>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. welcome back to 11 news today. i am mindy basara. thank you for joining us this morning. another mild morning and this is the first day for winter. >> enjoy this what lasts. we will watch the temperatures drop down as we head into the weekend. we're 49 at the airport. dennis four degrees above our normal high. partly sunny skies on this thursday. temperatures will drop down a couple more degrees. to the mid 50's by noon and 60's will be the high temperature for today. >> we are enjoying the warmer weather. it will be colder in a few months. we will be wishing it was 60

degrees. we have seen not a lot -- people taking off in advance of the holiday. we have a problem in harford county where we are seeing a crash. watch for possible lane closures. the inner loop on the west side, 11 minutes. 11 minutes on the topside. nine minutes on 895 on the south side. looking good on the major roadways. this is 95 in the area of mountain road. north and southbound are moving in just fine. this is 70 west of the beltway. eastbound traffic is coming towards us. looking very nice right now. westbound looking good too. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> jury deliberations will resume this morning.

the parents of the victims said the school ignored warnings that their children were being harassed. lowell melser joins us downtown with the latest. >> the attorney for the sullivan family says despite the outcome of this case, she is helping parents with kids will better know how to press the issue when it comes to bullying. >> they did not put in any defense. they said, we did not have something in writing. >> that is the argument from donna came moments after leaving the courthouse after de four of their landmark bullying case. king and the children's father say they want to win. >> i do not want to pretend that i know what the jury is going to do.

i hope that they will render a verdict in the sullivan's favor. >> they claim their two children faced bullying at glenmount elementary and hazelwood elementary between 2008 and 2009. they say school administrators did nothing to stop it because they deny the paperwork. they deny whether or not they should have written a letter. >> i thought it was ok just to tell somebody. >> the family hopes to bring more attention to what they feel is a concern with the school district. >> i am glad that this issue is getting attention and that our children may be more safe as a result of it. >> the judge did toss out nine counts, leaving four for the jury to decide. they are discussing two principals were negligent.

they're happy to see the story is playing out. >> we hope to have the jury verdict in the sullivans favorite tomorrow. regardless of how the jury comes out, there was no dispute from the city school system that this happened. >> the judge in this case dropped nine counts yesterday, leaving four for the jury to decide on. those deliberations will continue later this morning. lowell melser, wbal-tv 11 news. >> police are making progress in the phylicia barnes murder investigation but are not saying if an arrest is expected anytime soon. she disappeared nearly a year ago. her body turned up this past april in the susquehanna river. police say they cannot release details. they have we interviewed family

and friends. a father is facing charges after police say he left his child home alone for a least a quarter days. anthony venson is accused of reckless endangerment. the toddler's mother had been in the hospital and was unable to reach him. she call the police who may be disturbing discovery. >> officers found the child located in a bedroom that was in disarray. the child was wearing a sweater and a diaper. the diaper appeared to be heavily soiled. she was visibly very hungry, malnourished, and was dehydrated. >> the mother has since been released from our hospital and has been reunited with her daughter.

a man of what barack was killed when a device deploy. he leaves behind two daughters. a deal is in place to run a maryland prison on chicken power. this is a facility at the eastern correctional facility in somerset county. it will render chicken manure odorless and turn it into electricity. they hope to have it operational june of 2013. spending money to lease additional slot machines. the occupy a spot at the casino in anne arundel canada. maryland has spent $99 million to buy a casino in perryville.

the decision was backed by the state's treasurer. many americans are feeling optimistic about their finances. half of american surveys feel 2012 will be a better year for them financially. 37% say they feel less financially secure. more than half will set a budget and stick to it. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. are you more optimistic about the economy for 2012? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. 52 degrees on tv hill. it turns out those arguments you have with your teenager are accomplishing something positive.

>> we have cleared that accident in harford county.

>> welcome back to 11 news today. 5:40. 58 degrees outside. the very first day of winter. there are some colder temperatures. a cold front is making its way through the area. 49 at the airport. 48 in hagerstown. we will see temperatures drop down a couple more degrees as we head towards sunrise. watch out for some fog. fog will be an issue. expect temperatures in the 40's

this morning. partly sunny skies. highs in the upper 50's once again. temperatures 15 degrees above normal. this will change as we head towards the holiday weekend. we will talk about the approaching cold air when we come back with the seven-day forecast. >> your preference for salty food may be as a result of what to eight as an infant. those given salty food as an infant were more likely to solve the food as preschoolers. too much sodium can lead to a lifelong problem. those arguments you have with your teenager are good for something. teenagers who learn to argue reasonably about topics like money and grades were better able to resist peer influences

to use drugs and alcohol. they are not overly dependent on their friends and are less likely to be influenced by them. 5:42. 52 degrees on tv hill. beginning to look a lot like christmas. one woman with the holiday spirit. this is the first day of winter.

