tips to remember. the top hazards for toddlers. families taking returns to a completely new level. now return your tree, new holiday tradition, we will explain coming up. 9 years after the war in iraq began, troops are finally headed home, that story is coming up. monday, december 19th, good morning maryland, six shopping days left until christmas and hanukkah begins tomorrow. not dealing with fog, charlie. no type of rain or snow. we will have to check with traffic. in terms of the weather, things are looking good. it is going to be on the cold side, though. starting with the satellite and radar, the clear skies out there, not dealing with clouds, as we go in to the afternoon, that is possible. temperaturewise this morning, yes, it is cold. temperatures we low where we should be. 27 baltimore. 22 ocean city.

we have an update the last time i showed you this, ocean city around 21 degrees. as we go through the rest of today, the temperature will be right around 50 degrees. we will have a nice warm up on tap. let's send this over to angela. how is the commute this morning? it's looking good for those of you in carroll county, reports of an accident on route 77, near key highway, we will try to update you on that in the next report. still seeing a light fair of traffic for this time of morning. as you make your drive on u.s. 29, clear from i-70, all the way to the burtonsville region. north on i-83, 69, harrisburg. no reported troubles from the pennsylvania state line to. the topside of the beltway, on the harrisburg, no problems. drive times looking pretty

good. over to you. the holidays are a lot of fun for families and loved ones, if you have a toddler, there are several things you need to keep in mind for the little ones. we brought in linda so. welcome back from vacation. i forgot your name. you've been gone for so long. or mom. this is something -- you are a mom. this is something that is a big concern for you guys. >> if you have a toddler, they are curious people and love to grab things, put things in +;-÷ their mouth. if you take them to a family's house, you have to be careful. some things can become hazards. the christmas tree, all the decorations on the tree can attract their attention. parents should watch out for small ornaments, tensile and fake snow. watchout for small holiday treats, candies and nuts. while you are home maybe child proof, your relatives will not

be. be careful around stairs and unlocked cabinets. if you are visiting a house with older kids, beware of toys with small parts. >> we often don't give small toys to young babies, older siblings, cousins can have the little toys that are easily attracted by a younger child and end up in their mouth. >> we are learning a lot with the story. >> okay. if you are the one hosting the party, clean up the alcohol the night before as soon as the party is over. when your kid gets up the next day, they might think it's juice and accidentally drink them. >> get the tabs for the electrical outlets. >> i think they are great. >> don't drink the water in the tray at the christmas tree. >> go with an artificial tree. thank you. good to be back.

good news if you are traveling, gas prices are going down. most recent survey reports the gas prices fell $0.05 that's down $0.24 during the past six weeks. price job coinciding with the dip in crude oil prices. the average for regular gas is around $3.24 a gallon. >> happy holidays. how are you doing? go ravens. >> first ever toy drive block party, it was at a museum. a police helicopter, boat and command trucks showed fop for block party. -- up for the block party. some kids became junior firefighters. we want to thank everyone. it was a big success. >> you call 911, people show up. volunteers show up. volunteer fire departments show up.

we need to tell them thank you sometimes. nothing for pete o'neil or eric, i appreciate what you do. the men and women. sometimes we need to tell them that. >> appreciation of peter o'neil, hard work, sacrifices in making the toy drive the huge success that it is. >> the county sheriff's department gave o'neil a plaque for helping out the toy drive. you have until december 22nd. drop off the toys at any local wal-mart store, learning center or fire station. arundel county, also donate used musical instruments. toy drive is partnering with the orchids program. details are found at our website, abc2news.com. police in new york say this

man could be charged with a horrific crime. a man enters an elevator dressed as an ex terminator and got off on the 5th floor, when a woman tried to get off on the same floor later, the man sprayed her with a liquid and set her on fire. the suspect is in jail this morning, police say isaac claims the victim owed him $2000. one person was treated for burns after a yacht caught fire in florida. officials say the fire caused millions of dollars in damage after it spread to three adjoining yachts. four boats were destroyed. investigators are trying to figure out what started the fire. tractor trailer driver suffered serious injuries after colliding with a amtrak the train was blowing its whistle but the truck continued crossing the tracks. the drive was ejected and taken to the hospital. more than 200 train passengers

