>> troubles continue for thousands of workers at the sparrows point steel mill. find out how soon they will have to look for a new place to work. >> 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. happy friday. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> it is looking very summerlike. we do not have as much fog this morning. the humidity is there and a trigger or two for some of thunderstorm activity still exists for later this afternoon or this evening. rain activity is offshore or up in new jersey or pennsylvania. cecil county, kent county got a little bit yesterday afternoon. something could well up this

afternoon. typical summertime weather for today and saturday and sunday and extended into monday. right now we want to check on the traffic and see how the traffic is this morning. >> it is not looking very heavy at the moment. we expect it to be that way today and later this evening. one problem in nottingham, belair road. there is an accident clearing. speeds around 60 as you make your way on the north side over towards the west side. 57 traveling from 795 down towards edmondson. towards the airport on 195, 50 miles per hour. five minutes on southbound 95 from the 895 split to the fort mchenry. 10 minutes to get you southbound on 95 from the beltway down

towards 32. this is the j.f.x. at the 41st street bridge. southbound traffic is very light. this is a 50 at sandy point. problem free at the moment. a smooth ride into the toll plaza at sandy point. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> some relief at the pump for those of you hitting the road. gas prices are down across most of the country. >> the national average is now $3.67 a gallon. >> stan and mindy, gas prices have been coming down the last several weeks, just in time for the holiday weekend. a different kind of sticker shock at the pump. >> it drops when you think it should be going up, and it goes up when you think it should be going down. >> plunging prices for the memorial day weekend.

>> this is two years in a row that the prices have dropped. >> prices are down nearly 30 cents a gallon. what is driving them down? >> crude oil has been dropping. the reason for that is economic worries. tensions with iran are easing. that makes it cheaper for the price of gasoline that you put into your car. >> not everyone is catching a break. it will cost you less to fill up your tank on the east coast. those out west, especially in california, will face record prices because of supply issues. no matter what you pay, expect lots of company on the roads. >> a lot of your friends and neighbors will be traveling with you. 31 million americans hitting the roads. it will be quite crowded. >> we could see an additional surge of last-minute travelers because of the cheaper gas in most parts of the country.

>> marylanders are no exception as they gear up to hit the roads. >> jennifer franciotti is live and arbutus with more. >> right now traffic is not looking too bad on the beltway. lots of folks on vacations and that is a good thing. keeping your eyes on two things this morning will be important. sete excited that gas is $3.67 a gallon. nearly 750,000 marylanders are expected to travel this weekend and almost all of those folks will be driving. that number could spike even higher if gas prices continue to fall. where are the cheapest gas prices around? >> if you're planning to go to ocean city or the dover beaches, the cheapest gas in the state is $3.52 on the eastern shore. i always tell people, if you

travel to ocean city, then get your gas when you're down there. it is a few cents cheaper. >> we saw gas at $3.49 a gallon in this section of town, and at finksburg, $3.45. state police are enforcing their "click it or ticket" campaign. they are looking for a seat belt violators. tell john it is spitting a little bit out here. reporting live, jennifer franciotti, wbal-tv 11 news. >> that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. what are your memorial day holiday plans? you can share your response on wbaltv.com, on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> if former baltimore county volunteer fire company employee pleads guilty to stealing thousands of dollars from the

middle borough fire company. the fire company had to missed loan payments and lost its trucks. she used the money to renovate her home and to shop online. >> eventually depending on where we are with the funds, if we cannot keep the company operational, we could close the doors. >> began paying back the fire company and will be sentenced in august. a violent night in baltimore. three people were shot on east preston street. the victims were two men and women. one of the men died. 90 minutes earlier, detectives were called to york road and they found a victim who also died. in southwest baltimore, another

triple shooting. this one on west fayette street near shipley street. two men and it will but we're sitting on the front porch of a home when somebody came up and opened fire on them. this year's believe this group was targeted -- investigators believe this group was targeted. >> and marine was found dead in his barracks at fort meade yesterday. he was assigned to the marine corps student trainee detachment. rescue workers recovered the bodies of a father and his teenage sons who fell into a septic pond. desiccators believe glen nolt and his sons kelvin and cleason were using a type patrol when somehow all three fell in. it took several hours of training the pond to find the

