now, "good morning, maryland." investigators move closer to determining the cause of last week's massive downtown fire that ripped through baltimore block district. a warning for parents this morning. if you own drop side cribs it could be deadly for your child. and burning your fat off by freezing it. sound awful. but some medical professionals say it's possible but is it a healthy alternative. we will look at it. i say no thanks. >> no. >> if so you might get skinny hanging outside because it's so cold. thanks for joining us on this thursday morning. i am megan pringle. >> i am charlie crowson. before we go to lynette charles, let's talk about the tie. another one the miracle clerk tie. >> monkies. >> monkies. we always like chimps in suits.

this one was is called monkies from anthony pegan in baltimore. with we have had christmas trees and now monkies. >> and i have to say i met anthony before a couple years in a row he designed the ties. he's great kid. great family. yeah. he loves sports. >> time for a check on the forecast and let's say good morning to lynnetteette charles. top that. >> top is that? snow is on the way? > >> you win. >> no. the snow is on the way. we have a winter weather advisory noon until 9 p.m. travels could be a little difficult. so if you can stay off the road that, would be a wonderful thing. and we do have a dusting to an inch around baltimore and into the further north you go, you will get more the further south you go about 1 to 3 inches. and we have more snow for the weekend. that's possible. but we have the winter weather advisory in effect until noon starting to go into effect until noon and nine.

that's how long it will linger. you can see for all those counties there shaded in the blue, so, we are looking at your maryland's most powerful radar right now. and this could fool you. if you are tuning in, you are thinking we are sitting back and will have a good cold day but we have snow moving in here as well. speak of a good cold day, good cold morning, that's for sure. towson coming in at 19. and we do have the wind. not so bad but that's good news. we are with the temperature in the teens. but when you factor in the wind, we are feeling more like we are in the single digits this morning. so it's very frigid outside. so bundle up. let's head this over to kim brown with the traffic. this is very important because i know they are salting the road getting ready for the snow. >> reporter: that's right. they are beginning to salt operation on the bay bridge. sound like this morning you should be okay getting to work. it's probably coming home where you will encount earth problems with the snowy roads. we are looking pretty good. no accidents along the beltway. on the top side at providence road, traffic is moving well in

both directions. 795 looks good. looking at the maps, we have word one of the water main breaks has been cleared. so south highland avenue now reopened between bank and pratt street. but expect icy conditions near that scene. we have water main break issue east north avenue at north collington that blocks the center lane. traffic gets by one lane in each direction. now back to you. it was set but was it arson. that's the next step in the investigation into the fire on the block. the fire was last monday and it destroyed a few businesses and shut down baltimore street. sherrie johnson is here with more on the investigation now. sherrie. >> reporter: authorities released new information saying that the huge fire that hit the block last week was set by a person. but they are not sure if it was set intentionally. fire destroyed four cities buildings in the adult entertainment district. the federal bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms and explosives says the fire started in a video peep show room at

located at 404 east baltimore street. it is believed someone who was allowed into the room or slipped through a back door to escape the cold actually set the fire. but officials have not confirmed that yet. >> human involvement that played a part in this fire that may or may not have been with intent. we are still working dil jntly to gain a more definitive answer but we want the pb hick to know that we are doing everything in our power to provide a sound explanation of what happened during the fire. >> reporter: more than 90 investigators from the atf, the city and state fire marshal's office assisted with the investigation. they have interviewed many witnesses and used dogs to go through the burned out buildings. in the studio, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >> it's 6:04. thanks. a homeless man is in in the hospital this morning with serious burns over # 5% of the body. police say they found them yesterday afternoon on fire outside the safeway in canton. firefighters were called to the 2600 block of booston street

for reports of a brush fire when they found the man. they were trying to figure out exactly how it started. investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a fire in east baltimore that killed six people including three children. one of them under the age of 10. neighbors are trying to cope with the loss of slatterfield that is lived in the house since the 1960s. the elderly couple was pairied for more than 50 years and their great granddaughter was staying with them and her three children. a memorial grows as neighbors continue to deal with the tragedy. >> it hurts your heart. it hurts your heart. this is somebody that everybody that lives around here, we seen them every day. and it hurts. >> fire investigators continue to try to determine exactly what caused the blaze and it's unclear whether they were work smock alarms in the home. other families affect by the fire are in shearnlt receiving aid from the city. conflicting statements of doctor in the case of yeardley

