inner loop traffic patterns quiet. remember to follow us this morning on twitter at maryland traffic. charley, back to you. johnson and johnson says they are asking retailers to remove about 12 million bottle of motrin from the shelves the coated caplets may not dissolve as quickly as intend when itgets closer to the expiration date. a health alert. wal-mart is recalling a popular baby formula after a newborn dies from a rare bacterial infection. linda so is live this morning with all you need to know. >> reporter: the baby's death has not been conclusively linked to the formula but wall mart says it's pulling -- wal- mart says they are pulling it from the shelves out of an abundance of caution. it's the enfamil newborn pod10- day-old avery cornet was given the formula and became ill with

a rare bacterial infection. tests are underway to determine if it was present in the formula or if it came from another source such as the water that the formula was prepared in. a pediatric nurse practitioner says doctors needs to be carefulabout which formulas to be used for premature babies and infants less than one month because their immune system is not as strong. immediate johnson has not -- mead johnson has not issued arecall but they are working to reer is. formula. >> every batch is tested for this -- to research the formula. >> every batch is tested. and we know it was neglect at this for that beech and have gone back and confirmed that. >> reporter: now if you bought the formula, wal-mart says return it for a full refund. also if you have any concerns about what you're feeding your by ay -- baby, call your pediatrician. you can go to abc2news.com and we have the information

regarding the recall listed on the website, it's the first story in the slide show. enfamil has number to call if you have questions. it's 1-800-baby-123. linda so, abc2 news. a third recall this morning. this time involving 111,000 rayo vac consumer packs. they have begun to explode. they received 5 explosion reports but so far no injuries. the packs were sold at batteries plus stores nationwide between june 2008 and october of this year. closing arguments will begin in the hearing for bradley manning. the investigating officer will review the testimony and make recommendations of a possible court martial. that decision could be by mid- january. lawyers presented his case and only two witnesses were called. he is accused of handing over classified information to the website wikileaks. in other news, a state

trooper is recovering after he was hit by a car. it happened around 4:15 wednesday in frederick. trooper first class sean mccarty was on the side of the road investigating a crash when he was hit by another vehicle e got pinned in between the two cars and that's where he is in the hospital. baltimore police want to know if you recognize either of the men. they are looking for them in connection with a shooting that occurred at barbershop in east baltimore last week. the victim was shot in the eye. police believe the shooting was part of a robbery attempt. if you recognize either man, or have information about the incident, call baltimore city police at the number on the screen, 410-396-2433. news time is 5:03. shoppers are in full swing getting the last-minute deals and taking care of all the honey dos and last-minute gifts. some retailers are helping you out. they are going to stay open 24 hours up until christmas. abc2 news corinne redman is at one of the stores with details on what to know and statistics

because this is something retailers are starting to explore more and more. >> reporter: yeah, it is charley. this is the first year it's been happening where retailers are pushing up to the last- minute until christmas. as the christmas deadline nears we have three days until christmas. stores like macy's are staying open 24 hours trying to lure shopers in to get the last- minute deals. on friday stores like toys r us, old navy will stay open for 24 hours. and they will close at 10 p.m. on christmas eve. other stores like kohl's j.c. penney's and sears will stay open until midnight on friday. and many retailers say they decided to extend the hours in hopes of pulling in the last- minute profits. according to one report by december 14th, consumers on average completed 46% of their holiday shopping. now that's down from last year. also, this year, many shoppers bought gifts for themselves on black friday putting off the holiday shopping until now.

so, the customers that we spoke with have mixed opinions over the new trend of the extended holiday shopping hours. >> i think that stores staying open definitely on christmas day is overkill. bad for employees and bad for spirit. >> i think it's ridiculous and big time overkill. >> reporter: now in addition to the extended hours, many stores will pull out last-minute deals mark downs and items and they will have deals at midnight for those open 24 hours. you want to keep an eye on that. and that is to lure you in for the extended holiday shopping hours. reporting live from towson, corinne redman, abc2 news. even though you haven't opened the gifts there are bound to be a few that don't fit or simply not a good fit for you. we have got tips to ensure a happy return. if you plan on taking something back it's best to have the receipt. that could be either a gift receipt or a regular receipt. and if you don't have the receipt, the store will probably only give you a store

