with as we plan our day. 23 degrees waking up at 7. we will wake up the sunshine and clouds will increase through time partly cloudy skies by lunchtime with temperatures coming in at 35 degrees. let's check the abc2 timesaver traffic with lauren cook good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are to have a very cold start and we are dealing with a crash in baltimore county at dundalk on merritt boulevard at wise avenue. traveling on the beltway in the area, no delays whatsoever as we look live south of brunning highway no problems getting across the key bridge. outer loop will remain nice and clear as you push from 95 to 83. that stretch had take you the normal 11 minutes and looking at the other abc2 timesaver traffic drive times, the jfx will be clear heading downtown. just 11 minutes southbound from the beltway to east fayette street and everything is up to speed through the fort mchenry tunnel. an 8-minute ride northbound on 95 from the beltway to the toll plaza.

that's a look at your morning commute. megan over to you. it was not too long ago 't term fiscal cliff. now the term is sequestration and get used to it because we will hear a lot of it until march 1st. abc2 news linda so is live with what it means for you. and people want to know what it means to them? how will it affect them. >> reporter: well if it happens, it's going to affect people in many ways. drastic cuts can affect themilitary and how long you wait in line to get to the security. it's part of the fiscal cliffdeal. at the time congress agreed to postpone across the board spending cuts by two months. now that deadline or what's referred to as the sequester is almost here. it's less than two weeks away. and if congress cannot reach adeal by march 1st massive cuts aimed at reducing the deficit by 1.2 trillion dollars will go into effect. federal agencies face 85 billion dollars in cuts that

could lead to furloughs for 2 million people. the pentagon fears it will have a drastic effect on the military. republicans say the sequester is going to happen but democrats are proposing to delay the cuts again. >> we can't cut our way to research and development and we have to get back to a balance. and i think the american people understand that. >> reporter: and only time will tell if congress will be able to avoid the sequester. those cuts happen on march 1st. right now, it looks like both side are far from the balanced solution. linda so, abc2 news. news around the nation, a central texas fire chief says that doctors are optimistic two firefighters will recover from serious burns suffered in a fire that killed two colleagues. the fire chief thanked everyone on sunday for prayers. a community vigil was scheduled sunday night at high school stadium in bryan about 90 miles northwest of houston. the chief declined to speculate on what started friday night's fire at an unoccupied knights

of columbus hall. a passenger who was on bore the carnival triumph has filed a lawsuit against the cruise liner. in the 9 page complaint, casey terry describes the last days on the ship as a floating toilet. the ship lost primary power after an engine room fire and it took nearly five days tow the ship back to the united states. carnival has offered the passengers 500 dollars a. free flight home, a full refund and a credit for another cruise. a group of protesters supporting the cop killer christopher dorner picked outside a police department in los angeles on saturday. the protesters said they didn't agree with dorn are's actions -- dorner's actions but they are accusing the police of brutality and corruption. some believe the accusation of racism and unfair treatment of the lap-d. official say dorner died from a single bullet wound to the head. he killed four people and tried justifying it in a long

rambling manifesto criticizing the lapd. news time 5:33. small children have been getting into deep trouble at a school lately and their parents say it's because educators are hypersensitive in the wake of the newtown connecticut shooting. apparent say school officials have -- parents say school officials threatened to suspend students over minor infractionsthey contend they are progeeking adult fears on children and it pose no threat to anyone causing them to revisit the zero tolerance policies. the mother of a murdered teen is featured in public service announcement calling on congress to reform gun laws. >> tell congress to support common sense reforms. so no more innocent children is killed and no parent has to go through the heart break.

>> that's the voice of the mother of hadiya pendleton. one week later after performing in the inauguration she was shot to death. crowley and her husband sat next to the first lady at the state of the union address where the president told her story as part of the attempt to call on congress to act. teachers in florida got a lesson to protect. hundreds responded to an offer to teach them how to shoot and care yea concealed weapon. -- carry a concealed opener. the owner offered up the free course to the teachers in pinallas county interested in learning about carrying concealed weapons. the ad within the viral and he got hundreds of calls and e- mails. >> hey, if you want to learn how to carry a weapon i can do this for you and help you. >> get educated. it's a good opportunity to learn something about safety and guns. >> the lines spilled out the door as people registered for the class. so many teachers were

interested three another -- there's another class next saturday. police in portland oregon have a program to identify and help people with mental illness. and an officer teams up with a social worker and they hit the streets as a mobile crisis unit. officers search for people to make sure they are getting the help they need. the department plans to add more police social worker teams on the streets coming up. news time 5:36. it's quite a feat to run 26.2 miles but but this guy had to do something to mack it a little more difficult -- make it a little more difficult. we will explain why he ran a marathon dribbling a basketball. don't get between a dog and his owner. look at this. how this persistent pup tried to get into one courthouse. as we head to break, this is a live picture of first mariner arena. pretty dark there but they had a great practice over the

weekend where you could donate used or new soccer balls to needy kids in third world countriesch good morning maryland returns -- countries. good morning maryland returns after this.

