them practicing, it could be a greater loss to the community. mcdaniels' associate vice-president of communications said we respect the decision of the ravens organization and are ready to welcome them back if and when they decide to return to their training camp here. we'll have more at 6:00. on sunday the ravens are taking on the cleveland browns. the ravens are coming off back-to-back wins, including the one thanksgiving night. the browns are heading into the game with a record of 4 and 7. they will have home field advantage. ray lewis is still listed as questionable. now to a developing story. baltimore county has taken a new approach to crime fighting -- bricks and mortar. they have sealed off a pedestrian tun neal turned into -- tunnel that turned into a

magnet for criminals. >> reporter: an underground tunnel has provided landsdown residents a way to walk. vandals, drug users and others have taken the walkthrough. this week the county completed work to seal it off. >> unfortunate it was attracting a lot of crime, attracting graffiti, drug use, people. using it use -- people using it as a bathroom. >> the county spent more than $12,000 sealing it off. jeff hager, abc2 news. the baltimore city police departments a teamed up with the

bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearm. the police announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest. the number is 888-atf-fire. a 50-year-old man is in police custody arrested for two home invasion robberies. durante ricco ervin assaulted the homeowner. ervin is being held without bail. a follow-up to a story we brought you two weeks ago. the glen burnie truck that spilled on the turnpike has been fined. he will have to pay a thousand

dollars dollar fine. road crews spent hours cleaning the sealant off the road. today mark as milestone for u.s.-iraqi relations. the military handed over control to the former base in baghdad back to iraq. they call it camp victory and was once home to 70,000 u.s. troops and contractors. vice-president joe biden made a surprise visit. there are about 13,000 troops still in iraq, but the deadline for the remaining to leave is december 31. a tree lighting honored those who protect our country. lynette has more. >> reporter: i'm here at the center in cockeysville. the tree is behind me. you can see it. they're putting it together.

we'll have a special ceremony at 7:00. let me bring in the man of the hour. this is pastor rob right now. he is with living hope ministries. how long have you been sponsoring the event? >> our fifth annual year. this is honoring the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. we target it towards the community and we pay honor to the crowd and protecting our freedoms and rights. this year we had the opportunity to be honored and blessed to have the prns of the united states marine -- presence of the united states marine corps and recruiting office. also, at the end of the ceremony we have a very light refreshment with cookies and hot chocolate. it's a great time to warm up that. we have free great giftaways and

a great time for the families to help them out. >> reporter: what motivates you every year. >> both my grandfathers served in the army. i support them, no matter the political cause. they're sack cry feeing their goals. they're away from their families,ed it's an opportunity -- and it's an opportunity to give back what little i can to someone who's sacrificing the ultimate price for serving our country. >> reporter: you say you have a gift giving afterwards. is this a donation? >> we're based out of jacksonville, maryland. everybody brings in donations from their own households and it's free. it's not like good will rejects.

the stuff last year was very, very well off and everyone had a great time with it. that is free to those who need it. >> reporter: so this is an annual tradition. you need to come out and support it. we will be dealing with honorable sponsors and wyatt, tell us how the weather will be. >> it will be great. it's so grate to honor our veterans. high temps around 60 for the tree lighting. we will drop through the low 50s. 54 at bwi and cockeysville, you're hanging at 52 degrees. i want to show you the east coast view, pretty quiet weather but there is a cold front headed. this will change the weather a little bit tomorrow but 50s

clear. much more on your weekend coming up. for the past two days people in western states have been pummeled by the strongest winds in a decade. roosevelt leftwich has more on the chaos created by the santa ana. >> reporter: it was like having a hurricane without the rain. category four force winds caused severe damage from california all the way to utah. there were gusts up to 150 miles an hour. the winds slamed into l.a. hundreds of trees were slammed to the ground and on to houses as well. power was out for hundreds of thousands of people santa ana winds aren't unusual but two weather systems caused severe damage. >> we couldn't even get out. we had to crawl through trees president we thought this would come through the house. >> the storms were so severe

that schools were closes p-ed -- closed for wind days instead of snow days. some areas without power may not have it restored until sunday. >> thanks. well, the smell of pine isn't the only reason to get yourself a real tree this season. we'll tell you why you should did for one of maryland's finest firs. >> joseph gill is paying the price. we'll tell you about the first charges. you tweeted about your gift list but are you putting too much out there this holiday season. what you say on social networks could put you at risk.

the first criminal charges have been filed in a scream that cheated local schools and pta's out of hundreds or thousands of dollars. joseph gill promised but couldn't deliver. we have the latest story. >> reporter: there's a lot of open space between the hustle and bustle of baltimore and the quiet country roads of cutlersville in queen anne's county. this rural town doesn't entertain a lot of celebrity guests. >> a small community. it's a big deal to have a ravens player here. >> reporter: a ravens player ladarous west to talk to kids as part of an antibullying program. the pta president jumped at the chance to make this happen. >> the week before we took a t

shirt and had it signed by all the teachers and children. >> reporter: but the thrill for the children quickly turned to heartbreak when gill called the day before the assembly saying the star player was out of town. suspicious, she made a call to other schools. >> he told the same story. i sent a letter it was a scam. >> reporter: a scam by gill. the groups have learned that the hard way, including cutlersville elementary and the nearby school. the sheriff's office is the first to file criminal charges. an arrest warrant has been issued charging him with theft.

