[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news at noon. >> afternoon. i am sarah caldwell. fire crews are called to the scene of a row house fire in charles village. officials say the fire started in the basement and spread to the first, second, and third floors. one person escaped unharmed, but another person did not. >> there were two occupants inside. when a woman to be rescued from the structure -- one woman was rescued from the structure, suffered mild smoke inhalation and was transferred to shock

trauma. there was a man inside who was able to escape without injury. >> we are told big boyz bail bonds has offices on the second floor of the home had crews in anne arundel county were busy this morning with a house fire. the fire grew to two alarms. and allow crews requested assistance from the queen anne's fire company. one of firefighter and two civilians were treated for minor injuries. crews are working to figure out what sparked a fire at a hotel monday morning. first responders got the call just before 9:30 at washington boulevard. officials have not said whether the fire is suspicious in nature. no one was hurt. >> good afternoon. we have been tracking the rain, pushing in across the mid atlantic. it has held the temperatures pretty steady.

we started at 39 at b.w.i. 44 at the inner harbor. police in the western mountains. fifties' along the eastern shore -- 50s in the western mountains. at 3:00 p.m., shoppers will be at their heaviest. by 9:00 p.m., clearing skies. winds are picking up behind this latest storm. we will talk temperatures when we come back. >> and 18-year-old is in police custody, accused of stabbing a man on christmas day but police say he was trying to vandalize a car in the victim's apartment complex when the victims stepped in. he was stopped in the arm. -- stabbed in the arm. anne arundel county police are investigating vehicle break-ins at an annapolis auto dealership. this after two people were seen using bolt cutters and other

tools to cut catalytic converters out of two cars. one of the suspects involved was arrested. the other is still at large. thieves spoiled christmas for one of family. the home was ransacked a christmas eve, and this is having the gifts stolen wasn't enough, the suspect took the parents' wedding rings. this was the first christmas for the family of a fight at their new home. in twooved just i months. >> out bedroom had been ransacked, all of our kids' christmas presents were taken from the tree, except for one. televisions were gone, game systems work on. -- were gone. >> i could basically protect my

family or take care of my family -- couldn't basically protect my family or take care of my family. >> the family says they are not looking for handouts, they just want the person responsible caught. the wait continues for the winner of the $125 million powerball jackpot to come forward. someone made a purchase at 3:15 on christmas day. no one on the staff recognizes the man featured in the surveillance video, and the maryland lottery does not know the winner's name. the iowa caucuses will be held one week from today. ron paul is leading in the polls, but it has been a volatile race for republicans who want to be president. as brian mooar reports, a lot can happen in the last seven days. >> one week before the iowa caucuses, ron paul is leading

the gop presidential pack. but is still any one's race. >> usually, the iowa caucuses are not defined until close to the end. >> while rick santorum is hunting for votes -- >> you are electing a leader. >> michele bachmann is hitting all of iowa's 99 counties. rick perry has released an attack at aimed at washington. mitt romney is still trying to convince iowans he is conservative enough. >> i am going to do something to government. i am going to make it simpler and smaller and smarter. >> newt gingrich failed to make the virginia primary ballot. >> look, we're disappointed, but it was our fault. >> i cannot imagine anybody paying much attention to it. >> all eyes are on iowa, where anything can happen. brian mooar, wbal-tv 11 news.

>> our commitment to any fault coverage continues on line. you can keep -- commitment it 2012 coverage continues on line. you can keep track at wbaltv.com. prince philip left the hospital this morning after undergoing treatment for a blocked coronary artery. the 90-year-old prince spread four nights in the hospital recovering from a successful coronary stent procedure. prince philip did not speak to reporters as he was driven away from the hospital, although he smiled and waved. still ahead, we're talking taxes in "consumer alert," with saving tips before the new year. a utah woman turns to facebook for help. how her friends came to her rescue. >> i took a step in and i hit him hard. >> a store clerk did not let a

weapon keep him from fighting back. it was all caught on tape. carrie engel is here to answer your plant and gardening questions.

>> minutes after a man with a

gun tried to rob a north carolina business, he ended up on the floor unconscious, decked by the court. the clerk, his mother said, is a fan of martial arts. he used the tricks he learned to take out the robber. the robber claimed to have begun, but that did not keep the clerk from fighting back. >> looking back at the tate, a light -- at the tape, i hit him pretty hard, i guess. i>> it turned out the market was a pellet gun. a utah woman and her 17-month- old son are safe this afternoon thanks to facebook. her live-in boyfriend held her hostage for five days. he took her phone, but not her computer. she wrote this post on facebook.

"hello. is anyone out there? i have as serious problem and me and my son will be dead by morning." >> her posts were never jokes. you have to follow through on it. >> she had multiple bruises on her face. different stages of coloring. they took the boyfriend into custody. >> the boy friend is being held without bail. still to come, sears announces it is closing a bunch of stores nationwide. it is never too early to talk taxes. >> we are tracking the latest storm, pushing into the east. coming up, we'll talk about where it could snow tonight. first, a live look outdoors. 43 at b.w.i. marshall. >> carrie engel from valley view

farms is here to answer your plant and gardening questions.

