>> this is wbal tv 11 news at 6:00 in high-definition. >> it is day eight of the state of emergency. residents continue to dig out from under the record snowfall. good evening. i am kate amara. men each of us are searching for some sense of normalcy and routine. that had many churchgoers picking up shovels today, including the mayor of baltimore city. kim dacey is live to explain. >> you can see behind a set east belvedere. they are trying to get rid of some of the snow blocking one

lane of the road, including pleasant hope baptist church. many other churches are facing similar problems. they have cleared a path for people to get to services tomorrow morning. a group of people including the mayor came together to help dig out. it is the same story all over the city with everyone pitching in to get rid of the snow. city officials say it is a storm like nothing we've ever seen before. many city streets will be plowed not just yet. >> we are working around the clock. and many of the small streets, we are acting the neighbors to come out and work together. >> we have our own operations morning getting ready for tomorrow morning. we have not been able to come together for a couple of weeks. for many people, churches and

important part of their lives. >> to help the churchgoers tomorrow morning, the city has lifted restrictions on snow emergency routes. they will allow people to park in those from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. kim dacey for wbal tv 11 news. >> now to the question of schools. schools are scheduled to reopen on tuesday. the district is working to meet that goal. >> they have been working to clear the schools of snow. it is now firm gold to reopen on tuesday. the mad rush is on. -- it is now firm gold to reopen on tuesday. the mad rush is on. all around the city, crews were on full shifts to clear parking lots and sidewalks. it is no small task. >> we have 170 buildings. we're using 460 custodians. we're utilizing all of our

trucks and equipment. >> the city school system has its own snow removal equipment. the people operating it normally do other things. normal is not a word associated with the 2010 winter season. >> you are an exterminator? >> yes. >> how did you learn to operate the plows? >> they put me in it and i played around with it. it came to me. >> of school property, many sidewalks are still buried in snow. the buses are running, but the bus stops are often blocked by snow. school officials asked for the help of the public to help make the return to school safe. >> it is imperative with all 83,000 kids going to school that people clear the sidewalks so that the kids do not have to walk down the middle of the street. we do not want the kids walking in traffic in being in danger. >> parents has been a lot of

time with their kids over the past 10 days. >> they need to get back and get active. they need to not be in front of the tv. >> tuesday will be the first normal day in more than a week. with schools open and people going back to work, rush hour will require a lot of patience. >> valentine's day is tomorrow. you can imagine the mad dash to local florists. we spoke to the owner of the downtown shop. they say that despite the blizzard, business is all right. >> roses are traditional. however, it seems like they are leaning towards tropical and tallies -- a lot of different varieties. >> she said they of party made 6000 deliveries. more snow could be on the way. we will check with john collins

on that later in the broadcast. in other news, 6 people are recovering after carbon monoxide leak on a cruise ship docked at the port of baltimore. crews responded to the celebrity mercury according to royal caribbean. six crew members started showing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning after welding last night. medics or call this morning as a precaution. those affected are expected to be ok. no passengers were hurt. the ship pulled apart as scheduled tonight. -- the ship will depart as scheduled tonight. on the first full day of competition of the 2010 winter olympics, the focus was on the sliding center. the track has been prepared and reconfigured one day after an athlete from the republic of georgia died after a crash on the last turn of the training run. we have an update on that from

our bureau in vancouver. >> the biggest change will be where the athletes start the race. the results will be slower times and hopefully a safer ride down. can you imagine being a flag bearer for georgia at the opening ceremony? >> it broke our hearts. we were pretty sad about that. it is very sad. >> i think is wonderful they were there. that is what he would have wanted. >> one day after the george insider died -- georgian slider died -- >> everyone wants to be sensitive to and careful. the team is very much in the state of mourning. >> there is change. the ramps have been reduced down for speed. even the profile of the ice has changed. these are changes officials say were made to appease athlete emotions and not because the

track is not safe. >> we're convinced it is safe. there have been 5,000 tonruns on that. the crash ratio is very good for the center. >> some have dubbed one of the turns 50/50 because they felt they had a coin flip chance of making a down safely. this is where the georgian team must slide with heavy hearts. >> they must do it for their teammates. it is sad, but we have to move on. >> that can hit speeds of 90 miles per hour. this morning with the lower start, they did not even top 90. >> olympics coverage continues on our web site.

you can find a slide show with pictures of the accident. pete gilbert will have the latest in sports. are you in the market for a new car? we will bring you a preview of what the international automobile show in baltimore has to offer. >> see why the u.s. marines of lead a new offensive in afghanistan. it is the largest operation in nine years, since the invasion of a

>> in afghanistan today, there was a massive offensive against the taliban. u.s. marines attacked from the air and ground in an attempt to break the grip of the taliban over the country. >> u.s. marines used helicopters

to lead the coalition forces in the largest offensive in nine years. the troops found bombs and booby traps as they moved on marjon afghanistan. it is in the southern region. in early fighting, one soldier was killed by a roadside bomb. a said it was killed by small arms fire from the limited resistance. -- a second was killed by small arms fire from the limited resistance. they're fighting with assistance from the afghan military. marine commanders plan to clear up to 1000 insurgents with a massive 15,000 coalition troops. >> something that more soldiers equal more casualties. it is the other way around. the more you have, the more you can suppress the enemy and avoid casualties. >> this is a change in strategy, announcing where and when coalition forces would start. it gave the taliban time to prepare.

one spokesman said it also gave the local residents a chance to help the coalition. >> i cannot say how long it will take for this to get to the point where we can bring in the civilian support and the afghan government. >> in southern afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed three u.s. soldiers in kandahar. commanders hope to secure a legitimate afghan government before the u.s. troop withdrawal in 2011. edward lawrence in washington for wbal tv 11 news. >> the international automobile show comes to baltimore. the event has something for everyone. >> what happened against duke may not be the worst for maryland fans today. i will explain it in sports. >> it tried to snow but the air was to drive. there is something around the corner. details are coming up. it is 29 downtown.

it is 32 at the inner harbor. it will get cold tonight. it will get cold tonight.

