react. president obama and the former mayor of new york will meet at ground zero. and a major recall. a brand new cruise if you bought one. listen up. there could be a major problem with the steering. those stories just ahead on this thursday morning. thanks so much for joining us i am megan pringle. charley is off today. it's cinco de mayo he and whether you have plans or not, you want to know about the weather. here's meteorologist justin berk. >> good morning to you. 6:30 yesterday it was a day that held on to the cloud. we broke a little sun and he wanted to do -- and i wanted to show outcamera sites. this one we haven't showed from the maryland science center look towards federal hills. mostly cloudy skies giving way to late peeks of sun towards inner harbor east right there. all right. maryland science center showing the same thing northbound across the harbor. mostly cloudy skies breaks the sun and a few showers that gave us rainbow views. and this morning, we are looking at annapolis where you got more sunshine in the clouds

that try to hang tight much of yesterday. look at cloud shift in the afternoon with the cold wind. this morning, westminster down to 44. and a little gusty winds today. and we are looking for high temperatures back into the 60s with more sunshine. we will have the mother's day weekend forecast in a moment. here's kim with traffic. >> reporter: we are beginning to see the bright sunshine illuminate the beltway but looking good so far as you make your way around the inner and outer loop. no lanes reported blocking. we don't have any accidents just a pair of road hazards through baltimore county. 95 in the 83s checking in problem free. traveling through catonsville, we have reports of a fire involving some poles and wires. that is at south paradise avenue near mount ridge road a water main break affecting the southbound lanes of york road at fair mobt closed. two -- fairmont closed. two-way traffic alternates. her disappearance sparked a nationwide search. four months later she was found dead in the susquehanna river.

linda he so joins us with the latest on the investigation into phylicia barnes' death. >> reporter: police say the 16- year-old was murdered but they are not releasing details on how she died because they don't want to compromise the investigation. now that they have the new piece of evidence, it could be crucial in helping police finally make an arrest. phylicia barnes disappeared last december while visiting her sister. her body was discovered two weeks ago near the conowingo dam. a man's body was found but police don't think the two are connected. police have yet to make an arrest in the death. no suspects have been named during the four month investigation. phylicia was a star athlete and honor student and she was getting ready to come here to towson university. her brother says he he believed all along that someone killed his sister. >> aid little closure. i just -- it's a little bit of closure and i hope the police can find whatever they found to figure out what happened and

who took part in it. we have the latest information on our website at abc2news.com. scrolling downright here on the slide show it's the 4th story down. clicking on that, you will find new video all the latest information in the investigation surrounding her death. also, if you scroll down to the bottom here, we have the latest on her funeral arrangements. a private service is set for this saturday in georgia. you can watch it online on the website for the church, the springfield baptist church in georgia. here in baltimore next saturday, may 14th, they will be holding a memorial service for phylicia at mount pleasant church. hive in the interactive news sent e. linda so, abc2 news. 6:33. time for news around the nation this morning, a shocking story about kidnapping and abuse. take a look at this. we will show you police say four people tattooed him and shocked him with a tasteor and -- taser and beat him. met a girl online and she

invited him to hang out at the end of the night and he says they attacked him and tattooed the word rapist on his forehead and i like boys on his chest. he says they severely beat him and he woke up in the hospital. >> one of the girls said that he tried to rape them. if so why didn't they go to the police before this happened? >> i think it's pretty messed up what they did and i think it's wrong and i think they should get attempted murder because they almost killed me. they said if they hit me harder they could have killed me. >> the family is moving out of the house because they are afraid. a major fire destroys a 6- story condo project in british columbia canada hate tuesday night. but crews were not able to get the fire under control until early wednesday morning. look at the video. you can see smoke pouring out of the structure blanketing the richmond area skies. now smoke and fire officials say that the fire was hard to contain because the condo was made of wood.

no injuries were reported in -- and the cause is still under investigation. the owner of the project says that he plans to rebuild. a homeless man in pennsylvania listen to this facing more than 2600 counts after allegedly calling 911. hundreds of times. he didn't call to report emergencies but allegedly called to ask female dispatchers about their undergarments and made other harassing comments. and he did it 445 times. phone technology led police to the tent where he was making the calls. cooper is held on 20,000 dollars bond in a fayette county prison. we are feeling the pain at the pump, but there could be relief ahead. coming u7 next -- up exnext, when you could -- next, when you could expect poo today pay less. 13 states are paying -- expect to pay less. 13 states are paying more than

$4. we have recall information you don't bant to miss.

now "good morning maryland." 6:39. there's finally some good news for drivers. andists predict -- analysts say gas prices are peak and level off before possibly dough cling slightly in june. reason u.s. refinery capacity is increasing in oil speculation is decreasing. crude oil prices are already down 5 bucks from the peak last week. so right now, the national average for a price regular gas just a gallon 3.98. 13 states are above the $4 mark. remember, abc2 is working for you to ensure you pay less at the pump and if you head to abc2 muse.come -- abc2news.com

and click on traffic tab and gas price and pun n zip code and find the cheapest gas in the area. general motors is recalling more than 150,000 of its cars. we are talking about the gm cruise cars because the steering wheels could come off. the department of transportation says steering wheels in some cars could detach from the steering column while driving. there is video out there that shows the 2008 cruise that the recall affects only certain 2011 models. gm says that crews drivers can take their cars to a dealership for a free safety inspection and they will make sure that wheel is properly fastened. and barnes and noble is expect to unveil a new more powerful combination tablet andereader had month. it'd possible it may run on a more -- did it's possible it may run on a sonny cone. it was created specificcally fortablets.

