>> the grand prix will not be coming back to baltimore if jack young has his way. i will explain. >> this is for your baby. you could win an autographed prizes from joe flacco. .> i'm tara mergener inn nine days and counting until south carolina's primary. latest is coming up. >> ava will tell us when the rain will let up. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning.

i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >> is there snow in the future? >> let's focus on the rain. rain is moving through harford and cecil county. jeff wet roads -- we have wet roads. the wind is basically calm. the rain is moving north and east of the city. temperatures into the mid 50's this afternoon. a cold snap is on the way. >> the weather goes hand-in-hand with how the commute is going to evolve and we have some problem spots right now. southbound 97, that is the latest accident.

meantime, outer loop, this crash is off to the side. it is still moving well to that area. just be extra careful. southbound 95 approaching route 24, we have an accident. we have a fire activity in monkton on old york road. one problem in the city at the alameda. be careful with an accident location. 97 south of the beltway. you can see that accident in the southbound side. this is 95 at 24. running smoothly so far. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> for the fourth year, education week has ranked maryland public school as number 1 in the nation. >> the state received high marks

for student performance and graduation marked. tim tooten has more in the education alert. >> it was like my greatest fear that we would not be number one. but i cannot think of a better number to have as long as folks are going to rate states. >> how did you become number one again? >> being number one, we're proud of that. i think it says a lot about the quality of our classroom teachers. i will tell you it says a lot about the leadership of our superintendents. and i will also tell you that it's indicative of the kind of financial support that we have received from governor o'malley, but the legislature in general over the years. >> there is still work to do, and there's some specific areas that the state still needs work on. >> we have a lot to do. we have an achievement gap that we want to be the first in the country to solve. we want to be the first in the country to implement a very effective teacher evaluation system. so we have a lot of work to do.

>> your title is interim state school superintendent. what does it mean to be able to hand the next person a number- one ranking. >> today, it's like i don't know if i want to give it away because it's number one. and some other days it might be a different answer, but quite frankly i think it will be a very thoughtful process and the selection will be about a person that will be a leader to take us to that next step in education. >> tim tooten, wbal-tv 11 news. >> the state is getting much needed funding. the government has agreed to give maryland state highway administration $7 million in federal damaged. most of the money will be spent on the route to 34 bridge in charles county, u.s. route 301, and the route 2 southbound ramp in anne arundel county. >> a man is recovering after

being trapped under a subway train. he was waiting on the platform as the train pulled into lexington station. he was conscious and alert and he is expected to be ok. >> we had to pull them over 150 feet to the platform level to get him out and to the hospital. he did suffer some contusions and abrasions and some other injuries as a result of being run over by the train. >> and take officials are investigating whether his wheelchair at malfunctioned -- and today imta officials. >> jack young made a comment in "the baltimore sun." kim dacey is live with the details. >> jack young's opinion letter

in "the baltimore sun" starts off with him admitting that he supported the grand prix race when the idea was first proposed about two years ago. but now he argues that the city should not pursue the race in the future and should instead direct its resources elsewhere. in his letter, jack young says city resources should go not to the grand prix but to things like recreation centers for kids and seniors and city pools. he criticized the plan to in some cases hand over rec center operations to private entities, saying, "what does it say about our priorities as a city whenwe will move heaven and earth to continue a street race but will turn our backs on our most vulnerable citizens?" baltimore's first grand prix race sped through downtown on labor day weekend, generating $47 million for the city, short of a projected $70 million. is now tryingfice to find a new organizer for the race after severing the contract

with the baltimore racing development. the 01 $0.5 million to the city of baltimore. the mayor's office included this picture of jack young sitting in a race car. the mayor's spokesman issued a statement -- jack young did not return our calls for comment about his letter. kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news. >> south carolina's primary is next on the agenda for the republican presidential candidates. mitt romney is looking to go three for three.

