joce sterman, abc2 news. >> could tractor-trailer rigs as long as a 737 be driving on a highway near you. it's being proposed. the american energy and infrastructure jobs act would mean $260 billion over five years to fund highway programs. it's a controversial provision allowing heavier tractor-trailers by increasing the federal weight limit from 87,000 to 97,000 and could be 10 feet long are, a total length of more than 100 feet. >>> a california woman took automaker honda to court over the gas mileage claims a los angeles judge ruled in her favor. here's what heather peters had to say about her big win. >> it's justice in a very small place but it proves that sometimes the little guy wins. >> now the judge ruled that honda misled peters when it claimed its civic hybrid could drive 50 miles on a gallon of gas. peters said it never got past 42 miles and when she had the car reprogrammed it dropped to 32 miles an hour. the judge awarded her more than $9800 in damages. honda plans to appeal the decision. >>> well, not a lot of sunshine out there today, rain in some spots but still the

let's check in with joce sterman.ks like it's slowing down a little bit behind you. >> reporter: that's right. this has started to slow down on this curve. when you're coming up 83, this is a point that's usually a parking lot. the fact that there isn't that much volume says a lot about the fact that people likely heeded at least here, heeded the warning from the state highway administration to go home if you had the option to get off the roads before rush hour begafnlt just as we were standing here preparing for the live shot. we saw two trucks with salt. they were out here overnight doing a little salt prep, to give them a head start that once they got to the evening hours nothing had suck -- stuck. they don't think they'll need plows. at this point they think it will be a salting operation. as wyatt was saying before, depending on where you look, that's where it will be sticking. we're getting a little bit of stickage on the grassy surfaces, but nothing too bad. live in harford, joce sterman. >>> maryland state law

abc2 news, joce sterman. >>> temperatures cooling down some today but still way above average. maryland's most powerful radar all gone, all out to sea, so a clear scenario as we go through the rest of the evening. we've got 47 at bwi. winds northwest at 22 so things cooling down. it makes you wonder a little bit. this was oh, so right. he did see the dreaded shadow this morning saying six more weeks of winter. you know, there was some sun in punxsutawney today. it was almost a foregone conclusion that he would see that shadow. six more weeks of winter, maybe the six new weeks of winter. we haven't had much one yet. annapolis today, blue skies and a few passing clouds. long shadows over the building in baltimore today. i did not see any. i heard our leopard at the zoo say an early spring. i'll take the leopard. he's way bigger than our groundhog. so i'll take the leopard's prediction. temperatures across thet( state mid-40s. 32 in theÑi mountains. not a lotçóq of variety. trying ,ob funnel. milesqçóÑiÑiiÑi an hour. so anything outside that clan blow around, trash can lids, you

joce sterman, abc2 news. >>> a clear day for the most part. we had cloud cover earlier but no precipitation. the sun coming out but still quite a bit of wind out of the south with higher gust. we can zoom in. 25 in frederick. 26 d.c. 26 salisbury. an evening where the winds will let up. still breezy early on, winds relenting overnight. we could see the potential for a few showers. we'll talk about that and our mild surge. it's all coming up. >>> now to the economy. the dow jones industrial average broke the 13,000 mark today for the first time since the financial croi spies begafnlt it happened just before 1130s. stocks climbed on news that greece would get more funds and avoid a defall. the last time the dow closed above the 13,000 mark was may 19th, 2008. >>> domestic violence doesn't just happen at home. sometimes it can spread into other parts of the lives, including the work plaissments coming up, with some lawmakers are doing to make sure women feel safe at work. >>> and we pick up generic brands to save money but you may not be saving a

