>> about 10:00, 11:00. i was sound asleep as well. but we had that strong lightning. around baltimore no different. we had a flood warning for baltimore county at about 11 last night because a couple of inches of rainfall, anywhere from two to 2.5 in the space of about 30 minutes. so heavy downpours. you could clearly see what rolled through wasn't all encompassing. every area didn't get hit. but if you were in one of those storms, it was quite heavy. partly sunny today. we're remaining unsettled because that front hasn't made its way through here. it will serve as the trigger mechanism for more showers and storms potentially this afternoon. check out ocean city this weekend. 88 on saturday and sunday. partly cloudy. sarah, get out the sunscreen. >> i know. >> as far as your morning commute we have some problem spots to tell you about. legalities get to it. traveling in the city, coldspring, an accident. it's blocking the left bound lanes. and also a problem at scott hill and painted post road in the

pikesville area. a water main break. so possibly lanes closed there. lane closures in the area of westminster, green valley at main street in carroll county. use caution. let's check on what else is going on. not a whole lot as far as volume. it's still on the light side. 95 into the ft. mchenry tunnel running smoothly so far. problem-free so far at the harbor tunnel. we'll check a live picture of the harrisburg expressway just north of the beltway. running smoothly so far on the j.f.x. as well. that's latest on traffic pulse 11. back to you. >> thank you. our big story this morning, four people are dead after a helicopter goes down in washington county. >> it happened last night. the helicopter crashed in the eastbound lanes of i-70 near the u.s. 40 bridge span. 11 news reporter melissa carlson joins us with the latest. >> the crash happened in smithsburg, what's called -- it's about 10 miles east of hagerstown. all four passengers on the helicopter died in the crash. their identities this morning are still not known. highway 70 in smithsburg became a fiery and smoke-filled crash

site last night. downed wires draped over roadways, forced the closure of both eastbound and westbound lanes of i-70. maryland state police say they first started getting calls about 10:30 last night when drivers reported what they thought was a car on fire. what was actually burning was a four-passenger commercial helicopter. maryland state police say the chopper took off thursday night from hagerstown but that the destination is still unclear. according to the "herald," f.a.a. records show the helicopter's tail number is registered to marsan aviation, inc, trustee from delaware. the cause of the crash is still unclear. doppler shows there were strong storms in the area around the time of the crash. maryland state police tell the newspaper mechanical issues and inclement weather are possible factors. and if you are traveling in the area, 70 has now re-opened. the ntsb is expected to hold a press conference at about 10:30 this morning. live in the newsroom, melissa carlson, wbal-tv 11 news.

>> thanks. baltimore city fire officials are investigating two accidents involving medics. first one happened around 8:45 yesterday morning. authorities say the ambulance was carrying a patient to sinai hospital when it was involved in a crash at greenspring and cylburn avenues. about 30 minutes later another city medic was involved in a crash on madison in west baltimore. two people, including one of the emergency responders, were hurt. the fire department is investigating who was at fault in both incidents. >> the family of a teenager who nearly drown three years ago at a community pool filed a $40 million lawsuit claiming negligence. james becker was 15 years old when he went for a swim at the woodcroft swimming club in carney. he's now confined to a wheelchair and requires constant medical attention. the lawsuit contends because he was deprived of oxygen he suffered severe brain damage.

>> the $40 million number is not a number we picked out of a hat. it is not a number for shock or awe. it is a number that is a realistic estimate of what james is going to require in medical expenses throughout the remainder of his life. >> we understand that it was cardiac arrest. the guard observed that and observed the struggling, observed the boy try to reach for the ladder. got down, pulled the boy out of the pool. >> witnesses told police lifeguards respond immediately after noticing james struggling. the county fire department gave out seven citizen commendations to pool staff and others for their actions that day. a lawyer says a former virginia tech counseling center director didn't know he took the mental health records of a student who became a mass murderer when he left his job there. the attorney says robert miller accidentally packed some of the records in a box with his personal documents when he left the center in february of 2006. he killed 32 people and then

