franciotti. >> a deal to keep your paycheck from shrinking is one step closer to being signed. i am kate amara in washington. >> a light at accident just down both tunnels at least a messy situation for emergency crews. >> are we in for some one to like weather over the weekend? - some- winter like w eather? [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. >> i love it. the possibility of our first big snow event. we have some rain in the

forecast today. scatters sprinkles at the .resent time i think the rain will pick up in intensity as we go today. high temperature around 48 degrees with off and on rain showers through this evening. first we check the roads with sarah. >> a busy start. we had an accident shutting down 95 approaching the fort mchenry. that is now gone. westbound 50 at 424, we have an accident being cleared. having an impact along southbound route 3 in the gambrills area. we will have a live picture of that momentarily. baltimore street at pulaski highway, we do have fire department activity. looking pretty good in terms of delays. looking good as you move towards

the west side. no significant delays. we do have some delays in gambrills. we will keep you posted on that. this is 50 at 424. westbound delays developing. we will keep you posted on that. this is traffic on 70 west of the beltway. the it is starting to build prior to the beltway. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> as traffic starts to build, we have some breaking news. >> let's go to roy taylor. >> we are in the crofton area, route 3, police have shouted down because is seems a vehicle crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer. with the amount of police

presence, they are treating this as a serious accident. we don't have any details of the severity of the injury. they are trying to get the roads cleaned up so they can get one lane open. southbound route 3 is shutdown. i'm captain roy taylor. >> thank you. 95 and 895 are both open after an overturned tractor trailer accident. .> 18 mwhat a mess tractor-trailer overturned on southbound 95. several containers of ink spilled out onto 895 below. nobody was hurt. the driver is being questioned. the roads were reopened shortly after 2:00 a.m.

eight maryland soldier is up for court martial. he shot himself last october in canada car after he was brutally and hazed -- can ain kandahar. today is the defense's turn to present their case in the trial of george huguely. lowell melser is in charlottesville from the trial. he has a preview of what we can expect today. >> good morning. we're kind of feeling a shift in the landscape, if you will, here in charlottesville, virginia, as the commonwealth rested its case yesterday and the defense took over, calling a number of scientific witnesses to the stand. we expect to hear from more scientific witnesses today. sources are telling me that we may actually get to even hear

from george huguely's father, who could possibly shed some new light on this case. the defense has a possible -- about 25 witnesses that it could call over the next several days. the judge has made it very clear that he has no problem going into saturday. at any rate, we will have a complete detailed wrap-up for you tonight at 5:00 and 6:00. i'm lowell melser, wbal-tv 11 news. >> repair crews are making progress in fixing the damage to a gas main in southwest baltimore that has left several and the cold. jennifer franciotti is live at the scene this morning. give us an idea. can people get their gas service backe? >> they are being patient. hopefully sometime today. we're moving location.

in for a crew that is pumping water out of the gas line. they have left because there is a process involved. they are in the process of dumping. explain the process. they have to dump that in environmentally friendly tanks. >> that is correct. if the meters are damage, we will remove the water from the meters and dispose of them properly. >> you have to go door-to-door and shut the gas to some 900 different structures. this process takes a while. >> it does. we will ship this to our facilities and dispose of it. >> then they will come back and

start pumping the water. this is bennett house. >> brought in a temporary truck that has multiple natural-gas tanks on them. we got them onto heat service. there are about one under 50 elderly residents -- there are about 150 elderly residents. thank you. jennifer franciotti, wbal-tv 11 news. >> one person is being treated for serious burns after a kitchen fire at a downtown high- rise on wednesday night. a pot of food left on the food like because the fire on north charles street. the victim was taken to bayview burn center. four others were treated for smoke inhalation. more than 100 students clashed

for more than an hour. this happened along bel air road. a dozen students were arrested. school officials are working on separate dismissal times for those schools. >> a former aide to bob ehrlich is demanding a new trial. attorneys for paul schurick said prosecutors failed to disclose the boyfriend contacted the fbi to challenge to the counter. russell is the voice on the robocall. >> he says he tells her that he wants to tell the truth and he is going to tell the truth. i would like to know and i think we deserve the opportunity to find out exactly what that truth is.

