airport. northwest wind at 17. it's breezy. the northwest wind is bringing in the colder air. it's going to drop into the 40's by the middle of the afternoon, and it will feel even cooler than that because of the wind. don't let the mild temperatures right now fool you. it should stay dry. we have a little snow in the forecast. we'll talk about that when i come back. first let's say good morning to sarah, see what's happening on the roads. >> happy friday. good morning. a few things to watch for down in the d.c. area. laurel-bowi erode, we an accident there. another one that could impact your ride, eastbound 50 is shut down at kenilworth avenue. other than that, major roadways coming down towards d.c. on 95 looking good. 46 miles per hour approaching 32. everything running smoothly on the b.w. parkway. the baltimore beltway, everything looks good on the north side. 53 miles per hour. same thing on the west side past 795. light volume around the area. let's give you a quick look outside and see what's going on. 95 coming to and from cecil county, pretty nice start here at the tydings memorial bridge.

over to a live view of traffic in the area of delaney valley, north side of the beltway just fine. no problems on the major roads. that's the latest on traffic pulse 11. awe thank you, sarah. a st. michael's man is sentenced to more than four years in prison for robbing a tillman island bank. he pleaded guilty to the march armed robbery. he went into the bank carrying a rifle. he demanded money from a teller and got away with more than $4,000. he was found and arrested that evening. also new, the u.s. coast guard is searching for a man whose boat slipped in the potomac river off the coast of indian head. the search began just before 6:30 thursday evening. officials say two people were on board. one was rescued. >> our big story this morning -- same-sex married couples who work for baltimore county will soon be able to extend their healthcare benefits to their partners. 11 news reporter jennifer franciotti is live in towson

this morning with more details of the new provision. good morning, jen. >> hey, good morning. that's right, the county is going to start extending benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married in other states. that's good news for many couples, like margaret and collete, for instance. they have been together for almost 20 years. they were legally married in massachusetts in 2009. shortly after that, margaret began fighting for collete to be covered under her health insurance plan. as a baltimore county police officer, she did file a grievance with her police union, which she says the county denied. margaret then went to the labor union, but they also denied her grievance. finally it went to an arbitrator, who ruled in her favor. >> we decided, rather than appeal the position, we would let our committee review the issue and then, of course, make it applicable to all county employees. >> and that will start happening for all county employees on january 1 of 2012.

reporting live, jennifer franciotti, wbal-tv 11 news. >> jen, thank you. a parkdale family is mourning the loss of a 15-year-old boy who died after being struck by two vehicles. investigators say ryan chase was walkg on the sidewalk with a friend when he somehow entered the roadway and was struck by two vehicles. ryan, a student at parkville high school, died on the scene. baltimore county police are investigating the incident and will determine if any charges will be filed against the drivers. meanwhile, two people are in police custody this morning following a police chase in baltimore county that ended with a crash. police say towson university officials were trying to stop a vehicle with stolen plates when it sped off. investigators say the driver lost control and collided with a taxi on york road near the towson town center. the four people in the taxi were treated at a hospital. no police vehicles were involved in the crash, and charges are pending. >> new criminal charges are filed against a state legislator who's already facing trial for using campaign funds to pay for her wedding dress. prince george's county delegate

tiffany is accused of using taxpayer dollars to help pay the salary of an employee of her law firm. according to state prosecutors, she arranged for her employee to go on the payroll of the general assembly. they say the employee was paid $800, but did not work for the state. >> well, it may be a sign of the times. americans are using coupons, and the number of them is going way up. the rise began in 2008 and it keeps going up. last year americans redeemed nearly $3 billion worth of coupons. so far this year, coupon use is up 5% from that. experts aren't quite sure if the shopping habits will change permanently as they did for those who lived through the great depression. and that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. have you been clipping coupons more this year than in years past? share your response on wbaltv.com, on our facebook page, or send us an email to watercooler@wbaltv.com. right after you finish clipping