committed suicide in 2007. miller discovered the records last week and returned them to virginia tech. >> less than 10 days after the start of the mayor's new animal abuse task forces and workers already have their hands full. two cats are found dead at the bottom of an outdoor cellular. residents believe kids are to blame, saying they corner animals, then pelt them with chunks of brick and concrete. >> and then the next day my cat was missing. >> five years down the road, 10 years down the road these people are going to be involved in acts of domestic violence or other violent crimes against individuals. >> griffin says it will be impossible to bring charges unless witnesses come forward. officials have concern that cruelty toward animals at a young age could lead to more violence later in life. that brings us to our "watercooler question of the day." do you think that parents should be held responsible for a child's actions in animal cruelty cases? email your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

>> a setback for president obama's health care plan. senate leaders say they won't be able to hold a vote before their august break. the president holds a meeting with some of them today. washington bureau reporter nikole killion has more. >> president obama says despite the delay he still wants to get health care done this year. >> let me tell you something. i'm from chicago. [cheers and applause] i don't break. >> at a fundraiser in chicago last night the president seemed undeterred by the latest setback to the health care plan after senate majority leader harry reid announced the senate won't meet a white house deadline for a vote in august. >> it's better to have a product that is one that's based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than trying to jam something through. >> that's ok. i just want people to keep on working. >> the president also working from a town hall in cleveland to

a meeting today at the white house with reid and senate finance chair max baucus. >> it's given me a good opportunity to learn from senators on the committee what they want, what they don't want, what their real concerns are. >> baucus has been negotiating with fellow democrats behind closed doors and republicans to reach a bipartisan deal. >> we believe it's time to throw this bill away. >> and in the house more disagreement between liberal and conservative democrats over the bill's cost. >> there are some differences. we'll work them out. >> the question is, when? speaker pelosi won't say when the house could vote on a health care bill and wouldn't allow keeping lawmakers passed their break, which is scheduled to start next week in washington, nikole killion, wbal-tv 11 news. >> it's 67 degrees on tv hill at 5:37. coming up, a question. could a certain type of sugar make you forgetful? >> that would explain a lot. >> people, what some researchers believe. >> plus the next time you go to a ball game and get the traditional hotdog, should get a health warning on the side? one group thinks so.

details are next. >> we're getting a check of your morning commute. still dealing with closures. we'll update you on that problem in the city and a few others. that's come up.

>> a very good morning. it is 71 degrees downtown. there's a little patchy fog. it is still incredibly humid. quite mild adds well. temperatures in the low 70's across the board. take a look at the forecast for today. a little change yesterday. we're not going to see the widespread heavy downpours but intermittent showers and storms are possible. late this afternoon. can't rule out thunderstorms. 84 the forecast high in central maryland. 82 in southern pennsylvania today. for tonight we'll stay partly cloudy. slight chance of scattered showers and storms. 62 in the outlying areas.

66 downtown. taye a look at saturday. 90 to 93. that's a hot july day for you and a hot start to what's going to be a steamy weekend. more on your seven-day forecast in just a little bit. >> in this morning's "medical alert" a non-profit vegan advocacy group filed a lawsuit against major hotdog manufacturers. they say processed meats have been linked to colorectal cancer and people should be warned of the risk before eating them. there hasn't been a clear consensus that processed meat caused cancer and meat industry representatives say the lawsuit sun founded. new research finds eating lots of sugary foods could impair your memory. scientists say the diet made of 60% fructose a sugar found in processed foods and drinks, they found rats who were fed fructose

could not remember where a specific platform was as well as rats on a regular diet. >> good to know there's an excuse for bad memory loss. 5:42. 67 degrees on tv hill. cming up -- coming up, we know you've heard that dog is man's best friend. one florida man proved that man is also dog's best friend. we'll show you his amazing rescue. right now you're looking at a live picture of the downtown area. we'll get you up to date on weather and traffic pulse 11 for your morning commute. please stay with us. you're watching 11 news today.