joce sterman, abc2 news. >>> weather wise, it has been one fantastic wednesday. a little breezy, south winds at 14. temperature wise we are near 60. 57 in easton. 60 in salisbury. d.c. below 60. north and west we are tracking a little bit of rain. you can see into the hagerstown area and up through the state line. for the most part we're looking good. the chance for a shower later tonight. we'll talk about that, even warmer weather and how your weekend looks straight ahead. >>> today is ash wednesday a day where christians mark the beginning of lent. services were held and will continue to be held through the evening. people observing lent usually choose something to give up leading to the 40 days of easter. >>> some of the latest fashion trends may be stylish. >>> plus, the oscars are going high tech. if you're addicted to the academy awards, this your you may be able to do more than just watch the show. >>> if you've got a budding artist at home, we'll take you to a place. >>> if you're looking for something exciting to do with your youngster, a new art studio

joce sterman explains. some are using your fears to pull a fast one on you. >> reporter: it's free and accessible but many of us skip the tap unless we're washing dishes. we may switch to the bottle. >> people are more health conscious today. they're looking at greener products. >> reporter: that's one reason why water testing might apple to some. it claims to show up problems in the h2o in your house. it's being offered with little hassle thanks to water testing kits that show up at crore door but the better business bureau said be careful. >> this is a scam. >> reporter: these tests are off the an means to an end. you give these door-to-door company as sample and they take an opportunity to sell you something. >> most often, all they're trying to do is sell you a water purification system. >> reporter: the better business bureau says that's not always how you're proached. for some companies the pitch may not mention sales at all. why some are not testing on behalf of the municipality, not everyone is clea

that's where we find abc2's joce sterman. >> reporter: as it starts to pick up in terms of what's falling from the sky, it starts to slow down on 83. we saw a lot of cars leaving the city heading into the northern part of baltimore county getting out of the way so state highway crews could get on the roads. the snow has picked up. we're starting to see some coverage. it's not sticking much to the roads. it's only sticking to the grassy surfaces. we want to show you some of the video we shot earlier today. the state highway administration crews were lined up like battles -- soldiers ready for battle. they were filling up with salt. they have the staff out for that. they started last nights coating the roads with a salt solution to give them a bit of a leds start, anticipating what might be a dicey evening commute in some sections. earlier today they did warn people to head home early and get off the roads before rush our, although no one is expecting a lot of accumulation. they just wanted room to work. >> we were loading up all day today with all of our shops coming in and putting everyth

joce sterman reporting. >>> so we've got our eyes on the roads from all directions. let's check in with abc2 news jamie costello who's taking a look at our cameras and from abc2news.com. >>> we had a deadly accident over the last couple of minutes. a deadly accident in perry hall. one person has died. another person has been taken to shock trauma. northbound lanes of bel air road are shut down as this investigation goes on. we're going to work west and come back in east. i want to show you what this looks like on 70. this is east of hagerstown. you can she snow but not on -- see snow but not on the roads. if you're trying to get out of town you'll find the same thing. as soon as you hit the carroll county line, you'll find this. we'll take you to the west side of town and we'll show you what it looks like. here's 70. this has been slow going all day long. then we'll work it in here to the bwi parkway. this is 295 at the beltway. again, very slow going. if you're trying to go north, you shouldn't have any problem. getting out of the city you won't have problems, a lit

tonight, abc2 news investigator joce sterman brings you a look at the second part of a 3-part series on bad medicine. >> reporter: it took a tragedy to get a baltimore county family to start asking those questions. they lost a mother and a wife following her plastic surgery. and in the years after her death, learned some shocking information about her surgeon. last night we brought outfirst part of our three-part look into bad medicine in maryland. introducing you to the hannan family dealing with heartache and anger. janet died three days after the plastic surgery in 2005. but it took years for the doctor who operated on her to finally be disciplineed by the maryland board of physicians. >> you know time passes and you heal a little bit. and you know, things start to become a distant memory, and then five years later you get the thing from the physicians. >> reporter: as we explained last night, lags in discipline by the board put them in limbo for more than five years. but the case is not an exception. as part of the abc2 news investigation, we have uncovered dozens of cases where

