a pair of teens died along the light rail tracks but the new questions that raises. >> who says you can get too much of a good thing in not anyone who has gotten out to enjoy the weather. how much more can we expect? the insta-weather forecast as news news continues right now. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> good morning, i'm mindy basara. >> i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for news news. >> let's check the forecast with sandra shaw. i wouldn't mind if this lasted the rest of the summer. >> for the spring it was so wet, a nonspring so we are having spring. wouldn't it be nice if for the winter we could have summer? >> i would like that. >> forget the snow. but enjoy because this string of nice days is going to last. our trend as we end the week today through friday cooler temperatures and in addition to the low humidity and plenty of

sun. right now it is 70 downtown, 56 the cool location in york. down to the south 63. a high near 80. mostly sunny and winds light. i have more on the seven-day forecast but first let's check traffic with kim dacey. >> good morning, everyone. in carroll county marriottsville road is shut down between driver and henryton because of a downed pole. we understand that is expected to be closed until 11:00 a.m. so, straight through the morning rush an area to avoid. also we have a 95 southbound issue between caton and the beltway on the shoulder an accident. but it is not causing too many problems but something to be aware of. a live look in that area 95 north of caton avenue. not causing many problems. wilkins avenue and the way moving smoothly in both

directions. that is the latest on "traffic pulse 11." back to you. >> our big story, some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry gathered to say goodbye and thank you to michael jackson in a moving ceremony that drew a worldwide audience. leanne gregg has more from los angeles. >> the arena turned cathedral was full of fans from around the world. a tribute fitting for a king. in the world of pop, michael jackson wore the crown. >> offstage he was shy, soft spoken and child-like. but when he took the stage in front of screaming fans he turned into another person, a mast master, a take-no-prisoners showman. >> a star-studded list of entertainers highlighted the work that spanned more than four decades.

but he will never really be gone. he's going to live forever and ever and ever and ever. in >>♪ gone too soon >> a celebrated man with a sometimes troubled life. it was an outpouring of love with an emotional high point from jackson's 11-year-old daughter. >> and i just want to say i love him so much. >> a final farewell from a man who shared his life and his music with the world. leanne gregg, nbc news, los angeles. >> that brings us to our water

cooler question of the day. what was your most memorable moment from the michael jackson memorial service. e-mail us at watercooler@wbaltv.com. we have continuing coverage of michael jackson's memorial on our website, wbaltv.com. we have posted the entire memorial including performances. you see it all on the front page of the website. m.t.a. confirms the two teens found on the light rail tracks were struck by one of the trains but there are still a lot of questions surrounding the case. after viewing tapes from cameras officials say they can see that connor peterson and kyle wankmiller were walking on the tracks when they were hit from behind by an approaching train. it wasn't until a second train ran over the boys a second time that a fare collector noticed the bodies and called the police. it is unclear why the first train operator didn't notice the

two teens. >> there are a number of factors that affect visibility. lighting, speed, direction, height, elevation. there are so many factors that go into that. it is not that cult and dried to say why didn't you see or what did you see? >> the driver of the first car has been pulled from service and given a toxicology test. >> after serving the community for 8 # years one of the most affordable catholic high schools is about to shut its doors. jennifer franciotti joins us live from towson catholic high with more on what is causing the school to close so suddenly. >> this is really coming as quite a shock to the towson catholic high community. teachers apparently were supposed to be told about it today and many parents and students found out about it through an e-mail. the school was founded in 1922. it is the oldest co-ed catholic school in the archdiocese of baltimore, also one of the most diverse drawing nearly half of the stoonts from baltimore city with a student body that is 40%

minority. sean kane says the recession undermined the bottom line. >> when you lose 81 students and you have your sole source of income as tuition and you have $160,000 in tuition that you didn't collect from last year, that all conspired into a perfect storm and they feel like this is an unprecedented situation for them. they have never experienced this kind of decline. >> kane says the archdiocese is planning to help students enroll in new catholic schools but many catholic schools face the same challenges that towson catholic high is. the school and students are planning a rally today between 9:30 and 10:00. tim tooten will here and he will bring you the latest on the rally tonight on 11 news at 5:00. >> some scary moments for passengers on a southwest airlines flight just seconds after leaving the ground at b. b.w.i. as a flock of birds

