i'm gigi barnett in harford county. that story is just ahead in tonight's school watch report. >>> a cancer survivor gets the surprise of a lifetime. >> i never thought someone would do something like this for me. >> i'm jessica kartalija, the story coming up on wjz. >>> spring has sprung. a beautiful evening across maryland. updated first warning weather forecast is coming up. ,,,, [ male announcer ] it's our hottest offer of the season, but it's melting fast. so hurry, act now to get fios tv, internet and phone at the super low price of $99.99 a month -- guaranteed for 2 years! call now and you'll also get a multi-room dvr and set top box -- free for six months. with 100% fiber optics straight to your home you'll get an amazing hd picture, america's top rated internet and phone. all for just $99.99 a month. enjoy tons of your favorite shows and channels. fios brings facebook and twitter right to your tv. also, check sports, weather and traffic without interrupting your show. you'll get tv with four times more very sat

thursday started, 695, harford road. traffic is moving very smoothly. not much traffic out there at all this morning as folks get their day started. we also have your drive times this morning as you get up and out. and... hopefully they will see them. 695, we don't have it. so anyway the roadways are moving smoothly right now, we'll keep you updated to what's going on. megan and jamie, back to you. >>> deep budget cuts could affect public safety in our city. the city needs to cut $121 million to get back in the black. linda show has more. >> reporter: good morning, we're talking massive layoffs. 600 to be exact. most of those layoffs would target police officers and firefighters. those departments make up about half of the city's budget. if there's major cutting to be done, that's where much of it will be done. includes 200 cops and 100 firefighters. at this point, nothing is final. mayor rawlings blake says this is just the first step in the budget process and some of those cuts could be avoided. >> we're looking to make reductions, to try to do more w

here's troy. >> traffic cam, 695 in harford road is moving fairly smoothly. west band street and pearl street. also your road times look like this. 83 southbound. shawan road, 695. 7-minute drive. 83, 695 to north parkway, five minutes. >>> the scissors, the saw, the nail clippers, whatever it takes the mayor needs to cut the budget in city hall. >>> could have been in your neighborhood last week, could have been in your house, he made sure you're taken care of, and now we need to make sure we take care of his family. >>> it is out now, ehrlich is going to run. >>> it's thursday morning, thanks for joining us. >> justin berk with your weather, good morning. >> we're knocking on the doorstep of 6:00. we have a storm system that will try to affect us. quick-moving

see traffic for the most part, all lanes open everywhere, especially the top side looking good at harford road towards the belair road exits and dulaney valley road as well. drive times are up somewhat. southbound 95 from whitemarsh boulevard to the beltway, five minutes to make that trip. 83 southbound from shawan to 695, seven minutes. and 795, southbound from owings mills boulevard to the beltway, about five minutes. still disabled vehicle 83 southbound on the ramp to the inner loop, it's been cleared to the shoulder. back to you. >>> it won't be so bad after all. we won't have to say goodbye to 300 police officers and see fire companies close. the mayor has a different plan now to balance the budget. linda so joins us live in studio to share it with us. >> reporter: the mayor is changing her tune. she now says cuts will not be as deep and her priority is to keep public safety in tact. mayor rawlings-blake was in the oliver community this weekend, a neighborhood that has been showcased nationally for its crime. hbo's "the wire" shot scenes on the streets and the dawson family was kille

that's the problem harford county school leaders are facing. and the solution may mean closing some schools. in a packed auditorium, parents rallied last night against that idea. >> they want the school district to consider any option, other than closure. they are open to anything that keeps those doors open. >> reporter: julie merenden and laurie have children. >> i attended darth. i graduated there when i was little. they're very scared that they're going to have to go somewhere else. >> reporter: four elementary schools are at 65% capacity or lower. darlington, deerfield and roye- williams are on the list. parents believe the problem is to redraw school district lines. >> it is our desire to keep our schools open and make sure we're maximizing the schools smuchtz possible. >> terry cranefield says school leaders are researching all options. but the district is required by state law to consider closing a school if it has very low enrollment. >> you are operating the bill for the students. and the students are very important for us. but we hav

