this broadcast is real time captioned by carrie o'brien. down here, it is a sheet of ice. the road was so cold, it just packed down. >> stories one right after the other, like joe who left washington, d.c. at 2:00 this afternoon, didn't make it home until 7:00 tonight. that is five hours in this stuff. >> it was slow going and at every turn slippery. the roads were clogged. good evening. >> it's like we forgot everything that we learned from last winter. here is the rest of tonight and tomorrow. we're worried about tomorrow. >> yes. you think that we would be veteran drivers after last winter. not so much, though. in fact, it did not take much snow to recreate headaches out there. every flake stuck on contact. let's look at, first, at what

it looked like this afternoon. maryland's most powerful radar was tracking the snow. as we put this in motion tonight, things are clearing out nicely and these are the snow totals of first a time lapse from downtown. you can see the snow fire up, man, it went for hours straight this afternoon. putting a coating to an inch, toive above an inch across the area. there we go. tomorrow, we're talking about an ice ascenario. we just saw the roads what they look like. so cold overnight and into the morning hours, that road salt will not be affective. so, major ice concerns on the roads, parking lots and sidewalks. another storm is on the horizon, too, back to you. >> all right. thank you very much. as small as the snow fall

was, it was enough to cause problems in the commute. >> yes. slipping and sliding. abc 2 news brian is live with tonight's drive home and tomorrow's drive in. brian? >> well, jamie, we have handled so much snow last year, you would think this is not much, but this is proof that a little good go a long way. reporter: the trucks did what they could before rush hour, 30 the salt did little to make this community taste better. the parkway, to sic 95 and anywhere in between was a mess. the first snow fall of the season was not much, but it did its damage. >> leaving today at 10:30. it was all ice and snow. now it is worse, it is packed down. i slid out pretty good. >> reporter: from sliding out -- to sliding down.

jerry just one of many drivers caught trying to climb bel air road in northeast baltimore. >> i think traffic all of the way over-the-hill. it probably goes all of the way back. >> reporter: the baltimore department of transportation is saying that it happened the storm center at 11:00 this morning and pushed 130 salt trucks onto the roads. they continue to treat roads throughout the night. officials urge patience. >> give them enough time to travel. don't be in a hurry. don't tailgate. >> reporter: that is for tomorrow morning as well. that's the folks. road crews will be out overnight to treat roads that will freeze up again. drivers are not excited about it. >> you're not looking forward to your chute tomorrow morning. >> no. i'm not. it will be ice. it is still freezing. so, it's going to be ice. but you know if they treat the

roads. we'll be good. >> reporter: that's exactly what the d.o.t. says. it will continue to do throughout the night, but they urge patience and caution on your way into work tomorrow morning. reporting live, abc 2 news. it is an ice adrive, right down east north avenue in baltimore, but thanks to a water main break, crews will be working through the night to get the water back on for people in the area. it is a difficulty fix. because it is beneath an old trolley track. the businesses and homes between harper and bel air is effected. the road is open, but they are down a couple of lanes. stay with abc 2 news, if there are school delays tomorrow morning. we will have all of the delayses and cancellations on www.abc2news.com. well, it was a scary start to the school down at harvard middle school. astranger made this way into the school building and into

the boy's bathroom. the man came in during the morning rush hour around 8:30. confronted by a resource officer and staffer, the man lied about why he was there. giving a valid reason. now, police was told to go to the office, but the man went into the boy's office across from the office. county police are telling parents it is an isolated incidence. he is facing second degree assault chargesthismstuff was unharmed. we told you about sugar snap last night. the pit bull was starved and had gashes to her legs when she was left on a front porch by university students. folks at the animal hospital is saying that the pit bull is on the mend. they are watching her closely n.fection is the biggest throughout. katie and her husband, eric founded the baltimore bully crew, a grassroots rescue group

raising awareness about pit bull abuse. >> there are not signs in this particular case that point us in dogfighting. there is severe neglect. and signs of abuse. >> they are officering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. the rescue group is raising money to cover her medicine. then we have barks -- as baltimore animal rescue and care center. they have been holding a bake sale for the animal have, educating you on pit bulls. so, last night, a man walks out and wants to know if barks is taking collects. the young lady says yes. he swipes the box and takes off. adad and little girl chased the suspect down 34th street. the thieve was craft by the dad and the little girl and an off- duty firefighter. happy to tell you, police discovered the box of donations. they recovered it and arrested

the suspect. barks wants us to tell you, they will continue to sell baked goods right there on 34th street from 7:00 to 9:00 until new year's eve. i would love to have another dog. now, if charlie brown's brother, linis says that, you would not blink, but that's what michael vick said yesterday. the vp candidate with the eagles was involved in dogfighting, but he would like to show us that he is a changed man. if he stayed out of trouble, his ban could change in two years. him wanting to own a dog again, set off a war of words on facebook.

