>> there is some light rain we're talking about right now. most is over up the eastern shore counties. that will be tapering off. 60 degrees at 5:00 a.m. this morning. we will make it up to 74 this afternoon. there could be a couple of scattered thunderstorms developing. we get a break from the rain and a few thunderstorms are possible in the heat. 70's today. we will come back and check the seven-day forecast. >> good morning. the only problem we're tracking is northbound 795 at franklin boulevard. you may find a bit of a delay right now. no sign of any lanes closed. there is an accident. 56 on the north side. not tracking anything

significant from the maryland line down to the beltway. a nice start at baltimore national pike, 57 miles per hour. 70's looks good in towards the beltway. the roadways are a little wet. this is a 50 and to and from the annapolis region, we're looking great. this is traffic on 795 at franklin boulevard. no sign of delays leading up to the accident will keep tabs on that for you. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> thank you appeared the gop contenders looking to find a sweet home for their message in alabama and mississippi. >> voters will go to the polls to nominate a candidate they want to see take on president obama in the fall. tara mergener has this morning's report. good morning to you.

>> good morning. according to the latest polls, no one is a sure win in either state. today's outcome could be a game changer. with the stakes high, the candidates are making pitches -- >> it is great to be here. >> mitt romney urges voters. his wife is on the campaign trail, trying to give him a boost. >> it is time for us to coalesce. in in eithere wh state -- mitt romney is in a statistical tie. this could be a make or break ground for the former speaker. >> unless people want to choose

between $10 a gallon and $2.50 a gallon. >> rick santorum is aiming for the knockout blow to show conservatives are on his side. >> making sure we get a conservative nominee. >> ron paul is not campaigning in either state. he is focusing on the caucus in hawaii. >> we have seen approval ratings of the president's. any idea how the gop candidates would fare against him? >> a new hypothetical matchup that in a matchup between president obama, he would lead by three points, 47% to 44%. with rick santorum, president

obama would leave by just three points. the gap is narrowing. this is potentially do to president obama's approval rating falling. >> tara mergener, thank you. >> hundreds of students in afghanistan in holding a protest. new details are coming out about the staff sergeant from washington state. he was deployed at three times to iraq. he was treated for a dramatic brain injury after an accident -- traumatic. dutch ruppersberger --kim dacey has the details. good morning.

>> that is according to dutch ruppersberger. he said he is not surprise the caliban is using the shooting spree to see vengeance against americans. we saw last month after american servicemen burned copies of the koran. anti-american outrage is building in afghanistan and dutch ruppersberger is fearful that others may pay for the actions of a disturbed person. >> this will set us back. this is the telegram and people say that is what they're for, killing women and children. >> he doesn't think people will single out targets in the state. he believes our biggest threat is what he calls lone wolf extremists.

kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news a student remains in a mental hospital after posting online threats about a shooting rampage in college park. students reported screaming from his dorm room. police determined that alexander song was not a danger. officials praised anonymous callers reported the post. >> all the people that saw the threats contacted officials. kudos to the people who saw was apparently happening. >> song was arrested on sunday morning. a man is waking up behind bars for allegedly stabbing his daughter's boyfriend to death. a man was stabbed and then took a cab to a nearby hospital where he died.

authorities are not releasing any more details on the investigation. a teenager admits to stabbing a man to death. he pleaded guilty to first- degree murder in the death of patrick ward. ward was found with multiple stab wounds and later died at it hospital. >> 55 degrees on tv hill. march madness takes off today with some four games in ohio. >> a new partnership there could help provide disaster aid. >> this is 95 out the beltway. we will update weather and we will update weather and traffic when we come