it's been almost two months since the earthquake and tsunami in japan, and there's so many problem at nuclear power plants. we have new video of the damage and what robots detected inside the plants. plus, an address mix up gave a brother a gift from his sister that he wasn't expecting. what it means to him and why it is so special. plus, whether you have one or 12 margaritas, tonight baltimore city want to make sure you -- wants to make sure you don't get behind the wheel. the alternatives to driving for tonight. we go back to the u.s. naval academy. a bird mid-flight. a chilly bird at 45 degrees. and the wind are out of the northwest at 17. we have got sunrise across the severn. a beautiful day setting up here. how about the mother's day weekend? more on that in a moment. kim. >> reporter: justin, we are starting to see the beltway turn no a little bit of a slow go across the top side as we look at providence road. outer loop lanes beginning to

slow down quite a bit because of volume. we don't have any accidents but a water main and a fire in baltimore county. we will see how that impacts your commute. more news, weather and traffic after this. ñwñ[= your lawn is a living, breathing thing.

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15 minutes away from 7:00 this is your abc2 news to g thanks for joining ounce this thursday morning. i am megan pringle. charley has the day off. we will kick things off with justin berk. good morning. >> good morning. our floor director tom wanted you see this if you woke up and missed the double rainbow. that was at falls church virginia. he wanted to share this because if you hadn't seen it it should put a smile on your face a rare scene of a double rainbow. the primary rainbow and brighter one and secondary one has the colors in the reverse order and that was a beautiful scene. let's go to western maryland garrett couldn'tity coldest spot in oakland 34. and why show you that? because now as you look at 42 in hereford and 45 in towson it feels better right? 50 in centreville on the eastern shore. we are dry on maryland's most

powerful doppler radar. we have the sun out and will mix a few clouds in aiming for 67 as the afternoon temperatures. let's see what's happening on the road with kim. >> reporter: this morning. drivers are heavy on the brakes on the outer loop coming from 795. heading towards i-70 looking live at liberty road, that's the outer loop that's pretty much moving pretty slow heading towards the baltimore national pike. no major incidents reported. however we are dealing with a pole and wires fire. s in catonsville south paradise near mount ridge road a water main break going to make going through towson a slow go. southbound york road at fairmont still closed. alternating traffic gets by on northbound side but exhe expect delays this morning. now back to you. >> thanks. president obama heads to new york hoping to offer some closure for 9/11 victims family after the slaying of osama bin laden. he announced he will not release the photos of his body saying "that's just not what we do. he add that it's important that -- added that it's important

the photo not be released because it might insight additional violence. white house says the opinion matched the opinions of secretary of de-- defense robert gates and secretary hillary clinton. >> why not put them out now and satisfy at least the rational people that have questions about it, about the identity of bin laden. >> there are more details about bin laden's death. he had 500euros and two emergency numbers sown into his clothes, signs he thought he could escape capture. a poll finds new york city residents met the death with happiness price and -- surprise and relief. that approval rating among new yorkers jumped 10%. the new york poll results that were released on wednesday show that 39% of the city residents surveyed said they felt happy

upon hearing about bin lad ann death. and another 24% say that they felt surprised. 10% felt excited and 7% say they felt relieved. phylicia barnes had so much going for her and she did well in school and she was standout athlete but everything terrible happened. she was found in the susquehanna river and linda so joins with us the latest developments and hopefully when police might make an arrest. linda. >> reporter: well, for four months, no one knew what happened to phylicia barnes, and two weeks ago, her body was found. police say phylicia was murdered. they are not saying how she was killed because she don't want to compromise the investigation. phylicia barnes disappeared last december while visiting her sister at her northwest baltimore apartment. her bodiesie was discovered in the susquehanna. a man's body was found nearby but police don't think they are connected. police have yet to make an arrest in the death. no suspects have been named during the four month

investigation. the 16-year-old was a star athlete and honor student and was getting ready to come here to go to towson university. phylicia's brother says he is believed all along that someone killed his sister. >> just a little bit of closure that i pray that the police can use whatever evidence they found on her body around or whatever the case may be to figure out what happened and who took part in it. >> reporter: and we have the latest information on our website at abc2news.com as we scroll down on the main page in the featured stories section, click on that. we have new video up. also, details on her funeral arrangements right here. they have been set. a private service is set for saturday in georgia. and you can watch it online on that website, the springfield baptist church. here in baltimore a memorial service will be held next saturday on may 14th at mount pleasant church. we are live in the interactive news center, linda so, abc2

news. looks like a slots parlor near arundels mills mall will not opened as previously planned. according to a report from the baltimore sun, the cordish company says that's because of legal opposition. the plan is now opened for the casino to open it in stages. however that's not going to begin until next june. the decision will cost the stays an estimated 70 million dollars. new this morning, the mother of a missing journalists is in turkey trying to get help to find her son. she spoke to him march 12th. he speaks arabic and. >> reporter: ed from war zones in the past. his mother says he traveled to libya in january to witness theuprising against qaddafi and possibly write a book about the experience. across -- a crossing guard is recovering after being hit by a school bus. vikki whitehead was hit in glen bernie yesterday morning. this morning she is listed in stable but serious condition at shock trauma. no one else was hurt.