forced an emergency landing. witnesses say about 40 birds struck the flight bound for rhode island just after 5:00 p.m. after circling the runway officials were able to clear one for an emergency landing. while bird strikes are not that uncommon they have become a cause for concern after the incident in new york that force add jumbo jet to splash land in the hudson river. >> the airport works hard with airlines and f.a.a. and others to help minimize the risk and the potential impact between aircraft and birds. >> we were right up front and you could hear them hit the engine, then all of a sudden there is a tremendous smell. >> fortunately nun of the 137 passengers or crew on board were injured. all were able to board a later flight. >> city police are looking for whoever is responsible for a tire slashing spree in a northeast baltimore neighborhood. residents in cedonia woke up to find tires slashed on close to

30 vehicles. some thought the tires had gone flat until they noticed neighbors in the area had the same problem. >> it is terrible. just terrible. that is all i could say. >> it happened some time last night. i went to take my wife's car to get the oil changed. i never noticed mine was flat. >> police are beefing up patrols in hopes of finding the vandals. >> a man pleads guilty to federal drug charges. trennel murphy was arrested in february carrying more than 90 pounds of cocaine. that is estimated to be worth two to three million dollars on the street. authorities had sentence murphy who is described as a major player in the city's drug trade, in october. >> baltimore county police are asking for help to locate a missing teen. authorities say 18-year-old donna mivet has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old and suffers from depression. he was last seen yesterday in

the 7200 block of chippen ham. he is 5 is '1" and ways 127 pei pounds. >> coming up a hostage standoff in connecticut comes to a fiery end. >> and more problems for microsoft as a hole is found in its security that could leave users exposed. >> once again it is time to play name that tv star mug shot. who do you think this is? what this star is accused of when we come back. >> another day of mostly sunny skies, low humidity and now cooler temperatures. i will let you know how long this will last coming up. >> we've got new information about the situation that shut down marriottsville road in carroll county. we will have that next. ]phtñ

>> the sun won't set today until 8:35, low humidity, nice clear scan on the satellite. absolutely zip going on over the mid-atlantic states. we did have movement yesterday, a front to the north and west moved through last night. right now it is in southern maryland continuing to push offshore. it was a dry front and didn't generate any showers or storms. high pressure will build in today sinking from new england to the south stabilizing our conditions further. right now temperaturewise we are anywhere from 54 in york, very refreshing up there, to 70 downtown with the metropolitan influence, urban heat island effect. 62 at the airport. a very pleasant start and we will only be drier as far as the amount of moisture goes. a 47 degree dew point reading. typically in july we are in the upper 60's as far as the humidity and dew points go.

this 47 is showing us that we are really in more of a springlake pattern. we haven't been it this cool for the average of all the highs and lows for the start of july since 2001. so we are in a good trend. 79 in the mountains today, mostly sunny. the constant in the forecast is the sun, 80 in baltimore today, light northwest winds five to 10 miles an hour. over the bay bridge and eastern shore and to the beaches of ocean city, 84 degrees, high u.v. index and awesome beach day. water temperatures on the bay are mid to upper 70's now. northwest winds for boating 10 to 15 knots, waves up one to two feet. 100 degrees the record in 1993 july 8. and in 2000 the record low of 53. tonight we are not going to be far off that mark. we could get down to about 55 at the airport. the temperature for a low would

be 63 only in the downtown area. partly cloudy and clear. so that clear sky allowing the temperature to drop. we have a front to the south and will continue to move offshore. high pressure will build up and dictate the pattern the next they days. the trend is below normal temperatures, coolest day of the week tomorrow at 78. 82 and nice friday. then by saturday a return of the heat and humidity as high pressure moves offshore. a front gets through saturday night generating the potential for showers and storms lingering into sunday. that is it for now. >> we have a beautiful forecast and beautiful morning commute. much lighter than normal. the only big problem is in carroll county, marriottsville road closed. we understand it is closed until 11:00 so through the morning rush at driver road and henryton road. the alternate is driver road. 95 southbound between caton and

