>> a new poll shows what issues are important to marylanders. >> more political shots fired at mitt romney. >> the state has one for sex offenders, but should have won for animal abusers? >> the forecast as we continue right now. [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. arrrgh! windy shiver me timbers!

>> we had a cold front go through a couple of hours ago. >> you have the goatee. now you have a patch. >> i might get a bird. [laughter] so cool. a cold front when through. the temperatures are falling and the wind is kicking up. it is 43 degrees. northwest wind gusting to 23. some snow showers are trying to sneak off to the west. carroll county macy's some snow flurries today -- carroll county may see some snow flurries. eye patch and a bird. what you thido you think?

>> i think you should do all it. it is windy. 53 towards the west side. so far so good coming into the beltway. that is not correct -- may want to slow down at shawan road. this is the key bridge. we have wind warnings in effect at the area bridges. no dels at the construction zone at the curtis creek drawbridge. north and southbound traffic on 29 so far good in howard county. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> a warning from world economic leaders. developing countries need to be ready for a slowdown on economic

growth. europe's debt woes will have an impact on developing economies. it could trigger another global crisis. the engine for growth has changed. a teenager will spend six years behind bars for hiring somebody to kill her father. she was 15 years old when she hired a man to stab her father in 2008. the man said he was misled by the teenager into believing she was being physically abused. a man will be back in court. antonio martinez pleaded not guilty for a federal charges of attempted murder. he tried to detonate a phony car bomb.

a motion to dismiss the charges against him was denied last month. >> as the 2012 general assembly session gets underway, a new public opinion poll shows what voters think of the top issues. kim dacey joins us live with more on that poll. >> the information comes from a gonzales research and marketing poll conducted earlier this month. they surveyed more than 800 voters across the state of maryland over the phone. that breaks down into 56% democrats, 30% republicans, and 13% registered independents. among those voters, president obama's approval rating rose to 55% with 41% expressing disapproval. that is close to where he was his first year in office. the increase is attributed mostly to democrats and independents. that shows the president's approval rating bouncing back from where it was in september,

2011, at only 49%. the poll shows maryland governor martin o'malley's approval rating holding steady at 53%, with 40% disapproval. that's about the same as it was in september of last year when he was at 52% approval. the pollsters attribute his consistency to a strong showing of support among women and african american voters. the most important issue to marylanders by far remains the economy, at 49%. though by dropping under 50%, that issue is at its lowest point in two years. education is a distant second at 13%, followed by taxes at 11%. coming up, we will look at the controversial issue of same-sex marriage and how marylanders feel about that. kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news. >> the search continues for a homeowner accused of an extreme case of animal hoarding. a gruesome discovery was found on monday in columbia.

40 animals including cats, birds and a snake were found in the home with no power and no access to food and water. all but four of the animals were dead. neighbors have not seen the president for several days. >> we think she may have been involved with the rescue organization. we don't know her whereabouts. >> i'm more disgusted. we did have a hunch there was some kind of animal hoarding going on. i'm speechless. i don't understand. >> two cats were found alive but there were dehydrated and underweight. people convicted of abusing animals could soon have their

information made public. ron young is sponsoring a bill that would keep track of animal abusers. the photo and address would be posted in a state data base for 10 years. >> this is an issue that is not being addressed here in maryland. it is time to start registering people and to know where they are. >> a person would go into that register if they leave a dog unattended outside while it is tied up. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. what do you think of a proposal to create a registry of people convicted of animal abuse? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> a group of mothers are rallying around a teenager accused of killing his father.

