getting you up to the minute on our top stories. a drunk driver who killed a towson university student in a crash will not be allowed to erase his past. the judge denied the probation before judgment. miller was driving drunk the night his car jumped the curb at goucher road and hit kevin ryan. new video shows george zimmerman shortly after he shot and killed trayvon martin. it really calls into question zimmerman's claim that martin

attacked him, broke his nose and bashed his head in the sidewalk. and the megamillions jackpot just continues to grow, rising another $40 million in the last 20 hours. the total is at $540 million. >> i want to show you the corner where police say a 2-year-old child was hit by an unmarked police car. the child was rushed to johns hopkins hospital but is expected to survive. we'll let you know more as it develops. a new study by the centers for disease control cast a new light on the weight of autism in the united states. more children than ever are being diagnosed with the

disease. abc2 news roosevelt leftwich has the latest. >> reporter: one in 80 children are diagnosed with some sort of autism. the cdc says this paints the picture of the magnitude of the condition across the country. some states have a higher percentage of autism cases. boys were more likely to have them than girls. the most significant around black or hispanic children. baltimore males krieger sees about 2,000 each year with autism and the numbers are growing. they say early intervention in children has young as 14 months is crucial to help them develop. >> reporter: have someone take a look at your child because there's a lot that can be done. if it does happen to an autism disorder, all the more important that intervention is started early. >> reporter: by working with children early, parents can

teach them how to communicate. many believe children have behavior problems but autism -- autistic children learn differently. >> weather wise across the state, it has been a beautiful looking day but at times quite windy. now this. a frost advisory. we saw this earlier this week. this time not for baltimore. not for southern maryland or the eastern shore but from harford county west along the pennsylvania line, including northern baltimore, carroll and also northern frederick county right up into pennsylvania a froze warning north of state line. so bring in the plants once again. winds from the north continuing. they continue to push temperatures down. out of the 60s into the 50s and getting much more frigid. we talk about that and the weekend forecast in detail.

it's coming up. gas prices going up. the 20th straight day with the national average at $3.92. some neighborhoods are seeing prices a few cents lower and few over $4 a gallon already. prices are high enough at this point but thieves think stealing gas is a good idea. one station lost more than 1,000 gallons of gas. >> reporter: a georgia gas station owner said somebody stole more than 1200 gallons of gas right from his bp station. with gas over $4 a gallon in many places that's a huge loss. the thieves broke into the pumps, disabled the gas gauge and took off with the gas. he said it's a big deal for him because he's a small business

owner. >> people see the bp sign, big oil, they'll never miss this. but in reality, i'm a father, a husband. i'm trying to make ends meet as well. >> reporter: he also said the thieves are difficult to stop because people have gotten so good at this that this happens quickly and sometimes in the middle of the day. police in the area say they believe the thieves may have come and paid for a few dollars of gas to get the pump up and running. so they're going through surveillance video, hoping to spot them. >> one thing that president obama feels would go a long way toward lowering gas prices would be to stop giving tax subsidies to oil companies. the president addressed the issue saying americans are being hit twice, once at the pump and at tax time when some of their money is going to support oil companies. >> that's why i think it's time

they got by without help from taxpayers. >> now a bill top end the subsidies the president is against was put to a vote in the senate but failed to move forward. president obama said for every penny gas goes up, oil companies make another $200 million in quarterly profits. hundreds of folks marched together with a common message. we want jobs. we want to get back to work. four anded up getting arrested in a purposeful act of civil disobedience. as the johns hopkins campus has expanded, people have seen construction costs but few local workers being hired. >> everone in this room has been trained. there's labor needed on jobs. if you need them, we have them. you don't need to bring them

from out of state from other cities. we have the people ready to go. >> they said with all the effort to build east baltimore up, allow east baltimore residents to help building their own community. a colorado family captures their escape from a wildfire on video. some are not heading home even though they've been given the okay to return. remember this, the cape crusader getting pulled over in silver spring? tonight we unmask that man.

at least two people were killed by a wildfire ripping through part of colorado destroying dozens of homes. it started monday after a controlled burn got out of control. hundreds were forced to evacuate including this family. they taped their terrifying escape on the cell phone. >> daddy. >> we'll make it. we'll be fine. >> where's mom?

what you stopping for? >> frightening. the good news is they got out okay. some evacuees are being allowed to return. he said his dogs weren't doing enough to keep them from raiding his property for metal. he beliefs it will agitate the bees. new an update on a story we told you about last week. the man dressed as batman who was pulled over in silver spring was dwoipg to do a good crime. he is a business man who dresses as the cape crusader to visit sick children in local hospitals. he visits sinai on a regular

basis and actually hands out batman goodies to children battling cancer. coming up, these days it seems paying for college is more of a challenge than actually getting accepted. how you can maximize your financial aid for your child and why it might be smart at jumping at the first college that accepts them. facebook keeps you up to date. why using them to get customer advice could be a big disappointment. we'll explain.

