Transcripts For WBFF Fox 45 Morning News 20100113

new year, new legislative session. the biggest challenge lawmakers will face on day one. the home run king comes clean. an inside look at why mark mcgwire admitted to using steroids. ♪ ♪ and a star is born. the stand out stars from the first round of american idol audition. good morning. it's wednesday, january 13th. i'm patrice harris. person in idol is back to season premier last night are, and we are showing you the good, the bad and whatever else you want to call it all morning long. we will leave it to your own imagination and your own description. first we will get a check of our weather, meteorologist steve fertig is here. what is that which we can expect. >> the american idol is a little bit of everything. >> and you're not lying, because it's like american idol, it's a warm up and then snow again. >> we will trend toward better weather coming your way as we will on american idol. we is you somewhat o some of tht was not pretty. dry conditions, with snow showers to the north. we will see mixed clouds but we should see plenty of sunshine as the high pressure begins to build in. it's still chilly even though the temperatures are not going to be made to feel a whole lot chilly because of the wind. still even a 5-10-mile-an-hour wind is going to make it feel cooler than that. we will get up to 55 degrees by noon, with mostly clear skies and 44 degrees at 6:00 p.m. as the temperatures back off of about 40 degrees with a northwest wind of 5-10 miles per hour. we will be talking em about a chance of winter-like weather. we have been talking about we will bring you up-to-date on where that stands. candace dold is here with the traffic edge. >> reporter: thank you, steve. i'm still laughing from idol, pretty fun know som funny some e auditions. if you are headed out we have a serious matter to talk in towson avenue. there's a broken watermain, the problem is it's causing icy conditions. you can avoid it by using dulaney valley road. as for the beltway the cars are in the green. we can show you what it looks like at 695, here it is at 83, and it's the cars that are starting to fill up the lanes both the inner and outer loop stretch, but no complaints throughout the that region. from 83 toward 795, it's running normal an 8 minute clip at 53 miles per hour. west side no problems to report, so thankfully we will keep our fingers crossed 11 minutes at 54 miles per hour. traveling through the city the volume is increasing on southbound 95 at the fort mchenry tunnel toward the beltway, 8 minutes, 54 miles per hour. that's a look at the morning travels, patrice, over to you. thank you, candace. 6:03 on fox 45 morning news. the 2010 legislative session begins today in annapolis and lawmakers have a lot on their plate. many have the one eye on the multi-million dollar deficit and another on the upcoming election. megan gilliland is here with what we can expect in the next 90 days of this session. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, state lawmakers will head into the 2010 session facing a $200 billion shortfall. it's the second year of budget woes. some are predicting furloughs and salary freezes for state workers. it's an election year, all 188 lawmakers and governor o'malley are up for re-election in november. one republican says that could play an interesting role on how this democratic control general assembly will plug the budget hole. >> it's to get a billion plus dollars from president obama part of the stimulus package, balance the budget with that, get the politians, like o'malley through the election year, and next year, in 2011, the great tax ambush. >> now a in addition to dealing with the budget deficit, lawmakers are expected to contend with a lot of posey poly issues, including death penalty, and new energy re-regulation. while lawmakers get to work inside the capitol building, hundreds of protesters plan to gather outside. the group of prosperity for americans say they want to let their representatives know that they are fed up with the mismanagement of their tax dollars. megan gilliland, fox 45 morning news. stay tuned with continuing coverage of this story. we will talk with david schwartz of americans for prosperity about that demonstration. it's been decades since maryland tax on beer and wine have been raised. supporters say boosting that tax by $0.10 a drink would generate $200 million a year, but republicans and some democrats say, hiking taxes right now is not fair to marylanders. >> while this is an election year, it's also a year in which the state has severe financial problems and as a result it's coming to the services for most vulnerable. >> the marylanders have taken enough, we don't more tax increases, especially the alcohol class. >> a similar bill failed to pass last year. and we want to know what you think, should maryland increase the alcohol tax? it's our question of the day. we will take your calls in our 7:00 hour. but of course, you can always go to foxbaltimore.com and tell us what you think or sound off through facebook. send us a tweet at fox baltimore or you can text your answer to 45203, enter fox 45a for yes or, for 45b for no. a man is shot in the face near a high school in west baltimore. it happened at about 7:00 last night in the median of the 2300 block of win fall parkway in between frederick douglas high school and man dah win mall. the victim ran into the mall for help and was taken to the hospital. whoever shot the teen got on a metro bus but police are still looking for him. a shooting and standoff at a school forced students to be locked in the building. gilmour elementary was put in lockdown at 1:00 yesterday afternoon. police found a man who had been shot in the 500 block of cumberland street. the suspect ran to the block near the school, forcing administrators to keep the children inside. >> you know, we got our babies in there. we can't go in there and get them. >> because he and the classroom in the front of the building and you know, they say he is okay in there, but i want to see my son. i want him out of here. >> police took four people of interest into custody. ravens paraphernalia is hot right now and some raven fans are seeing green inside of all of this purple passion. joel d smith is live at maryland screen printers this morning as the newest ravens playoff shirts are coming off of the press. joel, can we see a close up of what the shirt logo looks like. >> reporter: definitely. i will show you that in a just a minute. we have dave and we will show his shirt since you asked for that. patrice wants a close up of the shirt. the t-shirt says ray rice. tell me the process of getting to know him and getting the deal out. >> we struck a deal before the season was over. we tried to track him down and find a hot player and work with somebody that works with him. we struck the deal and got it done. >> reporter: what are some the other shirts that you get out here. you do a lot of shirts, you do some companies, and you do the terps and of course, you have flacco. what is in it for the player? what would they want to be associated with you? >> we give them royalty of the shirt. we give them a royalty. sometimes we don't know if they're going to sell a lot of shirts. it could be a few shirts. ray, we are going to sell some shirts, and if you go to green bay, you will sell a lot of shirts. he assured me he would get it done. >> reporter: every time they win they sell a lot more shirts. a lot is on the line and they got big smiles after a ravens win, and they are hoping for another one where they will make special shirts just for next week. we will preview those coming up. joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. if the ravens can get it done on indianapolis, i will wear one of those shirts on the air. don't worry about suits, it's all t-shirts and jeans. >> reporter: i will bring one of those t-shirts back for you. >> we will have to talk to the bosses. >> reporter: it will be purple friday. we will have live reports on friday and saturday as kristen berset travels to the indianapolis. coming up a strong earthquake hit haiti. >> the home i'm in rocked back and forth and i thought it was going to fall over. >> what the u.s. is going to do to help with hundreds dead. >> reporter: i'm jessica starr, coming up this morn >>stand back to the 11th century. you will find princesses and jousting and if medieval court. jessica starr is live there for our hometown hot spot. good morning, jessica. it looks like a lot is getting ready to go on behind you. >> reporter: yes, a lot going to happen behind us. it's a little sword fighting so i'm going to stand far from them this morning. i'm joined by one of the knights this morning. i'm joined by sam. >> good morning, jessica, how are you? >> reporter: tell me about the show and what we're seeing. >> what we're seeing behind you one of the combat sequences that we have in the showment it's only as dangerous as we make it look. these guys are professional and they do a good job. the show is modeled after an 11th century tournament that happened in spain. we choreograph fights and lots and lots of action. >> reporter: talk to me about the costumes. some of them are wearing black and red, and some of them are wearing green and a dragon in the back. talk to me about that. >> this is how we divide teams. when our clients come to the show, they can root for the black night or the green night. it's how things were as they pertained to war in medieval times. you divided people into colors and everybody goes from there. >> reporter: a lot of action. sam thank you for coming out this morning. you definitely need to come on out and check out all of the things that are going at medieval times that are happening at anne arundel mills mall. you can get more information at foxbaltimore.com. partly cloudy skies, 46 degrees, and for the forecast i'm going to toss it to steve in the weather center. and jessica, thank you so much. i think we better check on that guy. he looks kind hurt there. take a look sky watch hd radar looking at like this. we have mainly clear skies. it's going to stay clear in the next few days before any chance of wintery weather coming our way. that is going to be sunday. right now looking winter up toward pennsylvania and new york where snow showers are moving in just a lake-effect snow there. but making its way into our area because of high pressure that is bringing our way and keeping the snow to the north and out of our way. here is what we're looking at 29 degrees starting out the day with mostly cloudy skies, the winds are calm and the barometer is at 32.7. as we check out the temperatures around the region. we will find we're at 29 degrees, 26 in salisbury, up in hagerstown, 28 and 18 in oakland. this is actually a little bit above where we should be for this time of year at this hour. later in the day we will see the temperatures climb a little bit more. winds are diminished quite a bit. we had them around 10 miles per hour earlier. now 5-10-mile-an-hour winds out there generally speaking. that will make it feel chillier, but not as chill 8 chilly as wed feel it. definitely feeling a bit chilly. the cold air is going to retreat to the north and east out of our way as the high pressure moves in. that will bring us more of a westerly flow. it will bring us milder temperatures to come. high pressure is going to slide to the east and we will get more of a southwesterly flow coming our way. that will warm us up even more. we will watch as the low pressure center moves in our general direction moving eastward before it comes up the coast. that will feed a low pressure center off the carolina coast. we did think there's a chance of wintery weather coming on on sunday. what it looks like it's going to be more of a rain event than a snow event, though we could see snow mixing in. the best chance of that happening as the colder air retreats to the north is probably sunday night as it gets chilly, but most of the day it will be warm enough that it will be a rain event on sunday. here is what we're looking for a temperature today, a little breezier for the eastern shore. as we come to the central part of the state, look for a high temperature of 40 degrees with mostly clear skies, a west wind at 5-10 miles per hour. further points west a high temperature of 39 degrees with partly cloudy skies. tonight mainly clear, 24, southwest winds at 5 miles per hour, while that is chilly, it's where we should be for this time of year. 43 tomorrow with plenty of sunshine, 48 on friday with partly cloudy skies and 46 saturday, sunday 40 degrees with the chance of a rain-snow-mix, more rain than snow, i think and then snow mixing in for a brief time in the evening hours or at night. then we dry out probably by monday morning. could be left over remnants for the beginning of martin luther king day on monday. 42 degrees for the high as we dry out for the afternoon, 43 and partly cloudy on tuesday. fox 45 sky watch weather is at your finger tips. iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. can you use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. candace dold is back with a look at the traffic edge. >> reporter: thanks, steve. we are checking on the beltway and the cars out there as the cars move over the sensors. so far not a bad ride. 55 miles per hour traveling on the we have side through security boulevard. and 65 moving through the catonsville area. inside of baltimore city, fire activity right between druid hill and division street. just be aware that you will find the flashing lights. we don't have lane or road closures, as a result, but it will grab your attention as you travel through the area. at the fort mchenry tunnel, we can show what it looks like there. we have a crowd that is starting to gather but no incidents to talk about, northbound or southbound stretch moving through rosedale and eventually toward the bell way. beltway, so far, we're running at pulaski highway. we can show you the scene. it's been calm here inner and outer loop lanes down toward 95. that pretty much continues moving through parkville toward towson. that's a look at your morning commute, patrice, over to you. candace, thank you. mid evil times at arundel mill malls sent us passes so you and your family can have a 4 course meal. the first caller at (410)481-4545. for more information on reservation call 888-we joust. or go to our website at foxbaltimore.com and click on morning news. coming up american idol is back. some people party ♪ ♪ >> we hear some the best and worst contestants on last night's show. the house i'm in right now up on the mountain rocked back and forth. i thought it was going to fall over. >> an earthquake rocked haiti. 