>> good morning. the battle into south carolina's primary is in tents and may determine if anyone can stop mitt romney's march. >> thank you. >> mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt! >> less than 10 days ahead of south carolina's primary, gop hopefuls are campaigning with a vengeance. >> i don't want to transform america. i want to restore america. >> mitt romney is one step closer to sealing the deal for the nomination after a win in new hampshire tuesday, but says he does not want to be overconfident. ron paul also headed south with momentum following his second- place showing. >> and i think south carolina is next on the list. >> but candidates who did not fair as well show no signs of slowing down, either. >> i just have a request for you -- i want your vote. >> newt gingrich launched a fresh attack on romney. >> massachusetts moderate mitt romney. he cannot be trusted. >> rick santorum believes the

race is still wide open. >> i'm hopeful that after south carolina, we can finish strongly here. >> and rick perry, who finished last in the granite state, will press on. >> i cannot think of anything in the natural world that would cause me to drop out of the race. >> meantime, president obama scooped up contributions in his hometown of chicago wednesday. >> if you stick with me, we're going to finish what we started in 2008. >> as the gop candidates campaign in south carolina today, mitt romney also makes a stop in florida, which holds its primary at the end of the month. tara mergener, wbal-tv 11 news. >> 50 degrees on tv hill. looking for a job at a casino? bail denied for a harford teenager accused of killing his father. >> how would you like to start your day with a free cup of coffee?

where you can find -- that says in all. that is coming up. >> monopoly got spooked. we will have details on how you can adopt him. cats walking down my back. >> your morning commute, we have some wet roads. some wet roads. that means

get america's favorite coffee for america's favorite single-cup brewer. try all five delicious varieties, only at dunkin' donuts restaurants. america runs on dunkin'.

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. kind of busy out there. we're dealing with what roads. a crash off to the right shoulder at 648. another accident off the shoulder. outbound 95 approaching route 24, watch for a crash in the southbound lanes. old york road, fire activity continues in monkton. have an accident in the city at the alameda. problem free on the j.f.x. this morning. 97 south of about what off to

the right shoulder. is 95 at 24. southbound traffic looks a little bit heavy. the accident off to the side at 24. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. let's find when the rain will move through. >> the rain is starting to taper off in baltimore city. we will get a view of the radar. the rain pushing into cecil county. , we have acounty couple of showers. most of the metro area is dry. we had about an inch of rain last night so the roads and the ground is pretty wet. 52 at the inner harbor. much colder as you look west of the city.

30's out in the mountains. a lot of clouds to start. into the upper 50's this afternoon. this is our last mile day before the cold snap arrives -- this is our last mild the day. cold weather will arrive late tonight. we could see some snow in northern carroll county and northern baltimore county. very light accumulations. not much more than an inch. the seven-day forecast -- it will be chilly. temperatures falling into the 30's in the afternoon. a possibility of light snow showers this weekend. >> a man and a teenager face criminal charges after allegedly threatening a woman in carroll county.

somebody leaned out of a car and point it would appear to be a rifle at her. todd gori and 870-year-old are charged with assault and reckless endangerment -- todd gori and a 17-year-old are charged with assault and reckless endangerment. millions are still waiting for homes. it was spread cholera outbreak -- a widespread cholera outbreak. >> the ravens are getting ready for sunday's big playoff game against houston and you may be seeing more of joe flacco around town. >> jennifer franciotti joins us

live to explain. >> we now know white monopoly got spooked out. this is mason, who was also looking for a good home. how can we adopt mason and monopoly? >> you can come to the shelter in reisterstown. all of our adoptable animals are available on our website. >> mason is an older dog. >> he is ready for a couch to lay on. he is a very good boy. he needs to be the only dog in the household. >> we were talking about the new promotion with joe flacco. people can register to win two big prizes. >> thinking get autographed

jerseys and a football autographed by joe flacco. >> this is all through your new promotion to get people to come man and to register on facebook and showing pets that are decked out in ravens gear. >> we have many images and people are showing their purple pride and we're showing it ourselves. >> burble is the new whatever color you wanted to be -- purple is the new whatever color you want it to be. this is jennifer franciotti reporting and now back to you. >> starbucks is trying to find out which roast you love most with free coffee tasting. the event runs today through saturday. people can sample the medium and dark roast capri's and even the

