>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news at at noon. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> today is about personal connections in iowa.

republican presidential candidates have four days to prove their conservatism before the caucus. good afternoon. i am sarah caldwell. showsnbc newnews poll mitt romney and ron paul neck- and-neck. anything can happen. brian mooar has more on the commitment it 2012 report from washington. >> the gop presidential candidates are making closing arguments in iowa. >> don't do to other countries what we would not want them to do to us. that would solve a lot of our problems. >> ron paul is pulling a second, an army of supporters and that makes him a target. >> ron paul would be dangerous as president of the united states. >> one of the candidates thinks it is ok for iran at to have a nuclear weapon. i don't.

i am mitt romney, i love america, i'm running for president. >> rick santorum is gaining ground. rick perry is trying to get it back. >> which republican voted for the bridge to nowhere earmark? >> newt gingrich is looking to south carolina. >> i don't think a massachusetts moderate is going to play very well in south carolina. >> all eyes on iowa. time is running short, but undecided iowans are still looking around. i am brian mooar in washington. back to you. >> mitt romney is getting help from a popular new jersey republican. chris christie is speaking to undecided voters. he insists that mitt romney is the man to get the country back on track. >> let's be real clear -- president barack obama came out to iowa three years ago and he

talked to you about unchanged. let me tell -- talk to you about hope and change. lemme tell you, after three years of obama, we are hopeless, changeless, and we need mitt romney to bring america back. >> in section it 2012, an end of the year press conference made it clear that gov. martin o'malley will push for an increase in the gas tax next year. he says that tax hikes are inevitable to make up for massive shortfalls in the state budget. although budget cuts have been made, governor o'malley says that the gas tax could improve the state infrastructure, transit system, and job creation. >> a budget that uses a balanced approach that every family has been using to weather the recession -- that will be a budget meets spending and affordability guidelines for the sixth consecutive year while protecting and furthering the

progress on a share priorities of every marylander. >> the governor highlighted this year's punishmaccomplishments, including the murder rate, which could fall under 200 for the first year since 1975. >> the change is very evident today with the sunshine and a little more southerly breeze. in the long term, we are looking at this more or less mcculloh old map of north america -- more or less global map of north america. if you look at eastern canada, that purple, that is extremely cold temperatures. they will be even farther south once we get through the weekend. we're talking about a brief warming trend and then a shot of cold air. details on the forecast in a few minutes. >> baltimore county firefighters say that a malfunctioning

furnace may be to blame for a morning house fire. crews responded to the 1300 block of western run road in cockeysville just before 10:30 this morning, where they saw smoke coming from the home. a firefighter may have been injured. no word on the seriousness of the injury. oblique warning from the u.s. treasury department. the agency says that by the end of the day, the nation's debt will, within $100 billion of its limit. the number is significant because it is the exact point at which the obama administration must stop the process of increasing the debt limit all over again. -- start the process of increasing the debt limit at all over again. a disturbing new report shows the economic recession may have reshuffled america's class system. new census numbers showed that half of all americans are earning less than $45,000 a year for a family of four.

that pushes many into the lower class bracket, tricking the middle class. staff at food pantries and shoppers say they have never been busier -- and shelters say they have never been busier. >> people who thought they were on the giving side are suddenly finding themselves needing help. >> what we're seeing is that the middle class is going away. >> many of them are now taking advantage of shelters and food banks and attribute their needs to layoffs and furloughs. the ravens remain a three-point favorites as they had to cincinnati to take on the bengals on sunday. a few days ago, joe flacco had some fun and asked the media for help to keep coaches from going conservative in the second after a good point on his part, considering that the bengals'

rookie has exceeded everyone's expectations. the ravens did intercept three of his passes and on new year's day will look again to confuse and pressure him as baltimore goes for the sweet. that brings us to our ravens text question of the day. where will you watch sunny's game? -- sunday's game? 88509. standard text messaging rates applied we will reveal the results tonight on a 11 news at 5:00 and 6:00. in the "medical alert," while making small changes can be beneficial to your health. and fires trap a crew inside a nuclear submarine.

>> crews in japan are cleaning up after the country's that the earthquake and tsunami in march. this as the government struggles to dispose of the millions of tons of debris left behind the government wants to transfer 22 million tons of waste to storage sites.

officials say that 1/3 of the total debris needs to be removed now. crews are waiting for the completion of the incinerator's which can be used to burn garbage pit a russian submarine burned at night, trapping crewmembers on board. the submarine was in dry dock. >> russian officials are confirming that after a full day and night ablaze, a massive fire on board the nuclear-power submarine has been extinguished by firefighters. the 18,000-ton submarine, part of russia's northern fleet, was tried docked near an arctic port when wooden scaffolding a product caught fire on thursday and ignited the rubber coating around the summary, which is often used to make submarines more still flight. firefighters worked around the clock to douse the flames, which at times shot into the sky.

russian officials insist there was no radiation leaked and that has been verified by a number of neighboring countries. at least seven crewmen were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning. a number of crewmen stayed inside the the sub during the fire. it is unclear if they were or ifd to do so w there were trapped inside. in august 2000, a nuclear- powered subs assigned to the bottom of the sea after a tornado fuel leak triggered another massive explosion. luckily, it appears this fire was extinguished without loss of life. russian officials are saying that the nuclear missiles were not on board. >> still to come, more reliable measures in this afternoon's " medical alert."