lob's death sheep was found dead in her apartment last spring. her exboy prepared is charged with her murder but yesterday two doctors who examined love's body took the stand giving two different takes on how she died. dr. bill says blunt force trauma ked her and a medical professional jack daniel says it's possible she died from cardiac arrhythmia saying that's because the report show alcohol and adderahl in her system when she died which could have made her heart sensitive. a jury will begin deliberation in the case of a army doctor who refused to deploy because he questioned the president's citizenship e told the jury that yesterday he he was wrong to do so and would deploy if possible. earlier, the jury convicted him of missing a flight that would have gotten him to fort campbell, kentucky before whoa have been deployed. trial is taking place at fort meade. the spokeswoman says the base was chosen as the site for logistical reasons not because

of connection to lpt akin. it's cold outside. but could that cold be good for are the waistline? >> very new and unusual study on this diet says yes. it tells you how weather can help you shed pound. >> and if that's the case, a lot of people will lose weight across the midwest. the big storm system hitting them now whether or not it's headed for us. plus an artificial sugar thought dangerous is pulled off the hazardous substance list. first we will head up to new york and look at latest business news happening. >> reporter: good morning. we begin your money scope report with a sharp drop in foreclosures. numbers out this morning show repossessions dropped 28% last month falling to the lowest level in 18 months. but that was mainly the result of lenders temporarily freezing foreclosures to review flawed paperwork. the government is outlawing drop side cribs beginning in june. it will be illegal to manufacture, sell and resell them. they are blamed in the deaths of more than 30 infants and

toddlers over the past decade. danon had pay $21 million to settle complaints about health claims for the active yeah yogurt and dairy drink. the ftc says this's not enough evidence to back claims about beneficial bacteria. and a hotel unveiled the world's most expensive christmas tree. 11 million dollars worth of diamond necklaces, earrings, pearls and other jewelry hang from the branches. that is your money scope report.

mow, maryland's most powerful doppler radar and forecast certified most accurate by weatherate. good morning everyone. happy thursday to you. we are cold this morning. and you are looking at your actual temperatures right now.

not dealing with the wind chill. this is what it is. that temperature in baltimore right around 19 degrees right now. 17 in york. and 17 in hagerstown. 12 in oakland. wind chester coming in at 18 degrees -- winchester coming in at 18 degrees. so our current wind, they are not that bad. but, again, we are so cold anything makes it feel that much worse. so about a 5-mile-an-hour sustained wind into baltimore right now. 6 into dc. 3 hagerstown 7 in york. and what it feels like is 12 into baltimore 8 in york and feels like 12 in hagerstown. and one below in oakland. the drill is we need to bundle up. it's going to tay that way as we go into time. the big story for -- stay that way as we go into time. the big story is snow is moving in. you can see the leading edge moving into west virginia and virginia. i am suspecting this should move xd in between nine and 11 this morning. so be on the lookout for that. if you go to work around that time, a little later, you could be running into some snow.

if you are going back towards the west, you will be running into the snow sooner than that. you can see right on the edge of your screen, a little mixture. and that is because we are dealing with warmer air trying to filter in across that area. but for today, the snow totals may be up to an inch. baltimore into the further north you go, further south you go, they are about 1 to 3 inches in maryland and as we head into southern virginia, you are looking at 3 to 4 inches of snowfall across the area. our first widespread snow of the season, the satellite and radar pick up on the weather pattern as well. we have the area of low pressure that's scooting off to the south. that's where we will get in on the snow action. in between that cold front and the warm front, that's when you are dealing with the warm sector. you saw me show you some of that warmer air moving in. some sleet was with that. maybe a little freezing rain and rain mixing in with snow. that's because the warmer air, leading edge of the warmer air can head up into maryland as well.

