earl in just a second. it is clear right now. the air quality will be in the poor range. a lot of pollution with this stagnant air mass. the wind is about two or three miles per hour. mostly sunny. almost exactly the same conditions as yesterday with a high around 95 degrees. we will check the seven-day forecast coming up in just a few minutes. first we say good morning to sarah. >> good morning. nothing happening at the moment. 56 miles per hour on southbound j.f.x. 54 on the west side. 795 looks good. let's check drive times. 11 minutes on the outer loop north side. same thing on the west side. you a live view of

traffic outside. this is 95 just south of the beltway. this is the traffic on 70 just west of the beltway. we are off to a great start. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. over to. >> thank you. a powerful hurricane earl was tracking and setting off concern from north carolina all the way to maine. >> cities are bracing for the worse. we have more from north carolina. >> calm seas cannot hide hurricane earl, as it continues to close in on the east coast. >> any of these areas could be impacted. people need to get ready now. >> the current forecast shows earl pressuring the coast over the next couple of days. the outer banks will likely be

the first to feel the effect. >> i think everybody is concerned. it is teasing us. we're going to hang out and see what happens, until they run us off the island of. >> evacuation orders are already in eect on okra island, and more are expected today. many are not waiting for orders. preparing to ride out the storm. >> i will be in the basement if need be. we have plenty of supplies. >> the entire east coast now anxiously awaiting an unwelcome guest, hurricane earl. officials will meet later this morning to discuss the possibility of evacuation's and it to continue to prepare for earl. jay gray, wbal-tv 11 news. >> you can follow earl's pass on

our website, wbaltv.com. we will begin live coverage beginning tonight as hurricane earl moves closer to maryland. how local emergency officials are preparing for the storm. >> an 83-year-old woman claimed she was sexually assaulted inside her home. >> she said she was raped. police say they need your help to find him. we have more details. >> police have been handing out fliers and asking the public's help in finding the man they say raped the elderly woman. the suspect broke into her home around 1 in the morning on monday. once inside the home, they said he raped the victim. there is only a vague

description of the suspect. >> have exterior lighting in place if possible. also some motion detector lighting. secure your front doors, your windows, in the gates, make sure you lock those. >> anyone with information is asked to call anne arundel please. reporting live, jennifer franciotti. >> police are also busy investigating a pair of unrelated shootings in glen bernie. one man was shot tuesday morning and was taken to shock trauma. no word on a suspect or a possible motive. police also responded to a double shooting where authorities say two men apparently shot each other.

there were also treated at shock trauma. baltimore city has recorded its 144th homicide of the year. this happened yesterday morning on harris avenue. police say the victim tried to fight of his attackers. he was shot in the chest and back. he was rushed to the pop hospital where he later died. this time last year there were 147 murders in baltimore city. ayne black has been arrested in the death of ankush gupta. the body was discovered just off of light street. police have not said how gupta ended up in the water. >> it is time to turn the page

on iraq. >> the president said it was time to shift resources to prairies' here at home. kate amara has more on that. >> robert gates is in iraq this morning, meeting with troops. the president declared the war in iraq is over. after seven years and more than 4400 u.s. service members killed, president obama declared an end to u.s. combat operations in iraq. >> it is time to turn the page. >> the president said america remains committed to an independent and stable iraq. >> a transitional force will remain in iraq. >> republicans claimed success

grew out of the troop surge strategy. >> i want to thank president obama for setting aside his past political rhetoric and recognizing the importance of the surge. >> the war in afghanistan and the fight against terrorism continue. >> we will turn ft al qaeda. >> he linked the war in iraq to the u.s. economy. >> put the millions of americans who have lost their job back to work. >> the 50,000 american troops that remain in iraq have to be out by 2011. live in washington, kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. >> do you think if there is a chance u.s. troops will be in iraq past that deadline? >> the administration has not shut the door on that possibility. any proposal to maintain an american presence in iraq after

20 child would have to come at the request of the iraqi leadership. >> kate amara, thank you. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. years from now, what do you think will be the lesson learned from the u.s. presence in iraq? e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. again, that is watercooler@wbaltv.com. a retired carpel suing a maryland hospital after what he called a nightmare stay over. >> a man learns his fate for committing assault. details as we cover the nation. >> here is a live look at traffic, the beltway at liberty road. road.

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clear skies again. 79 degrees downtown at the maryland science center. cooler in the suburbs. it will be another hot day today. it will be exactly like yesterday temperature-wise, 95 degrees. things will change as we head into the weekend. we will get some rain maybe in some cooler temperatures by saturday. we have more on hurricane earl in just a few minutes. >> a very bizarre story. a man was filed a lawsuit against a maryland hospital after he claims he had a nightmare of a visit. he was taken to prince george's hospital to be treated for minor injuries because of a car accident. he said when he woke up, he was told he was being prepped for cancer surgery. when he tried to leave -- he

tried to leave and was tackled by security guards. he said he was assaulted in and elevator. no comment on the lawsuit. >> a man slid his own throat in a dallas court room after he was sentenced to 40 years in prison. this was for aggravated assault. he began cutting back at his throat. the razor blade was confiscated. he had another one stashed away. he survived and was taken away on a stretcher. >> 70 degrees on tv hill. you will soon see a calorie count on more than just restaurant menus if the feds have their way. >> optimism in the consumer alert. confidence could be on the mend. >> we have a downed tree in

towson. we will

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> not much going on. >> it is a pretty nice ride overall. there is a downed tree in towson. one intersection is blocked near glen eagle court. other than that, we're doing well. 49 miles per hour on southbound 95. 58 on the j.f.x. just below the beltway. so far so good on 795.

