rain we have seen. and basically, saturated soil. and heavy swollen streams and creeks. this is going to be an issue for tomorrow in through thursday. i wanted to get that out there because wire currently -- because we are currently quiet. temperatures show us it's cold. officially 29 in baltimore. and 22 up towards york, pa. more on that storm coming up. right now, joining us with traffic is matt. >> reporter: so far still a pretty quiet morning. we are looking at traffic getting a little thick on west side. looking over on the west side beltway at this point, the outer loop is not too bad. that's heading towards 95. inner loop is getting heavy coming up through the arbutus stretch. we got word of a problem in queen ann's county but it's westbound on 50 at the 301 merge. looks like the westbound side is shut down for the time being. we will update you on that in moments. charley, back to you. >> thanks a lot. this morning, you are seeing serious pain at the gas pump. gas prices have reached the

highest march price ever. analyst are keeping an eye on what else could happen to affect world oil prices and car owners are falling victim to desperate measures. lem i-- emily schmidt explains. >> reporter: another day, another record. with gas at a nationwide average of 3.52 a gallon, it's the highest ever for march. >> the profit is being taken away with the fuel going up. it's frustrating. >> reporter: the taxi driver is making less money by the day. across the country, prices rose 14 cents in one week. they are up 39 cents since protests began in libya. >> we are reacting on rumors and what's happening in libya. this is a total overreaction. you know, let's see where this is taking us. >> reporter: there are no gas shortages yet. but that doesn't help consumers reduce to finding the lowest of the high prices. >> onew prices are rising, stations -- some stations raised theirs and some are

slower to raise prices. so it can pay off very much so. >> reporter: in the meantime, higher prices carry unexpected costs. >> i got out and checked and there was a gas leak or something, and it was open. the tank was open. >> reporter: this georgia woman was hit by gas thieves and with fuel 77 cents higher today than this time last year, she says she will have to wait to fill up again. >> the-- the white house says that opening up the strategic oil reserves is an option but only if there's a major disruption in supply. the administration did not say what price could trigger the move. emily schmidt, abc news, washington. if you are looking for thelowest price for gas in your neighborhood, go to abc2news.com and click on the traffic tab and click gas prices. zoom in to your neighborhood to get the lowest price near you. the rising gas prices are affecting the airline industry.

bwi's largest carrier, southwest, has joined other carriers in increasing domestic round trip fares by 10 bucks. fare compare.com says that leisure trfl may -- travel may be paying $260 for a ticket that cost normally $200 at the beginning of the year. time is 5:33. the city homicide major is on routine suspension as police investigate a incident from the past weekend. police official say major terrymclarney didn't file a report after his car went off the road on sunday. 5:33. investigators suspect that the case of the alleged east coast rapist could have cracked -- been cracked a long time ago. aaron thomas is breeived to be the man -- is believed to be the man behind the series of 12 rapes in four states including maryland. officials in virginia say that they would have caught thomas years ago if police had been allowed to use familiar dna searching when dna doesn't have an exact match in a police data

base but is close enough to follow a family connection to lead to a suspect. today, baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings-blake will head to annapolis to speaning in support of a house -- speak in support of a house bill to create tougher penalties fordefendants who carry handguns. and there is a ban on driving and texting. they would not be allowed to read a text message while stopped at a stoplight. house approved a similar measure last week. it's the hot topic. you could be able to bring your dog along when you dine out at a restaurant in baltimorech the measure is considered in annapolis. sherrie johnson joins us live in baltimore city to explain. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, megan. dogs are considered to be man's best friend or woman's best friend. you want to take them every where. today, we are here in federal hill park where a lot of people bring their dogs.

and today, lawmakers will consider a bill to allow you to bring your dog to an outdoor restaurant. now the bill would allowed dog owners to bring their pet with them at barks and restaurants with outdoor seating. restaurant owners like the idea because it's illegal to have a dog in place where food is served. they say it would generate new business and maybe offset the business they lost from the smoking ban. now critics are concerned about the dogs who are not trained properly or are not socialized. >> a pet owner has another environment to take their pets with them. you know. the pets need to be well behaved and need to be under control. but, you know, and that's the owner's responsibility. >> reporter: once again, the debate starts this afternoon in annapolis with the lawmakers. reporting live in federal hill, sherrie johnson, abc2 news -- abc2 news. this story is generating a lot of comments on our facebook

fan page. angie says many allergic to all that -- i am sorry all the brat kids people seem to think should abe loud in a restaurant. as if they -- should be allowed in a restaurant as if they are in a park and others are trying to enjoy their mealsusanne says so many cities are dog friendly. my dog is pleasant to be around than many people. that's an interesting thought. we want to know what you think. head to our facebook fan page and leave your comment. we could be reading them on the air. a lot of people are weighing in on that. discovery gliding its way into retirement. >> what the astronauts will do to mark the final flight. also ahead, celebrating fat tuesday. bourbon street is packed with party goers. we will take you to the festivities when we come back. [ dog barking ] mom!