here it is on 695 at harford road. again, it's going to be the same deal, no matter where you're traveling this morning. as far as the beltway, there's nothing to annoy you there traveling from towson all way up toward parkville. again, besides the weather that you are to deal with as far as the volume it's going to be an easy drive. on 95, we are incident free moving through baltimore county, whitemarsh all the way down toward baltimore. that's a look at the morning travels. patrice, back over to you. >>> thank you, candace. >>> spring is here so celebrate the new season with a little adventure. >> it's not fair. >> an all new season of action packed season show, bones and friends starts this week but you -- fridge starts this weekend, but you don't have to look farther than your own backyard. it's fox 45 cooking up adventure contest. just take a picture of yourself gearing up to grill and send to the our website. the grand prize winner will win a weber grill and a grilling gear. you can catch the first episode of bon

wjz is in harford county. we'll have the latest on this story for you tonight at 5:00 and 6:00. >>> two students in frederick complained of feeling queasy after drinking chocolate milk from the cafeteria. a dairy processor said it mistakenly sent the milk tainted with a nontoxic chemical solution to the middle school. the solution is a sanitizing rinse that is used when switching from dispensing one milk type to another. they can contain iodine and bleach. >>> it is round 2 of the republican healthcare reform debate. joel brown reports. the gop is determined to force house lawmakers to start all over again. >> reporter: republicans flooded the senate floor with proposals to change healthcare reform. >> the amendment i'm filing today. >> reporter: it's a last-ditch effort to fight the new law. >> this is undoubtedly the greatest assault on liberty this country has ever had. >> reporter: the battle over healthcare now centers on the so-called fix-it bill, passed by the house second. democrats want to pass that b

we have a crash on harford road.ty road. do expect sluggish areas traveling on the outer loop lanes from 795 toward edmond son avenue. we're dealing with the effects of the light rail accident yesterday morning. service has been disrupted but there's going to be a shuttle bus provided between both directions from hunt valley, i'm sorry, from hunt valley to timonium this morning. that's a look at morning travels. patrice and megan, let's send it back to you. >>> coming up american idol is twitting away. the user name where you can follow all of the contestants. >>> it is 6 layers thick, but that is not all. the diaper that >>> it is time for tinsel town on twitter. we're finding tweets and bringing the hottest news from hollywood to right here in baltimore. we're starting with american idol news because this is the first for american idol. >> all of the contestants are now on twitter. they have each posts under one official american idol account. it's user name is a i-9 contest appears. they update through the day oft

. >> harford county school officials are reassuring parents there are no plans to close some elementary schools. hundreds of parents attended a meeting last night where officials pointed out that some schools have declining enrollment. >> we have some that are 65 or less. we are obligated to review the options available to us when a school -- that an available. >> the study will be done in march of next year. any changes would take effect in the 2011-2012 school year. >> for a minute changes to the health care reform law. republicans see a golden opportunity to torpedo parts of the law. that is not the only move to bring it down. we have more from washington. >> the ink is barely dry on the president's health-care overhaul and critics doubt to keep fighting it. >> it will pass on more debt to our children, a that they cannot afford it. >> congress is debating on fixes to the reform law. they want to cut out the sweetheart deal says john mccain. >> it took as a long time to figure out that the state of connecticut has a $100 million deal to build a hospital. >> enough changes could cause

. >>> in harford county, there's a meeting for closiers of elementary schools. a spokesperson says there's no plans on closing schools, but the system is being studied and the enrollment of some schools is less than 65%. >> sunshine and warm weather returned this noon. take a look outside, clear skies and a little breeze, we're live with the first warning weather coverage and marty is outside and first, we'll begin with tim williams. >>> well, hello jessica, it's an enjoyable afternoon. we have the high pressure dominating the forecast. we'll show you what we're dealing with. the average temperature high is about 57 degrees and the overnight low is 37. we're at 59 and 54 in westminster and bel air and 55 in kent island and a light wind and a pretty stiff breeze around bwi marshall. 59 degrees, it will make for a breezy spring afternoon. we have changes in our direction and with a look at the radar, we're sending it to marty. >> let's go to the first warning doppler weather radar, i want to show you along the front range of the rockies. look at the left side of t