>> good morning. hopefully you're doing well this friday morning. let's get you ready for your morning commute. there are some problem sphots watch for. westbound cold spring, westbound

lanes blocked due to an accident. in pikesville, we have a water main break being worked on. not seeing anything as far as our speed sensors. looking good at this hour. we have this problem. it's a downed tree in westminster at green valley and main street. watch for possible closures there. not seeing delays, we're look at drive times up to speed. 11 minutes on the northeast corner. five minutes from the 895 split to ft. mchenry. on the west side, about a 11-minute ride there. here's a live view of traffic. heading out on 295 in the area of 175. not seeing any delays there. but possibly in the 6:00 hour we'll see them. we'll switch over to a live view of traffic on 895 at i-95 on the southwest side, running smoothly there. that's latest on traffic pulse 11. now let's see what's going on as far as the buses and the trains. have is a great weekend, kurt. >> thank you. have a great weekend. we are look at a few diversions on the buses right now. the nine buses diverting at greenside. the 77 with the diversion at he had monday so and ingleside. and the 17 buses at nursery and

winter son. light rail on time from hunt valley to courtroomwell. the metro also on time. we have on the mafer marc, 503 with a 20-minute delay. with the m.t.a. transit team, i'm kurt kronke. now back to sandra shaw. have a great weekend. >> you, too. enjoy. it's going to be a hot weekend ahead for us. before we get to the dryer conditions, we have to contend with the potential for showers and storms again today. what we saw last night was impressive. some heavy downpours. 10:00, 11:00. you see we backtrack. a couple of very strong storms indicated by the red that rolled through here. in fact, we've been talking about this. in baltimore county, there was a flood warning issued, two to 2.5-inches of rainfall in about 30 minutes. we're talking a lot of torrential moisture that tropical system is up to our north. 71 still feels humid. 66, york, pennsylvania. 77 on the shores of ocean city this morning. so a mild start to what's going

to be a decent beach day. it's a lot more moist out there. yesterday one of our more humid days. today we're following up with dew points in the upper 60's. by this point you probably know we've been talking about dew points so much that upper 60's means an incredibly humid environment with plenty of steamy conditions for you. with that said we do have the potential for maybe some patchy fog this morning. other than that, by this afternoon, a mix of sun and clouds, up to 84 degrees in central maryland. still off the mark for our normal high which is 88 degrees. nonetheless, it's going to feel warmer than that with humidity. on the bay, north-northeast winds at 10 knots. water temperatures hovering in the upper 70's. let's take a look at yesterday. 84, our daytime high yesterday. 70 is when we began things. that's above our normal low for the day. and. .43-inches of rainfall. haven't seen this in a while. the most significant rain we've seen all month long, that will help get us out of our monthly deficit. for the year we're still above

normal as far as the precipitation goes. 97, the record high in 1987. in contrast, a record low of 55 set back in 1985. as we look at tonight, mostly to partly cloudy, 62 to 66. can't rule out the scattered showers and storms. we have this front that's draped right over the mid-atlantic. still pushing through the area. so very humid and unsettled as the front will also serve as a triggering mechanism for potentially more showers and storms, mainly in the afternoon and early evening hours it does look like an upper level low will move through as well. this weekend the bermuda high will intensify. that means hazy, hot and humid conditions for your saturday. surging up to 91 degrees. 89 for sunday with a chance of scattered showers and storms in the afternoon. >> well it takes a dedicated dog own tore pry his pet from the jaws of an he will gator. >> that's what david did. he ended up in worst shape than the dog.

