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to click away across maryland, - nabbing drivers and raking in millions in fines. but a new study says some of the deals with those operating the cameras, are putting money far ahead of public safety. joel d. smith is live downtown nnar one of the cameras now to explain how some of these deals can cost cities millions. good morning joel d. good morning megan, this study looked at deals between

municipalities and vendors of traffic cameras like these across the country... and it found in some cases, profits are a huge motivator forr vendors based on the contraccs with cities. they all agree the need for safety is there, but some say cameras should be left to catching action like this: this: these are crashes in missouri, caught by a company that makes red light cameraa. but the study by marypirg finds that in many places across the country, safety is not at the heart of the contracts between vendors and cities. the group found many local governments tend to ut profit over public safety - by hiring companies that get paid on a per-ticket basis. and in other situatiins, governments give up too much control... meaning if politicians want to change the deal, or end a contract, they'll have to pay millions. we asked some drivers what they think about this study, the cameras and getting those fines now? 5328 i've gotten one , i come the same way everyd ay, so it does keep it in mind to slow down in those areas. 51:10 i still don't think that it's a good thing to do. whh can't we just use the police

officers if soembody's speeding the group is now calling for more transparency from the private vendors that operate the traffic cameras and more government involvement. marypirg sayssin all new contracts... avoid direct or indirect incentives for vendors that are based on the volume of tickets or fines. rrtain complete public control over all transpprtation policy decisions. retain the option to withdraw from a contract early if issatisfied with service or its effectss 3 3 3 3 3 live downtown, joel d. smith, fox 45 morning news. a five year old child dies after a crash on "eye- 83."it happened northbound... yesterday afternoon, around 3 o'clock... on the ramp to 6-95. police say a car slowed down ... and was rear ended by a

speeding car... causing a chain reaction.three adults were taken to the hospital... and two children weee mediiaced to hopkins... where five year old jake owens died. and he inner loop in towson is back up and running this morning...after it was temporarily ssut down wednesday... because of a pollce involved crash.this was the scene... traffic was backed up at providence road... an officer and 2 vehicles were involved.the officer is listed in stable condition..no word on what caused the crash. this was the scene in bethesda... after a deadly city bus crash.one person died and several were injured.it happened yesterray afternoon, around 5 o'clock... on the pockville pike at elsmere avenue.eight passengers were hospitalized..the bus driver was cut out of the wreckage. the river of the pick-up truck.. .was killed. and a teenager is rushed to the hospital ... after pouring gasoline on a bonfire.this was the scene along shady spring avenue in rosedale.a

17-year-old girl suffered burns to her face, arms and chest. she was taken to the johns hopkins bayview burn center. a second person was also burned.no worddon their condition this morning. the department of public works is reminding baltimore residents... to recycle wrapping paper and christmas tr. trees.you can take your tree to the ree-bird avenue citizen drop-off center... throughout the month of january.you can also bring your own containers... to collect mulch. anyone who can't drop off trees... can set them out during regular trash days... just make sure any tinsel is removed. it's a different way to in maryland.pollution problems maryland."environment maryland" tookkto m and t bank how big of a problem chicken - manure is in mmryland.its lattst report says maryland farmerr produce enough chicken manure to cover the entire football field ann reach twice the height of the stadium. farmers take the untreated waste.. and spread it on their

fields as fertilizer.but the excess waste runs right into the bay. 3 "we need to stop putting too much chicken litter on the gorund... we have too much chicken litter and too little land to handle it all. we nned a long term solution to the pro" problem." the group says one solution would be for farmers to grow more organic produce...crops that need less fertilizer.... and they say would do less damage to the environment. the hunt is on in massachusetts... for a robbery suspect who threatened a store clerk... with a syringe. syringe.to make matters worse... the suspect held the syringe to the woman's neck... and claimed it was pontaminated with aids.it's unclear whether or not the claims were true... but shoppers say the thought of it... is scary enough. "a needle, i mean, aids - i mean, how low can you be? that is just awful." the clerk was not harmed. police are offering a 750- dollar reward for any 3

information that will lead to an arrest. the number of police officers killed in the line of dutyy.. last year.that's according to phe national law enforcement officers memorial fund.. which finds 173 law enforcement officers were killed this year. gunffre is to blame for the mmjority of deaths.u-s attorney general eric holder is now calling for a program....that would provide officers with more protective vests. how about a police cruiser... with your dinner?that's just what some restaurant patrons recieved ... after a new meeico police officer crashed his cruiser into the crowded p. place.surveillance video captures the officer slammingg into the restaurant...shatt eriiggthe glass and flipping over. the officer was on his way to a call when another driver hit his car... causing the officer to spin, hit a snow bank... and then end uu

