so what's your predictions for the orioles' season? that's our water cooler question of the day. >> 11 news today continues. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thank you for joining us for 11 news today. >> we were thinking about playing an april fool's joke today and saying all schools in the area were closed today. >> but i'd be sitting next to somebody else tomorrow. >> i'm really curious about the two-hour delay in carroll county. yes. we checked. but it's official. the strongest echoes of snow are coming from carroll county this morning. much of the county from eldersburg and pikesville, northward, shows more of a solid white there. so there's probably more snow

than rain there. i circled the baltimore beltway there. so you could get a reference point. much of baltimore county included in the rain-snow mix. even parts of harford county. then glen burnie, arnold down to annapolis, that's where the heaviest rain is falling right now. other areas getting light rain right now. once you get south of washington, the rain has pretty much tapered off. not necessarily the end of the rain in forecast. but we'll talk about it with details. now to traffic. >> good morning. things not looking too bad overall. we've had a couple of accidents. two right lanes of northbound president street are blocked. also a vehicle fire at hanover and ma combs street. but major roadways,

problem-free at this moment. 95 southbound between 100 and 32 hooking at five minutes. we'll give you a live look outside at the roadways. see how things are doing there. the southbound view there. you can see north and southbound. you can see traffic moving fine. that's the latest on traffic pulse 11. mindy and stan, back to you. >> our big story this morning, a dozen mid shipmen from the u.s. naval academy have been expelled for their alleged use of a controversial, yet legal drug. >> george here with that story. authorities say this is all part of an ongoing investigation that started after other mid shipmen came forward with that information. the drug is spice. it provides a similar high to

marianne and even looks like marijuana. but now 12 mid shipmen have been expelled for using or carrying it. the only female in the expelled group was kicked out. >> where it's legal and they are telling it, i don't see where it's fair. but at the same time they have the responsibility to stay clean and straight. >> i think it's totally appropriate for people who go to this institution to be held to a higher standard than those of us on the other side of the wall, so to speak. >> spice is easily found in drug paraphernalia shops and on the internet. it's not clear thousand midshipmen got access to the spice and if it's all there. >> george, thank you. in other news this morning, a

14-year-old is in police custody after authorities say he beat his grandmother unconscious with a hammer. the 66-year-old remains unconscious. because of his age, his identity has not been released. harford county has arrested three teenage girls for conducting a bomb scare. each of the girls attend belair high school but phoned in bomb threats to other high schools as well. >> the felony, if they were charged as adults could carry up to a $10,000 fine and 10 years imprisonment. >> the girls have been released into the custody of their parents. >> brooks robinson continues to recover after being admitted for an emergency procedure yesterday. he was rushed by hospital -- by

ambulance to a hospital. he had been scheduled to undergo a routine procedure that day. he said this had nothing to do with the previous battle of prostate cancer. he also thanked even for their support and prayers. keith mills has more coming up in sports. >> o's fans usher in the thought -- season. fans say they are really optimistic for the first time in years after the addition of mark reynolds and leadership of buck showalter. they will play their first game on monday at camden yards. what are your predictions for the orioles 2011 season? share your response on our facebook page or send us an

email at watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> new and frightening video footage shows the damage to fukushima plant in japan. this those damaged interior of reactor number four. smoke was seen rising above the reactor while water is being dumped on to it. they say as deep as 50 feet below the reactor, the soil has been contaminated. meanwhile, to the crisis in libya where pentagon officials say they are about to pull their attack planes in the hope nato partners will pick up the slack. robert gates questioned his timing considering muammar gaddafi's recent advances on rebel positions. they say they will scale back on sunday and assist on

missions rather than attack. >> the labor department releases its monthly jobs report today. 11 news washington reporter kate amara joins us life this morning with more on that story. good morning, kate. sounds like good news. >> yes. some good news, mindy. so economists do expect the employment figures to show more than 200,000 jobs added last month with the unemployment rate staying around 8.9%. even with signs of progress on the road to economic recovery, potential pitfalls remain. state and local governments desperate to balance budgets are cutting spending and shedding their jobs. gas prices continue steady crimes along with consumer goods like food.

>> you've got real dislocation in the housing market. the housing market has -- that has negativing intact on consumer sentiment. on consumer growth. >> this comes as jobless claims drop to 388,000 last week. >> a lot of the cases are that labor market is healing. >> but even with bright spots on the horizon, many analysts believe we are in for another year of struggle. >> in addition to setting the tone on wall street for the next week or two, today's lort help investors gauge when the fed will again raise interest rates. i'm kate amara. wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you and have a great

weekend. >> prices in libya. gas prices continue to climb with the price of oil hitting a 30-month high at $170 a barrel. that's hitting people hard as they gas up their cars. the national average now stands at $3.61. 23 cents more than it was a month ago and hopefully a gallon of regular will run you $3.57. this couldn't come at a more oper tune time. there's charging stations that can recharge any new mass market electric vehicle. although fitzgerald is a mount vernon apartment community, the chargers are open to the public. >> and in loss al tose, california. check it out.

