24 degrees at the airport. we will see sunshine to start the day. there could be some snow flurries overnight. we will come back and check the forecast for the weekend. >> good morning. we're starting off on a busy note in howard county. if you travel at old frederick road, there is an accident. looking pretty good. speeds at 47 on the west side. so far so good on 795. 70 moving well. 58 on the north side. problem free on the 83's this morning. about five minutes to get you from 895 from a split down to the tunnel. 11 minutes down to 32.

this is the curtis creek drawbridge. the construction is in place. no delays. a delay-free right here at reisterstown road. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. -- a delay-free ride here at reisterstown road. >> the five remaining candidates for the republican presidential nomination face off in south carolina at tonight. >> kate amara is in washington with the story. >> good morning. newt gingrich is surging to within 10 points of mitt romney. this race is far from over. >> mitt and ann romney. >> days to go before south carolina's republican primary. mitt romney has money invested in the cayman islands but

insists he is not getting any tax breaks. rivals arey's stepping up attacks. >> this idea of the inevitability of mitt romney as the candidate will not be so inevitable. >> new gingrich has cut into mitt romney's lead. support for romney and santorum is slipping. >> if we carry saturday, i think i will become the nominee. >> a new attack ad. claimy slammed gingrich's about creating jobs while serving on capitol hill. >> that is like al gore taking claim for the internet. >> they are preparing for their final televised debate before

the primary. kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. >> there will continue to push president obama for approval to build a new pipeline. the company will reapply for the permit for the keystone pipeline. the president turned down a proposal because congress gave him a deadline and that tonight given time for a thorough review of the program. the president will launch his new plan about terrorism. he will be it at disney. >> martin o'malley looks to make changes to the tax code and it could impact those making $100,000 or more a year. it includes measures that would

cap income tax deductions and phase out exemptions for those who earn at least at100,000 a year. >> i do not like doing this. these are difficult things we need to ask of one another. >> opponents say it amounts to nothing more than class war for that redefines wealth in the state. you can look at the proposal online at wbaltv.com. see the overview and the highlights. tell us what you think what the state's top party should be.-- top priority. click on politics. the anniversary of the late edgar allan poe's birthday has

come and gone. a mystery man has marked the occasion twith a visit to his grave. >> we do have some admirers around the cemetery, hoping to get a glimpse of the poe toaster. a rose supposed to place and some cognac. if he does not show up by 6:00 a.m., the tradition it is officially over. there were preparing to stay up all night. they staked out positions around the ceremetary. if the man does not show up with his offering, they are prepared to declare the much anticipated tradition dead.

>> we have always made saying that if the poe toaster does not show up we will spend the next three years watching. this is the third year. if he does not show up at the poe grave, i think we can assume that this tribute which gets international attention is over with unfortunately. >> the actual toaster has not shown up at this point. three impersonators have decided to show up in its place. the have a secret handshake of sorts. it did not add up to the real toaster. we will be out here all morning. reporting live from the grave site. >> thank you.

24 degrees on tv hill. a 10-year-old with a tattoo. >> an update on a grounded cruise ship

>> welcome back. 5:09. the skies are clear. it is cold. temperatures in the 20's in most areas. let's look at some of the other numbers. the northwest suburbs, it is in the teens. 16 in frederick.

24 degrees at the airport. sunshine to start. it will be a chilly day with a high near 38. it should be dry during the day. will check the weekend forecast when we come back. >> the captain of the grounded cruise ship in elite defends himself. he claims he ended up in a life raft after he tripped and fell into a life raft. these are live pictures as divers resume their search for 21 people still missing. people were forced to suspend the search yesterday because of rough seas. 11 people are confirmed dead. police have discovered two severed feet in the hollywood hills with a found a severed head, and two hands.

no word if those body parts belong to the same person. all body parts were male. the hens were discovered early on wednesday -- the hands. >> a mother is arrested for child cruelty after she let him get a tattoo. she lost her son two years ago. her other son asked her to get a tattoo and she could not say no. she did not know it was illegal. it is unlawful for any person to tatattoo the body of anyone under 18. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. should the state impose an age limit on tattoos, even if the person has parental consent? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

winter weather slams the pacific northwest. people are digging out from a massive storm. the severe weather resulted in several car crashes and power outages up and down the coast. some took advantage to get some exercise. that is always fun. >> they are frozen solid. 24 degrees on tv hill. dozens of jobs will be added to a maryland company. >> are you looking to get a ravens playoff ticket? watch out for scams. >> all lanes closed along 97. we will check for problems

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. most of the major roadways are looking good at this hour. route 97 is shut down at old frederick county because of an accident. take woodbine road as your alternate. looking pretty good on 70 as you make your weight in towards the beltway. problem free on 795 out of owings mills. a nice start on the north side. the harrisburg expressway looks great, 53 down from mount carmel. so far so good on the j.f.x.

