not. certainly there were vicious thunderstorms that rolled through at the time. you can see that on h.d. doppler. the movement very obvious as that coastal storm, which is to our north, but a little couple of red cells that rolled through. in baltimore county last night a flood warning was issued at about 11:00. in that period of time basically we saw about two inches or more, two, two and a half inches of rainfall just in one heavy downpour up there. so 84 our forecast high today. you do see showers and thunderstorms still around. variably cloudy conditions. but it shouldn't be among the magnitude that we saw yesterday. not quite as tropical because at least one system is offshore. we're looking at partly cloudy skies tonight. slight chance for scattered thunderstorms. 62 to 66 the overnight low. more on your weekend weather forecast. everybody's ready for that? it is a friday, coming up. >> yes, myself included. there are a few problems. west browned coldspring, an accident coming in. that has all lanes closed in the

westbound direction on coldspring. also a water main break in the pikesville region. two problem spots to watch for. speed sensors up to speed at this time. a live view of 95 at white marsh. it is still a little bit slick out there. southbound i-95 running smoothly all the way down from white marsh to the ft. mchenry and beyond. we're looking at a clear ride so far on the north side at harford road. we'll keep you posted. that's the latest on traffic pulse 11. back to you. good morning. >> thanks. >> four people are dead after a helicopter goes down in washington county. >> the helicopter crashed in the eastbound lanes of u.s. 70. at last check both lanes remain closed. melissa carlson joins us with the very latest. >> good morning. maryland state police said they started getting calls about 10:30 last night. drivers reported what they thought was a car on fire. it was actually a four-passenger corporate helicopter. police say the civilian

helicopter took off thursday fright in hagerstown and crashed in smithsburg 10 miles east of hagerstown. all four passengers died in the crash. their identity readies still not known. f.a.a. records show that a helicopter with the tail number matching the one given by police is registered to marsan aviation, inc, trustee. state police also tell the newspaper that it was not clear what caused the crash, but mechanical issues and inclement weather are possible factors. downed wires forced authorities to close both eastbound and westbound lanes of i-70. they should have it re-opened within the hour. we should know much more about this deadly crash in just a few hours. the ntsb is planning a 10:30 press conference in hagerstown. melissa carlson, wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. police are searching for two men who tried to rape a 24-year-old woman outside baltimore's convention center. it happened about 6:30 saturday

morning. police say the suspects approached the woman who works downtown and then tried to rape her on a piece of construction equipment. >> it seemed like a very populated and beautiful, clean street and i wouldn't expect this would be a dangerous part of the city. >> this is not something that usually happens in this area. we do believe it to be a crime of opportunity as most crimes are. we think that she was walking, by herself, and we think they tried to capitalize on that. >> anyone with information should call baltimore city police. >> police are searching for one of three suspects who they say tried to rob an off-duty police officer yesterday morning. moments after officer finished his shift police say he was approached by the three suspects at a buses stop on cherry hill road. authorities say when one of the suspects showed a gun, the officer, who was not in uniform, shot him. that person was taken to the hospital. a second suspect was arrested. the third person remains on the loose. >> a teacher in to us -- and towson field hockey coach has

been indicted on child pornography charges. john co-vach jr. was arrested in march after chatting with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl. that person was actually a retired los angeles police officer. kovach was a teacher in montgomery county and an assistant field hockey coach at towson university. if convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. >> state police arrested a huff in connection with -- a husband and wife. authorities say the pair stole thousands of dollars in cash and property. 41-year-old jerome herron and his wife tina herron are accused of stealing everything from jewelry to power tools, even ipods. the burglaries happened between last october and july. the two face a number of charges, including burglary, theft and malicious destruction of property. state police say they're in the process of returning the property to its rightful owners. >> workers have their hands full two cats were found dead at the bottom of an outdoor cellular.