>> the boy friend said she me a bit involved with a different robocall in a washington, d.c., political race. >> a measure to keep your paycheck from shrinking has been signed off. kate amara has reaction to the decision. >> the agreement is good news for 160 million workers who are out of a job. house and senate negotiators have finalized a deal on the payroll tax cut. >> we're here together to announce that we do have an agreement and we're moving forward. >> a show of bipartisanship from a bitterly divided congress in the middle of a bruising election year. >> this is good for the country. it's very good for the country. >> the $150 billion measure will extend the payroll tax holiday through the end of the year and renew long-term unemployment benefits. >> 160 million americans are now going to maintain their payroll tax cut. a lot of folks who lost their jobs through no fault of their own are going to receive

unemployment benefits. >> the deal also prevents big cuts in medicare reimbursements to doctors. it's legislation that impacts millions of americans. >> this tax cut means that the typical american family will see an extra $40 in every paycheck this year. >> it's a top priority for the president, who is eager to sign. >> and as soon as congress sends me that extension of tax cuts and unemployment insurance to my desk, i will sign it right away. [cheers] we're going to get that signed. >> john boehner said congress will likely begin voting on this legislation by the end of the week. kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. >> 6:10. 39 degrees on tv hill. the baltimore grand prix is hiring. >> cover-up controversy in an iowa town. sun say they are being kept from

expressing themselves. >> get super size. some of your favorite candy bars are about to head in the opposite direction. >> tax free weekend returns to maryland. your appliances already desperate need of a fix up and we have the details after the breakup. >> we have a problem southbound 95 at the fort mchenry. we will check on two accidents in anne arundel county.

>> good morning. we start you off with a live view from skyteam 11 looking over the city. we'll get to the forecast in just a minute. we're live in an appliance store on rushes down road in pikesville -- on reisterstown road. a big promotion this weekend. >> very good news. teston front-loading washers and all the things people could get with them relative to the typical top-loading washers.--

we touched on. >> you have a top-loading washers that does qualify for the tax break and the energy rebate. these >> have become increasingly popular. this has no agitator. there is a plate on the bottom around.the close arthes booking get more -- people can get more clothes in here. they will get $100 back in a rebate and almost $45 in tax savings because they do not have to pay sales tax on the washer. >> that is an incredible deal. >> they saved sales tax on all washers, refrigerators, room air

conditioners, dehumidifiers. >> will come back and look at the refrigerators. we had some sprinkles early on. another chance for rain later today. the front-loaded washer will always be the most efficient. are easier to reach into -- these are easier to reach into. >> ava will do your lights and darks. >> and no underwear. >> thank you. we'll talk to again. that is a good deal. you get 6% off. that makes a big difference. there is plenty of rain upstream. you can see some heavy rain

across the mountains and back into ohio and kentucky. that is heading in our direction. the temperatures are all above freezing. 40 at the airport. the 36 in parkton. cloudy skies and off and on rain showers. high temperature between 45 and 50 degrees. cloudy skies tonight and the rain showers come to an end. let's talk about the weekend. we expect low pressure to develop in the gulf of mexico on friday. that is a good spot for snowstorms to come out of and move up the east coast. the computer models have been split. some took this storm and missing us through the carolinas. others were falling this blue track up into the mid atlantic -- others were following. could move from the gulf and into the mid atlantic which

would give us a chance for our first significant snow of the season. we'll keep an eye on that. sunshine and temperatures near 50 tomorrow. clouds will thicken up on saturday. if we do get the storm, it will be during the day on sunday. rain or snow depending on the exact track. 6:18. >> good morning. it has been a busy morning already. it is still in the 6:00 a.m. hour. an accident just cleared on southbound 95. baltimore street at pulaski street, we have fire activity in the city. route 3 in the southbound direction remains closed. it was closed in both directions earlier because of a fatal accident. one person perished in this crash.