the beltway an accident on the shoulder. not causing problems there. we have live drive times for you. northbound 895 from the tunnel to 95 north is seven minutes. outer loop from 795 to 9511 minutes and 95 to the fort mchenry tunnel northbound eight minutes. so no major delays just yet. we will give you a live look of 95 north of caton avenue. very light for this time of morning. 895 north of childs street moving just fine there. that is the latest on the "traffic pulse 11" report. >> looking at some of the top stories an explosive hostage standoff in connecticut has ended with one man in custody and the hostage unharmed. richard shakeman held police at bay after he allegedly kidnapped his ex-wife from a parking lot. he allegedly opened fire on officers and claimed to have explosives in an around his house. after his ex-wife escaped he

gave up we a fire erupted in the house. his condition is unknown. eight months after voters went to the polls minnesota democrat al franken has been sworn in as their newest senator. joe biden swore him in yesterday flank bid former vice president and fellow minnesotan walter mondale. while he will sit on the mom names of sonia sotomayor he says he wants to focus on education, healthcare and energy. the new york man convicted of murdering a graduate student in 2006 will face sentencing today. darrell littlejohn was convicted three years ago. he has already served 25 years to life for the kidnapping of another woman. >> credit card companies are putting the brakes on lending. so far this year lending that is declined 38% compared to the

first quarter of 2008 meaning low risk borrowers even are receiving less credit. with president obama's recent signing of a bill to restrict credit cards more the downward trend is likely to consider. web surfers are at a high traffic of wipe being out. microsoft can't fix a problem. they could be infected by visiting a website. microsoft says they are working on a patch to plug up the security hole but will not release it until it is read. meantime the company uses urgers to disable the software. you can log on to wbaltv.com and find out how to do that. google prepared to challenge microsoft's bread and butter. michelle steele has the story and more. >> good morning. in a direct challenge it microsoft's windows the operating system found on the majority of computers around the world, google saying it plans to release its own operating system

based on its chrome web browser. it says the system will be designed for low cost lap taps and may be available to consumers the middle of next year. it may also have its eye on twitter. google and rupert murdoch are planning to buy twitter. acquiring it is a hot topic for media moguls gathered in talks in idaho. u.s. stocks tumbling yesterday sending the s&p to the lowest since may 1 partly on disappointing earning season. lockheed martin led the maryland index lower. and governor o'malley set to testify on stimulus funding to the house committee on oversight and government reform. a new report from the government accountability office finding almost $30 billion has been paid out to states slightly ahead of schedule. g.a.o. saying the majority is being used to stabilize budgets

and maintain benefits under medicaid. that is business news this morning. i'm michelle steele, bloomberg news reporting for wbal tv 11 news. >> celebrity mug shots. yesterday we showed you the mug shot of joist dewitt after being arrested on d.u.i. charges. this morning another star faces similar charges. this is eddie mechanic can. doesn't -- mecca. you may know him better as ragusa from laverne and shirley. i remember the name but not the face. he was arrested in vegas after being involved in a car crash. he is charged with misdemeanor d.u.i. >> he looks different and we had the wrong mug shot in the tease. it is now 6:19. 60 degrees. another check of weather and traffic straight ahead. >> president obama today is in italy for the g-8 summit and

there is buzz about a possible second economic stimulus here at home. i will have that coming up. >> don't forget to e-mail us your answer to our water cooler question of the day. what was your most memorable moment from the michael jackson memorial service yesterday? e-mail your response to

>> kim dacey with the "traffic pulse 11" update. i sound like a broken record. the thing we have is marriottsville road is closed in carroll county between driver and henryton roads. the downed pole has shut down the road until about 11:00 a.m. the alternate is driver road. 95 southbound between caton and the beltway an accident on the shoulder not affecting traffic

but something that may cause rubbernecking. we will give you some live drive times. northbound 895 from the tunnel to 95 seven minutes. outer loop 795 to 9511 minutes. 95 southbound from the beltway to the fort mchenry tunnel is eight minutes. looking pretty good. live look outside at 95 on the other end, just south of maryland 100 you can see things moving fine in both directions. 895 north of childs street very light for this time of morning. the beltway is checking out ok. that is the latest on "traffic pulse 11." really doesn't feel like july out there, sandra. >> kind of like the spring trend for summer. we are seeing the coolest start to the first week of july since 2001. temperatures continue to remain cool and we are also below normal on humidity. there is quite a contrast on the temperatures. 70 downtown and 54 in york and 62 at the airport. so pretty nice start.