residents of the neighborhood believe kids are to blame, saying they corner the animals, then pelt them with crurchgz of brick and concrete. >> and then the next day my cat was missing. >> five years down road, 10 years down the road, these people are going to be involved in acts of domestic violence or other violent crimes against individuals. >> it will be impossible to bring charges unless witnesses come forward. officials are concerned cruelty to animals at a young age could lead to violence at a later life. that brings us to our "watercooler question of the day." email your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> on wall street today, are the bulls back? investigators close out a big week for the dow. and good news on housing, jobs and corporate earnings.

president obama talked about the economy last night at a fundraiser in chicago. especially, he says, it's tied to health care. brook hart has more. >> the news broke the dow opened at the 9000 mark for first time since january, home sales are up for a third straight month, a string of earnings reports came in strong. even ford outdid expectations. is it a sign of a turnaround? >> i'm from chicago. [cheers and applause] i don't break. >> president obama last night sounded bullish. but he said a full recovery and health care reform go hand-in-hand. >> we have to lay a new foundation that will allow the united states of america to thrive and compete in a global economy. it means finally controlling the health care costs that are driving this nation into debt. >> a tough republican says

nonsense. >> the assumption that doing health care is going to help the economy, which the president has been selling, is utter nonsense. it's a whole separate issue. >> negotiators in the senate claim progress in winning over skeptical democrats. west virginia's rockefeller for one is against the insurance coop idea that could win g.o.p. vote. >> it is the most honest, really down in the trenches trading abuse that we've had. >> but senate leaders now say no vote in august. that was the president's deadline. >> that's ok. i just want people to keep on working. >> and critics know timing affects the bill. >> postponing the health care legislation likely means a more limited program and a program that less changes the status quo. >> not the big health care change president obama says families, businesses and the nation's economy needs. today the obama economic team testify here on regulatory reform. that's one initiative, along

with climate change, that's on hold while lawmakers sort out where the health care reform debate will lead. in washington, brook hart, nbc news. >> 5:08. 68 degrees. coming up, dozens under arrest in new jersey including local officials. what crimes police say they committed. >> hospital officials in denver are warning more than 4,500

>> 71 degrees. we have an alien on our camera lens out there. it's 71 downtown. a very mild, quite humid and unsettled and patchy fog around this morning so take it easy on the morning commute. also a lot of standing water on the roadways. we had some heavy downpours last night. to the north of the city over in baltimore county we had up to two inches, two and a half inches, in the space of less than 30 minutes. so vicious downpours. today there's the potential for

more scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly in the afternoon hours. and the mid 80's our forecast high. >> "covering the nation" this morning a former nurse at a denver medical center is being linked to 19 cases of patients contracting help tight c. investigators say 26-year-old kristin parker was indicted on 42 separate counts of tampering and obtaining controlled substances by deceit. they say she stole a painkiller from numerous surgical patients, injected herself with the drug, then replaced the used syringes filled with saline back on operating trays. parker claims she didn't know she had hepatitis c at the time. but officials say they told her a test for the disease came back positive. the hospital is warning about 4,700 patients to get tested. >> 44 people including five rabbis are charged in a wide-reaching and very complicated corruption probe in new jersey. a number of suspects, including the newly elected mayor of hoboken and five rabbis walked into the f.b.i. headquarters in

newark yesterday. the charges come from probes into money laundering and public corruption. the investigation started with money laundering and then widened when the feds say politicians began taking bribes. right now it is about 5:13 and 71 degrees. coming up, if you've ever thought about taking a class at a local college, you might want to check online first. it could be free. >> plus a national discount chain wants you to buy laptops so they're offering them at really cheap

>> a couple of small issues. >> we're glad it's not raining

now. but the roads are still a little slick in some spots. we have one accident of note in the city. westbound coldspring, lanes are closed in the westbound direction. a water main break at scott hill drive and painted post road in pikesville. otherwise a new problem in frederick county. green valley at main street. we have a downed tree and possibly some lanes closed there as well. not dealing with any delays yet this morning. a pretty smooth ride around the area. we'll give you a live view in a couple of spots. 95 at ft. mchenry. so far so good. coming toward us is southbound traffic. no delays. let's give you a live view of the harrisburg expressway, just north of the beltway. looking good so far from the maryland line down to the beltway. that's 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 m.t.a. good morning and happy friday. >> thank you. happy friday to you, too, as well. we are looking at a delay on the penn line, 503 with a 20-minute