bodies. a veteran is accused of secretly recorded a conversation with a judge. police sgt got into an argument about a warrant. the sergeant may have recorded the conversation with his phone. maryland law does not permit audio recordings without the other person's approval. >> nearly 2000 employees add rg steel in sparrows point will be out of a job in a matter of weeks. workers will start receiving their layoff notices beginning june 4 and continuing through the 18th. rg steel is suspending operations at the mills and ohio and west virginia. officials were considering selling those steel mills.

a new name and a new look for consolation energy -- constellation energy. 600 employees could lose their jobs as a result of the merger with exelon. >> 6:09. don't want to share your ice cream? there is a lot for that. >> facebook is asking wall do-over of a deal o0o sorts. >> we have warm temperatures. the forecast for the big holiday weekend is coming up. >> we're checking on the roads.

we'll update you on what to expect in termste

>> good morning. 6:12. it is a friday morning. we have a little bit of haze

this morning in the area. we can expect to see some cloudy weather today. we want to look at the radar. we start out with some of thunderstorm activity. this was a couple of hours ago around the bay. in the past three hours, you can see on the bay just off the inner harbor and up the bay and isolated thunderstorm activity that was moving across the area. that has not dissipated or primarily moved up towards pennsylvania. it will conduct dissipates the activity for a while and take the steam out of the atmosphere for a while. something could crop up later today. temperatures is born, warmer than yesterday. around 70 degrees. the green indicates readings in the 60's to near seven.

66 on the boardwalk. 60's tothe mountains -- near 70. there is a disturbance offshore. here's the front in the midwest. that will come into play this afternoon or this evening. high pressure is our forecast but it is a warm atmosphere right now. in the tropics, some storm activity off of florida that the possibly develop into tropical two.m numbertw partly cloudy today. an isolated storm. south winds. to 87 for the high. the seven-day forecast -- 85

today. 88 on saturday. 90 and sunday. 91 on monday. symbols.have any rain a great for desperate very summerlike forecast for the weekend. tuesday and wednesday, rain chances do go up. now we want to check of the traffic. >> shaping up to be a nice ride. we're not seeing any delays on the major roadways. reports of a downed tree at red bridge road. liberty heights and hilldale in the city, we have an accident. one in the clearing stages in nottingham and belair road. the tow truck is on the scene. 795 is very smooth out of the owings mills area down towards the beltway. here's the j.f.x. at 41st

street and delays starting to fall into place down towards the construction zone and 29th street. no delays to report to and from the eastern shore if you're getting an early start on your memorial day commute. no delays across the bay bridge. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> new york's city police make an arrest. pedro hernandez reportedly confessed to the disappearance of etan patz. he will be arraigned today. a well fire continues to burn it in southern california -- wildfire. the blaze is moving towards the desert. evacuates since have been lifted.

the fire is only 5% contained. you can expect a typical hurricane season this year. up to 15 named storms and up to three becoming major hurricanes. that is about an average season for the atlantic. we got off to an early start when tropical storm alberto formed last saturday. >> good news for potential home buyers. the 30 year mortgage rate hits another record low. a slight drop from 3.79% last week. is the fourth record low in as many weeks. 15 year average rates remain unchanged.

facebook betty taking itself out of the nasdaq stock market -- facebook may be taking itself out of the nasdaq stock market. were several glitches that caused several delays during facebook's ipo. nasdaq is not commenting on these reports. you cannot keep your ben & jerry's ice cream on lockdown. literally. jane king has the bloomberg business report. >> sun worshipers looking for a golden tan do not have to rely on expensive sunscreens. walgreen's continuous spray was a best buy. below 30. most stocks were trending higher.