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(announcer) chat, email, or phone. personal shopper, another way to shop your way at sears. life. well spent. ♪ ♪ i paint the numbers in the sky ♪ [ female announcer ] we might have different styles and wear different things. but we all want our clothes to look their absolute best. and that's why tide helps keep the clothes you wear looking bright, white... and impeccably clean. ♪ i see life ♪ in technicolor because what you wear is up to you. keeping it looking its best is up to tide. tide. style is an option. clean is not. our future leaders. explorers, great thinkers. they're the future of america, so let's bring them up right and give them our cheese. american cheese. kraft singles. put it in their lunch boxes. heck, put it right in their mouths. it's made with milk, never oil like some other slices. a country is only as good as its cheese. good thing ours doesn't have a bunch of holes in it. kraft singles - the american cheese. a powerful earthquake rocks haiti, the strongest to hit the country in almost 200 years. bodies litter the streets and thousands are feared dead. samantha hayes has more. >> reporter: chaos and cries for help after a devastating earthquake in haiti. >> when i look if front of me, i see a lot of people falling down, and they were crying, crying for help. there's a lot of big buildings were collapsed, it's like every block you find a building that collapsed. >> reporter: the 7.0 earthquake magnitude quake, struck the improvished nation. inflicted heavy damage, a hospital, and even the palace. an american flight toward miami took off shortly after the quake. >> there was an earthquake. >> falling down. >> reporter: haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere has seen more than its share of unrest and natural disasters, including four hurricanes in 2008. >> at that time the u.s. had dispatched the u.s. comfort, and the hospital off port of haiti. i hope that will be done again. >> reporter: president barack obama was briefed on the desaster tuesday night and told members of his national security staff he expects an aggressive coordinated relief effort by the u.s. government. >> [ inaudible ] and we pray to god. god, we are praying. >> reporter: secretary state hillary clinton speaking from hawaii says the u.s. will offer full assistance to haiti including millitary and desaster relief. in washington i'm samantha hayes. coming up, think twice about how you travel on your next trip. what you will be paying extra for the next time you fly. i'm asking for a second chance. i hope i get it. >> mark mcgwire admits to using steroids. breakfasts. i got breakfastses here. real cheap. don't settle for a knockoff breakfast. save money with a dunkin' donuts egg and cheese sandwich for just 99 cents. try it with egg whites today. because it's breakfast, not brokefast. america saves on dunkin'. i like this one. in a national taste test, more hardworking americans preferred the taste of dunkin' donuts over starbucks. try the coffee that won... this one. ...and see why america really does run on dunkin'. thank you. a disappointing earning report from alcoa dragged down the markets. the dow fell almost 37 points while the nasdaq and s&p 500 lost for the trading day. more bad news for those out of work, competition is steep. november job figures show only one job available for every 6 potential workers. employers are still hesitant to begin hiring again. over 50 million people are out of work. pack a carry on or prepare to pay. that's a message for delta and continental passengers. fees are going up, $23 for the first bag and $32 for the second if paid online. checking in at the airport is going to be even more, $35 for first bag, and $45 for the second. the tickets will be effective after january 9th for continental. delta and continental have the highest bagging fees in the industry. looking to unload some the american express reward points, use them to pay your taxes. amex rewar reward points can ust to pay taxes. it takes $2 earned up in points to pay one dollar of economic staxes. coming up the wait is over. american idol is back. >> some people part on off ♪ ♪ i don't want nothing at all >> what the judges had to say about the first night of contestants. and lawmakers head to annapolis today for day one of the legislative session. i'm megan gilliland. why the upcoming fall election could affect their decision. i'm joel d smith, live at maryland screen printers where they want you dressed for success in the playoffs. up next hi, anne. how are you doing? hi, evelyn. i know it's been a difficult time since your mom passed away. yeah. i miss her a lot, but i'm okay. wow. that was fast. this is the check i've been waiting for. mom had a guaranteed acceptance life insurance policy through the colonial penn program, and this will really help with the cost of her final expenses. they have been so helpful and supportive during this time. maybe i should give them a call. i really could use some more life insurance. is it affordable? it costs less t that's pretty affordable, huh? less than 35 cents a day? that's less than the cost of a postage stamp. so, you said it was guaranteed acceptance? yes. it's permanent coverage with guaranteed acceptance for people ages 50 to 85. there's no medical exam or health questions. you can't be turned down because of your health. it fit right into mom's budget and gave her added peace of mind. you should give them a call or look them up online at cpdirect.com. i definitely could use more coverage. i think i will give them a call. man: are you between the ages of 50 and 85? or know someone who is? do you think that quality insurance at an affordable rate is out of your reach? for less than 35 cents a day, you can get guaranteed acceptance life insurance through the colonial penn program. you cannot be turned down because of your health. there are no health questions or medical exam. your rate will never go up, and your benefit will never go down due to age-- guaranteed! these days, the average cost of a funeral is over $7300, and social security pays a death benefit of just $255. don't leave a burden for your loved ones. since 1994, over 6 million people have called about this quality insurance. there's no risk or obligation. call about the colonial penn program now. you'll be glad you did. >>welcome back to fox 45 morning news. 6:30 is the time. i'm patrice harris. we need to get a check of our forecast, for one, we need to know what is going to happen, but steve has a little cutie over here with him. for some help. this is jawan. from what school. >> and you're in what grade. >> 4th grade. >> and you're how old? >> 9. >> we got a lot of sunshine to tell them. come back this way and in baltimore we can show them that the temperature is 29 degrees. in washington 28 degrees, winds are about 5-10 miles per hour and that is going to make it feel chillier, as it's 22 in hagers town and look at oakland. look at how chilly it looks. it's going to be a chilly one. but generally speaking we will see temperatures moderating a little bit. clouds to the north and more sunshine to the south. we will see more sunshine for all of us as we move through the day. we should get to 40 degrees for a high temperature with a west wind at 5-10 miles per hour. now what do you want to tell people next. who is up? who is coming in. >> here is candace with traffic. >> there you go. good job. you got it. all right, if you're heading out and hitting the roadways, we do want to show you the scene out there. here is 95 at whitemarsh boulevard. and it's starting to get a bit busy on the northbound stretch and the southbound lanes making the trek down toward the beltway there. further down, traveling through the city right now in the fort mchenry tunnel toward beltway, we did just have a minor accident but it's been cleared out no significant delays. an 8 minute clip at 54 miles per hour. and then southbound 895, traveling through the city right now from the harbor tunnel toward 95, so far so good, there as well. a 9-minute drive at 54 miles per hour. and in excellent shape, couldn't ask for anything better, 95 toward 83, 11 minutes at 55 miles per hour. but then that west side, there from the 795 area down toward 95 at volume is quickly increasing, a 14 minute clip, 46 miles per hour. that's a look at the morning commute. patrice, back over to you. we are following breaking news out of west baltimore. a fire breaks out in the 1300 block of north avenue. one firefighter had minor injuries but was not taken to the hospital. the fire is now under control. today is day one of the 2010 legislative session. lawmakers will head to annapolis facing a $2 billion budget shortfall and an upcoming fall election. megan gilliland joins us now with the latest on what we can expect this session. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, over the next 90 days, lawmakers will be dealing with the budget woes, but in an election year, it could be very interesting how they decide to plug that hole. with all 188 lawmakers and governor o'malley up for re-election in november, some say, it's unlikely they will raise taxes or slash major programs this time around. but election year or not, governor o'malley has already said, cuts will be and have to be made. >> we can't expect the revenue estimates to be as great as they have in the past. we ought to come in with a budget that is below last year's budget. i'm not just talking about decreasing the increase in the budget, i'm actually talking about decreasing the actual budget from last year. zero, based budgeting, whatever you want to call t but come in with a budget that is really no frills, because, you know, we're in a bad time right now in this country. >> some lawmakers are predicting continued furloughs and salary freezes. in addition to the budget deficit, lawmakers are expected to contend with a lot of policy issues, including new death penalties, new sex offender laws, energy re-regulation and possibly an alcohol tax. while lawmakers get to work on those issues inside of the capitol building, hundreds of protesters are expected to gather outside tonight. the group of americans for propress perty say they want to let their representatives know, they are fed up with the mismanagement of their tax dollars. fox 45 morning news. stay tuned for continuing coverage of this story. with will he talk with david from americans for prosperity about that protest that is coming up later this hour. are you showing your purple pride this week? if not, many t-shirt makers are making it very easy and they want you to do it soon. joel d smith is live at maryland screen printers this morning with the newest designs made fresh for the playoffs. you had a wardrobe change. >> reporter: i did. this is a nice one that they actually sell here and make here. good stuff here. you get to see ray rice and joe flacco. they have all kinds of stuff. i know jeromy allen as they have one of these stores and they sell all of these stuff. how are sales right now. >> sales are good. we are happy the way things are going with the shirts and the way things are going on with ray rice and the ravens. >> reporter: it's a good january, what they usually like if they're not in the playoffs. >> it's pretty much dead business if the ravens are not in it. i imagine all business owners who participate in this type of business are very happy and of course we are. >> reporter: does that mean jobs, too. >> it definitely means jobs. i'm big on that, i'm definitely making sure that the employees stay in store during january and during the dead business. thank the ravens for keeping employees. >> reporter: if they continue, we keep on winning. joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. kristen berset will be in indianapolis when the raven take on the koltses thi colts this s. she will have live reports on friday and saturday coming up on fox 45 news. coming up american idol makes a big return coming up the contestants that could be on the path to stardom. and we usually deal with the busy ride on the west side of the beltway and this morning it's no exception. take a look at the beltway at liberty road, already a bit congested there. i will show you what ot american idol is back for its all new 9th season. and their first stop in the search for altent talent, bosto. it looks like they found some. >> some people part it off ♪ ♪ i don't want nothing at all ♪ feeding you baby ♪ if i got you baby >> ashley from boston hit all the right notes with her version of an alicia key's song and with the judges. >> you are my favorite today, 100%. >> what did you think. >> i say that was a very, very good audition. some people have got it, and i think you may have it. >> oh that, is big. when simon says you may have it, especially since he may not be coming back anymore, you want to get it now while you can. we want to know what you think about the contestants. we all have our opinions of what we saw last night. we want you to send your opinions about american idol, the folks you saw last night, the good ones, bad ones and whatever you saw and made you take notice on american idol season premier. the 2 part season premier on idol continues tonight here on fox 45. and i'm sure there's much more fun to be had. right now we're going to have fun because meteorologist steve fertig is here and he has company. good morning to the both of you. >> good morning, patrice. >> i tell you what, he has got it. this is jowan grace, and hayes e has the quality that you need to make a good meteorologist. >> i want to say hi to my parents and my principal. >> you go to school at? >> the baltimore county academy. >> and you're in what grade. >> 4th. >> and you're 9 years old. >> yes. >> are you ready to do this thing? >> yes. >> you come this way and take it away. what is happening at the inner harbor. >> right now what is happening at the inner harbor, winds mostly cloudy. 56%, and pressure 37.7 and balmy. >> what about the temperatures? >> nice toss, look at that, i love when they toss them out. >> hagerstown, 28 degrees. baltimore 29, salisbury, 29 degrees -- i mean 26 degrees. >> right. >> baltimore 29. >> absolutely. what about our hd radar, what is that showing? >> what is happening is our hd radar is mostly clouds over us, and you will see a little bit of blue 'cause there's a little bit of snow over the north, but it's not coming to baltimore. >> good news for us, right? >> right. >> absolutely. what is it going to keep it nice for the next couple of days? >> mostly sun. >> because of the high pressure. >> high pressure, low pressure, rain. >> it's going to bring some rain, when? >> sunday. >> maybe a little bit of snow mixed in, what about the forecast for today? >> today, 40 degrees. 