. >> a harford county family does not want to get rid of a dog they left.he board says keeping them is breaking the rules. >> this had a job to do. he was providing emotional support as the mother was dealing with terminal cancer. the doctor says the dog was her last wish. >> he was very attached to her. >> now that she is gone, a board wants the dog out. >> i cannot believe they can be this hard with a lack of understanding and compassion. >> tonight at 11, the reason they say the dog must go. and why the family thinks the board should make an exception. there is much more ahead on 11 news today. >> we will take a look at one of your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> here is a look at the winning lottery numbers from last night . good luck. >> pizza is calling upo the eta is calling on the octomom for a new campaign. she would receive $5,000 along with a month's supply of a veggie burgers and hot dogs. >> although they spent months apart, a love between storks' has captivated a town. 18 years ago, a homeowner found a store with a broken w

the former harford county executive plans to retire after a decade at theheal. he said he may be able to clean out the garage. >>> teaching kids a lesson that they'll never forget. coming up, some area students learn what it is like to go hungry. >>> they are more than just a pretty site. how these blossoms are an economic boom to the nation's capital. >>> getting a lesson in hunger. students in a baltimore county school got a taste of what it is like to be born rich or poor. linda was there for a very teachable moment. >> reporter: it is breakfast with a twist and a lesson in hunger. >> we need to help out the people that are in the third world countries and send them food. we need to think before we eat. >> reporter: erin got a taste of what it is like to live in a developing country. her group got a couple pieces of cereal and water. they didn't even get to sit at the table. >> it was upsetting. it makes you think those people can't get enough food. >> reporter: kathy, on the other hand sat down to sausage, cheese and juice. >> you are born into -- sometimes

harford county asked for a waiver of one day. >>> who wants to think about snow when you have is sun out like it is today. will the weather continue? wyatt is here with the first forecast. >> don't you miss all the big pile of snow? looking at that video brings back if memories. beautiful blue skies today. one more good one tomorrow. then things will change. not that drastically. satellite radar pictures. few clouds out of the west. no rain. baltimore's most accurate forecast all-clear. 64 baltimore. 66 washington. 70 northern virginia. very mild afternoon. very pleasant stuff for late march. hanging out in the low 60s the rest of the evening. few clouds. quiet stuff here. tomorrow a great-looking start to the day. tomorrow night rain is back in the picture. we'll talk at a big drop in the temperatures coming up. that' all straight ahead. >> thank you. >>> breaking news passengers aboard a southwest flight bound for baltimore. officials say the flight returns to little rock, arkansas after the crew reported a burning smell on the plane. no one was hurt. replacement plane is being use

it looks wet on harford road. it is windy. it will be 15-25 miles per hour on average. the guests will be up into the 40 mile per hour range. at high tide, there could be minor flooding. we could see flooding in general in some areas because the ground is so saturated from all of the snow. a lot of that will run off. we have multiple issues going on with this storm. the intense part of the storm will last through tomorrow night. the storm will still be in the environment. we still will see some showers and mostly cloudy skies and temperatures today of around 50 degrees. on monday, mostly cloudy and chilly. maybe a shower, but less intense. we will finally get out from under this tuesday. for the rest of the week, it looks great. if you can bear with us. i know it is the weekend. there was another day and a half, and we will get out from underneath all of this. >> the wind came up and the rain, that was scary when the guests came. -- a guesgust came. >> it is a big weekend for the maryland lottery. the jackpot is $200 million. they awarded one lucky man a quarter million