>> welcome back. we have had some light rain overnight. i did not think that will affect the drive time. you can see some rain at the eastern shore counties. coming to an end around baltimore. temperatures range from the 50's up north to 60's in the city. rain showers ending early then we'll get some sunshine. later today, temperatures will be in the 70's and we could see some scattered thunderstorms develop. we'll come back and check the seven-day forecast going into the weekend. >> closing arguments will begin

later today in the trial of a former rutgers university student accused of spying on his roommate. the defense rested on monday. man is accused of invasion of privacy. prosecutors say his freshman roommate committed suicide after learning that a webcam was used to catch and kissing another man. fema will announce a partnership with a maymericorps. the secretary of homeland security will announce the partnership in washington. there was a recent tornado outbreaks earlier this month. >> the madness will get started

tonight in ohio. several teams have begun practicing. eight teams will play over the next tuesday. brigham young and iona will tip off shortly after 9:00 p.m. >> 55 degrees on tv hill. more people say they plan to put their money where their picks are and make some big bets on the tournament. >> how one company is putting the homeless to work. >> a little bit of wet for your morning commute. one accident on 795 a

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. a little slick in spots because it did rain overnight. watch for police responding to an accident and possible northbound delays. we have a disabled vehicle in the right tube at the fort mchenry. 57 on the west side at baltimore national pike. moving well on the north side, 60 through the parkville region. the j.f.x. running without delay. this is the fort mchenry. traffic is slowing in the right

tube. a disabled vehicle may have been moved out of the tunnel. this is 795 at franklin boulevard. traffic has been unaffected. it is taking up the right lane. 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 kurt kronke of the mta system. good morning. >> good morning. we are moving along nicely. the 61 bus diverting because of construction. 30 thus diverting at edmondson and swann. no delays on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines. light rail on schedule. metro subway also on time this morning. i'm kurt kronke. now back to tony pann. >> thank you. good morning. it is a mild start for us. temperatures are past the mild highs. 60 at the airport. 54 degrees in parkton.

we have had some rain coming across the region. nothing on the radar around baltimore right now. things have cleared out. this will not affect the drive times. the eastern shore counties will have some rain for the next 30 minutes or so. the further west you go from baltimore, the better chance you will have a dry commute. you can see the clear realign moving into western maryland. i think the sun will come out later this morning. that will jump the temperatures into the 70's. we're watching a cold front moving across the great lakes. some scattered thunderstorms will move into the humid air mass and we will see some thunderstorms develop. we did see so widely scattered summertime thunderstorms develop. we will call at variable clouds or a mixture of sun and clouds.

showers and in this morning and maybe a few thunderstorms this afternoon. high temperature will be in the 70's. the average high is 53. we will not break any records. the record is 85. clearing overnight. temperatures drop back to around 50 degrees tonight. it will be beautiful the next couple days. 73 on wednesday. 75 on thursday. possibly some storms or showers on thursday night. partly cloudy on saturday with a high near 68. >> with march madness comes a big basketball debets. fans planning to bet more this year than last year. of those who bet, more than 30%

will take a bigger chance with their cash. turning almost residence in texas into wireless hot spots. you can take what you want to access the internet with a suggested donation of $2 for 15 minutes. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. what do you think of a plan to use homeless people to serve as wireless hotspots on city streets? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. paying off a credit card is not always the easiest thing to do. there are some pros and cons. >> transfer credit-card balance can be one option to consumers make a bigger dent in their

debt. this is usually for a temporary period. know the go-to rate when the offer expires. >> you need to be sure that you read all the fine print. >> the best balance transfer offers those with 0 inches are made to those with better credit. the window of low interest will probably be shorter, giving you less time to pay down that debt. >> decide how much you are going to pay per month. if you have 12 months on your divide your payment by 12 months. >> to not add any extra payments to the balance transfer card.

