>> your watching wbal tv 11, live, local, late breaking. >> good afternoon, everyone. we began with breaking news. the verdict has been given in the michael johnson murder trial. >> the jury returned their verdict about 40 minutes ago and

found michael johnson guilty of second-degree murder, rejected the first-degree murder charge. that is the premeditated murder charge and decided on second- degree murder. the defendant, michael johnson, had little reaction. this case has been going on for two and a half years. phylicia barnes disappeared at the age of 16 in 2010. michael johnson has been the suspect all along. he was indicted in april of this past year and finally the trial starting about two weeks ago. with me is russell barnes, phylicia barnes' father. >> we believe that she can rest now. justice has been served. we have been fighting for this over the past two and a half years. this is a bittersweet day.

this should have never happened. this has torn up three families. we are still soaking it in. >> you are from baltimore, she was living in north carolina at the time. first of all, it had to be an incredibly painful wait for getting some of the answers in this case that you had anticipated. >> yes, yes. we did our own investigation and we worked with the police. we know that felicia would not cause of the family so we just stop there with it. we know how much she loved our family, how much she loved baltimore. how much she anticipated living a full life. >> the defense family said, his father said that they were very disappointed in the verdict.

the defense lawyer spoke at length about the verdicts, obviously very disappointed. the state's attorney spoke and he said he was pleased with the verdict. he was charged with first-degree murder. -- he was not charged with first-degree murder. he was charged with second- degree murder. sentencing will be in march. >> now to a story putting a dark mark on tuesdays festivities downtown. police are investigating a deadly triple stabbing involving three teenagers. >> city officials estimate that to let a thousand people peacefully packed downtown baltimore to celebrate the ravens' a super bowl win. a fight broke out at about 1:30 tuesday afternoon ending with one man stabbed to death and two

others wounded. >> this is an isolated incident. the victims knew their attackers. we believe this stemmed from a dispute. there is no information to say they were here for the victory celebration. >> two teenagers were involved. they're confident they will lead to unrest in the shooting. >> over 600 cameras are in the city. they were successful in capturing this and we have some optimistic leads. >> the city started planning security measures two weeks ago in hopes that the ravens would win the super bowl. state police and two other agencies help the city of wrap up patrols. >> downtown baltimore is one of the safest parts of the city and we work hard at it. we work hard to make sure the police officers are there. but we will do now is we will find out who did this. we will find out who did this.

we owe it to the family and the city. >> uphill -- >> a little bit on the chilly side but actually warmer than it has been over the past couple of days. the average high temperature is 43. 39 right now at the airport. it has been gusting up to 20 miles per hour. the high temperatures in the low to mid 40's. you have a little activity. let's put it that way as we head into the beginning of the weekend. >> a 17-year-old is charged with raping a classmate. the 14-year-old said that she had agreed to cut classes before he pulled her into an empty classroom and assaulted her. both are students at a high

school. initially, she reported the incident for -- to her mother. an independent report delivers a grim warning for baltimore city. bankruptcy for the city unless serious measures are taken. it is protected and accumulated $745 billion budget deficit within the next 10 years. after adding in infrastructure needs and retiree obligation, the deficit soars to $2 billion. even if the city use the reserve fund, it would be empty in three years. we will have the mayor's response tonight at 11:00 -- tonight at 5:00 and 6:00. a scenario that is starting to feel too much like a broken record for americans. a deadline will trigger a one trillion dollars in spending cuts over the next 10 years. what this means for regular

folks. >> here is what it boils down to, basically. if huge automatic spending cuts kicks in and the economy slows down, all of us will feel the impact. nearly everyone on both sides in washington would like to avoid that, the question is, how? another day, another dollar, another fiscal fight in washington. the issue now, massive spending cuts. it is called sequestration and we were not supposed to get to this point in the first place. >> this was never intended to happen, it was a proposal that was meant to spur lawmakers into action to come up with a budget that everyone could agree on. >> the congressional budget office warned that the cuts could slow down the economy. $500 billion cited to come out of the defense budget, pentagon leaders are worried about the

impact in the military. if congress cannot get a big deal, -- >> then they should pass a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms. >> get us through the fiscal year and give congress time to work on a budget. >> we should give them a chance to come up with this budget instead of making indiscriminate cuts now that will cost us jobs and significantly slowed down our recovery. >> both sides agree something has to be done, but how? republican leaders are digging in their heels against more tax revenue. john boehner believes there is a better way to reduce the deficit but americans do not support sacrificing real spending caps for more tax hikes. the president signaled yesterday he might be open to changes in medicare and social security. >> coming up, a powerful earthquake triggers a five-foot tsunami in the south pacific.

the latest estimates on the damage. you could soon go all we can without mail service. why the post office is cons

