rob roblin joins us live from towson. have you seen any shopping activity? >> a lot of stores are staying open 24 hours a day. before you go out shopping, make sure you check the store hours. last minute shoppers. they were hitting the streets yesterday. if you wore a last-minute shopper, you are not alone. there are a whole bunch of other folks out there. there are 132 million people that have some last-minute shopping to do. 70 million say they will hit the stores on christmas eve. make sure you know there'll be lots of folks shopping also. 17% of people are spending less this year. $586 billion expected in sales this year nationwide. that is the most optimistic forecast since the recession. if you're a shopper, you have all kinds of things to get. >> we are having the time of our lives. this is for the kids. they cannot see that. >> check the store hours if you're going shopping. lots are open 24 hours a day. rob roblin, wbal-tv 11 news. >> that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. how will you be spending christmas? you can share your respo

. >> rob roblin joins us live from towson with more. good morning. >> there are a bunch of folks out there. millions have not finish. 132 million people say they've not finish their shopping. 17 million say they will wait until christmas eve. 17% who have done their shopping say they are spending less this year. 586 million in the economy and more people are spending. >> doing shopping for my ex- husband. we are having the time of our lives. we're shopping for the kids. they cannot see that. >> a reminder -- a lot of stores are stay open 24 hours a day. some are opening early and staying open late. you may want to check the store hours before you do your last- minute shopping. rob roblin, wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. how will you be spending christmas? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> losing streak? what losing streak? the team dropped their last three straight. the ravens scored early and often

rob roblin has more. >> once again, the ravens are in the playoffs. everybody in baltimore is seeing purple. superstore,s' buying a new shirt? >> probably more than a shirt. i came over to see all the different things they had. i am sure i will walk out of here with more than just a shirt. >> i love the chemistry, i love the guys. will be great. >> for ravens fans, it is another year of getting into the playoffs. >> are going to go all the way this year? >> yes, i think they are, because they have lots of agility and everything. >> i really think they are going to make it. >> i think they can do it, if they pull things together. they need to get their defense up and get the pass rushing going a little bit. >> of course you have shirts just for sunday's game. this is one of my favorites, " the luck stops here." >> i think it will be okay. we are going to win. >> they are a hometown team. they love their fans and the fans love them. >> good for business? >> yes, always. we are the only team to go five years straight now to the playoffs. it is just what

in aberdeen, rob roblin, wbal-tv 11 news. >> nice. >> holiday lightings display will win a national contest. >> it takes about evan to set up his lightsdy place. >> this is a live look. he programs his lights to songs repeating every half hour. that's not all. they also collect toys for the toy for to thes program and last year they collected about 75 toys. >> if you have a lights display go our website and tell us what your direct races are like. if you are selected we will show you house right here at 11 news at 5:00. >> now your forecast with chief meteorologist tom tasselmyer. >> you won't find that a house hard to find. we found colder area moving in to the mid-atlantic. if you track the snow showers dropped them down across the great lakes, you can almost envision the cool air mass. snow showers pushing througherry pa. syracuse set a high of 70 yesterday and now they are in the 30's. so big changes in upstate new york. it has not been that dramatic here. the lowest temperatures of today are the current temperatures outside so it has been a slow fall as the cool air cross the lakes. it

rob roblin join us now with more details. >> this is a lot of money that is going to help these communities quite a bit. the money is going to do things like getting development in the communities, school projects and neighborhood improvements. today's announcement is an effort by the university to improve and strengthen the communities that surround john hopkins university. >> it is clear that the interest of our neighbors, safe streetings, the elimination of dilapidated properties is the interest of our combruferte. off all, the future of john hopkins is linked to the community and we're deeply, deeply committed to baltimore's success. >> it will be $10 million over the next five years for community projects that will be chosen with the residents that live in the neighborhoods. >> it is our hope that john hopkins will serve as a model. by demonstrating that the vitally of the neighborhood surrounding the institution is critical, critical to the strength and the growth of those institutions. >> john hopkins is committed to leveraging investments as well as its purchasing power to promote t

rob roblin is live. >> the gas prices are inching down. but according to aaa, they are higher than they were a year ago. they are 6 cents higher than they were a year ago at this time. that is the bad news. the good news -- people are going to the stores and they are buying. >> it has been great. we have an extra week this year of shopping. >> the mall manager says that so far this christmas season businesses looking good. >> this weekend is going to be a big weekend coming up. it is that extra weekend. all signs are it will be better than last year. >> store managers i talked with say with the week to go before christmas they are hopeful this will be one of their best shopping seasons peeping >> every day since the beginning of december we have seen more and more people in the mall and in our store. >> one more week to go until christmas. what are you expecting? >> hopefully tons and tons of people. >> well folks -- while folks hope that the bad weather will help their business -- >> so far. >> one week to go before christmas. >> and hope