look to us for leadership. . >> reporter: thousands of federal employees return to work. the white house chief of staff welcomed back employees this morning. most were off the job for 16 days, while congress battled over a budget deal. and almost let the government run out of money to pay its bills. >> on this vote -- >> reporter: the stalemate ended late northeast night, when first the senate and then the house, passed legislation to fun the government until january 15th and raised the debt ceiling until february 7th. the compromise calls for the leaders of the house and senate budget committees to work together on a plan to reduce the deficit. >> reporter: lawmakers quickly got down to business. >> this is how the founders envision the constitution working. so we want to get back to that. >> we're going to find the common ground between our two budgets that we both can vote on. and that's our goal. >> reporter: if negotiators don't find a long-term solution, the entire budget crisis could be replayed early next year in washington, tara

mergener, wjz eyewitness news. >> and federal workers will get backpay for the days they were out. wjz live complete coverage of the impact of the government shutdown continues. linh bui talks to local federal workers who are relieved to get their jobs back. linh? >> kai, relieved is absolutely the right word. many of them just so happy to be back. today, around baltimore, it was business as usual for federal employees. >> reporter: the gates are open at fort mchenry, and it's busier than usual. >> we're just delighted that we can finally come to fort mchenry. >> reporter: like other national monuments, the fort closed down during the government shutdown, affecting about 50 employees. >> overwhelmingly. happy to be back open. >> tina capetta says they're busy catching up, as workers deal with the stress from the furlough. >> everyone should be relieved to be back to work. but i think that there's still some of those emotions run high. >> reporter: at the social security administration building in woodlawn, federal workers return. >> reporter: across the country, thousands of

furloughed federal workers get back to work today after 16 days off the job. >> down the street, city view bar and grill took a hit during the shutdown. vast majority are federal workers. >> 80% of federal workers are here. but now i hope everybody is back to normal again. >> we're happy. and we're celebrating with lunch. >> reporter: these social security workers worked during the shutdown, but they only got paid for six days instead of 10. >> there's a lot people that do live paycheck to paycheck. >> it did affect us all. i hope we don't see that again for a long time. >> reporter: the obama administration did urge agencies to be flexible because it was such short notice. some workers had trouble getting back to work today. reporting live, linh bui, wjz

eyewitness news. >> standard and poors estimates the shutdown took $24 billion out of the economy. the family of a frederick county man with down syndrome, who died in police custody at a movie theater is suing regal cinemas and the county in federal court. vic is in the newsroom with details on this for us. >> the lawsuit also names the county sheriff's deputy's office. robert ethan say lor died in january after an incident at the regal theater in frederick. he was attending a screening of zero dark 30 with his aide. he became agitated during the movie and didn't want to leave. when three sheriff's deputies cuffed him and restrained him, he became agitated and later died. his family is suing for violating the americans with disabilities act. >> a grand jury declined to indict the sheriff's deputies.

a police academy instructor who shot a police trainee in the head. wjz is live at the baltimore county courthouse in towson. the jury heard the defendant's own account of what happened. >> tragic mistake. at times he broke down while he talked about that tragic mistake that has him facing charges here in court. >> reporter: in is a photo of officer william kern on the day he mistakenly shot police trainee robin gray, at the rosewood center for developmentally disabled. though they were using these blue weapons which shoot paintball-style pellets instead of bullets. kern insisted on wearing his own saying, i was armed because i did not feel it was a safe and secure area. he described trainees, peeping through the windows of this

door, and broke down in tears as he described what happened next. >> i intended to withdraw my simulated weapon and fire a round at the door, to remind them, this is an area they do not need to be. immediately upon firing ray round, i realized it was not nigh simunition weapon. i immediately ran to the door, force today open and saw someone laying on the floor. in closing arguments, defense attorneys asked jurors, let's not make this man a criminal for an honest mistake. but prosecutors say kern's actions that day were so reprehensible, they amount to reckless endangerment and second-degree assault. >> reporter: jurors have now been deliberated for about the last hour. earlier in court, those jurors got to hear kern's 911 call in the seconds after the shooting. you'll hear it, too, coming up all new at 6:00. live in towson, derek valcourt, wjz eyewitness news. >> if convicted on the charges, kern could face up to 15 years in prison. good news for johns hopkins hospital.