robert richardson iii eve his right to a preliminary hearing. -- waived his right. a group of local mothers is using facebook to raise money. >> we're all moms. we just want to help this little boy. he has no one. >> the public defender is expected to request the trowel to move to a juvenile court -- quest the trial be moved. >> south carolina takes center stage. kate amara has the latest in this morning's commitment 2012 report. tax returnsey's fuelled attacks from his gop

rivals. just days to go before the south carolina primary and the hits on mitt romney keep coming. >> of course he is not going to win the nomination on saturday. why should everybody walk away if he wins this primary? >> rick perry and newt gingrich want the republican front- runner to release his personal tax returns right now. >> in september, it is too late to be firing a nominee. >> well, what is he saying to the people of south carolina? "you're not important enough for me to release my income taxes." >> on tuesday, romney acknowledged he pays a lower tax rate than many middle- income americans. >> what's the effective rate i've been paying? it's probably closer to the 15% rate than anything, because my last 10 years, i -- my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past. >> in an effort to climb in the polls, rick santorum was also on the attack, on the ground -- >> this is a huge character issue on mitt romney's part. >> and on the air, out with a new ad comparing romney to president obama. >> obama gave us radical

obamacare. it was based on romneycare. >> ron paul is taking a detour from the campaign trail today, returning to washington to vote on the debt ceiling. kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. >> 6:10. 43 degrees on tv hill. testing continues to make sure your morning orange juice is safe. >> the death toll rises from the accident of the cruise ship. >> 1 fast-food chain will try to >> 1 fast-food chain will try to y hey, what are you drinkin'? i'm drinkin' dunkin'.

coffee -- black, straight up. extra cream, three sugars. iced coffee french vanilla. for me. iced coffee with a turbo shot. i'm drinkin' dunkin'. i'm drinkin' dunkin'.

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>> good morning. it is 43 degrees downtown. it feels like that. we have the wind blocking where we are right now. temperatures in the 30's outside the city. i am live this morning at the inner harbor. we're talking ravens. we have been painting the town purple. a chance to win some tickets to the game on sunday. i'm here with katie.

a chance for fans to may be win some tickets. >> we painted five bird heads. follow our clothes on our facebook page. find the bird heads and take a picture of yourself with the upload it.and a bloate >> their four others in other counties. you have a chance to guess where they are. then you are entered to win. let's check the forecast. we can see the showers leaving maryland. snow showers out to the west. we go back to tony in the weather center. it's like willie wol wonka.

>> i would be wille. >> i would guess the purple guy. >> they will help pay to get you up there in addition to the tickets. >> yes. a lot is at stake. the picture taken with these heads.eabirdie >> the temperatures are dropping. howers andshow flurries out in the mountains. the wind is the other big story. we had a wind gust of 23 in annapolis. the wind will be selling down.

down.ing dosettling all that cold air from the midwest is pointing at us. 43 at the airport right now. everybody will wind up in the 40's into the afternoon. temperatures between 35 and 43. a slight chance for some snow flurries. most clear tonight -- mostly clear tonight. taken in clouds tomorrow. -- t tomorrow.clouds dry and chilly on friday. temperatures in the mid 40's on sunday. no big snowstorms on the horizon.

maybe just some snow showers and flurries. 6:16. >> good morning. a nice start. no incidents this morning. we have an increase in volume around the area, especially on the west side. moving well through towson south on the j.f.x., a 59 in towards town. so far so good as you make your way south on at 95. wind warnings at the key bridge. 54 on southbound 95. 295 checking out fine to and from 100. this is the beltway that security. picking up in volume just a bit. pulaski how it checks out fine east and west bound -- pulaski highway. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> thank you.

the white house was placed on lockdown after a smoke bomb was tossed over a fence. protesters had gathered on the steps of the capital and marched to the white house. the president of the first lady or out to dinner when the smoke bomb was thrown over the fence. a gruesome discovery on tuesday night. dogs began playing with an object in a bag. it was a severed human head. detectives are trying to identify the remains. 11 people have died in the cruise ship disaster off the coast of italy. they hope to resume the search later today. the captain of the ship has been placed on house arrest.

