thanksgiving is traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. retailers are stretching the traditional holiday calendar. best buy is getting the jump with early black friday sales starting today. target starts theirs the sunday before thanksgiving. to lure in the 10% of online holiday shoppers, amazon will launch its online sales a full week before cyber monday. >> judging the amount of people that are out today it looks like it's in full swing. >> reporter: wal-mart announces they will offer free shipping on 60,000 items from toys to electronics over the holidays there's no minimum. >> everyone in retail is sitting up taking notice trying to figure out what they are offering is going to be compared to wal-mart. >> reporter: it's not just big chains feeling the love. this small popcorn shop plans to the hire about a dozen employees for the holidays. >> we're going through what appears is going to be our very best year. >> reporter: after the past few years that's the best present retailers could hope

for. >> black friday is going to come a day early at toys 'r us this year. it's another sign that this year could be a very aggressive holiday selling season. toys 'r us stores will open at 10:00 p.m. nationwide on thanksgiving day. this is the earliest toys 'r us has ever kicked off its black friday doorbuster deals. the discounts range from 50 to 75% off on dolls electronic toys and remote control toys as well. if you're in the market for consumer electronics this holiday season there are many deals to be had. if you're looking for a tv for the deny or bedroom anything you buy that's 40 inches and up will be very well priced right now. the plug-in connect accessory turns your body into a controller. the price is not going to drop for at least a year. if you're waiting for the iphone to come to another carrier other than at&t it looks like 2011 could be the

year. so, the verdict on that product is wait. but if you're looking to buy an android phone experts say now is the time to buy. if you're looking to get an ipad, maybe you want to wait as well. consumers are still looking for upgrades that the ipad doesn't have like a camera and they are waiting for a price drop as well. you can expect both to happen sometime next year. if you're looking for an e reader a kindle or nook. buy now the technology is mature and the prices are under 150 bucks for the e readers. you can head over to our web site and click on the consumer link that's at the top of the home page. when you're planning a trip a lot of people online to check out reviews for different hotels but are the rankings always honest. there are now allegations that some hotel competitors are posting negative made up reviews that are calling the whole system into question. 800 businesses have inquired about a lawsuit against the web

site trip advisor. the lawsuit allegation there's not enough human oversight on those posts. >> as soon as we find a particular hotel who's writing negative reviews or trying to pump up their own rating we will put a big red badge on their property saying we believe this hotel is trying to influence the ratings. >> interesting. but with more than 40 million reviews on the site a few spite full ones are bounds to slip through the cracks readers don't have any way of knowing the difference. you might want to send out your holiday packages earlier this year. fedex expects its busiest holiday season. 16million shipments will match through the fedex system. that is an 11% increase from last year. now for a look at tonight's top stories. a search for a man accused of

killing a pennsylvania wildlife conservation is over. 27-year-old christopher johnson was arrested at a campsite in pennsylvania this morning. he's accused of gunning down officer david roads near gettysburg. this is the first time a game officer has been killed in the line of duty in pennsylvania since 1915. baltimore's mayor stephanie rawlins-blake has her work cut out for her after the city's police union rejected a new contracts. the one year agreement would have cut-offser's pay by 2% in exchange for 5 additional vacation days. they claim they are paying more for mention and benefits. jack john johnson and his wife were arrested. it systems from the couple

covering up payments made to them. johnson has been county executive since 2002. he was the county state's attorney for 8 years before that. his wife leslie was just elected to the pg county council. weather wise, more beautiful sunny weather out there. what a run we're in here. one thing i will say some of the dryest air we've seen all year you do get parched pretty quick. take a look first what we're seeing in our weather net sites. check out bethesda hitting 73 degrees as did clarksville. most spots in the mid to upper 60s. 66 in bel-air, but look how rapidly this dry air cools off. we're already in the low 50s out there headed to the 40s awfully quickly. in fact chester town now reporting 48. , well clear skies over the entire east coast but there is

a storm forming in the midwest. 50s nice and clear a great great start as we continue on this veteran's day weekend we'll talk about the approaching rainstorm it's all coming up. thanks, wyatt. a wal-mart worker in wisconsin is sounding off. she claims she was punished on veteran's day yesterday for wearing a marine's t-shirt. this worker has been there 12 years said she did it in support of her son who is right now in iraq. she was sent home five hours into her shift for wearing that black marine t-shirt under her blue wal-mart uniform. >> the assistant manager terry came up to me and said you're not in work apparel you need to go home. they really took me by surprise and i just -- i'm in shock. >> in a statement a spokesman for wal-mart said the associate manager simply approached her about a dress code violation saying quote our management never asked our associate to leave their shift we were merely attempting to engage in

a conversation that apparently led to some miscommunication. the cartoonist jim davis is apologizing tonight for a garfield comic strip that some veterans found offensive. it shows the spider daring the orange cat to squash him. the spider tells garfield if he is killed they will hold a annual day of remembrance in my honor. >> davis said he didn't know it would appear on veteran's day and called the publication quote the worst timing ever. groups web site are known for big discounts for merchants. healthcare providers are cashing out how they are taking a bite out of healthcare costs. can a any and tuck land you a job. experienceed workers are going under the knife to stay competitive in the job market. look at all the toyota's for sale. let's go with... i'm selling my toyota rav4.