>> back to you. >> we will see how much americans were spending while the shops last month. there is now light at the end of the tunnel for the housing market. jane king has the bloomberg business report. good morning to you. >> good morning. americans' growing more confident about the housing recovery. a majority have positive views about housing and they see it as a good investment. the housing crisis is a reminder of being more cautious. $25 billion agreement with five big banks to put an end to the probes into abusive foreclosure practices. it was finally filed in court yesterday. it needs approval from the federal judge. german ben bernanke will probably reaffirm the commitment

to keep interest rates follow. futures are higher here today. we had mostly a higher clear yesterday. it was a low-volume day. investors weighing terms about the china slowdown. there were sales at chains like gap and target and it may have brought the shoppers out. strong demand for autos was also a key factor. consumers expect to spend about $35 this year on st. patrick's day. that ranges from decorations to green beer at the local bar. i'm jane king for wbal-tv 11 news. >> americans feeling optimistic

about jobs. >> we had the solid jobs report back on friday. a survey shows more evidence that employers are in the hiring mode. women may be leading it in terms of job growth. why more women would rather take $10,000 over having a body like jennifer aniston. there is a business tie in there. >> the most important question -- i know you play bracketology. who deal like in the ncaas? >> i am a perdue grad. i'm happy they made it into the tournament. >> i knew she was into it. >> thank you. 55 degrees on tv hill.

hard not to enjoy the nice weather we're having. >> some tips to pick up your house without breaking the bank.

>> spring cleaning time is just around the corner. >> we have some helpful tips for you. >> a little checking around your home might stop a big repair bill, especially with your roof. >> look for loose shingles. check in the attic for any leaks. these are signs you need to have your roof looked that. >> most roofs last for 20

years. look for water leaks indoors. >> we kind of ignore the leaky faucet. that adds up to thousands of gallons of water every year. >> you do not want the caulk to come out. >> when it comes to water damage, think about your sump pump and consider a battery backup. >> you do not want your safety net to not work. >> hire a licensed electri cian if you're seeing this. >> if you trip a circuit. that could be a sign you have an overloaded circuits.

>> service your airconditioner and change those filters. >> 60% of the emergency calls are because people are not properly maintaining their symstems. change those filters. >> 55 degrees on tv hill. >> there could be serious ramifications to the recent shootings in afghanistan. >> the maryland senate gives early approval to a smoking ban in your car when awh

>> 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. a little bit of rain to start out with.

>> we start out with a couple of showers and it will clear out and maybe some more rain will come back. we will be in the 70's today. you can see some rain bank on the eastern shore counties. it has cleared out around baltimore. the rest of the drive times around baltimore will be dry. 60 degrees at 5:30 in the morning. we will make it into the 70's this afternoon. after 3:00 p.m., we may see some scattered showers and a few springlike thunderstorms. the middle of the day will be dry. you'll like the seven-day forecast. >> your commute looks pretty good. we do have some wet roads. nothing to impact your ride at the moment. southbound 95 at the fort mchenry, we had a disabled vehicle. that is now clear.

speeds around 60 in the outer loop at baltimore national pike. heading south on 95 below route 24, 66 down towards the beltway. so far so good on 97. 60 in the area of 100. this is 95 at the fort mchenry. southbound traffic looking good. we have recovered from the disabled vehicle. this is traffic on a 83 coming to and from the beltway. problem free from the maryland line down to the beltway. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. back over to you. >> a measure restricting maryland residents from smoking in a vehicle with a passenger younger than 8 received preliminary approval in the senate. children that age are required to have a car seat.

senators heard two amendments to the bill that would make a secondary offense. the senate blocked both of those amendments. the state budget has to the senate with a controversial measure to make sure that local jurisdictions fund education. this is a local -- if the local jurisdictions don't fully fund education, they would be allowed to withhold county income taxes. the budget includes a revised proposal from the governor to head a flat fee on the water bills to pay for bay cleanup. >> president obama has labeled the killings of 16 civilians including nine children tragic. leon panetta says the death penalty is being considered for the american army sergeant

currently in custody. the white house says they are horrified by the incident. is valid to avenge the killings. kim dacey joins us with more details on that. >> congressman dutch ruppersberger times on the house intelligence committee and says the shooting of those 16 people could translate into the death of more american troops. officials say an army staff sergeant acted alone, gunning down nine children, three woman, and four man. >> this will set us back because taliban.the cal >> dutch ruppersberger is not surprised that the taliban is using this to seek vengeance on