and approved prostate test for men. at a fallen soldier's personal mementos in an unlikely place. >> today and other weather disturbances on the way. the insta-weather-plus forecast, as we go into the new year's weekend, coming up. partly

>> in this afternoon's "medical alert," miner lifestyle changes can significantly reduce your risk of early death. researchers examined 78 years in more than 17,000 adults, including exercise -- 78 years in more than 17,000 adults, including exercise, smoking, plus in tainted the risk of death drop 14% for those who

made it an improvement in at least one category. experts are blaming the obesity epidemic of poor in increase in the number of acid reflux cases. the number of cases had risen almost 50% in 10 years. this, an increase in a rare type esophageal cancer -- they saw an increase in a rare type esophageal cancer. the standard psa test to track prostate cancer in men is a useful tool, but it certainly has its flaws. but a new generation of the test is on the horizon. experts say could greatly improved reliability. >> it is the no. 1 cancer among men and cancers grow witih age. >> finding it early is the most

important thing a person can do. i did not feel any different. >> this biotech company invented a new blood test with the ability to separate good psa from bad. >> instead of looking at the number, we look at weather there are changes -- we look at whether there are changes in the molecule itself. >> studies at the cleveland clinic and university hospital showed promising results. after that, they hope to develop tests for other cancers. >> we work on breasts, several other more interesting to work with cancers. >> now your 11 insta-weather- plus forecast with john collins. >> just take a look for a moment at our radar-satellite domination. we have scattered clouds moving across the area. radar has picked up a few of

those clouds. chance of a little sprinkle activity past the potomac river. even a little bit of maryland there, just west of tankers down -- just west of hagerstown. it will mean very much. the rain chance is not very high. turning out to be a pretty nice day. fifties, forties, and his red light indicates 42. yesterday we took a dip in temperatures. we are on the rise for public days here to go through new year's eve and new year's day. then we take a tumble. next week is going to get chilly. while we have got it, 48 eastern. 50 on the boardwalk. 46 at edgewood parkton, 44. westminster has made it to 50. kind of stuck out there in far western maryland elevation

issue, and have had some clouds. here is the satellite image. one on the delmarva peninsula. nice and sunny in town for the most part. the clouds that baker in western maryland. -- clouds get thicker in western maryland. war front is moving east of us. we are getting a milder air. disturbance to the west is circulating over the mississippi river, western illinois, eastern iowa. that will be moving east in the next 24 hours. it will produce more clouds and maybe a sprinkle or shower overnight tonight and tomorrow. luckily, with the warm air flow, it does not mean that snow flurries. the general flow pattern -- here is the system coming in. this will drag another system in by the end of the weekend. that will be coming to a mild air but also brought in very cold air from the north into the area for next week. sunshine and clouds. right now we have the signed --

sun. the winds are solely on the day, five to 10 knots. insta-weather futurecast shows this activity coming through. we could come overnight tonight, pick up a brief shower sprinkles. we want dry out over saturday and saturday into sunday, we could see a little more activity across the area. what is major is behind the front. temperatures will take a tumble. here is the forecast for the next several days sprinkel, shout or overnight tonight and early on saturday. snow is not very likely. rte. 50 on sunday. late sunday and monday morning, rain shower. that it gets cold. only in the 20's and 30's for the highs on monday, tuesday, and when did i -- and wednesday. >> in the "consumer alert,"

rumors are swirling about possible new versions of the apple ipad. apple will reveal two new versions next month. according to the report, the new versions will have 9.7-inch screens. word is apple is hoping to compete with the kindle fire, and extremely popular gift item this holiday season. it seems that americans may be using ipads to watch movies at home. movie attendance is at its lowest point in years. 1.25 billion people went to the movies this year. 2002 was the peak year for moviegoers. nearly 1.6 billion people attended movies that year. good news for the auto industry. ford sales are up this year appeared for the first time since 2007, the automaker surpassed the $200 million mark. are up more than

30%. three years ago, he died suddenly while serving a tour of duty in iraq. putting the meadows and love letters -- his personal property, including mementos of love letters, somehow ended up in a storage unit. >> it was important when i found it. i wanted to make sure it got back to the family. it became a personal quest. >> the police officer stumbled on something unusual. when called to this warehouse last month to investigate the copper piping, she spotted a pile of stuff including a military uniform, bulletproof helmet, ammunition. she took notice, all the more so because the deer got left behind by a moving company -- gear got

left behind by a moving company, a onetime tenant at the warehouse. after thorough inspection of the gear, police out personal effects, including love letters and family pictures, and i name -- a name -- a veteran of the iraq war. they learned that he died suddenly of a brain aneurysm three years ago. they had difficulty tracking down his family. eventually, with the help of the internet, they found his widow, and she sent her a text to inform her of the discovery. >> this stuff was lost for three years. she had no idea where it was. nobody knew where it was. it was so nice when we told her some of the stuff we had great she was in tears. >> cannot imagine what that must of been like for her bid up next, your maryland lottery numbers, and another check of the insta-weather-plus forecast.

>> now time for your maryland lottery numbers. >> the maryland lottery celebrates purple friday all season long with purple drawings and cash fantasy scratch-off. >> i am sarah fleischer from 98 rock.

let's play your pick three game. pick 3 let it snow is ending soon. you could win 5, 10, 25, or $50 instantly. it ends january 1. we are moving on to your pick four game. the maryland lottery -- let yourself play. >> mild temperatures into the weekend. >> good deal. happy new year.

go ravens. thanks for joining us.