roosevelt leftwich has more. >> reporter: her friends and especially her family, it's been a terrible week. tonight though gather to remember their friend. >> we ask that you would bless this family, father god. >> reporter: about 150 of her schoolmates, friends and family gathered in the parking lot of william marsh middle school. they wanted to say good-bye to their friend. monae turnage was a loved child and had many, many friends. >> our students are conflicted. if you see one, you touch one. you let them know it's okay. you let them know they are supported and there are people here for them. >> reporter: her mother was there, along with many folks who want to trito get to the bottom of this. they want to see exactly what happened here and how a police officer may have been involved. >> what can we say to our children when those charged with protecting them harm them. we must protect our own children. >> reporter: everyone here was trying to deal with their grief and the circumstances that led to the death of monae. she was shot to death over the weekend by her friends who were pl

tonight roosevelt leftwich introduces to us a pennsylvania woman whose life has changed, changed five years ago on a baltimore county road. >> at 21 brittany pollock said she felt inde structable. a few months before her 22nd brgt, doctors thought she would never walk again. she had to fight hard to get it back. when you have a toddler you're always picking up something. brittany's 16-year-old likes to make a mess and this keeps her busy. no one expected her to survive the night let alone be a mom. >> i took my seat belt off and fell asleep. when the accident happened, i hit the console. >> reporter: the suv brittany was riding in hit an embankment about 50 miles an hour on greenspring road. her head was splet from her eye to her ear. she was in a coma for three weeks. everyone expected she would never be the same again. such an injury meant that the road ahead would be along. >> my mom handed me a rag and said can you wash yourself. i held it up. what is it. i had to learn everything. the things you teach infants that they don't intrinsically know and to learn to walk, talk, my dista

critics claim it only focused on two chapters. >> hello, i'm roosevelt leftwich. coming up all brand-new at 6 new details as second dog shows signs of being in a dogfight. police hope a nice reward will get people to speak up. and what the mild winter here means for your wallet. john matarese takes a look at the extra money we should have in our pockets. now a preview of what's coming up at 6:30. >>> she hecheed -- helped shape women around the world but she had tough times. what was the secret word that turned her into a billionaire, our person of the week. >>> stocks are ending the week higher. the dow jones industrial average rose 14 points to close at 19,922. the s&p 500 closed at 1371. >>> starbucks isn't lowering their prices but you will soon be able to get one of their cappuccinos at home. they unveiled the single cup home brewing machine known as barismo. they have a deal with green mountain. there's no mention of dissolving that partnership in the starbucks announcement. >>> spring break is approaching. for many college students that could mean heavy dri

abc2 news roosevelt leftwich has the latest. >> reporter: one in 80 children are diagnosed with some sort of autism. the cdc says this paints the picture of the magnitude of the condition across the country. some states have a higher percentage of autism cases. boys were more likely to have them than girls. the most significant around black or hispanic children. baltimore males krieger sees about 2,000 each year with autism and the numbers are growing. they say early intervention in children has young as 14 months is crucial to help them develop. >> reporter: have someone take a look at your child because there's a lot that can be done. if it does happen to an autism disorder, all the more important that intervention is started early. >> reporter: by working with children early, parents can teach them how to communicate. many believe children have behavior problems but autism -- autistic children learn differently. >> weather wise across the state, it has been a beautiful looking day but at times quite windy. now this. a frost advisory. we saw this earlier this week. this time not fo

reporting live, roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >>> want to take you to annapolis. the maryland black legislative caucus wore hoodies in honor of the death of trayvon martin. they called for a review of self-defense laws and drafting a letter to the justice department where they will ask them to review the stand your ground law. listen. >> you have all kinds of racists in the state. we need cultural competency, people top know that racial profiling should not be done in in this state. >> now some dation also wore hoodies as part of the legislative session to show their support for trayvon martin's case. >>> new to the life of two bills in annapolis. you cannot shine those lasers at pilots flying planes. it happened in mt. area ri, baltimore and wicomico county. the penalties have been stiffer. it's on its way to the senate which is expected to pass. here's the bill that didn't sphiervetion the one that would keep minors out of tanning salons. it would not allow anyone under the age of 18 to use the tanning bill. it stalled, so now this failed. >>> all right. democra

roosevelt leftwich has more. >> reporter: what we're seeing in this area are more questions. there have been calls from doctors about bad trips taking the marijuana. the numbers are expected to rise as more folks try a very dangerous high. the videos are all over youtube. how high you get depends on what's on that particular batch of k2. some users are disoriented. others experience high heart rates and hallucinations. users don't know what they're getting each time they take a hit. >> who's putting this together? it's not some pharmaceutical company. some gal, some guy is purchasing this spraying it on what'scally. >> reporter: the poison center the compound that's sprayed on it came from attempts by researchers to help relieve pain. the people have taken the substances and turned it into a product that could leave people hallucinating or rushed to the hospital with rapid heart beats, sweating and inability to speak. he said staying informed about the symptoms and effects is the best way to help the public and doctors. >> we do a lot to educate the public. weave have informa

roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >>> it's not every day we get a corporate company that comes together to get students to stop using their product but that's what we saw today at mt. st. josephs. this was a teen summit to focus on the dangers of texting and driving. at&t was there. it's called the last text. family members who lost teens were there. they tried to drive home the fact that distracted driving kills. >> very optimistic because all the kids we talk to, the teens are receptive to the message and they pay attention. we're concerned about my generation because it's gotten into such terrible habits. >> those who send text messages while driving are 23 more times likely to be in a crash and it is illegal to text while driving here in the state of maryland. congratulations exxon, you are now selling gas at $4.09 a gallon. more and more gas stations are approaching just over $4 a gallon and know bell -- noble prize winners. >> all right. more sunshine expected today. 74 at bwi, almost 20 degrees above average. no winner. when we come back, we'll talk about the showers we're tracki

here's roosevelt leftwich wearing his real estate jacket. >> reporter: the city is expected to hire an apraise tore look at half dozen properties that this wants to sell or lease to cut down on the operating costs. many are women known landmarks like the war memorial and others are not so well known like the house or the up ton mansion. some are in good shape and others not good shape. those who run the shop tower said the city is a great partner. they say with the right approach the shot tower could be something special right in the city. >> i really think there's a love and a passion for the tower and that the community of baltimore will support it if we have a program they love to come to, bring their kids to, out of town guests, so -- we're willing to share that program with the consultants that the city wants to hire. there's no reason it start from scratch. >> reporter: some of the other lefthand, include the civil war museum. roosevelt leftwich. >> when you were younger, do you remember walking into your friend's home and seeing the ceiling brown? that wasn't the paint but the s

let's check in with abc2's roosevelt leftwich. what did romney have to say? >> reporter: the romney just broke up about two or three minutes ago. governor romney is still over there shaking hands. i think he just walked out of the room. he spoke to about 50 minutes to 300 people. one of the things -- he talked about a lot of different things. he was basically campaigning against barack obama and how he failed to inspire the country in general and how he has failed to create jobs in this economy. he had a very receptive job. as you know, governor ehrlich, this is his home territory. he has been able to get support for governor romney. for many of the state republicans, they were down in annapolis and could not come to the rally. however, romney did say most of them have endorsed his candidacy for the presidency. now coming up later, we'll have sound from this rally and we'll talk to some folks here and find out what they thought of romney's visit to maryland. reporting live in arbutus, roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >>> weather wise, some tough cloud cover as

roosevelt leftwich joins us with the latest. >> reporter: george's brother broke silence about this for the first time about what he knows of the night trayvon martin was killed. >> he didn't pull out a gun and shoot him. george showed tremendous restrint. >> reporter: in an interview with cnn robert says he bleachs the surveillance video obtained by abc news, shows his brother's signs of injury. her is george inside the police department less than 30 minutes after shooting martin. >> according to a police report, zimmerman said martin assaulted him, punching him and bashing his head on the concrete. he had blood on his head and nose and treated on the scene. >> this police video provides clues to his potential injuries. you can see an officer examining the back of his head. seconds later the video zooms in but his skull doesn't seem bloody. this is another angles shirt and jacket appear unstained and this shot no obvious sign of injury to his face. >> i can't tell anything from this video. >> reporter: robert says his brother has medical records but his attorney can't say for certain.

it happened along liberty in western baltimore county, roosevelt leftwich joins us with more on whathappened. >> that crash happened at the intersection of morris chapel and liberty near the carroll county line. among those taken to the hospital, a 3 year old and an 18-month old with serious injuries. one adult was take within life threatening injuries. the driver of a ford expedition turned left in to the path of an on coming dump truck. it trapped all five passengers inside. it took rescue crews 20 minutes to free everyone. the drive of the dump truck didn't need to go to the hospital. investigators are looking in the crash. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >>> we want to warn you, video for the next story the difficult to watch. it was posted by a maryland rescue group and sparked investigation in to an animal auction hundreds of miles away. angels out of westminster posted this, showing two horses sold by a new mexico auction company. one was severely e maceuated and other injured and pawing at the ground. the livestock board is looking at the owner of the company. >>> a bill to he