the coupons. >> lawmakers reach an 11th-hour agreement to avert a government shutdown heading into the weekend. with a deal now in the works, the focus now turns to extending several tax extensions set to run out at the end of this year. time is running out. 11 news reporter tara mergener live in washington with the latest. good morning, tara. >> good morning to you, mindy. yeah, and congress actually making progress at this point. how about that? there is a deal now to avert a government shutdown. they're also getting closer to a plan to extend the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits. compromise -- >> we're confident, optimistic we'll resolve both on a bipartisan basis. >> instead of confrontation. >> there's an agreement on a bill that we keep the government open. they worked out all the details and shook hands. >> congressional negotiators

signed up on a $1 trillion spending agreement, narrowly averting a government shutdown. it provides full funding for the government through september of 2012. the house could ok the measure friday, sending it on to the senate. the payroll tax issue remains the final sight of the session. >> congress should not and cannot go on vacation before they have made sure that working families aren't looking for work don't see their unemployment insurance expire. >> lawmakers are now working out a deal to renew the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for another year. the breakthrough comes after senate democrats abandoned their demand that the tax cut be paid for with a surtax on millionaires. >> we hope we can come up with something that would get us out of here at a reasonable time in the next few days.

>> now, in case the long-term deal does fall through, lawmakers are working on a plan b, a shorter, two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday. how about that, mindy? a little progress this week, just in time for the holidays. >> isn't that nice? what could be the sticking point? >> well, mindy, it all comes down to money, like everything else. extending the payroll tax holiday would cost about $186 billion. they're still trying to find out an acceptable way to pay for it all. >> all right, tara mergener live in washington, thank you. it's 55 degrees on tv hill at 5:07. what's expected during today's hearing in the sex abuse case against former penn state football coach, jerry sandusky? >> and a man finds himself in a sooty situation, how he ended up stuck inside a chimney. that's coming up. >> here's a live look at traffic, 95 north of the tydings bridge.

>> welcome back. it's 10 minutes after 5:00. it's at degrees downtown, but it's going to turn colder as we head into the afternoon. take a heavier jacket with you, even though it's nice and mild right now. we got a cold front going through. that's going to drop the temperatures. winds are picking up as well, gusting close to 25 or 30 miles per hour. you see how the temperatures drop off on the left-hand side of your screen. it's 43 in hagerstown, so that's going to come into baltimore. variable clouds today, temperatures falling. it's going to be breezy, but temperatures will fall from the upper 50's right now into the 40's later this morning and this afternoon. when we come back, we'll check the forecast for the rest of the weekend. >> all right, tony. covering the nation -- two former penn state university administrators are scheduled to appear in court today. former athletic director tim curley and former vice president gary schultz are charged with lying to a grand jury that investigated child sex abuse allegations against former assistant football

coach, jerry sandusky. meanwhile, assistant coach mike mcqueary is also expected to testify today. news organizations are already lining up to cover the hearings. while no cameras are allowed in the courtroom, reporters are al loud tweet, email, and text. also today, former major leaguer barry bonds will find out his punishment for his obstruction of justice conviction. bonds provided evasive testimony to a federal grand jury investigating the balco steroid scandal. government lawyers have asked the u.s. district court judge to sentence bonds to 15 months in prison. >> a california man gets into a tight spot. to avoid missing curfew, the 20-year-old tried to slide down his home chimney, and he got stuck. firefighters were able to dismantle the chimney and get him out. he was not hurt, just very dirty and too embarrassed to talk to reporters. i imagine he was! >> probably more embarrassed about having the curfew at 20 years of age, i would imagine. 5:11, 55 degrees on tv hill. straight ahead -- how to stay

safe while shopping. >> and calling autopsy shopping procrastinators, why saturday may be the best day left to make purchases. >> and some progress to report on the earlier accidents. we'll update those and check on the major roads, including a look at the harrisburg expressway. that's next.