blonde roast.e new people will receive free samples of the new blond re roast to brew at home. some people have come up with some real doozies. employers were asked to share the most courageous excuses employees have shared for arriving late. here are the top three. my cat had hiccups. "i have to take a personal call from the governor." that one turned out to be true. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. what's the most outrageous excuse you've heard, or given, for coming in to work late? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

are you looking for a job? you may want to take a gamble at home depot or the casino industry. we have more in the bloomberg report. >> home depot is gearing up for their biggest season of the year -- spring spruce up. they are planning to hire more than 7000 people. in there looking to work casino industry, more than 1500 new positions are expected to be filled. barry's to security and marked -- they range from security to marketing. things are not looking up for the jobs picture. thousands of jobs have been cut.

it is about to get worse. banks may lose 150,000 jobs by the middle of 2013. a listless day of trading yesterday. a rally helped push the essen be higher for a third day -- a rally helped push the s&p hire. >> thank you. 50 degrees on tv hill. what ravens is being held as a tough cookie. keith mills has details. >> here is a look at last night's winning maryland lottery numbers.

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. kind of busy out there. we have wet roads. eastbound 70, we have an accident. that is the latest crash. good news on the west side outer loop at 795. that accident is gone. we have leftover delays, a 24

miles per hour in the outer loop. southbound 95, an accident in the median approaching route 24. old york road, watch for fire activity in monkton. the alameda, one more problem. this is the j.f.x.. southbound traffic is building. a smooth ride into town despite the fact that the roads are wet. this is the key bridge. fog warnings are in effect here and at the bay bridge. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> we still have some rain out there in harford county and cecil county. that is where we're still seeing the rain. baltimore city is drying out. temperatures in the 40's. mr. lohr 40's as you head west of the city. -- mid 40's as you head west of the city.

high temperature of 57 degrees. the last mild day we'll see before the cold snap begins tomorrow. keith mills has sports. >> thank you. good morning. we begin with a quotation from marshal yanda -- it is a nasty scar. he had emergency surgery to treat a torn muscle on christmas eve. he will be in the lineup when the ravens by the texas. the ravens will face yates, who took over the houston offense .fter injuries to match t schaub he has done well. yates knows ed reed will try to

take him out of this game and try to rattle him early and often. >> it is a defense will have to know what certain guys are at all-time. ed reed, ray lewis, suggs -- these guys can give you problems. you have to watch as much film as possible. try to get as ready as possible for them. >> t.j. with a little half full manc manchu. college basketball last night. the terrapins get their first acc win of the year and the first acc win for new coach mark turgeon.

terrell stoglin. second-half. wake battles back. a great feed to ty walker. the terrapins need a basket. sean mosley. 70-64. towson lost. the town is lit up in purple. a huge purple friday tomorrow. >> thank you. 50 degrees on tv hill. the honor awarded to the maryland school system. >> speaking out about the future of the baltimore grand prix. >> two attacks in a baltimore

city neighborhood in bolton

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning, everybody.

welcome back to 11 news today. i'm stan stovall. >> and i'm mindy basara. thank you for joining us this morning. is the rain moving out? >> it is in deed. rain is in eastern cecil county. we still have wet roads. you see the radar try to clear out. we're in the 40's with the wind is starting to pick up behind the rain. we expect temperatures today into the 50's. tomorrow we of the colder conditions. stay tuned -- mark we have a the colder conditions. >> maryland brings in top honors for the fourth year in a rote beating out massachusetts, new york, and virginia to have its schools ranked number 1 in the nation. the superintendent plans to

defend the honor. he is not pushing any particular agenda, there is no doubt education will be front and center and he plans to become a familiar face around annapolis. >> this is important for us to monitor what happens in annapolis. there are hundreds of bills that is somewhat are reflective of a policy change for public education. >> the board continues to search for a new state superintendent. lawmakers are expected to be a part of that process. >> a man is in critical condition after being shot inside a restaurant in northwest baltimore. officers responded to the shooting on liberty heights wednesday night and found the unidentified victim suffering gunshot wounds to the torso. no word as to a suspect or a possible motive. a boy confessed to killing his

father. a judge denied bail for robert conley richardson iii on thursday. the judge says he considers the teenager to be a flight risk. he's accused of fatally shooting his father and is charged as an adult. a student claims to be the second victim of armed robbery in bolton weeks. he said the armory happened on park avenue -- he said the robbery happened on park avenue. four suspects approached him. >> two of them ran across the street. one of them had a gun. >> the victim said the suspect fled on foot on west lanvale street but only made off with $3.

