through. you can expect a brief delay as police are on the scene. in the meantime, let's check u.s. 29 making the drive through columbia, it looks good all the way from 70 to route 32. on the north side of 695, both inner loop and outer loop lanes clear as you go past harford road. clear on the north side between 95 and 795. for those of you heading to the west side of the beltway no travel problems to report on the west side. even though volume is picking up in the outer loop lanes here at wilkens avenue. charlie? first it was texting, then hands-free only. now the national transportation safety board is calling for a national ban on all cell phone use while driving. even if you're going hands-free. this is causing quite a stir. for more let's go to abc2 news sherrie johnson who has been following the story overnight. >> reporter: we've been searching for new information this morning and found that 90% of drivers actually support texting bans, 60% favor cell phone bans.

the nation's top safety officials are working hard to make the roads safer. the ntsb is calling for phones to be off limits while you're in the car. this means no hands-free devices, no bluetooth. for anyone who does not comply with the penalties, this could be a steep price to pay. distracted drivers cause 6,000 crashes and 3,000 deaths a year. the ntsb calls this a full fledged crisis on the nation's roads and say it's time to take action. >> he was dead instantly. i wasn't breathing. no one really expected i would live past the first 36 hours. >> it's a very serious issue and people need to put their devices down and drive. >> reporter: right now texting or e-mailing on your phone is a primary offense in maryland. talking on your phone is a secondary offense. you can be cited for it if the officer first catches you doing something illegal. aaa plans to push for talking on your phone without a

hands-free device, a primary offense in the upcoming legislative session. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >> as you expected this is our hot topic on this wednesday morning. what do you think? think about this a little more critically now. a lot of carmakers are now making the hands-free devices in the cars, making this process easier. so what would a ban mean for you? go to facebook and let us know what you think. while there check this out, the new app for the i-pad, this is the new updated much more user friendly i-pad app. we'll have demonstrations for you on this throughout the remainder of "good morning maryland." 24 hours a day, seven days a week. we're always there for you. we also have apps for the i-phone and other smartphones as well. 5:02. swimming in the inner harbor can be bad for your health but the mayor wants to change that. she's explaining why. here's a live look at the inner

harbor, stephanie rawlings-blake plans to unveil a plan to make the harbor swimmable and fishable by 2020. the healthy harbor plan is part of an initiative by the waterfront partnership and will involve the living classrooms foundation. they hope to have solutions to issues like trash, sewage leaks and stormwater runoff. the announcements will be made this morning at 10:30 at the living classroom. new this morning, cab fares in dc are going up. beginning in february expect to pay 44% more to take a cab there. cab drivers complained that the fare structure is hurting their revenues and the district's fares are lower than surrounding jurisdictions. the new rates could go into effect as soon as february 3rd. hopefully it will be a calmer day at chesapeake high school today. two students got into a fight and a school resource police officer had to use pepper spray to break it up. in all 16 students and two fighters got caught up in the melee. some went to the hospital for minor treatment. of course the parents are upset that pepper spray had to be used but the county says it was

the best way for the officer to gain control of that situation or it could have spiraled into something much worse. a baltimore man is expected to be extradited back to baltimore city from north carolina accused of raping a woman. officers made that arrest in charlotte yesterday morning. this is a picture of that suspect. kendall thomas lynn, accused of rape and assault of a woman in december of 2006. we'll have that photo a little later. the occupy protesters try to stay in baltimore but where they go is yet to be determine. they met last night near city hall without tents. police in full riot gear to to get people out yesterday morning. officers gave them 20 minutes to get out. the protesters are deciding what to do next. one idea, to occupy vacant housing. the mayor stephanie rawlings-blake says she will protect free speech but camping out in public areas is simply not allowed. >> i certainly appreciate and respect the right to free

speech but as i said numerous times the square is not a place for encampment. >> i think it was inappropriate of them to have us -- to evict us while we were in the process of negotiating for a permit to stay there. >> protesters claim they have been fighting for more jobs. many are without work and homeless. the city offered services and more than 20 people were taken to a shelter in the early hours. when 144 characters are left an elementary school got a famous geflt in his room. jeremy guthrie twittered to wanted to meet a third grade class and he did. he visited students and it was a treat for all the kids. no snow in maryland but in other parts of the country, well, they are the lucky ones.

in arizona, flagstaff tuesday, they got a direct hit. it's the holidays and it's also the the flu season. we're going to make sure we've got you covered for flu. you're watching "good morning maryland." we'll be right back. ♪ [ female announcer ] pillsbury chocolate chip cookies with hershey's chocolate chips. for a moment of warm, gooey, togetherness. chocolate chip cookies... from pillsbury. and these are the ones you'll love on a school night. pillsbury crescent dogs with just a few ingredients you have an easy dinner... pillsbury crescent dogs... school night ideas made easy.

