next on fox 4 45 early edition. more twists in the case of cult leaders accused starving a baby to death. what is expected in court today. the scale of the desaster is huge. a deadly earthquake in chile, where the death toll disandz thistands this morning. we meet this week's champion of courage. good morning. it's monday, march first. i'm patrice harris. let's get a check of our march

forecast. meteorologist steve fertig and this is the month that we usher in spring. >> and it comes in like a lion and it goes out like a lamb. >> impressive. >> enough of my animal voices this morning. we do have a situation na is kind of calm but we have a couple of flurries and a little bit of snow, not looking big snow but we're talking about the outside potential. >> that is good because we were thinking we could get hit -- maybe not. >> there's still a chance we could see a little more than a few inches of snow, but it's a remote chance. temperatures we will get to in a bit. it's 38 in baltimore, and temperatures are going to be feel chilly because wind is still a factor. it's going to be a 10-15-mile-an-hour wind that is going to make it feel like we're in the 30s through day even though th the we will climb inte

mid-40s. generally partly cloudy skies. we will see snow showers in the northern part of new england especially sleet as well, and we're keeping an eye on the system down in dallas. you can see the low pressure center spinning around. we think it's going to come out to sea, and it's going to come out to the sea as it moves up in our area it will still bring us a couple of snow showers. partly cloudy skies, 40 some degree should do it for the high, north west winds at 10-15 miles per how. a little bit breezy. here is candace dold with the traffic edge. good morning, candace. >> reporter: good morning, steve. we do start off with an accident but it's not axe accountly o exn lines. as far as 95 moving through the area let's check in on that, showing you you the beltway at

the northeast corner, you can see the light activity on the southbound and northbound lanes. 95 is the way to go this morning. the southbound lanes through baltimore from the fort mchenry tunnel through the beltway look at a normal minute 8 minutes at 55 miles per hour. and the same speed with 8 minute clip from the southbound harbor tunnel toward the 95 exit. that's a look at your morning travels. patrice over to you. 5:03 on fox 45 early edition. a testimony continues this morning in the trial of three suspected cult members accused of starving a little boy to death. so far testimony in this case has been very graphic. megan gilliland joins us live from the mitchell courthouse downtown with the latest in their trial, good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. today could be the last day of testimony and it is anything like the other days, it could be very interesting. just when these jurors thought that they had heard everything, a former cult member took the stand providing very gruesome

testimony. danielle smith told jurors she watched as javon thompson was starved to death for not saying amen after meals. she told the jurors that black stuff started to come from the child's mouth as he painfully groaned losing the ability to crawl. what about as far as why she didn't pick up the phone and jab javon and run out of that house. >> i think she was afraid what would happen to her, thinking that how somebody would treat a baby like that. >> reporter: she told jurors that when she tried to break away from the group and tell somebody about the baby's death she was committed to a psychiatric group. all three defendants are defending themselves in court and throughout this trial. today could be the last day of testimony, that means that

jurors could have the case as soon as tomorrow. megan gilliland from downtown mitchell courthouse. officials are looking into a plane crashin crash that left an dead. joseph was piloting the single engine plane when it went down in edgewater. kelly was reportedly trying to get back to the airport at the time but something went wrong and the annapolis resident crashed into someone's yard. he was the only person on board at the time. more than 700 people are dead following chil chile's earthquake. the country's president says that number is expected to grow. david lee miller reports. >> reporter: when the earthquake hit the ground, it caused many homes and buildings to crumble. residents inside at the time struggling to get out safely. >> we would only get out by going upwards.

we found some light and we realized it was a window. we thought we were going to die. >> reporter: the saturday's quake affecting 4.1 million people. police responding to looters and water. >> it is a necessity. we need to do this, we don't have anything. >> reporter: those who are able begin to process the picking through what used to be their homes and neighborhoods. many of chile's coastal tones hit hard by the tsunami that followed the earthquake and threatenedded the entire pacific rim. >> it was horrible. we lost everything. our car, and our son's car, the house and everything. >> reporter: the u.s. state department asking american travelers to avoid tourism and nonessential travel and asking americans in chile to make contact with their relatives. in rome, pope benedict xvi praise for the millions affected by the earthquake. >> hence the population hit by

the quake that caused several losses of human life and serious damage. >> reporter: of state hillary clinton begins her tour of 5 latin countries and then surveys the damage on thursday. for chillians that live in maryland these past few decease have been filled with anxiety as they try to reach their families back home. a doctor and his family live here in baltimore but they're from santiago. he says they have been able to get in contact with most of their family members and they have gotten word the ones they haven't talked to, are okay. chile as a tough road ahead rebuilding but the country is prepared for desasters like these. >> there's special squads prepared for this event in chile. chile has the dubious honor of having had the worst earthquake ever registered. public transportation in santiago is slowly getting up

