mchenry row? locust point? >> i think so. >> it is locust point. >> that clock is right. >> it's by the water. >> 5-degree discrepancy. we'll get to justin berk with a check of the forecast. a lot of people are concerned, they want to know how things are going to go tonight with the wig lighting wig -- big lighting in mount vernon. >> come on over here. i have something cool to show you. the start of winter, people start thinking what is going on. looking at some computer models, that is a potential storm next week. possible mix of stuff. we'll continue to track that. we're tracking some of the snowfall that we would typically get in december because we actually start meteorological winter. on december 1st. it goes through the end of february. we're looking for the

possibility, yes, some saying it could turn wintry next week. in the time being we look at the average of 3.1 inches of snow in baltimore during the month of december. we'll see if we can catch up to that. by the way yesterday, the end of november started with sunshine. look at the clouds downtown. a gorgeous scene but definitely turning more winter-like when a dark gray windy afternoon, right now temperatures ranging from 32 towson and ellicott city. a little frost out there. 35 annapolis. mid to upper 30s on the eastern shore. we've cleared out, winds trying to settle down which means it could be a little frosty, sun coming up 597:07 -- coming up at 7:07. in the afternoon a seasonable high of 52 degrees. the breeze picks up this afternoon. this evening, a quick drop of temperatures in the city for the mid and lower 40s and we'll be much colder than that by this time tomorrow. we'll have a taste of winter, on the way, we'll talk about that in a moment. burt clay with traffic. >> thank you very much. clear skies outside and clear

roadways and a shot of the live look at i-95 at maryland 175. headlights are moving well. starting to see extra volume but we expect that this time of morning. still no huge difficulties through 95, through the tunnels and as we get in towards downtown we have a shot, look at the jones falls expressway, traffic moving smoothly at cold spring lane. your drive times are taking -- i think it's pretty good now as a matter of fact. we have the ride from southbound 83 from shawan to 695, five minutes. your outer loop from bel air to providence, six minutes there. back to charlie for news. gary giordano is a free man after four months in an aruban prison. he left that country wednesday bound for florida and caught a flights to new york. abc2 news' sherrie johnson has been following this story since it broke. now we have news from new york, a big exclusive coming up a bit later for viewers. >> reporter: that's right. a lot of people can't wait to hear what he has to say. gary giordano back in the u.s., trod talk. we've learned new information,

giordano is speaking out exclusively on "good morning america" today. he landed in miami before heading to new york for the interview. the gaithersburg man scored another legal victory yesterday, where an appeals court rejected a prosecution appeal to put him back in pretrial detention. giordanoo left when prosecutors didn't have enough evidence to continue to hold him as a suspect. prosecutors say they still consider giordano a suspect and plan to pursue the case with the fbi. gary giordano denied wrongdoing in the disappearance of robyn gardner. he says she vanished while they were snorkeling in aruba. her body was never found. >> it is hard to believe that the american authorities would extradite him just to let him sit there as they continue the investigation. >> reporter: he was accompanied by his attorney on the flight back to the united

states. meanwhile robyn gardner's family says they are disappointed in his release and want to know what happened to her. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >> again, on "good morning america" immediately following "good morning maryland," an exclusive interview with gary giordano. stay tuned. a woman suspected of kidnapping and stabbing another woman in baltimore county on thanksgiving day now off the street. police say stephanie schwab tried to rob a bank in fairfax, virginia but took off before getting crash. she crashed a stolen car on old georgetown road just off the capitol beltway and then authorities caught up with her. >> i heard about what she did up in baltimore. i think it's a tragedy. >> of course i'm relieved they would catch her. they caught her? good. >> police tied schwab to a string of crimes during the last several weeks. she's believed to have once been a member of the ms-13 gang. when an escape on land didn't work the suspect tried to jump into the water. this is in norfolk, virginia, a

man wanted to force his estranged wife into a van in a grocery store. when authorities were chasing him he jumped from his van into the elizabeth river. a coast guard boat escorted him back to shore where he was hen arrested. the wife was found safe. fugitive caught in a stolen cab of a tractor-trailer in maryland. it started on south baltimore around 6:00 last night. police tried to pull over the driver but he would not budge. state police and health units followed him into prince george's county where he lost control of the tractor-trailer and crashed at 295 on powder mill road. no one was hurt and the driver is now facing a number of charges. maryland governor martin o'malley is now endorsed the same-sex marriage and in a few weeks it will have a big impact when the controversial issue now begins to see opposition. corrine redmond has more. >> reporter: it's sure to be one of the most hotly debated issues of the 2012 legislative session. supporters of same-sex marriage believe this year will be their year for victory but a number of religious leaders from different states are trying to

