thursday, friday, into the weekend itself we've got some summerlike heat around the corner. the warmest so far this season. maryland's most powerful doppler radar, the rain that ended made a return around the baltimore area so we've got showers in addition to the fog. making the fog even thicker. watch the yellow shading south of the bay bridge. we have easton to cambridge and salisbury, eastern shore, we don't want to leave you out because we know loot of you are traveling on route 50, it's mighty wet, expect possible flooding there on the eastern shore, we already picked up one to two inches of rain. could add double that today. fog this morning, 52. we stay at 57 with more showers in the afternoon. so keep the umbrella handy because it will be wet on and off throughout the day. volume is starting to pick up around the area. that is causing some speeds to be down in addition to the low visibility because of the fog and road spray. starting to slow down on the west side at liberty road headed towards i-70 and the

baltimore national pike. as we look around more you'll see traffic for the most part, all lanes open everywhere, especially the top side looking good at harford road towards the belair road exits and dulaney valley road as well. drive times are up somewhat. southbound 95 from whitemarsh boulevard to the beltway, five minutes to make that trip. 83 southbound from shawan to 695, seven minutes. and 795, southbound from owings mills boulevard to the beltway, about five minutes. still disabled vehicle 83 southbound on the ramp to the inner loop, it's been cleared to the shoulder. back to you. it won't be so bad after all. we won't have to say goodbye to 300 police officers and see fire companies close. the mayor has a different plan now to balance the budget. linda so joins us live in studio to share it with us. >> reporter: the mayor is changing her tune. she now says cuts will not be as deep and her priority is to keep public safety in tact. mayor rawlings-blake was in the oliver community this weekend, a neighborhood that has been

showcased nationally for its crime. hbo's "the wire" shot scenes on the streets and the dawson family was killed when their rowhome was firebombed by drug dealers. at an event this weekend the mayor assured the community some of the cuts outlined in the initial budget plan last week were unnecessary and went too far. she plans to submit a different plan to spare deep cuts to police and fire. >> they will commit crimes knowing the districts are short. >> reporter: when the mayor submits her new plan it will include restoring the rotating fire department closures. the mayor also wants to avoid closing rec centers. in the studio, linda so, abc2 news. >> if you want to see the mayor's entire budget proposal head to abc2news.com. scroll down on the righthand side of the home page to "links mentioned on air." it will take you directly to city hall's web site. again, that is abc2news.com.

6. 32. 52 degrees. topping a look at news around the nation, repair crews brought down the crane that collapsed into a 30-story building near wall street in new york saturday night. they did so yesterday. police say part of the building's facade broke off after the crane hit a ledge on the 23rd floor causing bricks and concrete to rain on to the street. no one was hurt and several buildings had to be evacuated. and several blocks were shut down causing slow traffic in lower manhattan. dash cam rolling from a police cruiser as a 14-year-old led police in santa fe on a wild chase. now she's in big trouble. so are her friends that were with her. the teenager did not have a driver's license but she led police on a 12-mile high-speed chase. she was finally pulled over by the spike trap that the officers had to put out to slow her down. she faces felony charges and police say if the girl had just pulled over from the beginning she would have only been charring with driving without

-- charged with driving out a license. a narrow escape for two men in a helicopter. taking pictures of a fishing tournament off miami beach when the helicopter's engine failed. the chopper plunged about 100 feet into the water. >> it was scary. there's no time to be scared. you just try to get out. our hands are on the seat belts as soon as the skid touched the water. >> minutes after they crashed a boat came along to pull them to safety. the pilot isn't sure why the engine failed. he said it had been working just fine. then says he's just grateful there were boaters there to rescue not only him but the passenger as well. the long beach city college officials say these little furry guys are out of control. >> what? >> out of control. rabbits have taken over the southern california campus. traditionally people who live around the school let the an pals loose after -- animals loose after keeping them as pets. there's truth to the old saying that they are multiplying at an

insane rate. at last check 500 of them. but that number gross everyday and the -- grows everyday and the school issued a warning for neighbors to stop leaving rabbits on campus. >> it's not like they are leaving snakes or something. are you craving a plate of bacon and doughnut about now? >> turns out this eviction could be similar to a drug addiction. and now doctors may have a new way to deal with obesity. syracuse, kentucky, maryland, kansas. nobody you know is in the final four! who is headed to indianapolis? next. >> 6:35. we've got a look now at stevenson. when are they going to get their ticket to the big dance? when? 54 degrees now. we are looking at some pretty thick fog and rain making a return so. it's wet around the region. that is going to slow down your commute this morning. here's kim brown. >> for the most part the major roads not looking too bad. traffic flowing freely on the west side of the beltway at

frederick road. you'll see slowing on the outer loop between 795 and i-70. quick peek at the maps, still working a crash in northerly laurel, route 216 at all saints road. police in the process of clearing that. and drive times look pretty good as well, southbound 95 from various points -- it's not going to take you that much longer to make it around. just road spray and fog maybe slowing you up. now let's check the buses and trains with mark jones. >> good morning. you'll find the number 21 wusa -- bus with a diversion southbound at caroline and madison due to construction. number 11 diverted northbound at bosley and chesapeake for construction. and heavy volume on the 13, 7 and 5 buses. on the light rail, it's on time but with shuttles between timonium and hunt valley still bridging the gap and marc showing brunswick 874 with a 10 to 15-minute delay. other trains and lines are marc look good. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones.