do you know anything at all about the escape? it's a nice light blue color. much like my eyes. my goodness, it's true. the mileage is extraordinary. 28 miles per gallon on the highway. it's a voice-activated sync system. all around, it's better than my toyota. get our best deals. 0% financing and, as a holiday bonus, we'll give you $1500 to use toward your first three payments. is it wrong to drive a toyota to ford's year end celebration? not if you leave it behind.

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media sites like group on and living social can help you save money. how you can making you healthier. more healthcare providers are adding their services to the social media sites discounts and deals and it's catching on with consumers. >> reporter: group buying sites group on and living social are known for their daily officers for big discounts like restaurants. now open your laptop and say a. are taking a bite out of the cost of healthcare. >> people are starting to do comparison shopping in healthcare that we've all been doing a long time in sort of consumer goods. >> reporter: dental exams, eye exams lasik surgery among services offered at huge discounts. and scooped up by the uninsured under insured or those looking to save. >> they dropped the price of the service which frequently moves the afford ability of that service into the realm of reality for many patients. >> reporter: elite smiles

dental in northern virginia a group on deal got patient exam x-rays cleaning and white evening of $49 it. >> there's dentists around the country doing it. we actually talked to them and had a positive response. >> reporter: teeth cleanings and eye exam are one thing but a coupon for more complicated procedures might make patients uneasy. living social says the limits will be set by consumers. >> if they do well with consumers we do them again. consumers really drive it. >> reporter: while it's far from a cure-all prescription for all healthcare needs each healthy discount helps. a revolutionary surgical procedure is gaining popularity. tonight northwest hospital introduces patients to single site laparoscopic surgery more on the benefits of this minimally invasive surgery coming up. and students at one school got a chance to satisfying a craving, help others and try to set a world record at the same time. we'll explain. 3q

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d-con baits are specially formulated to kill in one feeding, guaranteed. d-con. get out. . the driver in a crash that injured soccer star charlie davies and left a baltimore county woman dead is scheduled to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving. a plea hearing for marie espinoza is set for this tuesday. the crash happened on the george washington parkway in virginia 2009. ashley roberta a graduate of mercy high school and university of maryland was killed in the crash. charlie davies had broken bones in his face and lacerated bladder those injuries kept him off this year's u. s. world cup team. this is the latest evolution in minimum millionly invasive surgical techniques.

nor quest hospital has single site they have one incision that goes through the native el. >> reporter: david phillips feels like a new man. he had a severe case of acid reflux which was turning his life upside down of after two years of suffering he came here to northwest hospital for help. >> i was having a lot of problems with severe heartburn it was interrupting sleep. >> reporter: dr. peter guys is the chief of minimally invasive surgery at northwest hospital. he performed a modified version of single site laparoscopic surgery on david. it means fewer points of entry with one single inception through the native el it causes less trauma to the body reduces chance for infection and recovery pain and better

cosmetic outcome for the patient. >> the benefit to the patient first and most obvious is the cosmetic benefit there are little or no scars. in the example of this patient that i showed earlier, there's absolutely no scar that's visible. >> reporter: traditional laparoscopic surgery meant multiple invisions for patients. this new single site surgery means one small incision in the native el it allows since to perform major operations on the colon spleen and gallbladder it's something david is happy he took advantage of it. >> once it's over it's like i'm a new person. i have -- i don't take any medication. i have no sleep issues anymore. i have no issues with eating anything whatsoever as long as i'm careful and follow the rules. >> reporter: since the surgery david has lost 50 pounds and he's ready to live his life again. cherie johnson abc2 news. >> northwest hospital is one of three hospitals in the baltimore area to offer that single site surgery. with millions of americans

still out of work we've heard a left turn of stories going to extremes to try to find jobs. but would you have plastic surgery if you thought that that might help your chances of getting hired. well, that's exactly what some job seekers are doing many are turning to quick fix treatments to shave off years and stay competitive in the job market. >> if it's between an older overweight woman and a young thin girl, the thin girl is going to get the job. i don't care who's more qualified. it's just the way it is. >> and last year alone 40 to 54-year-olds made up 47% of all cosmetic procedures. a plastic surgeon in new york city has even come up with his own job fighter package which includes botox treatments, laser skin resurfacing and a mini facelift. go for the facelift. why stop at the mini you know. good for the full facelift.

