down a few more degrees. a lot of cloud cover today and scattered showers are possibility. this is not out of the question that you may see some wet weather. most of it will stay north of baltimore. now will check traffic with kim. >> one problem spot right now in the harwood area of anne arundel county. 255 is closed at route 2. take an alternate route. looking good on the major roads. into the beltway, 59 miles per hour. up to speed, at 12 minutes on the outer loop west side. nine minutes on 895 on the south

side to the harbor tunnel. no delays just yet. this is the beltway at security boulevard. no problems to report. this is 95 at the fort mchenry toll plaza. both directions are moving just fine. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. good morning. >> the passing of ron smith. >> he had been battling pancreatic cancer for some time. jayne miller has more. >> this is action news. >> the evening. -- good eveni ng. i'm ron smith. >> they say it is another

scheme. >> he worked as a stockbroker and he returned to wbal radio to be in a whole new journey as a talk-show host. >> there were able to bomb from far away. >> he succeeded by staying on top of local and national politics. opposed both wars in iraq. >> the war has not gone as planned. >> he had no problem picking on both political parties. he called john mccain too angry be trusted. and barack obama, he asked, what is beneath all the fervor? >> there is too much debt loose

the world. >> this year he chided both sides over the debt limit. declared it was inaccurate. his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer came in mid october. began working as long as he could. he loved what he did and was lucky he could spend so much of his life pursuing it. this is woody wrote in april of 2010 -- is what he wrote. "this makes me incapable of being a good corporate citizen. it took years to figure out how to overcome this characteristic enough to stay employed and make a living. luckily there was talk radio."

he called himself the voice of reason. ron smith was 70. >> our thoughts and affairs got to his family. -- our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. what are your reflections in light of the passing of ron smith? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> police are looking for the person responsible for shooting a man. this happened just outside of nordstrom's. rob roblin is live with the latest. >> police have not identified the victim and not arrested a suspect. we do know that it happened

yesterday evening and it happened in the parking lot of nordstrom's outside a service entrance. a number of gunshots and the man was shot and killed. after police arrived, they roped off the area and closed thurmont and they went inside the mall looking for suspects, canvassing the entire mall. no arrests were made. >> they immediately went inside the mall and began canvassing the entire mall, looking for somebody who may look panicked or suspicious. >> at this point, police have not arrested anyone and they have not released the name of the person who was shot here in towson yesterday evening. rob roblin, wbal-tv 11 news. >> two shooting victims turned

up in baltimore city. police are not releasing much information. when incident happened before 9:00 p.m. another victim walked into a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. another shooting investigation is under way involving a police officer. police responded to it home invasion. it woman woke up to it masked armed man inside her home. the suspect robbed the victim before confronting police. several times an officer opened fire. the officer is currently on routine administrative leave. another shooting, this one in southeast baltimore. a victim was shot in the leg on monday evening. no word on his condition. >> a judge rules and accused

murderer, but it to stand trial in his wife's death. he is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his ife. a judge sends it will not for violating her probation when she took part of a robbery and the murder of stephen pitcairn. she was serving probation and drug charges at the time he was murdered. >> 51 degrees on tv hill. demand is expected to hear his fate -- a man is expected to hear his fate. [ dog barking ] mom!

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welcome back to 11 news today. 5:09, 51 degrees downtown at the inner harbor. we're seeing mild temperatures across the state. we have a storm system approaching from the west. this is bringing heavy snow to parts of colorado and kansas and moving into nebraska. we're on the warm side of it and we're seeing a chance for rain showers and mild temperatures. we will detail the first day of winter when we come back. >> the investigation into the body found along a long island beach. we will learn what the victims' families are doing to find the serial killer. the remains of 10 people were

found on the beach front. it is believed the suspect is targeting prostitutes. a man planted a bomb along the parade route. a man was arrested in washington state in march and confessed to planting a bomb back in spokane but it never went off. >> tonight marks the first might at hanukkah. national menorah will be lit tonight. world's tallest menorah will be lit in new york. chanukah is the jewish festival of lights. the mayor will participate in tonight's event. >> 51 degrees on tv hill.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> 255 remains closed in anne arundel county. ♪

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>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> good morning. kim dacey checking on your morning commute. one problem spot in anne arundel county. 255 is close in both directions

at route 2. take an alternate route if you plan to head in that direction. looking pretty nice on the major roadways. 74 of the outer loop topside. no delays just yet. this is the beltway along the west side at security boulevard. picking up and volume just a tad but no problem spots. this is 95 of the fort mchenry toll plaza. southbound traffic looking good. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. now let's get the latest on the buses and the trains. for that we go to kurt kronke of the mta system. good morning. >> good morning. we're looking along nicely on the marc trains. no delays on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines.