another built with help resident was kidnapped -- another bolton hill resident was kidnapped. jack young wants to cut ties with the baltimore grand prix. >> kim dacey has more details. >> jack young's opinion letter in "the baltimore sun" starts off with him admitting that he supported the grand prix race when the idea was first proposed about two years ago. but now he argues that the city should not pursue the race in the future and should instead direct its resources elsewhere. in his letter, jack young says city resources should go not to the grand prix but to things like recreation centers for kids and seniors and city pools. he criticized the mayor's plan to in some cases hand over rec center operations to private entities, saying, "what does it say about our priorities as a city when we will move heaven and earth to continue a street race but will turn our backs on

our most vulnerable citizens?" baltimore's first grand prix race sped through downtown on labor day weekend, generating $47 million for the city, short of a projected $70 million. the mayor's office is now trying to find a new organizer for the race after recently severing its contract with the baltimore racing development, which is reportedly more than $12 million in debt and owes some $1.5 million to the city of baltimore. the mayor's office included this picture of jack young sitting in a race car when 11 news requested a response to young's article. the mayor's spokesman issued this statement -- "even though council president young very publicly supported the grand prix and voted to support the race, he is certainly entitled to change his political position now. and if we are able to revive the event, he is certainly entitled to change his political position again, depending on what is popular at the moment." jack young did not return any of our calls for comment about his letter. kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news.

>> joe flacco is popping up on billboards all over town. >> he's doing his part to try to save animals who need new homes. jennifer franciotti is live in reisterstown to explain. >> i have fred and ethel. they are a bonded pair. how can you take these guys home? >> just come on down to the shoulder and fill up an application. they like to sleep. they are an adorable couple. we call them husband and wife. they came to us from another shelter. >> you have about 70 dogs and 200 cats.

>> we are small, private shelter and rely solely on donations and fund-raising events. we are not related to any national humane societies. >> this is why joe flacco has gotten involved. >> one of the main points is that we are the area's only large no-kill shelters. >> there are several billboards that were put up this week. you have a contest that people can enter on facebook and send in pictures of their animals. >> send them to purple-spirit at bemo. >> fred has some serious doggie breath. >> how cute.

they are adorable. the morning commute is busy. we have wet roads. a problem on 70 in the mount airy region. watch for delays. this accident at moravia road. the j.f.x. in pretty good shape. southbound 95, a wreck in the median. 24 north and southbound looks pretty good. no problems on pulaski highway. this is southbound traffic down towards the city. this is the key bridge. fog warnings in effect at the key bridge. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> thank you.

6:38. winter at its worst. one winter town now expecting a rainstorm. the team out from record snowfall -- digging out. >> we are still taking your answers to our water cooler question of the day. what's the most outrageous excuse you've heard, or given, for coming in to work late? you can remain anonymous. you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to

>> some residents in north carolina are picking up the pieces after some severe storms. rain, hail, and tornadoes. i winds -- high winds toppled trees. at least 10 people have been injured. residents are cleaning up after being buried under record snowfall. 18 feet of snow since november in cordova. scored members are in town to try to help. things will get worse before

they get better. rain is now in the forecast for this small fishing town. >> that means a coat of ice. 6:42. 50 degrees on tv hill. much better than alaska. >> still ahead, a look at the stories you need to know about before you head out to start your day. >> your morning commute is getting busier. one accident on the b-w parkway and another on 100. >> it is embarrassing to mention the kind of snow we have in the forecast. it is minimal. 52 at the inner harbor. 52 at the inner harbor. the rain

>> welcome back to 11 news today. 6:45. joe biden is hitting the road today lot with 40 duncan. the vice president will visit a high school to discuss the importance of college. reports show the average college student graduates with $27,000 in student loan debt. a mississippi judge is stepping in to block inmates that have been pardoned by the governor. haley barbour has approved full pardons for 199 convicts. he says 90% of those pardoned are no longer in police custody and many of them have been out of jail for years. many people made excuses for getting to work late but some of come up with some crazy ones.

the most courageous excuses were collected by employers. topping the list -- my cat had hiccups. i got distracted watching the "today" shows. >> that brings us to your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> this morning we asked -- what's the most outrageous excuse you've heard, or given, for coming in to work late? >> this one is just bizarre. that is right. >> come on, james.