40 degrees. >> uh-huh. >> 40 degrees, winds -- wind 5-10. >> yep, and mainly clear skies. >> mainly clear skies. >> tonight's forecast is 24 degrees, remaining clear, wind west, southwest 5 miles per hour. >> terrific. >> and today's seven-day forecast is today, wednesday. >> right over there and start with today? >> 40 degrees, mostly sunny. >> uh-huh. >> thursday, 43 degrees, sunny, friday 48, partly cloudy. part 46 degrees, 4 46 -- saturdy 46 degrees and partly cloudy. sunday 42 degrees with a chance of rain. martin luther king, monday, 42 degrees mainly cloudy and tuesday 43 degrees partly cloudy. >> you didn't even need my help at all, did you? >> no. >> no, you did not. >> thanks steve, get out of here now. were you nervous? you didn't look nervous at all. pretty easy, wasn't it? >> exactly. he said he was kind of ready, i don't know what kind of was, because he just clicked it away. jowan you were not nervous about that were you? >> no. >> once i started doing it. >> what do you want to do when you grow up. >> a lawyer or a basketball player. >> maybe you can do both. a lot of basketball players, especially these days need lawyers. maybe you can do both. >> jowan thank you for coming in this morning. >> we want to let you know that if you want your kids to be a part of weather kid wednesday, send steve a note or drop him a line at foxbaltimore.com. skyfox 45 weather is available at your finger tips. you can use the powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools let you see when rain or the dreaded snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. now it's time to get a check of the roadways. candace dold has the traffic edge report. >> hi, candace. >> had i patrice. if you're heading out and hitting the roadways. so far it's starting to slow down on the west side of the beltway now looking at 48 miles per hour right through the catonsville region and the same speed right near the security boulevard exit. that is going to be the slow go this morning. we do have an incident to talk about in towson right now. there's a broken watermain. it's on the southbound end at york road. that is right at fairmont avenue. you could always use dulaney valley road. it's not a bad bet for the alternate route there. as for the beltway, you can see the cars are in the green moving through towson. that is the same deal heading toward the parksville region and down toward 95 as well. on the side at pulaski highway, we can show you the scene and it's going to be in excellent shape, the inner loop lanes and outer loop stretch. 95, moving at the merge, it's starting to get congested. we can show you the scene. you can see a lot of cars are filling up the lanes headed down toward the fort mchenry tunnel. that's a look a the morning commute, back to you. the 2010 legislative session begins in just a few hours. what some marylanders will wait in time for testing today. apologize to everybody in major league baseball. and mark mcgwire comes clean and admits to using which is fantastic. we'll have them over for a friday night pizza. it's just our way of entertaining without going out. this is where all the magic happens. this is where i knead the dough, make the pizza. by using my card, i get the specials, the real deals, and it saves me money. the win-win is that we get to visit with our friends, the kids get to visit with their friends, and it's great food. more savings, more rewards. every time you shop. only with your giant card. we save money, and that works for me. the mense-year-old victim ran into the mall for help. he was taken to sinai hospital. whoever shot the teen was teen get ago way in a bus. dozens of people gathered last night at the county school board meeting in towson. representatives for the teachers expressed their worries over the system which would require educators to evaluate students on their grafght above 100 different skills. teachers say that the program is repetitive and time-consuming. parents are upset they haven't been included in the program development. mmark mcgwire had mitted hae admission to use steroids. already on the list, people like same sosa. barry bonds, rafael palmero. mcgwire says he used the drugs on and off to help recovery from injury but he didn't need it to help hit home runs. mcgwire's admission puts the steroid scandal back on the national limelight. we are joined this morning. >> good morning. >> is it good that he finally came clean. this has been talked about and known for years. >> this is probably the worst kept see correct i -- secret in the steroid issue. it's good that he came clean. his admission was only halfway. he made statements like i'm sorry, what i did was wrong. i should have come clean earlier but steroids didn't help me break the record. we all know it's false. you can look at his body and how it grew over the years. he broke one of the records in the history of the baseball. now with him along with other athletes in the steroid era. we have to look at the records. will they make the hall of fame? are these records -- >> he will forever be tainted now? >> i think they will be. unless the major league baseball created this era, called the steroid era. i feel bad for the athletes who didn't get the great numbers and didn't get into the hall of fame, but played fair, and played drug free and they didn't get all the a col laidz and the money that these guys got. >> talk about the pressure to perform. that is what mark mcgwire said was behind all of this. you can't believe the pressure you have to get out there and look like you earned the multi-million dollar salary. >> we work with middle school kids, high school kids, they already feel that pressure to succeed, to win it at all cost and these guys at the highest level are now admitting, yes, we feel the same way. we felt the same way and we cheated in order to accomplish our goals. we do not want kids to do that. we need the guys now they're coming clean to come back and tell kids, look, you maybe there's money down the road, but this guy had to live with this lie, with his family with his fans for years. that should be worse. >> does that resonate with the children, though or do they see the bigger picture. this person was in the spotlight, they got all the fame and money for it. does the message they come back, does that resonate more? >> we don't know that. up until now it's been the money and the fame. we haven't seen consequences. now that we're seeing it and we're watching them cry on television. we're wappin watching them desty their lives. some are dying and getting injured, maybe that will have an impact on kids so they can make a better decision earlier and not up where some of these guys are ending up earlier. some of their careers are being tainted. >> hopefully this generation will avoid this. >> hopefully we can get to mcgwire in town to talk to some kids because it does help. if you want more information about the steroid issues and about the power by me program, you can log on to foxbaltimore.com/morning. coming up in our 7:00 hour, it's the sound we all hate. >> beep, beep. >> the new alarm clock that promises to make sure you don't over sleep in the morning. and the maryland legislative session starts today, why lawmakers will already hear protesters last year, my little guy got the flu... and it was bad. there's nothing more important than the ones you love, which is why now is the time to protect them and yourself. h1n1 flu vaccines are available every day, no appointment necessary, at minuteclinic, the walk-in clinic inside select cvs/pharmacies. it's peak flu season, so don't risk it. get vaccinated for h1n1 flu today. to find a minuteclinic near you, visit cvs.com, or call... real cheap. don't settle for a knockoff breakfast. save money with a dunkin' donuts egg and cheese sandwich for just 99 cents. try it with egg whites today. because it's breakfast, not brokefast. america saves on dunkin'. i like this one. in a national taste test, more hardworking americans preferred the taste of dunkin' donuts over starbucks. try the coffee that won... this one. ...and see why america really does run on dunkin'. thank you. chief among the issues, the $2 billion deficit. while they're working hard inside, a group of protesters is expected to voice their opinions outside. david schwartz with americans for prosperity is joining this morning. you are helping to organize this protest. what is the goal? >> the goal is to send a message to the leadership in annapolis that we're not happy with of our budget. and subsequently, we would like to have a change of policy. >> specifically? >> we would like to change the attitude, again, in annapolis toward small businesses. small businesses are 2/3 of the job creation in the state. and there are policies set aren't conducive to job growth. we want to change that. >> taxes big issue with what is going on with the finances in the state. there's talks raising taxes. one in particular alcohol tax? >> uh-huh. >> it hasn't been raised in years. >> some people consider it a luxury, you don't necessarily have to have it. would that be an acceptable place to raise taxes if the state needs the money? >> are you going to raise taxes on small businesses such as bars and liquor stores right now? i mean, increases no matter where they are should be off the table. it's only going to hurt the economy. it's going to kill jobs. >> so what are some suggestions for how to get out of this mess? i mean, not a lot of people would question that we're in a bad place right now, but there's a lot of questions of how to begin ett to get out of this. >> a couple of things, zero-based budget. i was listening to the delegate anderson. all of these legislators are starting to sound like ronald reagan. zero based budget. and taking things off the table. we are in favor of a bill that would require the super majority to raise taxes or fees. that would give small businesses who create the 2/3 of the jobs in the state some stability and some reason to, you know, create more jobs. with the budget the way it is right now, can you cut enough programs and services to be able to balance the budget or are taxes as unfortunate as they may be, are they just a necessity? >> absolutely there's room to cut. i will give you one example, pensions, particularly elected officials pensions. we are seeing the whole debacle with sheila dixon. we have been working to decrease the crazy pensions that our elected officials are receiving. let's take a look at the state elected official pensions. i think there's room for cuts there. >> i think a lot of people are looking for that? >> thank you for coming. american idol is back. there is a house in new orleans ♪ >> what the judges had to say about the stars and duds from night one. and do you believe in the purple? i'm joel d smith at they believe you're going >é fox 45, morning news. >> we're in a bad time in this country. >> new year, new legislative session. trying to get to the big game, the playoff tickets scam you need to watch out for. >> and the good, the bad, and the awful. the best of the worst american idol auditions. good morning. it's wednesday, january 13th. i'm patrice harris. as you just saw american idol is back for better or for worse. as usual, we saw some really great auditions last night, but then we saw case in point, some really awful auditions. we within the to know what you think of american idol season premier. who were some of your favorites last night. what did you think about the show. we already have a response. i think the show started off well last night. i liked ashley. and the guy who has two broken wrists. poor guy. >> he is a drummer. >> are you serious? >> no, he is. he is a drummer. i was watching it. i hate to admit it. i was ready to not watch this season, i should not be saying that. i'm telling you the truth. i'm just not getting into it. every time i try to get out, they pull me back? >> what happened? >> you get hooked. >> no, see you joke around so much. >> i was serious. >> i went back and forth between basketball and american idol, of course. i was intrigued and that kid was a drummer he said. >> he used to be a drummer. >> he doesn't need sticks now. ouch, that hurts just thinking about it. it's going to be an interesting season i think once again. you can't help it. you just get hooked. let's take a look and see what is happening. 29 degrees the temperature right now in baltimore and surrounding area also in the mid-20s, generally speaking. a little bit cooler north and west and we are seeing some snow showers up in pennsylvania and new york but not around here, because we have high pressure building in. that is going to bring us a pretty nice afternoon as the sun begins to shine a little bit more. we are going to get more of a southwesterly flow. we're going to keep an eye over the low pressure center over d g us inclement ather by the end of the week. i do believe it's looking more like rain than snow. we are talking about a wintery mix. for the most part we could look at rain that could be somewhat heavy. it should be a tranquil period of time through saturday and not as cold through the rest of the week with temperatures in the 40s, mainly rain coming for sunday, but we won't rule out showers mixed in. more on that coming up in a few minutes. right now candace dold is here with the traffic edge. he was a drummer, right. >> reporter: he was a drummer. he broke his wrist falling out of a tree. simon looked at him and said what were you doing up on top of the tree, did you have binoculars. simon, too much. we have a disabled vehicle on the southbound lanes of the jfx, near the beltway, not causing a significant slow down but be aware you will find it there. on 83, north of 695, checking in that area, it's the sheer volume you will have to deal on the southbound lanes and not even that much volume heading toward the beltway exit. as for the outer loop lanes of 695, traveling toward the 795 exit, an 8-minute drive, 52 miles per hour. the west side, though, it's starting to slow down a little bit, from 795 toward 95, 14 minutes at 44 miles per hour. that's a look at the morning travels, patrice, back over to you. 7:04 on fox 45 morning news. the 2010 legislative session begins today in annapolis. lawmakers have a lot on their plates. many have one eye on the state multi-million dollar deficit and the other on the upcoming fall election. megan gilliland joins us with the latest on what we can expect over the next 90 days of this session. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, state lawmakers will head into the session facing a $2 billion budget shortfall. it's second year in a row of significant budget woes. some lawmakers are predicting painful cuts for state workers, like furloughs and salary freezes but it's an election year. all 188 lawmakers and governor o'malley are up for re-election in november. one republican state delegate says that could play a very interesting role in how this democratic controlled general assembly will plug that budget hole. >> the secret plan is to get a billion plus dollars from president obama part of the remaining stimulus package, balance the budget with that, get the politians, like o'malley through the election year, and then next year in 2011 the great tax ambush. >> reporter: now in addition to the budget deficit, they will be dealing with lawmakers are also expected to contend with a lot of policy issues, including new death penalty regulations new sex offender laws, and energy re-regulation. while lawmakers get to work inside of the the capitol building today, hundreds of protesters are expected to gather outside tonight. the group prosperity for americans say they want to let their representatives they are fed up with the mismanagement of their tax dollars. megan gilliland, fox 45 morning news. one of the issues they will definite this session, is the tax on alcohol. it's been decades since the tax has been raised. boosting that tax by $0.10 a drink would generate $2 million a year. but democrats say hiking taxes right now is not fair to marylanders. a similar bill failed to pass last year. we want to know what you think. should maryland increase the alcohol tax? it's the question of the day. will take your call later this hour. you can go to foxbaltimore.com ask tell us what you think. go to the facebook page, send us a tweet at fox ball more. you can text your answer to 45203. enter fox 45a for yes, or fox 45b for no. ravens paraphernalia is hot right now and some ravens fans are seeing green inside all of this purple passion. joel d smith is live at maryland screen printers this morning as the newest ravens playoff shirts are coming off hot of the press. every time i see you, you got a different look going on. >> reporter: because i'm going hard at work right now. i had to take off the jacket. i need the sleeves because i'm making your shirt right now. this is how it's done. i'm going to be critiqued by the owner here. you put it like so, make sure it's flattened out in the middle. i'm slow at this right now. is that good enough. >> that is perfect enough. >> reporter: they don't give you a break. and the next one goes up. i'm -- this is a skill, isn't it? >> all right. how many can you guys get done in an hour, regular guys? >> about 500. >> reporter: 500. at this pace, 10. and it's moving. >> perfect. >> reporter: tell me, how many you hope to get done for today and how busy things have been. >> a few thousand a day. the first day we did 4 or 5,000. so if things get hot, we will do 15,000 shirts in a day 3 different machines. >> reporter: do you get tired of doing this, come on? >> it's a lot tougher in the summertime when it's 100 degrees outside. >> reporter: this one ispor patrice. -- is for patrice. i'm going to make sure it's perfect. >> when do you make the design. this is the ray rice design, the purple tower. >> we started working on a new design when we beat indianapolis. we will have that shirt possibly sunday morning. it could be the design shows who we're going to play in the title game. so we might have to wait until sunday to have the shirt. >> reporter: okay. that is the last one. so patrice, you think -- i think your shirt is going to turn out just fine. if it's a little crooked or a couple of letters are missing, it wasn't me. >> you're not very good at that job, joel. you sound out of breath and you have just thrown a few shirts on there. when do they start making the super bowl champion ravens t-shirt. >> reporter: if they make the super bowl, how fast afterwards will you have the shirts out? >> we will bring them that night. >> reporter: you will have design ready beforehand. >> we will have them ready the night before. >> reporter: they will set the button and bring people better than me otherwise we couldn't even blanket a school, much less the city. you're doing a good job, i'm proud. payton manning and the colts have been able to beat the ravens 7 straight times. not anymore. coach harbaugh talks why he thinks that has happened before. >> reporter: i'm jessica (announcer) let's say it's guy's weekend, and your friend says it's going to be sweet... ...to watch tv, while we tailgate. insane! i love you guys! i forgot the tv... (announcer) well, if someone made a mistake, they could use sears to go to find a new tv in minutes, arrange for pickup at the nearest store ...even have it brought out to the car you know, we also sell grills. onnnn it! (announcer) sears to go, web to store. there's more ways to shop your way at sears. life. well spent. here comes your knight in shining armor. you can enjoy the 11th century and a 4-course meal attitude medieval times. jessica starr is there for our hometown hot spot, good morning, jess. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. this show is very entertaining and action packed. i have been watching them this morning. i don't know how they do it. i'm joined this morning by one the nights. i'm joined by sam. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: tell me about what we are going to see min bed us. >> this is part of our jousting seg mentseg ments we have in ou. it's one of a kind venue. you can't see this anywhere else. >> reporter: this looks dangerous. how do you prepare for something like this. this will take sometime. i would be afraid to go that fast. oh, my gosh! it's so loud on a horse. >> it takes a lot of training. we train at least two hours a day. a lot of that time is on the horse. it's about creating an elusion that definitely looks real. in a lot of cases the contact is real. our guys are tough. >> reporter: has anyone gotten hurt before? >> very, very seldomly. almost never, we are professionals here and we train accordingly. >> reporter: can you tell me about the costumes on the horses. >> these are called comparisons, and they're basically for just that to compare each horse to another. so i mean, for the green knight he has a green comparison and these are all fitted to the horses and they're actually quite comfortable. >> thank you for coming down. you need to come on down and we're going to be giving away free passes. right now i'm going to toss it back to patrice in the studio to find out who will be coming down to medieval times. patrice, back to you. mid evil times at anne arundel mills mall sent us passes. the 4th and the 10th caller at (410)481-4545 gets a family 4-pack of tickets to mid evil times. in case you don't win, you need information on reservations, call 888-we joust. or go to foxbaltimore.com. i want to yell to jessica, have fun stopping the castle. you remember that scene? you do not, then you will be wondering. take a look at the clear skies for the next few days as we get more sunshine built in thanks to high pressure. princess bride was the movie. that is the forecast. hd radar looking pretty dry like i said right now. we are going to be seeing snow showers to the north and that is going to be staying north out of our way in pennsylvania and new york thanks to high pressure building in. that high pressure is going to bring us plenty of sun over the next few days. colder air retreats north and. the warmer air comes our way. it won't be warm but it will feel a lot better as we get into the mid-40s and upper 40s by friday. we may close to 50 by then as high pressure continues to build in. we get the west to southwesterly flow then. we are keeping our eye on a couple of things. temperatures are a bit chilly, 28 in baltimore, and still not far above normal. 26 in salisbury, 27 in hagerstown and 18 in oakland. we are keeping our eye like i said on some developing weather meaning first developing trend toward the warmer temperatures as i said thanks to the jet stream. we're keeping an eye on the low pressure center coming up the coast. i think there will be enough warm air in place in our region by sunday had a we will see mainly rain around here, though 3 could be snow mixed in. a couple of models differing. we are talking about a couple of things. i think it will trend more toward rain than snow. if we see any snow it will be at night. 39 degrees for the high temperature on the eastern shore with mostly clear skies. a west wind at 10-15 miles an hour. the central part of the state, getting up to 40 degrees with 5-10 miles an hour wind out of the west. the winds are diminishing some and not having as much of an effect as they will this morning. creating that windchill, but by this afternoon, it will calm down and feeling a bit better as a result. 39 degrees for the western part of the state, the highest elevations closer to 30 degrees out there. west southwest wind at 5 miles an hour. as we look over the next several days, first of all today again getting to 40 degrees for the high. we will start off with temperatures in the 20s before we get to 35 by noon and the temperatures get up to the 40-degree high by 2 or 3:00 this afternoon backing off to 34 with clear skies by 6:00 p.m. and then clear overnight and then getting up to 43 degrees with plenty of sunshine for your thursday. partly cloudy on friday, but there's the 48. that may actually in some places get to 50 degrees. partly cloudy on saturday with a high of 46. then we're talking about the mainly rain, we believe event coming for sunday, thanks to the low. and the milder air in place during the day, but the night could turn over to a little bit of a rain-snow mix. 42 degrees on monday. could have a little bit of remnants from that system on monday morning. 42 degrees by tuesday with partly cloudies skies. fox 45 sky watch weather is at your finger tips. iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. you could use fox powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when rain or snow would be over your house. you go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar as you might want to do on monday. candace dold is back with the track edge. >> reporter: we're seeing reduced speeds on the west side of the beltway checking in on the miles per hour and the numbers, 46 right now moving through the catonsville region and at 51 near security boulevard. you can see that is going to be the slow go for us this morning. we do have a few incidents to talk about, one in baltimore county, in fact, at whitemarsh, a crash at bel air road at silver spring road. we can show you what 95 looks in the area. here it is, it's getting a bit busy there. the good news is we don't have any incidents to complain about. you could stick with this as the alternate route. it has been a pretty picture and that continues to be the case in both loops. once you finally get past 95, it's definitely starting to slow down a bit, moving through the parkville region heading toward towson and eventually toward the 83 it does start to improve a little bit. now on 83, the jfx right now there's a disabled vehicle. it's on the southbound lanes, right past the beltway not causing any significant delays. just be aware now that she's seen the light, will sandy choose cheer? surprisingly bright, at a new lower price. surprisingly bright, >>good morning, everybody. here is a first look at sports. it's a short week for the ravens and that means a change in the regular way of doing things. normally they have tuesday's office. the ravens were on the practice field getting ready for this week. the hall of fame quarterback, but the last two have been kind of close and manning was not that overwhelming, while that may give ravens fan hope, john harbaugh says this may be the best quarterback in the game. >> tom brady is real good at, but he understands the weakness of the coverage and ids the coverage better than anybody else and the front, too. he gets in the great play. he is always looking for a specific match up and a specific technique. and you know, hopefully we can do a good job of defending that. one of the big keys of the ravens win over the patriots, is four turnovers. four give a ways as they rolled to victory. the colts have been scouring that tape all week and they're well aware of the ravens hawking ability. >> it created opportunities for the team but they forced them. i think they're a team that will take some chances. they will gamble. they're guys that are instinctive. they have a lot of the instinctive guys on that side of the ball. ray lewis is one of the most instinctive players. it has a great feel for the game those guys end up getting their hands on the ball quite a bit. they certainly followed through, a couple of that with the outstanding pass for us. we got your hands full. college basketball, garry williams and the maryland terps are back in action taking the apc opponent. the terps were in winc winston m last night. the freshman throws it down. he had 12, terps by one. later in the first, wake down by 4. ld williams. tips the loose ball high into the air. cj harris has a wide open play. de cons down by 2. first half. throws the alley hoop. wake forest led by 2 at the break. second half, maryland, down by 5. adrian buoy, forces the steal, takes it the other way, finishes with the layup. buoy had 10 terps down by 3. smith leads the fast break the other way. he is going to give it to a mino, the flash, he had 24 points. wake extends his lead to 7. 