were bussed to their destination. the accident is being investigated. feeling of happys in from joelet, illinois. the ceremony filled with hugs and kisses and leafing many families -- leaving many families more joyful than ever this holiday season. in today's tech bites, skype has a gift for travelers. the company will be offering free wi-fi in more than 50 apports around the country starting wednesday. users can use the internet for an hour including making calls on skype. it's available for a week. los angeles times has a list of gadgets that are obsolete as technology marchs on. the flip video camera, smart phones record video, too. the portable player replaced by tablets and the pessal digital

asis -- personal digital assistant. if you need help convincing your child santa exists, google can help you. parents can customize messages with the child's name, nickname and the child'sfavorite things.

ice sculptors were showing off pieces two artists chain saw and chiseled blocks. one says while it looks like a lot of fun, it takes a lot of

practice and patience. families are adding christmas tree to a list of returns making for the holidays. instead of buying the tree, they are renting it. after the holidays they return the tree and it goes to a good cause. it will be planted next to a salmon stream in seattle for the coming spring season. watch them guys in colorado, this happened to have been so or 15 years ago. watched the guy do an angel. it took him four hours. it's amazing to watch these guys at work. take the time, it's something you will enjoy. >> it's cold enough to sculpt ice. >> we were cold. >> definitely for a good cause as you head out and abouts you will need to bundle up. temperatures are in the 20ss in a lot of spots here. in to notingham , the temperature around 24 degrees. i'm going to give you good news

this morning, the fact is, is that we are not dealing with winds. this 24 is the 24th, not chillier than that. as we go through manchester, the temperature around 27 degrees. hickory 28 and 32 degrees in to stevensville. spots this morning, definitely a little bit colder than where we should be for this time of the year. not pick up on anything now, we won't see anything throughout the day. good news, don't you love me? 50 degrees in to the afternoon, nice and mild, so that big warm coat i was talking about earlier, we can put it away. over to angela, angela, do you have good news like i do with traffic? >> in carroll county, not good. update on the accident, 77, key highway, lanes blocked as they try to clear this incident. if you are traveling around carroll county, westminster, looking good on 140 and 30, down to 795, 295 and i-95

looking goods if you are heading north to the baltimore beltway, traffic flow picking up on i-97, live look at 97, north and southbound lanes, moving at posted speeds between 50 and 695, another update from the mta, on time. light rail, northbound delay of 20 minutes. am remains embroiled in a scandal in a death of one of their students. board of trustees prepares to meet.

u.s. involve in iraq, one final sunset as our country pulls out. 9 years after the war the in iraq, last troops are headed home. video we showed you, hundreds of soldiers pulled out of iraq sundays, crossing over in to kuwait. kuren redmond is standing by, explaining the end of the

journey. >> hugs, cheers, joy and relief as the last of the troops pulled out. a historic moment they will never forget. the u.s. officially ended the mission in iraq with a ceremony in baghdad thursday. some lawmakers are split on the pullout. officials describe the feeling saying it's good to see hard work payoff and withdrawing from iraq was the right decision. >> what is the loss? what is gained? it's close to my heart. >> there will be celebrations across the country as more troops come home for good from iraq marking the moment hundreds of families have been waiting for to have they soldiers back home for the holidays. kuren redmond, abc2 news. friends gathered for a joyous reunion, 50 marines arriving home. the crowd anxiously waiting as

the bus rolled in. the moment the big hugs and kisss, one returning soldier seemed to be only interested in one little guy. he was going for 7 months. for many it was not their first deployment overseas. the u.s. plans to withdrawal 98,000 troops in afghanistan by 2014. ends of the war is getting attention, with two weeks until the iowa caucuses. mitt romney criticized president president obama for bringing the troops home now. romney looks to regain front runner status. he got some help in canada. he nabbed endorsement of the largest newspaper. top house republicans rebelling against a bill extending the payroll tax cut