>> good morning. sarah caldwell with a look at your morning commute. not bad this friday morning. we had a couple of earlier accidents here at the capital beltway. those are cleared. looking at speeds around 52 miles per hour on southbound 95 coming down towards 32 in howard county. nice start on 100. no problems to report on 295 if

you're heading toward the airport. 46 miles per hour on southbound 97 in the area of 100 in the glen burnie area. we're checking our speed censors on both the north and west side, and everything looks pretty good. 95 moving well out of the owings mills toward the beltway. a quick look outside, we'll start with the area of the harrisburg expressway in parkton at york road. not a whole lot in the way of volume there. still pretty light as well on the north side at delaney valley. coming toward us in the outer loop, heavier toward the west side. but overall, a nice start. that's the latest on traffic pulse 11. now for the buses and trains with kurt kroncke with the m.t.a. happy friday, kurt. >> to you as well. we're looking at a delay on the light rail. on the marc trains, on time service on the penn, camden and brunswick lines. 40 bus operate wag delay, one bus diverting at ford and lawrence. with the m.t.a. transit team, i'm kurt kroncke. now back to tony pann. >> good morning. it's deceiving out there this

morning temperaturewise. right now, upper 50's to around 60 degrees. these temperatures are going to fall off. look what's happening to our west already. 43 in hagerstown. we've got a cold front going through here, and all this cold air on the other side of the mountains is slowly spilling over toward baltimore. this is going to be the warmest part of the day, so don't look for temperatures in the 50's or near 60. dress for temperatures in the 40's this afternoon. it's going to be a little bit windy as well, so it will it will feel even cooler than that. there's no precipitation around us, but there's a batch of rape coming up across the mississippi valley. this is going to clip us overnight tonight. most of that will stay south of us, but there is a chance we could see light rain or snow overnight tonight as that system passes by to our south. the forecast, variable clouds, temperatures are going to be falling right now. it's warm, but this afternoon it's going to be chilly with temperatures in the 40's and breezy. sunrise at 7:19. overnight, mostly cloudy, a chance for light rain or snow

as the system passes south of us. temperatures will drop into the 30's. take a look at insta-weather futurecast. 8:00 tonight, you can see the system moving south. most of the rain will be across southern maryland in the lower eastern shore counties. saturday, nothing going on, just chilly. there is a clipper storm that approaches saturday night and sunday morning. look what happens here. computer model showing light snow around baltimore in the morning on sunday. it should just be light snow or flurries, not a big deal. but the system will pass by and it's going to turn combed behind that. a little bit active this weekend, but nothing that's going to keep you home from shopping. a chance for light rain or snow tonight, then dry on saturday, 44. light snow or flurries sunday morning, then clearing in the afternoon. high temperature only 39. and then it warms up again early next week. we'll be in the 40's, and tuesday and wednesday will be our next chance for some rain. >> in this morning's consumer alert, it might be a good time to find par begans on a car

dealer's 2011 inventory. if you're looking for a used car, it's definitely the time to buy. cargurus.com says not to wait until late winter. the best buy is now through january 8. they say demand is low at holiday time, which gives you more leverage. you've got about three weeks to find a great deal. your mind can sometimes wander while you're focused on holiday shopping, so we have tips to help you stay safe. first of all, don't flash cash. try to use checks or deb i had cards. -- debit cards. don't leave previous purchases or your purse unattended. have your car keys in your hands ready to use so you don't linger. and check the back seat before getting in. and remember to look your doors. there's a little quirk in the calendar this year that you procrastinating christmas shoppers might want to take note of. >> historically the last saturday before christmas is the last full day last-minute shoppers have to make amounts.

that's why it's called super saturday. but check the calendar. super saturday this year is this saturday. >> that means super saturday will not be as super as it is when it's closer to the actual christmas day. >> and next saturday is christmas eve, when families gather and the gift giving begins. >> so retail experts expect stores to not only offer good deals this saturday, but beyond. >> i believe the savvy retailsers will come out before christmas to try to really get the last-minute shoppers through their doors versus their competitors. >> online retailers are extending free shipping offers, too, like amazon. regular members get it free through monday. prime members through wednesday. because free shipping is a deal breaker for many. >> get all the way through and

