a mississippi judge takes action after a number of pardons by an outgoing governor. i'm sherrie johnson. reaction from the authorities on the pardons. >> administrators facing alums. to talk about jerry sandusky, joe paterno and the

university's image crisis. and what companies are saying nevfound in oh -- they have found in orange juice and what it could mean for you. that including weather and traffic on this thursday, january 12th. good morning, maryland, i'm charley crowson. speaking of the weather, let's head over to meteorologist justin berk for the latest on what is going on. we have rain -- what do you have? >> we have rain moving out here. we are concerned about the weather. there it is. ravens. help me out. sherrie johnson is on the other end of the studio. yes, and we have a special sports event this sunday morning. so make sure you check back in with us at abc2. we're talking about weather for the game as well but this morning the issue is what happens over the next 24 hours. after nearly an inch and-a-half to two inches of rain, it's ending now, windy and warm day but a burst of rain and snow overnight. i want to make that point clear. a quick burst could give a quick inch, could be an issue this time tomorrow morning.

we'll talk about that. we're watching the back side of the rain pulling through harford and cecil county as we speak. yes, roads are wet. yes, it will be windy but warm. we get up to 58 degrees. then we talk about the return of winter overnight and maybe even some ravens game day weather in a bit. 6:31. let's talk about traffic. now 6:32. southbound on the bw parkway, delay after route 100 after reports of another incident there. also slow eastbound 70 at woodbine with an accident. of course if you're traveling on 95, no accidents to report on 95, traffic moving well north and southbound. fair amount of volume in both directions and another live look at the beltway, top side at providence road, your outer loop a bit heavy to i-83. a mississippi judge now forbidding release of any more prisoners pardoned by an outgoing governor in the state. haley barbour issued a temporary injunction wednesday night. for a recap of this sherrie johnson joins us with more.

this is something a lot of viewers have been talking about, not just in mississippi but in maryland. >> reporter: we also hear from a lot of victims in mississippi. they are very concerned. a mississippi judge is putting his foot down this. comes after outgoing governor haley barbour approved full pardons for 199 people with crimes that range from shoplifting to rape to murder. four men convicted of murder are out of jail. haley barbour approved full pardons for the men who were serving life sentences. one released is david gatlin. in 1993 he walked into the home of his estranged wife tammy and shot her in the head killing her. gatlin also shot her friend randy walker, he survived the gunshot wound to the head, walker says he will now live in fear now that gatlin is has been released. >> i feel like my safety is in jeopardy. tammy's family, i feel they are

all in jeopardy. i feel fear for the safety of my family. it's an issue. anybody that might be with me at the time he decides to do something. we feel like we are in jail now and david is out of jail. >> reporter: haley barbour released a statement explaining about 90% of the people were no longer in custody and a majority of them had been out of jail for years. a court hearing on the issue is set for january 23rd. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. headlines from around the nation this morning -- a rash of bus accidents in the district of columbia. brace yourself, look to the right of your screen. watch. this is a pedestrian right there. the bus driver ran over him and the driver didn't even stop. [horn honks] >> the good news is the guy wasn't hurt too badly.

here a bus slams into an suv stopped at a school zone. another one hits an suv in an intersection with a child nearby. in clip after clip collision or close call, doesn't matter, all involve metro buses from the district. metro bus officials are insisting their drivers all have good records, consider what it is they are up against on the roads. oh. quite a scare for drivers in washington state. authorities say a woman drove nearly 18 miles going the wrong way on a highway in tacoma her car hit speeds of 100 miles per hour. zipping past car after car, the lincoln ls was driven by a 60-year-old headed north in the southbound lane. there were, as you would expect a number of calls to 911.

>> washington state troopers used spike strips, punctured one of her tires before she ran into anyone. they believe she may have mixed alcohol with prescription meds. the -- the man living in the home with the woman says she doesn't remember anything. new leads into what happened to natalie wood. the actress drowned off the coast of california in 1981 when she and her husband, robert wagner were spending a night on her yacht. the l.a. sheriff opened the case last year after people claimed to have new information in the -- and the people began coming forward. emotions mixed at penn state university as officials there are touring and holding town hall meetings to ease tensions among alumni. the state university president got an earful from a crowd of 600 alumni wednesday in pittsburgh. many are furious over how the school handled the sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.

and most -- most people directed their fury toward the university president rodney ericson. >> what you did to coach paterno is unconscienable. >> i feel as a university we turned our back on paterno. it seems to me that the board of trustees should step down and a new one created. [ applause ] >> that last statement was a web submission and that drew a 30-second applause. other meetings are planned for suburban philadelphia and new york for later dates this week. automotive recall to tell you about. it could involve a car you're driving. the reason ford is recalling some suv's and mini vans. and it's the most anticipated movie of 2012. christopher nolan, final chapter in the batman saga. how some fans are securing their spots to see the movie seven months before it hits theaters. you're watching what is new now and next. in weather, a big concern on

this thursday. we'll be right back.