credit for the lowest amount for which the item sold. that could be less than you paid for it. you want to return something you bought online check the policy on the website and stores will take the items back through the website. now, if you plan to take something back, don't detroit packaging, keep all stickers, labels and tags intact. >> you want to be sure not to open the packaging if you are not sure you want it because, again, if you to get it you can leave all the tags and labels on item but if you destroy the packaging or rip it apart, again, you will have much more difficult time returning it. >> you want to watch out for hidden fees. some stores charge a restocking fee especially on things like electronics. and today is a huge day. the finale of the 13th annual it's kinder time toy drive. abc2 is teaming up to make holidays special for local children. toys will be given to needy families in honor of fallen firefighters and police

officers. >> i am richard and we are here with the first kinder time toy drive and what a success. we collected over 1,000 toys from our parents and children. and i want to give all our families thank you.♪ we wish you a merry christmas ♪ we wish you a merry christmas ♪ we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year. >> you will want to tune in tonight at 5 and 6 on abc2 news. we will have live coverage of police officers and firefighters from throughout the state stopping here at abc2 grabbing the toys and then delivering them as needed. if you haven't donated, you have time to drop them off here at the studios later today. news time is 5:07. family of xavia pirozzi are fighting to save her life. the miracle they are hoping for and one they received. certain plate colors may help you eat less. the story has been trending on the website all morning and find out the secret for

yourself and other top stories at abc2news.com. you are watching good morning maryland and we are back in a bit.

now "good morning maryland." good news for a family struggle with life threatening illness. we told you about xavia pirozzi yesterday. and nearly 900 people showed up to help. has lymphoma and a bone marrow drive spearheaded by the ryan foundation. her 15-month-old boy passed away from leukemia and hopes her story and xavia will help. >> they are looking for christmas miracle. five yearsas we got a heart january 6th right after christmas maybe this will be another christmas miracle. >> it takes 20 minutes to help save a life. paperwork and a swab of your mouth and that's it. more people from the drive promisessed to mail in samples hopefully a christmas miracle is on the way for this young

girl. time for a check of the forecast. let's go back over to just in. >> all right. at 5:11. we look at mostly cloudy skies this morning. we will get sun and those of us that have been in touch for a while you know i have a one track mind. no snow in sight and there's snow in the great lakes and heavy rain out of east texas that lay lou the upper level winds, you can sigh it takes us back to the wet and it could be very wet tonight. temperatures mild again unlike yesterday's record high of 62. we will be be close to the temperature but not close to a record. that will be 70 today. we are aiming for 606789 part will you sunny sky. the rain tense and christmas outlook we will tack about next. here's angela with traffic. >> reporter: on the roadways right now, checking in with anne arundel county police and we have a road closure with an accident in pasadena. for those of you who normally

take route 648 at almond road we are shut down. the best bet is to take mcafee bridge road. no closures on i-95. it's a good trip through howard county north bond to the baltimore beltway. and here's beltway's top side where we are incident free between bel air and green spring avenue. back to you it's not too early to make plans for new year's eve, but up next, the plans the mayor has put in place for you to enjoy the new year's eve celebration in baltimore. plus, how a 10 million dollar key pos -- deposit lands a new zealand millionaire in jail. you are watching good morning maryland with what's new now and next on this thursday, december 22nd.

now "good morning maryland." welcome back. you have not opened your holiday presents but the mayor wants you to think about baltimore for new year's. and yes, there will be fireworks. due to financial problems and a reduction of donation, there was concern there wouldn't be fireworks this year. but mayor stephanie rawlings blake announced there would be fireworks. along with plenty of other fun activities for those who come downtown. activities beginning at 9 p.m. that's going to be on new

year's eve. good news for the baltimore city rec centers. board of estimates approved a plan to have have the city rec centers run by the organization. they don't want them to be run by the city. the plan is including building new learning centers and expanding 10 others. and state board of public works approved a lease for slot machines. the vote for 168 million dollar lease was 2-1 with comptroller opposing the plan. maryland has spent nearly 100 million to buy 1500 slots at the perryville casino and 800 machines of ocean down's hort track on the eastern shore. and the deal between exelon and constellation has been approved by the u.s. justice department but there are rules and few companies has to sell three maryland power plants before the purchase can go through. if the companies keeps the plants there will be too much marketing power raising fears