you find out, wow, that's $10, $12 i didn't really want to spend. >> so the coming week could be viewed as a procrastinator's paradise. >> today is free shipping day. with more of that and the best and worst airlines when it comes to flying coach, jane king joins us live with a look at the day's business news in the bloomberg business report. tgif, jane. how are you? >> yes, happy friday to you too. always nice to have fridays here. if you're flying home for the holidays on coach, listen up. a study says service at southwest and frontier ranked the best where seating is tight. while coach passengers on american faced the most hassles of any of the airline passengers. that's because of things like later canceled flights, packed planes, and higher fees. more bad news for american airlines employees. the c.o.o. says the parent company, a.m.r., most certainly will cut jobs as the carrier revamps its flight and flight

network. he says the camp is now a takeover target while in bankruptcy. elsewhere, investors keeping an eye on the big banks today. bank of america, goldman sachs, citigroup all had credit grades cut by fitch last night. moody's investors service cut the banks back in september. we do have futures this morning pointing a bit lower for the start of things. that's after three days of declines. we were helped out yesterday by an encouraging report showing fewer americans filing for first-time jobless claims. we also got strong data from manufacturing. you heard of cybermonday and green monday. today, another gimmick to get us to spend more money. it's freeshippingday.com says more than 25% of retailers are offering you a last chance to order online and have the gift delivered in time for christmas eve for free. you'd have to spend a minimum amount on many retailers, but it's the third online spending day in history. i'm jane king, bloomberg news,

reporting for wbal-tv 11 news. awe jane, thank you. >> 5:21, 55 degrees on tv hill. a mystery action in animation in theaters this weekend. >> and don't forget to email us your answer to our water cooler question of the day. have you been clipping coupons more this year than in years past? share your response on wbaltv.com, on our facebook page, or send us an email to watercooler@wbaltv.com. [ female announcer ] holiday plus cookies plus memories

pillsbury holiday star cookies start with pillsbury cookie dough easy. then add my own favorite frosting and sprinkles. just three ingredients to sweet memories. holiday ideas made easy. in 15 minutes, [ female announcer ] you call that bread? you can serve some warmth with your bread. and some flavor with your bread. and some layers with your bread.

if you're serving bread honey, then serve it. grands! dinner ideas made easy. robert downey jr. is back as sherlock holmes, joining forces with his trusty sidekick, dr. with a kings. >> tom cruise returns as ethan hunt in the latest "mission: impossible" film. for the g-rated crowd, alvin and the chipmunks get chipwrecked. here's a box office preview.

>> what do you see? >> everything. awe robert downey jr. is an international man of mystery in sherlock holmes: game of shadows. the sequel to the 2009 smash reteams downey with jude law to investigate the suicide of an austrian prince. not only do they find his own death was not by his own hand, but that he was murdered by a criminal mastermind who is the intellectual equal of the famous detective. "sherlock holmes: game of shadows" is rated pg-13. >> they will hang the bombing on and you your team, unless you were to escape after assaulting us. >> tom cruise escapes after assaulting brant and the other guy in "mission impossible: ghost protocol." the president has disavowed ethan hunt and his unit after a bombing in russia, so he wants to clear his name and take out the real terrorists before they strike again. jeremy renner, paula patton and simon pegg co-star. it's pate pg-13.

>> i'm the king of the world! alvin and the chipmunks in "chipwrecked." it's rated p.g. that's the box office preview. >> guess which one i'll probably be seeing this holiday season. >> i'm thinking you're a "mission. impossible" person. >> the chipmunks are very big in my house. 5:26, 55 degrees on tv hill. new this morning -- the man behind an alleged military breach goes before a judge today. what's expected, straight ahead. plus -- >> new health benefits for same-sex couples who are employees of baltimore county. i'm jennifer franciotti. details are next. >> who's the new tim tebow of politics? good morning. i'm tracie potts in washington out. >> and it's nice and mild right now, but the temperatures are going to fall throughout the

day. we'll let you know how cold it's going to get. >> how about the roads? we'll let you know how they're shaping up.