into town. here is a live view of traffic on the east side of the beltway. we are not tracking any delays in the outer loop. at 140, moving very well on the northwest corner of the beltway. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. now let's get the latest on the buses and the trains. for that we go to vanetta brooks of the mta system. good morning. >> we're looking at a good start so far. light rail and metro is running problem free. the penn, camden, and brunswick lines also reporting no delays. watch out for a few diversions on the bus lines. the 36 line is not stopping at washington and monroe. i am vanetta brooks. now back to tony pann at. >> good morning. we're off to a quiet start weather-wise. the skies are clear. it is cold. 24 at the airport.

18 in taneytown. bundle up this morning. there will be plenty of sunshine to start the day. we should keep the sunshine until lunchtime. there is a system that may produce some cloud cover and perhaps some snow showers or flurries tonight. a clipper storm moving across the midwest. don't be surprised if you see some snow flurries. sunshine to start. a few clouds this afternoon. a high temperature around 38 degrees. a chance for some light snow or flurries tonight. tomorrow, high pressure takes control. we get a brief break in the weather. it should be dry on friday. time to start talking about football weather. i think game day will be in dry. partly cloudy skies. temperatures in the mid 30's.

kind of a breezy day. some snow is likely saturday and saturday night in new england. keep that in mind if you are driving. that may produce a big snow up in new england on saturday. 38 today with a chance for snow flurries tonight hero home. 39 on saturday with a mix of rain and snow for us. sunday, a high near 46. another chance for some rain showers on monday. temperatures may get up to 50 by the middle of next week. >> the ravens are still on their way to indianapolis for the super bowl. scam artists are trying to take advantage of fans. avoid buying tickets on sites

like ebay and craigslist. >> there are sites that specialize in ticket sales like which guarantees that if tickets did not arrive on time that you will get a full refund. when it is too good to be is a sense. senate a picture of the tickets -- you can ask to send for a picture of the tickets. >> 1 in four france will fall victim to a scam -- one in four fans. getting to foxborough will impact your wall. driving will cost between $100 and $300 round trip -- getting

to foxborough will impact your wallet. airfare is between $200 and $300. >> everybody was expecting more from the ravens-texans game. >> various websites are offering all inclusive travel packages. you can stop by our website, wbaltv.com. >> airfares are going up once again. airlines are clearing on domestic surcharges as americans get ready to book spring and summer destinations. an increase of $4 to $10 across much of the u.s. those hikes could be the beginning of more fare hikes in the months to come.

a maryland company is looking to add about 60 jobs. they're working to expand their westminster plants. they employ about 230 people. they decided to expand in westminster rather than move the plant. ebay had a happy holiday season. jane king has the bloomberg business report. hello, jane. >> hello. a big day for corporate earnings. we'll hear from bank of america and then google, ibm. we get the latest number on consumer prices and housing starts. stock futures are flat for the start of things. ebay shares could get a boost.

they topped estimates for the fourth quarter. paypal was performing well. stocks were higher yesterday. concern about europe' eased. kodak has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. consumers are moving to digital technology. kodak invented the very first digital camera. facebook offering 60 new apps. they are teaming up with ticketmaster. you can alert your friends to which concert you bought two tickets to. i am jane king reporting for wbal-tv 11 news. >> 5:22. 24 degrees on tv hill. >> how much longer until the

washington monument is fully repaired?

>> your visit to the washington monument this year might need to be put on hold. >> they are unforgettable images from inside the washington monument during the august 23 earthquake. the repair bill is $15 million. congress approved half and said to the national park service to find donors for the rerst. one man recently gave $4.5

million to the national zoo's panda program. the restoration process could take up to a year. >> it is good news that the moneys are in place to continue with the renovation and get the monument back open again. i think this is good for us overall. the fact that it is close does not deter people from coming to washington. >> one resident was disappointed her friend could not get a close-up view of the landmark. >> looking forward to the reopening again. >> that would be exciting. >> 5:26. 24 degrees on tv hill. an uncle charged with murder. >> a baltimore tradition

involving edgar allan poe could end this morning. >> jennifer franciotti is in massachusetts days before the ravens-patriots game this weekend. >> i like his mustache. that is pretty cool. clear and cold this morning. >> we are dealing with an accident in howard county

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where queen mattresses start at just $699. >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> it is cold outside. there is a cold blue color for the day. the shelters will extend hours. emergency workers will be out checking on the areas most vulnerable residents.

