>> reporter: this time of the year is busy, so she tries to stay ahead of the game. >> it's very hectic. to make money decisions is not a smart thing to do, but i try throughout the year to make conscientious decisions. >> reporter: one option is to help others. >> you can still make a gift to charity with a distribution from your ira. >> reporter: so if you need to do something before the end of the year, you're running out of time. most experts recommend you use a professional so you know you got it right. in annapolis, i'm don harrison for abc2 news. >> he said it's not too late to adjust your 401(k) plan. while many are trying to get

the most money back, same sex couples are facing an extra $6,000 in taxes. since the federal government does not recognize same sex couples, they can't take advantage of lower tax rates. most states give full or partial rights to same sex couples. ever feel like you're going around in circles when driving in downtown baltimore? the city is thinking about building a big circle to make things easier. roosevelt leftwich joins us live with more. >> reporter: they're just in the talking about it phase but if the city gets its way or can get the community to go along with it, they will turnkey highway and light street into a round b that mean last lot of improve m as it stands now the intersection is confusing to some motorists. two lanes go straight, plus, the road is bumpy from the railroad

tracks or the old trolley tracks. the city figure thy would cut down on accidents and confusion and improve overall traffic flow. >> it reduces it so it makes everything in a yield condition, so all drivers entering must yield to vehicles already in the roundb if no vehicles are in the round about, they can prosee.d at a signalized intersection, all vehicles would come to a stop or stop at the right indication. >> reporter: once again, remember, things are just in the planning stages. there's a whole process including trying to get improvement from the community, although they have some members who do approve of what's going on by putting a traffic circle in the area. reporting live, roosevelt leftwich. a 45-year-old glen burnie

woman got quite a scare over the weekend after someone robbed her after hiding in the back seat of her car. it happened in the parking lot of the glen ridge apartments. the woman told police she got into her car and a man she didn't know popped up and demanded her purse. she handed it over and the man ran away. police searched the area but did not find him. >> certainly very unusual circumstance. fortunately, she was not harmed. she did comply with the demands and the suspect was payable to check out with some money. >> listen, if you have an eye out or know something suspicious call crime stoppers. a woman had to go to shock trauma after a fire broke out. chief kevin cartwright said they

got there and found fire coming from the basement. a man inside was able to get out but a woman had to be rescued. she was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. last night in howard county more than 60 fighters had to be called to this -- firefighters had to be called to this fire. it only took about 15 minutes for firefighter to knock it down but the cause is still under investigation. nobody was reported injured. we have a 15-year-old gaithersburg teen mission tonight. her name is jennifer berago. he is weighs about 130 pounds wearing a black sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers. she is familiar with the lake

forest fall. if you've seen her, call the police right now. and baltimore county police need your help trying to find out who stole a quilt taken right from the benjamin bane kerr mew see. the glass pane was broken. this quilt is bordered with gold colored feathers. one sides a maryland and 1860 law written on it. the other side has images of chains, an american eagle and two hands on it. police are asking anywith information about the -- anyone with information about the burglary to call baltimore police. weather wise, we're seeing nice clearing. heavy rains all across the state. now that rain mainly confined to

the eastern shore from cecil county through queen anne's, caroline into talbot. take a look at this. scold air blowing into western maryland. warm air surging into the eastern shore including ball. it's two different stories across our state. believe me that cold air will overspread entirely. winds right now, depending on where you are, but they are gust up to 30. tomorrow a windy, blustery day. we will talk much more about your new year's eve changes coming up. >> all right. if you're out there for some after christmas shopping or you're planning an outfit for new year's eve, wyatt will be in his tux. check out the abc2 weather app. you can have live interactive radar. just go to abc2news.com/weather

to find a link to the app. you can download it. yesterday you were recovering from the weekend. now that you know what gifts you received, it's time to get rid of the wrapping paper. the department of public works says you should recycle wrapping paper, cardboard boxes, holiday cards and don't let the empty boxes pile up to show thieves the gadgets or items in your house. you should put out your tree on the curb on strash collection days. if you don't live in the city, we have links to the website. that will give you all the information you need. 2011 has been a year marked by some of the lowest approval ratings for our leaders. politicians have battled over

everything from taxes to what they eat for lunch. this race has been one of the toughest. karin caifa takes a look back at the year in politics. >> reporter: politics in 2011 was a lot about 2012. one by one, republicans jumped in for the chance to challenge president obama next november. some faces are familiar. >> i'm running for president of the united states. >> reporter: others are hoping to make a name on the national stage. >> i'm jon huntsman and i'm running for president of the sunshine -- united states. michele bachmann made a splash with an iowa straw poll victory. >> barack obama will be a one-term president. >> reporter: but found this tough to stay ahead of the pack. >> reporter: rick perry had a series of debate flubs.