americans. he believes the terrace will target members of the military serving in afghanistan just as we saw last month. military officials said the recent shooting spree was carried out by a husband and father who led served three tours of duty in iraq before deploying to afghanistan. he was flagged for mental ellis but continued to serve after he passed a personality test. >> and a lot of people did not want to go and get help. they are afraid it might affect their ability to proceed to remove for in the military. that is something we need to look at. >> he is fearful that other american soldiers may pay for the actions of a disturbed comrade. congress barred ruppersberger it does not believe -- congressman ruppersberger believes our

biggest threat is lone wolf extremists. kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news. >> protesters gathered to call for john leopold's resignation. there were upset over his decision to keep his position even though he has been indicted. he is accused of using his security to arrange sexual encounters. this situation was called an embarrassment and unacceptable. judge dennis sweeney is expected to be the judge against john leopold. they thought it best to bring a judge from outside the county to avoid any conflict. >> 55 degrees on tv hill. the children suffered from a potentially deadly disease now have a high survival rate. >> americans have a lower

mortality rate in nearly a century ago. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. if you travel anytime soon, we'll let you kno

>> welcome back. 60 degrees downtown. you know it will be a warm day. we start out with some rain last night. i think the rain is over for baltimore for the time being. some other temperatures -- >> 59 in york. 53 in annapolis. the skies will clear and we'll get sunshine during the middle of the day. scattered thunderstorms could

redeveloped later this avenue. high temperature of 74 degrees. we will come back and check the seven-day forecast going through the weekend. >> the most common form of childhood cancer is a form of leukemia. >> children diagnosed with the disease have a nine in 10 chance of beating it. the survival rate has jumped from 83% to 90% in 2005. doctors credit better use of existing drugs. doctors learned which treatments work best. the introduction of antibiotics is one reason the overall mortality rate in the u.s. has fallen. >> 75 years of mortality data was pullooled. the zero overall risk of death for

americans decreased by 60% because of antibiotics. part disease and stroke have been among the leading causes of death every year between 1935 and 2010. 5:41. 55 degrees on tv hill. march is a time for madness. >> keith mills joins us live with all the craziness in sports. >> if you have thought about getting into cycling, there is a program where you can do a bike ride and it is for a good cause. >> tony says there's a chance for showers today. we can taste the nice weather literally. the forecast in traffic pulse 11 the forecast in traffic pulse 11 when we come

a warm s'more cookie in a skillet with a scoop of ice cream. ahh, the great indoors. just $4 on our 2-4-6-8 value menu. only at denny's.

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. we're running smoothly and most of the major roadways. 57 on the west side at baltimore national pike. southbound on 95, 64 traveling down towards the beltway. 61 on southbound 97 at 100. south on the b-w parkway, 59. a nice start even though the roads are a little whaet. incidents to report. this is 895 at o'donnell street. everything looks good to and from the harbor tunnel. this is 70 at 29. traffic moving without delay through howard county. a nice start. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. we have given you a new name. we checked with kurt kronke.

>> we're looking at least move commute. no delays on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines. light rail and metro subway on schedule. the 61 bus is diverting because of construction. the one bus diverting at ford and lawrence. i am kurt kronke. now back to tony pann. >> you have a cold nickname. you should hear what the call me. that is cool. we have some light rain around the most that is moving away. first we say good morning to ava marie who has decided to go biking this morning. >> good morning. digit figure the nickname quickly behind back -- to figure out? i call you on call tony. >> i'm like 100 compared to you. >> we are talking about cycling

this morning. this is all for crones and colitis and this is coming up the next couple of weeks. i'm with the senior in duran's manager and you're the coach for this program -- >> we have a half marathon program and a cycling program. we train people to ride a 50- mile ride. the event is in lake george, new york and we begin training in march. we have one to mark at 7:00 and 1 to mark columbia. -- tomorrow. >> tomorrow at 7:00 at the rei in timonium. >> and all this is on the website.