30,000 square feet. an estate that fetches a jaw-dropping $1 00 million. that makes it the most expensive home in the entire nation. in addition to the five bedrooms, it also features a ballroom. of course you need that. home theater. indoor and outdoor pools. wine cellar and manicured gardens. it was purchased by a tech narn has no plans to move into it. i guess it's just an investment property for him. >> yes. i'm surprised with just five bedrooms. >> me too. >> the ballroom took up all the room. >> coming up if you have a sweet tooth, your wallet might be the next thing to develop a cavity. >> and heavy rains and strong winds rock the sunshine state. >> and folks in the bronx zoo are breathing easier now that

they don't have to worry about where one of their deadly cobras is hiding. >> to our north, it's snowing. near the pennsylvania line, that snow is sticking to the trode some degree. so take it easy out there. >> that causing treacherous conditions. we've got a couple incidents to tell you abo

>> it's 6:13. it's a friday morning. april one. that means on this case we're not going to fool you. it's raining out there this morning.

39 degrees is the temperature downtown. no fooling. here's the radar this morning. circled the city around the beltway. we have bands of moderate rain shower. southeast of the city to annapolis. north of the city, northern half of baltimore county and much of carroll county. 2/3 of carroll county, snow mixed in with that rain. in westminster i got a report of just under an inch of snow on the grass. nothing on the pavement. it's melting. north snow is reportedly beginning to accumulate on roads and sidewalks. carroll county schools are starting two hours late this morning because of the weather out there. south of washington that the

stage this stuff will taper off. in the throw mid 30's up close to the pennsylvania line. and we're at or close to freezing in garrett county. the whole nor'easter is moving northward. new england to new york state and on into pennsylvania. lots of travel problems there today, so check ahead if you're going to be flying or taking the train or something. as this storm pulls away, we will see wet weather. the basic forecast today. this morning, we have this light to moderate rainfall activity with snow mixing into the city. we could see -- 47-52 for the high today. 2 breeze picks up northwest. insta-weather future cast shows the bulk of the rain pulling out of here later this morning

and going north. but then we could see spotty showers the develop this afternoon and finally clearing out this evening. so we'll have mostly clear skies then. but then it will be much drier tomorrow than it was today and yesterday. we could see a band of showers move through. here's a look at the seven-day forecast. we really don't shake the rain completely. 50 today. 49 on saturday. shower chances tapering off today. spotty showers. maybe even a snow flake tomorrow. 54, the high. 56 on monday. there's a rain threat even with the o's game in the afternoon, we could see some widely scattered showers. bigger thunderstorm chance on tuesday and 70.

and wednesday and 70. >> snow sticking to the roadways in pennsylvania. we're getting reports of that. so use extra caution fur in our north erin viewing areas. president and lumbar street a vehicle is blocking the intersection. otherwise major roadways checking out for the most part. 66 on the harrisburg expressway. the beltway and we'll give you a live look outside. 70 and 29, looking great. a live view of sandy point. the roads moving and we do have fog warnings on the bay bridge for you to look out for. >> taking a look at some of our top stories. a line of severe weather swept across florida. that the mobile home park powerful storms and heavy winds

caused damage to many units. five systems were confirmed to touch down and it flipped over several small planes at the st. peters berg airplane hanger. well the governor has signed into law a bill that limits the rights of public workers. it prevents police and teachers and firefighters from negotiating pay raises. >> spronets vowed to push for a recover in the next elections. >> and in the new york bronx zoo they found their 20-inch cobra. it gained over 200,000 followers on twitter when an anonymous account was set up

chronicling her fictitious escape and adventures through the big apple. >> in this morning's "consumer alert" scl too much chocolate will not just rot your teeth, it will eat away at your wallet. hershey's kit cat and twizzlers is raising its prices 20%. they say it's for raw materials, fuel, utilities and transportation. people are being warned to stay out of those water walking balls. the safety commission warns the giant see-through inflatable sfeers could suffer successful indication and even drowning. >> well, it seems is every day another company is announcing

price hikes. crispy cream is jumping on the bandwagon. >> good morning. if you recently had to shell out a little more at the krispy kreme in rockville, you're not alone. they announced they boosted prices in march, and like hershey's, they are saying it's for the rise in costs of raw materials. they are revamping their coffee line. and higher prices on cotton and wool is said to have -- to be responsible for rising prices. now yesterday we had a mixed close with only the nasdaq popping higher. wall street closed the books on the biggest first-quarter

rally. at the new york stock exchange, i'm jane king for wbal-tv 11 news. >> the time now 6:20, 36 degrees on tv hill. another look at traffic straight ahead. >> and is this really good weather for opening day? >> and take a look at last night's maryland winning lottery numbers.