metro subway on time. three, 36 buses are operating with delays. i am kurt kronke. now back to ava marie. >> good morning. very interesting day today. the next couple of days, a bit unsettled. we are seeing a front approaches from the west. moving down towards ocean city. the 95 corridor is dry right now. most of this is north of the mason-dixon line. some of this is coming down as it wintry mix in pennsylvania. we're not expecting any wintry weather. just rainy weather. there are the showers along the east. this is with a cold front. a bit of an interesting trend with the temperatures. we may see the temperatures drop

down as we head towards sunrise. we will detail that in just a minute. the cold front is sitting back to the west side. we're still in mild air. the coldest air is in the central tier of the nation. a huge blizzard in central kansas. this storm will be pushing north and east. we will stay in the mild air throughout the entire week. you can see the cold temperatures. 21 in minneapolis. 40's and 50's ahead of the front. these are the temperatures we're seeing in the mid atlantic. 51 at the inner harbor. 46 in college park. these are morning temperatures. it is about 20 degrees warmer this time today than yesterday. i do want to timeout the

futurecast. we had some rain early on. scattered showers are possibility through the day into tonight. the front wall near our way and we make dry out into thursday. a pretty messy forecast. we do have mostly cloudy skies today. temperatures will hold pretty steady in the 40's. mostly cloudy skies tonight. rain is likely tomorrow and it could be heavy at times. temperatures will be in the mid 50's. the best chance for rain tomorrow. we will see rain on friday morning. temperatures will be colder into the weekend. there could be snow off towards western maryland. everybody dreams of a white christmas.

>> before you toss out the old, check out your state's laws. 17 states have laws banning electronic waste and landfalls. the laws go into effect in illinois in january. this is to keep harmful chemicals out of landfills. make sure pets are kept safe and happy. >> when you're planning your holiday celebration, and don't forget about your pets. animals can be intrigued by items that are not in the home all year long. >> keep them higher up on the tree branches. >> betsy says holiday plants like poinsettias and mistletoe can be poisonous to paets.

be mindful of small bones. certain streets are not good for pets --certain treats. pets should be indoors as much as possible. salt on sidewalks can irritate their paws. their paws theirinse off before you bring them inside. ama involved with the madoff ponzi scheme. we have the bloomberg report. >> apple is worth a ton of cash. they have more than $80 billion

on its hands. they may be ready to start spreading that wealth. they could not some kind of dividends for their investors. it has been to a half years since bernie madoff was sent to prison. now his former comptroller is feeling the heat. admitted she created phony stock records and that she filed fake reports with regulators. she faces as much as 50 years in the big house. stock futures are very strong. there will be a report on housing starts. yesterday was a down day for stocks. the conference call did not make any progress. lockheed marker will supply a joint strikers. this was short listed against

boeing's super hornet. three in five workers have got themselves yelling at their computer out of sheer frustration. nearly one in five say they have wanted to quit their jobs over all that frustration. i'm ellen braitman with bloomberg news reporting for wbal-tv 11 news. back to you. >> i don't know if you are done with your holiday shopping. some americans are not done. >> i did a mad dash yesterday. i was not alone. free wifi in the sky from skype. >> thank you. 51 degrees on tv hill.

nick markakis makes the holiday brighter. and all expenses paid shopping spree. >> don't forget to e-mail us your response to our water cooler question of the day. what are your memories and reflections in light of the passing of ron smith? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

>> nick markakis need the holidays brighter for one family. he took them on a shopping spree at the target store in cockeysville, complete with a snazzy limo ride to the store. >> just seeing the smiles on

their faces makes it all worthwhile. >> i am appreciative. take caring of the kids -- taking care of the kids. t. nick. like saying ne also donated coats -- they also donated coats. >> a man penalty layaway balances for 23 people. some of the purchases were for walmart employees. the generosity to many by surprise -- took many by surprise. >> i was in shock. he offered to pay off their balances.

>> from santa claus. a real santa claus this year. >> dozens of retailers said they have had people come in and pay off debts. >> 5:57. 27. 51 degrees on tv hill. we look back on the life of ron smith. >> a man is murdered outside the towson town center. >> a couple of areas of showers to watch out for.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. welcome back to 11 news today. i am lisa robinson. >>