karin caifa takes a look back at the year in politics. >> reporter: politics in 2011 was a lot about 2012. one by one, republicans jumped in for the chance to challenge president obama next november. some faces are familiar. >> i'm running for president of the united states. >> reporter: others are hoping to make a name on the national stage. >> i'm jon huntsman and i'm running for president of the sunshine -- united states. michele bachmann made a splash with an iowa straw poll victory. >> barack obama will be a one-term president. >> reporter: but found this tough to stay ahead of the pack. >> reporter: rick perry had a series of debate flubs. >> commerce, education -- and what's the third one? >> reporter: numbers turned things in herman cain's favor. >> my 9-9-9 plan. >> reporter: in december -- >> i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> reporter: cain stepped aside. former massachusetts governor mitt romney stayed steady and that made him a target. >> are you going to keep talking? >> reporter: but the republican candidates did find one thing to agree on. >> we're going to

i'm karin caifa reporting. >>> baltimore city's board of public work also vote on a plan to hand over rec centers to be run by private companies. we have a list of them on abc2 news at 6:00 which starts right now. >>> it's the holiday season. it's also the

karin caifa takes a look at the high tech highlights oar are more apps, more gadgets, better ways to. there was competition. >> today marks the beginning of what we'll call launching season 2011. >> reporter: facebook partnered with skype to add more features just as google made its foreray into social networking. it was enough to push facebook who roll out major changes. timeline allows you to document your entire lie. the initial result, an outcry. >> these are the most radical changes for facebook. >> reporter: most users soon adapted. going also ventured into music, launching a rival to apple's itunes and pushing forward in cloud storage, apple sought to stay ahead in the tablet world. major competition came from a company not known for its hardware. amazon unveiled the kindle fire in september. but apple got the tech world buzzing again in october. >> i'm pleased to tell you all about the brand-new iphone 4s. >> reporter: the 4s introduced personal assistant siri. >> who are you? >> a humble personal assistant. >> reporter: the day after apple unveiled it, steve jobs died. socia

abc 2 news karin caifa with tips on happy returns. >> reporter: gifts we received during the holidays aren't always the perfect fit or perfect match. if you plan to return items, you'll want to have a receipt. >> without a receipt or gift receipt you're going to get back either a, merchandise credit or the lowest amount it sold for. >> reporter: some stores will charge a restocking fee. in the case of electronics a repackaging fee. >> you want to be sure not to open the packaging if you're not sure you want it because again you can leave all the tags and the labels on the item. if you destroy the packaging or rip it apart, again you'll have a much more difficult time returning it. >> reporter: most retailers willis the tells of their return policy on your receipt and if that still doesn't make it clear ask someone in the store when you check out. some retailers will allow merchandise purchased online to be returned or exchanged in their brick or mortar stores. read the policy on their web site for details. for consumer watch i'm karin caifa. >> did you hear about this japan sony south

here karin caifa. >> reporter: mom of two dana marlow keeps up with work and family using her ipad but her 3- year-old interested in mom's tablet has prompted the question, should he have one of his own? >> that's come up recently for us especially with hanukkah and christmas around the corner here in our house. >> reporter: like a lot of techsavvy parents she sees it as tool to teach lifelong digital skills and says her son is benefiting from kid friendly apps. >> focused on content learning the alphabet and numbers and couldors and shapes and other related kind of concepts. >> reporter: but putting a techdevice in a hands of a youngster who may not understand how to take care of it is a concern. there are tablets cheaper than ipad or kindle fire for kids. and kid tech expert leslie says another alternative is is a parent's hand-me-down cleaned up. >> make sure that you secure that device so you want to sweep it of any personal information. particularly credit card information. >> reporter: new tablet or used, she advices setting limits. >> we do really recommend setting limits on the