defeat same-sex marriage in maryland. religious leaders from all backgrounds joined together during a press conference in baltimore. calling themselves the maryland marriage alliance. they held up signs that read the bible is right during the meeting. same-sex marriage was narrowly defeated in the 12011 legislative session. members say they want the result this time around again but it may be a challenge because for the first time governor martin o'malley will sponsor the same-sex marriage bill. there's even a series of videos produced by equality maryland and other groups that feature politicians, celebrities and sports figures endorsing same-sex marriage. >> senator martin o'malley, i'm a marylander for marriage equality. >> god created marriage as the union of one man and one woman as surely as he created the very universe in which we live. >> even with all the endorsements the ministers say allowing same-sex marriage would infringe on their rights and beliefs. if the bill does pass next year the opponents say they will attempt to repeal it in a

statewide referendum on election day. >> this is our hot topic for the morning. what do you think of the same-sex marriage debate? go to our wmar facebook fan page. join the conversation. parents and teachers are fighting to keep the doors on a popular rec center open. they say centers like this one gives children a place to go after school and keep them off the street. in an effort to save money the city of baltimore suggest they close centers. the community that uses one center says this would undermine everything they've worked for. >> essentially, you are about to get away - >> the city is also considering keeping the centers open but reducing staff. and also reducing operating hours in some locations.

it's world aids day, a day to remind us that hiv and aids is still very real in the community. linda so here with how local health officials are going to help raise awareness today. >> reporter: several health departments are offering free hiv testing, one of them baltimore city. we're joined by dr. gregory branch and angela james. >> good morning. >> reporter: thank you so much for being here. you want to get the word out today, world aids day and really locally you want people to get tested? >> yes, it's world aids day. getting to zero, that means zero people with hiv. how do we do that? get tested. >> reporter: the county is offering several sites where people can go, it's free. no appointment necessary? >> no appointment necessary. free. guess what? our 20-minute test could save your life. >> reporter: people watching, they might -- think about the

average person, it's embarrassing, i don't want to go. what do you say to the folks who might think i don't know if i want to get tested, it's kind of embarrassing? >> it's not a bad test. only 20 minutes and it's confidential. you come in, get your test done and we can give you your results. it's very important. if your results are negative, we want to you protect yourself. if positive, get treated and protect others. >> reporter: angela, you see this is still a real problem in our community. is there a certain type of group where it's affecting people the most? >> the age group of 20 to 29, the age group that is affected the most, and affecting the entire community. >> reporter: how is this transmitted? to protect yourself? >> reporter: through body fluids, you would be concerned with vaginal fluids, infected semen, infected blood. if a mother is infected it's from the breast milk. >> reporter: we talked

earlier this really isn't a death sentence anymore. if you have it, the earlier you know the better, right? >> correct. >> reporter: why is that? you can live with it and manage it? >> yes, it's prevention. prevention measure. the earlier the better. like you said. >> we also have the treatment for it. we cover the medications we have and the treatment, it's become a chronic disease and clearly manageable. >> reporter: wonderful. we have several locations, again. we have them on the web site, abc2news.com. also, in howard county they are offering free testing today, baltimore city and of course baltimore county. testing throughout the day. back to you. she has lived more than 100 years and found out that the bank was about to foreclose on her home. >> i love this place. >> this christmas present arriving a bit early for this woman.