>> one year after the u.s. opened up travel to cuba, the urban marshall will be offering nonstop flights to the nation beginning march 21. tickets are available through island travel. fast food is about to get more convenient as burger king tests home delivery for eight to adult a $2 ry cf -- for delivery fee. they have developed a packaging material so food will stay warm. jane king has the bloomberg business report. >> good morning. companies want to assure companies there are issues is

safe. there is still below levels that raise a concern. testing for fungicide may continue into july. the fda started detaining our issues imports from brazil. jet fuel costs more than $12 billion annually. biofuels. the navy has signed a big biofuel contract which is good for the environment. lockheed martin getting even bigger. they just acquired a company that specializes in autopilot another unmanned aerial systems . investors getting quarterly results from a number of companies including goldman sachs this morning. also the latest on inflation from the labor department. bullish reports on the u.s. and german economies.

the bloomberg maryland index just a bit higher. i'm jane king for wbal-tv 11 news. >> 6:21. 40 degrees on tv hill. high winds are making driving tricky this morning. >> strong words from the ravens defense. keith mills has more. >> 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. not a lot to talk about this morning. no delays to report. tapping the brakes of the west side outer loop as you make your way past liberty. moving well on the north side. 95 is problem free. 52 and southbound 97. this is the northwest corner. no problems at reisterstown road. volume does start to build at liberty. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> good morning. the big story today is the wind. it is a windy start. temperatures will be dropping. everybody will be in the 30's

this afternoon. a mixture of sun and clouds. the wind will diminish. the seven-day forecast is coming up in just a few minutes. here is keith mills. >> good morning. the town turns purple. the ravens give back to work for sunday's game against new orleans --- new england. ed reed said he did not think that joe flacco did not have a hold on the offense on sunday against houston and that joe cannot play this week against new england. he said the offensive line needs to play better. john answered a question about joe flacco with more fact than opinion.

>> i can just tell you in this last game, he won and his quarterback rating was what -- 97. ok? that is a winning performance. i told joe -- i told him last night that i thought he played very, very well. he was under duress, he handled himself really well. there are plenty of things he would like to have back and could have done better. he'd be the first to tell you that. you try to play winning football no matter what position you play. that is what we value around here. >> we will see how that is handled there. join us on saturday as we get you ready for the afc championship game with 81-our special live from new england. gerry and pete gilbert will be in new england and i will be in the studio. maryland taking on florida state. terrell stoglin is the leading scorer in the acc. this is another freshman from the bronx in new york. that is pretty impressive.

second half, they take their first lead. alex len. maryland was some good players. it is a ball game. ahead to deividas dulkys, their er.t shoot terps are 2-2 in the acc. ed was critical of every phase the ravens played. he was spectacular at times. >> he put some heat on himself. >> top honors this morning for several maryland schools. the blue ribbon awards. >> the controversial same-sex marriage issue. i have details.

>> political payback? the latest on the trauma within city hall. >> there is still planning to do in baltimore to get excited and maybe help you win tickets to maybe help you win tickets to the game got the everyday value slam, classic burger, build your own chicken wrap, cheese quesadilla, chicken parmesan, all you can eat pancakes, cordon bleu melt, the new cookie skillet a la mode. whew. so many choices, so little airtime.

the 2-4-6-8 value menu. only at denny's.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. welcome back to 11 news today. i'm stan stovall. >> and i'm mindy basara. thank you for joining us this morning. how long is the wind going to stick around? >> it will settle out by this afternoon -- will settle down by this afternoon. this will be the warmest part of the day. a slight chance for some snow flurries drift in and out of the mountains. now to the news desk. >> governor martin o'malley will unveil his plan to close the

$1.1 billion budget gap. one item on the table is teacher pension costs. he wants to shift some of the money to local jurisdictions. >> the counties would get some of the money from the exemptions if they were reduced. that would be windfall to the county. >> there is no word on how much of a tab the city and counties would have to pick up. >> new research shows just how voters feel our elected officials are doing and which issues are most important to them. kim dacey has the numbers. >> more than 800 voters were surveyed over the phone. that breaks down to 56%

democrats and 13% registered independents. president obama approval rose to 55%. that is close to where he was his first year in office. this is attributed to democrats and independents. that shows the president's approval bouncing back. maryland governor martin o'malley's approval rating holding steady at 53%. that is about the same as it was in september of last year. his consistency is attributed to a strong showing of support among women and african american voters. 49% are in favor of same-sex marriage. the researchers draw the conclusion there is strong opposition to the issue among african american voters. same-sex marriage would be in a solid majority in maryland.