>> this guy is a scam artist. >> reporter: the 62 from annapolis is considered one of queen anne's most wanted and they want to see him behind bars. >> this guy is presenting antibull plying seminars -- antibullying seminars. he's a bully himself. >> he promised to deliver something but didn't but kept the money. >> reporter: he kept $400 from the settlersville pta. money lost to this man who claims he can bring the shine of big city stars to this small town. >> scum, scum, for anybody to take little children and take advantage, scum probably isn't a strong enough word for him. >> reporter: in queen anne's county, joce sterman. >> we left a emergency on his

phone but he didn't respond. in october an attorney representing gill sent a letter to the impacted schools said his relationship to agents fell apart. that attorney is no longer representing gill. to read the let are and see the list of schools and see how much they lost, just log on to our website, abc2news.com. you'll find it in the investigator section. honda is expanding its recall to replace the air bags in more of its cars. the driver side can have too much pressure and injure the driver. honda said customers who have any of the mod kel -- models should be note vied by mail. coca-cola created a limited can. the problem is it looks a lot

like diet coke and the consumers are getting it mixed up. they are pulling the white cans off the shelves. ready to see those polar bear commercials. hey, all month long we're looking at weather that will be very much in a state of change. we think december could pack some unusual twists and turns. humidity 26%. it's dry air, chap stick kind of weather. sunny skies were the story. a look at some of the abc2 weather bug areas. mt. airy, just a few high thin wisps of cloud cover. same thing in gaithersburg where we have a fantastic sunset.

maryland's most powerful radar clear. that's going to continue to be the case through the weekend. things will begin to change. there is one change in the forecast. that comes tomorrow. we got well into the mid to upper 50s and 60 in spots. tonight we will seat temperatures drop -- see the temperatures drop. we'll shaveçó a good seven, eigt degreesxdñi from the numbers. a few spots will top out at 48, 49. sofá we'll goxd low 50s forçó hs tomorrow, places like mt. vernon and south baltimore. there will be plenty of sunshine. we may see a few more clouds blow in tomorrow. we're not seeing them tonight. you can see out here to the west and that boundary will continue to shift further south and the weather pattern showing basically the same deal. high pressure to the south, fresh cold front pushing out of

the north. you can't see it on the map. this front will come through dry. this won't produce much in the way of cloud cover. the next real maker will develop out sluft central -- of the central u.s. we get all weekend and it's dry. overnight tonight will be clear and cold for your friday night festivities. tomorrow your two-degree guarantee, 50 for the airport. downcould be a few degrees warmer, cooler but darn good december weather. saturday night 34 degrees, partly cloudy. it will re main dry and chilly well into your overnight. let's check out the seven-day forecast and see what we have. the answer is pretty much the same. we do warm up a little bit after that cool shot comes. we'll be in the mid-50s on

sunday, back to near 60 monday and tuesday. tuesday night into wednesday is the next weather maker. it could be there's a brief mix on the back side. you may have heard that slogan. so we'll see but that tuesday night and early wednesday time time from interesting. things getçó cooler. soñrñiñi far, so good. >>ñr 50ñr on a sat day. that's not so bad. >> people eating their lunch. >> we're talking a little bit of accumulation. >> i think it will be one of the scenarios. >> don't forget with the temperatures dropping, you got to make sure the abc2 weather app is in the palm of your hand. it includes live interactive radar. so for more information, log on to the weather page on

abc2news.com/weather. that's where you'll find a link to the app. it's on sale for 99 crnt -- cents for the ipad. >> if you have kids in college, you know they come home ready to eat. but one coed is trying to teach them the basics about survival in the kitchen. an astounding number of med students don't know when they should be washing their hands. the results that might surprise you.

for college students a

couple weeks left before he head home for break. a new program started at temple university is trying to teach college kids that cooking on their own is doable. it's being run out of the school's office of student health services. >> college students, starting to set down the foundation of their eating as adults. giving them the tools of healthy eating, healthy shopping can set them up for healthy eating as they become professionals. >> students who have gone through the program have learned a lot from reading nutritional labels to fresh, health thill options. it's cold and flu season. lots of people are thinking about hand washing. researchers at a german medical school gave students a test about what situations require hand washing. two out of three of them didn't

pass. the scenarios included contacts with patients preparingxd iv fluidsok and coyjaxá with vomit. ñi a new study- suggests something youñi probably already noticed. in a national survey people whod exel#%se regular reported better sleep andxd less tiredness durig the day than their inactive counter parts and also reported an easier time concentrating while tired. just log on. check out our page. you'll find today's health headlines to help you find the information that you and your family need. cameras roll as a plane crashes into a house in texas. we'll tell you the one injury the pilot walked away from. riders in wisconsin step in after an attack on their bus.

you may go out to peck up a christmas tree -- pick up a christmas tree this time of the year. why not try a cut tree. this is the time of year that family and friends gather together. i'll take you to a special gathering. he's been keeping us in suspension. herman cain's campaign. when picking a tree, you wonder about how tall it is and whether this will fit in the

house. there's a push to get real ones. >> reporter: for many of us it's time to pick a christmas tree. maryland's department of agriculture wants you to think about a fresh cut tree. >> you're promoting local agriculture, local farmers. you're protecting farmland. >> reporter: they say the reason to protect farmland is trees help the environment. while growing christmas trees produce oxygen and ob sposh -- absorb water that could run into the water. >> it far o the pros of having a fake plastic christmas tree that isñr typicallyxdçói]ñd dññr reporter: theó has been coming here forzv almt 10 years. >>