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check this out. ice and frigid temperatures creating dangerous driving in northern arizona. the storm caused drivers to lose control, spin into ditches or other cars. look at that. the arizona department of transportation closed several roadways up there and nearly 100 snow plows were on the streets overnight and throughout the morning. this is flagstaff. they had a foot of snow. i've been to flagstaff, arizona during a snowstorm. they have to shut these roads down because of a dropoff in the mountainous regions. >> the elevation enhances it. forgive me while a wipe a tear away from my eye. it's high elevation. they got ski resort out there. the snow is pushing off toward

the east. heavy snow in western colorado. this is actually just a little bit west of what you might find, breckenridge and steamboat. and grand junction, colorado, it's offered considered a high desert but they are getting pretty moderate snow. some ski areas in western colorado and even northern new mexico. rain across the central plains, same storm system pushing this moisture into the great lakes where we find another pocket of snow in minnesota and wisconsin. mostly rain in chicago, detroit, south bend, indiana. now they are pushing in towards dayton and columbus, ohio. we're watching that slug of moisture trying to hit itself into west virginia. i think there's a chance of rain there. by the way, western maryland had six inches of snow in the &s last week. and got slopes they are working on there with the snow guns. 37 degrees and some underdeveloped flakes expected today in the form of rain. we have not given up on the start of the ski season for the rest of us. we're going to get to 52 today. we may have underdeveloped

flakes here as well, and chance of rain showers in the midday and afternoon, especially on the west side. how about the morning ride? dry at 5:10. >> it's 5:10. overnight construction and maintenance crews should be out of the roadways now. we continue to see great driving conditions especially on 95 and 895 as you make your way through the city, tunnel traffic is fine. 95 at route 32, you have a very light flow of traffic. northbound headed towards 695 and southbound heading towards the capitol beltway. the same for those of you making the drive on i-97. here's a live look at maryland 100. traffic flow moving well as you make the drive through the benfield boulevard interchange. still good on the west side, north side and east side of 695. remember to follow us on twitter at maryland traffic. many older americans are still getting routine cancer screenings. more women between ages 75 and

79 were screened for breast cancer or had pap smears recently. many in the -- men in the same group are still getting prostate cancer screenings but recently it's recommended 75 and older people not get screened. some doctors say the positive tests have no -- tests have no positive benefits. it's flu season. experts say there's a popular myth about the flu. first, flu shots don't cause the flu. the vaccines are not made up of the whole virus so they can't make you sick. another myth, younger, healthy people don't need flu shots. the flu can put even healthy people in intensive care and make the -- at the very least make them contagious. one of the most common myths, if you have a flu shot last year you don't need one this year. the virus typically mutates each year so the vaccine can change as well. the holidays may be hard in one country. when it comes to baking. the cost of one popular ingredient that is now skyrocketing in norway.

we'll look. and a look back at the year that was in 2011. and weather was a huge factor. we'll show you when "good morning maryland" continues. on this wednesday, december 14th.

newstime 5:15. for many of us 2011 will be remembered as the year of some wild weather. storms were historic, deadly and very costly. lynette charles joins us now. >> reporter: 2011 started with a lot of slipping and sliding. maryland missed a lot of this but a series of snow and ice storms battered the country in the southeast where communities are not equipped to handle the wrath of winter roads. when spring arrived it also ushered in deadly tornadoes. there were 201 confirmed twisters over four days in late april. more than 320 people died in six states but there was more devastation to come. the deadliest single tornado in the u.s. touched down in joplin, missouri, on may 22nd. the ef-5 killed at least 157

people and decimated the midwest town. they are still cleaning up from this mess. the hurricane season was quiet until a storm named irene, set its sights on the united states, and made landfall as a category 1 hurricane near cape lookout, north carolina. some of the worst flooding from irene was much farther north in landlocked vermont. irene was responsible for more than 40 deaths and more than $1 billion in damage over 12 states. in total there were 12 weather disasters in 2011. the price tags estimated at $52 billion, the third costliest weather year ever. wow, justin? that was a mouthful. you know what? i wonder what 2012 is going to bring. but give us the weather for today. >> think about it, the year prior we had the blizzards. not an obscene winter but we had some around here. i remember that april 28th morning we had tornado warning after tornado warning in the morning. that was a unique event.