>> good morning. we've cleared that accident at president and lumbar street. now a vehicle fire at han gleeverpbed kona streefment firefighters are on the scene there. eight minutes 95 north to the fort mchenry. 70 at 29 looking great in both directions here. 50 at shady point, traffic moving just fine. fog warnings on the bay bridge to mention. >> it's raining on the i-5 cord der. north of the city and the i-95 corridor. the northwest corner of harford kind in carroll county, we do have some snow there.

some of that is accumulating today. our bus stop forecast, 45 temperature range. maybe an isolated shower in the afternoon hours. the highs upen around 50. a little bit of an improvement for the afternoon. detailsal on the weekend just ahead. >> now -- good morning, everybody. in a collective play ball tonight as the orioles open their 58th season. how about a collective sigh of relief for number five, brooks robinson. brooks says he is ok after he was taken to the greater baltimore medical center. because of a is high fever and infection, and he was due to have a procedure done there anyway on thursday, if the infection -- but it led them there quicker. brooks released this statement.

thank you for the outpouring of concern. i was originally scheduled for a routine outpatient procedure on thursday, march 31. the evening before surgery i developed a fever i had anfection and my doctors chose to admit me and treat me for the infection. i am pleased to say i continue to remain cancer-free after my successful treatment for prostate cancer and i look forward to a full recovery and ask you for your privacy and thank you for your prayers. >> this is probably the only time brooks doesn't want people around him. >> down in d.c., the nationals open their season, losing to the braves. first game for new manager fredi gonzalez who takes over for bobby cox. second in, justin hayward off liven hernandez. -- livan hernandez. >> big story in this game.

he strikes out jayson werth. 2-0, the braves win. now the cleveland indians are supposed to start their game against the white sox. but one problem. and it's a great big problem. yes. four inches of snow. snow blowers instead of lawn mowers there. maybe that's good news. the food news is it's not going to snow. >> 6:27. 36 degrees on tv hill. in the next half-hour of 11 news today -- >> some things might look a little different around camden yard when you show up at the stadium this year. >> and the big nor'easter, new england is getting the worst of this storm. we're on the south edge of some rain and

>> good morning. and happy friday, everybody. welcome back to 11 news today.

i'm stan stovall. >> and i'm mindy basara. meteorologist john collins has a look at the forecast for us. >> april fool's. i wish we were fooling, but we do have some rain and snow in the picture this morning. take a look at the i-95 corridor. here's the washington capital beltway. from that line south, it's basically rainy. north of the city, up in parts of carroll county and those areas, we're getting snow, some of it sticking in pennsylvania. it's even sticking to the pavement a little. take it easy for a while. eventually the rain tapers off and eventually we'll see some sun over the next couple of days. >> our big story this morning, a controversial yet legal drug has led to the expulsion of another midshipmen. >> this is the 12th time such

action has been taken. george joins us with more. >> the authorities say this is part of an ongoing investigation that started last fall thanks to the tip of some at the academy. >> spice when smoked provides a similar high to marijuana. it's a legal substance in the u.s. but what got 12 midshipmen expelled since december for either using it or possessing it. >> i mean, if it's legal or they are selling it, i don't see where it's fair but at the same time they have the responsibility to stay clean and be straight. >> the only female in the expelled group was kicked out monday. the naval academy last year banned possession of it or use of it. spice is readily available at

paraphernalia shops. >> if you say it's kind of like marijuana but it depends, i'm not sure. >> the nael academy says it was as a result of other midshipmen coming forward to top brass. >> frankly, i think that's sort of what i'd like to see out of the people running our navy and armed services. >> this man's son was just accepted into the naval academy. >> i think it's totally appropriate for people who go to this institution to be held to a higher standard than you and i on the other side of the wall, so to speak. >> authorities banned some of the chemicals used to make these drugs but it's only banned for a year to see if the chemicals should be banned permanently. >> thank you george. well, two men are in custody this morning accused in the murder of a college park student.