ford is recalling nearly 500,000 mini vans and suv's. 200,000 free b star and mercury mini vans from model years 2004 and 2005 due to mechanical issues that can cause a loss of power. model years twu one and 2002 are also being recalled because of a leaky brake fluid cap. ford says it will notify owners. and orange juice imports are being tested for a banned chemical. so far reports have come back negative but there are growing fears a safety scare could drive up juice prices.

you can get tickets for a movie today that doesn't open until july 20th. we're learning now that the imax production has tickets still available in advance for san francisco, also los angeles but new york has apparently sold out. this is christopher nolan's final chapter in the batman saga. get on-line tickets in advance, seven months in advance by going to fandango. more to get to on this wet thursday morning. >> it's been a year and-a-half since a crash killed a stevenson university professor and left her son brain damaged. the sentence begins today for the driver accused in the crash. people are fuming after talk of another possible sales tax increase coming up from annapolis. i'm sherrie johnson, a look at how much you could pay and what the money would be used for. >> counting down to sunday's big game. i'm linda so. how the players are getting ready to take on houston. >> 6:42. heavy rain pulling out. we have some breaks overhead and there will be sunny breaks

but we have strong winds today and could be a little burst of snow by this time tomorrow morning. >> in addition to the wet roadways we've got fog warnings from a couple of area bridges. we'll update a few accident locations when "good morning maryland" returns.

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6:45. good morning, maryland. i'm charley crowson. time for your abc2 news to go. this is a live shot out of fitchburg, massachusetts, a suburb of boston. the shaky camera will show you what we're trying to reveal, snow along the new england area. that will effect the playoff game saturday night but more importantly, what is the weather going to be like here today for you? let's head to meteorologist justin berk with a check of the day's forecast. a lot of people are waking up to rain, not snow. >> right. but tomorrow morning that may be a little foreshadowing. good morning to you. rain getting out of here. we've had an inch of nearly two it came down fast and furious. some of you heard thunder overnight. we're watching in harford county, cecil county you're getting it.

basically what we're looking at here on the wider view, heavy rain, new jersey, there's that snow in central and northern new england, also snow on the back side. it's this stuff that will swing our way, that could reach us with the arctic boundary, a quick burst. that would be between midnight and before sunrise tomorrow. today though the rain ending, we're in the 45 to 50 range. getting into the upper 50s today. winds could gust 30 to 40 miles per hour. we'll talk about that little hint of snow and the weekend winter return in a moment. use caution and reduce speed on the roadways. police cleared the accident on the beltway but city police on the scene of another collision. on moravia road at aberdeen avenue. of course slow traffic behind that. if you're driving southbound on u.s. 29 we're starting to see more delays now. starting at i-70 all the way to u.s. maryland 108. natalee holloway's father asked an alabama judge to declare his daughter legally dead. the judge scheduled a hearing on whether to sign a court

order declaring her dead. it's been sixires since the 18-year-old disappeared while on a school trip to aruba. the judge says -- the hearing is scheduled for later this afternoon. a maryland soldier killed overseas will be buried today. army specialist ronald bergen junior was killed in kunar province in afghanistan by a roadside bomb december 11th. he will be remembered in a funeral service in woodsboro. he will be laid to rest friday at arlington national cemetery. newstime 6:48. today there will be sentencing for a truck driver who killed a stevenson university professor and seriously injured her son. the crash happened in august 2010. outside of cleveland, ohio. corrine redmond standing by with the latest on what is expected to come out of court. >> reporter: ed slattery has been on a long and emotional road after that horrific truck

accident that left his wife dead, two sons injured, one wheelchair-bound now. he's even taken the fight all the way to capitol hill to try to get laws passed on how long truck drivers should stay on the road. driver fatigue led to the deadly crash, that is why susan slattery was killed. the driver behind the the wheel who was driving a triple trailer at the time of the crash accused of falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into the back of the slattery family car. his sentencing will take place today in court in ohio. the truck driver was charged by a grand jury with one count of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault to which he pled guilty to both. the diocese from danborough sentenced to -- the dentist from danborough sentenced to a year in prison. according to his plea agreement he used the name and personal

information of 200 nursing home patients to submit false bills for podie tree care he never gave. he was sentenced yesterday. lawmakers are now trying to figure out what to do with the state budget deficit. the first day of 2012 legislative session began and already people are upset about this. and sherrie johnson has more. some say it's a penny tax. others are saying it's the principle of the thing. >> reporter: that's right. some are saying i don't want to pay higher than i have to. today during a legislative session lawmakers will look at education, health and environmental affairs as well as other bill hearings. yesterday governor martin o'malley suggested seven cents on the dollar could be the solution to the state's budget problem. the plan is to cut the multimillion-dollar deficit. maryland sales tax went from 5 cents to 6 cents after a special session in 2007. the governor told radio host mark steiner that increase helped the state through the great recession leading up to the session. there has been talk of a gas