>> commerce, education -- and what's the third one? >> reporter: numbers turned things in herman cain's favor. >> my 9-9-9 plan. >> reporter: in december -- >> i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> reporter: cain stepped aside. former massachusetts governor mitt romney stayed steady and that made him a target. >> are you going to keep talking? >> reporter: but the republican candidates did find one thing to agree on. >> we're going to need all of us together as a team to beat obama. >> reporter: taking aim at the president's economic poll sills. the economy dominated the debate from the campaign trail to capitol hill where republicans keeked off 2011 with a new majority in the house of

representatives and slietion the -- slicing the budget. >> i'm pleased to announce that the washington monument as well as the federal government will be open for business. >> reporter: it brought the nation to the brink of default in august. >> we made promises that our kids and grandkids just can't afford. >> we brought our economy back from the brink of disaster. >> reporter: and set the stage for a super committee. when they gave up with no agreement, it was deemed a super failure. in washington, i'm karin caifa. >> if you're looking more for the top stories on politics or any other subject, head to our best of page on the home

section. we're going to talk about our health. we're going to look back at the year of 2011, especially when it comes to treating breast cancer. more and more survivors are telling about the drugs they use to live another day. smile. it might save your life. we'll find out if your sunny disposition can save you from having a stroke. >> all right. 54 at bwi. had some warm air blow in out of the south and west. no winner today, about that. hey, with the rain finally beginning to push out, what is next for these last days of 2011. we'll talk about it right after this.

thousands of women will remember 2011, the year they were diagnosed with breast cancer. our hlt reporter linda so tells us why doctors are taking a closer look at the most popular drugs used to treat breast cancer. >> reporter: it's named for its ruby red color. it's been a main stay in the treatment of breast cancer. there were questions about the impact it might have on a women's heart. >> she would start getting sick as soon as they started the medicine. >> reporter: how much damage is done are questions doctors still can't answer. researchers are using high definition technology to answer those questions. normally when breast cancer

patients are treated with the drug, doctors keep tab on the hearts by using echocardiograms but those may have their drawbacks. >> by the time changes manifest indicating decreased heart function, it's already too late. >> reporter: dr. charles shapiro and his team are not only collecting blood from patients but also putting them through a state of the art cardiac mri's using crystal clear images to search for the smallest sign of damage. >> you can see swelling, edema occurring. you can see val view lar -- val of -- valveular changes. knowing who they are and when damage might occur may help treat more women more

effectively. >> the outcome of the study could help doctors formulate treatment plans. well, it's an aged old question applied to everything from your personality to your iq -- nature versus nurture. a new study out of norway scheduled to appear online found that children who have more education can see their iq's improve. they aren't sure if the extra schooling makes them smarter or smarter kids seek out more education. either way the researchers found an extra year of school means an increase of 3.7iq points. you know it makes you feel good. a recent study of 6,000 people found that smiling can lower your risk of stroke. scientists believe the decreamsed risk could be because people who smile more tend to be more optimistic and generally make healthier choices about what they eat and how much they

exercise. it( didn't see a smile in the 30 secondsçóñr of that video. abc2news.com is your place for all the health news you need. just click on the health tab. you'll find health headlines as well as different categories to help upfind the information for you and your family. wyatt, gives a smile. the bigger, the more protective, circus clown. >> give me more. the rain clearing out. rain, that ugly december rain finally getting out of the state here. so we'll continue to look for things to clear out but still heavy stuff, reaching down through church him and queen anne's but beginning to clear things out, cecilton getting a

heavy shower. rainfall totals up above an inch. about a quarter inch so far in centerville but that total being added to as we see showers. take a look across the area right now. things beginning to taper off. it's wet. temperatures have risen seven degrees in the last two to three hours with a warm front off the atlantic. that will begin to change as we go into the overnight. temperatures will drop back down. heavy steady rain shaking our camera. man, unbelievably wet and windy at times. ellicott city same deal, tough to see a in the fog. that was the story. just one of those days you didn't want to be outside. cold weather to the west in the state, very mild to the east, nearly 60 now down at the beach compared to 30s in the mountains. the winds getting more and more intense and changing directions

but becoming more of a west wind. that will bring in colder air western maryland. look at the gusts. 48 miles an hour, gusts near 50 in the last 10 to 15 minutes, so a very windy scenario. visibility has been improving except out towards hagerstown. whitemarsh 42. even with sun, the winds will make it feel cooler. across the region, clear from the west to the east with a nice dry spot. snow into ohio and wet weather continuing to stream in as we go through the next hour or two on delmarva. all points will dry out as we get the dry air working its way. cold air wrapping around the back side of the storm system will make for a clear dry day tomorrow but also a windy and blustery cold day. i want to show you this, the trend, the timing. rain out of here.

by 4:00, 5, 6:00 in the morning a brief shot your showers. if you're a skier, you got week off, it might not be that bad of a spot. tonight 36. showers, windier and clearing skies late overnight. tomorrow a much better looking day, but, boy, it's going to be windy and cold. temperatures will feel like 30. tomorrow night 23, less windy and temps getting frigid overnight. the windsxd willñi be diminishi. looking ahead to thelp last day( of 2011, finding them with a milder trend as we go into friday and saturday new year's eve day, not bad. first day of 2012, at this point we're going to 52 degrees. don't get too used to it. january starts sunday and will feel like that much of next

week. here's a look at what else is coming up tonight. local police say more criminals are using facebook scams to steal your mony. abc2 will work for you tonight. how to keep your social media account safe and avoid being a victim of fraud. the african wilderness has invaded ball. we go back to the hippodrome with the production of "the lion king," those stories and more plus wyatt's forecast. join us on abc2 news at 11.

rain has come to an endxdñri ball. cecil county, kent county. you can see there's still rain in this direction but clearing out in the next hour or so. look at the wind gust, gusting to 45 in easton, 37 rock hall. it will be a windy one and a blustery one tomorrow, noticeably colder. it feels like the 30s most of the day. >> all right. good night for my cousin to claim that lottery ticket. did i say my cousin? >> that's all for us at 6:00.

we'll see you at 11. world news is next.