westbound 50, another accident clearing at 424. 12 minutes on the west side outer loop. 10 minutes to go south down towards 32. this is 50 at 424. things are starting to clear out at that area. this is the fort mchenry. we had a left lane closure and that has since reopened. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> judgment day for the so- called on the work bomber. he faces a mandatory life sentence at is a hearing this morning. try to block a flight on christmas day back in 2009. freedom of expression or offensive to families? growing controversy over a plan to ban iercing.attoos and pure sin

park officials say they hope to find a balance. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. do you think it is appropriate to ban displaying tattoos or piercings from a public park or pool? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> the king is dead when it comes to certain candy bars. mars inc. says it will stop selling chocolate portions in portions that exceed a certain number of calories. they plan to reduce sodium levels in all products by 25% by the year 2015. i wonder if they will lower the

price. the obama administration is asking congress to change the mix of metal that goes into making pennies and nickels. the cost of making a penny is 2.4 cents. the cause of making a nickel is overt 11 cents -- the cost of making a nickel is over 11 cents. york new court may be bad for your health -- your new car may be bad for your help. jane king has the bloomberg business report. >> researchers identified more than 275 different chemicals in car interiors and those chemicals include those associated with birth defects. help his car was the honda

civic -- the healthiest car was the honda civic. a report due on housing starts which measures how many builders broke ground on new homes and economists expect to see a rise. markets did end lower yesterday on concern about greece. john said they will get more involved in helping europe with the debt crisis. the bloomberg maryland index was lower on losses for lockheed martin. the baltimore grand prix is hiring. they're looking to break up to half a dozen workers with the communications and promotion of the program. that is business. i'm jane king for wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. 6:22.

39 degrees on tv hill. >> the terrapins will have to make a run without a key player. keith mills will join us live in the studio. >> 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.

it is getting kind of busy in spots. this is southbound route 3 and this remains closed if you travel in anne arundel county. there is an accident investigation ongoing. it was a fatal accident. it may be awhile before they reopen the southbound lanes. baltimore street at pulaski street, we have some fire department activity. we update you as a violent picks up on security boulevard. you can see some brake lights. we got to captain york flying over the west side. we'll check in next time. still looking pretty good. but volume is building a on 95 in the white marsh area. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> we have some light rain this morning. let's look at hd doppler. you can see the widely scattered nature.

nothing that will slow down the traffic. the rain will pick up in intensity as we go into the afternoon. rain showers off and on. the high temperature between 45 and 50. we will talk about the style possibility this weekend in just a few minutes. here is keith mills, the man. >> thank you. the man tonight is ernie gramm. begin with college basketball. an honor for a former maryland standout. is number 5 jersey will be raised to the rafters. well deserved. he was a sensational high school player in the baltimore area. crunch time for the terps. they have six conference games

left. they have to play without pe'shon howard who tore his a cl. this is a big blow. tipoff tonight at 9:00 p.m. the amazing story of jeremy lin continues. the knicks beat the sacramento kings. he did not score 20 points or more. get rid of him. boo! he is overrated. he did finish with 13 assists. pass me the ball and i think you're the best point guard in the league. here's the lob. the knicks have won seven straight.

president obama says he watches number 17 every night. it is election season. >> thank you appeared at 39 degrees on tv hill. the usns comfort is relocating. >> residents living without heat are hoping to say they can get warm. >> new group gets the green flag for the baltimore grand prix. how they plan to avoid last year's financial potholes. this >> maybe the weekend to shop --