greece is likely to stay in the euro. the bloomberg maryland index was up a bit. shock waves to wealthy consumers in the u.s. tiffany's cut their sales forecasts because fewer people were buying its pricey jewelery. this is the lot by ben & jerry's. has a plastic security ring to keep people from sneaking your sweet treat. it costs under $7 and you can get on the ben & jerry's website. at the new york stock exchange, i'm jane king, bloomberg news, for wbal-tv 11 news. >> i'm so getting that from my husband. he does not like to share his

ice cream. father's day present. >> locks for everyone. makes anave another historic run for the triple crown but his trainer has hit a stumbling block. >> don't forget to e-mail us your response to our water cooler question of the day. what are your memorial day holiday plans? you can share your response on wbaltv.com, on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> 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. we have a new accident on the north side at dulaney valley in the outer loop. watch for a left lane closure. in may starts to impact your right. you can see some yellow on the north side of the beltway. we have an accident in at nottingham that is still clearing. another at liberty heights. there is a downed tree blocking redbridge road. not a lot in terms of volume at the moment. we will start to see more delays around dulaney valley. on the j.f.x., starting to fall into place and of the west side. this is the beltway at dulaney

valley. you can see the activity related to the accident. the left lane and left shoulder are taken out. stay to the right. it will cost a little bit of it back up. this is 95 out of white marsh. southbound traffic is building. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. john collins has a look at your forecast. >> good morning. we have been talking about hurricanes this morning. we had alberto off the carolina coast last week. this is what irene last year was on the carolina coast. we had over three and a half inches of rain late in august from the storm. the forecast is for an average season. alberto is done. something may form off of the carolina coast this weekend. then there's debbie and so forth for the new hurricane season which is expected to be about average with nine to 15 named

storms. this lines up perfectly with will be average. we'll talk more about our tropical-feeling weather this holiday weekend. right now we'll go to keith in sports. >> thank you. good morning. the orioles resume their season tonight against kansas city. jason hammel starts for the birds. the birds are in first place. the trainer for i'll have another has been suspended for 45 days. doug o'neill denied giving a horse performance enhancers. the commission agreed but suspended him because the horse

had high levels of carbon monoxide. a chance to win the triple crown in the belmont. talk about bad timing. the miami heat are moving on to the eastern conference finals. the heat beat the pacers. dwyane wade and lebron get it done. they dominated despite this crazy play. indiana led by 11 at one point. dwyane wade had 40. lebron. for tonight, the maryland women's lacrosse team plays northwestern. the maryland man against duke

while oil placed notre dame. last night, the severna park girls played westminster for the state across tempers appeared westminster scores first but severna park comes back. it's been a tough week for the falcons. girl died. 11th state chair budget for coach karen peterson and your team. you talk about a lot of emotion on the sideline and in the stands. i went to brooklyn park. >> thank you. 71 degrees on tv hill. shifting attitudes on the subject of same-sex marriage. >> traffic is picking up on the southwest side of the beltway. this is a fraction of the folks you will see on the beltway.

>> tensions with pakistan. what the u.s. is doing about it. >> we have an accident on the north side of the

>> 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. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. kind of muggy out there. does it mean it could rain? could rain. at the moment, things are dry. mist.ight see a little but does are near 70 degrees. it feels like summertime -- it near 70tures are degrees. >> the memorial day weekend is almost here.

>> police will take every precaution to make sure you get to where you're going. jennifer franciotti is in arbutus to explain. >> slyly more marylanders will be traveling this memorial day weekend. of policee plenty officers searching for anybody who is doing anything wrong on the roadways. officials say nearly 750,000 marylanders are expected to travel this memorial day weekend and almost all of them driving to their destination. that number could spike with last-minute travel if gas prices continue to fall. where are the cheapest gas prices around? >> if you're planning to go to ocean city or the dover beaches, the cheapest gas in the state is $3.52 on the eastern shore. i always tell people, if you travel to ocean city, then get your gas when you're down there. it is a few cents cheaper. >> air travel is on the decline

