that area. in the meantime, let's check our traffic, traveling on u.s. 29 and maryland 108 northbound and southbound lanes all open between i-70 through the burtonsville area, and on the north side of 695, here is the beltway at green spring avenue, north side open between 95 all the way around to 795. and remember to follow us on twitter this morning at maryland traffic. charley, back to you. congress has finally worked out a deal. they've agreed to extend the payroll tax cuts for two additional months. abc 2 news' linda stow is here now with what that could mean for you in the vote expected today. linda. reporter: charley, in just a few hours the house and senate are expected to approve the bill by unanimous consent. it's a procedural measure so lawmakers won't actually have to return to washington on their holiday break. the deal essentially means you won't see a tax hike come january 1st. it came down to the wire with house republicans finally caving and agreeing to a short- term two-month extension of that parole tax cut. as part of the deal, the senate will appoint members to negotiate with the house on a

one-year extension. that's what house republicans have been pushing for all along. the deal basically means you won't be losing $40 from your paycheck every two weeks. >> we all have bills to pay. we try to make it paycheck to paycheck the way it is. reporter: the president is urging congress to work out a compromise when they return for a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut. the short-term deal also extends emergency federal unemployment benefits which amounts to about $300 a week. linda stow, abc 2 news. a new report says the washington monument showing some serious signs of damage still existing from an east coast earthquake. cracking and chipped stones in the top of the monument are leaving it highly vulnerable to rainfall. standing water already being seen on some of the higher floors of the monument. the report was prepared by the same group that you see here, repelling down the side, looking for damage after that quake. the report does not estimate how long the repairs will take or how much the thing is going to cost. meanwhile in an apps lis, a proposed plan to redraw the

legislative districts in maryland got some feedback from the public last night. the proposed plan was put together by an advisory committee created by governor martin o'malley. the plan was made public last friday and the governor was at that public meeting where he is said to have weighed in on the comments from the people, but there are not expected to be any changes. >> we're going to keep an open mind, the vote of the committee was unanimous and i'll listen to the testimony today. >> the final map would be be sent to the general assembly in january. lawmakers will then have 45 days to approve that plan or create their own. in crime checker for you this morning, police in howard county are looking for a woman in this video and you can see she's stealing packages off of front porch. take a look at that. it happened last friday in the 8200 block of westin drive in ellicott city. you see the woman drive up to the house, get out of her car and walk back with a package in her arms. police think the thief may have other packages from other homes and residents are encouraged to check all deliveries and call police if they notice something

is missing. in baltimore county police there are looking for answers after a man is found stabbed to death outside of a stranger's home in woodlawn. it happened in a neighborhood on panel drive. police say the victim was lying in the street. police inside the home say they had -- they had no idea it was their front yard that had become a crime scene. >> she woke up and heard a lot of loud noises at the front of her house. she looked out the window and saw someone motioning for help, and she called the police. >> police say the victim lived on kenelworth avenue in baltimore. investigators are still trying to piece together what he was doing in a relatively remote wooded area along glenn falls. a 3-year-old hartford county boy was hit by a bb gun and this morning police are still looking for the person responsible. that family spoke with abc 2 news about the incident and corein redman has an update. reporter: a week ago evan miller and his mother cheryl were walking back from the school bus stop in their bel aire neighborhood when he was hit by something totally

unexpected, a shot from a bb gun. it happened in the amclay east neighborhood after evan was hit by the bb gun, his mother quickly took him home and called 911. evan's mother described the scary incident to us. police are investigating the incident. they also issued a warning over bb guns. >> he was walking very slow, i was a couple of steps ahead of him. i heard a pop and he started to scream and grabbing his leg. i went back to him and pulled up his pant leg and he had a little round circle of blood. >> make sure you treat all guns as if they're loaded and also point them also in a safe direction. reporter: evan's parents also tell us they are thankful the situation wasn't worse. he recovered quickly from that incident. corine redman, abc 2 news. sad news to report, a woman who police say was beaten with a hammer has died as a result of those injuries. back in march police say shirley garrett's 14-year-old grandson hit her several times with a hammer. the 67-year-old died during the weekend at union memorial

hospital. the boy was originally charged as an adult with attempted murder, but in august that case was then turned over to the juvenile court. a family from texas on a holiday trip ended up being stranded for days. coming up how rescue crews were able to find them and how that family is doing this morning. plus if you shopped online at best buy, why you may not be receiving your order as quickly as possible. we'll bring you what's new now and next on this friday, december 23rd. you're watching "good morning maryland." a live look down at the inner harbor.