mostly sunny, high up to about 80. yesterday we were 88. we should be 87 but it trend will last. tomorrow cooler still. stay tuned for the seven-day. >> president obama is in italy where the g-8 summit starts. as world leaders talk about the fwlebl economy there are rumblings in washington about a possibility second economic stimulus. brooke hart has what we can expect. >> arriving in rome president obama meets with italy's president before the summit's open. the host town of l'aquila is under tight security. roads shut down into activity g-8 leaders will take up a range of issues, trade, iran's nuclear goals and climate change. president obama will say proposed emission caps before the senate show u.s. resolve. europe wants more. on the global economy leaders will compare progress on stimulus measures. there is talk of needing a second u.s. economic jolt.

democrats say lawmakers should be open to it. republicans howled. >> i think it is a worst idea than the first which has been demonstrably proven to have failed. >> with unemployment edging toward 10% president obama defended his read on the economy early on. >> what we always knew was that even when the economy pulls out of recession that you are going to see jobs emerging only at the end of that process rather than the beginning. >> is the global romance with obama over? he got scant attention in russia. >> he will have a bit of the rock star status going in this summit but i think that the question down the road is that perception going to be back with concrete actions and successes. >> bound to limit g-8 progress china's president withdrew from the summit to deal with worsening ethnics clashes.

here the stimulus is getting a mixed grade. a audit out reports for instance the measure is keeping many teachers employed but just a sliver of furndz tagged for highway work has been paid out. >> you may recall monday night the orioles couldn't buy a hit against the mariners. last night was different particularly for iraq scott. career night for him. who got it started early with that first inning single that scored adam jones and nick markakis. but he was just getting started. top six, scott just ekes once mast franklin guttierrez to plate aubrey huff and nolan reimold. that would be enough for a whole week's of action. not for him. seventh inning, a little something extra on that one, three-run shot giving him seven r.b.i.'s and helping the o's to a 12-4 win over seattle and former oriole ace eric bedard. they will wrap up the set this

afternoon. first there was tanya harding, now another former ice princess has run afoul of the law. nickel bobik who won the title in 1995 is accused of being involved in a new jersey methamphetamine ring. she pleaded not guilty. if convicted bobik could face up to 10 years in prison. >> i would never have recognized her. that mug shot. i follow figure skating. 6:27, 60 degrees on tv hill. much more to come. >> faced with hard times the catholic high school announces it is shutting its doors. >> sunny skies but no unbearable heat. that is an anomaly for july. i have the encouraging forecast coming up. >> baltimore city mayor dixon takes action to prevent acts of animal cruelty. plans she will announce later this morning. >> here is a look at last night's winning maryland lottery

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>> good morning, everybody. welcome back to "11 news today." i'm stan stovall. >> i'm mindy basara. sandra shaw has a quick look at the forecast. looking good. >> it really is. get outside. do whatever you can to enjoy it because we will have a high of about 80. low humidity and mostly sunny. can't ask for better considering it is july 8. 70 downtown, 62 at the airport and there you see it, plenty of sun, 79 to 83 the temperature range with winds light out of the northwest. i have the seven-day at the end of this news block. >> parents and students upset over the momentum to close towson catholic high will make themselves heard this morning. jennifer franciotti has more on why the archdiocese decided to shut the school down.

>> as you can imagine the community quite stunned by the news and with the start of the new year less than two months away many are sad and confused. alumni gathered at towson catholic high to digest the upsetting news that their alma mater is shutting down. >> there's got to be more to it. we have had hard times before but it has been here how many years? >> it is the oldest co-ed catholic school in the archdiocese of baltimore. it is also one of the post diverse drawing nearly half of its students from baltimore city with a student body 40% minority. the recession undermined the bottom line. >> when you lose 81 students and you have your sole source of income is twugs auition and you $160,000 that you didn't collect last year they feel like this is an unprecedented situation for them. they have never experienced this kind of decline. >> i feel so loss and stressed.