3 minutes to go, terps have cut it, 2-3, vasquez up to the win. nails the trade. he had a high game and headed to overtime, tied at 76. terps down 2. vasquez for 3 on the win off the mark. shawn mosley gets the long rebound. he is going to fire up 3 for the win and that one misses as well. ball goes out of bounce and that is that. wake forest beats maryland 85-83 in overtime. here is a reminder. you can see maryland's next acc game at our sister station the cw baltimore. the terps head north to take on boston college this saturday afternoon. tip offset for 4:00 on the the ravens are in the playoffs. fans are super excited about it. many of them traveled to massachusetts last week to see baltimore smash new england, and even more are ready to hit the road for this weekend's game in indianapolis. don't let your enthusiasm for tickets turn into a scam artist dream. >> good morning to you. >> everybody wants to get their hands on the tickets, but we have some tips. first of all make sure you get them from the team or the venue. >> if you can, that's the best place to go. earlier you can goa get them frm indy and that is the first recommendation but you know the tickets are authentic. fake teams would boom you out. >> travel agents. >>travel agencies are putting together packets that include the tickets and the hotel. check the travel agency's rating. make sure it's b bb would be nice, but make sure you're they're reputable. don't look for the lowest price. that is another place where you can get ripped off. in the past travel agencies have been caught doing that offering something too good to be true. >> one of the riskiest would be to buy from somebody you don't know online. it could happen, but there's probably red flags and things to look out for. >> reputable tickets exchanges and if you are buying craig's list you got to be cautious because the tickets could be bogus. ask a lot of questions. send e-mails, have an exchange, ask where they did they get the tickets if they could provide you the proof of that. if they could give you a stadium seat on that, and go to the diagram and make sure that the seats exist. if they're scam artist, they're not going to waste their time having a dialogue with you. if it you're on a reputable online auction website, if that person tries to get you off of that site, don't go off that site, don't be lured away. then you lose any recourse. most important, pay with a credit card. if you send money, cashier's check, you have no recourse at all. >> good advice. you don't want to spoil the weekend with the tickets. not at all. for more information log on to foxbaltimore.com/morning. american idol kicked off last night. >> there is a house in new orleans ♪ >> what the judges said during the boston thanks for coming back out. sure. i think you might have hooked it up wrong, though. yea, we're getting way too many channels. no, no. that's -- that's standard. fios also comes with 11,000 free movies and shows on demand per month. ah, standard. gotcha. a certain somebody says "thank you". tell him "he's welcome", but it's still standard. he's happy to be back with his friends. is he? [ male announcer ] hundreds of channels, thousands of movies, and three times more very satisfied customers than comcast. this is beyond cable. this is fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios. welcome back to fox 45 morning news. 7:31 is the time. i'm patrice harris. american idol is back and as usual last night we saw some really great and some really awful auditions. we want to know what you thought about the season idol premier. who were some of your favorites. we checked out some the responders. one of our twitter responders, said there was contestants, all i could see was vikki beck. i guess victo victoria beck um a fan. >> let's go to steve, who is also a fan of victoria beck um. let's take a look at the weather. let's see what we're doing out there. there's snow showers north of us into pennsylvania and new york but not getting here because of high pressure moving in. that will make for a sunny afternoon even though though we will have clouds to begin with. 26 degrees is the temperature at the bus stop. that's an average through the area and we will see a chilly start. that is seasonal for this time of year. the winds not as strong as they have been in recent weeks actually. they will diminish through the afternoon. 35 degrees by noon. 34 at 6:00 p.m. after topping out at 40 degrees between 2 and 3:00 this afternoon. we have warming air coming our way and then we will be talking about what the low pressure center in the gulf coast will be meaning for us as we get into the weekend. in a few minutes we will talk more about that. let's see what is happening on the roadways with candace dold. she has the traffic edge, candace. >> reporter: thank you, steve. we want to show you what it looks like on part of the beltway at harford road. the usual troubled area, well, no exception this morning. we do have a string of brake lights on the outer loop lanes. that is going to persist all the way down toward providence road. the entire stretch right now from 95 up toward 83, we are obviously dealing with some de, a 3 minute-delay. 14 minutes for the actual time and 43 miles per hour. now, the beltway farther down from 795 down toward 95, that is pretty slow as well. look at that 17 minutes at 38 miles per hour. but then, much better news through the city right now, southbound 95, fort mchenry tunnel down toward the beltway, 8 minutes, 32 miles per hour. a nice and calm, with a 9-minute drive toward the harbor tunnel at 795. that's a look at the morning commute. over to you. 7:34 fox 45 morning news. today is day one of the 2010 legislative session. lawmakers will head to annapolis facing a $2 billion budget shortfall and upcoming fall election. megan gilliland is joining us with what we can expect this session. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. over the next 90 days, lawmakers will be dealing with budget woes but in an election year, it could be interesting how they decide to plug that hole. with all 188 lawmakers and governor o'malley up for re-election in november, some say it's unlikely they will raise taxes or slash major programs this time around. but governor o'malley has already said that cuts will be and have to be made. >> you can't expect the revenue estimates to be as great as they have in the past. we ought to come in with a budget that is below last year's budget. i'm not just talking about decreasing the increase of the budget, i'm actually talking about decreasing the actual budget from last year. zero-based budgeting, whatever you want to call it. but come in with a budget that is no frills, because we're in a bad time right now in this country. >> some law makeers are predicting continued furloughs and salary freezes. in addition to the budget deficit law makeers are expected to contend with a lot of policy issues, including new death penalty regulations, new sex offenders laws, and energy re-regulation and possible an alcohol tax. while lawmakers get to work on those issues inside of the capitol building hundreds of protesters are expected to gather outside at 7:00 tonight. the group americans for prosperity say they want to let their representatives know they are fed up with the mismanagement of their taxpayer dollars. megan gilliland, fox 45 morning news. wasn't issues state lawmakers will debate this session is a tax on alcohol law. it's been decades since the tax on wine and beer has been raised. boosting that tax by $0.10 a drink would generate $200 million a year. but republicans and democrats say hiking taxes right now is not fair to marylanders. a similar bill failed to pass last year. we want to know what you think, should maryland increase the alcohol tax? it's the question of the day. our phone lines are open right now at (410)481-4545. you can also go to fox baltimore.com and tell us what you think or sound off through facebook. send us a tweet at fox baltimore or texts your answer to fox 45a for yes and fox b for no. are you showing your purple pride this week? if not many t-shirt makers are making it easy and they want you to do it soon. joel d smith is live at maryland screeners with a look at the t-shirts. >> reporter: this is one of the t-shirts for the playoff run. you see the players there. that's the interesting thing, because they are only on these shirts because somebody like craig wanted to involve them. good morning, craig. >> good morning. >> reporter: how do you come up with these guys and how important is it to them at this point in their career to try to make money by being on a shirt. >> i think it's important. we are going against the big guys that have the nfl license, but they're not doing these shirts. the players can make money out of it and we don't use the nfl trademarks. you don't know how long the player is going to be around. the average life of an nfl player is under three years. >> reporter: do they come to you or look around. >> i go to them. we try to find the hot guys, and joe flacco and ray rice are the hot guys and they are making extra lars on this. >> reporter:dollars on this. >> reporter: did you call ray rice after the game and say thank you. >> i did. >> reporter: tell me how many you will make today and how many the rest of the week. >> we will make a few thousand this week. a lot of people are going to start putting the reorders right now. as long as they're selling and everyone i have spoken with say they are blowing out of the doors. on friday afternoon it's slowing down because it's a saturday name and no one wants to get left with any inventory. >> reporter: and on sunday when the ravens win a new design comes out and all kinds of good stuff to try to get the super bowl. that is what is happening there. patrice, do you like this stuff. >> how much are the t-shirts? >> reporter: you can get them for $20 and we can get them anywhere? >> a lot of the grocery stores, bj liquidators. anyone that carries the flacco shirts, and any of our shirts in the past are going to be carrying them right now. >> reporter: that is where you get them, $20, but maybe i will take one out of here when he is not looking for you patrice. >> don't steal on my behalf, but i would like you to bring one back. >> reporter: we will work on it. it promises to wake you up, no matter what. we put the clocky to the will it work test. and it will take a little extra time to travel on the jfx this morning. it's now like 27 miles per hour on the southbound lanes. i will tell you what is caus ñc american idol season 9 kicked off its first round of auditions in ton. the judges were looking for talent, but what they got is attitude. what brought me to the audition? i don't think it's that interesting of a question. >> i'm going to just warn you now. if you want to carry on being a smart as, you can leave the room. >> i'm not being a smart as. >> so answer the question or leave. >> andrew from boston got on everyone's nerves, but did he at least have the talent to back up his personality. >> there is a house in new orleans ♪ ♪ it's called the rising sun ♪ and it's been >> well, there we go, apparently he didn't. because it didn't take long before kara had had enough. >> you just told me that you were a little bit annoyed that you had to wait three hours to come in here and to get your shot when there's people that would wait years to do so. i'm now angry at you who i don't like at all. >> tell them like it is. when steve says that there's people who come on the show just to get on the show and know they can't sing. he is strikes me one of people that just wanted air time. the two-part season premier continues tonight at 8:00 on fox 45. he didn't have a lot of fans, steve. you know, i think honestly, if he had not come on with that attitude, he wouldn't have gone far, but i think he might have gone one more. >> are you serious? >> i think he carried a tune which a lot of people can't do. >> you are supposed to be able to blow people away. just because you can carry a tune, in a bucket -- >> it was a lot of blowing away. we hope to be loving a lot of contestants coming up. you will be loving the weather morning you have. the temperatures are going to be climbing as we go through the rest of the week. we will be seeing more sunshine. sky watch hd radar is indicating clouds mixed in into the area. generally speaking looking at some improvement. you see some lake-effect snow moving into pennsylvania and new york. that is the only spot if there's anything at all. high pressure is going to build in where we are and bring us a nice looking afternoon. as the high pressure builds in, we will get more of a westerly flow. bring moderating temperatures as the cold air retreats further north and east into new england. we're going to definitely be looking a bit better around here over the next few days as we move along. 29 degrees, the temperature in baltimore, 28 in washington d.c. a little bit of above where we should be for the morning hours. 26 in salisbury. 27 in hagerstown and 18 in oakland. the winds should be dying down some as we move through the next several days, too. we are keeping our eye on the moderating temperatures coming your way, because we will be more comfortable with the jet stream building more to the north. the cold air retreating more north and east. and in comes the mild air, we will see temperatures in some places hitting 50 degrees, but at least upper 40s for most of us. the other thing we're keeping an eye is the low pressure center which has kept us occupied with different computer models indicating a few different things over the last few days. we are talking about the wintery mix chance for the end of the weekend. right now it looks like it's going to be a sunday event. it looks like it's going to be more rain than anything else, but we could have snow mixing in as we get into the nighttime on sunday. for most part, i think most of the cold air stays further north and east. as i say, we see mostly rain out of this. we keep an eye on it. things could change. we have cold air proceeding. we see more of the wintery mix than just plain rain. 39 degrees is the expected high temperature in the eastern shore with mostly clear skies and a 10-15-mile-an-hour wind. elsewhere, the winds begin to diminish. only 5-10-mile-an-hour winds. we will climb to 36 degrees for the high. back to the west 39 degrees for the high. ththethe highest elevations maye 30 degrees. 