>> we're ok. yeah. good girl. >> reunited with her best friend who just got home from the hospital, you have to wonder if mandy, the wheaton terrier, knows just how loyal her owner is. >> i saw the wake in the water from the alligator coming. >> david saw it slice through the sparkling water saturday morning. a second later his best pal mandy sniffing around in the brush was trapped between the two hungry jaws of this seven-footer. >> i just ran straight through the bushes to her. >> ran at the gator to save his trusty friend. >> it had her like this in his mouth. i just grabbed the lower jaw with this hand and the upper jaw with this hand. as i'm poking his eye and pulling, she got out pretty easy. i remember thinking that was pretty easy. >> but then there he is holding a gator's open mouth. he tried to throw the reptile and it snapped off the top of his two fingers on his right

hand. he considers himself lucky that's all it got away with. mandy was bitten around the middle but ok. >> she's really special dog. she's just like one of our children. >> they have had 7-year-old mandy since she was a puppy. david joked his family would kill him if he let anything happen to her. >> now he can't imagine not rescuing her from the jaws of death. >> got over it. if i hadn't tried to get her free, i could never have lived with myself. >> you have a best friend for life here. >> for sure. >> you may be the most loyal owner. >> yeah. >> david grounds, dog's best friend. >> that is so sweet. >> amazing story. >> one lucky dog and a good owner. take a look at these guys some families are getting an opportunity to provide a home to some canine heros in training.

17 labrador puppies will be trained to become explosive detection dogs. they will live with foster families for 10 months. one week out of the month they'll go for training. once the training is complete, they'll be assigned to airports and mass transit systems around the country. all food, supplies and veterinarian visits are free for the foster families. >> the national aquarium confirmed another sighting of the manatee ilya. the aquarium and the coast guard say they will continue to monitor the animal's movements to ensure its safety. if you happen to be boating and you see ilya you should report the location to the maryland natural resources police at 800-628-9944. that would be pretty cool. to just see the manatee. it would be cool. >> 5:51. there's still much more ahead on 11 news today. >> plus a look at some of your answers to our "watercooler question of the day." >> and here's a look at last night's winning maryland lottery numbers.

good luck.

>> now let's get to some of your answers to our "watercooler question of the day." >> do you think parents should be held responsible for a child's actions in animal cruelty cases? >> keep e-mailing us those responses to watercooler@wbaltv.com. we'll read more in our next hour and post all of them on the front page of wbaltv.com.

>> if your child loves to have his or her picture taken, you might want to consider heading to arundal mills mall - -- >> the contest benefits the johns hopkins center. >> 5-year-old alicia wilson is having fun. she's getting her pictures taken as part of baltimore's most foat generallic baby contest -- photo photogenic baby contest. >> we'll be here. >> she's the overall winner. won overall out of the all the categories of all the children. >> it's just great. she likes to get her picture taken. she's a big ham. >> we've done it the last two years. she actually won the 1-year category last year. >> the 2-year-old was able to get a modeling agent as a result. but the real purpose is to raise

money for johns hopkins children's center. it's something her parents have worked hard to do. >> it gives her an opportunity to hang out and get a little exposure because she likes that part of it. the other part is just having a chance to raise money. so we've done that between our job and family members. and they've been really, really supportive. >> last year the contest raised $10,000. and this year they're hoping to raise even more. >> it's a beautiful thing. we can contribute to it. >> the contest is open to children from infant to 5 years old. the winner gets a trophy and entry into america's most photogenic baby contest. >> here's a look ahead to our next hour of 11 news today. >> find out who's at the center of a homicide investigation surrounding michael jackson's death. that's at 6:15. >> minimum wage goes up today. find out what items it may impact in your life at 6:24. >> ben roethlisberger speaks out

about sexual assault allegations against him. find out what he has to say. >> and if you were interrupted last night with your sleep probably because of those heavy downpours. i'll let you know if more is on the way. >> and some good news to report on the accident in the city. we'll update you on that and check on a few other problems on the roads. @÷@÷@h

>> four people die in a helicopter crash. i'll have the very latest. >> and a woman is attacked and nearly raped as she walked to work in downtown baltimore. >> deadly animal abuse allegations have the animal cruelty task force the subject of our question of the day. >> and parts of maryland got some much needed rain last night. that's an understatement. the insta-weather plus forecast as 11 news today continues right now. [captioning made possible by constellation energy] captioned by the national captioning institute -- www.ncicap.org --