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6:40. military divers are set to go down to the wreck of a south korean war ship that exploded over the waters of north korea possibly trapping 46. four u.s. ships that were in the area already joined in on the rescue mission. south korean and u.s. officials say they have no indication of north korean involvement in the unexplained explosion. 58 crew members were rescued. scientists finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected for years. bacon, cheesecake, other delicious yet fattening food may be addictive. a new study suggests that high-fat, high-calorie foods effect the brain much the same waco cane or -- same way cocaine or heroin does and

when it's consumed in great enough quantities it leads to compulsive eating habits that lead to drug a-- resemble drug addiction. treatments are being considered. in the carolinas, violent storms in and around charlotte. the national weather service is now going to be going out there to see and assess whether a tornado did hit. tornado warnings were issued throughout the day from charlotte to greens boaro. your safety may not be on the chopping block after all. >> the city won't have to say goodbye to 300 cops and a handful of fire companies. the new budget coming up. >> and a homeowner in perry hall nearly robbed but turns around. he protects himself and his family. >> plus, they all got the same hair cut and raised a lot of money for a great cause. >> and these kids get an "a"

plus for green efforts. what they are doing to help the environment.

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thank you for joining us on this monday morning. it won't be the prettiest monday but hang on. >> here he is with the -- the snow will finally be gone by friday. >> is that why you said ho? -- >> yeah. >> 6:what. we have thick fog this morning -- 6:45. we have thick fog this morning. we have fog and rain in ellicott city. this is veterans elementary school, the rain returned even though it tried to depart overnight. on maryland's most powerful doppler radar, there's ellicott city back towards woodlawn and the west side of the beltway looks pretty wet. in fact we're pretty much wet as the rain did depart. the rain is pushing its way through hunt valley and on the 83 stretch watch what happens east of the bay bridge, heavy rain in southern maryland now, easton, cambridge, salisbury, route 50,

could be flooding here because we've already seen one to to two inches of rain and could double that for the delmarva this morning. this is in response to a storm system passing to the southeast. we're on the fringe in baltimore. not much in pennsylvania except for the fog but we'll be on the edge of the rain bands as the heavy stuff passes to the south and east. any frontal boundary that came through is pretty much going to stall out with a wave of low pressure reinvigorating the rainfall. and another one behind that as we head through the day tomorrow. coming up from the south. behind that there's actually an area of high pressure that will dramatically warm things up by the end of the week. so we'll see a major improvement. as we head through today bands of rain will continue and they will get wrapped back around low pressure as we head through the day tomorrow. plan for a cooler wet day tomorrow. then it gets better. 57 today. we've got fog, we've got the showers already making a return. just man for wet weather on an off throughout the day and tonight down to 47. check out what you see at the bottom of the screen. that warm-up by the end of the week in a moment.

here's kim brown with traffic. >> it's going to be really foggy especially at the bridges so take your time as you make your way across the key, hatem, tidings and bay bridge. in 97, both directions at the beltway, or just a little south of the beltway, anne arundel county, still foggy conditions lingering around the area as we look at the top side of the beltway at harford road. volume starting to pick up. that is starting to cause a slowdown there on the outer loop as you approach belair road. again, give yourself a few extra minutes. you can see that fog hasn't lifted everywhere. drive times looking a little up. 83 southbound from shawan approaching the beltway, about seven minutes. on the outer loop between the 83s, still only one minute. on the jfx from the beltway to northern parkway, five minutes. no crashes around the area but we do have an incident in elkton, you'll see the intersection at delaware avenue and howard street closed in both directions because of some high water and some flooding so keep that in mind but for the most part given road conditions we're looking pretty good as

you make your way around beltway and headed to the dc metro area. back to you. when you heard the city was about to cut police you knew someone had to step up and protect us. abc2 news linda so is here to say that money is going to be there. >> reporter: it's likely taxes and fees will go up to make up for some of the ailing budget but the plan to cut 300 police officers and close fire companies is now out the door. at an event this weekend mayor rawlings-blake said some of the cuts outlined in the initial plan were unnecessary and went too far. she plans to submit a different budget in the coming weeks. it would spare deep cuts to police and fire. the mayor change her tune while speaking to a crowd in the oliver community. a neighborhood that has been showcased nationally for its crime. hbo's "the wire" shot scenes on these streets and a family was killed when their rowhome was firebombed by drug dealers. >> if you make a call for the police it takes a while for them to get here. i guess it's because they don't

have enough. >> i have seen everything under the sun. i've seen people dying on the streets. >> when the mayor submits her new budget plan on april 12th it will include restoring the rotating fire department closures. the mayor also wants to avoid closing rec centers. >> if you want to see the entire budget for the mayor under her proposal head to abc2news.com. scroll down on the righthand side of the home page with the "links mentioned on air." we'll take directly to the city hall web site. police in baltimore county are also investigating a deadly home invasion that happened in perry hall but in this case it's the burglar who is dead. it happened around 5:45 yesterday morning in the 4200 block of chapel road off of belair road. police have not identified either the gunman nor the victim but say it appears a man broke into a home when the homeowner confronted him. the would-be burglar i guess was shot and killed. they have not released a name.

