i'm apg ang foster. coming up the jones falls expressway will have lane closures coming up. we'll have details. thousands of dollars in tax credits that many of you may be overlooking. i'm sherree johnson live in with a live interview with the tax experts. and george zimmerman makes his first court appearance and is ordered to remain in custody. i'm linda stow. what's next in the case of trayvon martin. it is friday. good friday morning, friday the 13th. i'm megan pringle. i'm charley crowson. before we get to that, we have a check op the forecast. we can go to traffic right now, changes coming out to baltimore roadway, starting tonight and expecting the commute, could be a little bit dicey. part thes of the jfx closing

for repairs. >> here with everything you need to know and how to get around, abc 2 news traffic reporter angela foster. reporter: good morning. we are live at the jones falls expressway this morning. the big story is the lane closures that will begin tonight at 7:00. now, in case you have not heard, the department of transportation, the city department of transportation will be closing the left lane both northbound and southbound on the jones falls expressway starting tonight at 7:00 in the vicinity of 29th street to george park lake drive. the lane closures are needed for emergency repairs to collapse drainage pipes and those are located, of course, underneath the expressway. these closures are very important, but the big deal is going to be the significant delays that will come with the closures. as you know, we have approximately 110,000 vehicles on the jones falls expressway everyday, so what we're advising motorists to do is to plan ahead. these closures, as we mentioned, will be a headache. if you can, leave a little early for work or you may want

to plan to stay late for work. there are also several other options to take in terms of transit options, but alternate routes. now we'll have these alternate routes listed on our website, but keep in mind the jfx travels kind of parallel to charles street if you're coming from the area of talson, that would be a good option for you. also if you're coming from the northwest area, rices town road or park avenue, also bel aire avenue for those of you coming from the overly area. as far as mta options, keep in mind that we have mta subway as well as light rail, those will be great options for you as well. now, let's go ahead and check out the traffic report for this morning. as a matter of fact, we're starting off really good for the most part, just some overnight construction zones to watch for. for those of you traveling on i- 95 southbound at 32, we are blocking a left lane there, but traffic flow is very light, so we should be okay for the most part. also traveling on the top side, 795 northbound, we are blocking a lane as you approach owens

mills boulevard. no reports of delays on the tunnels or the harrisburg expressway. let's get a check on the forecast for today and for that we go to lynette charles. good morning, lynette. >> good morning, angela. we are dealing with a frosty friday, but it is going to be fantastic as we go throughout the day because we'll get some sunshine once again. for this morning we do have a frost advisory that's in effect and it is chilly, but it is dry outside once again. you've been hearing us talk about the rain that we need, but it's not in the forecast as of yet. the frost advisory is in effect until 9:00 and it's for all the areas here shaded in the light blue. we're looking at cecil county, points westward and also howard county is in on this frost advisory for this morning. we're looking at points north, adams county, york county, you're in a freeze warning and that's in effect until 9:00 this morning as well. maryland's most powerful radar is dry right now, but it will stay that way through time. i want to talk about our next chance for showers. as you head out the door this

morning, make sure you bundle up because you can see the temperatures are on the cool side once again. let's head over to megan. >> thanks so much, lynette. new this morning, take a look at this, a picture of a two-alarm fire that happened in southwest baltimore last night around 9:30 on yale avenue. the baltimore firefighters union sent this in. the fire burned three vacant homes. investigators right now not sure what caused the fire. the latest now on that fire we first told you about wednesday morning here on "good morning maryland." arson investigators say the people who sent it may be responsible for another church fire. this fire at pleasant zion baptist started in a shed behind the church and a bus at calvary baptist destroyed two buses. calvary will worship at shiloh. this morning anne arundel county police are still investigating how a police chase ended with two officers in the hospital. this chase ended on route 3

between crowson boulevard and route 450, that's in crofton. it happened yesterday. police say that it started as a robbery when officers spotted the suspect's vehicle, they put on their lights and they followed the car. that's when they say that the suspect rammed into a police car, all three people received minor injuries from that. george zimmerman made his first court appearance and now awaiting arraignment and that's going to be set for next month. >> the florida watch volunteer charged with killing trayvon martin could spend life in prison if convicted of second- degree murder. linda stow is here with what's next in that case. reporter: we've learned that zimmerman's attorney is hoping for a bond hearing in the next couple of weeks. for now a judge has ordered that he remain in custody. he made his first court appearance for the shooting death of trayvon martin. he pled guilty to second-degree murder charges. zimmerman turned himself into police on wednesday after florida's special prosecutor announced charges against him. a law enforcement official says zimmerman went for hours his first night in jail.