i am joce sterman, abc2 news. >>> a protein in the brain accumulates and people with alzheimer's shows it may affect the brain performance for melty adults as -- healthy adults as well. they stud gid it in people between 30 and 89 and results show the amounts is is the brain increase with age and about 20% of adults age 60 and old her significantly elevated levels. some health official say brain imaging may be used more often to diagnose the changes in the brain and they will get to it earlier in life. >>> news around nation, the special needs teacher in florida could lose her job for allegedly using hot sauce to keep her students in line. you see the students apparently kept putting crayons in their mouth and the teacher is accused of pouring hot sauce on the crayons to stop the behavior. when district official found out about this, she was suspended. the superintendent requesting she be fired. >>> police in green bay, wisconsin are turning to inmatesin hopes of getting much needed help solving homicides and missing person cases. the detectives hope by putting the information on a spe

i am joce sterman abc2 news. >>> 4:46. abc2 continues to work for you. in few hours law makers willattend a hearing addressing better ways to protect people from being presumed dead and prevent id thieves from profiting off the information on deceased children. we will look at better ways to protect you and your family. the hearing comes on the hemes of an abc2 -- heels of an abc # investigation on grave mistakes. head of the social security administration has been called to the hearing. >>> a story that we are following for you. it has a community divided. one little boy and his mother are at center of a raging debate about undocumented immigration. abc2 news corinne redman is standing by with more. >> reporter: this case centers around a judge in high sure that ruled because one mother was undocumented she put her son at risk when he took him out of her custody and placed up for adoption. mother who is a native of guatemala lost her after being arrested at federal immigration raid at a poultry plant. her son was adolt tonighted by a couple in missouri

sound tempting sure, but abc2 news joce sterman explains how it might cost you. that's the subject of this week's scam alert. >> reporter: sendy and ken became worried when cindy's 90- year-old mom got the offers in the mail. cash prizes if she answered a skills question and sent the answer back with a check 9 to 12 bucks in some cases. >> this is the paper where she was trying to figure out the tie breaker questions so she is adding all the money. >> reporter: they say the mom is not paying bills like property tax because she expects to wayne cash prize. >> i am not going to do it because i want the money. i want this $15,000 and i am waiting to have them put it in my bank account. >> reporter: the offers come from what appears to be different companies. but all addresss come to the same business in kansas. opportunities unlimited publications. they say they tried to get their mom's name off the writing list but writing and calling the customer service line and got a recorded message. business posted a sign for the better business bureau butexpired and the check

abc2 news joce sterman explains why you should see through the claims of the savings part of this week's scam alert. >> reporter: it's one of the hardest checks to write each month. your mortgage payment is is a real shot to the pocketbook but what if you are paying too much because of a problem in your paperwork? could you get money back? >> i want to believe our mortgage is going to go down so if they tell us how much money we can save we want to fall for it. >> reporter: angie barnett warns people are falling for mortgage audit letters like this that started is to show up all over the baltimore area. that he claim your mortgage may have been miscalculated and you could get -- you could get a refund from your lender i'm cording to this, the average refund is more than $1400. >> people receive the letters and what they are led to believe is there is a likelihood that there was a mistake made and they could challenge that mistake. >> reporter: the bbb says even if a mistake is found and the-- in the papers for your home it doesn't mep you will get cash back from the lender. >> you could

joce sterman has more. >> reporter: it's one of the hardest checks to write each month. your mortgage payment is a real shock to the pocket boofnlgt what if you're paying too much because of a prob emin your paperwork. could you get money back. >> i want to believe the mortgage will go down. if they tell us how much we can save, we will fall for it. >> reporter: angie barnett with the better business bureau beeb warns people are falling for mortgage audit letters like this one that started showing up around the baltimore area. they claim your mortgage may have been miscal cue lotted -- miscalculated and could get a refund. the average refund is more than $1400. >> they're led to believe there's a likelihood there was a mistake made and that they could challenge that mistake. >> reporter: but the bbb said even if a mistake is found in the papers for your home, that doesn't mean you'll get cash back. >> you could sue them but they are not required because you find an error to turn around and modify your mortgage. >> reporter: because most of these auditors charge upfront f