good morning. welcome back to 11 news today. i'm stan stovall. >> and i'm mindy basara. thank you for joining us this morning. it is cold outside. >> teens and 20's this morning. let's check the current conditions. 24 degrees at the airport. a light northwest wind. it is in the teens there the pennsylvania line. sunshine this morning. high temperature around 38 degrees. that is a few degrees below average for this time of year. maybe some snow flurries tonight. i want to talk about something. >> you have been describing the weather lately with the word "wimpy." atee.goes with the go to >> you are correct.

everything is wimpy when you have a goatee. impyhen the commute is whe it is good. 97 has been reopened at old frederick road. 70 looks good from 29 towards the beltway. problem free on 100 this morning. 52 at just past 795. 56 on 95 just below the beltway. problem free at the harbor tunnel. this is the tydings memorial bridge after that construction zone. this is southbound traffic. the left lane it does get by. a bit of a delay heading southbound out of cecil county. a nice start on padonia road traveling to and from the

maryland line. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> man is behind bars accused of stabbing his nephew. he faces attempted murder charges. police say the victim suffered a stab wound to the left side of this summit. -- stomach. we know the cause of a deadly fire. a malfunctioning extension cord sparked the fire that killed a person. the fire was on saturday. a man is charged with a hit-and- run crash that injured a state trooper. matthew wood struck a trooper that was giving a traffic citation to another driver. he has since been released from the hospital.

>> we're days away from the ravens second playoff game for the afc championship. 11 news is taking on some ravens the ground. jennifer franciotti joins us from foxboro. stadiumome of gillette where the baltimore ravens will take on the new england patriots. i have never been to foxborough before. it is in the middle of nowhere. there is a lot of shopping and a set amount around the stadium. there is an outdoor skating rink. chances are you'll not stay here. most likely you'll stay in boston or providence, rhode island. there is a federal hill complete with italian dining. we will have to check that out.

the only patriots signed i have seen are here at the stadium. in baltimore, we celebrate our ravens everywhere. we have heard people talk about the pictures. nobody is wearing a spirit-wear. i have brought plenty of purple. i'm ready to go. hopefully we will run into some ravens fans. go ravens! >> you can hear that wind blowing. it has been 243 years since the birth of edgar allan poe. >> the tradition of toasting may come to an end. we have more on the story. >> we have some edgar allan poe admirers who are holding out hope that this poe toaster will

arrive. he has until 6:00 a.m. to make his arrival and place his ceremonial roses and cognac. we have won admirers who has been braving these cold temperatures all morning. how long have you been out here? >> this is the seventh time. >> why do you keep coming back? >> the mystery and the friends i have made here. the same people come back year after year. it is kind of a strange atmosphere and camaraderie. >> if this ends today for good, how devastated would that be for admirers like yourself? >> i think it would be sad. i expect there'll be people here

next year even if it is declared over. i guess force of habit of doing this for several years. >> thank you so much. he is a brave soul. three impersonators have shown up at the site. they were identified as imitators. we will be out here waiting for the poe toaster to show up. >> if it is the end of a tradition, they get out of the cold. >> that is true. there's still time. the time, 5:36. how a drug used to treat skin cancer can bring on another form of the disease.

what medical researchers are saying about the findings. >> don't forget to e-mail us your response to our water cooler question of the day. should the state impose an age limit on tattoos, even if the person has parental consent? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> two new problems could impact your morning ride. word of an accident on the west side. side. we will check some fire

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>> good morning. 5:39. it is a clear and cold start on this a thursday morning. 29 degrees at the maryland science center. much colder as you get into the

suburbs. near the teens at the pennsylvania line. 14 degrees in york, pennsylvania. 24 at the airport. there is no wind to calculate. we will see sunshine to start the day. clouds will thicken up. there could be some snow flurries tonight. we'll come back and check if forecast going into the weekend. stay tuned for that. >> a drug used to treat melanoma can accelerate the form of another skin cancer. >> a study takes a closer look at a drug and the chances that a person on this drug can develop a secondary skin cancer. most patients had these secondary tumors removed surgically and stayed on the

drug. doctors hope to prevent them in the future. new research shows how our brains can compensate for an injured limb. >> 10 right-handed people were recruited with injuries to their right arm. the amount of white and gray matter use for the right side of the matter decreased while the matter for the less side of the body increased. the information it is beneficial for stroke rehabilitation therapy. >> 24 degrees on tv hill. keith mills has reaction from joe flacco on ed reed's

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute.

we're starting to see some delays on the west side because of an accident approaching security boulevard. we'll let you know how things evolve. right now the j.f.x. looks good. we have a problem in this city at fairfax road, some fire activity. moving well in down towards the fort mchenry. problem free at the 895. the key bridge is checking out ok. moving well so far this morning. a bit of a delay southbound on 95 as you make your way down the tydings memorial bridge. some construction in the right lane. the left lane does get by. on the west side, near security, we have an accident and you can see the delay is starting to form in the outer loop. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. now let's get the latest on the buses and the trains. for that we go to vanetta brooks of the mta system. good morning.

