>> 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. willoughby 8 wet christmas -- will it be a wet christmas? >> we will be talking about the seven-day forecast. cloudy right now at b.w.i.

marshall. gusty winds and temperatures in the 40's. colder weather is on the way. >> thank you. two high school teams and their fans get into a brawl. police continue to investigate. lowell melser is live downtown with the story and the video. >> school officials are not saying much about what led up to this fight that s caught on video and posted on the internet. it looks more like a ufc match than a high school basketball game. and as you can see from the video, which was posted on the website antisellout.com, it was a free-for-all. baltimore city public schools administrators tell 11 news a fight broke out involving both fans and players from both teams. and if you look closely, you can see females exchanging blows, all while officers tried to separate the scuffles.

the basket-brawl was a hot topic on campus. >> i don't think all of that should have went on. >> it's misfortunate that it did happen. >> since the incident is still under investigation, a spokesperson for the baltimore city public schools says that no disciplinary action has been taken at this point. they tell us, "the outcome of the baltimore city schools' police investigation will determine our next steps." one person was taken to an area hospital. we tried to contact the d.c. school system but they didn't return our phone calls. lowell melser, wbal-tv 11 news. >> a judge says he will not dismiss charges against a baltimore man accused of plotting a bomb. antonio martinez is accused of plotting to bomb a military recruiting center and is charged with several counts of attempted murder.

he was caught in an fbi sting and pleaded not guilty to those charges. a double shooting in baltimore. the attack happened if you blocks from patterson park. one of the victims were shot in the arm and the other in the leg. police are now investigating. police in howard county are asking for help in identifying a woman in this video. the woman was caught driving up to a house and taking the package off the front porch and making a quick getaway with the package in your trunk. residents are urging to have last-minute packages delivered to their workplace if possible. anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call howard county police. will not be in for a white christmas -- we may not be in for a white christmas. a program would allow trucks to

park concern park and rides. the program includes a new app to help drivers find the closest parking lot to avoid trucks parked not highway shoulders and ramps. the north pole is being flooded with letters. we take us inside one of two facilities the postal service uses to decipher bad handwriting. >> every day at work, she gets to figure out mysteries. >> we get the worst of the worst. >> she can do 8000 mysteries in a single day. >> my average is about a thousand keystrokes per hour. >> she is a data conversion operator. this is where mail with a terrible penmanship ghosted it

figured out -- goes to get figured out. the actual letter does not get here. >> without us, these letters sorted.ave to be handed star- salt lake city is one of two facilities doing this type of work. the other is in wichita. sometimes it is the zip code that cannot be read. other times the ink has smeared. >> we have become known as scribble specialists. >> close to 1100 workers decipher addresses. they can zoom in on images. >> it is nice if you can get it

where needs to go. >> they know or letters to santa are supposed to go. >> we send it to the zip code in alaska. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. kim dacey checking on your morning commute. a couple of accidents in baltimore county. lions gate drive remains closed. in dundalk, german hill road, another crash involving a pedestrian. the cleanup from that does continue. we are up to speed on the major roadways. six minutes on 95 northbound between 100 and the beltway. 895 southbound looking good between 9the 95's. the roads are still a little wet. this is old court road.

this is 895 at the harbor tunnel. moving just fine both north and southbound. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> thank you. good morning. a mild start to the day. 50's around baltimore. colder weather is on the way. ocean city, 57. 46 in westminster. we will see the clouds starting to clear out. high temperatures will not make it much past 52 in baltimore. 30's al towards the western mountains with flurries a possibility. you can see temperatures dropping in the seven-day forecast. we will have dry conditions on the christmas spirit a storm stays to our south. we will see temperatures in the 40's. maybe some flurries in the mountains on christmas day. >> oh, well.

coming up, a look at the massive flight it took hundreds of firefighters to put out. we are still taking your answers to our water cooler question of the day. what are your holiday plans? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

>> this was the scene in san francisco as firefighters battled a blaze. the flames broke out on thursday and spread quickly. it took more than 150 firefighters three hours to get this fire under control. two people were treated for injuries. no word on what sparked that fire. residents in georgia are debris left behind by a possible tornado. officials are working to secure several damaged buildings. are working to restore residents in that area. 6:41. 45 degrees on tv hill. after the break, a look of the stories you need to know about before starting your day. >> we will have a live look outside at the major roadways.

>> skies will be clearing out across the baltimore area. temperatures are turning colder. stay tuned for the details in

>> welcome back to 11 news today. 6:44. the damage suffered by the washington monument during the earthquake makes it vulnerable to rain. water could enter through deep cracks on the upper floors. the monument is 127 years old. don edwards is asking for it a -- john edwards is asking for a two-month delay.

misdemeanor. charges. the search continues for the missing child at of maine. she has been missing for a week. a police van was on the premises as police searched her father's home. police say there been no significant changes in the case. nearly 92 million people will hit the road or catch a plane to visit family and friends. that is nearly an increase of 1.5% over last year. that brings us to your answers to our water cooler question of the day. this morning we asked -- what are your holiday plans?

you, too. santa actually wrote in. sounds good. keep those answers coming. we will post more of your answers on the front page of wbaltv.com. you deserve it, santa. >> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> a vacation home in key west sounds amazing. can i go with you? we have cleared that accident in dundalk. lyons mill and lions gate drive. lion's gate drive does remain closed. speed sensors show we're up to speed on the major roadways.

