Transcripts For WJZ 20091203

park. saying goodbye to a college student who was killed in a drunk driving crash. the story when eyewitness news continues. and a pleasant thursday evening. look at that sunset. a howard county high school student was driven from the back of a pickup. the father of steven dankos tells wjz's mike schuh, he was a good kid. on this day, under a clear sky at college park, the friends of steven danko gathered to remember and let go. >> he was a caring, loving person. always made everyone smile. >> reporter: those smiles are absupport now. his body is carried by his six best friends, all wearing home jerseys. >> every time he mentioned steven, he would say, what a great guy. he was someone you could ask a question to, someone that would be there for you. someone that was genuinely a good kid. >> reporter: this day, a stunning low, when compared to the time just two years ago, when steven played a pivotal role in helping his team win a state hamp championship. his father spent a few moments with me. >> to see all of the friends he had. and all of the people planning this, it's a tragic thing that happened. i've lost words. i don't know what to say. >> on sunday, the 17-year-old was thrown from the back of a pickup truck, driefn -- driven by the brother of his best friend. a man now facing guilt and multiple charges. for his funeral, the area was packed. his mother lost a son. >> i loft my son. -- my heart. i don't know how you get through that one. >> dankos was later built at the gate of heaven cemetery. the driver of the truck, 22- year-old david erdman is out on bond, facing dui, homicide while intoxicated and manslaughter charges. a spokesman for senator bob corker says julia corker was driving near the verizon center when she was forced out of her suv. she did not suffer any serious injuries. two suspects were arrested for the attack. new at 6:00, there's a push this year to encourage maryland residents to do their holiday buying at their local stores. this recession-driven drive is led by the state controller who, as political reporter pat warren explains, is on a statewide shopping spree. i'm going to get a chocolate chip. >> maryland's comptroller puts his money where his mouth is and finds another reason to open his wallet at wild yam pottery a couple of doors down. >> are these made locally? >> they are. there are four of us here. >> well, that is beautiful. >> reporter: and janet schmidt doesn't know it. but she's about to get general persuasion about her shopping. >> qvc. i'm going to be honest. i'm a qvc shopper. >> just while you can for the next month, try to patronize local businesses. >> reporter: he is asking everyone to be patrons of local business people. >> i feel sorry for people starting a new business now. >> people just aren't spending. they're afraid to spend. >> we're hoping things will improve. >> reporter: franchot, joined by councilmembers mary pat mary pat clarke and belinda are hoping for that, too. >> they're hoping this month. come on down here and shop here. >> reporter: and they've got great stuff. great stuff. you can get any kind of thing you want. and have a good time doing it. >> reporter: this holiday season shop local crusade will continue in other parts of the state. but camden may be hard to top. >> this is the highpoint. this little store right here. because it combines everything we're talking about. >> shopping locally not only benefits your neighborhood businesses. there's something for your state, too. 6 septs on the dollar -- 6 cents on the dollar to be exact. >> reporting live, i'm pat warren. wjz eyewitness news. >> the tour has already covered frederick, easton, ellicott city and cambridge. you get sally in my presence. you get in hamden. there's a lot of stuff there we like. >> on the avenue. >> she always puts me on the spot here. >> just say yes, bob. take a look at temps and conditions around the region. 50 now, west winds at 9. the barometer on the way back up. come back and take a look at the end of the week after this. you can tell when a salad's fresh express... ...and when it's not. fresh express salads are so consistently fresh and delicious... ...they're guaranteed. fresh express. oh, yes. look at that washington monument. >> snowflake. that's as close as we want them. saturday night. it's a great night. just lovely out there. it's mild. beautiful. yesterday it was cold. well, wasn't cold. it was raining, wet, miserable. and things have really changed. take a look at temps around the region. clear to partly cloudy skies. turning out to be a nice day. 36 out in oakland. it's dropped about 5, 6 degrees in oakland. we're down to 50. the dew point is 36. that's what we expect to end up somewhere in the morning. so it will be seasonably chilly. although it's way above normal. winds are beginning to slow down. 9 here. 14 at pax river. and the winds tonight will continue to diminish. and tomorrow won't be a major factor at all. however, we're looking at the south and southwest. snow here in the panhandle of texas. and oklahoma. the cimarron strip. that's what they call it. snow. amarillo. this little bank of snow is going to grow. it's going to head down to the south, believe it or not. suburbs of houston will probably see some snow tomorrow night. it will be mid-30s. probably won't stick much. but this band of precipitation is going to pick up moisture, low pressure. and it heads off the carolina coast. it may get just close enough to our region to bring moisture back to bring cooler air. and we might bring rain-snow mixture here. temperatures will be above