news time 5:08. the pictures say it all, a family buried in a snow drift for nearly two kays. two adults and their 5-year-old daughter were traveling to mexico monday when they were struck by the storm. search crews found the family's suv under four feet of ice. of course, they were lethargic and clinging to one another when they were found. at last check, that family is still in the hospital. sunshine expected today in denver, but not before mother nature dumped nearly a foot of snow on that city. the weather has made holiday travel a nightmare and crews

are working around the clock to clear the runways at denver international airport. unfortunately dozens of flights have already been canceled, so the dominoes start falling. we expect travel delays throughout the day, justin. >> yes, charley, we have our very own issues here. if it was snow, we could have been seeing those tallies. it was just rain and a whole lot of it. leading the charge on our list, churchville, harvard tech high school 1.67 inches. mount airy middle school comes over with an inch and a half. it was coming down heavy last night. all temperatures are in the 40s this morning with the rain done. 49 officially in baltimore. now easton has pulled back. that front now clearing easton and just about to where they'r 50s. you can see that rain sliding through the del marva. we are drying out behind it even though we have residual clouds, there will be some breaks in the clouds. the winds pick up. we'll get back to about 53 degrees this afternoon, but reverse those numbers, 35 mile per hour wind gusts could be expected and we should settle things down tonight. we'll talk about the ski

weather and, of course, that outlook for christmas coming up in a moment. here's angela with traffic. reporter: quite busy out there already this morning on the roadways with the overnight rain. a lot of accidents to report. if you're traveling in westminster right now, you'll see police on route 27 clearing an accident at 482. otherwise pretty good in that region on 140 and 30 making your way to 795. and 795 looking good heading to that northwest corner of 695. here's the beltway and old court road. very light volume so far out there for you. and in annapolis, a live look at route 50 and route boulevard traffic good here too with light volume in both directions. charley, back to you. we put out the call and you answered it. up next how your generosity is making the holidays a little bit brighter for families in need also how tsa is helping get through the airport terminal. dasha hill turning 7 years old today. we want to wish you a very happy birthday, dasha.

make it a great one. it's a great prelude dancing into the christmas holiday so you get double the gifts, if you have a birthday or an anniversary, maybe a pet photo or a city scape for us, wmar.com. always love sharing what you see. we're back in a bit.

the worst possible news you could get just before christmas, your order can't be fulfilled. that's what some customers are now being told by best buy according to the associated press the overwhelming demand for some products from bestbuy.com led to the problem redeeming online orders from november and december. so if you're still waiting for that package, you may have to come up with a plan b. well, if you need to get a replacement gift or you still haven't finished your shopping, we've got some tips for you to keep that tres at a minimum if you're a procrastinator. first make a plan and stick to it. write down a list of who you're buying for and what they want and have several ideas in case your first choice is gone. also pick a convenient location. malls are the obvious choice and large stores will often give you more variety. now, be resourceful. it pays to be tech savvy.

look online for coupons and download the apps that will show you where the sales are best located and be decisive. there is no time to sweat the small stuff, like which color they like better and always follow your instincts. and to avoid the crowds, shop during the off hours. a lot of stores are staying open past midnight, even 24 hours between now and christmas eve. hundreds of local kids are feeling the joy of your generosity. for the 13th year our viewers answered the call and donated to its kinder time toy drive. firefighters and police were santa's helpers yesterday, hauling all those gift noose a truck to be delivered. for the mack family it's been a tough road. their son alex had a traumatic brain injury and is going through therapy at kennedy kreeger. mom is thankful for the help. >> a lot of miracles here, each and every single day. it's a place and experience we will never forget. >> is everybody having fun? >> that man right there behind the whole thing, he's our multi- media journalist pete o'neal.

the event continues honoring men and women who have died in the line of duty as firefighters and police officers. if you're traveling this holiday season, the tsa is now going the extra mile to help certain passengers. they're operating a hotline called tsa care for people with special needs. people who need help getting through security can call that number before they get to the airport. agents on the other end will answer questions and help those callers set up special screening requests. the hotline will be available monday through friday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. the number there at the bottom of your screen, 855-787-2227. give them a call if you have any questions. justin. >> 5:16, the announcer said at maryland's most powerful doppler radar with five sweeps across the chesapeake. that includes the dover site you see right there, the air force base. they're showing some leftover showers and even some moisture there. now, ahead of the front there was a lot of fog last night. now that the front has moved through, we're starting to stir

up the winds. angela talked about some fog restrictions on the bridges, but i believe that those conditions should be improving if they haven't done so already. so we're getting the rain out of here. now we take a look at the radar in motion and you can see those leftover showers starting to push their way out. behind that it looks like we have some cloud cover. that will break up as strong winds kick in behind the storm. the strong winds now producing snow in upstate new york, the adirondacks are getting it, off the white and green mountains of new hampshire and even some of the berkshires in massachusetts could get some snowflakes on the back side of this storm. at least that's good news for the northern ski resorts. by the way, this little system here, that's another push of cold air. an upper level disturbance that will likely pass through the great lakes over the weekend and try to watch the upper level pattern here that could very well support some snow showers coming off the great lakes and reaching us late christmas, christmas night into monday morning. we're trying to squeeze out any flake we possibly could just for the ambeespecially of some christmas -- ambience of

christmas snow. don't plan on stickage. temperatures starting off mid- 40s to near 50. we've already gotten the rain outta here and we're expecting a partly to mostly sunny sky developing. strong winds, 53 degrees. we'll have those winds at 35 miles per hour, and then the winds settle down and we'll drop into the 40s this evening and even lower overnight. by the way, quick outlook for tomorrow, if you're getting to the ravens game, the browns in town, kickoff at 1:00 and we are expecting a mostly sunny sky, 42 kickoff. we'll push a high of 44 degrees. those browns, ah, we gotta take care of some business, don't we? beyond that we'll be looking at the christmas outlook in just a moment. by the way, we did talk about the chance of a storm reaching us early in the week for this day, so this is a major improvement and we've been locking in on this dry weather, good weather to be outside for the 70 or so people enjoying that game. late see what's happening on the roads this morning. here's angela. reporter: justin, on the roadways, as you mentioned, we had those overnight fog restrictions. they have been lifted at the chesapeake bay bridge, but we are following quite a few incidents already this morning.