because airline fees are on the rise. meanwhile, maryland state police spent the evening checking that drivers were securely fastened in their vehicles. it is part of this month's "click it or ticket" campaign. police will be out in full force this weekend and anybody caught not wearing a seat belt should expect to be a fine. >> we want parents and drivers to get the message -- wear that seat belt and reduce the injuries and maybe save the life of somebody else. >> approximate one out of every 16 residents don't wear their seat belts. there are numbers for those residents not wearing their seat belts at night. more than half of nighttime drivers who have been injured in crashes in the past five years were not wearing their seat belts. reporting live, jennifer franciotti, wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. marylanders are growing more receptive to the idea of same- sex marriage. a new poll found 57% of likely

voters to uphold the same sex marriage law. the mayor stands by president obama and naacp money added impact on the minds of voters. >> this is an example extraordinary presidential leadership. the president beginning with the abolition of don't ask don't tell has taken a leadership role and has brought the country along. >> opponents to same-sex marriage have until the end of next month to get more than 55,000 petition signed to get put on the ballot. >> another security scare at the airport delayed a flight yesterday. a baggage handler spotted what looked like spomoke coming out f a piece of luggage. the substance was harmless.

>> the bag was never an aerosol can which had discharged and produce the smoke. >> flight later took off on to las vegas.ega aerosol's are considered a flammable substance but hair spray an exception. >> congress wants to cut millions in aid in response to pakistan not jailing a doctor who helped track down osama bin laden. >> the leader of pakistan's ruling party says the u.s. should apologize for the border raid that killed 24 of its soldiers last year. >> i would like the american people to consider what their reaction would have been if 24

american people were killed. >> pakistan cut supply lines to our soldiers in afghanistan. the u.s. must work this out. >> they are building more bombs than any other country. >> the u.s. is fears that pakistan and jailed a doctor that help them track down osama bin laden. he was convicted of treason and got 32 years. >> is action by the doctor to help bring about the end of the reign of terror designed and executed by osama bin laden was not in any way a betrayal of pakistan. >> the white pass says there and

talks with pakistan to real but the supply line and expects -- the white house says they are in talks with pakistan to reopen the supply line and expects that to happen. tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> if you're getting ready to hand out of town, we have an accident on the north side of the beltway. this is in the area of the outer loop at dulaney valley. we have a left lane closure. you can see the left shoulder as well. in both directions, expect delays. have there delays in the outer loop just prior to the accident scene. we will keep you posted on that. an accident in owings mills at lakeside boulevard. another at hilldale. 15 miles per hour heading down to 29th street on the j.f.x.

we have a downed tree at red bridge road. 15 miles per hour on the north side because of the accident. southbound traffic is building. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> some clouds and temperatures around 70 degrees overnight. there were some isolated showers. sopping up in cecil county. a little isolated thunderstorms around 4:00 a.m. it was almost dissipating by 5:00 a.m. and now everything is out of the picture. with a clean shot this morning. later this afternoon, an isolated afternoon shower. otherwise, partly cloudy and will be in the mid 80's for high temperatures. details on the forecast for the weekend are just ahead. >> thank you.

6:36. pop quiz time. >> name of the city that was the legislative seat of the holy roman empire. >> i have no idea but we'll give you a couple of minutes to think about it. we'll come back and tell you who knew t

>> we had a tough geography question i knew before the break. a 14-year-old from texas had no problem with the question. here is again. >> one of you will be 2012 national geographic bee champion and that individual is the newcomer. congratulations, young man. way to go. >> the 14-year-old from houston to come the price of the national geographic bee in washington and has a chance to represent the u.s. in 2013.

he wins a scholarship and a trip. it a 4-year-old can't hear one year and pasteur a special device to help him here -- and has to wear a special device to help him hear. his mother contacted marvel comics. he has a special device and kind of likes his hearing aid. is mother said the riders at marvel are the real super heroes -- his mother says the ra writers at marvel of the real

super heroes. >> there could be a few isolated thunderstorms this afternoon. the full forecast is coming up. we're seeing a few people on the boardwalk right now. 71 degrees at the airport. 74 at the inner harbor. 66 at ocean city on the