in the restaurant. several other cars in the restaurants parking lot were also destroyed... amazingly no one was hurt. the police officer is on paid administrative leave. "it's christmas miracle that no one got hurt." //butt to//"when we heard that all this had happened and all these people were involved and no one was hurt, we all said it was like a christmas miracle" miracle." state police areeinvestigating whether the officer or the woman who hit him is at fault. workers in new york's time square are putting theefinal touches... on the new year's eve ball drop.l-e-d bulbs are being used this year... to meet new lighting efficiency standards.more than a million people are expected to attend the event... wwich ffatures star-studded musical performances, balloons, confetti and a colorful pyrotechnic display. it's a winter celebration... unlike any other.this is the scene in manzhouli city, china... where a massive snow sculpture festival ii being held.the event issdrawing

thousands of visitors... from various countries.artists from china, russia and mongolla have come together... to show off their work. coming up on the early edition... 2011 was the year of the mega disaster. disaster.oh my god, that is the biggest earthquake to date.. date... stay tuned... we take a look at the destruction that defined the year 3 ((break 1)) ((bump in)) ú 3

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need to pick up some things in the new year?fox45 wants to help you out with a shoppiig spree! spree!! all this week on fox45 morning news... we will give away 1-hundred dollar wal-mart gift cards. entering is easy... go to our facebook page... facebook dot com slash fox baltimore. click on the inside fox45 tab and fill out the entry form.we'll draw today's winner later on this morning. coming up... earthquakes... tsunamis... and freak snowstorm. snowstorms...i have no idea what i will do next. or where i will go. we take a look at the 2011

disasters.. that defined a gene. generation...and later...the ravens are ready for a hhstile environment... sunday in cincinnati..how the teams preparing... later in sports. ((bump out)) ((break 2))

3 the pictures werr unreal... the death tolls... tragic in this morning's cover story...jennifer gilbert looks at the worss natural disasters of 2011.theelargest

of those disasters... caused 300-billion dollars in damage. damage. oh my god, that is the biggest earthquake to date... it quake about 80 miles off the coast of sendai japan.oh my god, that is the biggest earthquake to date...it is stiil going...oh my god, the building's going to fall. but no one could know it was about to get much worse. the largest earthquake to ever hit japan triggered a massive tsunami.. withhwaves allost 30-feet high... sweeping away everything in its pathha massive wall of water, a devastating tsunami, it swept ashore on japan's northeastern coast, surging well inland, homes, almost anything in its path. more than 15- thousand people died... tens of thousands ore were left homeless. the devastation.. leaving them no time to grieve. i have no idea what i will o

next. or where i will go. from the national disaster... sprung a national emergency. the earthquake anddtsunami damaged the fukushima diachi nuclear plant and brought the country to the brink of a nuclear crisis. nine months later... the area around the ffkushima plant is still evacuated and plant workers continue working towards a full "cold shutdown " of the facility. ii america... no disasters reached the magnitude of the japan tsunami.. but or the communities affected... the pain was felt just as much. in february... a series of storms dumped snow from the plains... to maine. "every time i go out there there's a couple more inches and it's not letting up." when all that snow began to melt and the spring rains arrived, major rivers in the u-s were overwhhlmed. the mississippi and its tributaries flooded out communities from minnesota to louisiann. floodinn concerns lingered through june. the souris river in north dakota crested at historic levels. more than 11-thousand people

evacuated. many returned to find their homes destroyed. "devastating, heartbreaking, heart-wrrnching." springtime also ushered in deadly tornadoes. there were 201 confirmed twisters over four days in late april. more than 320 people died in six states."we just took a tour, and i've got to ay i've never seen devastation like this." but there was more devastation to come. the deadliest single tornado in the u-s touched down in joplin, missouri on may 22nd. the e-5 killed at least 157 people and decimated the midwest town. the hurricane season was quiet until a storm named irene set its sights on the u-s. irene made landfall as a category one hurricane near cape lookout, north carolina in late october. some of the worst flooding from irene was much farther north.. in land-locked vermont. irene was responsible for more the 40 deaths and more than one billion dollars inndamage over 12 states. hurricane season wasn't over yet and pprts of the northeast were facing an october

snowstorm. upwards of 2 feet of snow fell in some areas. in parts of connecticut, power was out for more than a week."we've been without heat since saturday. the house is cold and where are the trucks? where are they?" leaving frustrated residents anxiouss about what's ahead in 2012. don't forget the sweltering heat over the summer. weather expertt say it was the hottest summer in 75 years. coming up in our 6 o'clock hour... peta is launching a new billboard campaign... that puts celebrities on its naughty list.find out the celebrity who was named "grinch of the year".. for wearing fur. fur.could terrell suggs be in line for a major award?does he even care?and what does tim tebow have to do with it?the answer to these questions... next in sports. ((br coming up in our 6

o'clock hour... women join forces... for a nationwide "nurse-in."the controversial event... that caused hundreds of mothers to walk into target stores... and start breastfeeding. breastfeeding.and some popular floridd theme parks .. are shutdown.the reason why people are being we know everyone's looking for ways to save. why not save on car insurance? [ coin drops ] [ high-pitched voice ] thanks. [ normal voice ] you're welcome. get a free quote at progressive.com.