>> the whole joe pesci thing. hopefully couple of years before we have to get in that game. chris i tell you what man have you been enjoying it lately. >> terrific fall. fantastic. >> it's been such a lovely stretch of weather compared to this time last year. >> trying to keep last year out of my -- i was standing out in that pretty much all winter. >> la nina year chris. should be a little different. >> in honor of my little girl nina. >> let's take a look outside. cool and clear and awfully dark. 60 degrees right now. look at that humidity, man. 19%. i mean, the air is bone dry. if you feel like you've been reaching for the extra glass of water a little more often that's the reason. we've got to extremely dry air

overhead. mount airy parched landscape we'll call it, but very beautiful fall color in the foreground there. nice blue skies all day long, and short days, but very lovely ones. laurel nice sunny day as well. want to show you the current wind which is almost calm we have a little bit of a breeze at times. 6 in dulles 10 way out in western maryland. temperatures running the gamut right now. north and far west we're in the mid 40s already. york, oakland, 52 dover. 660 degrees. the thing about the extremely dry air is things heat up more quickly and they cool off much more rapidly at night. so we'll quickly be well down into the 40s this evening. our highs today mid-60s out there. so pretty warm stuff. pretty mild couple of degrees above average just about

everywhere. normally about 57 would be our statistical average at least. we beat that and then soda and tomorrow. i think yet warmer mid to upper 60s after a very chilly start. abundant sunshine through easton and further up the bay. sunshine aplenty everywhere. keep the sunglasses handy and keep them clean because you're going to need them a couple more days. zoom you out a little bit here. is there any change in the offing. not in the immediate future. water vapor bringing more dry air right now. the darker shades here representing the dryest air when you get into the brighter shades. that's the only moisture being picked up by the satellites. clear and dry. that next storm system putting down some rain towards chicago. it's going to take several more days before it gets in here. so we're still looking awfully dry and sunny and gorgeous all

weekend. clear, beautiful saturday. clear, beautiful sunday. that front approaches late sunday but it's going to take a while. overnight tonight we should be back into the 30-degree range upper 20 newscast the bushes. tomorrow 66, lots of sun, and saturday night 34 under a clear sky. 7-day forecast, i mean just gorgeous stuff all weekend. but a turn for the winter monday, tuesday and wednesday, and it will cool off. be ready for it. christian. >> thanks, wyatt. tonight on 20/20 abc2 news, abc news chief investigator brian ross looks into accusations better business bureau is running a pay for play scheme with its grading system. here's a preview. >> reporter: founded 98 years ago. the better business bureau boasts its reputation of protecting consumers from business fraud. their headquarters are in arlington, virginia where the president is steve cox. >> we're looking for consumer

protection meaning ways that we can protect consumers. >> reporter: in fact, the better business bureau says not just anyone can be an accredited member. >> only businesses which meet membership standards and agree to follow the high est principle of ethics are accepted. >> reporter: earlier this year the mid eastern group terrorist hamas was listed as a member and received an a minus rating. >> it was the handiwork of anonymous blogger and group of small business owners who have taken on the better business bureau. hamas was registered with nonexist event address and william mitchell the la president of the better business bureau. >> they ran the credit within 12 hours they were approved member.

>> what did that cost. >> it was $425. >> how did hamas become bbd accredited business with a grade. >> plain and simple made a mistake. >> you can watch the entire 20/20 investigation tonight on abc2 at 10:00. tonight at 11:00 shall we will have reaction about those accusations from the better business bureau here in baltimore. certain alcohol based energy drinks are being consumed more and more and they are filled with lots of caffeine and sugar. tonight we're going to hear from a family of a woman who blames one of those drinks for the death of their daughter. he stole millions of dollars in the largest ponzi scheme. soon some of the items are going to be back to other folks. those stories coming up and more at 6:00. ♪

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. pop quiz for you put 650 prep students and teachers in a field with more than 1400 chocolate pies and what do you get. a pretty good time. raising money has never tasted so sweet. >> these students in new jersey set out to support a charity while holding the world's largest custard pie fight. the beneficiary of this mocha madness was the soup kitchen. it will take months for guinness to certify it's an actual record. it raised $10,000. >> . finds out where you and the family can enjoy incredible art in the great outdoors. that story and much more on abc2 news