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5:39. we are going to take you down to new orleans to live pictures to look at. today is fat tuesday. bourbon treat is packed. but this live picture looks like it's a picture of a float. you know everybody is getting ready for the floats to toss out the beads. so of course, mardi gras all

the festivity begin today. revelers are lining up the parade that against when the sunrises and goes until the christian season of lent begins tomorrow. weather could play factor because rain is expected in the forecast this afternoon. that's in new orleans. but what about here? now, maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most accurate by weatherate. >> good morning. we have to watch new orleans weather because that's the storm heading in our direction. much like this weekend where they had numerous tornadoes touchdown, they actually have a moderate risk of severe weather this afternoon including tornadoes, damaging wind and hail for new orleans. this is not the best fat tuesday setup for them. and that's the storm that head in our direction late tomorrow and thursday. we have a flood watch here. and if you thought it was wet this weekend, wait until you wake up on thursday. it's going to be a mess. locally, we are quiet. we will push out of the 20s into the 30s this morning.

sunshine fading behind increasing clouds. more on the storm in a moment. matt is attacking your traffic. >> reporter: thanks, justin. quitee -- quiet on the weather front and the roads as well. we are seeing congestion on the west side heading down the outer loop from just about 795 into edmonton. you will see speeds at 55 miles per hour. not much better. you have a lot of congestion there. inner loop from about edmonton towards 795 as well. way out to queen anns county, westbound 50, it remains shut down at 301 near the outlet center. they are dealing with pretty big problems out there. get set for delays east and west bound. charley, back to you. >> thanks. it's 5:41. discovery headed back home and straight into retirement. it is scheduled do land tomorrow in florida. touchdown is set for 11:57 a.m. eastern. discovery is being sent to the

smithsonian institution for display. this morning, though, the crew will test the shuttle's systems and the six astronauts will hold a ceremony to mark the final flight. well, a story that gives a new meaning to getting stuck in a bad situation. >> an experienced one-- an experience one driver wouldn't fore-- won't forget. a suv covered in mud. who came to his rescue. >> reporter: lowering the property tax in baltimore city. would it get you to move here? one councilman wants to make it law. when it comes to getting my family to eat breakfast, i could use all the help i can get. like nutella, a delicious hazelnut spread that's perfect on multigrain toast,

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now, "good morning maryland." 15ments away from six. what's keeping you from moving into the city? is it the crime, the quality of schools, or possibly the high cost of property taxes? linda so is here with a plan to get more people to buy in baltimore. linda. >> reporter: well, one councilman is proposing to lower the property tax. he says if you make a cut, people will come. baltimore has higher property tax rates than most of the surrounding counties. councilman carl stokes wants to cut the city tax rate by 15 cents a year over the next four years bringing it down to the same rate as baltimore counties. the councilman says crime is

dropping and city schools are getting better. so if property tacks are lowered, more people would move in offsetting the revenue loss. the mayor blasted the proposal says it relies on fuzzy math and ignores the fiscal problem and would lead to major cuts in safety. none of other council members signed on to the bill. some say it punishes current homeowners by increasing the cap on homestead tax credit. >> what this bill does is increase property taxes on a significant portion of the city of baltimore. the people who have lived here the longest who have stuck it out the longest. >> reporter: so we want to know what you think. if you go to abc2news.com and scroll down to the bottom, you will see the facebook page. if you click on that, it will bring you to this question. if you live outside the city, would cutting the property tax make you think about moving into baltimore. we are getting interesting comments. chris says will it cut violence in the city in half. ? but elizabeth says

absolutely. it's good to see someone inbaltimore realizes how the taxation policy in the city prohibit froaght and revising them will grow revenue. the taxes are the number one reason i didn't buy property -- prohibit -- property in the city. linda so, abc2 news. today, governor o'malley and baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings-blake will testify on foreclosure prevention. the u.s. house committee is visiting baltimore to hear about foreclosure crisiss and how it affected the city as well as the state. the hearing will take place this morning at the university of maryland school of law on baltimore street. we will keep you posted on what happens. it's 5:47. today, maryland congressman plans to announce a bill to prevent protests during military funerals. he says that the measure is in response to the supreme court's

decision that funeral protests are permitted under the first amendment. westboro baptist church staged a protest at the funeral of a lance corporal. this morning, police and firefighters say they could leave the community because of the way the county will be handling their future. a huge crowd showed up last night for a county meeting. the anne arundel county council voted 7-0 in favor of a measure to impact police and firefighters by eliminating binding arbitration. the measure that passed allows the county council to make final decisions which police and fire unions fear will make such decisions politically based. today, howard county official will make an announcement regarding the placement of speed cameras in school zones. it comes as a result of residential concerns and a year- long stottedy -- study. it is set for 11 a.m. in ellicott city at an elementary school.

now, maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most accurate by weatherate. all right. we are looking at our almanac. we should start below freeing and aim for the low 50s in the afternoon and on this 8th day of march, 10, that's the record in 1960. in 2000 we had a few records in that year on this day. sun up at 6:29 and goes down at 6:0 # in the evening. this will be a day that features -- 6:06 in the evening. this will be a day that features clouds for a storm that extend back west. it's just beginning to move into the mountains and should move in across the skies throughout the day. the wide edge showing up moderate ran across the nation's heartland extending to the deep south. there's a threat of severe weather heading towards the afternoon. that is developing storm and looks like this is a storm that will try to repeat a pattern from what we had over the weekend. severe weather outbreaks south, heavy rain and flooding extending through the east. and all owe though we had minor

flooding over the weekend, major flooding and in addition to the heavy snowfall in central pa towards central new york, all that stuff has to run -- york, all is that stuff has to melt and run itself down. we will have big time flueding on wednesday night and -- flooding on wednesday night and thursday morning. we will have two inches of rainfall on thursday mostly. think about that washout over the past weekend. this could be almost a repeat if not maybe even worse and more hard hitting as we head through thursday. this storm tries to push et cetera way through snow on the back edge and there's cold air that may catch up to the back edge of the precip thursday night and friday morning with brief snow west and north of baltimore. today, however, early sun giving way to increasing clouds. this may be the best day of the week weather wise. as we go for the quiet high of 52. for tonight, we expect it to -- it to drop back down into the mid-30s with increasing clouds holding us above normal. heading into tomorrow, see cooler temperatures. that's the benefit of more cloud and the increased wind

out of the east. and increased threat of rain showers. high of 48 degrees. we will stay in the 40s wednesday night and thursday. the heaviest of the rain will come after daybreak. we will likely have flooding across the area. maybe a few rumbles of thunder and over two inches possible with a high of 56 degrees. dropping late and there could be snow on the back j through friday morning. friday's windy high of 46 degrees looks quiet. it's the weekend. >> reporter: at this point, quiet on the road. you will see traffic build in on the west side coming from 795 to about the triple binges and towards baltimore -- bridges and towards baltimoremore national park. -- baltimore national pike. no complaints on 59 aside from the fact of sharing the roads with other folks. the problem on 50 is still with us. it's westbound at 301 over

queen anns county. westbound is shut down. back to the news desk. >> thanks. it was one of the days certainly no one will forget. >> up next, new video from the attack on the world trade center gives a perspective on the size of the collapse as debris spread across the city. a gas staigs attendant lucky to be adive -- gas station attendant lucky to be alive after a angry driver turned the shop into a drive- through business.

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making news around nation this morning. newly released footage shot the morning of september 11th, 200 01 over lower-- 2001 over lower manhattan. it finally came to light nearly a decade after the attack when a federal agency requested the video. an unexpected job hazard in oregon for a gas station attendant. wees sweeping the floor when the car it be -- he was sweeping the floor when the car narrowly missed hitting him. look at that. >> he hurdled himself towards

the counter and, you know, he didn't know what was going on. >> that attendant was taken to a er and released with bruises and scrapes. bruises and scrapes after that. the manager says the driver was having an argument with his female companion and circleed the parking lot when he floored it and went through the wall. authorities arrested him and charges are spending. check out the video from massachusetts. a muddy mess stranded a driver in a suv. you can see the muck came up to the vook's front bumper and was more than halfway up to the tires. apparently, heavy rains and melting snow caused the mudslide. officials had to call in heavy equipment to dig out the suv and clear the rest of the road. it's four minutes before six this morning. it's been associated with the des appearance of in thaley holloway. >> joran vanned van der absolute is back in the news. what his -- joran van der salute is back in the news. what a. >> reporter: in the crash

reveals about the pilot who was at the wheels when the accident happened. details coming up. and also ahead, ever heard the one about the gambler who foregot where he left his winnings? who has the kind heart to return it and give it to him. that story coming up in the next hour. [ dog barking ] mom! breakfast? in this house? in the morning i can use all the help i can get. that's why i love nutella, a delicious hazelnut spread that's perfect on multigrain toast and even whole-wheat waffles. it's a quick and easy way to give my family a breakfast they'll want to eat. and nutella is made with simple, quality ingredients, like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. they love the taste and i feel good that they're ready to tackle the day. ♪

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now "good morning maryland." more people are moving out of baltimore city. the plan by city council membersto beef up the population. last week, the u.s. supreme court ruled in favor of a church to protest at military funerals. the bill that a maryland congressman is proposing that will make both side happy. possibly. police and firefighters help to keep you safe. we will tell you about the measure voted on last night that could affect your safety. those stories a just ahead on this tuesday morning. thanks so much for joining us i am megan pringle. >> i am charley crowson. let's check the