well, the u.s. house is working late into the night to try and pass a bill that would temperature the bush era tax cuts. many in congress hopeed to vote today, but there was an afternoon filled with democrats voicing angry opposition to the plan. liberals wanted an opportunity to make changes to the bill. they were given the chance, but changes means it has to go back to the senate for a vevote. he has been called a grim sleeper, because he took 14 years off from his crimes. back in july, los angeles county sheriff arrested franklin. he was charged with ten counts of murder that began back in the 1980s. today police are asking for help, trying to find out who the women are in 1,000 photographs and hundreds of hours of video tape they found

in franklin's home. police believe that he took most of the pictures, showing african-american women from their teens and older ages, nude, some are sleeping and worse, others are smiling and laughing. the first string of murders occurred in los angeles. after finding dead women in alley ways and dumpsters. a drug used to test breast cancer may not be as effective as one thought. it doesn't improve or extend the lives for those living with breast cancer. it also found an increase in side effects. including high blood pressure. now, federal health authorities are recommending that the no longer be used for breast cancer treatment. spending time in the hospital is hard enough, but all of the needle pokes can be painful. in denver, there is a new procedure using a j tip.

it is a syringe with a small canister of cardbinal dioxide. it push as numbing medcare into the skin. all right. sometime running out to give a child a happy christmas. next wednesday we will be delivering all of the toys. you have until next tuesday to deliver a new unwrapped toy. for a list of all of the drop off locations. go to www.abc2news.com. >> all right. that is packed. >> it is packed. >> but we can make room for more. >> get to the cash register. the gift that cost $45. are you going to open up your wallet for cash or a credit card. this christmas, cash may be king. and the king of cnn calls it a night. ♪electronic santa song

♪electronic santa song ♪electronic santa song

this is just in. an amtrak train stranded near perryville. the train left from union station in washington, d.c., but it has been stopped for two hours. >> now a spokesperson is saying that a wire has come down

across the track and forcing the train back to baltimore. we are told that the train has heat and power. we will keep you posted on this. >> yes. i hope so,. well, you are making a list and checking twice. >> but how are you going to pay for all of the holiday delights? megan explains, that this year many shoppers are keeping their plastic under wraps. >> reporter: dana loves the holidays. from decorating the house and buying gifts for family and friends. but the holiday joy fades too quickly when the calendar turns. >> it's like reality shows up in your mailbox. >> so, this year, they decided to use cash for holiday spending. >> we have a spreadsheet for it and track it down to zero. so, that post holidays we don't have credit card bills to payoff. >> reporter: dana is in good

company, consumer spending is up, 2.2% this year. credit card companies have not seen an increase this year, most have seen a decrease in transactions. the economy is partly to blame. >> cash gives then the ability to control budgetary restrictions. >> reporter: and consumer expert, jim brown, adds recent changes in credit card laws forced many people's hands as well. >> a lot have lowered consumer's lines of credit. they have raised fees. >> reporter: but it is not just credit. gift cards have dropped, too. people are getting tired of all of the restrictions. >> if you don't lose it for a month. it loses 5% of its value, or if you don't lose it in 12 months it expires. one thing that you can say about $1, if you have $1 a year from now in your pocket, it is

still $1. >> reporter: this is only a temporary dip in this case, because of protections by the credit card act. >> it allows consumers who give a gift card, that it will remain fully intact, for five years. >> reporter: so, will the switch for cash carry on into the new year? maybe so, that's what experts are saying thanks to a close in the reform bill. it allows retailers to discount bills by 2 1/2%. retailers pay when someone uses a credit card. >> we will in fact someday see, two prices for everything that we purchase. gas, a six pack of coke or a shirt at the mall. >> reporter: dana is determined to keep the cards in her wallet this holiday season. >> it is critical to know how much you are going to spend.

>> companies are not taking this cash offer laying down. megan pringle, abc 2 news. all right. paid cash for dinner tonight. you? >> i used my debit card. that is like cash. >> watch out for scammers. >> yes. >> you know what, guys, what can we say? we were joking earlier. it only takes an inch, that was the reality today. an inch of snow major headaches. because it stuck to the roads. >> we have video, right? >> we do. we had it bad here, but this is down in the deep south. they are dealing with a nasty coat of ice near atlanta. that's what black ice can do for you. sliding and hundreds of accidents across the atlanta