we have your traffic times as well, drive times looking like this as we look at 695 and harford road. 695, outer loop, bel air road, providence road. white marsh boulevard to 695 is a four-minute drive. 83 to the jfx is two minutes. be on the lookout for an accident at pearl street, just west of green. megan and jamie, back to you. >>> firefighters firehouses, police, rec centers and you are all going to be affected by the mayor's decision to cut the budget. linda show joins us live from city hall about how this round will hurt. linda? >> the picture isn't pretty here at city hall. we know massive cuts are coming and popular services will also be cut. police and fire departments make up about half of the city's budget. if there's major cutting to be done, that's where much of it comes from. laying off about 200 police officers and 100 firefighters. at this point nothing is final. mayor rawlings blake says this is the first step in the budget process and some of the cuts could be avoided. >> looking to make reductions to try to do more with less. after taking a look at what was leftove

already pushed out of the baltimore area, still lingering some showers up in northern sections of harford county, looks like a return from the dc area and we all have fog, so once the rain tries to depart around annapolis, eastern shore, there's fog left over but easton got the rain to clear and now returning from the south, it's in cambridge now and in salisbury, ocean city and it's heavy. expected there could be flooding potential on the lower portion of the delmarva including the eastern shore of maryland and delaware. otherwise we have fog, upper 40s to near 50 this morning. we'll get to 57 this afternoon, with, again, a chance of showers returning around the baltimore area, so keep that umbrella handy,

harford county asked for a waiver of one day. >>> for the days of the snow. i guess we don't miss that at all. sunshine out there today. beautiful spring forecast. we'll keep this going for another 24-hours then things cool off a lot. let's look across maryland now. things are all clear in baltimore. few high clouds moving in western maryland. no threat for rain with those. maryland's radar all clear. 65 degrees right now out of bwi marshall. warmer than that downtown. we find 72 degrees down toward kulpeper, virginia. mighty nice afternoon. this evening low 60s. few clouds. breezy and mild. we'll talk much more about the outlook for the next couple of days here. big swing in the temperatures coming our way. get ready for that. >> thank you. >>> when it comes to our health we want to live a long and healthy life. we'll tell you about the results investigating end of life ex planning. >>> a 20-year-old woman claims ben rothlesberger sexually assaulted her in a georgia night club earlier this month. he has not been charged. >>> in raleigh, north carolina a fire

once you finally approach the beltway it's a quiet ride from harford road toward towson and eventuallyoward the 83. that comfortable conditions continue moving through the pikesville region down toward 795. as for 795, we are in excellent shape there moving from owings mills toward the beltway. that that's a look at the morning travels, patrice, over to you. >>> thank you, candace. >>> still ahead, home sales fell in january. what it means for the economy. >>> i pay enough for groceries. >> but could you soon be >>> a trip to the grocery store could soon cost you more money, not for the items you buy but for the bags you use to carry them. myranda stephens has more on two city proposals that some say need to be bagged. >> reporter: it's an age-old question at the grocery store. >> paper or plastic. >> reporter: that could be getting a new twist in the city of baltimore. two city councilmembers are now proposing bills to cut down on the use of paper and plastic bags. councilman bill henry wants to add a 25-cent fee on plastic and paper bags, while counts man jim craft wants to ban paper

as we take a live look at harford road.he delays along the outer loop lanes this morning. and unfortunately they will extend from bel air road all the way up to providence road. we are still dealing with accidents in the city. the one accident on the west fayette street is still working at pearl street and we're dealing with the other crash on north calvert street that is going to be right at east eager street. that's a look at your morning if i were a customer, i'd like nonstop travel because it's quicker. because it's convenient. it's just the best way to go. it keeps the costs down. southwest airlines is proud to announce service out of bwi airport. it means more time doing the things i want to do. it's easy. it's hassle-free. no headaches. fly southwest airlines nonstop to milwaukee for just $69 one-way. i like nonstop travel because... you don't got anymore stuff. [ laughter ] ( ding ) >>> the baltimore city fire department is once again on the hot seat when it comes to budget did you telcuts. the city revealed its pre

