now -- ravens fever hits a few days early this week. >> the similarities are striking between the two teams. boat or a perfect 4-0 at home, and many are predicting this game at home tonight will be a close one. >> the players may not like a thursday game for the short turnaround, but all eyes are on atlanta as the ravens try to maintain their lock on first place in the afc north. it is the only game on tv, including a game at the meadowlands. they hope to replicate what they sought in the second half last week against the dolphins. their success with the ball is triggered by running right at you. >> there really like to get

down. he is a physical back and he just loves to run. i believe it really sets up their play action. it sets up tony gonzalez to run down the field. they do a great job of sticking to it. we do a fantastic job as well to stop them from running the ball. >> just a little smile there from rate lewis. coming up later in sports, and gerry sandusky has the latest from atlanta on tonight's game. >> back in baltimore, ravens fever has hit early. the big matchup has ravens nation pumped up and ready to go. george lettis hit the streets to find out what is on their minds. >> i can barely hear you, but we are live here in timonium. fans are starting to pile in, they are all excited about the game. most fans expect a big win.

jack e. carter has the ravens on her mind. -- jackie carter hopes -- we are going to walk over the top of them tonight. it is going to be a 838-20 game. >> the matter what score fans came up wet -- no matter what score fans came up with. >> we are not nervous. i am not nervous at all. >> matt ryan is 17 and one at home. >> it is that other young quarterback fans they will be the difference. >> they get better with the first half than the second half -- we are a second-half team, but they have to get better

with the first half. we are doing good this year. >> don't over think it, baltimore. >> i have a very good school of thought on this. they are going to win. it is just that simple. >> we had a harder to get an objective point of view. we ran into soccer players who were in town for a tournament. >> they are one of three -- one of three teams who are unbeaten at home. >> anybody sitting here would wholeheartedly disagree with that die. -- with that die. he is not sitting right here at this bar. >> from baltimore to glen burnie to abingdon, a symptom of ravens fever is touchdowns on the brain. the cure, share your ravens purple on wbaltv.com. did to the ravens game tonight,

nbc's prime-time lineup will be seen on saturday night. the programs will air seven not starting at 8:00 p.m. right here on wbal-tv 11. -- the programs will air saturday night. >> surveillance video shows suspects taking over a gamestop store. they took off with cash and dozens of copies of a newly released video game. the same men are believed to be behind a robbery in aberdeen last month. both cases, the suspects got away in a white minivan. anyone with information is asked to call metro crimestoppers. police say the death of a towson university student was the result of a heroin overdose. the 20-year-old junior philosophy major died in his off-campus apartment in september. his rugby coach expressed his

this belief in an interview with the campus newspaper and hopes that his death will serve as a lesson to others on campus. >> you can now add buttons as a look -- to the list of ways drug dealers tried to smuggle heroin into the nine states. -- into the united states. david collins is live at bwi thurgood marshall airport with the details. >> according to federal court documents, someone in the philippines said dresses to a west baltimore address. they were decorated with large buttons filled with heroin. heroin smugglers with ties to baltimore city airmail a package of eight dresses from manila in the philippines last week. this house in west baltimore is the address on the parcel. court papers indicate mark harrison lives there. the package was intercepted last week by u.s. customs and border patrol agents in

cincinnati ohio. court documents do not reveal why it was tagged as suspicious. they were decorated with large buttons. agents discovered 650 grams of heroin inside the buttons with the street value of $50,000. although a novel approach, it has been tried before. this customs botha was taken in 2004 after a similar smuggling attempt in australia -- this customs photo was taken in 2004. an undercover agent made a controlled delivery to the west baltimore row house. the package was supposed to go to mark harrison. state records reveal he does not own a home. jake jeter signed for the package. authorities say michael anderson gave them consent to search the place. they found the package in one of