area. five car pileup here on one of the major my ways towards the atl. so, snow over ice, right? we'll take it. all right. let's show you some of the beautiful -- well, it looked, it looked nice, okay. it was not nice to travel in, but we'll show you some of the high definition cameras across maryland today. look that snow blow in german town. all right. the park elementary, you can see the snow coating the trees and the parking lots. the roads there. also take you out to glen okay. the snow is coming down here. again, it doesn't take much. not when it sticks. that road is icy tonight as well. i have one more camera to show you i think down to washington, d.c. yes. this is reagan international, and here is an inch and a half of snow. the problem tonight, look at

the temperatures from our weather net sites. we're in the teens. low 20s -- 18 bel air. you know, you get below 25 degrees, the road salt does not work well. so, unless you have a chemical mixture out there, we're going to see definite icy conditions throughout the morning and into the middle part of the day tomorrow, i believe. virginia, on the way to richmond, 3 1/2 inches. bmi, .4. all right. radar picture, earlier today, 11:20 in the morning. boy, the snow is coming in, fast and furious. acouple of hours of steady snow, give us an inch to an inch and a half on the ground and on the roads. clearing out tonight. the highs today, not above the

mid-20s. and every flake stuck on contact. the road surfaces, often early in the winter melt the snow. didn't happen today. right now, leak that numbers to the west. the snow pack dropping us in the single digits from york to fredrick. we still have five days of fall left here, just to give you an idea. let's hope that late fall does not resemble the winter that we're going to have. it will take a while to see melting. we will see clearing tomorrow, the last piece of the storm goes out to sea. in the wake, sunshine and a cold, fridged day, that snow on the crowd makes it colder, the first day of a fresh snow pack, reflects the sunlight back to space. so, future cast is showing this, sunny skies tomorrow. a good-looking day of weather, but a cold day. the sun will work on melting the snow. and our next storm is saturday night, off of the north carolina coast. saturday is looking good.

clouds increase on saturday night. sunday, the storm begins to hug up the coast. the track is a question. most of this stays out to sea. so, for the baltimore area, snow showers on sunday, but the eastern shore, in particular, a couple of inches out of the coastal storm. we will keep you posted on that. overnight snow is done. the last snowshower is done. 19 degrees, many spots are colder than that, the airport is 19. 33 tomorrow. icy spots throughout the early part of the day. tomorrow, 20, cold again and probably see refreezing. the seven-day forecast -- we are looking for a trend here with cold days ahead. acoastal storm is coming very close on saturday night and sunday. that very least, snow out of that one. cold next week, too. back to you. all right. his suspenders, big glasses. for 25 years, larry king had a smile all of his own on cnn. >> tonight, the father of the

cable tox show signed off. tonight was the final episode of "larry king live." president barack obama sent a video and former president clinton as well. >> and regius, ryan seacrest and dr. phil and even fred came in character impersonating larry. once ingests were gone, the 77- year-old was emotional as he wrapped it all up. >> when i started 25 years go in a studio in washington, d.c. -- i never thought it would everlast this long. or come to this. i don't know what to say, except to you -- my audience. thank you, instead of good-bye. >> larry king is not retiring totally. you have not seen the last of him. he will continue to work with

cnn on special projects. hockey fans know that when a player scores the hat trick. the fans throw their hats on ice. >> what about teddy bears? if your racing thoughts keep you awake... sleep is here, on the wings of lunesta. and if you wake up often in the middle of the night... rest is here, on the wings of lunesta. lunesta helps you fall asleep and stay asleep,

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this is joe, i have your sports report. he did not practice third, as he reported flu-like symptoms. todd is still nursing a hamstring. as the ravens practiced indoors to say out of the flurries. however, the thermostat was turned down and the door was open to stimulate the cold and

windy conditions. all right. lacrosse news, picked to finish third in the preseason poll. next spring, maryland will make five appearances and john hopkins appears three times on the schedule on abc 2 news. your press box sports report. all right.

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[ female announcer ] mmm. you smell that?main course. yeah, wait. what is that? love. smells like ham. [ female announcer ] serve a main course brimming with comfort and joy. safeway. ingredients for life. ever what a shower of 23,000 teddy bears looks like? take a look at this -- the teddy bear toss is the annual tradition of a canada major league hockey team. >> the fans bring bears to the game. when the first goal is scored. they through the animals to the ice and they are handed hove to charities that work with kids. the hitman were named under brent the hitman.

who owned the team for 16 years. >> fun, fun, fun time. it goes to a good cause. >> it is going to take them a while -- >> to clean them up. >> whose the zamboni. yes. all right. i was trying to think what are those called? all right. the maryland's powerful radars clear right now, but here is the problem in the teens and 20s out there, so refreezing and ice in the morning. drive with caution. all right. that's it for us tonight. >> you're going to watch good morning, maryland tomorrow morning at 5:00. captions provided by: cap tion colorado, llc. phone: 1-800-775-7838. email: comments@captcolo.com.

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