tax, a move also opposed by republicans. some say the governor's idea of a sales tax increase might be an attempt to provide political cover for the gas tax. >> $500 million, to $700 million depending on forecasts. all of which can be addressed and for the greater part in the future by a one-penny sales tax. >> the leadsers in both the house and senate were saying no general tax increases. >> reporter: a 7% raise would give maryland a second highest sales tax in the country along with five other states. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. this is one of our hot topics. we've already received more than 80 comments on the web site. many overnight. here's one. chris wrote in saying why don't we just give the state our paychecks? they seem to want to spend all our money even if we can't afford to pay for food or housing. that was weighed in by chris at the wmar facebook fan page.

it's not too late to give your two cents. go to our fan page, abc2news.com come/facebook. three days and counting before the big game involving the baltimore ravens hosting the first home playoff game in five years, taking on the houston texans. form -- for a preview, linda so is here with more. >> reporter: we're all excited. the players are warming up by having a little fun first. ray rice and ray lewis showed up yesterday sporting a fu man chu, to a salute to joe flacco. he guided the ravens to an undefeated season at home, 12-4 on the year and the team's straight playoff appearance. flacco says he's ready for the big game on sunday. >> this is what a player lives for, playoff time. having to win tight games.

what could possibly be tight games. i think that's what we all really want to be in a position to do. >> reporter: we'll be on the air sunday morning starting at 9:00. join abc2 for our special on the ravens playoff push. jamie costello, scott garceau and wyett everhart will get you ready for the big game. the tailgate for your party. 6:35. today marks the beginning of baltimore county restaurant week. 40 restaurants taking part offering a variety of question design options -- cuisine options ranging in price from $10 to $35. won't break the bank. go to abc2news.com for more information. governor martin o'malley will make an announcement towards more affordable housing in housing in maryland. the governor scheduled that announcement in annapolis for later this morning. and leaders and medical experts will today take questions and discuss the impact of health care reform in a town hall

format. elijah cummings and anthony brown will be in attendance. that town hall is set for tonight from 6:00 to 8:00 at the rawlings data center in baltimore. baltimore city remembers dr. martin luther king, january 16th at noon. a parade featuring more than 55 organizations will honor him. it begins at the intersection of martin luther king boulevard and eutaw street and ends at baltimore street. in memphis, a proproposal to rename nine blocks to dr. martin luther king avenue. the board will make the decision later and haven't received any comment yet opposing the changing of this name. dr. king was shot by james earl ray in 1968. time for another check of the forecast with justin. >> the rain pulling out. we're 46 in baltimore. we will pick up next couple of hours. it's basically 40s east of

the ohio valley, heavy rain still up in new england. look at the cold air behind me. you have to shift focus to the back side of the storm. 34 chicago. they have the biggest snow event of the season. that is really not saying much, is it? 23 st. louis, 15 des moines. there's an arctic boundary, as we're winding this up and it pulls into new england strong winds whip around, that arctic boundary means business. a swath could be six to eight inches of snow for them. for us we're watching the boundary, wrapping around this upper level pattern that will drag in much colder air and probably take in some snow for us. trying to hold firm to the fact that this thing will have enough upper level support when it crosses the mountains with the cold air that when it hits us overnight rain quickly to snow, there could be a flash freeze for some places having tricky travel this time tomorrow morning. maybe a quick inch of snow. the the rain out of here, intermittent clouds as showers try to return overnight. to:00 a.m. to maybe 6:00 a.m., a quick snow burst and quick

inch west and north of baltimore. maybe snow showers to the south but ends early. it's really just about the quick drop in temperature and we'll stay cold through the weekend. we're in the upper 50s to near 60 today. variable clouds, strong winds 30 to 40 miles per hour. again, that chance of rain to snow overnight ending by quick peek here, looking at temperatures over the weekend in the 30s. still chance of flurries or a snow shower sunday. a tough commute out there. still have another accident to report. this one northbound 83 just as you approach coldspring lane, blocking a right lane there. and seeing very heavy traffic on i-95 southbound as you make your way from whitemarsh boulevard to 9 top side of the beltway. and stop-and-go on spots on southbound 29 also reporting coming from i-70 as you make your way through the columbia region. >> all things political on facebook this morning. what do you think about what is going on in mississippi? with haley barbour pardoning 200 people, many of you weighing in on that. also your thoughts on the

proposed gas tax hike going on in maryland. on facebook. now to "good morning, america."

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