>> we are showing a few bus diversions. a diversion at fort and lawrence because of construction. the 64 line running a few minutes behind schedule. the penn, camden, and brunswick lines reporting no delays. i am vanetta brooks. now back to tony pann. >> good morning. the weather will turn active as we turned into the weekend. first we say morning to ava marie. i know she's keeping the ravens theme going. where are you? >> i'm live in dundalk at jimmy's seafood. they are running a special dinner tonight where people can meet joe flacco. people are excited for the big game this weekend. i'm live with john and you are

the corner with your brother. you guys have been running these dinners throughout the season. >> we have been doing them weekly. this will be our third week in a row. >> this is where the dinner will take place. >> we're upstairs in the banquet hall. you get a chance to meet joe and torrey smith. 30 minutes of a question and answer session. will take pictures with everybody and hanging out and we have a surprise for joe. >> it was his birthday. you said it will be interactive, taking pictures and asking questions. ticket still available. >> we saved 11 tickets for channel 11.

we will put them on sale at 11:00. >> i like the sound of that. there are 11 tickets available. what is the number? >> 410-633-4040. >> we will be talking about this all morning long. maybe you can be lucky and get the tickets. they are limited and you want to call at 11:00 a.m. we do have a storm approaching from the west which could bring some snow tonight. just to be of close to the fu manchu would be worth it. i have you. what am i saying? >> you have to repeat that phone number.

that is cool they saved tickets for shawmut 11 viewers. -- for channel 11 viewers. the sky is clear right now. we will see plenty of sunshine to start the day. a clipper storm is coming across the great lakes and neck to produce some snow flurries tonight. sunshine to start. chilly with a high temperature of 38 degrees. it should be a beautiful sunrise. a chance for some light snow tonight. temperatures drop back into the upper 20's and low 30's. high pressure moves in tomorrow and we should have a dry day on friday. then the weather will turn active on the east coast. traveling up to the game on sunday, he may have some trouble problems on saturday.

sunday's game will be dry. temperatures will be in the mid 40's with wind chills in the mid 40's. snow is likely in new england saturday and into saturday night. maybe five or 6 inches. that same storm will give us a mix of stuff on saturday here in baltimore. 38 today. friday night, we will probably start out with some snow. it will change over to rain in the afternoon. clearing up on sunday, 46. smiled again and close to 50 by the middle of next week. >> thank you. 24 degrees on tv hill. coming up, we'll look at one of your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> here is a look at last night's winning maryland lottery numbers.

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>> time to get to one of your

answers to our watercooler question of the day. >> this morning we asked -- should the state impose an age limit on tattoos, even if the person has parental consent? >> keep sending as those responses. we will read more of your responses in the next hour and post all of them on the front page of our website, wbaltv.com. >> good morning. the countdown continues to sunday's afc championship game. the ravens shrugged off the comments by ed reed. toional media has flocked baltimore this week. tom brady cannot wait to play. joe cannot wait to move on.

>> i talked to ed about it. it is not that big of a deal. >> the game cannot get here fast enough. you think about the game. that is the only thing on your mind. i'm looking forward to it. >> the challenge for the ravens defense is making sure tom brady does not score, keep them in check. tom brady threw for over 5,200 yards. keep them off the field with long, sustained drives. ray lewis knows what a great defense his team is and says you will not find the key to this game buried in the statistics. >> i think we have that right chemistry right now with guys

that of been in the playoffs who have had disappointments and we have a certain sense and we want to do as a team. i think everything we went through -- >> the experience factor helps. being in that situation. >> as far as getting into the playoffs, i will not say it is uneasy. i have been spoiled. i played in every single game but one -- that is the super bowl. >> we will be ready for sunday's game on our special on saturday night. i will be here for that show. we will join from new england 7:00 p.m. absolute winner.

the ultimate compliment from ray ri. >> that puts the entire thing in context. >> the players have moved on. >> thank you. relentless. one t-shirt company is honoring ray lewis. >> apple expected to jump into the e-book trend. >> check out this. a closer look at its first winter. >> does he have a fu manchu? that would be awesome. the weather is nice and quiet. >> we will talk about your morning commute. a bit of a delay on the west side because of an accident. will check on the rest of the major roads. the 2-4-6-8 value 's

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.

>> will a baltimore tradition of honoring edgar allan poe end in a few minutes? i will tell you. >> a familiar sight of the harbour front is about to disappear. the carrousel is closing up shop. >> one fan narrowly avoided a mistake that could have cost her plenty. >> the forecast as we continue. [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