>> good morning, everybody. welcome back to 11 news today. i'm stan stovall. >> and i'm mindy basara. thanks so much for joining us. i can hear the wind this morning, so i thought it was going to be cold out. >> and you went outside -- >> and i was sweating. >> yeah, it's upper 50's right now, but that's really deceiving. by the time people get to lunch, it's going to be in the 40's. that's what you want to dress for. dress for temperatures in the 40's with windy conditions, just like mindy expected, not what it is right now. 56 at the airport. northwest wind at 17, gusting to 26. the temperatures are going to be falling all morning. by 8:00, down around 50. by lunchtime, upper 40's. by middle of the afternoon, with the wind it will feel even

cooler than that. i do expect it will stay dry. that may be a little different story tonight and over the weekend. i got a little storm coming in that could wind up giving us some snow showers or flurries. i'll talk about that. >> ok, we had a few early-morning problems toward the d.c. area. not the case anymore. those are now cleared, so let's check on the roads at the moment. if you're heading out, we do have a pretty nice start to your morning commute. 97 looking at 51 miles per hour in the glen burnie area through 100. no problems to report on 95 south heading down toward the capital beltway through howard county. we're looking at a smooth start on the north and west side. we're at 56 in the area of the j.f.x. 54 once you get past 795. 56 as well on southbound 95 coming out of the northeast. here's a quick live look at traffic. we'll check some of our cameras for you. 7 5, right at franklin boulevard coming toward us, southbound traffic moving without delay from this point all the way down to the beltway. still a delay-free start on i-70 to and from the beltway, checks out fine.

area bridges and tunnels check out fine. stan, over to you. awe thank you. new this morning -- u.s. soldier accused of endangering national security by engineering the largest leak ever of classified documents will be in court later today. bradley manning faces the possibility of life in prison. if his case goes to trial and he's convicted. today's hearing will be held at fort immediate here in maryland. the base is home to the u.s. kiber command, whose mission includes protecting computer networks like the one manning allegedly breached. >> our big story -- gay, married couples will soon be able to extend healthcare benefits to their partners. 11 news reporter jennifer franciotti live with the details. good morning, jen. >> good morning. the county will start extending healthcare benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married in other states. that's really some welcome news for couples who have been paying for separate healthcare plans.

margaret and collete have been together for almost 20 years, but have always had separate healthcare plans. >> collete has had to insure herself as catastrophic healthcare insurance, which is very expensive every year for her. and the bank that she could have -- we could have been saving probably could have helped our family out quite a bit. you know, raising two kids is not cheap. >> in 2009, surrounded by family and friends, the couple married in massachusetts. shortly after that, margaret began fighting for collete to be covered under her health insurance plan. as a baltimore county police officer, she filed a grievance with her police union, which she says the county denied. margaret then went to the labor union, but they also denied her grievance. finally it went to an arbitrator, who ruled in her favor. >> we decided rather than appeal that position, we would let our healthcare review committee review the issue and then, of course, make it applicable to all county

employees. >> the county executive says the decision is the right thing to do. under the new provision, any county employee who is legally married in another state will be able to extend healthcare benefits to their same-sex partner. >> this is an executive branch decision, although i will tell you that it was vetted through this healthcare review committee, which is comprised of all the different employee groups. >> and that new provision is expected to go into effect on january 1 of 2012. reporting live, jennifer franciotti, wbal-tv 11 news. >> jen, thank you. the body of a missing middle river man is recovered and identified. search crews found the body of 35-year-old charles duckett in the tridelphia reservoir. crews had been searching the reservoir and surrounding waters for duckett since he disappeared back on december 2. he was a maintenance worker for the washington suburban sanitary commission and was assigned to the reservoir. city police are investigating the double shooting in northwest baltimore.

it happened in the 3,000 block of belmont avenue thursday night. police say they found two men suffering gunshot wounds. the victims were taken to an area hospital, but there's no word on their conditions. a suspect or a possible motive is not known at this hour. >> a person is in critical condition after being shot in the head in an apparent robbery in east baltimore. it happened wednesday night at the up close barbershop on harford road. police say they believe the owner was shot after at least one suspect walked into the shop and demanded money. >> very nice. very nice. got beautiful kids. did you not bother nobody. -- didn't bother nobody. >> just come up here to make a living, and i think it's just sad that he's about to maybe lose his life over this. >> if you have any information about this shooting, you are urged to call baltimore city police. one man's recovering this morning after being shot by police. they say the 19-year-old unidentified man led them on a pursuit through baltimore and anne arundel and baltimore