but as karin caifa tells us, your smartphone could be your resolution solution. >> reporter: out with old habits. in with the new. >> i'm going to join a gym and become more active. >> i'm going to try to drink more water because i drink too much diet soda. >> reporter: new year's resolutions are easy to make, and even easier to break. >> have you guys ever had a resolution that you didn't quite stick with it? >> yes. >> what was that? >> go on a diet. >> stop biting my nails, but it never worked out. >> reporter: what if you had a reminder in your pocket every day? that's the goal of smartphone apps, like resolutions 2012, which let's users choose goals, identify habits they need to change to meet them, and track progress. weight loss is a popular resolution each year. the daily burn app for iphone manages workouts and calorie counts. the new weight loss app for android gives day-by-day on eating, working out, and sliming down. the my quick coach app from live strong is for those who want to kick butt in 2012, quitting smoking gradually over time or helping you go cold turkey. the qu

karin caifa has more on the stress. >> reporter: it's supposed to be a time of the year when everybody'spy. it can also put people on edge and put a toll on couples. 69% of couples said they create a budget together at the start of the season, but 73% of the women say they do the bulk of the holiday shopping. 42% of women say they wish their spouse would do more to help. couples in the survey that seem the most stress free are the ones making a team effort. >> they go out with a certain mentality. this is what we're buying. we're not going beyond that. we're not shopping for ourselves. we're shopping for everyone on the list. >> reporter: when it comes to the list one group in particular seems to cause stress. >> couples have told us that stress comes primarily from the-in-laws. >> reporter: 62% of women surveyed said their-in-laws are the most difficult to shop for. so maybe men should shop for their family and women for theirs to take stress out of it. >> you are probably spending money on these holiday decoration. americans will spend about $6 billion this year on decorations, about 8

karin caifa has some tips to keep our families safe. >> reporter: this shows how hazardous holiday decorations can b a tree with -- become, a tree with dried brann muchs or an electrical fire. it turned holiday tragedy in less than 40 seconds. >> candles, christmas tree lights, dried out christmas trees that cause fires and decorations. >> reporter: while adults need to stay mindful of the major holiday hazards, the little things shouldn't be overlooked. >> be careful when you purchase decorations for your tree or other places in the house. make sure they don't look like food or candy because young kids will put them in their mouth. >> reporter: child safety organizations also advise keeping kids away from burning candles that can be tipped over. >> if you're using a real candle, keep it three feet away. an alternative is using one of the electric candles that don't have a real flame. >> extinguish any candle before going to bed and leave -- unplug lights on the tree. >>> it is heating up for mitt romney. >>> after your complaining, the government is responding. no more loud tv commercials. we

karin caifa has the story. >> reporter: with so many people out of the office between now and new year's, job serks think they -- seekers think they may have hit a dead end but the holiday season could offer unique opportunities. >> one of the things that's great about the holidays, you're going to be around a lot of people. you need to make sure that you tap into them as your net worth. someone will know about the job and be able to make that connection. >> reporter: among their suggestions, offer to be a fill-in while others vacation. find a local professional organization's mixer and do some networking. pick up the phone instead of sending an email. during the slow holiday week, you may make a connection. >> you don't need to lead with the fact that you're looking for a job but it's okay to put it in there. that may trigger someone who knows have you an opportunity that could be a good fit for you. >> reporter: if you're working a holiday retail job, ask what happened in 2012 and if that temporary position might become permanent. >>> atm users will soon be able to avoid fees by agreei

i'm karin caifa and you're now clicked in. if you want it go for a tablet, today is free shipping day. luxury retailers are also in the mix. if you place your order in the next couple of days it should arrive for the holidays. if you're in a bind, ups and fedex said express or overnight items will get there the next day in time for christmas. you need to stop or call in to a fedex to make sure it's available where you live. >>> all right. we're in the shortest days of the career right now. once we get to december 21th, the length of daylight starts heading the other direction. 43. winds northwest at seven. bel air, i want to show you some of our abc2 weather cam. if you slept in like i did, you missed it. then we cloud up. same deal with damascus. early sunshine and the clouds thickening up. one last stop, washington. i think it will be cloudy tonight, cloudy for a good day. we check out maryland's most powerful radar. one in southern maryland, southern -- the southern part of the state through lexington park through areas sou

