baltimore. we have a wide spread, mid-20s to mid-30s and a little early sunshine. that sunrise by the way is 7:26. that is two and-a-half hours away. oh, goodness. we have thickening clouds and will be an overcast afternoon with rain developing. rain could be heavy in the late commute through the evening with temperatures in the mid-40s and rising overnight. it's 5:00. no quiz, just a straight traffic deal, here's angela. >> no quiz about it, 5:00, that means overnight road crews are getting out of the way, especially for those of you coming in from cecil county, 95 looking pretty good as you cross the tydings bridge. no reported troubles there. looking good on 95 south of baltimore. at maryland 175 checking out your southbound lanes all the way to the capitol beltway, all lanes open and moving freely. let's check the drive from the eastern shore, 50 at maryland 8, just east of the bay bridge looking pretty good as you make the drive to annapolis so far. and another live shot of 50 as you cross the severn river

bridge heading to annapolis all the way to i-97. two states down and mitt romney chalk's up another win. new hampshire voters turned out in record forms for the nation's first primary tuesday. this was much more decisive a victory for romney than iowa. he only beat rick santorum by eight votes last week in iowa, in new hampshire, the clear winner. ron paul came in second with 23% followed by huntsman at 17%, newt gingrich and rick santorum came tied for fourth at 9% and rick perry 1%. coming up in 30 minutes, a live report and recap of the night that was in new hampshire and what the candidates are doing. they now move on towards south carolina. a little closer to home, lawmakers are getting back to work with the legislative session kicking off later today. for a preview and bad news she's talking taxes this morning, here's linda so. >> reporter: get ready to hear about taxes and more

taxes. the governor says he wants to raise two separate taxes to put more money in the state's budget. the session today officially starts at noon and it's all pomp and circumstance that you can expect on the first day. governor o'malley will address both the house and senate but later in the session he says he wants lawmakers to legalize same-sex marriage this year. that bill didn't get enough support last year in the house but did pass the senate. the governor also wants to raise the state's gas tax to improve roads and bridges. he wants to double the slush tax on septic systems to upgrade water and sewer projects. right now that annual fee is $30 a year. the senate president says he wants to push gambling in the state, to authorize table games like black jack at maryland's hçwants allow a sixth casino in prince george's county, possibly rosecroft race for the cureway or national harbor. there's a bill in the house to legalize medical marijuana. lawmakers have 90 days to tackle the issues before the

session ends in april. opening statements will be heard in the trial of lee stevens, one of two prisoners charged with stabbing corrections officer david mcguinn to death in 2006 at the maryland house of correction in jessup. the death was the primary factor in the decision to close that facility. this is the first death penalty case to go before trial since the legislature changed the maryland death penalty law in 2009. capital punishment is now reserved for murders in which there was a videotaped confession or biological evidence linking the defendant to the crime. the trial is taking place in annapolis. family and friends say goodbye to a remarkable young man who lost his battle with cancer. we first introduced to you justin islar in 2010. he graduated despite his medical problems. sherrie johnson with more. >> reporter: we are here on the campus of coppin state university at the entrance. this is a place where justin

walked to class so many times. today this morning, a little later, a number of faculty and students will board a bus heading to washington, dc for his funeral. i had a chance to sit down and talk to him and interview him in may of 2010. as he was working on his degree in sports management. he just struck me as an amazing young person. it took him six years because of many medical challenges but he finally received his degree in december of 2010. he battledososteo sarcoma, it spreads throughout the body and attacks the lungs. on monday, january 2, 2012 he passed away with family and friends surrounding him. he touched so many lives with his positive thinking, determination and perseverance. he was a member of a fraternity and his brothers say he made a big difference in their lives. >> he just told me to calm

down, accept life for what it is and make the best of it. he was just humble about everything he did. he was never over-worrying about anything, took everything in stride. there was a humble peacefulness to him. that's how i think of him as a person. >> reporter: many of his fraternity brothers say his spirit will live on. they will always keep a part of him with them. that funeral will be held in washington, dc at new samaritan baptist church on florida avenue. the viewing is from 9:00 a.m. to 1 11:00 a.m. and the funeral is 11:00 a.m. again, that bus leaves here at 8:00 a.m., about 20 students and faculty will be boarding that bus. reporting live in west baltimore, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. funeral plans made for a westminster man killed in afghanistan. matthew sidler died last week from injuries from an ied