of electricity prices and possibility of hikes. the companies need approve from a number of other departments. another company is now dealing with a steep fine. pepco has been find a million dollars for failing to maintain its system properly and subjecting customers to long islands. maryland public service commission issued the fine as they received an unusually high number of complaintsch the company must also file detailed work plans how they will handle things for the next five years. that's got to be filed by mid- february. justin. now, maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most accurate by weatherra. >> 5:18. sometimes you don't have to say a world because the picture does all the talking for you. look at the temperatures right now. 49 degrees in baltimore after a record high of 62. it's 65 in hatteras and charleston. 62 manufacturing yesterday's high currently the temperature in charlotte 67 mont golry. get the idea this is warm --

montgomery. you get the idea this is warm stuff. freezing in chicago is warm but that's when you step back into wentry type air. you will notice a couple streamers and old boundaries off the coast and we have the resurgeent moisture out of east texas that's great for them. southern arkansas getting in on the heavy rain and there's going to be storms erupting out ahead of this thing. there's the old front off the coast. but it stalls to the south and that will be the track at least initially for the storm. once this gets cranking and it's going to pass again to the northwest. we will be on the warm side and it pulls in warm air. and yes, we will have a lot of rain. cold air is to found back there. you have to go west young man and find the stuff back across the northern plains great lakes and colorado gets the fun and we will get in on cold air behind this storm. we will resurge the moisture. heavy stuff comes in this evening. heavy downpours and perhaps rumbles of thunder and it breaks up in the morning. but we have hit 60 again today. turning partly sunny and look

for tonight's temperatures back down into the 40s. rain heavy at times ending at daybreak. a peek here if we get the maps to adjust i. want to jump ahead to christmas because the weekend will be dry for the ravens game and still a chance of flakes but i am diminishing the chance of a storm on christmas. but christmas night, we could have some snow showers around town. let's check on the traffic with angela. >> reporter: thanks. and good morning. as you get ready do head out, the trouble spot is in pasadena. we are suggesting an alternate because there's a accident blocking all lanes of route 648. in the meantime, checking your drives south of baltimore, all routes heading towards the capital u.s. 29 looking pretty good at maryland 108. another live look a-95 north of maryland -- i-95 north of maryland 100. southbound lanes towards 495 especially. back to you. a california man is biting his tongue after what he he wrote on facebook that got him in deep trouble e said

someoneshould assassinate the president and his children. shortly after posting that, the secret service showed up at his front door. manson admitted he was mad about the spending bill the president signed and says that as result of this, he will think before he speaks. following several close calls and crashs new rules are put in place to prevent pilot fatigue. rules will reduce the number of on duty hours for a pilot but only for a maximum of 16 hours a day to 14 a day. the flight time will be limited to 8 or 9 hours. there will be a 10-hour minimum rest period prior to a flight duty and weekly annual limits on the actual flight time. >> that is big deal today. aid big deal because for 25 years, people have been talking about this and haven't done a dang thing about it. we have. >> the rule will go into effect in two years allowing commercial passenger airline

operators to work in the transition. the president took a break. what mr. obama and the first dog did yesterday while the family was away from the white house. >> come on. come on. >> oh. >> oh. >> dramatic video out of detroit as a couple tries to escape the burning home. we will tell you what happened when we return. news time is 5:22. 49 degrees outside. and you are watching "good morning maryland." @ @

breaks news out of iraq. a wave of bombings ripped across baghdad a few hours ago and killed 57 people while wounding at least 200 others. this comes days after president obama declared the war in iraq officially over. finish authorities launched a investigation after fining 69 missiles on a ship bound for china. police found the explosives on board a british cargo ship. they were found during a custom search in early december. authorities are looking into whether export laws have been

violated. meanwhile, england soccer captain john terry has been charged with ray sim. officials say he abused another player it happened at a english premier match. he will appear before a judge scheduled for february 1st. a man known as the runway millionaire was denied bail. the case will be handled by new zealand authorities. leo faces 16 charges of theft of money and laundering. he is accused of. [audio not understandable] he was sent to prison after his hearing. health authorities in france are considering suggesting nearly 30,000 women get their breast implants removed because of warnings about ruptures and links to cancer. the concerns are linked to a prefilled silicone jell implant made by a defunct french company. now doctors want the government to foot the bill for the women

to get the implants removed. for many of us christmas is a time happiness and cheers and sharing traditions. coming up, we will look at some of the smiths surrounding the holiday season. plus a.9-year-old visiting relatives in new york get strainted in baltimore. what caused this mixup and what happened next. you watching "good morning maryland" first a only at 4:30.