[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late breaking, this is 11 news at noon. >> oscar pistorius has been released on bail. it is a decision that took four days to reach. we have late breaking details from south africa. >> oscar pistorius sobs, his

body shaking as the verdict is read. >> did you submit a case to be released on bail? >> yes. >> in many ways, this was expected, but the judge kept everyone guessing. [indiscernible] >> he criticized the prosecution, saying a lot of the evidence presented was flawed, but that did not mean the case was not strong. next, he said he had problems with the account oscar pistorius presented of the account that morning, saying he felt so vulnerable that he needed to grab a gun and start shooting into the bathroom. the judge ultimately ruled that oscar pistorius was not a flight risk or danger to the public.

he needs to surrender his passport and his gun. no drugs or alcohol. he cannot return to the scene of the crime, which is his house. he needs to get permission to leave town and checking in with the police twice a week. >> locally, major legislation move forward in the state house. lawmakers worked late into the night on bills involving gun- control and the death penalty. >> the senate committee spent last night grappling with the issues of the death penalty and gun control, while the house passed a bill all pet owners should know about. the senate is one step closer to repeal in capital punishment. most amendments to the bill failed, including one that would have allowed capital punishment

in cases involving dna evidence. the lengthy debate eventually ended with a six-and--- 6-5 vote in favor of repealing the death penalty. >> the emotional for me is different than the legal. in the legal sense, i do not think we can continue to have the state involved in execution. >> a maryland senate committee has also approved a sweeping gun control measure. the committee voted 7-4 late thursday night in favor of the bill. in one of the biggest changes, the legislation would prohibit someone from owning a handgun if he or she has been involuntarily committed for mental-health reasons. the house passed a bill making it easier to hold a dog owner is responsible for bite caused by

their pets. they singled out the pit bull, but all dog owners, no matter what the breed, are liable. the full senate is expected to deal with the issues of gun control and the death penalty next week and heated debate is expected. >> thank you, jennifer. the replacement for john leopold has been chosen and sworn in as the new anne arundel county executive. late last night, a surprise boat named loren human -- laura neuman the new director. during her speech, she revealed that she was a rape survivor who fought to have her case reopened years after it happened. she also managed to convince loyola university to admit her to the mba program after getting

her ged. we will have more on her tonight at 5:00 and 6:00. to read more about last night's selection process, go to our website, wbaltv.com. a man is dead following a crash on the interlude of the beltway. this was near the park heights avenue exit around 12:30 pm the driver was thrown from the car on impact and struck by another vehicle. he was pronounced dead on the scene. it is the second crash on the interlude in as many days. we are learning more about the deadly fire in prince george's county. fire officials say there were no working smoke detectors in the home. a woman and an 8-year-old girl managed to escape. and 11-year-old girl was rescued by firefighters, but the fire claimed the lives of a 30-year-

old man, 4-year-old girl and twin 8-year-old. >> we heard about this big storm in the midwest now moving into the great lakes. the storm is far reaching. it will get to our part of the world, but it is not as big at the moment in our area. we are getting activity on the radar. our temperatures are right at freezing, 32. i did see a couple of snow flakes coming down on the veranda, just floating. just a couple, not too many, you can count them on both hands. this initial batch of stuff will be very light coming in today. but there is more to the storm for the weekend. i will talk about that in a minute. >> thank you. a 59-year-old woman accused of

beating an elderly man left in her chair will go to prison. she pleaded guilty to abusing the 90-year-old man she was hired to care for in 2007. security cameras in the home caught one of the beatings, but the woman fled back to kenya before she could stand trial. it took police five years to track her down. a positive update to a shocking story. the university of maryland trainee shot during a training exercise earlier this month has been discharged from hospital. he was shot in the head by an officer who grabbed the wrong weapon during a training exercise. coming out, a new change in the works by the vatican. >> we are following the

countdown until

>> investigators are on the scene of a grisly helicopter crash in oklahoma city. officials say the chopper went down this morning, killing two people and critically injuring a

third. no patients were in the helicopter at the time, but witnesses reported hearing a large explosion before the helicopter crashed into a nursing home. no word on the cause of the crash, but whether does not seem to be a factor. changes are being felt around the world as pope benedict xvi finishes up his last week at the vatican. at the end of this month, his official twitter account will close down. he has more than 2 million followers. it is likely he will send his last tweet every 27, the day before he leaves the vatican. the dalai lama will deliver a lecture on may 7th at the comcast center. the chairman of the lecture for peace series says the dalai lama

has been a voice for compassion during turbulent times. previous addresses have been andvered by kofi annan nelson mandela. still to come, home improvements for the ravens. >> the weather pattern set up here is good for a few storms over the next week or two.