during this research, a cross section of interviews was conducted in each jurisdiction within the state to reflect the general election voting patterns. kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news. >> a possible case of the cold shoulder at city hall. jack young spoke out against bringing back the baltimore grand prix. the mayor's office asked young to return his tickets to the sky box for sunday's ravens playoff game. the mayor's office controls the guest list. jack young complied. >> a volunteer firefighter remains in serious cocondition after a fire. he was assistant accident victims when another vehicle

slid down the road and hit him. there were nine cars involved in that accident. >> national recognition for a half a dozen maryland elementary schools. some schools earned blue-ribbon awards. award recognizes high achievement in tested as well as committed the average. >> we know how hard we work and we know how hard our children work. it is such an honor to be recognized. >> the five other honors schools include ring factory, rachel carson, white hall, and pocomoke elementary in worse tcester

county. all six of the schools the want to compete for a national blue- ribbon. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. it is nice out there. no delays. you can see a bit of a slowdown on the outer loop northeast corner. the j.f.x. running smoothly into town. no problems on the north side in the area of towson. 48 on southbound 95 as you make a pass the beltway northeast. 47 on the harrisburg expressway. this is the site of the disabled tractor-trailer. all lanes are getting by just fine. volume is picking up in that area of the outer loop of 140. this is beltway at the b-w

parkway. no delays report on 295 southbound. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. let's get the latest from ava marie joining us live this morning from the inner harbor. good morning. >> everybody loves the little competition. you have a chance to win some tickets to the big game on sunday. little ravens heads are painted and you need to have your picture taken and put it on the ravens a facebook page and you can be entered to win two tickets to the game on sunday. a huge deal. just take your picture. the challenge is to find out where they are. you have to go to the facebook page and to see the clothes and guess where they are.

kind of exciting -- to see the clues. let's check the forecast. bundle up. it is chilly. temperatures falling into the afternoon. upper 30's tomorrow. we could see some snow showers later into thursday night. snow mix is possible. >> will they be covering the cost of the hot chocolate? it will be cold. 6:37. quick robin, to the bootmobile! a way to celebrate one of the

oldest outdoor clothing companies. >> we are still taking your answers to our water cooler question of the day. what do you think of a proposal to create a registry of people convicted of animal abuse? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

>> forget what net tuition doctor said -- it what nancy sinatra said. the bootmobile. it will tour its home state of maine before heading to whether cities.jor u.s. i hope it comes to baltimore. >> i love those boots. they last forever. a glimpse of a species on the iction. of extens a rare snow leopard. there are only between 3500 and

7000 left in the wild. >> that is a good sized cat. 40 degrees on tv hill. still ahead, your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> we'll talk about a problem on the northwest corner of the beltway. >> it is windy and cold. a few scattered clouds in baltimore. 43 at the airport.

>> welcome back to 11 news today. 6:44. a man is in critical condition

after a shooting in west baltimore. it happened just after 10:00 p.m. last night. he was shot multiple times. right now no word on a suspect or possible motive. the napa surprised if it feels like somebody is watching you if you drive through a baltimore school zone -- don't be surprised. the 18 cameras could even double. drivers can be ticketed between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. people convicted of abusing animals can find themselves on a public registry. a bill that would keep track of animal abusers. if passed, the persons fauteuil and address would be published. a person would go into the registry if they poison an animal or attend dogfights.