you'll love to see what happened here. plus, you may want to check to see if you used all your vacation time before the year is up. you have, what, 30 days left? yeah. how your smartphone may help you get through the cold days of winter if you're stranded outside. let's go back to new york for business news. >> reporter: good morning. topping "america's money," worldwide rally started on wall street yesterday, the dow climbing 490 points, the biggest point gain since march 2009 but analysts warn the bull market may not last. another report that the holiday shopping season is off to a great start. mastercard says thanksgiving weekend sales are up almost 9% f last year, a total of $50 billion but again will it last? a new jersey company is already selling a generic version of lipiose patent ran out yesterday. a indian company got approval

for a version late yesterday, made in new jersey too. the irs may have money for you. the tax agency says it has almost $100,000 checks it -- 100,000 checks it can't deliver. the average is more than $1,500. that is "america's most -- "america's money." i'm rob nelson. ♪

write "you're pretty." you're pretty! ♪ i think he hurt his tibia. what's a tibia? [ female announcer ] cards are not for sending. ♪ they're for bringing us together. this holiday, select cards come postage-paid. live pictures from los angeles. fierce santa ana winds creating havoc in parts of southern california. these images to come out of -- do come out of southern california, out of los angeles. no shaking now but that was not the case, where severe santa ana winds knocked out power for thousands. at l.a.x. lights went out and this was a

nasty scene the last couple of days. it caused flight and traffic delays. to a different story -- clean-up time across parts of michigan after a heavy snowstorm. lansing got between eight and 10 inches of snow knocking down the awning of this gas station. the heavy snow also helped collapse an inflatable dome and indoor golfing range. hitting golf balls in 20-degree weather? in michigan also, we showed you this. that snow shows the canopy covering the gas station's gas pump, tipped over and collapsed. no one was hurt, station was open but the pumps weren't damaged. the gas station plans to reopen a little later today. are you prepared for the winter? this is up your alley. new york dakota state university has a smartphone app to help you get through mother nature at her worst. it's called the winter survival kit. the app provides you with your current gps location that can be relayed for emergency calls which then can contact the person maybe on your contact

list. just press a button. >> it gives you emergency policy numbers, aaa, insurance, etc. >> you can store the list and the application advises you on how many fuel hours you have left and when you should turn your car off to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning overall. it's beginning to feel a little like winter but you have to admit you're a little jealous, eight to 10 inches in michigan? >> it's developing a snow app. come on. i want to know if it's working here. that's just north dakota. >> we'll look into it. >> we'll check it out before the end of the show. let's look at the studio. come over here. come over here. this is mayor beth. my -- mary beth. my buddy, is prepared for the season. we're looking at temperature this morning that have dropped down. the first day of meteorological

winter. i'm looking at some of the snow stats here and how much we typically would get. it was two years ago we almost broke that record for snowfall with that big storm, 18th, 19th of the month and we'll talk more about that later on, if you follow on-line today. 37 degrees but the wind takes it down to 29. mary beth still smiling at me but i know she was not too happy about that cameo. we'll see what else we can do for you. temperatures now at 26, oand winds not as strong as they had been overnight but this is the environment where high pressure dominates the eastern seaboard and during the course of the day we will start to mix up the air, the sun and it creates a little stirring and that is probably we why expect to have a little more breeze as we roll into the afternoon. high pressure back across the ohio valley. that provided all the chill, 20s all the way to near the gulf coast. that is actually colder than we have here across the mid-atlantic. the flow around high pressure keeping that storm track well to the west. high clouds streaming out ahead

of the next storm into the great lakes. we could eventually get into some of the high clouds mixing across our sky. we'll call it mostly sunny, still on the cool side of the high but the system that provides us with the chill back near normal numbers also provides a big warm-up on the back side. i can keep watching this storm track here, active snow pattern, wisconsin, minnesota through colorado. good news for their ski resorts. bad news, southern california. we talked about the santa ana winds. it's been record high pressure sliding out of northern canada and low pressure across the south, that helps to funnel all the air in that direction, which is important because some of that energy will eventually slide east and take this entire storm track east next week, but through the weekend an future trend through saturday, highlights all the rough weather. some rain could be reaching cleveland game time for the ravens on sunday but we stay dry through the weekend. today 52. winds 10 to 20 miles per hour. we drop back to 27 overnight. although low 30s by the bay. low to mid-50s over the next few days with dry weather.

near 60 sunday. the next storm, rain, comes in late monday through tuesday. the big question now, some models really hinting strongly at rain turning to some accumulating snow so stay tuned. right now we're watching you behind the scenes. and traffic. thank you very much. live shot of u.s. 29 in howard county at maryland 108, traffic moving well there. still have that pretty much all the way around the metropolitan area getting to downtown. we have a shot of the jones falls, north avenue, no brake lights or congestion but later today as you get downtown, mount vernon place will be shut down as crews prepare for the lighting ceremony. expect delays. that should start about 9:00 a.m. got your drive times as we look at southbound 83 from shawan to 695, six minutes there. and your outer loop ride to 695 from 795 down to 270, seven minutes there. back to you. here's the story that caught our attention.