>> we have a winner. a frederick county woman has come forward with the winning animated-millions ticket.

she wants to remain anonymous. the jackpot was estimated at $20 million. she chose the cash option, which means she will take home about $12 million after taxes. she says she plans to retire and by a beach house. congratulations to her. earlier in the week, we told the ravens were raising ticket prices to cover costs of renovations to their stadium. the team will give a much needed make over to the upper and lower concourses, complete with hd video boards. >> the outside of the park is really nice and fits in well. then you come inside and it looks like you're in a different world. we are trying to bring the outside into the interior of the building. >> it looks pretty nice. concession stands will feature

open kitchens and more menu options for fans. the renovations are expected -- expected to cost $30 million. we are officially one week out from the start of the sequestered. on the line, billions of dollars of budget cuts and 750,000 layoffs. but most of washington is still on vacation. >> in indiana, the national guard is bracing for a 20% pay cut. >> a lot of extras are going to go by the wayside. >> in cleveland, social security officers phones are ringing off the hook. >> 600 calls waiting in the queue. >> the office may close one day a week. from schools to restaurants that

serve the military, americans are bracing for $85 billion in budget cuts one week from today. >> this is an artificial, unnecessary, self-inflicted crisis that should end today. >> airport screeners and air traffic controllers could be furloughed. president obama called mitch mcconnell thursday for the first time this year. the white house says republicans are spending more time criticizing than working on a solution. >> imagine if republicans would have the amount of effort into finding a solution as they have coming up with hashtags. >> another big question this afternoon, does the public really understand what is going on with the sequestered. a new poll says almost half of americans have barely heard anything about the budget cuts.

>> let's take a look at what is going on locally. a piece of the big midwest storm is coming in here. our temperatures are almost as cold in the midwest, but the moisture is not prepared to do much. here is chesapeake bay. we're getting a little mix of precipitation showing up on the radar, but the air is dry and not all of it is hitting the ground. up to the north, radar is indicating some sprinkles and a mix of precipitation is possible. none of it is very heavy. down to the south could be a few degrees warmer and a little more liquid if it is even hitting the ground. here are the temperatures. westminster is light at 32 along with frederick and gaithersburg. a little chillier than that when you get to the mountains in the

west. whether we get liquid or frozen precipitation will depend on how far north or south we are. the other thing is, any of this precipitation during the day is going to be rather light. here is the satellite image to show the clouds overhead. these are all tied into the big storm, which has now moved into the upper midwest and the great lakes. the front itself is still well to the west and it will take awhile to come through. the low pressure center is headed to the great lakes, but this area is headed to -- but this front is headed to our area. that will prolong the situation to saturday. initially, it looks like things will be relatively light. here are the warnings of what is concerning the bad weather. the concentration is in the mid

west. a winter weather advisory will be in effect because of the potential for some slippery conditions over the next 18 hours or so. our forecast this afternoon, temperatures mid-30's-40. well, i am not sure anyone is going to hit 40, but even if we get close, it will probably be south of us. clouds and cold with a light wind remakes in the forecast for the day today. for voters -- boaters on the bay, south east winds at 5-10 knots with a 1 foot shot. -- chop. as we get into saturday, we have a better chance of seeing --

mostly rain fall tomorrow, although there may be a little mixed in it, especially tomorrow morning. by sunday though, we do dry out. part of the week and should be just fine. here is the seven-day forecast. light makes this afternoon. a little more overnight. a lot of that will change into rain. tomorrow we do expect to get up to at least near 40 degrees. many of you of north will stay in the 30's. sunday looks fine and then more unsettled weather in the middle of next week. >> thank you, john. well, the winds have died down and now this time to clean up across the midwest. crews have been out this morning, especially in kansas city, missouri. forecasters say thursday's winter storm will likely go into the books as one of kansas city's biggest snowstorms in recorded history. while the cleanup is a headache for most, one resident is loving the fresh powder.

barkin] the english bulldog is reportedly a obsessed with his bright red flag. he spent the day barreling down the hill, cheered on by other sledders. tripoli reports gas prices are up another $0.14 from last week -- aaa reports gas prices are up another $0.14 from last week. well you have no control over gas prices, you can cut down on the amount of gas you consume. experts say it is important to resist the urge to buy any gadgets claiming to help with fuel efficiency. if you are going to be

stationary for more than one minute, shut off the engine. a avoid short trips as they are the most inefficient on gas mileage. coming up, you're maryland lottery numbers. first, a look at how wall street is performing.

>> tonight at 5:00, a lot of talk about a raven hanging of his jersey. we will have a live report on what this means for the team. plus, an investigation into a car fire takes a change of course. what police found inside. and some tasty treats are nowhere to be found. what is behind the shortage. now, your maryland lottery midday pick-3 and pick-four numbers. >> happy friday. it is time to play. for starters we have seven, followed by zero in the middle and the final number is a one. introducing the price is right scratch off from the maryland lottery.

you can win up to $50,000 instantly or a trip to play the $1 million las vegas game show experience. we are ready to go. you're picked four numbers are 0, four, five, seven. recapping your pick four numbers come as 0, 4, 5, 7. the maryland lottery, let yourself play. >> could be a little freeze and some slippery going especially overnight tonight and tomorrow morning. today any precipitation during the day and evening hours will be light. it is more significant overnight into saturday. by sunday, we should dry out and then next week, something with a little more kick to it. >> thank you for joining us.

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