>> that brings us to your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> this morning we asked -- what do you think of a proposal to create a registry of people convicted of animal abuse? >> we will post more of your answers on the front page of wbaltv.com. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. we're looking nothing like we did yesterday morning. the wind is what we will be

dealing with. 28 on the northwest corner just past 140. we have a disabled tractor- trailer off the right shoulder at 140. moving well to the towson region. 48 traveling southbound b on the beltway northeast. 83 check not just fine at hunt valley -- checking out just fine. this is traffic in the area of harford road. we're seeing a backup develop. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. now we check in live with ava. >> we're live at the inner harbor at one of the locations of the golden raven head. this is a scavenger hunt for you

to win two tickets to sunday's game. >> there are five locations. we encourage fans to use our facebook page to find clues. >> just that easy to win. you pay for them to get to the game. it has to be a gold ravens head. there are five. people are starting to crowd the inner harbor. you came out this morning to take your picture on the phone. >> i saw you on the news and i wanted to meet you. >> i love the ravens. i am a colt fan, too.

>> we're wishing you loc uck. >> i would be thrilled to death. >> let's check the forecast. there are showers along the eastern shore. snow showers out to the west. a nice ravens fan. he learned how to use his cell phone camera. >> i don't know how to take a picture. what a neat contest. will talk to ava -- we will talk to ava at 7:00 a.m. we had a cold front moved through and we can see some snow showers off to the northwest. some of these snow flurries may make it to the northern part

of baltimore county. a mixture of sun and clouds. the other big story is the wind. it was gusting close to 40 miles per hour. a 26 miles per hour gust in annapolis. temperatures drop off into the 20's in ohio. 12th in chicago. our wind is coming from the northwest. 43 at the airport. 35 in taneytown. temperatures will fall into the 30's later today. it will feel like it is in the 20's. a mixture of sun and clouds. windy, colder. a slight chance for some snow flurries.

temperatures will be in the 30's in most locations. temperatures drop back into the 20's tonight. we have been talking about a clipper system. t to not a big deal -- it is not a big deal. torm on clippers s friday night. the temperatures back into the upper 40's early next week. a chance for rain on monday. >> a new research poll shows what issues are important to the voters. kim dacey is live with the details. good morning. >> this comes from a marketing poll conducted earlier this

month. more than 800 voters across the state of maryland were surveyed over the phone. the most important issue is the economy. that issue is that is lowest point in two years. education is at a distant second. the issue of same-sex marriage continues to divide the state. there is strong opposition to the issues among african american voters. if their support was equivalent to that of democrats, same-sex marriage would be in a solid majority here in maryland. kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. here is ann curry with a look at what is coming up next on the "today" show. >> good morning. a major snowstorm hitting the pacific northwest. school is in seattle already closed.

-- schools in seattle already closed. we'll talk to chris christie. the latest on that medical mystery we talk to about on tuesday. 12 girls at one school suffering symptoms.urett's-like a new fashion line for target. we will get a sneak peek. >> i'm excited about that target thing. 40 degrees on tv hill. >> coming up, we'll take a last look at weather and traffic before you head out to start your day.

>> what is the latest with the tractor-trailer? >> the fire has been put out. that ramp is blocked. there will be some delays. we do have some delays on the beltway at 140. this is traffic in the area of 95 in the area of the fort mchenry. it is blocked getting off at keith avenue. this is the north side at harford. outer loop traffic is getting pretty heavy. >> the temperatures have been dropping.

>> this will be the warmest part of the day. not as warm as yesterday. we will drop into the 30's this afternoon. it will be windy this point and not be surprised if dc-8 snow flurries passed on by -- do not be surprised if you see a snow flurries. >> does it surprise you we're not seeing snow? >> i thought we would be more active. >> if you're looking for more weather and traffic together, be sure to join us this morning for 11 news at 7:00 a.m. on wbal plus. >> there you'll find more local news as well as up-to-date traffic and weather information. you can find it on comcast channel 208, verizon fios 460, and 11-2. >> thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> we will be back with a live update at 7:25. >> have a good day. il, any luck?

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