and running again. organizations like the american red cross are accepting donations to help in the relief effort in chile. to find out how can help log on to foxbaltimore.com/news links. it is the last day on the job for university of maryland baltimore president david ramsey. he was set to retire this summer but decided to move up that date as controversy swirls about questionable payments and missing gift cards. joel d smith is live at the university with more. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, the university has experienced amazing growth during the tenure of the president ramsey but there's a cloud over the tenure giving a state audit last week that is questioning the use of that money. we are talking about the audit that outlines the payment to a

karen roth enberg, a dean to the university. she received a payment 300 howdz for sabbatical she never took. this is in addition to the salary. the university chairman is saying that payments like these to administrators never happen again but these particular payments and bonuses were approved by the school's president david ramsey. >> in my 42 years with the university system of maryland i never heard of anybody else receiving such a payment for awn used sabbatical. >> reporter: state auditors say this is one of several universities as thdiscrepancies. e albert the dean of university of maryland school of medicine will serve as acting president until july when the new

president actually begins and more questions could be raised today in annapolis, that is when a senate appropriation committee is reviewing the budget of the university of maryland baltimore. live here downtown joel d smith fox 45 early edition. rising costs and lowering enrollment could force some schools to close their doors. costs have gone up over that time. as a result, the archdiocese is expected to close some schools and merge others. on wednesday, after th archdiocs to tell parents, schools and teachers about plans to reorganize their system and how they will be affected. >> that would be a sad day when that happens. if that happens. >> since 2002, the archdiocese has closed 16 schools.

227,000 baltimore students are educated in the catholic school system. baltimore city is finally getting back to its normal trash collection. after last month's snowstorm pickup resumed in some locations but beginning tomorrow trash will be collected at all regular locations. recycling pickups will resume. baltimore area business owners are left picking up the pieces as a federal report reveals what all of them already knew. the record snow storms led to a drop off in business activity. the data comes from a survey of 150 companies. some retailers and restaurants estimate business was down more than 50% in the last month. many employees will also be on the losing end, because they weren't able to work their normal hours. >> you need to have to be walking on the streets so it was kind of --

>> experts expect economic activity will rebound in the next six months. most of us are briefing a sigh of relief that the snow that was came a couple of days ago was nothing major. that wasn't the case for the people who lived in western maryland. the heavy snow crippled garrett county so much that the national guard was called in. a state of emergency was declared for the county, and now humvees has been called in to help with medical emergencies. this is the 3rd storm to hit the area in just one month. states to the north of us are dealing with the aftermath of the latest snowstorm. bge is sending crews north to help new hampshire crews to restore power. more than 200,000 passengers lost electricity after the storm hit that area. and bge said since our area did not have major damage in the last storm is they have the

resources on to help. the 90 crew members will stay in new hampshire for about a week. spending more at the supermarket. >> i pay enough for groceries. >> why your bill could be going up if you live if baltimore. no change or storms on the horizon for us, a few snow showers possible midweek, but today dry, take a look, 35 degrees, getting up to 45, we will top in

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welcome back to fox 45 early edition. 5:15 is the time and it's time to check in with meteorologist steve fertig. hi, steve. it's a quiet start to the day and nobody is going to much that much, as we put things into motion, there's not a whole lot moving around, because again, not a whole lot happening here with low pressure well to the north. finally going to slowly move further north and east. you he see more activity england. keeping an eye on this.

you see the rain falling in north texas and moving toward louisiana and arkansas as well. the question is will it take a beeline all the way up to us or go out to sea? still some questions there, but let's take a look at what we have as far as the surface features. here is the low pressure center, the one that didn't bring us as much as we thought it could at the end of last week, but it's still sitting there as far as a few flurries and maybe even a few snow showers. it brings up snow in new england, but for us, the winds are a factor as the low pressure moves through. there's an upper level low that may bring us by tomorrow evening a little bit of snow and a little bit of snow-rain mix. and this low pressure stays off the coast staying out to sea saying that it's not going be a major blai player but it's goino bring us a coastal low.

now this one looks like they will stay as separate systems. we get a little bit of snow especially the eastern shore it looks like t for tomorrow. and late tomorrow we get a little bit of a rain-snow mix as we move through the latter part of the day, 8:00 p.m. showing flurries to the west and a little bit more rain to the eastern shore. it gets replaced by the cold air and the eastern shore as well. we will see snow out of this and the eastern shore could be a little bit more. generally speaking not a heavy snow. 38 degrees for the current temperature in baltimore, 38 in d.c. 35 in salisbury, in hagerstown, 35 degrees. we do have a 8-10-mile-an-hour wind. we will get to 15-20 miles per hour. while the temperatures feel like they're in the 20s this morning. they will only feel like they're in the 30s this afternoon with the winds even though the actual temperature should get up to the 38 degrees. and with the winds and the temperatures gusting to 35, that will keep it chilly.