and jobless benefits for two months. john boehner opposes the state passed legs and wants bargainers to craft a new year long version, not just two months. the house will vote today on either request for the bargaining with the senate or to keep the the legislation as is. the house should go ahead and pass the two month extension now to avoid a hike in the next coming day. remember, keep up with the news, political or what have you around your world and home. ipad app is a great way to stay connected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. you can also download the app for your iphone, or other smart devices as well. today florida am , the board will decide the president's fate today. the governor of florida wants james amos to be suspended until a criminal investigation is finished in to the death of

robert champion. the meeting comes days after the state medical examiner ruled the death was a homicide. officials say he was beaten se sheerly and bled internally and went in to shock. today is the busiest day when it comes to shipping for the u.s. postal service. average of 16.5 billion pieces of mail will be delivered between thanksgiving and new year's day. if you are mailing today or tomorrow, make sure it arrives by christmas, use first class mail. mother in michigan put her christmas gifts in someone else's car and desperate to get them back before christmas. she put them in a trunk of a ford focus that looked like her car. her keys opened the trunk. it sounds strange. she didn't realize her mistake until she was done. it's possible the driver hasn't looked in the trunk yet and

noticed her gifts. all right. we are talking about chilly temperatures, going to need to bundle up. satellite and radar, not picking up on anything across the area. not dealing with cloud cover. the temperatures are cold. rain in to illinois and indiana. 32 degrees. 19 ellicott city. good morning to you. lorel temperature there around 20. 29 degrees in to cockeysville and bel air. good morning you are around 26 degrees. high pressure, will be working in our favor if you like the warmer temperatures. as this slides towards the east, we will get a return flow, temperatures are going to be a little bit more mild than what we saw yesterday. future trends not picking up on a lot for today with the southerly flow, i'm thinking we could get moisture in here, in the form of clouds, a sun-cloud mix is what i'm going to forecast for this afternoon. tuesday and wednesday, showers in the forecast.

for today, that temperature will be around 50 degrees, we will stay dry. yesterday 42, we will be mild. temperature tonight around 36 degrees with mostly cloudy skies, not as cold and by tomorrow that temperature around 47 degrees with the showers possible. a check of your seven-day forecast, well, brings winter in here thursday, temperature around 50 degrees, in to the weekend, we could be seeing rain showers in the forecast, sunday, though, christmas day, looks dry as of now. let's get a check of the traffic with angela. we start to see a few delays popping up here and there. for the most part we are in pretty good shape. we are seeing increase in volume, especially for those of you making the drive on, i-95, southbound on 95, traveling through howard county, more activity. another live look at the topside of the beltway. here at harford, clear on the

north side between 95 and the harrisburg expressway. drive times are looking good, no extra travel time needed around the beltway. a big day for a baltimore family. they are spending it with an orioles. what else this ballplayer has in store for area kids in need. o'malley rolls out his plan for a sustainable maryland. why those opposed thinks it's a bad idea.

maryland governor will join governor martin o'malley in annapolis to present the plan maryland. the long range plan for sustainable growth. the plan creates middle change. ers, cancer aid for children will sponsor a gala bingo, benefits kids with cancer from 7:00 until 10:30 tonight. the fire hall is located in

owens mills. tickets are $25. christmas brighter for a baltimore family, a shopping spree in cockeysville. they will donate coats and clothes as well. olive garden opening the newest location on east pulaski highway at 4:00. creating 150 new jobs. the building is the newest of the more than 750 olive garden restaurants designed to inspire. millions of packages ordered on line will be arriving at homes throughout the week. up next, how to ensure the

information you gave on line will not end up costing you more than you bargained for and turn the diabetes diagnosis around and live a longer healthier life. and a place where men with work out and play games and snack on man witches. you will never guess where this is located. we'll be right back.

. he arrived in baltimore a year ago today and went missing and found dead. how the family is keeping the case alive coming up. we got beat. nay played a great game. >> chargers snapped the ravens