t. boone wickens has-- pickens announced he will give a $20 million gift to the hospital. the money will support potential vision-saving research at the wilmer eye institute. pickens, a texas energy entrepreneur was a patient at wilmer, where he was treated for cataracts and macular degeneration. baltimore's port remains shut down for a second day, striking longshoremen and ship companies have yet to reach a contract settlement. alex demetrick reports, the longer the strike goes on, the greater the economic risk. >> by going out on strike, longshoremen know one thing is guaranteed. >> i don't get paid. >> reporter: as ships sit idle, almost no one does. tens of thousands more in support of services trucking. it supports $3 billion a year in wages. another $300 million a year in taxes. just the number of cars alone that come in and go out. the port is --

>> number 1. number 1 in the nation. we overtook new york about a year ago. >> reporter: no more than this week's paycheck are at risk. >> we hope that it will be resolved quickly, so it will not interrupt commerce more than it is doing now. >> reporter: shutting down the port of baltimore opens up the opportunity for other ports. >> that's what is scary. >> helen delich bentley is a port adviser. >> labor stability is so important. and more so today than ever. ships cost anywhere from 30 to $100,000 a day. they're not going to waste any time. >> keep the ships in the port as little as possible, then push them out so these types of things don't make this an attractive place. >> and if cargo is diverted to other ports, norfolk, even temporarily, down the line -- >> you might lose it forever. >> alex demetrick, wjz eyewitness news.

>> between maine and the gulf of mexico, baltimore is currently the only port closed by a strike. we had another mild fall day. sky eye chopper 13 is over the 23rd annual great chesapeake schooner race. 35 ships left the inner harbor this morning to make the 137- mile trip down the bay. wjz caught up with the boats as the race started south of the bay bridge. it ends in virginia, just north of norfolk. and back on land. it was a great day for a stroll at robert e. lee park in baltimore county. even with a baby on board. and we're taking a live look outside right now, from sky eye chopper 13. sun is peeking through the clouds. but showers are popping up in the area. we saw them with tim earlier. wjz is live with first warning weather coverage. mobile and weather lab. still has his imbrella up there. but first, we'll start with bob, who is tracking live doppler radar for us. rain upon. some areas not seeing much of anything. take a look at cloud cover. we had sun for a while.

then the clouds did move in across the region. but there's still a few breaks here and there as you can see. as far as the rain is concerned, there's a little batch that moved across baltimore, carroll county. and it's quickly moving off to the east. a few drops. actually, the heaviest rain right now, very close to where tim is, north of phoenix, cockeysville, butler area. getting decent shower activity. and tim will talk about that, i'm sure in a second. take a look at temperatures. right now, we're at 70. 59, oakland, where the rain has ended temporarily. 60, ocean city. and 73 to the south of us. so tim at hunt valley with the wjz mobile weather lab. in the rain, has a look ahead. tim? >> well, bob talked about the rain right here. we have been watching on our radar right here. aboard the wjz mobile weather lab. and we seem to be in the middle of that batch that bob was talking about. hasn't been too horrible. we are here at the upper level of the hunt valley town center, where the temperature was just

around 70 degrees. cooled off a little after the rain started. and we're going to be watching to see what happens after this rain moves on through. let's give you an idea of what you can expect. after we get into tonight, we'll start to see this front that is responsible for the rain. all of this rain is just out ahead of it. going to push through. expect it to get breezy here for a time. and after the front goes on through, we'll expect to see the clouds lingering for tomorrow. and two things will start to happen. we'll start to see a little more sun heading into the weekend. and we'll see a drop in the temperatures. we'll lose these 70s and be closer to our normal high of about 66 degrees. overnight lows down around 45. that is typically where we hit around this time of year. and that's where we expect to be the next several days. we are live here at the hunt valley town center. with the wjz mobile weather lab. meteorologist tim williams, sending it back to you on tv hill. the panda cam is back up and running at the national zoo in washington, d.c. it went down on october 1st, when the federal government closed. as of today, it's back up online for everyone to karch a glimpse of the new baby panda, who is now almost 8 weeks old.