>> at least five people are dead

in the solomon islands following a tsunami in the south pacific. this was triggered by a powerful earthquake. the tsunami reached a height of close to 5 feet. dozens of aftershocks ranked a magnitude higher than five. crews are working to get a better estimate on the damage. the super bowl might be over but athletes are already preparing for the next big sporting event, the 2014 winter olympics. today, a skier is recovering after suffering a serious crash and injuries. we know that she fractured a bone and tore ligaments. she will not compete again this season. her coach expect her to heal in time for the olympic games. >> i'm confident that we will see her next year. >> she is the most successful american skier in history but has been injured in every championship event since 2007. preparations for the 2014 winter

games are in the home stretch. the winter games start when year from today. still to come, we are getting a look at the bunker where a boy in alabama was held for six days. how the young victim is to today and what investigators found inside the that suggests that the suspect was planning violence. >> the weather is dry but it will change as we head into the will change as we head into the

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policy of excluding gay members and troop leaders. >> the boy scouts of america may be prepared to change their longstanding policy banning gays scouts and leaders. later today, the executive board is expected to vote on a measure that will allow local troops to decide the issue for themselves. this which would allow parents and members to today local unit which best fits the needs of their families. >> it is about life skills. it is about building character and not about sexual orientation. it never has been. >> it has been for a number of leaders that have been kicked out for saying publicly that they were gay, including an eagle scout who took the issue all the way to the supreme court but lost. >> fair minded americans know that discrimination is wrong and that the boy scouts are out of step with america by excluding

gay young people and telling non gay children that discrimination was an american value. >> it is not hate, it is not bigotry. it is a choice about how to raise my children. if yours are different, great. take your values to places where people agree with you. >> a change to the current policy would be a dramatic shift. seven months ago, the organization reaffirmed their ban. >> the fbi is giving us a look at the underground bunker in alabama where a young boy was held hostage for nearly a week. they found him monday in an operation that ended in the deaths of the kidnapper. they found several explosive devices. officials say he suffers from asberger's syndrome. he is celebrating his six birthday today. he is said to be doing ok.

>> it is turning out to be a quiet day. we have a system passing by to the north. we don't expect any trouble today. during at the airport, 36 in park in. there will be sunshine baltimore on to the south. temperatures getting closer to average for this time of year. there is a little system cutting across north-central pennsylvania. it is bring some light snow around harrisburg. all of that should stay north of maryland. the cloud cover from that is going to drift down into maryland but that should be dissipating. you can see a sharp cut off a round of baltimore. southern maryland, lots of sunshine. there are some breaks in this

overpass. we will call it a mixture of clouds and sunshine. the interesting part of the forecast is coming up as we go into the beginning of the weekend. our friday storm is getting organized in the southern plains and will redeveloped into a coastal storm. we have not seen one of these for a while, at least during the winter and since the beginning. it will cut across up into new england during the day on friday. we will see a variety of precipitation. it will change over to rained during the day. likely, some snow on the backside of it. it is a very complicated forecast. i think the brunt of this storm will be taken by the folks up in new england. we will turn into a blizzard with maybe up to two feet of snow in parts of massachusetts,

connecticut, and into upstate new york. we will keep an eye on it and see how things develop. we could get into the big snow here in maryland. a mixture of clouds and sunshine this afrnoon. the high temperatures between 42-47. seven day forecast, dry tomorrow. a high temperature near 40. it will probably end as a period of snow friday night into saturday morning. it will clear up saturday afternoon. a high near 37. >> in the consumer alert, we are learning more about the new shops coming to canton crossing. some other major retailers include old navy, ulta, and

sleepy's matress. the grand opening is set for later this year. you might soon go all we can without checking your mailbox. the post office is ending saturday delivery and an effort to save billions of dollars. >> a staple of americana is going away. >> delivery will occur monday through friday and we will not deliver or collect mail on saturday. >> it is a move postal service as much to make four years but now it is necessary to cut within $2 billion from the budget. >> it would be irresponsible for us not to pursue this course. >> mail will be delivered to homes and businesses. and male will continue to be available at post office box is

on saturday. it is a plan that the majority of americans and can live with. >> 70% of americans have consistently said that they would support a five day schedules for mail and delivery packages given the financial conditions of the postal service. >> the main reason for the debt, the mandatory costs for future high tyree health benefits which made up more than $11 billion of last year's gap. -- for future retiree health- care benefits which made up for more than $11 billion of last year's gap. >> our financial condition is urgent. we continue to require a basic reform to our business model and continue to encourage congress to look at our plan. >> saturday mail delivery and in august unless congress acts to

keep the postman going six days a week. >> well, guess what? it is the year of the cat. hasbro unveiled that a cat will be the newest piece to join the game monopoly. they launched an online contest to replace one of the contests in favor of the current players. coming up next, you are maryland lottery numbers. to get a check of the forecast.

>> time for your pick three and picked four numbers. >> hello there. for starters, we have a 3. the next number is 8. followed by 2. 3-8-2. we will get to your pick f numberour is. introducing the pice is

right scratchoff. we have 6 a, followed by0. your next number is 4. your final number is 3. recapping your your 4 number 6- 0-4-3. >> friday is the target date for this storm. tomorrow will just be fine. this afternoon, we will make it up to 45. one of the warmer days we have seen. 40 tomorrow. everything will start thursday night, friday morning with a mix of sun, snow, freezing rain. to in at 5:00, we will get the latest. >> thank you for joining us for

11:00 news at noon. -- for 11 news at noon. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group]