64 of the topside. on 795, 47 hitting southbound. that might be people being slowed because the roads are still slick. this is the topside of the beltway at harford road. the outer loop is picking up in volume. this is the west side at liberty road. the inner and the outer loop is are moving just fine. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. ava has a check of the forecast. >> good morning. the holiday weekend almost here. the weather is cooperating. most of the clouds are lifting offshore. we have overcast clouds and they will start to break apart. that storm system is lifting off to the east and taking the and the warm air with

it. 40's at 30's back in the plains. a clipper system moving out of canada. they are fast moving. light snow possible for minnesota and upper michigan. maybe it will bring some flurries to the western mountains on christmas. 48 at the airport. upper 50's as you head down along the eastern shore. these temperatures will be dropping down. temperatures around baltimore struggled to gain a couple more degrees. in the 30's in the mountains today. we may see some flurries in the western mountains. clearing out in ocean city. we expect those temperatures to fall throughout the day. 52 in baltimore today with

partly cloudy skies. gusty winds out of the west. we're much colder. 20's and 30's for the overnight areas. it feels more like december and winter. 44 on saturday. dry weather for the ravens game. christmas day, you will wake up to lay bare ground -- you will wake up to a bare ground. maybe some flurries in the mountains. >> two high school teams and their fans get into a brawl during a basketball game. lowell melser it is live at city school headquarters downtown with that story. >> school administrators are not saying much about this fight, but the whole thing was caught on tape.

it was posted on the internet and going viral. the fight broke out at a basketball game wednesday night between players and fans from the home team leadership academy and cardoza high school in d.c. the fight was a hot topic on the west baltimore campus. one person was taken to an area hospital for possible minor injuries. city school officials are only responding to this fights, saying that they are waiting for the police investigation to tie up before they release any more information. we tried to contact d.c. school systems, but they did not return our phone calls. lowell melser, wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. here is ann curry with a look at what is coming up next on the "today" show. >> good morning. lawmakers reach a deal to avoid a tax hike for millions of

americans. john boehner is admitting the fight may not have been a smart move for the gop new developments in this search for a missing toddler in maine. her mother will speak out in a live interview. what will you face on the roads and the airports if you're joining the millions of americans heading home for the holidays? we're live at the travel rush. those stories and it holiday performance from the cast of "jersey boys" when we get started on a friday morning here on "today." >> 45 degrees on tv hill. we will come back and check the weather and traffic together before you head out to start your day.

>> how is that looking? >> pretty good. now baby the time to head out because there are not many people -- now may be the time to head out. you can get on the road and get where you're going. lion's gate drive remains close in owings mills for that crash. we're looking nice on the major roadways. four minutes on 95 southbound between 100 and 32 in howard county. no delays to report. this is the topside of the beltway at harford road. no problems of the inner or the

outer loop spirit same story liberty road on the west side. >> the rate has moved out -- the rain has moved out. >> we will reach a high of 52 and we are basically there. 40's this weekend. it feels more like windter. i know people were hoping for snow on christmas day. some of the past snowiest christmas is we have seen. 1969, 6 inches of snow fell on christmas day. bah-humbug. i hate to be the bearer of bad news. >> thank you. thank you for joining us. looking for more weather and traffic together? be sure to join us this morning for 11 news at 7:00 a.m. on wbal plus.

you'll find more local news as well as up-to-date traffic and weather information. you can find it all on comcast channel 208, verizon fios 460, and 11-2. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. we will be back with a live update at 7:25. >> have a great day. >> follow breaking news and weather any time at wbaltv.com, and stay connected with us on facebook and twitter. >> this is a wbal-tv 11

editorial, from president and general manager dan joerres. >> he called himself "the voice of reason." all of us at wbal-tv, wbal-am and wiyy-fm called ron smith a friend. ron spent most of his life with the wbal family -- first as a tv news anchor on our old "action news" team between 1973 and 1980. after a brief break from broadcasting working as a stockbroker, ron returned to wbal radio in 1985, where he began a whole new journey as a talk show host. billed as a conservative, he had no problem picking on both political parties. never a screamer, ron succeeded by staying on top of local and national politics and politicians. he stood firm on his principles even if listeners didn't agree. as a former marine, many assumed ron would support the war in iraq, but he did not, bringing logic and reason to his oppositions actually for both wars in iraq. this year, ron criticized the u.s. action in libya. diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in mid-october, ron continued working for a while,

then discontinued treatment and retired. he was a man who loved what he did and knew how lucky he was to have the chance to spend so much of his life pursuing it. the voice of reason may have been silenced, but the lessons he taught from behind the mic will live on. will live on.