counties. the suspect was reportedly driving a car that matched the description of a car used in an armed robbery wednesday night. when officers tried to pull him over, he refused to stop. >> and as he's traveling northbound on 97, he is holding a weapon outside of the window. he is actually waving the gun outside the window as law enforcement officers are pir suing him. >> investigators say the man pointed his gun at police after he stopped the car and officers opened fire. anne arundel county officer suffered some minor injuries when the vehicle was struck. so far, no charges have been filed. >> in this morning's commitment 2012 report, the last debate before the iowa caucuses is in the history books this morning. front-runner newt gingrich spent much of the night fending off critics, but his sharpest attacks didn't come on the guy on his heels in the polls. tracie potts is on capitol hill this morning for the very latest.

>> anybody up here could probably beat obama. >> but right now they're trying to beat other, and michele balkman is accusing newt gingrich as lobbying as a mortgage couple consultant. >> we know he cashed paychecks from freddie mac. >> i want to state unequivocally i have never once changed my positions because of my kind of money. >> mitt romney, who gets a key endorsement today from south carolina's governor, found himself explaining why he switched positions on abortion. >> my experience in life over, what, 17, 18, 19 years has told me that sometimes i was wrong. where i was wrong, i've tried to correct myself. >> in a debate that ranged from immigration to foreign policy, the candidates agreed on limiting the power of so-called activist judges, but disagreed auto how to do it. gingrich promised to stop prosecuting states like arizona. he's under fire for not being conservative enough.

>> we are getting screwed as americans. >> polling in single digits, rick perry and rick santorum took this last chance to appeal to iowans. >> well, i'm counting on the people of iowa to catch fire for me. i hope i am the tim tebow of the iowa caucuses. >> from washington, i'm tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. >> the time now, 5:37, 55 degrees on tv hill. spring and summer aren't the only seasons for allergies. winter is too. coming up, we'll tell you how it could affect your brain and what you should do to feel better. >> don't forget to email your question to the watercooler@wbaltv.com. have you been clipping coupons more this year than in years past? share your response on wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send an email to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> volume starting to pick up around the area for your friday morning commute. we'll update any new problems

coming in. ♪ [ female announcer ] this time of year you have a lot of festive meals. and safeway helps make every holiday meal a special occasion. so you can make all of your gatherings, just as merry as can be. get a boneless beef loin ny strip roast for just $5.99 a pound. plus save on gift card multipacks. right now get 15% off of $40 itunes multipack. safeway. ingredients for life.

>> welcome back. it's 59 degrees downtown. don't let that fool you. dress for temperatures in the 40's, because the temperatures are going to be falling now for the rest of the dasme it's nice and mild at the present time, but by the time you even get to lunchtime, the temperatures will be in the 40's. let's take a look at the current conditions. it's 61 in annapolis, but 43 in hagerstown. the cold air is coming in from the west. it's going to be a breezy day as well. winds have been gusting up to 25 miles per hour, so basically we're just going to say temperatures starting into the 40's by this afternoon. we'll check the seven-day for cast when i come back.

>> most people typically don't think of winter as being an allergy season, but that definitely isn't the case for millions of people who are allergic to indoor allergens like dust, mold, and mites. >> like other symptoms include sneezing, sniffling and coughing, but now a new study shows that allergies affect more than the rest of the system, revealing it could actually affect the brain. researchers looked at 98 patients suffering from seasonal and environmental allergies, and of those, 82% say they experience extreme fatigue and lett ar gee after eight weeks of receiving allergy shots, 72% felt more awake and had increased energy levels. >> they had a complete checkout with a primary care physicians. they don't have any other condition. and one of the common is the majority of these patients do have allergies, and we treated allergies and they get better. >> doctors say the study really is evidence of why it is so important to see your doctor if you're suffering from allergy symptoms, because once you have taken the time to treat the

allergies, most people say they really do start feeling better. the time is now 5:41, 55 degrees on tv hill. keith mills and 11 sports is live straight ahead. he'll tell us what the ravens have waiting for them in san diego as they face off against the chargers. >> and it's time to start getting into tax mode. yeah, that's right. we'll tell you how to make sure you don't miss any valuable deductions. >> here's a live look outside. warm this morning, but prepare for colder temperatures later today. tone will i have your complete 11 insta-weather forecast.