>> the 2010 motor trend automobile show had hundreds of people trudging through the snow to the best and brightest from the auto industry. the event featured the largest ever vehicle in the show. it is the newest mta hybrid bus. >> there is something for everybody. we have the newest and latest high-tech vehicles. we have fuel economy. we have everything everyone is looking for under one roof. >> the show runs through tomorrow. for more details, go to our web site at wbaltv.com >> here is your weather forecast with meteorologist john collins. >> let's take a look at the doppler radar to give you an idea of what has been trying to go on. the big storm to the south that

produced snowe has moved out to sea. we have been on the top edge of it with clouds. it tried to generate flurries or a brief snow showers. it was not successful because the air was dry. most of it evaporated before it hit the ground. there is been since no activity in the mountains to the west. most of that is a lake effect kind of a fair and did not make it out of the mountains. today, the clouds started to break up. we got some sun filtering through. temperatures are on the cold side. the morning lows were in the 20's. the normal high this time of year is 44. we are off the mark. we will not make it in the next seven days. take it easy. 33 at annapolis. it is in the 30's at salzburg. hagerstown is 29.

mckinley was in the teens -- mchenry was in the teens and made it to 20 today. here is the national satellite picture. there is the storm. it was impressive over the gulf stream. it was a powerful storm moving across the south. things are quiet down there. we have had a quiet weatherford couple of days. the next storm is on the way. it is coming out of central canada. these are generally dry storms and do not produce much. it is better than a day away. we have one more day of quiet but cold weather before we have to deal with the next one. partly cloudy skies with a few flurries. the lows will drop tonight to around 20. it may average out to the deans in the suburbs -- out to the teens in the suburbs. this will be settling in over the ohio river valley.

he will push snow to the mountains in the west of us. this is the one that will provide us with a few fits and starts in the first part of the work week. during the day tomorrow, we will still be quiet partly cloudy skies. it will be colder than usual. the west wind will be 12 to 16 miles per hour. here is this evening with snow and the mountain tra-- in the mountains. here is the clipper out to the west. look at the time line. by monday afternoon, we've got cloudy. that is beginning to move through the mountains. temperatures will be right on the edge. when it first comes in, there may be a brief mix with rain and snow. then it will change to snow overnight. we will probably get some accumulation. it will pick up energy overnight. it will not be anything like the storms of the past. on average, several inches of snow would be a good guess.

the forecast puts about two to 4 inches in our area during it is the rain makes that throws some question as to how much we can collect. the forecast is 32 tomorrow. it will be around freezing late monday and tuesday when the chances for snow will be highest. it will be dry the rest of the week. >> it is time for the 11 sports with pete gilbert. >> it was a litmus test on national broadcast tv. the blood was racing at tipoff. the blue bloods were playing in maryland. he is coaching his 1000 gain. -- 1000th game. pick up in the first half. maryland is in front, 6-5. that was their last lead of the game. duke is running. that was part of a 15-0 duke run.

this is the second half. he was a nice run. he had 10 consecutive points in that stretch. boston had 15 in the second half. -- vasquez had 15 in the second half. the blue devils over maryland, 77-56. there will be a rematch of the comcast center. the star of the national championship team juan dixon has been suspended by his spanish team for a positive steroids test. he gave the drug test in november and learn the results a few days ago. he offered no comment on the story. nascar is back to work this weekend with the daytona 500. the saturday race was more than an appetizer. patrick makes for nascar debut.

-- patch it makes her nascar baby. -- patrick makes her nascar debut. she was running seventh at the time. her debut in did in the garage. he flips over and takes out nine cars. he walks away from the crash. tony stewart drives away with the wind. the vancouver games have offered lasting memories already. they're the ones you would like to forget the tragedy of the georgian luger to the embarrassing opening sa ceremony finale where the lighting of the flame was botched. we still have two weeks ago. in speed skating, he stepped out of his comfort zone a little bit. he finished no. 12.

the reigning olympic champion fights on for repeat gold. he was not even close. heddrick finishes 12 seconds back for the 11th place. the netherlands players celebrates olympic glory. he is from poland. his second jump was very nice. he takes first place with just two left. the kid they call harry potter. that is simon from switzerland. he blows by the field. he launches himself 108 meters on the jump. that was 3 meters than anybody else on the planet. he wins the first gold in the vancouver games. it is his third overall. there's a three-way tie for first.

switzerland, slovakia, and the netherlands all have a single gold medal. team usa is not yet on the board. here is our olympics text message of the day. what other olympic sports are you most excited to watch? text your answers to us. you can vote for a different events. standard text messaging rates apply. we will have the results on the 11:00 news. please stay with us. we will check the forecast coming up. we've always found great new music on radio but g record companies want a new tax on music that's played on local radio. a performance tax.

the station you listen to could go out of business. that means lost jobs no new music on the radio and millions to record companies owned by foreign corporations. tell congress: stand up for free radio. stop the radio tax.

could baltimore become the las vegas of the east coast?

the mayor as her voice to the mix. it seems sweethearts in the mid- atlantic cannot wait to get out after being cooped up. we will tell you how 2010 blizzard is

>> it will be a good day tomorrow with a high of 37. beginning in the afternoon on monday, several inches of snow are possible. rain will be in the mix for part

of it on monday. that might decrease the amount of snow. >> we're going to get good at the snow. [captioning made possible by