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thanks for joining us. look at this. a south florida man has a lot to be proud of. he finished a marathon over the weekend while dribbling two basketballs the-tire time. -- the entire time of the he is known as dr. dribble and said did this to raise money for a group that helps foster kid. and to make the run even sweeter he is also the new guinness world record holder for the fastest marathon completed while dribbling two basketballs at the same time. lynette, i find that so impressive running a marathon is hard enough but add that, he can't imagine. >> and the cause he was doing it for makes it all the more great. all right. let's talk about what's going on right now because we have lots of numbers to throw at you. this is the wind chill and the way it feels. feels like 11 in baltimore and 11 in york and 13 in frederick and dress cordingly and bundle up and dress in layers. let's show you these numbers because we are going to be dealing with very dry air in place this morning. we are talking about chap stick type weather. look at the numbers measure

moisture in the air. this is the dew point. single digits so chap stick andextra lotion and also maybe dry nose and put sail even up there -- saline because we will deal with the dry air for a while. let's check the timesaver track with lauren cook. >> reporter: we start off with a crash at dunn duck at wise avenue. -- dundalk at wise avenue. heading downtown there's nothing in your way. tums are in great shape and jfx is delay free from the beltway to downtown to east fayette street. and this is 695 the northwest coroner great shape. no delays from park -- corner in great shape. no delays from park heights avenue. now over to you. one of the fastest growing internet sensations is a piglet named chris p. bacon and he is adorable and is a pig on wheels. how he got his own wheelchair. >> reporter: and man allegedly

slaps a crying toddler and now the child's parents are speaking out. that story coming up next. hello! how sharp is your business security? can it help protect your people and property, while keeping out threats to your operations? it's not working! yes it is. welcome to tyco integrated security. with world-class monitoring centers

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5:44. thank for joining us. looking ahead to stories we will follow this week is back

to court for oscar pistorius. while his girlfriend is laid to rest. a bail hearing is expected for today. he's been in jail after being cacialgd with the murder of his dire -- charged with the murder of his girlfriend. a los angeles courtroom a man accused of murdering his landlord 30 years ago is set to make an appearance tomorrow. christian is being held on 10 million dollars bail. his trial is set for march 11th. wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of a deadly nightclub fire in road island. 100 people were killed. a memorial service was held on sunday and the fire started when pyre row tech nicks i go night flammable foam. there probably won't be many dry eyes on good morning americain the studio on wednesday because anchor robin roberts will return. she is been out since august recovering from a bone marrow

transplant to treat a rare bloodies order. he lost his job and was arrest and his face is all over the news. yet most mothers would agree that's not enough. this morning a man accused of slapping a toddler on a plane and calling that baby a racial slur is all over the headlines and abc2 news sherrie johnson is here with the latest as the parents are talking. >> reporter: yes, this man is facing a federal charge and the child's parents are speaking out. an idaho businessman lost his job after allegedly slapping a toddler on a delta airlines flights flight. as of sunday joe hound lil is -- is underley -- hundley is no longer an executive at a aerospace company. he was on a flight and jessica benit and her 19-month-old son sat next to hundley and she said he reeked of alcohol and continue to drink on the board

the flight. she says he used a racial slur demanding she quiet the crying child and slapped himin theface near the eye. >> all the evidence is sufficient enough to support what we are saying and you know i think we hope he is punished as much as he can be. >> reporter: hundley's employer suspend him this weekend and they fired him on sunday saying allegations are contradctry to the company's values. -- contradctry to the company's -- contradictory to the company's value. police are blobbing traffic during a high-speed chase in iowa. the officer stps away from the car a couple seconds -- steps away from the car a couple second before the suspect's vehicle crashes into the cruiser. a 5-year-old boy was on the floor of the car crying and his condition is unknown but family members say exec sped to be