explosion. he will be buried at arlington national cemetery. he says the dog fell. a neighbor says she saw him launch his dog off the balcony 24 feet high and the dog sailed another 50 feet. this is the man accused, gary wallace jr, locked up on animal cruelty charges, police say on sunday night wallace threw a yorkshire terrier off the balcony, loni was taken to the animal hospital with injuries, no word yet on the dog's condition. a poodle will be put down. joanne's 3-year-old poodle was attacked by two pit bulls in early december. one will be euthanized, the other will be returned to the owner as long as he files new guidelines. the other owner is allowed to appeal that decision. a lot of emotion. the concern the federal government now raised about a drink or two a day, this morning. and a doctor says smoking

cigarettes can cause cancer. a new study says smoking reefer may not be as bad as first thought. who knew? you're watching "good morning maryland" on this wednesday, january 11st. ã

believe it or not, this is what winter locks like in the swiss alps. this is video of a blizzard in switzerland during the past weekend. snow usually comes in november but the first flakes didn't arrive until late december this year. despite the snow piling up the i-reporter says the swiss are used to this. so they've taken it easy. >> that almost looks like snowshoe, west virginia. the new village. we have a look this morning at cold temperatures, no snow but there's a little on the way. nothing like what we just saw. 25 bel air, 24 towson. holding some mild temperatures, westminster in the low to mid-30s. but drops to 25 laurel.

by the water, dundalk and centreville at 33. we're virtually clear but there will be clouds spreading in, could make for a pretty sunrise and then clouds lower and thicken. the moisture to the south, part of a really heavy rain event. there's strong wind whipping around too. we'll see that after midnight and daybreak tomorrow. especially today's the type of day where it's cold and crisp this morning, watch the clouds really move in, in a hurry and then looking for rain this afternoon, temperatures mid-40s and actually steady or warming up with the heaviest rain moving in tonight. 5:11. here's angela with traffic. >> on the roads this early morning, looking at the key routes, we have a check of i-70 traveling through the marriottsville area, looking good eastbound and westbound, no delays or early distractions from the beltway all the way to route 29. if you normally travel 29 southbound you can see our traffic patterns normal for this hour, southbound a little heavier than northbound. that is the left of the screen, to route 198 or you may choose 95 southbound, a live look at

95 north of maryland 100, southbound volume beginning to build, no reported incidents so far this morning. in health news -- reports show periodically smoking marijuana doesn't appear to hurt lung capacity. even though they tend to inhale deeply and hold the smoke in for as long as possible, lung capacity apparently doesn't deteriorate. it was even true among those who smoked a joint according to the report once a day for seven years over a period of up to 20 years. binge drinking is a problem in the u.s., adults binge drink more frequently and consume more drinks than -- it's defined as consuming four or more on occasion for women, five or more for men.

the u.s. promises food aid to north korea if they stop nuclear production? how that country is reacting to the news out of washington. >> if you like nice ambiance and good prices and tasty food, i have just the place for you. stick around. details coming up.

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newstime 5:15. north korea says before kim jong il's death the u.s. offered to provide food and aid if the country stopped its uranium enrichment program. north korea responded angrily to the offer overnight with a foreign ministry spokesman accusing washington of politicizing the food shipping. this comes as kim jong il's son works to become the leader amid food prices and a nuclear standoff. and construction of a high speed rail link between the country's two largest cities. the new line will carry 225 miles per hour of train and shorten the commute time between london and birmingham by almost half of that to just 49 minutes. the project will cost about $50 billion and set to be finished by 2026. take a look at this.

this temporary snow town in russia boasts its own wedding place, and jail and more. it was presented at the youth architecture winter festival. >> so beautiful. 5:17. cold enough for ice but we don't have much of that around here and we have cold temperatures. a brief warm-up. then another cooldown in time for the holiday weekend. 25 baltimore, 27 ocean city. freezing above richmond southbound. that is where the storm is coming from. so yet another storm that brings with it warm air. clouds starting to move in towards dc and annapolis. we'll start to see that creep in. the real question here will, this leading edge of cloud cover, how thin is it where we get some of the sun to go through. it's still another hour and-a-half to two hours until we get to see some of the predawn beautiful light and a chance for a gorgeous sunrise,