joce sterman, abc2 news. >>> now, maryland's most powerful doppler radar, and the forecast certified most accurate by weather rate. >> we are above average. what a sunny gorgeous looking day of weather across the state. couple of our abc weather bug cameras, bel air, charm city, sunny scenario to finish the day. gorgeous day for sailing, on the severn river, charm city itself, we found gorgeous blue skies over the city and much less wind than dealing with this time yesterday. maryland's most powerful radar, a clean sweep, that will be the case as we go in to tomorrow. tomorrow night, in to sunday, that is sort of go time weather wise around here. temperatures now much cooler in york, most of us sitting in the 30s, easton to the mid-40s baltimore and towards dc. look at highs today, we hit 50, or higher, we think most spots tomorrow will get just to 50 degrees or so, and then we will see the chance for showers going up late in day tomorrow. here is your neighborhood forecast, cockeysville 48. 58 ar but tus -- ar by tus. centered over oklahoma now, producing significant weather and pre

joce sterman, abc2 news. >> ask up front if the company is selling water systems and whether you canhave a test without the pitch. if you want to pursue water testing, contact the municipality where you live and ask which provider they contract with to do the testing. if you have well weather, contact your health department. for a check of all of the past scam alerts, head to abc2news.com, click on the money tab and the scam alert tab. >>> icy roads created a hazard for drivers in western pennsylvania. police shut down portions of interstate 70 and 80 on saturday morning. three people died, several others injured in crashes that involved dozens of vehicles. >>> vehicles parked on a frozen lake in wisconsin and fell in to it. they were parked on the lake for an ice fishing tournament. officials say it's normal for fishermen to use the lake as a parking rot. too many cars were on there, the ice couldn't hold it and some fell through. home video shot by liz, of her 7-year-old daughter, singing there is no business like snow business, her little sister joins it. it's to celebrate the win

joce sterman explains how it might end up costing you and that's hour scam alert for the week. >> reporter: cindy and ken became worried when cindy's mom got these offers in the mail, cash prize phs she answered a skills question and sent the answer back with a check, $9 to $12 in some cases. >> this is the piece of paper where she was trying to figure out the tie breaker question. she's adding all these money amounts up. >> reporter: they said the mom is not paying bills because she expects to win a cash prize. >> i'm waiting to have them put it into my bank account. >> reporter: the offers come from what appears to be different companies but they come to the same address in kansas. the wallbies tried to get their mom's flame off the list. they got a message. the business posted a sign for the better business bureau but it expired. #çó the bbbqw3 websitequ]Ñilpxs he providedqxdxd ajfÑixd=.#oñrs for anybody like the wallbys. >> the better business bureau just issued a warning. the bbb wants you to be cautious with the so-called puzzle contest after receiving so many complaints. if your p

joce sterman has more on the letters that may end up in your mailbox. >> no happy ending for hollywood video, they filed for bankruptcy two years ago but efforts to collect debt live on, thanks to late fees they are allowed to collect. >> these were fees that people owed to hollywood, and could total about $240 million. >> reporter: an ge with the better business burreau says to get the money, a third party has been sending out letters. some hitting mailboxes in maryland. if you get one, you shouldn't just blindly write a check. >> ask them to provide proof that you owe the debt and you want to make sure you are paying for other additional fees. >> reporter: that's happened in the past. several months ago the collection company was hit with a court order forcing them to stop adding fees to the debt and stop reporting people who didn't pay to the credit bureaus. >> the government is making sure no credit ratings are damaged by the action of the third party vendor. >> reporter: going forward , the collection agency can't tack on its own fees and play tough guy as it works for hollywood v

joce sterman, abc2 news. >>> well if you own an hp fax machine there's an important recall. hewlett-packard is recalling about 928,000 hp fax 1040 and 1050 mns -- machines. apparently they can overheat because of an electrical problem. there have been at least seven incidents of fax machines overheating and catching time the call 888-654-9296. >>> this is not good news. it's going to be more the pump for consumers, all of us buying gas after riding -- rising 19 crentds a -- cents a gallon. it was $3.12 a year ago. prices could increase 60 cents or more by the time we reach may. >>> well, the giants jpt -- new york giants are celebrating their win. the cheers were so loud, they nearly broke some bottles of beer. >>> now to amherst, massachusetts. police in riot gear set off flash bombs trying to brake up crowds at u mass. officers also had to use nonlethal ammunition to call down the crowd. >>> coming up, a 16-year-old goirl was sexually assaulted -- girl was sexually assaulted while walking in catonsville. >>> some were funny. some were cute. some were sexy and all were very