okay -- expected to be okay. five things to know. many schools and government offices are closed today all to mark president's day. governor o'malley will give a washington day speech in annapolis and to honor george washington's birthday. senator marco rubio is on a week long trip to israel and jordan and plans to speak with israeli leaders about the peace process with palestinians and egypt. he will be meeting with king abdullah in jordan. environmentalists and climate activists converged in washington, d.c. for the climate rally on the national mall. participants spoke out bens the -- against the key stow exel oil line project and political inaction climate change. there was a bill in congress that would allow every responsible homeowner to refinance at today's rates. the proposal is part of a push by democrats and the white house to help the housing market recover. and happy birthday to yoko

ono the widow of john lennon is turning 80 today. she spent sunday with her son in berlin. she is a campaigning for -- campaigner for world peace and started a antifracking group. if you own a dog you will like this. you know how tough it to separate especially for long periods of time. look at this guy. this dog is doing what he can to get through the major separation anxiety when his owner he walked into a miami courthouse. he was not having it and was scratching at the windows and sneaked through an opened security door. the guard shooed hmm away but he keeps trying and the baffle tries to get him to -- baffle bale tries to -- baffle tries to get -- bailiff tries to get him to go down the stairs but he comes up. look at this one cute piglet. meet chris p. bacon and he was

born with a deformity to his hind legs and the vet made him a wheelchair from a child's toy set. now he can wheel around fine. chris p. bacon has thousands of fans on youtube and as you can see, quite an appetite. lynette i. wish people could see your face during the video because it's going to make everybody smile but you are a animal lover. >> i am going to get my pig today. >> i am with you. >> all right. but if i do so, i have to bundle up because it's cold out there this morning. look at 15 in westminster right now. 81 -- 18 in catonsville. the places you are not in the teens will feel like the teens because we have the winds. so westminster the winds out of the west at about 10 miles an hour. 5 in catonsville. rock hall 3, 2 easton and 3 bel air and galena 5. and 6 goldsboro and we are feeling like the teens in goldboro and galena. bel air. so you need to bundle up this morning as you head out and about. now let's switch to graphics and i can show you what's going

ongoing through time. the radar and satellite and big picture showing the system that plagued new england as we went through the weekend. pushing through main and -- maine and they will be dealing with blizzard conditions. not here. we will be dealing with clear skies and we will get sunshine in here and then we will start to have cloud on the increase going throughout the day. and setting us up for the new storm that's working its way in here going into the overnight into tomorrow morning. and here it is right here. looking at the surface the system back off to the west will continue to work towards the east and that's going to bring us unsettled weather. we look at abc2's future trend here comes the snow and rain and we will be dealing with an icy mess as we go through tomorrow morning. we will be here to keep you updated on the situation. we dry out for a couple days and then we will do it all over again heading towards the weekend. with you. but for today, temperatures at 38 degrees the it will be less windy but still that icy mix overnight 30 degrees and tomorrow will be 49 and wentry

mix switching to rain. blustery wednesday and thursday and we do it friday into saturday. let's check the abc2 timesaver traffic with lauren cook. >> reporter: good morning. no wintery mix to deal with this morning. but we have several accidents. trouble in baltimore county where there's a crash in dundalk. and if you are travel in the city, we are dealing with another accident right on 28th street at wayne avenue and that's at north rogers avenue. no delays traveling through the fort mchenry hundred. and checking in -- tunnel. and checking in at 95 and 175 no problems into city from howard county. looking at the timesaver track the beltway is delay free # minutes on outer loop from 795 to 70. and if you heading downtown, the jfx, nice and clear from the beltway all the way to east fayette street. that stretch takes you 11 minutes. that's a look at your morning commute. now over to you megan.

a artist goes down in flames. why he set the baby grand on fire and continued to play it in front of a crowd.

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five minutes away from 6. thanks for joining us. a san francisco artist showed a musical adventure went out in a blaze of glory. [ music ] ♪ >> he played his last tune on an old baby grand piano on a cliff overlook the ocean in half-moon bay. he's been giving concerts there for two weeks but the city shut him down so he set it on fire and kept playing through the flames. the city claimed he didn't have the proper permits to have public concerts. a school in indianapolis is not taking no for an answer. stay with us this morning. it's giving a stern message to the students when they are going and when it comes to college. we will tell you about the three word motto that some are saying is a bit too harsh. and you are going to need to crank the heat on your way to

work this morning. we will look at an arctic blast bringing cold temperatures and perhaps some snow to the northeast. details ahead.

you're watching the station that works for you. now, good morning maryland. >> a maryland student killed on campus. what police think led