i-70 looks good. 48 on the southbound harrisburg expressway around shawan road. drive times on eight minutes towards 83. 11 minutes to travel on southbound 95 down to 32. this is a quick live look outside. volume is starting to build in the southbound direction out of the northeast on 95. this is i-70. so far moving without delay at this time. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. now we get the latest on the buses and trains. >> we are looking pretty good on the rails this morning. no delays on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines. the metro subway is also on time. we have a few diversions on the buses, including the 27 at pratt

street. the 35 bus is also being diverted. now back to tony pann. good morning. >> the weather is not going to change from yesterday today. sunny and hot. no weather problems this morning. we have clear skies. you probably noticed some haze this morning. code red. b. of high pressure will give us the key to again today. we're watching a cold front. it will hopefully kicked earl off the coast and drop the temperatures by the time we get into saturday and sunday. hurricane earl has weakened a little bit overnight. it is now a category 3 storm. sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. it may strengthen again back to

a category four. either way, this is a powerful hurricane. we have to keep an eye on it. this is the latest track from the hurricane center. it should sweep by the outer banks of north carolina. it will come off the coast of maryland. this could be a bigger effect for the folks in new england. it could hit cape cod as a category one. it should be about 200 miles off shore as a category 2 hurricane. the tropical storm-force winds go out about 200 miles from the center. we could still have a tropical storm conditions at the beaches. our time frame for earl to affect us is during the day on friday. i think we will get some big

waves and heavy surf. ways could be up to 10 or 15 feet high at ocean city. we could see wind gusts over 50 miles per hour at the beaches. i also want to point out that we will have little effect from the storm here in baltimore. this is all at the beach. we could see some rain from the front. we do not have to worry about this around the metro area. high temperatures in the mid 90's this afternoon with variable wind. mostly clear tonight and mild. near 70. it will be another hot one tomorrow. cooler on friday. upper 80's as the front comes by with scattered showers and thunderstorms. that front will hopefully keep earl away from the delmarva beaches. most of the holiday weekend will be outstanding.

looking forward to that. >> after two months of the consumer confidence index dropping, it appears things are turning around. it's still remains low but there is reason to be optimistic that the short-term outlook fo the economy has improved slightly. many places that serve food could require published calorie counts. the regulations would come from expanded provisions from the march health care overhaul. opposition says these expanded rules were not meant for them. no word on when these measures would be implemented. >> can you get low-calorie movie

popcorn? the hyundai sonata is under investigation for a possible steering problem. courtney donohoe joins us live with a look at the bloomberg business report. >> state farm and nationwide mutual are in hurricane earl's path. there are among the insurers that have insured $130 billion in coastal property. if you drive a hyundai, safety officials are investigating the new 2011 sonata. they have begun investigations based on consumer complaints that are centered on concerns drivers may be experiencing a complete loss of driving capabilities.

stock futures are pointing to a higher open for today. a back to school shopping report. consumers are buying back to school items. they are reluctant to buy anything else, including automobiles. looking for some weekend trav el deals, $21 a night in las vegas. if yearbook on hotels.com. reportingey donohoe, for wbal-tv 11 news. we'll see you in a bit. >> thank you. >> 70 degrees on tv hill. coming up, traffic and weather together. >> the ravens make a deal to upgrade their talent in the secondary. you might recognize the name of the player that is coming back

to maryland. >> don't forget to e-mail us your response to our water cooler question of the day. years from now, what do you think will be the lesson learned from the u.s. presence in iraq? you can e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

>> for the first time, the orioles have started to play against teams in their own division since buck showalter has arrived. the orioles beat boston last night. brian matusz, what a turnaround since buck showalter has arrived. first inning, freezes j.d. drew. runners on the corners.

fastball, he is out of there. matusz out of the inning. luke scott, gone. 26 home run for scott as the orioles beat boston 5-2, a major blow to boston. the ravens have just increased their depth at quarterback by acquiring joshed wils wison. the ravens send a conditional draft pick to seattle. wilson is a speedster. he arrived in seattle in 2007. his speed makes up for the loss th.dominique fox worwor wilson will likely not play in the preseason finale. we have the call for you on the

game right here. i'm gerry sandusky. i hope your day is off to a fantastic start. . >> thank you. coming up in the next half-hour -- >> an elderly woman is raped. police are now looking for a suspect. we will have the latest on the investigation. >> a look at how state and local officials are bracing for hurricane earl. >> we will give you the latest track guidance on earl and talk about our own seven-day forecast. >> we are dealing with a downed tree in towson. tree in towson. we'll update you on as a career prosecutor i made decisions on facts not politics. in washington, i'm trying to do the same. that's why i voted to crackdown on wall street and protect the bay. and why i voted against the $3 trillion budget, the big bank bailout, and against the health care bill. you see for me it's not about democrats or republicans it's about common sense and doing

what's best for our families. maybe that's why i'm ranked one of the most independent members of congress. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning, everybody. welcome back. i am stan stovall. >> and i'm mindy basara. thank you for joining us this morning. morning. let's