in the past hour, get this, 103-year-old woman thought the bank was coming to foreclose on her home, then it changed. brian young has the story from atlanta. >> we just got some fantastic news first of all. the bank said they will work with you guys and they are not going to make you leave. >> it's a blessing. >> reporter: i got the chance to break the great news to vina hall. chase bank which services the loan on the house off penelope road owned by deutsche bank says it now has no plans to evict the 103-year-old or her 83-year-old daughter from their home of more than 50 years. >> i love this place. >> reporter: i'm glad to hear and read the statement issued by chase but i'm not going to be satisfied, to be honest with you, until the deal is done.

>> reporter: senator vin ford and the mayor have been talking to the banks. we were here tuesday when sheriffs' deputies and movers refused to evict ms. hall. her 83-year-old daughter was overcome by stress and had to be rushed to the hospital. this house was paid for but at some point a family member took out a second mortgage. there have been court battles, a judge finally ordered the eviction. now the threat is over and all day people have been calling and trying to give well wishes. >> i feel good. >> that was ryan young reporting. ms. hall will celebrate her 104th birthday in a few weeks. time now for health news. an increasing number of americans are becoming overweight. because of that medicare plans pay for as much as and counseling to prevent over beesity. more than 37 people on medicare

are obese and the conditions now associated with many chronic additional diseases. the time of day when your child is vaccinated could go a long way toward improving the response of the vaccine. a new study finds babies vaccinated after 1:30 p.m. slept more the first 24 hours following their immunization. it's important to facilitate a healthy immune response and increase antibody production. >> it would be a good idea that they consider holding off on the acetaminophen in terms of preventing fevers and let the child give their own immune response. >> the findings are in the journal "pediatrics." thousands join a massive strike in the uk, why the workers are angry over a plan the government is proposing and what some protesters are doing to get the attention. plus, the start of the summer down under and a light show that is something you'll wish for with warmer weather.

time for birthdays. happy ninth birthday to courtney. mom, dad and siblings all want to wish you a great birthday. so do we. have a great birthday on this thursday. if you have a day to share with us, anniversary, birthday, pet birthday or just maybe a great shout out, morningshow@wmar.com, we'll be right back. roadtrip. now?! [ female announcer ] crest whitestrips two hour express. in just two hours you can have a noticeably whiter smile that lasts for months. hi. hi. [ female announcer ] two hour whitestrips from crest. life opens up when you do.

at bank of america, we're lending and investing in the people and communities who call baltimore home. from funding to help a local business expand their operations... to financing for an organization which provides affordable housing for artists... and partnering with a local hospital to help expand patient care. because the more we do in baltimore, the more we help make opportunity possible.

nine people are dead after a fire broke out at a market in hong kong. 30 others were injured. crews battled the fire for several hours before getting it under control. investigators don't yet know what started that fire. it's one of britain's largest strikes in decades. two million public sector workers joined the protests, the message, keep your hands off our pension. some protesters were originally part of the occupy london movement and stormed an office building in central london and they say they are all doing it as a show of support for the

strike. police say more than 40 demonstrators thus far have been arrested in london. today "sesame street" begins airing in afghanistan. the show is partly funded by the u.s. government. with a few afghan kids attending kindergarten the show seeks to fill an educational void. afghan media company spent a year tailoring the popular children's program to its audience, characters like elmo and ernie have new names and all the women will be wearing vails. cool pictures to show from you australia. surfers hanging 10 on sydney's famous bondy beach. they are wearing dark wet suits and neon stripes and glowing surf boards. it's the official beginning of summer there. it kind of makes you think of warmer temperatures and maybe head down for a warm vacation, doesn't it? some kids in palm beach, florida, had to wait a bit longer for santa to arrive. coming up, what kept jolly st. nick tied up. plus, first lady has some very

special guests at the white house yesterday. how she kept everyone busy. you're watching "good morning maryland" on this thursday, december 1st. thank you for making this part of your day.