freezing. the only place where we might see a little splash accumulating on lawns will be north of town. and could be an inch or so. you know, saturday afternoon, saturday night. temperatures, primarily above freezing. now, late saturday night, north and northwest of town, they get to 31. there could be slight conditions, late saturday night, early sunday. definitely cooler temperatures the next 24 to 48 hours. and by saturday, see the moisture. at least this one model, showing you just about to the baltimore region. north of us, probably nothing. south of us, might see some heavier amounts here in the shenandoah valley. could see a couple of inches of wet snow on saturday. small craft advisory tonight. and tomorrow, winds down only to 5 to 10 knots. bay temp around 51. tonight, we'll call it generally clear, around 36. and kind of breezy early on. tomorrow, back up to 50. with a lot of sunshine. and clouds come in tomorrow night. and tomorrow's tomorrow night's lows in the 50s. only around 40, with a little rain and snow mixture. into the evening hours. it is december. >> yes. >> for some reason, it has been snowing on that particular day. december, 4th, 5th, for like the last five out of last seven years. >> we have not gotten you to do your prediction. you think about that, bob. >> too late to do that. >> no, no. you think about it. >> no. it's after december 18th. >> and somewhere warm and sunny. you lucky person. no show. the so-called white house party crashers are called to testify. why they didn't show up. anne arundel county teen, fatally beaten while riding his bike. one of the teens charged in the case enters a plea today. i'm gigi barnett, in anne arundel county. that story is coming up. chandra levy case, the new charges against the man accused of killing the former washington, d.c. intern. it is just after 6:30. 50 degrees with a few clouds. good evening. thank you for staying with wjz. and here are some of the stories people are talking about tonight. the director of the secret service insists that two aspiring reality tv stars who crashed a state dinner at the white house were not a threat to the president. but as joel brown reports from washington, he says it should never have happened. >> reporter: this was one invitation, mimichaele and tareq salahi turned down. looking into how they managed to get into last month's white house state dinner. now, staffers are working on subpoenas to force them into questionings. >> we are all fortunate that this did not become a night of horror. >> reporter: lawmakers grilled the director of the secret service, about why his people would allow someone with no identification to mix and mingle with the president and vice president. >> this is our fault and our fall alone. look at me and blame me. >> he went on to say that at least three officers who worked the night of the state dinner are now on administrative leave. >> reporter: the salahis weren't the only people who declined to testify thursday. the panel also hoped to grill social secretary desiree rogers, about the role her office played in screening the guest list. >> we've gone back through two administrations and cannot find any instance, where the social secretary was not there, standing with the secret service. >> reporter: the committee turned down king's request to try to force rogers to testify. and the secret service may still bring criminal charges against the salahis. in washington, joel brown, wjz eyewitness news. also tonight, virginia regulators say they are investigating the fundraising practices of an enterprise run by the salahis. new allegations against the man being held for the murder of washington intern chandra levy. ingmar guandique. he was arrested last year and charged with first-degree murder in the death of former intern chandra levy. the death of a 14-year-old crofton boy sparked outrage in the community. gigi barnett explains another teen admits to the crime today. >> reporter: an admission to manslaughter in court closes the case in the death of 14- year-old christopher jones. deadly blows to the head killed christopher back in may, when he was attacked by a group of teens, associated with a gang in crofton. the case sparked talk of tougher penalties for youth and gang violence. >> there is always something about a kid, every other day. there say kid stabbing somebody, shooting somebody, beating someone up. and the laws need to be changed. >> reporter: one of two teens charged with christopher's death admitted to manslaughter in court. prosecutors wanted to try 16- year-old javel george as an adult. but in october, the judge decided that george needed punishment and rehabilitation and sent his case back it juvenile court. today, with a plea deal on the table, javel admitted to dealing one of the deadly blows that killed the teenager. he asked about the charge. and he said, it was the right thing to do and later apologized to christopher's family. >> i don't believe he meant to kill my son. i believe he meant to hurt him. >> reporter: some of christopher's family members say rehabilitation may not work. >> i feel that he's going to be back in the justice system again one day, down the road. and you know, maybe down the road, maybe i will forget. -- forgive. but right now, i can't. >> reporter: the judge said he didn't believe the 16-year-old had any intent to kill christopher, but he was concerned that javel showed no emotion in court. >> i think the court did misunderstand the fact that he didn't show a reaction. he's been hurting the whole time. this was his friend. and no one wants to be associated with anyone's death. >> while the judge sentenced george to the maximum juvenile facility, he did not give a specified release date. instead, the judge says the goal is rehabilitation. in anne arundel county, i'm gigi barnett, wjz eyewitness news. >> now, the judge told javel that he wants the teen to complete high school and receive anger management treatment while he's behind bars. >> a judge sentences a frederick county man to nine years in prison for the sex abuse of a minor. 