>> good morning. sarah caldwell with a look at your morning commute. nice start this friday morning. thankfully no incidents to report. a smooth start there on the north side. west side just building in volume a little bit. 55 miles per hour past 795 getting you down toward liberty. 55 miles per hour on southbound 95. just south of the beltway, if

you're going to head out this morning toward the tunnels, five minutes to get you from 95 at the 895 split to the fort mchenry. and then an eight-minute start if you head down from the 95 merge to the harbor tunnel toll. here's a live view outside. 95 at 175, north and southbound traffic looking good, although volume is building in howard county as you make your way down toward the capital expressway. harrisburg in pretty good shape. the camera is shaking. definitely be careful, especially as you cross those area bridges. that's the latest on traffic pulse 11. now let's get the latest on the buses and trains. for that we go to kurt kroncke. >> good morning, sarah. we've got a delay on the metro. 50 minutes late eastbound. light rail has a 50-minute delay as well. marc trains, on-time service on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines. a few bus delays. 13, 22, 27, 40, 44 among the delays we're seeing on the buses. one bus diverting at ford and lawrence.

with the m.t.a. transit team, i'm kurt kroncke. now back to tony pann. >> good morning. this is going to be a changeable day as far as temperatures go. we're starting out near 60 in some places this morning and we're going to drop into the 40's. winds are gusting up to 25 or 30 miles per hour. 61 in annapolis. 46 in westminster. it drops all the way down to 43 in hagerstown. you can see what's coming at us there. there's also a little storm coming in from the south as well. that's going to clip us tonight. most of that will stay south of us, but tonight, we could see rain or snow showers coming in. variable clouds during the day today, temperatures falling. it's going to be breezy, drop all the way into the 40's by this afternoon, so be prepared for that and dress for temperatures in the 40's as opposed to near 60. a chance for light rain or snow tonight. we'll drop back into the 30's. most of that is going to miss us tonight. we'll start at 8:00. you can see the storm passing by to our south, and nothing going on during the day tomorrow. just breezy and chilly. but look what happens on sunday

morning as the futurecast time frame there at 9:00, you see light snow on this computer model developing around baltimore. there's a little clipper storm that's going to dive in from the northwest and pass south of us. there's a possibility we could see some light snow showers or flurries to start the day on as i understand. doesn't look like a big deal. i don't expect a lot of snow, but still, you could get something on sunday. that will pass by to our west as colder air will rush in behind that. we'll be in the 40's on saturday, but perhaps only staying in the 30's on sunday. the seven-day forecast looks like this. temperatures falling today. we're going to start out in the 50's in most areas. those of you around annapolis will be near 60. it's going to drop all the way into the 40's. saturday and sunday we'll be in the 40's. 44 on saturday. but only 39 on sunday. maybe some light snow showers or flurry toss start the day on sunday as the clipper storm passes by to our south, and then it will warm up. on monday, back into the mid 40's and chance for rain coming up on tuesday wednesday with highs in the mid to upper 40's both days. >> tony, thank you.

i hope this doesn't put a damper on your holiday cheer, but believe it or not, it's time to start thinking about taxes. >> oh, man. there are things you can do to make sure you don't miss any valuable deductions. although tax day is still four months away, now is the time to get your receipts and documents in order for the 2011 tax year. >> maybe establish a filing system so that when your 1099's and w-2's and other tax documents come in, you can put them in one place. >> in the season of giving, if you make a charitable donation, remember that you qualify for a deduction only if you itemize your returns. >> and make sure that you get receipts or have a bank record, because all contributions do require substantiation. you don't send it in with your tax return, but you keep it with your tax records. >> and often overlooked deduction is the earned income

tax credit. and with changes in the economy, more people than ever might qualify. >> people with incomes up to around $49,000 can actually get this credit, and the credit in some instances can be as much as over $5,000. >> there's an interactive tool on the i.r.s. website, irs.gov, that can take tell if you you're eligible for that tax credit. remember, if you refinanced your mortgage this year, closing costs are also deductible. if you're a victim of the economy and paid money this year to learn a new skill, there's another deduction you should know about, the lifetime learning credit. >> that's for taking courses to improve or get new job skills. and that can be worth up to $2,000. >> now is also the time to plan ahead for 2012. the maximum tax-free contributions you can make to a 401-k is $17,000. for i.r.a. accounts, the maximum, depending on your age, is $5,000.