that accident remains under investigation. it's a final gift he will never forget a brother gets a care package from his sister after her death. jenna murray worked at the lululemon store. when he went home for the funeral, her brother, he learned one of her friends said he mailed him a care package many he found nothing when he got back but remembered he gave her a sold address and a package was waiting for him there with a return address to his sister. >> it feels surreal to feel -- to have something alive from-- arrive from your late sister is like a sign saying i am here with you. >> inside the package he found acard that read i will see you soon as well as lululemon running hat. no surprise considers she was known for giving at let being apparel as gifts.

the video from inside the reactor number one. that building of the nuke clear power plant in fukushima japan a robot that went inside found radiation levels much higher than expected. pep coat company that owns the plant says they are installing special fans with filters to reduce that radiation. traffic could be a big problem today if you are heading around york road in the towson area this morning because of a water main break. that's across the street from the mcdonald's on york road. we will show you a live picture of the area we are talking about. the 900 block of york road. officials say there's a ten inch main that broke yesterday afternoon and it affected the carver center for arts and technology as well as 15 other businesses between bosley and fairmont avenues. both southbound lanes are closed so crews are temporarily reversing one northbound lane. no word on when it will be fixed or when businesses will be back open. time for five things to know before you go this morning. the vice president will

participate in wreath laying ceremony at the september 11th memorial at the pent gont following the ceremony --pentagon. following the ceremony he will meet with family members and first responders. the senate indian affairs committee will hold a hearing on racist native american stereotypes a hearing that will also address the osama bin laden mission and code name geronimo. it was scheduled before themission the committee says the linking of the name with the world's most wanted man is inappropriate and can have a devastating impact on children. a u.s. hike he released from an iranian prison last year says she will not return to iran for a court hearing set for next week. she is one of three american hikers charged with spying and the other two remain in prison. all three pled not guilty. she cited depression and post- traumatic stress disorder as reason for the decision not to return.

and, of course, it's cinco de mayo. so tepeesy taxi -- tipsy taxi runs in baltimore from 4 in the afternoon today until 4 in the morning tomorrow. here's how it works. you have to be at least 21 years old. and you have to have been drinking at a baltimore city bar or restaurant. the rides are free up to a 50 dollar limit. if interested, write down the number on the screen. 1-877-963-taxi. last week's tornado outbreak was one for the record books. no doubt about it. the national weather service confirms at least 178 tornadoes swarmed through the midwest as well as the south and that's thelargest outbreak in history and the number of confirmed twisters is expected to rise as weather teams wrap up field surveys. justin. >> a lot of people -- a lot of people ask why there's such a extreme tornadic outbreak but it's colder than normal temperatures. and this is similar to early april in 1974 which was part of a few years in the mid-1970s.

yes we can see the expression of some of the below normal readings with widespread frost and freeze warnings from western pennsylvania through ohio, indian and and west virginia and tennessee and kentucky. and some overlap frost warnings and advisories but flood warnings along the lower portion of the ohio and mississippi river valley and rolling their way and memphis will watch over the weekend to see if they release more watter to protect that city from getting inundated with record floods. that's the situation this morning. temperatures down into the 30s even cooler in some spots. the core of the cold air slides overhead and we get the clouds out of here. so we will have a battle between sun, cold, winds and we will have pretty decent weather this afternoon. but the next batch of moisture rolls in tomorrow afternoon with more clouds and rain holds off until the evening and we are expecting an on and off type of weekend. 67 today early cloud. 40s low or 40s for that matter. 70s tomorrow with an evening shower and dry most of saturday

mother's day a few showers and 67. kim. >> reporter: justin, speeds have slowed to a stop and go pace as we look live at the beltway on the west side. the outer loop pretty much crawling coming down from 795. and headed towards the baltimore national pike. no problems reported on 95 but it's slow between white marsh be a beltway. also slow again through howard county from route 100 making your way down towards route 32. looking at the drive times, it's going to be 6 minutes on harrisburg towards the beltway and outer loop of across the top side from bel air to providence nine minutes and we have a couple incidents to let you know about. southbound on the harrisburg expressway at timonium a crash reported to block the shoaltder -- shoulder a vehicle fire reported in baltimore south broadway at pam street. we have a new water main break reported in dundalk. cinco de mayo since we can't make margaritas we will make margarita cupcakes. sound good? delicious. >> all right. >> we will see you at nine and

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