>> carla would have been president of the senior class. >> i'm just so hurt that the archdiocese has taken all of my parents' money and i can't finish up. skrirs her frustration is xoufrnded by the way she and many others found out about the closure. >> i received an e-mail from some of my friends saying towson catholic is closed. then i turned on the news and saw the story and he was just in tears. >> kane says the archdiocese will help students enroll in new schools but many schools face the same challenges that closed towson catholic. a rally at the school is planned for this morning. tim tooten will be there and bring you the latest on the situation tonight on 11 news at 5:00. >> with baltimore witness to several recent disturbing acts of animal cruelty including the burning of a pit bull mayor dixon is taking measures to stop it. she will announce the formation of a an anti-animal abuse task

force charged with studying ways to prevent the mistreatment of animals. it will suggest legislation to toughen laws prosecuting abusers. >> baltimore county homeowners should soon see less of unsolicited fliers on cars and doorsteps of the council approved legislation that limits the distribution of unsolicited menus and other circulars. that means businesses can't leave leaflets on homes, apartments or windshields. advertisers will be required to include a toll-free number on each flier that residents can use to stop the deliveries. violators would face fines of at least $500. the measure takes effect august 20. >> back in early may donna hamilton was anchoring the 5:00 p.m. news but wasn't feeling herself. she had lyme disease, a disease a could be debilitating if not caught early. >> the ticks that cause lyme

disease are as small as period on a printed page so you may not realize you have been bitten. that is what happened to our colleague donna hamilton. >> donna was busy getting ready for her son's wedding. >> i had stuff to do and people to see and places to go and promises to keep. >> so, when she started feeling achy and tired she claukd it up to a busy schedule and p prewedding stress. she didn't realize those were symptoms of something very serious. her dermatologist made the diagnosis, >> she took one look and said lyme disease. wow! >> you said? >> i was like, really? >> lyme disease is up more than 100% in maryland. tonight at 11:00 how donna discovered she had it, what she is doing about it and what you can do to try to prevent it. >> a pair of bizarre and disturbing traffic stop stories. first one is out of ocean. a woodbine woman was arrested on

d.u.i. charges two times in five hours. the first was friday morning after she was observed swerving and blowing through a stop sign. she was released. then five hours later she was picked up again after police found her behind the wheel. the maryland law prohibits anyone from driving within 12 hours of a d.u.i. she was held on $25,000 beyond. cecil county where police didn't noah to expect when they pulled over a delaware man for speeding. after pulling over jonathan schultz for driving 69 in a 50-mile-per-hour zone police were very surprised to find him driving without his pants. schultz covered himself up with a towel. he said somehow he lost his pants. i hate when that happens. surprisingly, he is now charged with drunk driving.

>> that is great lead-in to traffic. i hope no one is driving without pants this morning. but a couple of things away do want to mention for those drivers wearing pants. carroll county marriottsville road closed at howard county and baltimore county line because of a downed pole. that is expected to be closed until 11:00 a.m. the alternate is driver road. also an accident on the shoulder of 95 southbound between caton avenue and the beltway. just something to watch for not affecting traffic. a live look at the beltway at harford road on the north side moving smoothly. same story on the 83 harrisburg expressway north of the beltway ok as well. >> we are continuing with the spring streak if you will. we are taking a look at gorgeous conditions today. mostly sunny, 79 to 83 degrees. winds light out of the northwest. look at that seven-day forecast. gorgeous. 78 tomorrow, 82, low humidity,

partly friday saturday. heat and humidity returns briefly saturday but another front comes through saturday night. >> the time is 6:37, 61 degrees on tv hill. you are wearing pants, right? >> well, you know, it is early. stadiums we have toes problems in the morning. >> mud wrestling leaves these contestants hogtied. >> i'm nikole killion in washington. president obama arrives in italy for a major global summit. a preview