southern maryland for the onset and switch over to snowfall across the area. so future forecast, we see that snow moving in here going throughout the day. that's why we have the winter weather advisory in effect until 9:00. but check out as we head into tomorrow. things look better. we will get more sunshine in the forecast. that will continue even as we go into saturday. but heading into saturday evening, that's when we have another chance for snow and that will linger even as we go into sunday morning. but for today, that temperature coming in at 32 degrees so. we will be at freezing. we will be able to support that snowfall and then by tonight, that temperature coming in right around 19 degrees. snow showers heavier to the south. and then tomorrow, that temperature coming comes in around 35 degrees. more sunshine but still cold. let's head over to kim brown with your trafficch good morning. >> reporter: thanks. good morning. we are getting reports of the first accident so far. that's in south laurel at route 197 between conte and americahurt. not a huge impact on travelers. looking at 895, south at the

o'donnell street exit, traffic is good making your way towards both tunnels. no major problems this morning. 695 looks good as is the harrisburg expressway. looking at the maps, we have only one -- only one water main break in baltimore city causing icy conditions near east north avenue and north collington. water main break is blocking the center lane. traffic is getting by. one lane on each side north and southbound. you can use patterson park, chester street or gay street this morning as an alternate. megan, back to you. >> thanks. 6:14 right now. a surprising weight loss approach is the talk of a conference going on. new health ideas being thrown out there. andrea canning with a very unusual diet approach some call thermal dieting. take a look. >> that's cold. >> very, very brisk. >> reporter: why would anyone want to walk outside in the bitter cold like this? >> we are doing it in the name of weight loss. >> reporter: we are trying

thermal dieting a. new understanding of how cool temperatures can melt pound. >> -- pounds. >> we are below freezing and we can feel it. what does that mean? how many extra calories are we burning because of the cold weather. >> at least 50% more calories. >> reporter: seem too good to be true? the author says the body has to work overtime to overcome the cold. >> the body wants to maintain a balance so 9 #.6 degrees. and if you make it cold, it will do everything it can to get back to 98.#e and it has to burn calories to do that. heat equals calories. >> reporter: what's going on in your body. >> there's a fat called bat cold can trigger this bat and produce heat and you burn fat tissue. >> reporter: his advice is backed by science. >> we can use the thermal environment to supercharge our weight loss. >> reporter: ray a. former nasa scientist investigated the effects of temperature on astronauts. >> in environments as mild as

60 degrees, some of the people saw metabolism rates boost by as much as 20%. >> reporter: he been struggling to lose weight with diet and exercises. >> you get that 12 weeks into it and hate wall. and you want to gib up. >> reporter: adding a thermal element he triple the rate from this to this losing 30 pounds in six short weeks. but ice baths and shiver walks are not for everyone and there's a risk of doing more harm than good. he says always carry a coat, and start off small. >> 7 minutes out and 7 minutes back is it. >> reporter: he says smaller actions like turning down the thermostat and drinking ice water can boost the metabolism and are a lot less painful than this. >> my toes are turning red. i am getting frostbite. >> reporter: abc news, new york. 6:16. the environmental protection agency is doing a 108 on sackrin 30 years after saying it posed a health hazar. the epa removed it from the list

of potentially hazarous substances months after a trade group asked them to do so. in 1908 they said it was potentially dangerous after it shows higher rates of bladder canser in rates. rats n late 1990s they conclude was not linked to canser in humans. it's the end of an era to cnn. >> larry king signs off one half the time. who will be his final show guest and where he is going to next. and more on the gunman and school board meeting in florida. details now of the terrifying minutes before he was taken down.

entertainment news this morning. the new year will bring big honors for major performers like neil diamond. go ahead and sing a line. >> no. you have to let it lead. >> >> alice cooper you want "sweet caroline."

>> yes. >> they will be inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. it happens in march. artist is eligible 25 years after releing their first album. i love it. >> there you go. >> it's an end of the era at cnn. larry king is calling it quit. last show is tonight. rumored guest include barbara streisand and ryan seacrest among the other guest scheduled tie pear on the final show, pierce morgan a british journalist and judge on "america's got talent" will replace king starting next month. and time magazine crowned the person of the year and facebook founder mark zuckerberg is it. the honor is to the person or thing that most influenced the culture in the news in the past year for good or bad. so at 26, mark zuckerberg is one of the youngest billionaires and the youngest honoree since the magazine first ever person of the year which was charles