three bedrooms upstairs. anderson told agents he had no idea what the package contained. he said it is for an individual named black to head a drug shop around the corner. anderson told agents black advised him the package was from new york and that the contents was pocket books. anderson said he was supposed to give it to black and receive some payment in return. anderson and jeter are charged with conspiracy to import illegal drugs. jeter has set detention hearing tomorrow. -- has a detention heari tomorrow. >> some baltimore area science teachers are getting a chance to sharpen their classroom skills. they were among the indicators showing up today for the start of the national science teachers association. that is the baltimore area

conference being held at the baltimore convention center. teachers will get the chance to check out the most up-to-date technology, textbooks, and teaching materials. the three-day event wraps up on saturday. >> baltimore police officers are still voting at this hour as to whether to approve a new contract that would give them pay cuts but also more days off. lowell melser joins us live from hamden with more. >> the polls will remain open for about the next hour. union officials tell us they will hold up on comments until all the votes are tallied. it is no secret that union officials are not happy with the city, especially at since the mayor had to make cuts to their pension to balance the city's budget. given the proposed cuts in the new contract, it would be no surprise if it did not pass. >> i think it is fair. i trust the judgment of my team

that negotiated with the police union's. the police union representatives did it is fair. now is up to that members of -- up to the members. -- the police union representatives think it is very. >> union representatives would not comment as union members continue to vote, waiting for the final tally. in 2009, officials spent much of the year trying to pin down a contract with the city, which was strange when mayor stephanie rawlings-blake had to make tough budget decisions over the summer concerning the department pensions. billboard's pop up after those tough cuts were made. the mayor and her staff are open to move forward. >> the leadership of the union, i felt comfortable bringing the contract to the membership. i am going to put my faith in those union leaders to work with their membership to make it happen. >> the biggest issue in the

contract has to do with pay cuts. the contract states that in 2011, police would receive an almost 2% pay cut, the equivalent of five days' pay. in 2012, police would get an extra five paid leave days to make up for the pay cut. >> polls close at 7:00 this evening. i talked to officials within the mayor's office and they tell me they would literally have to go back to the negotiating table and come up with a new contract by the end of the year if it does not pass. lowell melser, wbal-tv 11 news. >> stay with us, a lot more news is ahead, including how baltimore honors the men and women who served their country on this veterans day. >> of community says thank you to a soldier. that story is coming up. >> temperatures were little above normal on this veterans day. it looks like that pattern will hold as we head into the weekend. checking out of mild forecast.

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>> flags flying high today as folks remember those who put their lives on the line for our country. baltimore honored veterans with a ceremony at war memorial plaza. today's ceremony was a remembrance of the two u.s. wars, the korean war and the 20 anniversary of the first gulf war. >> are veterans put their lives online for all of us here. some never make it home. some do come home injured. >> residents have their own way of honoring veterans day. on the eastern shore, one veteran received an outpouring of support.

rob roblin has that story. >> for capt. ferris butler and his wife, this is their brand new home. it is especially designed just for him. the folks in chester, maryland on the eastern shore came out early this morning for their own veterans day ceremony. they were here to honor a wounded veteran and give him a special gift. >> this is nothing compared to what he has given. >> thanks to homes for our troops, some generous contractors, and the people of chester, capt. terrace butler and his wife have a new home. >> of the selfless acts that everyone has done to make this a reality, it is the reason why men and women join the military to fight for our country, because this is the top of kindness that you will see nowhere else on earth. >> 95% of the house in its entirety has been donated. the response has been

unbelievable that we have gotten from the volunteers and local contractors. >> capt. butler was less severely injured from an ied explosion in iraq. he needed an especially designed home, and today he got at home. >> it has been inspiring and humbling, to say the least. >> you are rebuilding the lives of these wounded service members and their family. you are providing a way for wounded veterans to turn the page and open a new chapter in their life. >> this generosity and compassion is what this country is all about. on maryland's eastern shore at a very special veterans day