39 degrees for the general area with partly cloudy skies there. west wind at 5-10 miles an hour. tonight clear skies and 24 degrees for the overnight low. a west southwest wind at 5 miles an hour. we will move through the day today getting up to 35 degrees after the mid-20s this morning. by noontime getting to the high of 40 degrees at 2 or 3:00 this afternoon and backing up to 34 with clear skies at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow, lots of sunshine, a high of 43. there's the temperatures building a little bit. 48 degrees on friday, probably the nicest day of the week with partly cloudy skies and partly cloudy and not too bad on saturday with the high of 46. in comes the system a chance of mixing in at night. for the most part leaning toward rain. 40 for a high. could be a bit of left over of remnants of precipitation before we see the temperatures drying out, 43 on tuesday with partly cloudy skies. so it looks like mlk day, not too bad. again any showers will be early. if you have plans to go to the parade, you will probably be okay. now let's see what is happening on the roadways with candace dold with the traffic edge. >> reporter: thank you, steve. we're looking at reduced speeds on 95 this morning in the northeast corner near whitemarsh as 19 miles per hour. definitely a slow down as of now. and on the jfx, we were at 27. it's starting to ease up a bit and that is because we finally cleared out a disabled vehicle. it was on the southbound lanes right past that beltway, but of course, you still have residual delays. you could avoid those by using falls road as an alternate route. just above 695, we want to show you the there and it's definitely pretty busy on the southbound lanes but we don't have incidents to report from timonium road down toward the 695 exit. and speaking of the beltway right now, the cars are in the green on outer loop lanes. it's incident free from the 83 up toward greenspring avenue. and then eventually down toward reisterstown road and 795. liberty road checking in on that area. you know the deal. here it is, it's going to be a packed ride, inner loop stretch and outer loop lanes down toward 70. that pretty much continues moving through the catonsville region. we want to show you at route 40. here it is. you can see a lot of cars on the outer loop lanes down toward the 95 exit. the outer loop definitely the busy spot for us this morning. that's a look at your morning travels, back to you. proponents of an alcohol tax say it would generate big money for the state. opponents say it's not fair to marylanders. we want to know what you think. should marylanders increase the tax alcohol? that's the questio breakfasts. i got breakfastses here. real cheap. don't settle for a knockoff breakfast. save money with a dunkin' donuts egg and cheese sandwich for just 99 cents. try it with egg whites today. because it's breakfast, not brokefast. america saves on dunkin'. i like this one. in a national taste test, more hardworking americans preferred the taste of dunkin' donuts over starbucks. try the coffee that won... this one. ...and see why america really does run on dunkin'. thank you. >>raising the state's alcohol tax will be up for consideration during the 2010 legislation. the tax hasn't seen an increase is for several decades and supporters of the move say it could bring $200 million a year for maryland. opponents say the tax hike wouldn't be fair in this tough economy. that brings us the question of the day, should maryland increase the tax on alcohol? our first caller is jamie from halethorpe, good morning, jamie. >> good morning. >> what do you think about taxing alcohol. it's been 50 years since they have seen an increase? >> at least 25%. >> a lot of people who dink and a lot of people who don't drink being tto be fair, say we are tf taxes. >> alcohol causes a lot of problems on the roads. if they can raise that much money, absolutely. >> thank you for your call. >> let's go to frank in baltimore and see how he weighs in. good morning, frank? >> good morning. >> what do you think? >> i think that if we pay higher taxes for cigarettes, and for gas, i think that something that is what we consider a luxury like alcohol, i think that it should be taxed. i think it's -- if we're going to generate revenue, maybe it would also decrease some the public health issues that alcohol causes. >> frank, thank you so much for your calls. >> i think some of our facebook followers believe the same as well. jackie wrote and says yes, it makes sense to levy a tax on something that costs the taxpayers. alcohol causes us to pony up money for law enforcement, and medicare some of that burden should be placed on the drinkers themselves. on the west side, jeff said it will only push sales to virginia, delaware and d.c. at a loss of businesses sales tax collection. tax more get less. >> don't tax it because we're all going to need alcohol for after we get all of these taxes. that's another interesting point. coming up to at fox 45 morning news, a little nip and tuck for mom. >> i wanted to feel better for myself. the total makeover being offered by some plastic surge surgeons. i don't like getting up in the morning. but coming up next the alarm clock that is hard to ignore. why you won't be able to simply we all love a good chance to sleep in, but snoozing through the alarm clock when you're not supposed to is a bad dream come true. one product promises to get you will get up on the right side of the bed no matter what. we put the clocky to the will it work test. >> beep, beep. >> it's the sound we all love to hate. >> i don't like getting up in the morning. >> if you're a sound sleeper who likes to catch some extra zs in the morning, you might find yourself hitting the snooze button. >> every day, multiple times. >> i just grab it? >> and doing that too many times could turn your day into a nightmare. >> i've been late to work before. >> now one product claims it can lay your problems waking up to rest. the clocky is an alarm clock that you just can't ignore. >> if you want to turn clocky off, you're going to have to get out of bed. it jumps three feet from your night stand and runs away beeping to make you get up. >> so it will run ru away. >> yeah. >> interesting. >> you can only hit snooze once. >> so we took the clocky to the fire house company in canton where we found a few early risers jump-starting their day with a cup of caffeine. >> to put the clocky to the will it work test. >> why not. >> just like a regular alarm clock you set it for the time you need to wake-up and the countdown begins. >> it's 10:00 now. it will go off in 2 minutes. >> but what happens next is rather alarming. >> it depends on how loud and annoying it is. >> oh! >> annoying! >> pretty ridiculous. >> everyone we talked to agreed that this isn't something you can snooze through. >> i guess you have to run and go catch this thing to make it stop. >> pretty fast. >> but it was good. it definitely would wake me up. >> is it more effective than a standard alarm clock. >> it's like a nagging dog. >> i can catch it quickly and turn it off again. >> will it work. >> this would be great for teenagers. >> it would be great for my son. that would be awesome for him because he would get a kick out of it and he might actually get up in the morning. >> well, for more information about the clocky just go to it's definitely expensive having a growing family, and it's something that you think about. we try to be conscious of that and plan out our meals so that we can feed everyone on a budget. ♪ at giant, we know saving money is important. every time you shop with your card, you can enjoy thousands of real deal savings and weekly specials -- like porterhouse steak, only $4.99 a pound, and strawberries, 2 packs for $5. this week only. it makes me feel good because we're saving money and that works for me. only with your giant card. we are in a bad time right now in this country. >> new year, new legislative. the biggest challenge lawmakers will face on day one. it definitely has some areas from child birth. >> child birth takes a toll. how these moms got their bodies back. >> i've been really trying baby >> and a star is born? the stand out stars from the first round of american idol audition good morning, it's wednesday, january 13th, i'm patrice harris. good morning, i'm megan gilliland. the talk around our station, american idol. it's back and as we saw some really great and some really awful auditions. we want to know what you thought of the american idol season 9 premier. who were some of your favorites? >> we had one responder on our facebook page. i think the show started off well, i liked ashley and the guy who had two broken wrists. he had a really good voice. i had another one that had two broken wrists and the guy that had breast cancer. >> they're telling about them and who they are as people. always interesting and see how long they stick around. >> yes, we will see if any of these people will be in the finals when we get to that point. we need to check in with meteorologist steve fertig who watched ask laughed at the show last night? >> on and off. i don't want to admit that i watched. >> he was watching the manly basketball thing. >> basketball. >> all right. let's see what is happening out there, [ laughter ] >> i'm not going to cater to that. take a look at temperatures out there. we got 29 degrees right now. 29 degrees in baltimore, 26 in harrisburg and is temperatures in the mid-to upper 20s around here. we will climb into the mid-thridmid-30sby noon and topt 40 degrees. looking at showers in pennsylvania and new york but not around here. we will see more sunshine as we go as high pressure builds into the region. that will be bringing us more sunshine. we will talk about the low pressure center coming out of texas. we will be talking about yesterday and the day before. it will be bringing us more rain than snow. nevertheless, it could be a little bit of a mix of rain and know by sunday. the rest of the week the 40s the rest of the way and even upper 40s by friday. mainly rain i think for sunday, though there's a chance of a bit of a wintery mix. the best chance would be for the snow to be to the north in case you have travel plans on sunday. let's see what is happening on the roadways. candace dold is here with the traffic edge. >> reporter: thank you, steve. we are talking about a new accident on 83 and northern baltimore county. it's on the northbound lanes. that is right near middletown road. now the good news is checking farther back at mount caramel road, not trying any delays and the southbound side it's going to be shooting sailing. pretty much heading toward shawan road, where it takes up as usual down toward the beltway. once you're finally on the beltway, no problems to report on the outer loop lanes from 83 up toward 795, an 8 minute trek at 52 miles per hour. but then it slows down from 95 up toward 83. the problem is it's continuing to increase there, so it's now ann minutes at 33 -- 18 minutes at 33 miles per hour. better news traveling through the city, southbound 95 to the fort mchenry tunnel, 8 minutes at 53 miles per hour. patrice and megan back over to you. thank you, candace. coming up on fox 45 morning news. the 2010 legislative session begins today in annapolis and lawmakers have a lot on their plates. some are already predicting painful cuts for state workers like furloughs and salary freezes but it is an election year. all 188 lawmakers and governor o'malley are up for re-election in november. one republican state delegate says that could play a very interesting role in how this democratic-controlled general assembly will plug the budget hole. >> secret plan is to get a billion plus dollars from president obama part of the remaining stimulus package, balance the budget with that. get the poll tis politician, lie mall hely through the election - o'malley through the election year, and next year 2011 the great tax ambush. now a in addition to the budget issues, lawmakers are expected to contend with a lot of policy issues, including new sex offender regulations and death penalty regulations meanwhile, protesters are expected to gather outside of the capitol tonight. they want to let their present tiff-- representatives know that they're fed up with the mismanagement of their tax dollars. voters angry about dixon's pension rally outside of city hall. they say mayor dixon should not receive the $83,000 a year pension after pleading guilty in her theft case even though her plea deal allows her to still receive it. >> if someone steals from the public and steals from poor people, shouldn't get paid by the public for the rest of their life at an extremely lavish way. >> i don't think that anybody here has really postponed when they haven't walked in mayor dixon's shoes. she deserves. >> testifstephanie rawlings-blae wants a review of all pension for all elected officials. she will take over on february 4th. baltimore county parents and teachers speak out against a proposed new grading system. dozens of people gathered last night at the county school board meeting in towson. representatives for the teach ersspreazteachersexpress their e system which would require educators to evaluate students on the grass root schools. they think that the program is time-consuming and repetitive. parents are upset is say they are not being fully included in the program development. >> my passion is for my students in the classroom and getting them excite about the curriculum. >> i want to teach and be with the children and make a difference in their lives. i'm finding i'm more consumed with making sure i have the adequate paperwork. >> there's no data that shows in the pilot at schools that this helps with student achievement. >> last week the superintendent said he would try to revamp the program. they are asking that the review go beyond february 26. that is the date when the school is expected to be presented with the steam like system. president obama and top democrats will meet to finalize the health care bill. there could be a fight over how to pay for it. they tax the wealthy while the senate slaps happy taxes on people with high-end insurance policies. how democrats say the so cadillac plan bee benefits union workers. a cbs news poll shows just 36% approve of how he is handling reform while 54% disapprove. this is the lowest approval rating of the ow obama's presidency. ravens paraphernalia is hot right now and some ravens fans are seeing the green inside of all of this purple passion. >> joel d smith is live at maryland screen printers this morning as the newest ravens playoff shirts are coming hot off of the press. joel, already has his on, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, we're talking about hot. they're coming right behind us right now. i think this thing can do 500 an hour. it's been very, very busy. we are here with craig, the owner. a good time for you. >> a very good time thanks for coming out. >> reporter: we see these designs. how many designs are going on right now. >> we have three designs with ray rice, and all of the flacco designs and they're selling well. >> reporter: when it comes to the playoffs, is there anything specific for the playoffs. >> two of these designs, one of the designs has championship written on them. we want to take these off because a lot of