once you approach the beltway checking in at harford road, we haven't had any incidents to complain about and we still have light activity on both sides there as well. cars continue to cruise along taking it on 695 from the jfx toward pikesville and >>> almost two weeks ago, jennifer gilbert and photographer darren d url ack traveled to haiti to see how the country is coping after the january quake. today we have a look at the mission of hope. ♪ ♪ ♪. >> reporter: it is a country about the size of maryland but with twice as many people. the poorest of the poor. >> this has crippled the country that was already, you know, very, very poor before the earthquake. >> reporter: even before the earthquake hit haiti was the poorest country in the western hemhemisphere, the houses builtf concrete and cement. you can see when the earthquake hit, the loss of life was so great. >> incredible all of the houses destroyed. >> reporter: joseph gerard came to haiti from columbia, maryland to help care for his wounded mother-in-law. he found a wounded nation. >> this is a place where i grew up. it's hard fo

. >>> the possibility that a school in northern harford county might be closed has a will of parents concerned this morning. northville elementary was designed for about 250 students but right now it only has 170. last night officials from the school system met with parents and said the enrollment numbers mean the system has to study all of their options, but they are really hoping to keep the school open. >> we're obligated by the state to look at any school that falls below 65% to see why that might be happening, we have no intention of closing northville. we are going to look at all the options. >> school officials say the earliest a decision could be made for the future of northville elementary would be march of next year, with that decision not being implemented until the fall of the same year. >>> 6:08 taking a look outside at a clear sky, a cold start, temperature of 46 degrees, which in and of itself it's above normal, but we have ourselves 45 now, we got an adjustment at bwi with a west wind at 7 miles per hour. that west wind dries us out, gives us sunshine, but it will pic

on the top end moving on harford road on the beltway, this has been a pretty picture for us. it continues to be a comfortable ride for us. outer loop lanes and inner loop down toward 95. speaking of 95, let's check in on 395 and the sky rams are looking good, northbound and southbound lanes of 95 as well >>every american will be counted courtesy of the u.s. census. and as the count begins, a fox 45 investigation has revealed questionable spending by the census bureau in baltimore and across the area. crime and justice reporter joy lepola takes a look at the office politics. >> reporter: welcome to baltimore's inner harbor east, the home to high-end hotels, luxurious high-end con, expensive eateries and now the newest tenant. the united states census bureau. >>all people count and all people should be counted. >> it's luxury rental space. >> reporter: crime and justice investigation has uncovered significant and questionable federal spending in one of the city's most expensive neighborhoods. >> very few people can afford to shop there or eat there. >> reporter: documents obtai

. >>>> harford county school officials are reassuring parents there are no plans to close some elementary schools. hundreds of parents attended a meeting last night where officials pointed out that some schools have declining enrollment. >> we have some that are 65 or less. we are obligated to review the options available to us when a school -- that an available. >> the study will be done in march of next year. the 2011-2012 school year. >> on capitol hill, senators are debating the parts of the new law and are looking at other moves to bring it down. -- >> for a minute changes to therepublicans see a goldenthat is not the only move to bring it down. we have more from washington. >> the ink is barely dron the president's health-care overhaul and critics doubt to keep fighting it. >> it will pass on more debt to our children, a that they cannot afford it. >> congress is debating on fixes to the reform law. they want to cut out the sweetheart deal says john mccain. >> it took as a long time to figure out that the state of connecticut has a $100 million deal to build a hospital. >> enough ch

. >> a harford county family does not want to get rid of a dog they left. -- love. the board says keeping them is breaking the rules. >> this had a job to do. he was providing emotional support as the mother was dealing with terminal cancer. the doctor says the dog was her last wish. >> he was very attached to her. he made her forget about the cancer. he made her feel better. >> now that she is gone, a board wants the dog out. >> i cannot believe they can be this hard with a lack of understanding and compassion. >> tonight at 11, the reason they say the dog must go. and why the family thinks the board should make an exception. >> another check on weather and traffic straight ahead. >> dennis hopper is unable to make an appearance in divorce court. find out why he was unable to make it. >> what do you think is the formula for a happy marriage? email us your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> here is a look at the winning lottery numbers from last night. the luck. >> we are getting the latest on traffic. paul it is not combat for your commute. -- it is not looking