50 miles is quite a distance. i have done at 30 miles. what does it take to train for 50 miles? >> we meet every saturday for training and we have homework every week. and we do different drills. we focus on interest and we get them up to speed on geared changing so they are more than ready. >> that is something i should never done. we're live at performance bicycle this morning and we're talking about gear that you could use to help get you ready. this is benefiting crones and colitis. we're showing the radar with most of the rain exiting to the east. we could see more thunderstorms today. we go back to tony.

i'm dressed out in this fancy bike gear. i have padding on my butt. >> if you fall off, it helps. >> in your case, you need for that. >> i will not fit on the small seat. you can bike for a great cause and will go over the details again. i have seen people biking the last couple of days. the weather has been fantastic. 60 degrees right now at the airport. 54 in parkton. a mild star. we have some rain cam through late last night -- a mild start. we will be ok around the city for the drive time. there could be some rain at the eastern shore counties. you can see the cloud deck

clearing and coming across western maryland. i think we will get sunshine to break to the clouds. that is a good thing because we like the sun but there is a cold front coming across the great lakes. we could see a few springlike thunderstorms pop up later this afternoon. we get a break from the rain and possibly some scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. a mixture of sun and clouds. rain showers ending this morning. it will be very nice with the high temperature into the 70's. we will not break any records. the record is 85. 70 is pretty good. the average high temperature is 53. temperatures drop back into the 40's tonight. beautiful weather bank on wednesday and thursday. 73 on wednesday.

75 on thursday. thunderstorms on friday. it will clear up on the weekend. maybe some clouds on st. patrick's day, 68. >> thank you. 5:50. 55 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. you keep your receipts in plastic baggies? seriously? [ announcer ] get it done and get it off your mind with quickbooks. organize your small business finances all in one place.

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girl: i want to tell you about my friend. his name is ben. ben learned about a homeless boy who had an infected tooth, and the boy died. that made ben really sad. he wrote a law so every kid can see a dentist. we have special dental van that goes from school to school. he even helps make sure we learn how to brush our teeth. he's my friend, ben. i hope he's your friend, too. i'm ben cardin, and i approved this message.

>> a project in sexes is using homeless residents to turn them into hot spots. you can pay which you want to access the internet with a suggested donation of $2 for every 50 minutes and the proceeds go to the homeless person who made the sale. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. >> this morning we asked -- what do you think of a plan to use homeless people to serve as wireless hotspots on city streets? >> keep sending us 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 nfl free agency period begins today. the ravens and their fans will keep an eye on ben grubbs, cory redding, jameel mcclain. they are all unrestricted free agents. peyton manning is the marquee free agents around the league. he will meet with the titans later this week. this is randy moss, who signed a one-year contract with the 49ers. i guess he had some cia secrets in his backpack. this is football, guys. randy moss come we will see if he is productive.

the women's basketball bracket announced last night. second. is seeded they will play navy. the midshipmen are seeded 15th. oil will play against all estate zeroittsburg -- ohio wil loyoloyola will play ohio staten pittsburg. the orioles and blue jays today from sarasota. he struck out a batter here and give up one run in three innings.

travis snider, a shot to right off the wall. kelly johnson will score. the orioles scored their only run in the seventh. ryan flaherty with a shot. toronto wins. hats off to the blast. they will open the chip to chip series at home against milwaukee. they will open up the championship series against milwaukee. >> what yahoo! thinks facebook stahl. >> a new procedure to open blocked arteries -- what yahoo! thinks facebook stole. >> how long do think you can speak on the phone?

>> we had some rain last night. we'll talk about the seven-day forecast going into the weekend. >> that weather could start to impact your morning commute.

>> it is southern showdown that could be gop game changer. >> the deadly shooting in afghanistan could have deadly ramifications for u.s. soldiers. >> the controversial program that pays the homeless to a standstill. how does that stand with you? that is the subject of