>> in today's "consumer alert," while holiday retail sales were up overall, it did not stop sears from closing at 100 stores. they are closing between 100 and 120 sears and kmart stores because of poor holidays sales. the company blames the poor performance on declining consumer, electronic, and appliance sales. the season to get your taxes in order. what you need to know to help you get prepared. >> all the tax base four months away, and now is the time to get receipts and documents in order.

>> maybe establish a filing system so that when your 1099's and w-2's and other documents come in, you can put them in one place. >> if you make a charitable donation, remember that you qualify for deduction only if you itemize your return. >> make sure you get your receipts. all contributions required substantiation. you don't send it in with your tax return, but you keep it with tax records. >> and often overlooked deduction is the earned income tax credit. more people than ever might qualify. >> people with incomes of up to $49,000 can actually get this credit. the credit in some instances can be as much as over $5,000. >> there is an interactive tool on the irs website that can tell

you if you are eligible for the tax credit. if you refinance your mortgage this year, closing costs are deductible. if you paid money this year to learn a new school, there is the lifetime learning credit. >> that is for taking courses to improve or get new job skills. that can be worth up to $2,000. >> now is also the time to start planning ahead for 2012. the maximum tax-free contributions you can make to a 401k is 17 as dollars, for ira accounts, the maximum is $5,000. it is not too late to contribute more to this year's ira. >> for ira accounts, you have until april 17 to make a contribution. >> now your 11 insta-weather- plus forecast with ava marie. >> we are tracking the rain

pushing in across the western half of the state. it is moving towards the north and east already. we have seen a light rain around baltimore. the heaviest downpours stay off to our west. still some heavy pockets on the way from western maryland. this is our rain event right now, but tonight we will talk about snow in a higher elevation. let's see what is happening right now as we look out across the area. i will put the futurecast in motion and we will see that they heaviest comes in through the afternoon and then pushes off shore. as for the western mountains, it gets cold enough and with some leftover moisture, we are talking about accumulating snow. the winds are going to be a big issue as well. these lines are areas of constant pressure. the skinnier these are, the closer they are together. that is something to keep in mind, because we want a

strong winds tonight into tomorrow. this states into our no. but there could be showers around baltimore on friday. today, did a great event, how much are we talking? at least one inch across much of the area. some of that will be coming in as snow very late tonight. as for the forecast, we are talking about two to four inches. as you head east, it lessens. one in jan most in areas like cumberland. -- one inch at most in areas like cumberland. some of his reign could quickly change to snow. we warm up as we head east. 43 at the b.w.i. marshall.

mount air in place over the eastern shore and this is pushing in from the east because of the easterly winds. tonight the winds start to shift south and then turned westerly, becoming windy into the night. clearing skies tomorrow. the winds are a big issue 15 to 25 miles per hour out of the northwest. the biggest concern is that the ground is saturated and unstable trees could be concerned for those blowing over. we warm up at the end of the week. storms state to our north. >> carrie engel from valley view farms is here to answer your plant and gardening questions. you have brought a beautiful cranium. >> to iranians are very cool. -- terraniums are very cold. they are impossible to grow.

i had a lid on this morning. all the condensation is coming through there. there is no water sitting in here at all, but it is a great way to keep plants. >> you don't have to do much to maintain it. easy. >> it totally depends on how you are taking care of that. i am tired of looking and them and they are dusty, but in most cases, they don't last long. at this point i would wait until we get back to the growing season. wait until the middle of march and just go ahead and take it back. don't go back more than 1/3 at any one time.

now, that was good. they are one of the easiest orbits to grow. they will bloom 3 to four months. make sure you feed them with orchid food. there will be of little spike from the great big and giant leaves on the bottom. in most cases, they are pretty easy to rebloom. a friend of mine grew orchids and said that if it were not out in two years, they were out the door. >> what are people looking for after christmas? >> the biggest thing as house plants, but after that, the seeds started. a lot of people are going things like herbs and salad greens in doors. that is the biggest push as soon as christmas comes down. >> happy new year.

if you have a plant or gardening question -- up next, your maryland lottery numbers and another check of the insta-weather-plus forecast.

>> take a look at this, the month-old pola park up an internet sensation as open his eyes for the first time. he is being raised by humans because his mother did not produce enough milk to feed him. three people are giving round- the-clock care to the cub. he was 3 pounds at birth and has doubled that 27 pounds. tonight at 5:00, it is a staple, but if you had to it at the lexington market, and you

will find a lock on the door. dozens the post office is up for sale as the postal service downsizes. and before he returned the unwanted gifts, pay attention. we will break down what you need to know before making exchanges. those stories and more tonight at 11 news at 5:00. and now your maryland lottery numbers. >> and good afternoon. i am from g8 rock, and your pick up three numbers are -- in a moment, the pick four game, but first, want to win ravens season tickets? play ravens tasha fantasy and visit mdlottery.com/ravens.

s are --k four number i the maryland lottery -- let yourself play. >>ava has a look at the seven- day. >> we have at the rain through the afternoon. accumulating snow in the western mountains. cold and windy tomorrow. it is going to feel colder with the winds. we bounced back end of the week. new year's eve is looking dry. >> thank you for joining us for 11 news at noon. >> watch tonight at 5:00. >> follow breaking news and weather any time at wbaltv.com, and stay connected with us on

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