if you're on the northbound outer lupe, we have delays and ten minutes from mar doctor what are -- harford to providence and delays from 795 to security boulevard and a crash to watch out for 795 at the beltway. congestion on 95 southbound, that continues from whitemarsh up to the beltway and another 15 minutes to get through and another accident at baitman. we'll take a live look here and we'll see a little bit of volume building here. and this traffic report is brought to you by anne arundel medical center. to learn more, give them a call. now, back to you. >>> in the head lines, mayor stephanie rawlings-blake is hours away from unveiling her budget proposal. on the chopping block, laying off 200 police departments and grounding the marine units. the mayor said it's a worst cassina yore -- scenario. >>> another change for the baltimore sun. the editor has resigned. he' served since 2009. >>> and stay with wjz-13, maryland's news station. maryland's news station. the reformrm,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, we know everyone's looking for ways to save. why not save on car insurance? [ coin drops ] [ hig

airs foas for what is happenings show you the scene on the beltway at harford road.ure there. outer loop lanes are going to be to be clogged all the way down toward loch raven boulevard. the inner loop is getting by just fine toward 95. 95 is a bit sluggish through the whitemarsh region and the delays do loosen up at the 895 merge. farther down on 95, checking in at 395, let's show you that area near the sky rams, look at that, the traffic is flowing freely on the northbound lanes and southbound toward the beltway. on 95, traveling near the airport at 195, let's check in on that region for you. here it is a bit busy but no delays to talk about the northbound and southbound stretch. that's a look at the morning travels, patrice, back over to you. >>> thank you, candace. still ahead governor opall o'may goes to iraq while the general assembly is in session. now some people are criticizing that move. we want to know >>> former governor bob ehrlich criticized governor martin martn o'malley for taking a trip to iraq. ehrlich says he never so should gone during the legisla

. >> well, worries over school changes drew a crowd in harford county tonight. parents and teachers gathered to hear about the future. their concerned that declining enrollment at the school may force it to close. >> it just would be a great loss to this area if this school closed. >> if anybody school is under 65 percent capacity we're obligated to look at it. and see if there are options to move kids in or to balance the enrollments in the school. that's what we will do. northville is one of several that are at or under 65 percent capacity. >> school officials say that they are more likely to shift students from other schools in to norrisville instead of closing the school. >> cloudy but started to clear up at the end of the evening. >> got a few more rain drops out there tonight. chief meteorologist vytas reid is here to let us know, hopefully, sunny skies are back on the way. vytas? >> we had a few rain drops on the back edge of the storm. but it has pushed north. as you see. scanning the skies. no precipitation out there. putting in motion. had a few drops

we have all that expansion and jobs coming to harford county. what is happening to make sure the minority contractors are getting a piece of that work out there? >> good question. not much. they have never faced it before. they have a lot of big contracts on the horizon, infrastructure contracts to help support the influx of people coming in. they just awarded a $14 million contract and none of it went to minority firms. the question was asked by our reporters where are the minority goals? they don't have them. this is something they will have to look at. baltimore city, all the counties, the state, have a 25% -- roughly -- 25% goal of minority business, that's minority and women-owned businesses. we're talking huge money that could be going to these firms just by way of numbers. 48 minority businesses registered in the state. there are certainly people who could benefit here. >> we need the legislators to jump in on that one. >> grocery stores in low-income areas, we're seeing more and more of that. what are you seeing? what's the trend? >> leg