he was isolated in protective custody and under constant watch. >> he's tired, he's stressed, again, he has in effect been isolated for several weeks and that's got to take a toll. reporter: zimmerman's arraignment has been set for may 29th. his attorney says he's worried about getting a fair trial in sanford. linda stow, abc 2 news. looking ahead to monday, the sentencing will take place for george huguely, the man convicted of killing his ex- girlfriend and exvirginia la crosse player yeardley love. we'll be live from charlottesville for coverage on "good morning maryland." monday sentencing for george huguely. looks like thanks to a group of v.i.p., a group of kids are getting time off school. >> the place where they're causing school to close and whether it affects your kids. that story is coming up. plus i said i thought i

saw hail, might have been snow, but nothing comparto this. where severe weather hit and the damage it caused. you're watching what's new in baltimore. as we go to break, that's a live look at the torch cam high aabove the statue of liberty in new york. we're back in just a bit.

thanks for joining us on this friday morning. yesterday charley said he saw hail, but nothing compares to this. this is not what he saw. a hail storm hit southwest china. this is tuesday evening, injuring about 25 people and causing severe damage there. power facilities were hit, causing a power outage across the area there. back here stateside, meteorologists are keeping an eye for next few days on severe weather expected across parts of oklahoma. emergency prep is already in place. locations have been set up in hospitals, that includes several television screens monitoring outside conditions and also local weather reports. we could have a little rain coming our way this weekend, is

that right, lynette? >> we wish we had some rain coming this weekend. it won't be until tuesday and wednesday of next week. but we're really keeping our firpgs crossed. we thought we could get some on sunday, but it still looks a little bit dry as of now. satellite and radar showing you where the rain is going to be today and also some severe weather across the plains. they cannot get a break, but we zoom in closer to home here and we're dealing with the cloud cover this morning and this will start to burn off a bit as we go throughout the day, so we will get some sunshine in here, and it is going to be chilly once again this morning. check out talson, good morning to you, you're at 36 degrees right now. more of the same in ellicott city. 34 degrees now in westminster, walkersville at 37 degrees. the eastern shore, 44 degrees and chestertown and centreville coming in right around 45 degrees. let's get a check of the traffic with angela. good morning. reporter: good morning, angela foster live. we're actually in front of the jfx. it's already a little bit busy out here. as you can see a lot of things

going on not necessarily on the roatd, but we've got the big closures taking place tonight. starting at 7:00 we'll be closing lanes in both directions on the jfx. this is going to be a big deal. we'll have reaction coming up in a few minutes and, of course, we'll have more details in reference to the lane closures and what you can expect. now, in terms of traffic today, what you can expect right now, we're looking pretty good. we're off to just a friday light start. a live look on i-95 right now, not showing any major problems for the most part as you make your way to the beltway. also traveling in the city on i- 95 passing old donald street -- o'donnell street, you shouldn't have any problems making your way to the fort mchenry tunnel. megan and charley, back to you. is your infant suddenly clinging and not eating? there's a good chance she may be teething. >> how to calm your irritable baby and soothe the pain that comes with teething. also it's friday and we'll tell you about the great deals you can get. you're waking up to "good

morning maryland." we'll be right back.

. news time 4:43, schools in fredrick county are getting an extra day off next month. world leaders will be attends the g8 summit at camp david may 18th and 19th and because of safety concerns, sheriff chuck jennings have asked the schools to close for the day. a special session if lawmakers agree to it because a budget was not passed on monday, a so-called doomsday budget will take effect in july. the cuts and tax increases can be prevented if a special session is called. in the meantime, the governor is expected to address the maryland professional firefighters spring conference today. it's taking place at the baltimore hilton hotel on west pratt street. he'll be speaking at 3:00. starting today you may hear a new radio ad calling for anne arundel county executive john leopold and the police chief to step down. this ad is from the international brotherhood of police officers and will run for several days. and president barack obama

heading south today, visiting the port of tampa. it'll be highlighting benefits of trade with latin america for the tampa region. mr. obama is then heading to colombia for a summit of the americas. fallout from the great recession has certainly left many people without cash and they're really struggling to pay their bills. >> with tax day being april 17th, that is looming, unpaid taxes often get added onto that pile. abc 2 news sherree johnson joins us with some tax-saving tips you may want to take advantage of. what have you learned? reporter: april 17th is just days away. time to pay those taxes. you could be missing out on thousands of dollars of tax breaks that many people just don't even know about. now, a lot of people, they know about tax breaks on their children and their mortgage interest, but tax experts say that a lot of people miss out on a lot of benefits and we're working for you this morning. this morning we have dwayne henderson with h and r block to talk a little bit about these taxes. good morning to, wayne, and thanks so much for joining us. first of all, let's talk a little bit about the biggest