lindbergh in 1927. and steven colbert the most retweeted celebrity of 2010. tweet in honor of oil soaked bird tweets are now gyringel was retweeted more than any other messages on the social networking site. he has more than 1.9 million followers on twitter. lady gaga the woman in the meat dress she is the queen of twitter with more than 7 million followers. time for your birthdays megan. >> all right. >> megan from columbia turns 5. that is recent picture of her from a field trip at a pumpkin patch. >> also celebrating today, tim who lives in federal hill is celebrating a birthday today. at least tim you've lot of fun places to visit for your birthday. you in the right neighborhood. and fanny turning 50 and is fabulous today i hope the 50 is a great birthday for you frany. >> we don't have a photo of this up on the board for us, but kim

facebooked wanting to wish her baby girl addison a happy first birthday. go to the wmar facebook fan page and look at this picture and she is absolutely adorable. >> cuteie pie. >> yes. >> oh. look at those cheeks. happy birthday. >> if you are having a birthday, we want to know about it. >> just tell us or sen us an e-mail with an attached picture of whoever it is celebrating the birthday. give us the details and send it to morning show at wmar.com so we can say happy birthday to you on the air. >> now if you have other interesting photos you want to send to air, pets and vrs ris birth days and a picture of the day if you see it and it is news sunrise sunset snow what have you. snd it to morning show at wmar.com and include all important facts about the photo attached so we can gib you all credit. coming he intentionally tripped a player and that's not good. no. it's bad. and it gets worse. other drgty -- dirty tricks the

jets coach tried to pull on miami that could lose him his job.

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it was a talk of the town last week. now we are closer to find you go out what caused the massive five alarm fire down own block. shock video of a gunman holding school board members hostage. we showed it to you yesterday.

but this morning there's new information on his final minutes. plus, bill cosby coming to baltimore and it's not to promote the jello pudding pop. he's been here before and is such a great guy. >> yeah good morning, maryland, i am charlie crowson. >> i am megan pringle. thanks for joining us this morning. it's cold out there. you don't need to us tell you. but hopefully meteorologist lynette charles will have good news for us. come on. >> i do. the system is moving in and it's snow but you know what, the fact that it is a fast moving system then we are not going to get as much as we need today. >> hold that thought. >> okay. >> still closing. >> no. that's all right. i talked to lynette earlier i got so excited she is here this morning. we want to let you know that if you have a kid going to the following schools on your screen, be aware there are chosing charles county public schools along with st. mary's public schools and calvert public schools. >> now lynette charles and her beautiful smiling face this morning for a look at a cold

start. >> you had to interrupt me but that's important. i will do what i got to do. snow is on the way. we have a winter weather advisory. and that is until noon until 9 p.m. and peardz of -- periods of snow is what a winter weather advisory is that means periods of snow is going to make travel difficult. so you want to know how much snow we will receive. something we will see about an inch into baltimore to the north. and then as we head further to the south about one to three inches into southern virginia. maybe about 3 to 4 inches. and then we have snow for the weekend again. that's possible. so there's the winter advisory for all those counties there shaded in the blue. and then maryland's most powerful radar right now a little deceiving. it's not in the viewing area as of yet but i think it will be in here as we head into nine into 11 this morning. so be weary of that and we are very cold this morning. check out temperatures. 16, 17, and 17 into kingsville, woodbine and middletown. let's send it tosser to kim brown with the traffic. good morning. >> reporter: thanks. good morning.

well the earlier wind warnings were in place at the key bridge has been lifted. looking live at the beltway, volume is pick up on the outer loop side and you can see minor delays on outer loop between 795 heading towards i-706789 but right now we are problem free on the baltimore beltway. a couple incidents south of the beltway including a crash in columbia. eastbound route 157 approaching dobin road is off to the right. also in south laurel, a crash on route 197 between conte road and police and fire crews are on the scene. baltimore city, icy conditions near the a water main break. that water main break blocks the center lane. traffic gets by one lane in each direction. now back to you. >> thanks a lot. 6:29. investigators now want answer into block fire that destroyed two strip bars and adult bookstore. the blaze was on the block and a big one you can call and tell firefighters how it was set. you can get some cash. reward are