retailers want to have something we can sell next year. >> reporter: we like having the players there. had is a new machine here. >> it's only 3 months old so it's getting broken pretty well here. >> reporter: they're staying busy here. the shirts are hot off the presses. they're selling a couple of thousand a day to the retailers. >> we hope that the ravens keep on giving them reasons to print more shirts. >> reporter: they have the new shirt out right after the game getting ready for the afc championship when they win. >> wardrobe, thank you, joel. kristen berset will be in indianapolis when the raven take on the colts. she will have live reports on friday and saturday on fox 45 news. coming up american idol is finally back. ♪ ♪ and love is a life >> what the judges had to say about the contestants on the first night. >> reporter: i'm jessica starr, coming up this morning on the hometown hot spot, i'm going it take you inside of the feast your eyes on royal show and feast your taste buds on a delicious meal at mid evil times. jesjessica starr is at the mid l times. >> reporter: you need to come down to mid evil times. it's action packed and there's so much entertainment while you're enjoying a fabulous meal. i'm here this morning with the king. >> good morning, my lady, welcome to the castle. >> reporter: tell me about the show and what we're seeing here. >> our show celebrates peace. we invite our noble guests to join us for a feast to cheer on their nights as they participate in games of the mid evil era and jousting as we are seeing this morning, and javelin as you are seeing right now. our noble guests dine on a, supervisosumptuous 4 course mea. >> reporter: tell me about the costumes. >> the king's gearmt garments ae ones the princesses will wear. all are of the 18th century and the nights will be in dolores representin -- colors rg their region. >> reporter: check out all of the things that are going on in the mid evil times. it's action packed and we are going to be giving away. this is scary, because it's coming right at me. you definitely need to come down and we're going to be giving away free tickets. i will toss to megan and patrice in the studio to see who the lucky winner will be? >> mid evil arundel mills mall sent us passes to you can be one of the participates. for more information on reservations call 888-we joust. or you can check out our website at foxbaltimore.com and click on morning news. we will check on improving weather coming your way and moderating temperatures, too. sky radar not looking bad. clouds overhead to the north. most of the snow showers stay to the north out of our way ask they -- and they stay in pennsylvania and new york where we want them to stay unless you're a snow fan. there's more winter to come, but not in the next few days. it's going to be getting milder around here. as we look to the north, that is where the snow showers are moving into pennsylvania and new york, a few mixed in with the clouds you see streaming over the great lakes. the high pressure from the south and west to do with the clear skies to come. we do expect to see more sunshine later in the day and especially over the next few days. no winds out there, 61% relative humidity. and the barometer holding steady. we look at the temperatures and you will find it's 29 degrees in baltimore, 30 in washington, in salisbury, 26 degrees there and up in hagerstown 28. 18 in oakland, and not much of a wind but enough to make it feel a little bit chillier, a 5-mile-an-hour wind or, and it's making it feel like 8 degrees in oakland. 23 in salisbury -- salisbury feeling at 18 with the winds up 10-15 in that part of the state. elsewhere, the wind is going to diminish. more of a westerly flow a that will moderate the temperatures as a cold air retrieves to the northwest and east. as the high pressure moves to the east, what does that mean for us. it means we will get more of a westerly flow. that is what will help moderate the temperatures. we will talk about a low pressure center which we have been talking about over the last few days. we are saying it could be bringing us by the time it moves up the coast a wintery mix. it looks like it's going to be more so rain than snow at this point in time. we will be keeping our eye on things, because we could see later in the day on sunday, a chance of snow to mix in. although it's not expected to be heavy around here. if you're traveling to the north, you will want to keep that in mind if you're traveling to pennsylvania or new york. 39 degrees, certainly not more than sunshine and a few clouds with a 10-15-mile-an-hour wind. as we move into the central counties, 40 degrees with mostly clear skies and a west wind at 5-10 miles per hour. for the western part of the state, about the same, the temperatures fairly uniform as far as the highs go. 29 degrees there. cooler in the higher elevations about 30 degrees in the mountains. west winds 5-10. tonight clear skies, it looks pretty star let skies. 24 degrees for the overnight low. a southwest wind at 5 miles per hour. moving through the day look for the temperatures to get up to 35 degrees by noon topping out at the 40-degree mark between 2-3 and dropping back to 34 degrees by 6:00 p.m. with clear skies then. 43 degrees for the high temperature tomorrow with a lot of sunshine. that is looking better. 48 still better on friday, 46 on saturday, and 40 with the rain primarily and some snow mixing in on sunday. fox 45 sky watch wrath is at your finger tips. you can use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the ente interactive tools willt you see when rain or snow will be over your house. now candace dold is back with what is happening on the roadways and the traffic edge. >> reporter: thank you, steve. it's 8:00 hour and so far this week, this has been a pretty difficult time for us. now we're checking on the actual speeds to see how it looks this morning. they're pretty far down still, 49 miles per hour right now traveling on the beltway moving through catonsville. take a look at that number in the northeast corner at 19 miles per hour on 95 right near whitemarsh. so we want to avoid that area. that is just the sheer volume that you have to deal with. you don't want to use bel air road either. there's an accident there. it does take out one lane at baker lane in nottingham. that leaves us with route 40 and route 7 as best options to travel through the whitemarsh region this morning. as for the beltway in the vicinity, we can show you what it looks like in harford road. it's ongoing headaches there. pet pretty much the same deal from harford road making the push toward providence. that is where it begins to ease up. once you make the approach toward 83, nothing to disturb the drive on the outer loop lanes, those cars are in the green moving up toward the greenspring avenue. it's the inner loop that we're concerned with. it starts to slow down near reisterstown road. that's a look at the morning travels. patrice and megan, back over to you. coming up we're talking about the return of american idol, what the newest judges are saying about their debut in the show in tinsel town on twitter. we definitely had some areas in life coming from child birth that i wanted to tighten up and get rid of. >> it's something tons of women ae roll up your sleeve and be a good sport, give blood to the american red cross this weekend and you could win a big screen hd t.v. just in time to catch the playoff games. katie mcgwire from the american red cross joins us this morning with more. >> that's incentive for you. >> definitely. we need the blood. it's a critical time for us coming off the holidays. we are seeing a decline in the blood supply especially type o blood. anybody with type o, come out. great experience. i was there last year. a lot of things to give away and the hd t.v. you could really watch the game on your brand new t.v. >> where is it happening? >> it's at towson university. it's going to be at the student center. there's free parking available outside of the student uniorso no worries about that. >> explain the process, so people know what they're in for and how long it's going to take? >> usually it takes about an hour. you will come in and register, read through informational material to make sure you're eligible to donate. we will do a brief health history to ask you questions. the actual donation process takes about 10 minutes and then you will just go into the canteen, have cookies, some juice and you know, wal walk awy with some prizes. >> what are some the reasons people would not be able to donate? >> if you're on certain medications or traveled to certain places or not feeling well that day. >> how do you win the t.v.? >> come out and participate in the blood drive. anybody who participates in the blood drive, whether you have a successful donation or onto, you will be entered to win. >> everybody walks away with something. >> everybody walks away with something. we have 180 earmuffs for everybody who participates that day. and plus tons of other prizes we will be playing trivia. it's going to be a lot of fun. >> katie, hopefully you get a lot of people that come out there. for the donation blood drive, and they really need your help, make sure you get out there. go to foxbaltimore.com/morning. coming up after child birth many women's bodies are not quite the same. >> i wanted to feel better more myself. >> how you can get rid of those scars and stretch marks and feel good again. some people brought it up ♪ ♪ i don't want nothing at all ♪ w we're talkin >> we're t>ñó after 9 months of weight gain and not feeling like yourself, some moms don't want their old bodies back. you can run off the extra pounds at the gym but you can't always run away from the physical effects of child bearing like scars and stretch marks until now. some plastic surgeons say there's a way. in this week's family 411, a family makeover from head to toe. >> i wanted to feel better for myself. >> it's been 23 years since jennifer cook gave birth to her son. >> i definitely had some areas on my tummy from child birth that i wanted to tighten up and get rid of. >> when the gym just wasn't cutting it. >> then i decided to go barred to have -- barred t forward to a mummy makeover. >> it's a combination of a tomby tuck and breast surgery which is anything from a breast lift to a breast reduction. >> dr. michael colen performed the surgery a week ago. >> the first few weeks i was tired and sore which is expected. but the recovery has been wonderful. >> now back for her check-up. >> cook says she couldn't be happier with the results. >> the scars on my breast are almost gone. tummy tuck, is the bikini line. i'm excited for the first time in 22 years that i will be able to wear a bikini. >>take a look at some of these results, the before and after pictures show it all. >> nobody can really reverse the clock completely, but i think we can help people regain their shape again. >> and it seems more and more moms are buying in to mommy makeovers. >> the breast augmentation can run between 5 and $7,000. it involves tom involves tummy d be more. >> for this mommy it's worth it. >> i feel great. >> for mom looking and feeling this look, what about dad? >> do you think that a daddy make over be the next thing. >thing. >> it probably starts out at the gym and then we consider other things. if you have an idea for a 411 family segment, send me an e-mail. coming up american idol makes its big return. and love is alive. >> we will hear from the contestants on night one and what the judges had to say next. i had some vegetables in there and some pancakes, some fish. >> and later, what else this lady has in her freezer welcome back to fox 45 morning news. 8:35 is the time. i'm patrice harris. good morning, i'm megan gilliland. american idol is back. it started last night as usual. we heard some great and awful auditions. we want to know what you thought. out of season 9 premier what were some of your favorites. >> we're checking in on the facebook page. the best one was the guy that had cancer and the last girl they showed last night. a lot of people on face book liked that guy and the guy with the 2 broken wrists and the girl ashley we have been showing all morning. >> you got to have a story to be liked. unless you got moves like that and then you get blank stairs. >> let's see what meteorologist steve fearin fertig story is. >> you got to have a story to be liked. >> it seems like people who are liked, they have had a story they went through. >> you know what the -- the weather story is looking better. >> there you go. as we move through the week and the temperatures climb a little bit, you will like my story as we see more shaw sunshe and the temperatures climbing to the 40s. it should reach close to 50 degrees. 30 degrees in washington d.c. we have seen cooler mornings, and windier ones making it feel chillier. 18 out in oakland. you see out in oakland it feels like 8 degrees there, a little bit more of a wind than elsewhere where the temperatures are not as affected by the wind. the winds won't be playing much of a role but the westerly flow will bring more of a milder temperatures. 