>> welcome back to 11 news today. 6:45. it has been a violent nine in baltimore with seven people shot. this is video from the latest incident. there was a triple shooting on east preston street.

the victims were two men and man. first african-american to graduate from the naval academy will be laid to rest on the school's ground. he was 85 years old. he was the sixth african american admitted to the school and the first to graduate. nearly 2000 people will be out of the job from the sparrows point steel mill. the cuts are not limited to maryland. rg steel is also suspending operations at its mills pennsylvania and west virginia. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> we are tracking an accident near dulaney valley and taking up the left lane. they have reopened the left lane

on the inner loop. watch for delays. this is harford road. it is jammed up in the outer loop. we'll let you know once they get that cleared. speeds on average around 13 miles per hour approaching that scene. lakeside boulevard in owings mills, there is an accident. also liberty heights and hillsdale, an accident in the city. if you head out in bel air on 543, for an accident. a downed tree blocking red bridge road. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> good morning. no rain and nearby. all the rate is up in new jersey and philadelphia and out over the ocean. -- all the rain is up in new jersey and philadelphia.

you might see some fog this morning. a lot of clouds this morning. the yellow indicates readings around 70. that puts us in the city at 70 to 74 in the city. 50's in the mountains to the west. satellite image. clouds and unsettled weather offshore and north of philadelphia, trenton, towards new york city. a cold front out to the west. a boundary has stalled offshore. this front will be getting closer tonight. it will stay to the north. some the could crop up in the vicinity. tropical weather, storms off the florida coast to see if that develops into the second system

of the season. travel weather -- only new york has a significant chance of rain. atlanta, 90. to 87.e 82 an isolated storm is possible this afternoon. sunset this evening, 8:02. twilight will past 8:30. the ocean city forecast -- may be an isolated storm today. saturday and sunday both look dry. will be dry over the weekend. by monday night, rain chances go up. >> time now for a last look at

one of our big stories. good news desk marylanders get ready to hit the road. jennifer franciotti joins us live from arbutus. gas prices are still going down. >> house that is it we're excited that gas is $3.67 in some places. it is not $4. traffic is moving ok and aaa is expected more people than normal to be traveling on the roads. they say more marylanders will be traveling this memorial day weekend that last year. nearly 750,000 marylanders are expected to travel this weekend. most will be driving. we could see more drivers on the road because of gas prices falling. some of the cheapest prices will be on the eastern shore, $3.52. we found gas around $3.49 this

morning. police will be out as well and working on their "click it or ticket" campaign. >> any idea how many people are not wearing seat belts? >> police say one in 16 maryland drivers and not wearing seat belts. as far as night time related crashes, over half of nighttime crashes that result in death or because of residents are not wearing seat belts. the message is that seat belts save lives. >> thank you, jen. have a great holiday weekend. >> that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. >> this morning we asked -- what are your memorial day holiday plans?

>> that is exciting. poor christina. i'm so sor to hear that. >> we will post more of your answers on the front page of our website, wbaltv.com. >> 6:52. 71 degrees on tv hill. >> coming up, we'll take a last look at weather and traffic together before you head out to he

>> looks like a few problems out there. >> this is dulaney valley. the left lane is closed because of an accident. this is harford. it is not moving or barely moving from approaching harford back to bel air road through to the accident scene. watch for an accident at lakeside boulevard. >> it will be very summerlike all week long. we did celebrate. >> thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> we will be back with a live update at 7:25. >> have a great weekend. where is the wig?

>> this is a wbal-tv 11 editorial from president and general manager dan joerres. >> the i-team was there as michael reznikov walked at the jail after posting $50,000 cash for his release.

the business was lucrative but was shut down last week along with baltimore county police. the i-team exposed the clinic for what it was -- front or soughticts where pills. the i-team found out where to get the drugs. biz's brought in up to 80 patients a day -- the business brought it up to 80 patients a day. people from the east coast found themselves in our backyard with cash in hand. is not the first time a pill mill has shown up in our community. there was one in timonium.

more and more people are losing the battle of addiction.