housewarming, rob roblin, wbal- tv 11 news. >> now, your insta-weather forecast with chief meteorologist tom tasselmyer. >> we had some beautiful weather on this veterans day with temperatures a little bit above normal. that continues the scene that started this week and will continue into the weekend. the normal for the 11th of november is 58. it was a couple of degrees warmer than that at the inner harbor. the record high was four years ago in 2006 when we hit 77. the record low was 21. 1.34 inches of precipitation on november 11, 1987. you write remove -- you might remember that veterans day in 1987 because most of that precipitation came down as a paralyzing snowstorm. it approached from the south in the days before doppler radar. doppler radar was developed and

instituted in 1988. sundress snowstorms were approaching from the south out of% -- the address snowstorms the south.inapproaching from 6 inches was reported at bwi marshall. dropping back to the 40's in harford county. westbound through randallstown to sykes bill, upper 40's to around 50. state ride the temperatures are warm -- state why the temperatures are warm to fall quickly because the air is clear and dry and the winds are light. close to freezing as we head toward morning in the outlying suburbs. 42 along the shore of the bay, including downtown baltimore, but a chilly evening ahead of us. high pressure is locked in place up and down the eastern seaboard, stretching from maine and eastern canada all the way

down to georgia and florida and the gulf coast. it is a slow-moving area of high pressure. it looks like most of sunday will be dominated by this slow- moving area of high pressure. rain and snow on a colorado- wyoming border but that will stay out there for the next several days. our temperatures will continue to run above normal. a high-pressure area is holding strong into the weekend. the next front trust to work its way out of ohio into western pennsylvania by early afternoon on sunday. it looks like we will get the entire weekend with some nice november weather. 63-68 tomorrow, north winds at 5-10. and the bay tomorrow, when out of the north at 5-10 knots. we could be talking as though in the mouth, but they will see sunshine and 60 tomorrow. -- we could be talking snow in the mountains.

temperatures will be a couple of degrees cooler near 60. a few clouds arriving sunday, back in the upper 50's on monday, with a slight chance for showers and it looks like the more organized storm coming at us tuesday and wednesday, with a chance for rain and highs in the 50's. >> now 11 sports with pete gilbert. >> showtime is almost sure. ravens and balkans kicking off in about two hours. our pre-game show is underway at 7:00 p.m. gerry sandusky is in the field at the georgia dome. >> the ravens have arrived at the georgia dome in atlanta. so far, so good. it is such a short week, coming off a win sunday at home against the miami dolphins. typically on thursday they are just selling into practicing the game plan. you could not ask for two were

perfectly matched teams in this prime-time game. both are undefeated at home and vote or at 6 and 2. both coaches have identical coaching records. all in all, everything comes in even. somebody is going to come out of this game with an edge. the ravens come out with a win on a thursday night on the road, then everyone in the nfl will say they have the team to beat this year in the nfl. we will see in a couple of hours. from the georgia dome in atlanta, gerry sandusky, wbal-tv 11 sports. >> we also just learned that the falcons wide receiver is questionable with a leg injury. he will play tonight against the ravens. archemorus are out in force as usual this weekend. the game you voted for is a

rematch from earlier this week, franklin at hereford. juan samuel earn his role playing interim manager for the orioles. but showalter wanted him to stay on longer and coach third base this season, but an agreement cannot be -- could not be reached. coincidently, -- dave trembley join the atlanta braves organization. the national league east is home of former orioles managers. a check of the forecast is coming up right after this.

>> after you watch the ravens beat the atlanta falcons, be sure to stick with us. we will have reaction to the game from down in georgia. plus, find out why you may want to hold off on black friday shopping. the deals you could see after the busy shopping weekend.

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>> is getting warmer and warmer. >> the weather could change at any moment, but for the next few days, we continue this pattern of highs in the '60s and lows in the 40's. sunny skies tomorrow and saturday. a front is trying to get in here on monday, but there is only a slight chance it will bring up shower. >> focus on the positive. just embrace the moment. nbc nightly news with brian williams is coming up next. >> kickoff is at 7:00 right here. >> we will see you tonight.

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