ñ÷ñ÷ñ 3 tte long-sttading myth has been that the olidays are a terrible time to job hunt.but as karin caifa the preeent some unique seekers.ities for job seekers..- with so many people out of the office at points between seekers may think they've hit a dead end when t comes to ssme career experts say the holiday season coold actually offer some unique opporrunitiis. onee f the things that is great about the holidays is that you're going to be around a lot of people that you may not ave seen all year rrund. you need tt tap into themmas your network, and let them knnw that youure looking for jobs, because in to know of a job thht's out there, and thee're going to be able to make that connection for you.. amonn their suggestions --offfr to be a fill-in whileeothers vacation and ake the most of it.find a local professional organization's hoolday mixer, and do some networking. pick up the phone, instead of sending an email. during a hollday cards or emails o t 3 your contacts to get back on thhir radar. you don't necessarily have to ead with the fact that you're looking ffr a job, but it's ok to

a photo that co-worker in trouble, or yyo, frozee out among peers.i'm karin caifa, and you're now, ccickedouu 8 o'clock hour.. tis the season for christtas carols...fa la la la... fail.... singingg scrs screams what hhppens next... after thise middle schoolers go ground. you're 3 looking for wwrk?the ten companies ready toohire you right now. spirittcouldn't saav them.the surprising reaction offsome parentss.. aater this duuing a christmas concert. ann... one of these gifts can bb yours!it's our countdown to ccristmas.your next chancc to winn. sometime in the neet 30 minutes. 3 3 -harbor og 3 -harbor fog-harboo fog &pmonday, december 5th p queen anne's ... and talbot counny 90 minutes late pcarolinn... dorchesterr. kent ... and wicomico county 2 hours late due to foo. 3 3- 3fiber map 3 a baltimore fire tatiin is &pnamed the busiest ii americc. america.nats-siren nats-sirenaccoodiig to fire house magazine... steadman fire station on eutaw sttret calls than any ooher station... anywhere in the u-s last yyar with an average f 60 runssa day. ii's partly due to it's cnttal downtown location and

karin caifa looks at some pps that let you ditch tte writing and ssaaping...s follows -- struggling financially as more people correspond electronicallyy the post office gave americans a little reminder this hhliddy season. have a good holiday. remember, mail plenty of of hollday cards. we can certainly uss them for many, even the most clevee e-card isn't quite thh same as a card to tear out of an envelope and hang on the mannle. so a new crop of apps marries technology and tradition, nixes he handwriting and stamping, and pilgrimage o tte post office with 99 million othee &pamericans. the red stamp app for iphone and ipad has an 3 temppatte for christmas andd hanuakkah to uutomizee add a a delivery methhd -- email, text message,,facebook, twitter -- or u-s maal. ann famill with a checklist. the sincerely ink holiday card app ffr android and apple has options for a family photo or &pa festive illustration -- and allows you to choose coloos, pesigns and add a message. 3 just a dollar-99. tat includes printiig on heavyweight postcardd and the week.siiilarly, app

karin caifa joins us live fromm too ettiig gifts under thh ps tree in time.raveling out offtown and need to get gifts even earlier? any tipp forrholiday travelers?2.) why do so many retailers oofee free shipping for online purchases? doesn't it ccst them a lot of money?? 3 hour.. up in our 8 o''lock - ccsey anthony?steve jobs?nopee the most googled person of thee year ... and it's someone you'd never ggess. to win a gift from under oor - away.. you're wwtching fox 45 morning news.. all local.. all morningg "they doubted her, but she has 3& a bbay... born t just á ounces... finally goes home. what it took... to make her sttong. someonn like you nats nats she's the young singer google's liss of tp searches. pere's a warning... the answer will most defiiitely surprise you. and chriittas is less than 10 days away... if you haven't gotten all youu presents yet... weere helping you catch up!your chaace tt win a gift from under our tree... issjust p3 3 fridaa, december 16th 3 3 3 3 3 a murder suspecc is walking free this morning. was released on bail ...áttice this