>> we will post more of your answers on the front page of wbaltv.com. >> the baltimore humane society hopes the ravens playoff run will help boost their fund- raiser. >> jennifer franciotti is live from reisterstown to explain. >> i brought monopoly back. and hehe sweetest kitty does need a new home. i'm here with chris lucas. you were nice enough to open your store this morning. you host the baltimore humane society of the third saturday of each month. >> we will be doing a benefit for them on may 20. >> folks can dress up their pets

with purple pride. >> we of little baltimore ravens jerseys in purple and pink. >> show the cheerleading outfit. on a day like today, you need some rain gear. all right. thank you so much. the baltimore humane society is having a facebook contest. send in pictures of your pets. you can enter to win a contest of several prizes autographed by joe flacco. you can go into the shelter and register to win a jersey and a football signed by joe flacco. so many good things to win. reporting live, jennifer franciotti. back to you guys.

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good luck getting a ravens jersey on monopoly. now we have problems because of the wet roads. it has been busy on 295. eastbound 100, this one just cleared. not such good news on eastbound 70 in the not every region. delays in place on the west side outer loop. this one has been cleared on the alameda. old york road, we still have fire activity to avoid. the harrisburg expressway is running pretty well. this is outer loop traffic on the northeast corner. you can see the slowdown developing at harford road. this is white marsh. southbound traffic is tapping the brakes down to the 895

split. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> you can see it that the ground is still wet. the rate is tapering off in cecil county -- the rain is tapering off. 52 at the inner harbor. 43 in westminster. 30's out into the mountains. temperatures will bounce back this afternoon. we will have clouds later on. this is our last mild day for quite some time. winter wears its ugly head as we move into the weekend. a cold front is on the way for tonight. colder air will pour it and we could see accumulating snow. carroll county and northern baltimore county, but some places may see up to an inch of accumulation by tomorrow morning.

everybody else will feel the cold temperatures. 30's at best for the afternoon. a slight chance for snow showers on saturday or sunday. i don't think that will hold back to ravens. >> coming up, we'll take a last look at weather and traffic before you head out to start your day.

>> the roads are wet. >> we knew that it would be a busy morning rush. we have an accident in the

southbound direction on the b-w parkway. eastbound 70 just past route 27. watch for delays on the west sound and on southbound 795. we have a crash on moravia road. fire activity at old york road in monkton. we will update you on some of the delays. this is harford road. we do have delays at harford over towards providence. this is not the white marsh area. that delay is in place from white marsh down towards the 895 split. >> we're going up and then we're going down. we expect temperatures into the upper 50's today. the rain has ended but a cold front arrives tonight. early tomorrow morning, north and west of the city there could be some snow. not more than an inch up accumulation.

we could have a busy morning rush tomorrow. >> thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> we will be back with a live update at 7:25. >> have a great day. >> follow breaking news and weather any time at wbaltv.com, and stay connected with us on facebook and twitter. >> this is a wbal-tv 11 editorial, from president and general manager dan joerres. >> relentless -- this word

defined the baltimore ravens this season. we take a look back at our team. coach john harbaugh led the ravens to a 12-4 season and with a memorable win over the steelers. the team made it three spots on sunday night football. the harbaugh brothers class for the first time as nfl head coaches. a solid road win against the bengals at the end of the season. the team's goal was to earn a right to host a divisional playoff game. houston will face a ferocious ravens team on sunday. there is no doubt that coach harbaugh will pass along the vice of his father, attacked the the ravens will.

we can seem to show our support by broadcasting the ravens logo on our building every night. we wish them good luck.