delay. light rail on time from hunt hunt valley. the nine buses diverted at green side. also the 77 buses diverting at edmondson and ingleside due to a water main break repair. 17 buses diverted due to construction. i'm kurt kronke. now back to sandra shaw. >> we have quite the lightning show. this is the capitol. quite the lightning happening last night. it was one of those strong storms that produced lightning strikes across the city. you saw eight strikes specifically over the capitol in d.c. last night. that was one of many strong storms last night. one of the most insentence around -- intense around frederick and another to the north of baltimore county. a couple of inches in less than an hour. so really heavy downpours. this tropical system is bringing in all of this moisture off the

atlantic. it's well to our north now. but we had that going on last night. we also have a front that brought a line of little showers and storms through, too. that front is still in our vicinity this morning. bottom line, we're going to remain unsettled today. very humid out there. really warm, too. we're look at 71 downtown. 68, b.w.i. marshall. 66, in york, pennsylvania. 77 in contrast over in ocean city. the dew points are telling the story, in the upper 60's still. that's a very humid air mass. it's going to continue to reside over us at least for the next couple of days or so. in fact, tomorrow even though we're going to be dry, we're going to be hot and humid as well. here's a look at the mountain forecast. it looks like 76 with a chance of scattered showers and storms. over to baltimore, it looks like we're going to see a high in the mid 80's. more scattered variety showers and storms in contrast to the heavy downpours. still a bit unsettled. we'll see that mix of clouds and sun. not a lot of sun out there. we'll just be variable out

there. 85 degrees on the shores of ocean city today. and those afternoon showers and thunderstorms. as we take a look at the bray, things are out of the north, northeast. waves at about a foot and the water temperatures are still hovering up into the upper 70's. yesterday, take a look. we mitt 84 for a high. we began things at 70. so it remained really mild and unsettled. and we pick up .43-inches of rainfall. much needed rainfall when you measure by normal records for july. basically we're more than two inches below where we should have been. we picked up almost a half an inch yesterday with more last night. 97 record high back in 1987. as we take a look at our record low, 55 degrees. it was set back in 1985. no chance for any of that today or tonight. 62 to 66 tonight. it looks like we're going to be seeing some more showers and storms possibly. here's the front. positions over us this morning. it's continuing to move through. also an upper level disturbance is going to rotate through here today. that's going to maybe trigger off some of those showers and

storms. once they get through here tomorrow, that bermuda high will strengthen. we're going to be hazy, hot and humid. a high of 91 degrees as we start our weekend off. good day to be by the pool or in the air-conditioning. sunday, 89. still hot and a chance of scattered showers and storms. >> in this morning's "consumer alert," wal-mart plans to reset the laptop market by revamping its stores and rolling back prices on well equipped laptops. for instance it plans to sell an h.p. computer that runs vista with three gigs of memory and 180-gig hard drive for just $296. that's less than many of the tiny notebook computers that have become so popular lately. a downward trend of sales in electronics at office stores has wal-mart seeing laptops as an opportunity to grow in a different direction. it's a long, hot summer. but more consumers are coping with the heat without artificial cooling. shipments of air-conditioners are down 39% compared with the first half of last year, and

central air shipments are down 10%. consumers are cutting down on air-conditioning to save money, but some are finding other benefits, too, by grilling outside to keep their house cooler. they're encouraging family time and eating healthier, grilled foods instead of frying. if you're looking to stay plugged into higher education, it's as simple as plugging your iphone or ipod into a laptop. yale university is offering courses at no charge on itunes. it's offering courses like the fundamentals of physics or the frontiers of biomedical engineering and much more. the courses can also be found on youtube. >> i'll be signing up for that for sure. thanks. the federal reserve is saying it's got a plan to protect consumers. and local corporate giants are preparing to ender the so far hot earning system. michelle steele joins us with the day's business news in the "bloomberg business report." happy friday, michelle. >> happy friday to you, too. good morning, everybody. you know what? the weather here in new york definitely not hot, but the