26-year-old adam windsor uses a hidden cell phone to videotape girls changing clothes in frederick. time now for a quick look at stories you'll find in the baltimore sun. remembering a police officer, killed 25 years ago, while working a drug case. previews of this weekend a state championship football game. >> reporter: and reviews of this weekend's movie releases. for all of these stories and a whole lot more, read tomorrow's baltimore sun. and remember to look for the updated forecast, with wjz's first warning weather team. $40 million has been spent to restore native oysters to the bay. and for the most part, it hasn't worked. now, the o'malley administration has unveiled a new strategy. alex demetrick want reports, it will mean big changes for a new way of life. the image is iconic to the chesapeake. but it's been vanishing, along with the oysters. a plan unveiled in annapolis, is going with a new business model. one that moves from harvesting wild oysters. toss a much more effective, forward-looking, forward- acting, and progress making oyster aqua culture model. >> reporter: to get aqua culture going, 600,000 acres of maryland water will be available for leasing, including 95,000 acres of natural oyster bars. the state projects 150 new aqua culture businesses, generating $25 million, within five years. >> and that goal is a much healthier fishery, a much healthier chesapeake bay. >> reporter: but moving the oyster industry toward aqua culture means moving it away from a way of life. >> this does sound like it's going to be a major sea change for watermen, doesn't it? >> that's what scares most of us. look around at those maps. a lot of sanctuaries coming up in my part of the town. >> reporter: right now, most new oysters in the bay are coming out of the lab. three quarters of a billion, this past year alone. but they aren't reproducing in the wild. the plan now is to plant those new oysters, only in sanctuaries, which will cut into open fishing ground. >> this new plan provides for sanctuaries in areas that have higher salinity and have more potential for the oysters that we plant to reproduce. >> and if they aren't caught, oysters might produce intolerance to the diseases that ravage them and industries. >> it's going to be a different lifestyle. >> reporter: alex demetrick, wjz eyewitness news. now, to give you an idea of how hard the oyster industry has been hit, in 1980, maryland harvested 2 million bushels. last year, that number stood at just 100,000 bushels. for the fourth year in a row, the university of maryland baltimore. names umc as one of the best hospitals for patient safety and quality care. only 45 hospitals got the prestigious recognition for 2009. and the university of maryland medical center is the only one in maryland to get that honor. in tonight's healthwatch report, a new era of scientific research. healthwatch reporter kellye lynn has details. >> reporter: the government has just approved 13 batches of embryonic stem cells. >> reporter: scientists will now be able to use millions of dollars in federal funding to do research. the national institutes of health says the first 13 stem cell lines are available immediately. and another 96 are currently being reviewed. and cigarettes may be loaded with more than just toxic chemicals. a new study finds the average is crawling with germs, including bacteria that can cause respiratory disease. >> reporter: researchers say it's unclear how many can survive the peetd heating process of smoking. but it's possible many of them make it into the lungs because only the tip of a cigarette makes it hot. i'm kellye lynn, with healthwatch. >> the study comes from the university of maryland school of public health. we're in the home stretch of the wjz football challenge. tim williams is at wjz.com, with an update. well, after 12 weeks of the season, i'm still holding onto first place. but the lead is getting really, really close here. taking a look at the bobblehead standings. i have 128 points with stan. and he's closing in. 125 points with stan. and jess has 123. now, mark and marty both just off the leader board, each, with 122 points. but talk about someone doing the end zone dance. tom duffy. he's rocking and rolling. he wins every game this past weekend to win $50 to best buy and a maryland lottery prize pack. you can still sign up to play. just come here to wjz.com, and click on the link at the top of the home page. as for stan and the rest, i'm going to do a ray rice and step on them right now. >> the ravens are back this monday night. see them take on the green bay packers in greenbay. coverage gets under way at 8:00 p.m. still to come. bizarre holiday crime. a man dressed as an elf is accused of telling a mall santa he has dynamite. the man accused of burying 11 women in their home makes a plea in court. some places may see a little snow this weekend. i'll have the exclusive first warning five-day forecast. and wjz 13 is always on. here are the top stories on wjz.com. at this hour. for updates and all the day's news, and the updated forecast any time, log onto wjz document. -- wjz.com. the ohio man