prince george's county arrested two. police say the pair are responsible for shooting and killing 22-year-old dustin deshawn over cash in an offcampus situation. >> and in randallstown gregory lewis was arrested at his home on nemo road. police believe he shot and killed another during a drug deal. jackson was pronounced dead at northwest hospital. right now lewis is being held without bail. >> and annapolis police are looking into a 16-year-old who reported she was walking to her bus stop when a man tried to abduct her. the girl says she was able to get away safely. area schools were notified, and

there's no word on the description of the suspect. >> anne arundel county police say harvey was pulled over last month after an officer saw him nearly swerve into two vehicles. they say he failed sobriety tests and he decided to retire before the incident but informed his supervisors immediately and apologized to the staff. >> well, arguably one of the best baseball stadiums in the entire country. since orioles park first opened, crews worked hard every offseason to try to improve the stadium. as rob roblin shows us, this is no exception. >> this is the 20th year for the o's at camden yards. it was a top ballpark then and it still is today. everywhere you looked, somebody was working at the stadium, adding all the last-minute

touches to have everything ready for opening day on monday. >> we've got a lot of people working extra hours. but yes. come noon on opening day when we open the ballpark three hours before the game. >> in some sections new seats have been installed for the fans' comfort. while they may look the same, they are three inches wider. this is the miller lite deck. it's the perfect place for a party or your friends and instead of buying a single seat, you buy a table for four people. the price ranges from $484 to $20 -- from $140 to $200. >> it's $10 off each individual person if they had bought individual tickets. >> this year they've added a lot more merchandise. at the concession areas, there

will be new signs and new food choices. everything to keep oriole park one of the top stadiums in the country. >> like anything, you want to keep things fresh and new and exciting for fans. this year is no exception. >> well, the people doing all the work at the stadium? being ready by opening day is their number one priority. >> we should be done by sunday. i hope so. >> rob roblin, wbal-tv 11 news. >> good morning. kim dacey checking on your morning commute. we have a crash at liberty and mill ford mills road. and approaching the harbor tunnel, you can see traffic slowing down there fro lum bard to the tunnel. so watch out for that. otherwise we are looking good on the rest of the major

roadways. 64 in the harrisburg expressway, heading south 95 in the northeast corner. we are looking good there. we will give you a live look outside. you can see east and westbound moving just fine. here along the top side you can see the inner and outer loop. but you can see the roads aren't slick -- the roads are slick out there. now john has a check of the forecast. >> good morning. with a little bit of snow mixing up near the pennsylvania line, sticking to the grounds and a little bit. tapering off to a few sprinkles or spotty showers in the afternoon. sun breaks. temperatures will be near 50 today. we'll detail the forecast going into the weekend in a few minutes. >> the time is 6:37. coming up, first there was the octopus.

now the latest from the animal kingdom who not only predict winners, but they put on quite a show. >> and we're still taking your answers to our water cooler question of the day, what are your predictions to the orioles' 2011 season? is share your comments on our facebook page or our website at

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♪ >> well, maybe i should use this method when picking my bracketology. a pair of four-legged athletes have played their version of the final four. the science museum of virginia

held a rat basketball tournament to predict the real winner of the final four. in one virginia beat butler followed by another v. c.u. victory over kyi in the championship game. every year. >> rats are pretty smart. >> well, seems like this week is just chalked full of news. >> japanese were given something to smile about with the arrival of two new pandas. people lined up outside to get a glimpse of them. those affected by the tsunami were allowed free admission. >> no lions or tigers oh, my. a pair of black bears who didn't have a mother made

friends with a tiger cub. they will meet the public for the first time. no word if their new playmate will be joining them. >> there's our cute animal block. 6:42. 36 degrees on tv hill. coming up we'll take a look at the morning's headlines. >> north of the circle which is the baltimore beltway, we have some rain and snow sticking to the roads north of the city.

>> welcome back to 11 news today, the time is 6:44. in the headlines, a 14-year-old is in police custody after he beat his grandmother unconscious with a hammer. the 66-year-old remains in critical condition.

this happened as the teen was getting ready for school. because his age his name is not being released. >> brooks robinson continues to be watched after being admitted in the hospital for a fever and infection. he had been scheduled to undergo what was described as a routine procedure that same day. he wrote that it had nothing to do with his previous battle with prostate cancer. and he asked for privacy as he recovered. the orioles kick off their opener in a series against the teab rays. many fans say they are optimistic for the first time in years after the addition of vlad guerrero and the leadership of buck showalter. the o's will play at camden

yards on monday. >> weather permitting. >> yes. >> that brings us to your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> we asked what are your predictions for the orioles 2011 season. >> bill writes on facebook, don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed but they will finish with a good record. >> teena writes my predictions for the 2011 season are that we will be better than last season. being the laughingstock of the a.l. east is not fun. >> and mark on facebook posted with a lot of explanation points. next year, so old. can't wait for football season to start. go ravens. >> come on, mark. show some love. >> we'll post your answers on