the zoo itself will reopen tomorrow to visitors. naptime. for a long time. still ahead on wjz's eyewitness news at 5:00. a traffic stop turns deadly in baltimore city. exclusive video of what happened in northeast baltimore. and what the commissioner is saying about what happened. looking for that competitive edge. i'm pat warren. coming up on eyewitness news. testing the political waters. and finding them luke warm. from on stage to on display. the newest exhibit that pays tribute to queen. i'm gigi barnett. at the hard rock cafe at the inner harbor. details next. damp weather in the area tonight. don't miss the updated first warning forecast with bob. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

stir it's mostly cloudy with light rain and 70 degrees in central maryland. the complete first warning weather forecast is coming up. the candidates for governor in maryland's democratic primary are on the campaign trail. but are voters paying any attention? a new poll suggests, there's a lot of cloud of ground to cover. wjz is live. political reporter pat warren takes a closer look at the numbers. >> good evening, kai. good evening. everybody. the numbers indicate that a lot of voters are either neutral or just flat-out don't recognize the candidate. >> first, out of the gate in may. and leading the race is lieutenant governor anthony brown. according to the gonzalez poll, brown wins with 41% of the vote. attorney general doug gansler waited until september to announce his candidacy and showed significantly less support. he polls 20 points behind brown with 21%. delegate heather mizeer runs a distant third with 5% of the vote. 33% of voters polled are

undecided. >> the primary is about 8 months away. people probably aren't paying that much attention yet. >> reporter: the numbers bear that out. a total of 56% of voters are either neutral or don't recognize the lieutenant governor. 72% are neutral or don't recognize the attorney general. montgomery county delegate heather mizeer is the least recognized. >> reporter: there's nobody in the race so far. that's even known in baltimore. >> as it becomes more competitive, matt censon predicts a battle from baltimore. all hail from the wash suburbs and need to make themselves known here. >> over the next few month presidency, as an thon -- months as anthony brown and mr. gansler trade punches with one another, people will probably be paying more attention to the election and the name recognition of the candidates, which is now dismally low. >> reporter: one potential candidate most would recognize

is congressman dutch ruppersberger. and he will decide whether to run next month. i'm pat warren, reporting. back to you. >> candidates in the republican primary include harford county executive david craig, and ron george. if you're waiting for somebody to get home from work, let's check in on our roads now. here's kristy breslin, live at wjz traffic control. still a mess out there. >> absolutely. some areas out there are just gridlocked. that's include the harrisburg expressway. gridlocked from timonium to belfast. top side inner loop, that's just one very long delay. stop and go, from 795 to 95. as you can see by our sensor there. average speed, only about 27 miles an hour. traveling on the west side inner loop, watch for significant delays there from 295 to liberty road. northbound 95, which continues to be a problem this afternoon, we're looking at delays, beginning there at 32, over to 195. then continuing on from the fort mchenry tunnel, approaching that to whitemarsh

boulevard. a couple of accidents. 70 westbound at 29. and on the avenue at eastern avenue. you can see, no one is getting there quickly on harford road. this traffic report is brought to you by bill's, carpet, wood and laminate, too. christy, thank you. a high-rocking hit musical makes its way to the hippodrome this week. along with the performance comes special memorabilia. the rock band queen is at the center of it all. >> priceless memorabilia line the wall of baltimore's hard rock cafe. it's the restaurant's signature style. but this week only, the most treasured prize may be this. a guitar once owned by queen lead guitarist, brian may. >> that guitar is very, very special. we got that guitar directly from brian may. and it's the guitar he used to record "one vision."