partly cloudy and mostly clear skies and back to the west more cloud cover there, 32 degrees for the daytime high with a 10-15-mile-an-hour wind that will make it feel like it's in the low 30s as well. tonight more cloud cover moves in. northwest winds at tennessee-15 miles -- 10-fitch miles pe10-15 miles per hour. wednesday snow showers around, look for snow possibility, still for thursday, 41 for the high, 44 degrees as we dry out for the weekend. 49 degrees on saturday and 50 on sunday. looking better as we head a little -- as we get closer inching toward spring by march 20th. sky watch hd radar is available at your finger tips. you can use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track the incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click

on iradar. now candace dold is here with a look at the traffic edge. candace. >> reporter: string, i cannot wait. if you are heading out and hitting the roadways it's not going to be a bad ride on the many of the lines. we're checking on 95 moving through the 95 corridor, near 195 and at 63 moving near 395 through baltimore. we do need to talk about an accident? baltimore county this morning, it's a crash on pulaski highway as rossville boulevard. as for the alternate, well, you can always use 95. checking in on 95, moving at whitemarsh boulevard, here it is, building conditions there on both the southbound and the northbound lanes, but hey, no complaints. so again, this is going to be the way to go as of right now. once you finally approach the beltway it's a quiet ride from harford road toward towson and eventually toward the 83. that comfortable conditions continue moving through the pikesville region down toward 795. as for 795, we are in excellent

shape there moving from owings mills toward the beltway. that that's a look at the morning travels, patrice, over to you. thank you, candace. still ahead, home sales fell in january. what it means for the economy. i pay enough for groceries. >> but could you soon be

a trip to the grocery store could soon cost you more money, not for the items you buy but for the bags you use to carry them. myranda stephens has more on two city proposals that some say need to be bagged. >> reporter: it's an age-old question at the grocery store. >> paper or plastic. >> reporter: that could be getting a new twist in the city of baltimore. two city councilmembers are now proposing bills to cut down on the use of paper and plastic bags. councilman bill henry wants to add a 25-cent fee on plastic and paper bags, while counts man jim craft wants to ban paper bags altogether. the goal is to reduce litter but many shoppers aren't buying it. >> i pay enough for groceries as it is. >> reporter: councilman harry bill is similar to a law passed

in washington d.c. where shoppers pay $0.5 for bags. >> i don't want to pay for bags. >> reporter: it's not just customers that feel that way. managers at san tonies, say that the proposals will hurt more than help. >> the customers that shop at santonis will he go down the street into the county and as a grosser we will lose business. >> reporter: the best option is to educate consumers on recycling, something that they do themselves. >> we sell hundreds of recycle bins and hundreds of reusable bags. >> reporter: and karen uses the repsychable bags and likes the idea of a ban. >> maybe we should get rid plastic bags. >> reporter: but how the city chooses to resolve the problem is now the real question. a special committee within the city council is set to vote on the measures march 16th. coming up later on the early edition, helping others deal

with their grief. >> how one local family is teaching people to cope. but next, extending jobles [ music throughout ] [ male announcer ] achievement: starts small... ...and dreams big. achievement: loves staying close to home...

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terry explains in today's business brief. >> reporter: stocks edge higher friday after mixed economic reports and disappointing earnings from aig. the dow added over 4 points. the nasdaq and s&p 500 ended higher. economic activity grew slightly higher than expected in the 4th quarter. gross domestic product expanded at high rate of 5.5%, .20 of a percent than the original congress report last month and is the best growth rate in more than 6 years. existing home sales fell unexpectly in january, a sign that the housing sector is making a come back. home resales fell more than 7% last month to a 7 month low. analysts had been expecting a slight increase. more than 1 million americans

will start receiving unemployment checks last month at least temporarily unless the senate takes action. after sunday, the uh-huh employed will no longer be able to apply for fra in the cobra insurance. a vote has been held up in the senate. for business brief, i'm harry. coming up could the ravens be interested in newly available receiver terrell owens? hear what coach john harbaugh has to say. >> reporter: and testimony continues this morning in the murder trial for three cult members. i'm megan gilliland. the graphic details revealed on the stand.. >> reporter: he is credited with taking the schools to brand new

welcome back to fox 45 early edition 5:28 is the time. i'm pa fris harris. -- patrice harris. let's check in with meteorologist steve fertig and see what we can expect.