all right. let's take a look at some stories that affect your money. high school students are checking their mail boxes waiting for those important college acceptance letters and hopefully some money, financial aid to go along with it. we have some tips on what you

can do to get the most help when it comes to paying for that college. >> reporter: it's crunch time for high school seniors, the culmination of all that hard work, test scores and essays. whatever exoj is right for you could probably use some financial aid. with the costs skyrocketing, many will need it to get their deagreement money magazine compiled advice from college counselors, administrators and parents in the trenches. the tips they came up with could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars. while you can't bargain with the school there are things you can do to improve your chance. first, ask the right question. ask why you receive the amount you did. if you can prove you need more explain why. reasons are job loss or supporting a relative. don't be so quick to accept the first our. students who accept offers early

tend to get less financial aid. if you get a competing bid from another school you may be able to use. it think beyond the freshman year. even if you make six figures your son or daughter could score financial aid. plan on taking advantage of which i'd makes the most sense over the duration of your child's college experience. reporting from new york. >> a new survey shows parents and future parents feel they are less able to help their kids pay for college than in years past. the report from money across generations found only a quarter between 18 and 46 would be able to help their kids pay for college. that's down from 49% in 2009. the total amount of outstanding student debt climbed to more than $1 trillion, and that is

the highest ever. nice sunny day out. it's been gusty. current conditions as we look at the beautiful shot of the inner harbor, 61 degrees. pretty dry air and breezy, gusting higher than that. that was just a snapshot in time. bel air was breezy. we had the clouds streaking across a blue backdrop. then the skies completely clear. we'll be clear overnight. clear to start the day tomorrow. we'll reverse it. we'll go from a clear day into cloudy conditions by night fall. today the opposite, cloudy start, clearing piet eve -- by the evening. the bay bridge to the right. this is the bay bridge marine na. maryland's most powerful radar.

we'll clear the sky. we will feel this tonight under a clear sky, a rapid cooloff and we think at or below freezing for harford county, northern buccaneer barks -- baltimore county, carroll county. these are freeze warnings for pennsylvania and extreme western maryland. 17 at dover, 15 in york and gusting higher, gusting to 21. we gusted to 30 earlier today, winds letting up with the temperatures slightly warmer from d.c. southward, low 60s, more 50s to the east in wilmington, dover and york. temperatures should reach in the low 60s. it will be a cold start. clouds increasing through the day. i think a decent start. oxford 63 and 61 in chestertown site of the big conference.

clear across maryland and clear across the east. as we look out to the north and west, we do find a small system beginning to get its act together. it will bring the chance for showers into early saturday for at least a few hours. then the cloud cover from the system could actually stay in the area through saturday, so maybe not a lot of sun saturday but the rain will be done by midday at the latest. almost a chap stick kind of night and temperatures falling. overnight we expect to go to 37 under clear skies as the winds diminish. tomorrow your two-degree guarantee. 62 but clouds building late in the day. these showers not for your friday evening but rather for your daybreak early saturday morning. the showers will relent. we're looking at a decent sunday. next week warming up again, back in the mid-70s. kelly? >> and now to democracy 2012 news, mitt romney is hoping

support from a former president will push him a little bit closer to that republican nomination. tory dunnan joins us from washington. how will this impact the gop race? >> reporter: it seems like the republican establishment has started lining up behind mitt romney. the question is how much do this endorsements really matter? >> i am honored. >> reporter: mitt romney has the edge this campaign season when this comes to endorsements. even his chief rival admits it. >> every endorsement it seems is going for mitt romney. >> reporter: he added two more which already included former florida governor jeb bush and and governor christi.

so far this year, endorsements haven't moved the dial. >> i'm endorsing mitt romney. >> reporter: governors from south carolina, mississippi and tennessee, all backed romney before their state's primaries. he lost each contest. if you don't have them, bash them. rick santorum is taking the antiendorsement route. >> romney's got all the mon nirks the endorsement -- money, the endorsements. none of that matters. >> reporter: think longhand hard before you make your move. >> if you want a conservative, you must vote for mitt romney. >> reporter: that was rick santorum in 2008. clearly times have changed. the endorsements are good. they offer up a lot of fanfare but they're definitely not deal breakers. >> thank you for that report.

all new at 6:00, we have new numbers from the cdc it. shows autopsy is far more common and how does it affect all of us. do you have a sugar addiction? many of us with have no. those stories and more coming up at 6. here's a preview of what's ahead at 6:30. >> coming up on world news, the people who make what critics call pink slime are fighting back. see you tonight on world news. ♪

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in tonight's consumer alert, best buy said threr lea closing 50 of their big box stores by next year. the retailer also plans to hope the same number of stores in china. the stock took a dive today following the big announcement. they strugged since amazon.com and other online retail ares entered the market. apple's siri is in trouble. the company is being sued in a class action suit. it said apple overstated what siri can do and commercials made the personal assistant seem more easier to use than it really is. social media savvy users hoping to get better service by going online with questions, especially on facebook are disapoint. major companies like j crew,

craipt and barrel -- crate and barrel did not respond. they conducted the survey. overall, they found only five of the 20 big companies responded within two days and actually left customer questions posted. you can always pick up the phone and give them a call. she nearly won the grand prize on jeopardy but one local college student came away a winner. see how she's honored on abc2 news at 6 with jamie costello which starts right now. >> have someone take a look at your child. a new study shows that autism is on the rise. liquor stores, delis, gas station, small towns, the big

city, we're in line to pocket history. you have to have it in your coffee or on your cereal or in your coffee. are you addicted to sugar. moms and dads, the latest numbers are out showing a rise in the number of children with autism. tonight we want to put a face on the numbers, abc2 news roosevelt leftwich with people who deal with autism every day. >> reporter: a lot of kids have autism. in some states the numbers are higher and some lower. getting the condition diagnosed is the key to helping the children adapt. she said she and her husband were doubly blessed. when they got to be more than a year old one of the brothers wasn't developing as fast. >> people