maybe towards havre de grace in northeastern maryland and we're really questioning central maryland because the clouds there will thicken up in a hurry. that is the case for all of us this morning. there's the arctic boundary, some snow. this one moves through after the storm passes and the storm itself is going to bring in most of its heavy rain as we head through later today. there's the ride home. them tonight, heavy rain overnight through midnight, should be gone by daybreak tomorrow, 8:00, a partly cloudy, windy day but warm tomorrow. this model shows rain. others indicate a brief shot at snow with the cold air right before daybreak. could be a little tricky friday morning. then another system could come in, in time for the ravens game sunday. 45 today, thickening clouds. rain in the afternoon. quick peek at the rest of the week, expecting warmth after the rain tomorrow, and then a quick shot of early snow friday but a high of 42 in the afternoon. rain over the weekend. there may be not just snow

showers but chance of light snow on sunday with highs of 36. no early accidents to report. we still have fire activity in the city, on bonneville street near boston street so be prepared to slow down if you travel in that area. another live look at traffic on i-95, south of baltimore passing maryland 175, a check of the northbound lanes moving well all the way up to the baltimore beltway. if you're traveling from harford county on 95 here's a live look north of white marsh boulevard, southbound lanes a bit heavy but still at posted speed. as you make the drive to the top side of 695, you'll find traveling through the parkville overlae area, 695 at harford harford road. your mta update on time but for light rail, it's 15 to 20 minutes late. you want to eat out with family and friends but can't afford it? for 10 days this month three dozen baltimore county restaurants are going to make it possible.

abc2 news lynette charles in towson to explain more about restaurant week. >> reporter: yes, live in towson this morning. at troia cafe and we're outside. it's a cold morning but it's beautiful because the cafe is so gorgeous. as we come inside you can see what is going on. i'm actually licking my lips this morning and thinking about all the wonderful fabulous scrumptious food that everybody's going to be able to taste. check out this here. this is one of the desserts. we're going to talk about that in a second. that will be served here. i want to bring in the lady of the hour. lisa troia martin, thank you so much for joining us. tell us about your role in restaurant week. >> we are an active participant, we're excited to have restaurant week. we do see an uptic in business, we have a lot of new faces coming in. people take the opportunity to come and try new places that they have not been to before and regulars like to come in

and try the new dishes we create just for restaurant week. >> how long have you been participating in restaurant week? >> it's been a baltimore county collaborative effort for three years so we've been participating all those three years. and before that we participated in a sort of auxilliary of the regular restaurant week. >> reporter: i pointed to the lovely dish we're looking at. what is that? >> that is a home ahead apple cake with applesauce on top. everything is made from scratch inhouse. that is the dessert for both the lunch and dinner. the lunch restaurant week you have a choice of soup or salad and three different entrees. my favorite is the veal catch tory, it's very authentic italian. we serve it on sauce polengtha. >> reporter: i'm going to be back. you have to let your doors open for me.

i'm definitely going to try that. i think you should try that as well, charley. a great time to be out. it's good business for the fabulous restaurants here. back to you in the studio. >> thank you. in addition to higher taxes, your refund may be slower than you think. coming up, we'll explain why. also, what is in your morning glass of orange juice? a test reveals it may be more than just pulp.

the food and drug administration administration reported that juice producers found low levels of fungiicide in orange juice. the fda also says it's testing juices currently on the market to see if it could pose a possible public health risk. the irs doled out fewer tax refunds last year, the ones they gave out were smaller. refund checks in 2011 were down on average from 100 from the

year before or about 3%. the agency delivered more than $100 million in refunds during the year. officials say they are holding on to tens of millions of dollars in tax refunds that could not be delivered due to mailing address errors. the best way to punish a teen may be to embarrass them. how one mom is now taking the law into her own hands and getting her child in line. we'll explain. andd the former governor of mississippi letting people go. and has people fighting mad. that story coming up in the next half-hour of "good morning maryland."

wednesday, january 11. i'm charley crowson. meteorologist justin berk has the forecast. >> clear for the time being but it's going to change. 28 in baltimore. low 20s to the north but most of us hovering just below freezing. even eastern shore, 30 easton and we are clear but the clouds are just knocking on our doorstep. that is part of a larger weather system. with all this rain