earnings are, sort of at least. investors rallying on better-than-expected corporate earnings yesterday, the dow crossing 9000 for first time since january. the nasdaq posting its longest winning streak since 1992. and the s&p closing at its highest level since proim proim was elected -- proi president oa was elected last year. analysts are expecting to see a profit of 36 cents a share. t. rowe price releasing earnings just ahead of the opening bell this morning. the financial service polling company seeing solid gains yesterday. meantime, the federal reserve retaking on its role of consumer watch dog, unveiling new proposals designed to help americans walk away from predatory mortgages and home equity loans, this according to "the wall street journal." the paper saying the fed wants to help households make more intelligent decisions. the "journal" did not say if the proposals include seeking to

prevent lenders from offering certain types of loans. the obama administration has proposed removing the fed's consumer protection authority, giving it to a new regulatory agency. and right now, stock index futures indicating a quiet open for us here on wall street. the nasdaq, we are seeing a little bit more weakness there because we had some earnings last night from microsoft and amazon.com. that's business news at the new york stock exchange. i'm michelle steele, bloomberg news reporting for wbal-tv 11 news. back over to you guys. >> thanks, michelle. see you back here at 6:15. >> 5:22. 68 degrees on tv hill. coming up, another look at your morning commute with traffic and weather together. >> it may sound like it but i'm not bragging when i tell you come on back because we have perfect game highlights for you coming up. as in highlights of a perfect game. >> all right. don't forget to e-mail your answer to the "watercooler question of the day." do you think parents should be held responsible for a child's actions in animal cruelty cases?

email your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. being smart. yep. just booked my 10th night on hotels.com, so i get a night free. you. me. getaway. really? where? anywhere you want. a bed and breakfast? bed and breakfast. check. a place by the beach? a place by awesome. oh, you are smart. accumulate 10 nights and get a night free. welcome rewards from hotels.com. smart. so smart.

>> you can now include the name of chicago white sox pitcher mark buehrle among baseball's all-time great pitchers, names like cy young, sandy kofax. they are all players who have thrown perfect games. buehrle joined that elite group yesterday with baseball's 18th perfect game. pitched a no-hitter two years ago. went one better against the tampa bay rays. first inning buehrle strikes out evan longoria, first of six strikeouts on the day for the perfect pitcher. a good run support, too. second inning, josh fields. it is gone. grand slam home run. 4-0 white sox. play of the year came in the

ninth. chicago put dwayne wise in center as a defensive replacement. talk about timing. gabe kaplan to the wall. wise leaps, takes away the home run! and he saves the perfect game. buehrle eternally grateful for that play. two plays later the ground ball from jason bartlett. it's all over. no hits no walks, no errors, no runs. perfect game. buehrle retired all 27 batters in the 5-0 win. and he may not remember the score of the game but he will remember that magic two-word phrase, perfect game. >> anytime your name gets up there with some of the greats in the game, it obviously means a lot. think it's another thing when you retire and sit back and you see how many perfect games have been thrown in the history and your name's in there. i think that's going to sit back and kind of be surprised. >> for the orioles last night, they're back on the road tonight as we open up a weekend set at fenway park in boston. i'm gerry sandusky. hope your day's off to a

fantastic start. >> thank you, gerry. 5:27. 68 degrees on tv hill. coming up in the next half-hour of 11 news today. >> the latest on a deadly crash in western maryland. i'll have the latest coming up. >> i'm nikole killion in washington where a critical meeting takes place today at the white house between the president and senate leaders after they delay a vote on his health care plan. i'll bring you more details coming up. >> and we're dealing with a few early morning problems. we have an accident in the city plus a water main break and a downed tree to tell you about. we'll pass those along to you coming8l

>> good morning and welcome back, everyone. i'm jennifer franciotti. >> and i'm mindy basara. thank you for joining us. we're going to get a check on weather and traffic. did you hear the storms? >> yes. >> i