roosevelt leftwich is here with more on that. >> reporter: the latest jobs report shows progress but unemployment is still quite high and job creation is still slow but steady. the labor says 227,000 jobs were added last month making it the strongest three months of the labor market since the recession began four years ago. president obama who toured a car plant in virginia said the jobs numbers are a very positive sign. >> the economy is getting stronger. when i come to places like this and i see the work that's being done, it gives me confidence that there's better days ahead. >> reporter: but the unemployment rate is still stuck at 8.3. the labor department says this is the first time in five months it hasn't dropped. analysts say at this rate it could take four years to get the unemployment rate back down to 5%. >>> addiction is a battle many people face, but the numbers are stunning. up next, a new study breaks down how many americans have overcome addiction. and it could be a big surprise for moms and dads to be. how often families expecting fraternal twins get identical babies

roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >>> we had some tense moments this morning in harford county when potentially toxic fumes forced students to evacuate from a catholic school. it happened at st. margaret school. workers may have mixed otherwise harmless chemicals while cleaning the building. three adults were transperioded to the medical -- transported to the medical center. no word on whether the school will be open tomorrow. >>> we are waiting to hear from our facilities crew who will be monitoring the building during the course of the day. >> fire officials say it's an important reminder for all of us to read the labels, the warnings. >>> you are looking live on 97 near route 100. nothing to worry b this was -- about. it was a nice day. get me to tomorrow. wyatt everhart joins us with your first forecast. >> we will look for a carbon copy tomorrow but how about warmer. i think most of us would like that. that's what where he looking at. still going to see the same type of weather pattern. the difference will be the wind pattern. today almost no wind as the cold air mass settles in. a light s

reporting live, roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >>> in parts of baltimore we've learned that robbery was up. this was the reason why they launched a team of officers to fight that specific trend. brian kuebler explains. >> reporter: saturday night, federal hill near digital harbor high school a young couple was robbed. the couple knocked on a nearby car and called in the crime and police apressed julian rose isly and nicholas sulsby. >> robberies are up in certain districts. some areas experiencing an uptick in robberies. >> reporter: to combat that, baltimore city police dedicated plain clothes and uniformed officers to target known robbery offenders throughout the city this weekend. the two were caught new that net padding the department's staff of 30 arrests. >> what we're looking for individuals that have a hex of -- history of robberies. we're targeting individuals with open warrants. we have a special initiative this weekend, a practice police say will continue as the weather gets warmer and more people visit downtown baltimore. in downtown baltimore, brien kuebler, abc2 news. >>>

roosevelt leftwich has more on keeping from deeing too deep into your wallet. >> reporter: in a tight economy it's important to pick a home improvement project that will give you the most bang for your buck. >> consider remodeling the kitchen or the bathroom. they get best return on their investment about 85%. the key is not overdoing it but keeping up with the joneses. >> reporter: you can also make improvements to the outside. >> we're doing a lot more screened porches, outside decks, pergolas,

roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >> very sad story. >>> the mayor of laurel is offering a $3,000 reward for information on a hit and run crash that happened february 29th. police say a man was hit by what appeared to be a white pickup truck. the man was take tonight hospital in critical condition. if you have any information, you can call the tip line. >>> new tonight, we just had a rash of home invasions in anne arundel county. now there is a fear we could see more of this type of crime because of the struggling economy. we have more about a 911 call. >> reporter: we want to play you 911 calls from utah, michigan and north carolina. people were crying. >> my husband was unable to get to him. >> ma'am, did you shoot again. >> yes. he's coming at me. >> i have two guns in my hand. is it took to shoot. >> we just came in from school and we're scared. >> reporter: that's the voice of a 10-year-old girl in michigan. mom and dad weren't home she grabbed her five and seven-year-old brothers and headed to the closet. lawmakers are scrambling to toughen penalties against home burglars, jamie co

roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >>> also in anne arundel county tonight a man was rescued from a burning home. this happened in the 434500 block of -- 4500 block of richie highway. a man was pulled from the house and taken to bayview. the case of the fire remains under investigation. >>> two firefighters were injured when a ceiling collapsed. crews were called to the 400 block of kings college drive just before 1:00 this morning. firefighters who were using a pipe pole were hurt when pieces of the ceiling fell on top of it. one of the firefighters was taken to the hospital with a slight burn on his fames. the other was treated at the scene. investigators believe it may have started in a fireplace. >>> some happy news out of perry ham tonight. the burger business in perry hall has just stepped up its game. there were a few giants among us, including the gino's kind. now they're grilling it up, this time at the honey go village center in perry hall. fans young and old are happy to see this first day of fabuloused into in their community but no one is more thrilled with the opening than deb

roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >> thanks, rosie. >>> well, as our household budgettings get tighter -- budgets get tighter, so does the state budget. this year's budget is already being called the dooms day budget by some. abc2's don harrison has more oar oar he laid out the budget possibilities for the senate budget and taxation committee. some called this the dooms day budget. he says it may not be that bad but -- >> i don't think it's going to be the end of the world but it will be a different world. >> reporter: some legislators say that different world needs to be addressed knew it's not going to go away. somebody needs to take the bull by the horn. >> reporter: lot state has made cuts many years in a row, this year will be tough. >> this is one of the more difficult years, the national recession, the ongoing fiscal problems that we have, have all come together and at a very inopportune time. >> reporter: the senate president has dealt with tough cuts as the leader of the senate and knows these situations are unavoidable. >> a tough budget. we'll get through with cuts and revenue

roosevelt leftwich joins us with the development. >>> a reminder of those tine mi magnets tarp dangerous. >>> plus a teacher is giving area student as chance to learn something new even while a world away. stay with us. ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone at southwest airlines works together for one goal -- to get you where you're going. and with flights all over the country to choose from, it's a good thing we love our work. and now we're excited to take you to the beaches of northwest florida. fly nonstop from bwi airport to panama city beach. book all of our destinations only at southwest.com. >>> a 3-year-old girl is recovering after following magnets. we have more on her ordeal and what parents can learn from it. >> reporter: her parents say she wasn't feeling well, thought she had a stomach ache, maybe the flu. when she didn't seem to be getting better they took her to a doctor. after a quick x-ray the doctor thought it could have been a bracelet. it turned out to be 37 high powered magnets. the doctor said the magnets had already snapped her intestines together and ripped a hole in her

abc2 news roosevelt leftwich explains. >> reporter: did you know there was originally a leg plan for owings mills. since then there has been no one area that you can really call the heart of owings mills. recent proposals may give it its center. the building will come down. if the zoning comes through larks lot of other stuff will start going up, big stuff. >> this is a water shed moment for owings mills. you've got one shot at wegman's. >> it is just a super market. it's the difference between owning a ford maverick and a 2012 cadillac. the project would turn this into a million square feet, but with the development on top of all that, the other shopping along the reisterstown corridor really isn't too much. >> this will be led by a grocery center. that's very different from what the mall has planned ins it redevelopment. by the way, the mall redevelopment is years away. this is right now. >> it will be different in a few years. i don't see any difficulty with this. >> reporter: they studied the area and said owings mills had a shortage of viable retail space. others are looking for

roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >>> all right. so it is the first day of spring. you know what? we had a soggy start and a foggy start. it started on the shaky side. we're seeing plenty of sunshine getting breaks in the cloud cover. taking our eye down to west virginia, some severe thunderstorm warnings popping up. right now temperature wise we are in the 70s basically everywhere as we go through the remainder of the evening. temperatures will fall into the 60s. it will be variably cloudy and mild. we are talking about 80s. those details coming up. >> thanks a lot, lynette. >>> new video showing the final moments before a hot air balloon and the pilot were swallowed by the storm. the the pilot romained calm and able to get his passengers to safety. >> he was a veteran hot air balloon driver. the sky diver said the weather seemed fine but once they were up in the air they saw a storm rolling. he looked for a safe place to get the sky divers out and found an open field. they jumped and ended up safely onto the ground. >> he said it a couple of times. you guys are lucky you're gett

i'm roosevelt leftwich, we want to go to meteorologist wyatt everhart now, how much rain are we expectingr area? >> we are tracking weather across centra

very well in illinois and came here to talk to folks at arbutus at the american legion post roosevelt leftwichn getting reaction

roosevelt leftwich is in downtown baltimore where some of baltimore's leaders are rallying in

roosevelt leftwich joins us with the latest. >> reporter: it happens very fassments researchers at hopkins has been working with families for years on ways to make their home safe for children. overall children injured in accidents is down 12%. stairs are one hear that cannot be ignored. it's probably the first big accomplishment in a baby's life, climbing the couch or climbing the stairs. jennifer and teresa's kids prefer to climb over the old aluminum bleachers. it's fun. when this comes time to go home, the stairs in the house are off limits. >> something like stairs you can blockade so they can't get to them when you're not watching every second. you really have to watch him. i have to set up a gate to block him from that. any cub bored -- cupboard. >> reporter: the survey conducted by the research and policy center in klum bush, ohio, said from 1999 to 2008 more than 900,000 were injured on stairs and a quarter were being cared for by an adult. every six minutes a child is injured from falling down stairs. most of the accidents occurred in the home. >> this gate here is an example. it

roosevelt leftwich has more. >> reporter: at least 250 people turned ut to remember monae turnage.f her frien