>> a new species of prehistoric

crocodile fossil has been discovered in brazil. this fossil inhabited the southeast region of brazil and resembled an armadillo because of its shell. it was about six feet long, weighed about 260 pounds. they were able to say the discovery of this is the beginning of a new theory of crocodile habitats. some good clean -- so, not real clean but a lot of fun in franklin county, nebraska the pig wrestling competition. pigs are chosen based on the size of the competitors. the goal drop the pig into the basket before the time limit is up. after the pig is dumped the competitors get the mud rinsed off. the team with the fastest too many -- time gets a prize. an 80-year-old secretary from honolulu can retire after winning big at a minnesota

casino. rebecca berry won $1.3 million on a slot machine. she was in the area to visit two daughters but will return home a mechanicalary. she has a message to her boss. >> i was mrafrning on retiring early next year. but i'm going to call him and say i quit. >> there you go. for many years she's been a secretary for a u.s. district judge. she had been planning to retire within the year but not any more. she is not come willing back to work. >> it is refreshing to see honesty because people say my life won't change. she is very honest about it. >> not me. >> 6:41, 61 degrees. another look at the morning headlines coming up. >> we have picked up an accident in baltimore city and we have the live drive times coming up. >> the radar sweeps are moving but not detecting anything in the way of rainfall. we are still above normal but we

won't get any more this week. looks like 62 right now at the airport, 70 inner harbor. mostly sunny today with the winds continuous out of the northwest. stay tuned for the

>> welcome back. in the headlines m.t.a. officials confirm the two teens found along light rail tracks were struck by one of the trains. after viewing tapes from the front mounted cameras officials say they can see that connor peterson and kyle wankmiller were walking north on the tracks when they were hit. the driver of the train has been pulled from service and given a toxicology test. scary moments for passengers on a southwest flight just second after leaving the ground at

b.w.i. as a flock of birds force an emergency landing. witnesses say about 40 birds struck the flight bound for rhode island. after circling the runway officials cleared a runway for an emergency landing. none of the 137 passengers were injured. all were able to board a later flight. a packed crowd at l.a. staples center gathered as some of the biggest names in music turned out to pay their respects to missile jackson. they all gave tribute to the late king of pop who died last week on the verge of beginning his comeback tour. >> that brings us to the answers to our water cooler question of the day. we asked what was your most memorable moment from the service. bonnie says i thought that brook shields and jermaine jackson to the charlie chaplain song smile was touching. it brought a bit of reality back. it is nice to hear that it was michael's favorite song.

>> my most member reorial momen when the family was on stage. >> emily writes my most memorable moment during the service was usher sinking gone too soon. the jacksons allowed to us see their pain losing a family member. emergencies saw how hard it was to cope. i hope now we will let them heal in peace. >> nick comb says my most memorable memory is when his daughter spoke. it was so sad. his children have been handling it very well. we will post more answers on the front page of wbaltv.com. >> president obama continues the next leg of his overseas trip today after a two-day visit to russia now on to italy. he arrive just a short time ago and meets with the italian president. nikole killion has more on the story. >> that meeting between the italian president and president obama wrapped up a little while

ago with the presser that both had. they issued a brief statement with president obama saying he appreciates the friendship that the united states has with italy. of course, after this mr. obama will be welcomed by the country's prime minister silvio berlusconi's kicks off the g-8 summit. >> president obama took off from russia this morning and in one schmidt and beginning another in italy. he joins leaders from around the world at the group of eight in la chemic italy. it builds off the summit held in london this past spring and it will be an exchange of views. the number one issue is the global economy. >> no nation can wall itself off from the consequences of a global crisis. no one can serve as the sole engine of global growth. >> leaders are looking for an exit strategy as they seek to move from stimulus to recovery.

many remain cautious including britain's prime minister gordon brown who is continuing to press for coordinated international action. but the financial crisis is not the only hot topic to dominate the heads of state. they are addressing other major issues from climate change and world hung are to the situation with iran and north korea. this g-8 kimmsummit lasts the n three days. >> what do officials expect out of this g-8 summit? >> one thing well watch is what happened on the economic front. the stimulus issue is controversial because some want the president to stop his support of stimulus programs like what we have here. some other countries have adopted similar tactics so the white house actually an advisor saying it is not time to pull the plug on the efforts just yet. the other big issue we will watch is on climate change. the g-8 leaders are trying to draft an agreement dealing with

temperature limits to control global warming. robert gibbs hasn't said if the president will support that but if he does that it will be something to take note of. >> nikole killion live are washington. >> kim dacey with the "traffic pulse 11" update. not much to talk about. we still have the situation in carroll county. marriottsville road closed, downed pole. the alternate is driver road. also the report of an accident in baltimore city at baltimore street. report a vehicle went that a house. so watch out for that in that area. live drive times, outer loop of the beltway 95 to 83 looks like 11 minutes. southbound 95 from fort mchenry toll plaza to the beltway is eight minutes. southbound 895 from the harbor tunnel to 95 south nine minutes. not bad. pretty light this morning.