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. kim dacey checking on your morning commute. we have no problem spots and no delays.

57 miles per hour on 95. 70 miles per hour heading down towards the west side of the beltway. up to speed on the rest of the major roadways. nine minutes on the inner loop. eight minutes on 895 southbound between the harbor tunnel and the beltway. very light volume. this is 95 in harford county. you can see that light volume. there is not too much traffic. north and southbound are moving just fine. this is 70 west of the beltway. eastbound traffic is increasing a little bit but not enough to cause a delay. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. now let's get the latest on the buses and the trains. for that we go to kurt kronke of the mta system. good morning. >> we have a few delays on the buses.

3, 5, 55 buses operating with delays. a diversion at charles and preston. marc trains looking good. on monday, local buses will be on late sunday and holiday schedule. light rail on it sunday holiday schedule. no marc trains or commuter bus trains on monday. i am kurt kronke. now back to ava marie. good morning. >> thank you. good morning. a couple of days away from the holiday. dry conditions. we have clouds in place north and west of baltimore. we will see clearing as we had through the rest of the day. a cold front is moving over the area. tabriz's are dropping down in the western mountains. -- temperatures are dropping

down. a new storm system forming along the tail end of our cold front. looking back over the south. heavy rain in texas back into western tennessee. this will move north and east. another storm system brewing out towards the planins. snowing currently in denver. they will pick up another 8 inches of snow. they will enjoy a white christmas. we will talk about the christmas forecast in just a bit. no problems this morning at the airport. no problems in d.c. either. we have a storm system building back into the south. we have snow back in the plailns from denver to the midwest.

let's talk about the temperatures. 73 in miami. 63 in atlanta. 40's in parts of the south. some very cold air is coming in behind that secondary cold front. we are starting off in the 40's and 50's and will be heading close to 60 this afternoon. about 15 degrees above normal. today is the first day of winter. temperatures around 52 in the western mountains. southern pennsylvania gets the rain late in the afternoon. as for baltimore, that holds off until tonight. the ground is very wet. some fog could form. highs into the 60's this afternoon. the storm system pushes in. sprinkles this evening.

a better chance for rain tonight. some areas could see from 1 inch to 2 inches of accumulation. rain tonight into tomorrow morning. a high of 53 tomorrow. back in the 40's. by sunday, a storm system moving into the southeast. i think it stays to our south. mostly cloudy skies and dry weather. >> a great grandmother likes to celebrate christmas in a big way. we go on a tour of her pennsylvania home. >> it was like that song, noplace like home for the holidays. i started out with one tree and it seemed to grow. >> and grow and grow.

she has 30 christmas trees that adorn her home. >> christmas to me is the most special time. we have a large family and everybody manages to come home. >> $6.16 grandchildren. she goes to great lengths to make sure it is a christmas to remember -- six daughters and six grandchildren. all the trees have a theme. barbie tree. arbitra >> here is maria and their playclothes. >> others are based on family trips. the alaska tree is her favorite. each tree has its own

favorite spot. there's even a tree in the bathroom. >> the greatest thing is when people come in and they are blown away. they don't expect it. >> it seems her christmas trees always please. >> that is gorgeous and a lot of work. 52 degrees on tv hill. coming up, we'll look at one of your answers to our water cooler question of the day. here is a look at last night's winning maryland lottery numbers.

>> many americans are feeling optimistic about their finances. nearly half of those surveyed feel that 2012 will be a better year for them financially. 40% have that optimistic attitude. one key is that 54% will set a budget and stick to it. many believe that is an

important step in overhauling our finances. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. this morning we asked -- are you more optimistic about the economy for 2012? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. we will read more of your responses in the next hour and post all of them on the front page of our website, wbaltv.com. >> the ravens took out an insurance policy, signing kicker shayne graham who was kicked some this year for the dolphins. billy cundiff has been injured and he has missed a bunch of cakicks. it is not complicated for a kicker. billy cundiff missed three out of its last five kicks.

he is perfect this year at m&t bank stadium. it is important to have the option ready to have that first round bye. morgan state and loyola marymount last night. this tobacco according to plan. here is a three. four players in double figures for morgan. ucla-st. louis. he led the team with 10. morgan state dominated all night long. and state beat oil maryland -- morgan state beat loyola marymount. >> coming up, which popular baby

formula is being recalled by walmart stores. johns hopkins is rolling out a program that helps you lose weight over the phone. a groundbreaking case welcomes the troops home. >> the latest storm system is moving offshore. >> your morning commute is looking very nice. we have no delays on those roadways.

>> a bullying case heads to the jury today in baltimore city. i will have a live report. >> the congressional stalemate over your paycheck continues and time is running out. i am kate