right now 9 miles per hour at harford road.0 miles per hour on the southbound 95 moving through whitemarsh. we do need to talk about trouble, though on the outer loop lanes at 295, let's check on the scene there. there's an accident there that completely shuts down all outer loop lanes moving right at the 295 exit. now here is the way to get around it, we will still find a delay but you can exit off of at 95 and take the southbound lanes instead. as for the entire west side stretch of the beltway, it's not been a pretty picture for us this morning. we do have delays that stack up moving through the catonsville region and up toward liberty road as well. as far as the top end of the beltway it's not the outer loop lanes that we're concerned with. it's the inner loop stretch and that's because of an accident in the same direction at the jfx. that's a look at morning travels, patrice and megan back over to you. >>> thank you, candace coming up the hit show in the heights is at the hel hippodrome right now. ♪ doesn't save me anymore

the latest on the outer loop topside approaching harford road. that is causing additional delays.nother problem in that area. 28 miles per hour on the inner loop toward liberty. you will find slow spots on coldspring lane. eastbound 50 just past davidsonville road, accident reports there. 27 minutes is your drive time on the outer loop north side. 18 on the outer loop west side. we will see what is going on on putty hill ave. this delay from belair road towards dulaney valley and the outer loop. we will switch to a live view of 95 and white marsh. maybe a fender bender on the left shoulder. tony has to check the forecast. >> the weather is nice and quiet on this wednesday. temperatures in the upper 40's and 50's right now. we will wind up in the 60's. 41 in parkton. the forecast for today is mostly sunny skies. high temperatures this afternoon in the mid-60's. average high of 67. clouds will thicken up tomorrow and a good chance for rain on thursday night and during the day on friday. high temperatures will fall back into the fifties by the beginning of the weekend. >> another upd

outer loop between 95 and 83 has been bad. 895 and harford road moving slow.n earlier accident in ellicot city. 70 eastbound and columbia pike. fortunately it's been cleared. we have accidents in the milford mill area. rockdale. we have an accident in towson. overbrook, york road. essex and accident at eastern boulevard. you want to look out for that. injury accident on richie highway. more news on the way here on abc2. >>> thanks for joining us here's a look at local he'll we're following for you this morning. deep budget cuts could seriously affect public safety in baltimore city. the city needs to cut $121 million to get back in the black. and the mayor's proposal includes, listen to this, more than 600 layoffs. among these, almost 200 police officers and nearly 100 firefighters. the head of the city's police union says the mayor's proposed cuts go too far. at the next meeting, baltimore city council, we should learn more about the new revenue streams the mayor plans to use to restore some of those cuts. >>> they're crunching the numbers in annapolis too. t

we have an accident that's there at harford road slowing things down. 25 minutes from bel air to charles70 to the expressway. and no improvement to talk about on the westside. slow, 795 to edmondson and we have good news for 95 southbound, the earlier accident is cleared and we have sluggish activity on the north eastside. here's a live look outside. you can see, the congestion continues there. back to you. >> thank you, in less than an hour, we'll find out how mayor stephanie rawlings-blake is planning on cutting dollars from the budget. andrea fujii has more. >> reporter: don, with the $120 million budget short fall, critical services may take a hit. three fire companies could close permanently. they could disband the marine unit and lay off 200 officers. this could be the difference in life and death, they're saying. mayor stephanie rawlings-blake will also look for tax hikings and the mayor accepted she won't accept her pay raise. >> the house passed a bill to lose endangered beatles. most of the 5000 that still live, live at the bay and -- the government still needs to sane off on t

host: our guest was educated at the university of virginia and harford, worked at "the atlanta journal-constitution" a bit of a journalism background, work for kathleen kennedy townsend in maryland, and he is now director of the prison report at the pew center on the the states. how long have you been doing this report? guest: just a few months. counting the present violation is quite difficult. but we have a great team and a -- we have a great team ant pew. it has been going on for three years. host: next caller. caller: with our governor, pat quinn, there has been a minor scandal, because he released many violent criminals, and a lot of them were rearrested. we would have preferred him to release may be minor drug offenders or someone who did something a little less extreme. i think they should take these cases on an individual basis more. it is hard for felons to get jobs once they are released. maybe if they keep more monitoring, like other lady said earlier, tax breaks to companies who are willing to give it breaks to people with minor crimes -- maybe three strikes. i just feel like our govern