the front page of www.wbaltv.com. >> the poor orioles get no love around here. we should show them a little love. a little spirit. for traffic we have mill ford mill road an accident and approaching the harbor tunnel there's a backup with driving time down to 27 miles per hour. the north side to the harbor tunnel, a 10-minute delay. west side outer loop looking ok. we'll give you a live look outside at the harrisburg expressway north of mount caramel road, there's some flurries out there. they could be sticking to the roads as you come south. this is the delay at 95. you can see southbound to the harbor tunnel. that's the latest on traffic pulse 11. john? >> good morning. take a look at that radar.

again, the baltimore beltway indicated right here. along the i-95 corridor pointing east and south. north of us we've got snow mixed with the rain up near the pennsylvania line. it's still showing a couple bands of light snow that has accumulated. from around the pennsylvania line, north and south of that a little bit, there's accumulation on the roads. carroll county schools, two-hour delay due to the weather. let's take a look at the current temperatures out there. mid 30's north of the city, leaning towards the mid to upper 30's. freezing in far western maryland right now. this is a big nor'easter that's cranking up. weaver getting the quiet side of the storm. it's snowing in new england and the snow reaches all the way

down to northeast pennsylvania and near the pennsylvania-maryland line as well. strange storm. the weather is really awful once you move up to new england with this storm. we'll see the south edge of this is pulling away from us, although we'll be in the back wash for the storm today, so it doesn't get rid of the rain chances. then once the storm pulls away for a while, we'll be dry. so today rain this morning that will taper off and then we might see a little isolated shower or two this afternoon and turning much more scatter. then we get sun breaks. insta-weather future cast shows the rain combination we're having right now.

even though we tried to break the clouds up, we do see a couple of areas of spotty conditions. we widen things up on saturday. a couple of areas of showers could pass across the area during the afternoon tomorrow. doesn't look -- sunday night we could see a passing shower as well. that sets up a week that's different. rain tapers off today. 50 the high. spotty showers tomorrow with 49 the high. sunday, 54 the high. rain showers possibly monday with a higher chance tuesday and wednesday. so talk about a turnaround. >> thank you, john. time for a last look at our big story, the expulsion of a dozen midshipmen at the naval academy after their use of a banned but

legal drug. >> mindy, good morning. authorities say this is all part of an ongoing investigation after other midshipmen came forward with information. the drug is often referred to as spice. it provides a similar high to marijuana. it's a legal substance in the u.s., but now 12 have been expelled for using or possessing it. the latest was kicked out on monday. the navy banned the use of sin net i can drugs in 2005 and last year banned the possession of it. federal authorities banned some of the chemicals used to make these drugs, but the ban is only in place for a year. in the studio, george. wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. time for a look at what's coming up next on the "today" show. here's matt lauer. >> good morning. coming up on a friday, a powerful system that spun tornadoes takes aim in the

northeast. we'll get the latest in a live report. also low levels of radiation from japan's nuclear reactor area found in milk here. is it a joke or real what lindsay lohan about tripping. and prince william talks about his upcoming wedding. >> lindsay just paying tribute to the ground. that's all. >> i'm sure that's all. the time is 6:52. 36 degrees on tv hill. >> just ahead we'll take a look at weather and traffic bat

>> so what do we have going on with traffic? >> one crash at liberty and millford road. 10 minutes southbound between 95 to the harbor tunnel. but delays are easing from that. a live look at the harrisburg expressway north of mount caramel. watch out for that in the north part of our viewing area. >> speaking of delays, two-hour delay for schools in carroll county. >> a little snow sticking to the grassy areas there. we understand on the pennsylvania line, some snow

sticking there as well. we could see a few sprinkles this afternoon and saturday but much drier weather in that forecast as we finish out the weekend. >> thank you for joining us for 11 news today. >> we're back with a live update at 7:25. >> and go o's! >> follow breaking news and weather at www.wbaltv.com and stay connected with us on facebook and twitter.

>> it's more than a polka on a warm summer's evening that defines the polish festival. it's a -- baltimore is a culturally diverse city that hons its early set lers. all have a chance to celebrate their heritage thanks to the numerous festivals that dot the year's calender. but this year organizers will put this on hold for a year. whether it comes back or not, the loss of the festival this year symbolizes something bigger. it is in our diversity and

differences that we force the bonds of community. with so much strife in our world in the economy you cannot put a price on this festival. we invite everyone to attend at least one heritage festival this year. log on to www.wbaltv.com and click on the community calendar