deduction that a lot of people forget about, just overlook. >> sure. education credits, there are three deductions you can take this year in credit, the americans with opportunities credit is huge, tuition fees is a big one or the lifetime learning credit as well. a lot of times those are overlooked. with the americans with opportunity credit it can be worth up to $2500 per student. so for example if you have two students in school or you're taking classes yourself, it could be worth $5,000 in credits. reporter: let's talk a little bit about the earned income tax credit. >> the earned income tax credit is another big tax credit, potentially in these times, because a lot of folks have lost jobs, a lot of folks are unemployed, if you've had a reduction in income, if you've been unemployed for part of the year, you are eligible for an earned income tax credit up to $750 for the year, that's a credit a lot of folks overlooked. it's also misused sometimes, so it's great to get a tax professional, certainly someone

at h and r block can help you with that. reporter: what about revisions this year? >> if you sold stocks, you've got to have the basis of the stock, the sale price and the date that you sold the stock. that's new and important this year. you want to make sure you have that accurately done. reporter: take a look at your screen here. we've got some tips for you when tax time rolls around. first of all, enrolling in higher education, you want to remember that and caring for a sick parent, teaching kindergarten through 12th grade students, paying for child care, buying a house, surviving a natural disaster and paying state income tax. now, we'll be here all morning long with more tax tips for you, so you want to make sure you stay tuned. we'll be talking with dwayne and he'll offer some more helpful tips. live in rogers ford, sherree johnson, abc 2 news. something else to remember today is the friday deals, it's freebie friday. megan is now standing by in the interactive news center with what you can take advantage of. we're talking food. reporter: wer's talking food. from free curly fries to a free

meal at boston market, today's freebie friday has great offers. something for everybody. all you have to do is go to abc2news.com. when you get to our website, go to the lifestyle tab and you'll see something samples. i want to give you an example of things you will find. for example, free tax day massage, sounds pretty good, right? a lot of us are stressed. you can redeem this at the local hydromassage, 16th through the 20th. there's a free movie popcorn. like amc theaters on facebook. so, again, free sample mama, freebie fridays and a lot of these are tax day themed. so, charley, check it out, we're all a little stressed about the taxes. this is a way to find something free and fun. back to you. >> megan, thanks a lot. teething babies are uncomfortable, irritable, but how can you help relieve your child's pain? babies can start teething as early as two months and continue on and off until about 2 1/2 years old. >> some signs of teething

include excessive drooling, lots of crying or irtaibility and the tendency to put anything and everything in their mouth. >> you want to massage the gums with a damp wash cloth or give your baby a teething ring, put it in the 45, not in the freezer. stay away from medications that contain benzocane. if you're a frequenter of nail salons, listen up, gel manicures are becoming more popular and supposed to last longer, but are they safe? the manicures dry instantly and go up to two weeks without chipping. some say the lamps used to dry the nails contain harmful lights, kind of like tanning beds. the nail industry says the light is the same, but the strength of the light is entirely different. dermatologists say protect yourself, wear sunscreen on your hands when you go for those gel manicure. megan. news around the nation this morning, a texas teacher is under fire this morning after parents found out about an assignment that had children

writing to a convicted sex offender. the teacher was at a houston christian school and is accused of launching a pen pal program. 12 fourth graders became pen pals with this man, his name is rickey ray rowlett. their teacher, lori perry asked them to do it. her father is now friends with the convicted child molester. it was for support against a civil lawsuit filed against the school. a six-foot alligator. the hotel staff says the alligator bit one of the guests before animal control finally showed up. they removed the reptile from the port allen hotel and released it to the wild. the bite victim is expected to be okay. on "gorld maryland" we're not done with garretts just yet. experts say 20 million people are afraid of the so-called friday the 13th. this year's trifecta of fear, friday the 13th occurs three times this year. the dreaded day are spaced

apart by 13 weeks. kind of a twist there, lynette. >> i know. i'm not superstition, but that makes me leery about that whole thing. >> what a year. right now the temperature coming in 43 degrees in baltimore, 32 in york, pennsylvania. that's actually where the freeze warning is this morning, so very cold temperatures there. more of the same into fredrick. that temperature coming in at 34 degrees and 47 in d.c. this morning. satellite and radar picking up on some clouds and this is courtesy of an upper level system that's diving down across the ohio valley. this will start to dive southward and in its wake we will get some high pressure building in. and with that we will be seeing plenty of sunshine as we go through the remainder of today. so i don't think we'll be socked in the clouds, we are going to get some sunshine. it is going to turn out to be a nice day on tap. we do need the rain, don't get me wrong, it's nice to look at a little bit of sunshine and that's what we'll see as we go through the remainder of today. tomorrow we'll start you out with sun out there as well and