joce sterman. >>> speaking of food, mcdonald's apparently wants better treatment for pigs. the fast food restaurant change has asked its pork suppliers to stop keeping pregnant pigs in tiny crates. mcdonald's apparently said larger cages will benefit the pig's overall well-being. animal rights groups are alouding -- applauding mcdonald's. >>> the fda says 400 of the most popular lipsticks contain trace levels of led. it was found in test that revealed a much wider scale and higher levels of led. five lo real and maybelline ranked high. >>> there is a gift exchange program that would allow you to trade in those gift cards for frequent flier miles. they will accept unused or partially used cards from barnes & noble, target, bed, bath and beyond, just to name a few. often those unused frequent flier miles expire, so keep that in mind before you decide to trade in those gift cards. >>> sphawr still looking for a romantic -- if you're still looking for a romantic spot for your valentine's day, some restaurants will offer a table service for two for $25. for the best part lovers

enjoy it and h >>> i'm joce sterman. when is the snow going to get here?h are we talking about? wyatt everha

joce sterman's investigation begins here at liven on abc2. we want to welcome back megan -- live at abc2. >> bewant to well you -- we want to welcome back megan and we have photos. >> they are cute. oh. my wonderful husband is such a good dad. so there he is. nolan jane and jordan rose. >>> now "good morning maryland" at 4:30. >> what is this? >> what do you know about this. >> tensions are mounting in senegal as you can see 10,000 people gathered tuesday for a rally that turned violent. people say the riots left one person dead protesters want the president to resign. young men began burning fires and throwing stones at riot police. >>> a warning about iran this morning coming from the cia. officials say that iran is stepping up spying and is now more determined than ever to launch an attack on u.s. soil. the cia points to specificallylast year's plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador in the nation's capital. >>> plastic surgery in venezuela has seen a increase in the number of women having breast implants removed. many say they are worrie

joce sterman did a series on bad doctors and check that out by going to abc2news.com and see the listctors that qualified in the feature stories section. >>> we have a health alert this morning. a study shows that one in five teens drive while smoke marijuana. about 13% of teens admit they were driving under the influence of alcohol among teens who have driven after smoking pot. 36% say that it's not distracting and nearly 1 in 5 say alcohol is no distraction at all. however most teen drivers say they would stop driving under the influence if they were asked by their passengers. >>> another health alert this morning. an ael aday may -- ael a day may keep the doctor away but fruits vegetables and dark chocolate and red wine all rich sources of compounds known. those who women who said a compound in citrus fruits had 19% lower risk of blood clot related strokes. >>> all right. friday during lint and -- lent and for many that means fish fry. even fast-food restaurants are offering the fish option but which of the fish sandwiches are best for your waistline? here's what we found out for y

joce sterman, abc 2 news. >>> 6:33 right now. you may have noticed this, we are all decked out in red for national wear red day. february is heart health month, an important message that a lot of women need to hear. abc 2 news health reporter linda stow is here with a mother and a daughter who learned firsthand why taking care of your heart is so important. it's a great story, linda. reporter: yeah, megan. heart disease is the leading killer of women in the u.s. you guys learned that the hard way. tell us about your story. usually we think about heart attacks, but what you had was a little bit more serious. >> indeed. i actually have an electrical condition called long qt which i actually experienced sudden cardiac arrest on my 37th birthday. reporter: you had to have something implanted. >>> there's no actual cure for it, so what they do from a preventative standpoint is i have an internal defibrillator that will actually shock my heart back into sync if something happens. reporter: when did you find out that you had this simila