>> 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 rate expected to be heavy today? >> i did nothing so -- is the rain expected to be having

today? >> we have scattered light sprinkles for the morning commute. later this afternoon, perhaps you'll pick up in intense debate with a high temperature near 48. we will come back and talk about the possibility of some snow over the weekend. stay tuned. >> homes and businesses are having to do without natural gas. >> maybe some heat at the end of the tunnel. jennifer franciotti is live in southwest baltimore. bring us up to date. >> the temperatures have not been dramatically cold. this was a good stretch of time to be able to do that. breakdown for us in terms of what the crews are doing to get things back up and running. >> with complete repairs to the gas mains yesterday. we have removed over 3,000

gallons of water and we're disposing that. once we're finished, we will send cameras and to make sure we got everything out and will introduce the flow back in and realigning customers -- relighting customers as early as this afternoon. we brought an extra crews from philadelphia and they're going door-to-door to restore service. >> a big concern was the bennett house with over 100 seniors. >> we brought in a temporary truck that has multiple tanks of natural gas and we got them back to service around noon yesterday. >> this was a situation you did not anticipate. there was an accident on tuesday that cause problems.

>> they were working on a leak when a piece of asphalt cause the gas main to the problems. >> the hope is that tonight most folks should be back on. >> we hope will been successful in restoring service. customers can let us know when they will be home by calling us. >> thank you so much. i will bet people will make an effort to be home to get their heat back on. >> a new team will take the will of the baltimore grand prix. it will organize the race for the next five years. measures have been put in place to avoid the financial mismanagement from the race last year. promoters have agreed to work with vendors from the 2011 race.

>> it is a waiting game for ulysses currie. disciplinary recommendations have concluded. he fell to report the consultant agreement he had with shoppers food warehouse -- failed to report. >> the usns comfort is shipping out of baltimore for good. it will move to norfolk, virginia, in march of 2013. covered has responded to emergencies all over the world including hurricane katrina and served during the persian gulf war. it will save the government about $2 million a year. >> it was a banner year for bwi

airport. marshall year pou they set a record for the total number of passengers passing through. cargo shipments are also up, a 5.3% increase. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. it is kind of busy as a volume starts to pick up around the area. route 3 has been reopened. you can once again travel there because all lanes are open both ways. baltimore street, we are tracking fire department activity. a buildup of volume on the west side outer loop from 75. that delay continues down to edmondson. no problems on the j.f.x. into town. this is in the area of the

beltway and we start with the harrisburg expressway at padonia road. tapping the brakes just a bit. we're seeing signs of a delight down towards the beltway. system captain roy -- this is from captain roy. those delays falling into place. we will keep you posted this morning. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. we check in live with ava marie. she is giving us the lowdown on appliances this morning. >> it never hurts to have an excuse to update your appliances. this is tax free weekend. all you have to do is look at your favorite appliance store. i'm in pikesville. look for this energy stark symbol to know that it is

eligible for the savings this weekend. we're talking to howard this morning. you get the exemption from the 6% sales tax through monday and they are available -- some are eligible for additional rebates. let's check the forecast. 48 degrees today. a chance for rain into the afternoon. keeping an eye on that storm this weekend. we could see snow on sunday. >> thank you. 39 degrees on tv hill. an unusual 911 sends or down pleased to the rescue -- an unusual 911 call. >> was tied up naked. >> what police found was

something a whole lot more complicated and embarrassing. complicated and embarrassing. on the little t

denny's new sizzlin' skillets are here for a limited time. so strike while the iron's hot. starting at $4.99. only at denny's. america's diner is always open. >> penn state's basketball coach feels his team's fans deserve a break. he paid for it out of its own pocket.

ticket holders get a free big mac every time the team scores 70 points or more. hold on to the ball to protect the win. coach pay for and handed out 200 big macs for students. >> a couple's idea to spice up their love life landed them in court. police found this woman naked and bound in the back of a car after a supermarket manager noticed the car in the parking lot. police found it wasn't a kidnapping but part of their valentine's role-playing game. they appeared in court facing charges of disorderly conduct. how did i get stuck reading

that? oh, my. . 9 degrees on tv hill. >> we have a busy morning rush. some delays out there around the area. this is a live picture of downtown from captain roy. an update on traffic pulse 11 is coming up. >> i didn't see anything. we have some light rain this morning. the possibility of some snow over the weekend. a few sprinkles and

>> welcome back to 11 news today. 6:44.