accused of killing 11 women ask keeping bodies in his house pleads not guilty by reason of insanity. convicted sex offender anthony sowell. he will now undergo a psychological examination to see if his insanity claims are true. 10 bodies and a skull were found at has house back in october. a wrong-way driver caused several accidents before he was killed in a crash in indianapol i guess this morning. police say they don't know why the driver was going the wrong way, or how the car got on the highway. several lanes on the highway were closed for about two hours during the morning commute. also in indianap on theis, four children were hurt after a crash into a day care during the chase. police say they were chasing the suv after an armed robbery at a nearby dollar store. two adults were also injured in that crash. here's one elf that won't be making santa's nice list. he told them all he had a bomb. witnesses say william caldwell told santa he wanted to take a picture. police say that's when santa told him he had dynanight in -- dynamite in his bag. the mall was cleared but no explosives were found. >> ho ho ho, huh? katie couric has more on what's coming up tonight. >> 38% of teens have said that they have been abused by their partners. more on the teen violence on the rise. and the programs set up to combat it. only on the cbs evening news. thank you, katie. here's a look at tonight's closing numbers from wall street. not so great. we'll be right back. an unusually mild december day across the evening. bob is in the weather center, updating the five-day forecast. and he also has a closer look at what we can expect tomorrow. >> always changes. never stays the same. let's take a look tomorrow. seasonably cool. tomorrow night, clouds move in. the clouds will probably be here on saturday. and yes, you might see some rain and snow showers. north and west of town, maybe an inch of slush is possible. 40-30, on saturday. 46 sunday, monday. sunshine and a few clouds, 48 on tuesday. denise? >> thank you, bob. still to come on eyewitness news tonight. mark has the latest on the ravens, as they prepare for their monday night game against the packers. that's next in sports. ravens players had to pack their woolly bullies and mukluks and all of that in the next couple of days. >> it's going to be cold. maybe you don't need ice for all of the bumps and bruises. just stand outside. >> that's one way to look at it. >> yeah, joe flacco cleared up any concerns about his angered ankle. says he feelings great now. flacco did participate in today's practice in owings mills. there was a notable absence. jarrett gaither. that helped lead the way for rice in the win over pittsburgh this past sunday. rice says the work done up front is about attitude. >> obviously, start with the offensive line. i've never seen a such a hard working group. they took it on ourselves to move pittsburgh around. my job was pretty easy. >> how would you describe the attitude? >> yeah, i mean, it's an attitude to where we're just going to get after him. it's a get-after him technique. and we're going to stay on them and try to finish to the ground and drive plays. >> fullback, leron mcclay attended today's practice. but did not work out. he suffered an abdominal injury. that caused him to leave the game sunday. getting ready for green bay. and this reminder, you can see the packers right here on wjz. our special coverage kicks off monday night at 8:00. in golf, tiger woods' tournament is under way without the host. the event teed off in california today, while woods remains in seclusion in florida. 18 golfers in the field for the world challenge tournament that benefits tiger's charitable foundation. woods withdrew because of injuries suffered in a car crash. and this week, news broke of alleged marital infidelity that woods has apologized for. his fellow golfers remarked on tiger's absence. >> it's been hard. we all want him here. we all look up to the guy. we all admire what he does and has done on the golf course. and if he just does the right things from here on out, people will forgive him and move on and forget. >> today's first round, ian poulter with the fan save here, 4 under par 68. he's tied with zach johnson for the lead. bible news. another infielder, placido polanko gets a three-year contract that will pay him $18 million. polanco leaves the detroit tigers. he played for the phils previously from 2002 to '05. college basketball's big acc challenge goes the way of the big 10 for the first time in the 11-year history of the challenge. wisconsin knocked off fifth ranked duke. it's the first time duke has ever lost to a big 10 team in the challenge. 73-69 theifiable. immediate -- the final. maryland beat indiana on tuesday. the terps, by the way, will play villanova coming up next. getting ready for the big college football game. this alabama medical student is practicing. sarah beth hill was picked for the half time football toss. she could win $123,000 in scholarship money, if she's accurate. she had never thrown a football until two weeks ago. but she's a quick study. appears to be ready. she will throw for the dough at halftime at alabama florida game in atlanta. and if you're a med student, $123,000 would be quite helpful. >> definitely. >> i think so. >> we wish her well. >> absolutely. >> thank you, mark. be right back. coming up with the mentalist, followed by eyewitness news at 11:00. finally, helping to get into the spirit with the arrival of two baby reindeer. the young female reign reindeer were born in minnesota last spring. they now join 8-year-old heidi, a favorite,