a tribute to we will rock you at the hippodrome. the performance is based on the chart-topping music of queen. hard rock historian jeff nolan and jamie moore say may's guitar has already attracted many visitors. >> we had a lot of folks that were actually at the opening of the show on tuesday that came to dinner last night and dined with us. >> for hard rock, whenever we have queen memorabilia, it goes up immediately, or goes on tour because people want to see it. it's so special. >> reporter: but this isn't the only piece from the band on display. there's another piece at the hippo dome lobby, one that plays tribute to freddie mercury. >> for the play, they lend this unbelievable kimono that freddie would wear on stage. it's amazing. >> the music at the hippodrome will end sunday. so does the display here at hard rock. they will then both head to

pittsburgh. >> for the next two weeks, hard rock cafe is offering special dinner deals for customers who see the musical and the memorabilia. you had a chance to see it. >> yeah, i did. it was a lot of fun. >> a lot of energy. >> great to see brian may. he was amazing. 66 and kicking it. we've got a little rain on the region here and there. take a look at temperatures. down to 70. southeast winds, 6. the barometer rising again. come back and take a look at friday and the weekend after this. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

stir we have a verdict in the case of baltimore police academy instructor who mistakenly shot a police trainee in the head. wjz is live at the courthouse in towson. let's go to derek valcourt. derek? >> reporter: it look that jury less than an hour to reach their unanimous verdict, in the end deciding that officer william scott kern would be not guilty of second-degree assault, but guilty of reckless endangerment. of course, you may remember, we have been telling you the story for a while now, william scott kern was a police academy -- city police academy instructor and back on february 12th of this year, he had two weapons on him, his real weapon and then a training weapon, just

below that on his hip he was going to pull his training weapon. he said he mistakenly grabbed his real weapon instead. fire it at a police academy trainee. that trainee was struck in the forehead and now has brain damage and is blinded in one eye. tonight, the jury has returned a verdict of not guilty on second-degree assault. but guilty of reckless endangerment for causing the circumstances that allowed him to draw his real gun, instead of the training weapon. we'll have more for you coming up. we're live at towson, derek valcourt, wjz eyewitness news. >> okay. big and breaking news, derek, thank you. wjz will follow this story on eyewitness news at 6:00. we are live here outside the hunt valley town center. we're looking at events going on here for the holiday or for the weekend. and looking ahead to the holiday. all of the activities are already on the calendar. for more on how this weekend will play out for toys for toys for tots and susan g. komen race for the cure here, we're

sending it inside to bob here. >> i want to take a look at radar. temperature wide, still pretty mild for this time of year. mostly 60s to 70s. cool spot in oakland, 59. and locally around the 70 degree mark. right now, a little rain passing through the northern section of the region. south of us, not much of anything. a little did fall around ocean city. still, a little more coming in this evening. and later tonight, still could see another shower. east and south leer winds around the region. but they're rather light. will pick up tomorrow. west of us, cooler temperatures. but sunshine also. we do expect pretty nice day tomorrow. once this precip moves out later on tonight. back here in the midwest. sunshine and pleasant, really vanish pleasant conditions. later tonight, still a risk of a few more showers. probably about 8:00, 9:00, 10:00. then we clear out for a nice- looking friday. we'll just call it pleasant. a little area of low pressure passing southeast of us. moves away. now, over the weekend, it will get a little cooler as another front comes through saturday night. maybe a sprinkle with that. then it dries out again.

west winds kind of picking up tomorrow. and a small craft advisero the bay. bay temp, around 65 degrees. tonight, a little rain early on. otherwise, later tonight. clouds will break. 52 by morning. and tomorrow, upper 60s the a little cooler than today. and we'll have sunshine. and a few passing clouds. all in all, a very nice end of the week. >> sounds good, bob. thank you. still ahead on wjz's eyewitness news at 5:00. my daughter is being punished for something that she didn't do. >> evidence remains at the scene where a man was shot and killed by a baltimore city police officer. i'm rochelle ritchie, with the new information, coming out just this hour. that story is next. i'm mike schuh at hereford high. and these budding engineering students have won a national contest, with this electric car that they built. the story next. herself here's today's report from wall street. ,,,,,,,

it is 5:29. 70 degrees and mostly cloudy, with rain in the area. good evening, everybody. thank you for staying with wjz, eyewitness news. here are some of the stories people are talking about tonight. a traffic stop turns deadly. the driver drags a police officer. that officer then opens fire. now, an intense internal investigation is under way tonight. wjz is live at city police headquarters. rochelle ri