and it's not too late to contribute more to this year's i.r.a. >> for i.r.a. accounts, for the year 2011, guess what, you have until april 17 to still make a contribution. >> that was linda vaccaro reporting. 5:50, 55 degrees on tv hill. coming up, we'll take a look at one of your answer toss our water cooler question of the day. >> take a look at last night's winning maryland lottery numbers.

>> let's get to one of your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> we asked, have you been clipping coupons more this year than in years past? >> well, deborah posted on our facebook page, no, coupons usually are for toxic corporate food that anyone who cares about what they put into their body after reading the ingredients would head to the fresh food section and learn to cook for a lot less money. keep sending us those responses, read more in the next hour, and post them all on the front page of our website, wbaltv.com. >> now 11 sports with keith

mills. >> i'm a goner then, let me tell you, because i use coupons then all the time. i'm toxic. ravens leave for san diego later today. they're the three-point favorite to beat the chargers on sunday. more on that in just a second. but first, week 15 of the nfl season got underway last night with a blowout in atlanta. the falcons in jacksonville. matt ryan right there at the georgia dome against blaine gabbert and the jags. no contest in this baby. third quarter, already 27-0 atlanta. blaine gabbert hit by john abraham. peters scoops it up, and the defensive lineman's dream. falcons get it right back. matt ryan to roddy white, number 84. he gets in. three t.d. passes for ryan, two for that guy, number 84, roddy white. 41-14, atlanta wins. they're 9-5, close to clinching a playoff spot. dallas and tampa play a saturday night game tomorrow night.

and, of course, the ravens and chargers sunday night right here on wbal-tv. and wouldn't you know it, philip rivers and san diego are playing well. the chargers started the year 4-1, lost six straight, but have won two in a row. rivers is a mystery, so poor at times, so well in other times, like right there to antonio gates. he is 11-1 in december in his career and well aware of just how imposing the ravens defense can be. >> first thing you look at to me is scoring defense, and obviously they're right there at the top of the league and giving up points. that's what it's about, finding a way to score enough points to win. they obviously are very multii am in their looks and blitzes, and then they got great players. the combination of all that, you know, we have our hands full. >> he looks like a linebacker right there, doesn't he? broad shoulders. coverage begins at 6:30 sunday night with the pregame. kickoff at 8:20 right here on channel 11. >> very good. >> i think they're going to get

after them. all right, keith. >> coming up in the next hour of 11 news today -- baltimore police investigate a double shooting that put one person in critical condition. also new, a hearing for the man accused of trying to assassinate the president. what's expected at 6:15. >> the new way of evaluating students in maryland, details on the policy at 6:33. >> and models strut the catwalk in chocolate. >> is that wrong? i don't think so. >> no, it's great. >> all right. weatherwise, nice and mild right now, but expect big changes temperaturewise by the time we get into the afternoon. we'll give you the details. >> and we'll detail the morning commute. another accident in howard county if you travel along 95. we'll update that and check for problems elsewhere.

>> i'm tara mergener in warrant. compromise on capitol hill with the threat of a government shutdown on pause. could an extension of the payroll tax holiday be next? >> a welcome relief for legally married same-sex couples who are baltimore county employees. i'm jennifer franciotti. details are next. >> a new report finds that coupon clipping is on the rise, but is it in your home? we want to know in our water cooler question of the day. >> and after some rain yesterday, will we dry out for the weekend? the insta-weather forecast, as 11 news today continues right now. awe good morning. happy friday. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us. >> we shouldn't get too excited because it's warm this morning, but -- >> it's already changing. we get up really early. it was close to 60