95 and 895 are back open after an accident. there was a sticky mess. a tractor-trailer overturned on southbound 95. the crash caused several containers of ink to onto 895 below. nobody was injured. police are still questioning the driver who is expected to be under the influence behind the wheel. the roads were reopened shortly after 2:00 a.m. this morning. a man could had to prison for the rest of his life. he has been convicted of attempted first-degree murder after the 2010 robbery and shooting at the blessed projections hair salon. he walked into the salon and led the honor to the back of the

business and shot her in the head four times. she survived and served as a key witness in the case. and highlandtown -- an ohio town -- one person's tattoo was offensive. they are considering a rule that would require people visiting parks to cover up their body to remove their body piercings. is a thin line at protecting individual rights but they hope they can find a balance on this. >> that brings us to your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> this morning we asked -- do you think it is appropriate to ban displaying tattoos or piercings from a public park or pool?

[laughter] >> we will post more of your answers on the front page of wbaltv.com. very funny. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. we're looking at some delays falling into place around the area. 23 on the west side outer loop down towards edmondson. that will back up traffic on southbound 795. eastbound 70 tapping the brakes in towards 29. looking good on the north side as you make your way towards harford road. the j.f.x. looks good.

this is padonia road. southbound traffic looking pretty good. a bit sluggish prior to the beltway. up above 95 at the 895 split and that is where volume is building back towards the beltway. traveling southbound, expect some delays between the beltway and the 895 split. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. ava marie it is talking about appliances. we're learning a lot from you. >> is a great we get to invest in a new appliance for the home . we're live in pikesville and i'm with howard. is tax free on energy star appliances. that is a huge. >> b.g.e. is offering extra incentives. she machines are getting --

washing machines are getting $50-$100. >> that is a huge. 6% tax rate. that is a $30 you're saving on a $500 model. >> this is normally a top freezer refrigerator, $550. because this is a super energy efficient model, b.g.e. is giving $150 in tax savings on this refrigerator. in addition, you're not paying sales tax. so you're paying $400 on this. you're spending less for this refrigerator than you are for mode models.re-shelf.

>> let's check the forecast. we do have some sprinkles we have been talking about. we go back to tony. this is great. times energy star products can be more expensive. you're buying something cheaper and it is a better compliance. >>-- a better appliance. thank you. that is a good deal. not a lot happening right now. a few sprinkles hit and miss. it should not be a huge deal for the morning commute. we can see some heavy rain in the mountains and west virginia. the chance for rain will go up.

40 at the airport. 36 in parkton. showers often not the day. temperatures around 50. that is above average. tonight, mostly cloudy skies. rain showers coming to an end early and we will drop into the 30's. we expect low pressure on friday down in the gulf of mexico. computer models have been split on the track of the storm. it could this to the south -- it could miss to the south. a more northerly track following the blue line. we could get our first chance of the significance snow. snow. ever do gets we can say rain or snow or some combination on sunday. we will keep an eye on that

start as it develops in the gulf and will track it up the coast. it should be a nice day tomorrow. the storm approaches on saturday. it would be during the day on sunday, rain or snow or a combination with a high temperature of 38 and it cleared up on monday, the holiday. >> time now for a last look at one of our big stories. jennifer franciotti is live from southwest baltimore with more on the story. ll hillthose in the mis without heat, there is hope it could be restored today. asphalt hit a gas line. gas have to be turned off.

that was 900 total. they began flushing the water out of the lines. this is a painstaking process. they will go door-to-door and relighting those pilot lights. hopefully people will have their heat back on tonight. >> 39 degrees on tv hill. >> coming up, we'll take a last look at weather and traffic before you head out to start your day. stay with us.

>> it has been a busy morning on the roads. >> we have that a handful taxes. washington boulevard, with a crash in elkridge. there is some closures. howard street, another one to watch for. volume builds on the west side. delays in place from 795. we'll start to see those delays. >> we have some sprinkles to start the day. the rain will pick up in intensity today. 48 for the high temperature. maybe some snow on sunday. >> thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> we will be back with a live update at 7:25. >> have a good one. >> follow breaking news and weather any time at wbaltv.com,

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