in glen burnie, got a road closure, knapp creek road off of sully road. a pole down as a result of an accident there. and we are also seeing some slippery conditions as you make your way around the region. let's get a live look at traffic flow on i-95, your trip between laurel and baltimore should be a quiet one on i-95. 295 also a good northbound route. and here's your early driving conditions on i-83 in parkton, again, a little slippery out there for your morning drive, so use caution. charley, back to you. yesterday it was new rules for pilots, today it's truckers. the government has set new scheduling rules saying drivers can't drive more than 70 hours in a week. that's down from 82. safety advocates have been pushing for a limit on how many hours they can drive for quite some time. among those pushing for the more severe rules is a local family, the slatteries. his wife was killed and son critically injured when a sleepy truck driver ran into their car. reporter: the baltimore man accused of plot to go bomb a military recruiting center will be charged. a federal judge has decided not to dismiss the charges against

him. antonio martinez is charged with attempted murder and attempted use of a weapons of mass destruction. he pleaded not guilty earlier this year. martinez' lawyer says the government didn't record some of his early meetings and that an informant says they were coerced and their attempt for a dismissal failed. the $1.3 million bullying suit filed against the baltimore city public school system has finished. the judge has dismissed nine of the 13 counts in that case brought by the sullivan family. they say their 10-year-old special needs son who attended several city schools was repeatedly bullied. they believe the administration for the school didn't do enough to protect him. the jury decided on thursday that the two principals named in that suit were not criminally negligent. a massive fire forced hundreds of families out of their homes in brazil. up next how rescue crews were able to save those trapped in a raging fire. take a look at that video. also ecstasy could alter your brain chemistry. what you need to know and other top trending stories being found at abc2news.com. head there and check it out.

you're watching "good morning maryland" with news now and next for you on this december 23rd. domino's sugar sign right over the inner harbor. we're back in a bit.

is that thing getting closer? look how high that thing's going. look out there, look at the debris.

all right, give me the camera. no, just drive. i've got it. zoom in! zoom in! i can't believe this is happening. look at the size of that thing. it's everywhere. are you getting this? yeah, i've got it. what was that? it's the national guard. how'd they get here so fast? i don't know. pull over! pull over! do you have what it takes to head into the heart of the storm? check out nationalguard.com.

a strong earthquake jolted the city of christchurch in new zealand early friday morning. no tsunami warning and luckily no immediate reports of injuries. that quake rattled many people's nerves following the february quake that killed more than 180 people and destroyed much of that town. friday's quake has so far been listed at a 5.8 magnitude. sound familiar? meanwhile, in russia, the first lady is welcoming kids in from japan who were affected by the devastating earthquake there last march. the kids who lost their parents toored russia to visit the theater and also seeing the ice ballet. this is the third group of japanese children that the first lady has welcomed into russia since that natural disaster. check out this video from brazil. a raging fire out of an -- at an abandoned warehouse, more than 100 fire trucks and firefighters were needed to get that fire under control.

a helicopter was needed to rescue nearby resident. no one was seriously hurt. it's not clear what sparked the fire. in france some 3,000 people are now demonstrating outside of parliament over a new law that makes it a crime to deny the mass killing of armennians during world war i was actually genoside. demonstrators say the bill attacks free speech. they say it's nothing more than an election year political ploy. it's an event swirling with negativity, indy car racing will return to johns city. we'll tell you who's less than thrilled with that news. product register cards, they may seem like a nuisance, hard to imagine, though, one little card could actually save a life. you're watching qurk good morning maryland" on this friday, december 23rd. news time 5:25.

an update on that baby formula recall from wal-mart. i'm linda stow. when test results will be in and details on another baby getting sick. i'm corinne redman, a massive scam now facing new

charges this morning. i'll have the latest coming up. and a georgia woman gets creative using her holiday tradition and shopping herself for a new career. we'll give you the details on this friday, december 23rd. good morning, maryland, i'm charley krauss. just two days until christmas, two shopping days left. guys, if you haven't started, now would be the time. how's the weather going to be? let's check in now and say good morning to meteorologist justin justin burk. >> quorng, charley. 5:29. want to show you the national picture here, storm departing, snow in northern new england. we're also watching this little piece -- well, we were watching that little piece of energy across the northern plains. we've got ourselves this frontal boundary that's trying to clear the coast. we had on average an inch and a half of rainfall. in fact, some of the weather net locations showing that this morning and we can highlight 1.67 inches in churchville, hartford county leading the charge there. we've got 1.19