40's. >> a twist of fate.

the owner of the segue company has reportedly died after into a river.way he had been writing his segway and was pronounced dead at the scene. he bought the operation in 2009. he was discovered after reports of a man falling from a cliff. all the time you spend create a computer may your creati be for nothing. e-mails being sent out disguised as something of interests like a screen saver. >> it is will the call late drive by installed. without you knowing it, you're being watched. >> the best way to protect

yourself is to keep your software up to date and to avoid any e-mailed or facebook post that look unfamiliar. >> coffee prices may be coming down again. jane king joins us live with a look at the business news in the bloomberg business report. >> it looks like we're starting out lower this morning. there were renewed worries about ireland and portugal. they may have problems paying their bills. more trouble in the housing market. look at the latest home price index. we expect it to show prices increased in july compared to a year ago. behind this is high in employment and rising foreclosures. consumer confidence falling this month. americans may start tightening their belts even more.

promising news for starbucks. prices are about to drop. these may increase output of the beans to a record and drive down the price of coffee. paintbrushes are improving the baltimore economy. there has been some what of a renaissance, helping the area redevelop. artscape generated $26 million for baltimore last year. that is business. i'm jane king reporting for wbal-tv 11 news. back to you. jane, thank you. we'll see you back here at 6:15 for your next report. "law and order" is moving west to california. the man who created the french fries talked about the new

series and his disappointment of the cancellation of the franchise that started it all. >> "law and order" is getting a change of venue. >> there is a different zeitgeist in los angeles then there is in new york. it has two arms and eight relaxeolexes. >> the basics remain the same. detectives investigating crime. terence howard prosecute them. >> you have literally three world-class actors. everybody else is really good, even if you do not know them yet. >> one is a relative unknown. >> it is rare to get an e-mail

from woody allen to say you should hire this guy. >> he had depression over the cancellation of the original series. >> you are taken up on the gallows and you drop and all of the sudden you hit a trampoline and came right back up again. >> the remother ship is still in the record books as the longest running drama. now he has new faces for a time tested drum up. >> if you like those types of shows, this one is it slammed dunk. you are so funny. 71 degrees on tv hill. coming up, we will check your traffic and weather together. >> don't forget to e-mail us your response to our water cooler question of the day. what do you think of the

possibility of expanding wiretap laws to include social media like facebook, skype, and twitter? e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

>> a group of monkeys be used for security purposes in india -- their purpose, prevent other monkeys from bothering the fans. there will be assigned to different venues to scare away other monkeys. animals are sacred in india. gangs of monkeys run wild and steal food from people on the street. just this side of some monkeys will send other monkeys into a fright. >> like guard monkeys. 71 degrees on tv hill.

coming up in the next half-hour -- >> southwest and airtran airlines could be emerging. what that means for you and baltimore. >> we have some heavy rain in the western suburbs. we will check the seven-day forecast in just a few minutes. >> police are cleaning up after tax on everything you buy? that's in andy harris' unfair tax plan. 23% sales tax. a 23% sales tax will cut my business in half. would be devastating. andy harris' 23% sales tax absolutely makes no sense. 23% sales tax would really make things unaffordable. that's too high for the average american out here. i don't know how we would manage it really. don't like that idea. we can't afford andy harris' idea. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning, everybody. welcome back. i am stan stovall. >> and i am jennifer franciotti. thank you for joining us this morning. we will start with the weather. >> we have some rain and again this morning. the heaviest stuff is in the far western suburbs. right around baltimore city, there is a few sprinkles.