police in east baltimore are searching for suspects in the death of a 16-year-old over the weekend. happened around 4:30 saturday afternoon in the 1,400 block of north luzerne avenue near east oliver. the teen was rush to hopkins where he was pronounced dead. the name hasn't yet been released and police are still searching for more information. the attempted murder trial is set to start for a man accused of shooting two people. one of them a 5-year-old girl police say 17-year-old lamont davis was responsible for the shooting in the 300 block of south pulaski street. the 5-year-old was found lying in the street with a gunshot wound to the head. police say davis was in a fight with several others when the shooting broke out. the little girl did survive. the head of russia's main security agency says that rebels are believed to have carried out two suicide bombings on moscow's subway system that killed 36 people. officials say two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on trains as the subway was

packed with rush hour passengers this morning. the first station hit is under the building that houses the main offices of the federal security service, the kgb's main successor agencies. the second one happened at another station, about 45 minutes later. how's it going - >> u.s. soldiers in afghanistan got a surprise visit from the commander in chief. it marked president obama's first time visiting the country since taking office. while speaking to the troops he thanked them for the progress being made on the battlefront while warning about the difficult days ahead. earlier, in a meeting with the afghan president, president obama stressed the ultimate goal of passing the security responsibly held by the karzai-led government. >> i urge the transition -- that more and more security efforts are made by the

afghans. >> despite a positive public acknowledgment privately the obama administration is urging karzai to clean up the cost and root out -- government and root out corruption. with the world watching the pope resided over the start of holy week at st. peter's. at his homily, made only an indirect mention of the scandal shaking the catholic church. questions are raised about the pope's handling of abusive clergy as arch wish bishop of germany and later head of the vatican office entrusted with handling abuse. >> no one has been more vigorous in cleansing the church of the effects of this sickening sin and crime than the man we now call pope benedict xvi. >> dolan from new york. then as cardinal pope benedict xvi has been criticized for not dismissing a priest who abused an estimated 200 deaf boys.

volunteers are needed to help clean up civil war battlefields including one in maryland. wilderness battlefield here in virginia. wilsons creek in missouri and here in maryland as well. the clean-up is scheduled for april 10th. 100 historic sites in 23 states. this is the 14th edition of the volunteer roundup. volunteers will be given a t-shirt. one of the most unpredictable ends to the ncaa tournaments in recent history served a bit of a familiar for the final four. listen to this. a good dose of everything we're getting in this one. west virginia going back for the first time since 1959. jerry west was there. opponents saturday will be duke, the only number one seed to make it to indianapolis. and a pair of number five seeds. that's the first time it's happened. butler is making its final four appearance when it takes on

michigan state which is back again and again. way to go. and baltimore was ecofriendly over the weekend. taking part in the fourth annual observance of earth hour. city hall, national aquarium, were among several city buildings that joined thousands of buildings around the world in turning off all the lights, all the appliances for an hour. exactly 8:30 saturday night. the ultimate goal, to reduce energy consumption and draw attention to the dangers of climate change. it was sheer madness this weekend at martin's east where dozens of participants decided to cut it off in the name of charity. over 160 men, women and children joined with the st. baldrick's foundation to shave their hair in a sign of solidarity with the estimated 160,000 children diagnosed with cancer every year, in baltimore and all over the world. >> it helps research for children with cancer it gets shipped to california. they get grants.

i know locally there was two grants last year. then it goes all the all over the world as far as i know. i saw bermudaa on the web site the other day. >> the 10-year-old foundation funds research projects conducted by pediatric cancer experts as well as young professionals. what an effort from immaculate heart of mary. >> the school is about as green as you can get. >> they took back all the magazines you bought over the years. in the first 10 days the school collected over 20,000 magazines. and terry archi bald led the charge in two homerooms. the winners got a pizza party. not only does ihm collect, they clean up and they are going to mind bank run to clean out the stream april 10th. the principal and students at ihm, you get an a for going

green. 6:55. everything goes green this week but this morning a little foggy. hard to even determine what color is what out there. you may even have trouble seeing overhead street signs with the rain that returned. it's a wet start, low 50s. only to 57 and back to 47 overnight. tomorrow more showers, only near 50 and then we clear out and down to about 38. wednesday, more sun and 61. 75 thursday. one more time here friday, expecting 80 degrees. it's possible we stay near that range but we're going to pull back a little on saturday and sunday. staying dry next weekend. 78. we have reports of a disabled vehicle southbound on the bw parkway on the ramp getting on to route 175. the ramp is still passable at this time. >> don't forget about "good morning maryland" at 9:00. see you then.