40 for the high with the west wind at 5-10 miles per hour. as i say, we will be looking at a trend for the better as far as temperatures are concerned. we will take a look at that and what the storm in the gulf coast is doing and what it means for us this weekend in a few minutes. for now candace dold is here and she has got the traffic edge, candace. >> reporter: thanks, steve. i have been checking in on what the beltway lanes look like. i can tell you it's a pretty slow go on the west side. it's finally starting to ease up a bit. the delays have evaporated moving through catonsville. it's going to be busy the entire west side stretch. right now a slow go from 795 down toward 95. and pretty much the same scenario from 95 up toward 83 on the outer loop lanes and the volume is only increasing from here. right now looking at a 16-minute drive, 38 miles per hour. but then much better news, travelintraveling through the c. just an 8-minute ride, 55 miles per hour and the same speed on southbound 895 from the harbor tunnel down toward 95 just looking at a 9-minute drive. all in all, 95 and 895, they're the way to go. that's a look at the morning commute. patrice and megan, over to you. here is a look at our top stories this morning. the 2010 legislative session begins today in annapolis and lawmakers have a lot on their plate keeping one eye on the $2 billion budget shortfall, the other on the upcoming fall elections. lawmakers are expected to contend with a lot of policy issues, including new death penalty regulations, sex offender laws and energy reregulation. >> reporter: that is what a ray rice t-shirt look like as they are being printed. they're doing a lot here. folks are trying to make money off the big playoff run for the ravens. i'm joel d smith in southeast baltimore. we're seeing where they are making a lot of these things. a couple of thousand a day are going out. as long as the ravens keep winning, they will be selling more and more. it's icing on the cake of the profits for the year. one of the teenagers accused of beating an elderly fisherman is found guilty. privot testified that he played dead hoping that the three men attacking him would just disop. the three other men, zachary watson and kevin lockner have not been tried yet. american idol is back for its all new 9th season and their first stop in the search for talent, boston. there was one contestant who really touched the judge's heart. >> 16-year-old katie from connecticut wanted to audition for her grandmother who has alzheimer's. >>she is probably not going to remember me for much longer. i wanted her to see me succeed in my dream before she forgets who i am. >> she spends a lot of time singing for her grandma and it looks like all of that practice paid off. >> and life is a song ♪ ♪ oh, yeah ♪ at last ♪ the skies above are blue ♪ my heart was wrapped up in clover ♪ ♪ the night i looked at you ♪ i found a dream that i >> katie's rendition of the classic "at last" really made a good impression. >> katie, you have something that just is either there or not. for 16 to be able to sing like that. >> yep. >> pretty amazing, very good audition. >> she really did sound good. >> and the reason she is doing it for her grandma with alzheimer's. >> those are heartwarming. >> just tug at your heart. >> hopefully she makes it through and goes a long way. >> beautiful voice. >> that's a song that everybody likes to hear and hear well. >> it's not over. it's only beginning. the two part season premier of american idol continues tonight at 8:00 here on fox 45. well, this is the fun part, the beginning when you see the good and the bad. coming up we're not done with american idol, what the newest judge ellen de general is is saying about her debut in tinsel town. the piece of history this lady has kept wrapped up in the back of her freezer for more than 30 along with internet service that's fiber-optic fast. both were ranked highest in customer satisfaction by j.d. power and associates. and don't miss out on your chance to watch the big game in fios hd. you won't believe how much better football looks with fios. but you've got to call today. get jaw-dropping fios tv, america's highest rated internet, and unlimited nationwide calling for just $99.99 a month. plus a special double bonus: $150 back plus a free multi-room dvr for 3 months. don't wait. offer ends january 16th. call 1.866.699.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v. this is fios. this is big. there's a little bit of singing going on over there. i thought steve was trying to audition for american idol. i don't know. should we hear his forecast in song? >> no, i don't think so. >> i was going, me, me -- it's all about me. radar dry conditions over the region right now. we do see clouds spilling in. any appearance of snow is not going to make its way toward the ground even though it's cold enough. what we're seeing is lake-effect snow toward the north and that is about it. right now again, high pressure will be building in from the south and west. that will keep any snow out of our way, too. it will bring us sunshine as we it moves out of the way. high pressure to the south and east of us. the cold air retrieves to the north and east up toward new england as we get the moderating temperatures coming our way. each day the next few days will warm things up. by the time we get to friday, we're talking about temperatures near 50 degrees without much of a wind, too. it's going to feel a whole lot better then. right now feeling chilly with 29 degrees, though it's milder than it should be this time of day. hard to use the word mild, with these kind of temperatures in the 20s. again, everything is relative. 20 degrees in hagerstown. oakland 18 degrees and with a little bit of a wind it's feeling chillier out to the west. here is what is coming our way and generating the temperatures, jet stream to the north. as i say, maybe by by later on by this -- later on this week by friday is what we're thinking for that. low pressure center off the texas coast. we have been talking about that as well. the next weather maker that we thought could make us a wintery mix and it might still. we will have milder air over our region. and the colder air that we will see more rain out of this by monday. that is when we expect it to get here. we could see snow at night when the temperatures drop threne. then. it could be a brief period of snow on sunday night, instead a rain event. we will be keeping our eye on that. the computer models are differing a little bit but more of them are pointing to rain. 10-15-mile-an-hour wind and mostly clear skies there. central part of the state, lesser wind 5-10 miles per hour as the temperatures climb to 40. the temperatures warm up a little bit today, but not as much as they will through next few days. back to the, 39 degrees and higherrer elevations -- higher elevations maybe 30 degrees there. a southwest wind at 5 miles an hour. as we check out our seven-day forecast, you will see the temperatures climb each day as we have it here. 40 degrees with mostly clear skies, 43 degrees and sunny on your thursday, tomorrow, that is, of course, 48 degrees on friday. that is the day that we could see 50s around and 46 on saturday, still not bad with partly cloudy skies. the system coming our way is slower than expected. we are looking at a sunday event, which think with the rain mostly, but some snow mixing in. the best chance is later in the day when where it's nice. 42 on monday, could have left over rain or even rain-snow mix for early monday. then we should dry out quickly and the clouds will give way to more sunshine for monday and 43 for your tuesday. fox 45 sky watch weather is now at your finger tips. iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. you can use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. candace dold is back with another check of what is happening on the roadways. she has the traffic edge, thanks, candace. we can finally breathe a sigh of relief on many of the main lines as speeds are starting to go back up at 62 miles per hour traveling on 95 right near 395 this morning. this is absolutely much better than it was earlier back up to 45 miles per hour on 95 right in the whitemarsh area. we do have an accident, though, it's a new one in baltimore county on eastbound putty hill avenue. it's completely shutdown at midy avenue. as a result of that you could use ridge king road. that is the best option for the alternate route. at harford road it's been a headache but finally smooth sailing and down toward the providence road exit. nothing to annoy you on the beltway, moving from 83 up toward the pikeville in the outer loop lanes. look at the cars in the inner loop directions from springfield approaching the 83. there's no incidents to talk about. and on the west side at liberty road, it's been a nice and calm ride toward the end of this 8:00 hour. here it is again. the cars are cruise along, out and inner loop direction as well. that's a look at the morning commute, patrice and megan, back over to you. american idol is back and it's got the our full attention. what is the buzz around the judges. that is coming up on twitter. i have individual table vegd pancakes and fish. >> the piece of history this florida lady refuses to let melt t>ñó at the price you need. today... and tomorrow. that's our promise. and that's... ingredients for life. safeway. announcer: there's an easier way. do your payroll with intuit online payroll. just enter employee hours. it calculates all the taxes and creates paychecks. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. it's wednesday and that means it's time for tinsel town on twitter. we're scanning twit tore bring the -- twitter to bring the hottest news from hollywood here to baltimore. >> of course, american idol. >> we're all talking about it. we did watch the auditions during the premier episode last night. but the judges are already taping the next round which is hollywood week. ellen joined the team for the first time on monday when she critiqued the singers during that phase. it seems she is pretty excited about her new role. she even twitted about it. january 11th at 9:15 p.m., the ellen show is her name. at my first night of idol, they told me no picks. they didn't say anything about twitting a video. i want you to listen in to this video that she did twit. >> here i am in my dressing room back stage. i can't tell you where the secret location is. hollywood week american a dol i. i'm about to walk out there and give the people -- either make your dreams come true or crush them, crush their dreams. i have two choices. i have the power to say, you will be the next american idol or no, you won't. you know, one of the two. it's going to be fun and i will keep you posted and see. i will let you know what happens out there. i don't even know yet. >> she says she is going to stick it to them. she is too sweet. >> and steve says, she doesn't -- and she says she doesn't like judging people. >> it's going to be fun. >> i'm ready to skip ahead to hollywood week. >> it's going to be funny. me is new to the mix. people are wondering how she will impact the show. kara is giving us a hint through twitter. chemistry at the judge's table is great, looking forward to season 9. >> now, do you really believe that, that it's great. >> i'm not a fan of kara, so i don't know. but steve was saying earlier that she thinks that kara was talking -- >> at paula. >> at beck yo um. >> i don't know. they were roommates before and they just -- i think they were buddies. i think they kind of fell outlast year and that was the end of it. we will have to see what happened. but you know, we did see simon at the judge's table last night. but of course, he announced earlier this week that he is officially leaving the show at the end of the season. now he will work on lauching his british hit x factor here in the united states. now people are wondering if paula will surface on simon's new project? i went straight to the source paula abdul herself. here is what she said herself. hey, guys i'm not ignoring all of your twits, regarding me x factor and simon leaving american idol. i look forward to answering all of your questions very soon. i appreciate your continued support and patients i think she is going -- i think that was all strait testimony ic anstrategic. >> i heard in an interview with simon that he would totally welcome her. >> make sure to follow us on twitter, just log on to foxbaltimore.com and click on twitter under the community features section. well, coming up, it's been in her freezer for more than 30 years. >> that lady right there. we are going to tell you what it ñc almost all of us have a few mementos laying around our home, things that remind us of special times in our lives, but there's probably not too many people out there who keep those precious items in the freezer. >> definitely not, but for one florida woman it's the only place she could keep the thing that reminds her of a storm that hit more than three decades ago. >> reporter: trina thomas has unusual stuff in her freezer. >> i have some vegetables in there and some pancake, some fish. >> reporter: and odd stuff, like that last pack of unopened winston her husband bought when he quit smoking. she also has something really unusual she put in her freezer 33 years ago today. >> that thing in your freezer is precious. >> it's like a little pit [ laughter ] a pet in her freezer. >> over the years, trina would have friends over and pull it out for a look. >> it's something else. >> who would have thought of that. >> something to eerie in there, she has someone special on the fridge watching over it. >> it's like having an old pet that she kept in the freezer. >> yes. >> and it didn't give me any trouble. it's calm and it stayed gentle and comfortable in the freezer. >> so what is in there? >> wait until you see what i have. let me show you. okay. >> it's exciting. >> 1, 2, 3. >> here it is. >> trina unwrapped an old public bread bag where she has kept a snow ball that she made when it snowed in lake land back in january of 1977. >> i went and made a snow ball and i said maybe it will make history one day. i guess it has. i have had it so long, the poor thing has gotten a little bit smaller. >> reporter: that means it's time to wrap up her 33-year-old pet and put it back in the freezer where it belongs. >> bye now for a while. >> now, amazingly for 33 years, thomas has never had a power outage that would have likely melted that special snow ball away. i think it would be the scientists that would be interested in seeing the makeup of that. >> over the 30 years, i wonder what the difference is and what is being poluted in the water. it's the scientist in me. >> just like american idol contestants that want to get on t.v. for any reason at all. >> put a snow ball in your freezfreezer. >> it would be better if the snow ball had the pope's face in it so she could sell it on ebay. >> oh, jeez. >> my goodness. >> good for her. >> you got to have goals in life. let's see what is happening out there. weather wise, first of all fry degrees for the high temperature with mostly clear skies improving weather for the week. 48 and partly cloudy and 46, that is friday by the way. 46 degrees for saturday, and a chance for more rain than snow, but possibly a bit of a mix especially when we get to the nighttime hours on sunday. 42 for monday and 43 for tuesday with partly cloudy skies then. tonight it's heating up on hot lanta in american idol. >> it is. and we heated up a little bit in the studio with help from a friend that we have weather kid this morning. this is jowan who is in 4th grade, 9 years old. >> mostly cloudy, wind, no winds. humidity, -- >> i and i don't know how well he can sing, but he can sure dot weather well. >> he wants to be a basketball player and a lawyer. >> good idea, cover yourself. >> we will see you back here tomorrow. >> have a great day.

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