we will give you a live look at 95 in the white marsh area. southbound traffic is moving pretty good for this time of morning. harrisburg expressway just north of the beltway moving just fine in both directions. beltway is checking out ok as well. that is the latest on your "traffic pulse 11" report. over to sandra. >> we are having a long time to enjoy the sun. beautiful sky conditions. sunset at 8:35 tonight. right now plenty of sun out there, no clouds. all the clouds are up in new england. later today they will be offshore. high pressure will extend its reach over the baltimore area. that will stabilize things further. the forecast today a high near 80. northwest winds very light and plenty of sun. right now quite a temperature contrast which is typical. 54 in york. 70 downtown kind of the urban heat island effect there. 62 at b.w.i.-marshall. the dew points really telling the story. 47-degree reading in baltimore downtown this time of year is

incredible. we were usually around 68. the dry trend continues. you have to go back to 2001 to find as cool a start to july for the first week we have seen. 79 in the mountains of western maryland. heart of central maryland a high near 80. beautiful out there. across the bay in ocean city 84 for the high. plenty of sun, high u.v. index so don't forget the sunscreen. winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 knots. waves up to about two feet. record temperature high for this date is 100. we are certainly well off the mark from that. 53 the record low set in 2000 and we are not far from that. we will see upper 50's and maybe even a 55 reading for the airport tonight. so, partly cloudy early on, clearing skies, depending on how clear we are depends on whether we get to the 55 mark. but very pleasant evening.

front moved through yesterday, didn't generate precipitation, now resting over southern maryland but continuing to massive offshore. high pressure will be the dominant feature for the next three days. tomorrow the coolest day of the week, quite nice, 78 for the high. friday looks like 82 and partly cloudy. saturday a brief return of heat and humidity but then you see the 40% chance of scattered evening showers and storms. that is associated with another front that will get that you saturday night into sunday and cool us down again for the start of next week. >> parents and students hope to get answers today about their academic future after the sudden announcement of the closing of a high profile catholic school. jennifer franciotti joins us live from towson catholic with that story. >> this is really a shock to the towson catholic high community. the teachers were apparently supposed to be told today but a lot of parents an students found out through an e-mail yesterday and finding out that way has been quite a shock. this school was founded in 1922.

towson catholic is the oldest co-ed catholic school in the archdiocese of baltimore also one of the most diverse with nearly half of the students from baltimore city with a student body 40% minority. sean kane says the recession undermined the bottom line and this is something this school has never faced before butting it they just can't pull out of. that is why catholic high school here is closing. the archdiocese will work with the students to try to refund the parents' money and get them that other schools around the area but a lot of catholic schools face similar challenges. a rally at the school is planned for this morning. 11 news education reporter tim tooten will bring you the latest tonight. back to you. >> later today on open remarks she takes you behind the ropes to places most never get access to. first the british royal family opens its doors to windsor castle. get a tour of their home then the legendary valentino empire

and behind the scenes of "american idol." that is on open. for a look on "the today show" here is meredith vieira. >> coming up on a wednesday morning from los angeles and new york, reaction to the emotional farewell to michael jackson and tearful goodbye from his daughter that has everyone talking. matt's conversation with a man in charge of jackson's finances at the time of his death. he speaks out in his first television interview. also ahead today investigates a quick and easy way that crooks can pick the lock used on 95% of or homes. is it ok to hide money from your partner? we will get that that when we get started on a wednesday morning right here on "today." >> 6:53, 61 degrees on tv hill. >> we will take another look at weather and traffic before you weather and traffic before you start your day, when we

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>> how is it looking? >> looking ok, carroll county marriottsville road closed with a downed pole. the alternate is driver road. accident in baltimore at baltimore street a vehicle into a house. the beltway at 70 the only area we are seeing a slowdown from security to edmondson avenue. >> another nice day. >> gorgeous. high near 80. mostly sunny, 78 tomorrow. 82 friday. great trend. heat back briefly saturday. >> thanks for joining us for "11 news today." >> live update at 7:25.