a few more clouds pushing in. check out the temperature for today, 67 degrees is what i'm going with. it is going to be a mild day. we should be at 64 degrees now for this time of the year. and you're going to plan accordingly to the seven-day forecast, right? look at the temperatures as they get warmer as we head into sunday. i think a lot of spots will hit that 80-degree mark. check it out as we head into monday and tuesday. 84, 83. but the best thing is that we do have the chance for some showers in the forecast. let's get a check of that traffic now with angela. good morning. reporter: good morning, everyone. we are live this morning in front of i-83, the jones falls expressway. of course we're trying to prepare everyone for the major lane closures that will take place starting tonight at 7:00 p.m. we have some construction work going on, emergency work repairing drainage pipes on i- 83. they'll be closing a lane in both directions in the area between 29th street and drew id hill park lane. again, those closures will start tonight at 7:00 and will take place for maybe even up to two months. the department of

transportation is telling us until it is finished. in the meantime what's in store for your friday morning commute? a live look right now outside, the beltway is looking pretty good for the start of the friday morning drive on the south side as well as the north side and the west side. and for those of you making the drive through colombia this morning, 29 is a good route to take. it's looking pretty good all the way from i-70 down to maryland 32. back over to you. >> angela, thanks. charley when he was talking to lynette mentioned friday the 13th. we want you to go to facebook and let us know if you're superstition. walking around the house, you get to the car late at night. this can sometimes be terrifying for people. >> absolutely. a new smart phone app now giving some people peace of mind. how it's helping by the simple press of a button. she resigned from congress in january to continue healing from a head injury, but she will be well enough for an upcoming engagement. the event gabby giffords may be showing up at.

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in honor of the 32 people gunned down on the campus of virginia tech five years ago, the campus will be holding a remembrance run. it's happening tomorrow. the run is 3.2 miles long and it begins at 6:00 in the morning, then a picnic and a candlelight vigil will be held on monday, that's april 16th, the day that the rampage took place. also coming up on monday, one of the survivors from the attack colin goodard will be on capitol hill. he along with other survivors will be holding a meeting to keep to push guns out of the hands of dangerous people. also looking ahead to monday, the suspects in the tulsa shootings, they'll appear in court as well. jake england and alvin watts are currently being held on more than $9 million bond apiece. they'll appear in court monday. they're accused of going on a shooting spree that terrorized a black community. five people in all were shot,

three of them died as a result of those injuries. safety is an issue that's on everyone's mind. men and women alike. now a new app is is out there helping to ensure safety on the streets. >> the app is called street safe. it's designed to offer peace when you're on the street, peace of mind at the push of a button. janice hurly is the survivor of a sexual assault. since she's alone, a simple walk from her car to her home can be terrifying. >> it's very empowering. it totally makes you feel a lot more in charge of your life and a lot more in charge of your situation. >> here's what makes this special, the app has two buttons, a red one that you can press that causes street safe operators to call 911 and then a green button the company calls walk with me. if you press that, an operator will call you and stay on the phone with you until you feel safe. time now for democracy 2012 news this morning, democratic strategist hillary rosen is receiving harsh criticism after her latest statement about a gop presidential candidate's wife. rosen said that mitt romney's

wife ann had "never worked a day in her life." the comments are what some experts are calling an asset to the romney campaign. a web video of mrs. romney on her days of raising five boys gets top billing for the campaign's website and she is a natural in interviews, responding to rosen on fox news about her own struggles, mainly health. rosen has since apologized. democrats may be getting a visitor at the democratic national convention. mark kelly hinted at a luncheon on thursday that his wife, former condepresswoman gabriel giffords may make an appearance. kelly said they have not gotten to the point on her calendar yet, but it is a possibility. giffords resigned from congress in january to focus on her recovery. she was shot in the head during the tucson shootings in january of 2011. news from around the world this morning, a video featuring has now gone viral in mexico. the kids act out scenarios they see own the streets everyday, kids like thugs, mugging people at knifepoint, the arrests of

high profile drug lord. the video "our mexico of the future" was made to grab the attention of politicians about the country's drug crisis. >> in reality the video doesn't show anything that people haven't seen before because people say we don't want shootouts or kidnappings happening in our mexico of the future. >> some mexican legislators say the video should be banned for violating the human rights of the children who play the roles of the thugs and the criminals. a new age site is building in ancient rome. gladiators staged a protest at the coliseum demanding they be let to work. police have slapped fines on the costumed men. the gladiators say they offer a popular service and invoke the atmosphere of ancient rome. time now to start the 5:00 hour. now that george zimmerman has been charged, what's next? i'm linda stow. what his lawyers plan to