no doubt of course we've had our flooding. it's been rather quiet at this end despite the rain we dealt with last week. 34 now in baltimore. we continue to look back to the west, high pressure still in control. we have this slug of moisture i'm really trying to get a handle on because the computer models really hit central ohio with rainfall arriving later this morning and mi-day. it's already well ahead of schedule following some of the upper level winds and looks like even if you follow that streamer of clouds into northern virginia there's the possibility of it surviving the mountains and reaching us. the storm track takes most of it to the u.s. until the entire boundary finally puts it in our direction. we're looking at a small area of wintry weather in northern wisconsin and minnesota. much of the great lakes also above normal with temperatures, they will catch up in due time but today we're watching that slug of moisture. i still have to handle the fact there may be something in the afternoon, not a washout but a

better chance to the north as we head through this evening. as we head through tomorrow most of the day dry but the afternoon, leading edge of showers may try to reach us in the afternoon. they will be brief. the front passing overnight, stalls to the south. we have to watch development here, some indication and because of what has happened with the computer models overnight it may not have caught on that well that we could have something very close to us, at least with a chance of flurries or light snow saturday. 52 today, a shower possible to the west. tonight, scattered showers but otherwise cloudy and 40. we'll push to the upper 50s tomorrow, afternoon and evening showers. we'll jump ahead to saturday morning, there could be flurries before daybreak. then a partly cloudy afternoon and high of 43. 45 on sunday. angela? on the roadways as you get ready to head out for that morning drive our major roads still in pretty good shape for the most part. we're still working that accident up in white hall. if you need to travel in that area in white hall on old york road near norrisville road, that is route 23, be prepared

to slow down. the roadway is open but police will get you through the scene. key routes looking good, i-95 through columbia, no incidents there. on the beltway, we're seeing more volume on the west side, this is 695 at baltimore national pike. also, if you are making the drive past wilkens avenuing expect more volume in the outer loop direction. back to you. news around the world -- police in belgium say they found a woman's body at the home of a gunman who killed four people and hurt 122 others. police say he threw hand grenades into a crowd of holiday shoppers and opened fire with an assault rifle. the gunman also died in the attack but it's unclear whether he committed suicide or was killed by accident. rescuers were in full force in new zealand after rushing floodwaters trapped two men in a tree. this is video from the northern part of the south island. the two men were tourists from canada. heavy rain had been hitting that area severely. the state of rising waters

caused roads to be closed and people were forced from homes. it will be hard to make cookies in norway had thholiday season. butter supplies are scarce and prices are skyrocketing. also, a rainy summer reduced the quality of animal feed reducing milk production in norway. one seller at a norwegian auction web site offered a pound of butter for, get this, 30 times it's normal price. this toilet gives the term sitting on the porcelain throne a new meaning. decorated with 72,000 pieces. the swarovski crystals and it costs $128,000. it took a month to bling out this john. it's on display now in a shopping district in japan. check it out -- i don't think

they let you sit on it though. our country created dollar coins commemorating u.s. president. we'll learn more about that and what happens now that it will be discontinued? and a chance to have your toast with the holy ghost. we'll look at that when "good morning maryland" continues.

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no, just drive. i've got it. zoom in! zoom in! i can't believe this is happening. look at the size of that thing. it's everywhere. are you getting this? yeah, i've got it. what was that? it's the national guard. how'd they get here so fast? i don't know. pull over! pull over! do you have what it takes to head into the heart of the storm? check out nationalguard.com. ♪ [ female announcer ] light up your season with a brighter, whiter smile. with crest 3d white professional effects whitestrips. it penetrates below the enamel surface to whiten as well as a $500 dentist treatment. the secret's in the strip. for a smile that's sure to stand out. crest 3d white professional effects whitestrips. use these products together for a whiter smile in 1 day. life opens up when you do.

welcome back. the federal government is stopping production of some dollar coins. in 2005 congress mandated that the treasury mint dollar coins in the likeness of every dead president. now the treasury has enough coins sitting around to last a decade. the move is going to save around $50 million a year. the united postal service is going to delay its office and sorting plan closings until may 15th. this gives congress some time to find a solution to the agency's debt problem. the service was planning to close 250 mail processing facilities early next year in an effort to save money. starbuck's is now serving up coffee out of a cargo container south of seattle. the new eco friendly shop

opened yesterday morning. the containers make up one of a kind store which can now take part in being moved in the future. this can be moved! rain water from the roof is used for landscaping and the drivethrough also serves as well. keep in mind there's no indoor seating. check out this divine idea. you can now have your dailybread with an image of jesus toasted into it. a vermont businessman designed the holy toastmaker. he said the idea popped up more than a year ago when he bought a toast we are a cartoon character on it -- toaster with a cartoon character on it. there are 25 other designs on it as well including a peace sign. it could run you $32 for the toaster.p!qui police officers see car accidents daily but rarely find themselves involved in one. we head to florida in a bit to let you know how thpped. it's not an optical illusion. it's a squad car at the side of a utility pole.

what is done to save her and her offspring, it's a happy ending. "good morning maryland" returns in a bit. [ sue ] wow!

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