we will get a check of traffic and weather and what is going on out there, ladies? >> hot. it is so humid out there, it almost feels like enough to slow down traffic. >> at times it does. >> i will tell what you is going on. >> i will do weather first. kind of like going around. >> we will make it up as we go. >> let's focus. we are seeing basically just a little patchy fog, very muggy. that is the operative word and to the north they are getting the strong storms we saw late yesterday. had several tornado warnings. none that really touched ground but several around. 73 downtown now. 71 at b.w.i. 82 in ocean city. 88 to 92 today. combine that with the high humid it will feel more like the upper 90's to quite uncomfortable. no good chance of horse showers.

>> i drove through some serious downpours yesterday. you could barely see. didn't last long but we are not dealing with that now. we have a downed tree in freeland. york road closed at old york road toward freeland road. take the harrisburg expressway as the alter natnate. speed sensors not getting any delays and drive times indicate we are doing fine as volume slowly builds. no sign of delays yet. harrisburg expressway this is the alternate we are offering to york road and looking good at mount carmel. no problems from the pennsylvania line to the beltway. we will switch to a live view of 95 at white marsh and building in volume but no delays southbound to the beltway. that is the latest on "traffic pulse 11." back to you. >> our big story new indictments against mayor sheila dixon. one day after helen holten was

reindicted they have discovered new details and evidence against the mayor. the new charges include more allegations about gifts she received and restores perjury charges previously dropped. that leaves many wondering where is the new information coming from. jennifer franciotti joins us live from outside city hall with the latest. >> good morning. in the time since some of the previous charges were dropped her ex-boyfriend cut a plea deal and it is speculated some of the new information is coming from him. the indictment gives very specific details concerning items developer ron lipscomb gave to dixon when they were dating from fur coats to thousands of dollars in cash. we asked the mayor if she was concerned that lipscomb, who cut a deal with prosecutors, may have provided prosecutors with this information. >> do you feel any different this time around considering the circumstances and where the prosecution supposedly is

getting the information from? >> i feel no different. again, i'm just staying focused. >> the indictment says dixon never reported the gifts that lipscomb gave to her in ethics filings because it says lipscomb was doing business with the city at the time. the new indictment like the old one claims that the mayor stole gift cards meant for poor families. >> do you feel you did anything wrong or is it a misunderstanding? can you give an explanation? >> you know the answer to that. >> dixon face as laundry list of previous and new charges including three counts of theft, fraudulent misappropriation, two counts of perjury and one count of misconduct. >> attorneys said they believe that these charges are just as flewed as the first and gosh flawed as the first and expect them to be dismissed. >> new this morning a complaint has been filed against baltimore's public schools claiming they are not meeting the needs of blind students. the national federation of the

blind filed the complaint with the state department of education. according to the daily record the students are not sufficiently instructed on braille skills, how to get around themselves and don't have access to technology to use printed materials. a spokesman for the department of education says they are investigating the complaint. a warning for carroll county residents, make sure you remove all valuables from your car and don't forget to lock the doors. the sheriff's office is investigating the theft of more than $9,000 of valuables from 21 different cars. it happened in crossway and sussex courts, mayfair and calvert. splash pine and weeping cherry court. any unfamiliar or suspicious persons should be reported. >> a judge in washington, d.c. found a woman guilty of killing four daughters. bonita jackson was convicted on three counts of first degree murder but not a fourth. the girls from five to 16 were found in january of 2008 when

marshals arrived to evict her. she could face a live sentence in the hearing scheduledor october 16. it is being called the beer summit or beer diplomacy. president barack obama invited two men over for beer. brooke hart has what they will talk about. >> before and after harvard professor gates was handcuffed many saw one questionable call after another. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> president obama said later he didn't quite mean that. >> i could have calibrated the words differently. >> his reaction fired up right wing commentators who called him rash and racist. so tonight it is beer on a white house picnic table for the three involved. the president, professor gates and cambridge sergeant james crowley whose response was backed up by witnesses. >> i support what he did 100%. >> charges against gates were dropped. his supporters took a stand last

night. the naacp backs up the president's first comment. >> indeed the president was right in the first analysis. we xhendz him for having the -- commend for having the courage to race issues about profiling. >> no apologies are expected from anyone though many say blame is shared. >> i think that the cop might have overacted. i think gates, the homeowner, definitely overreacted. and i think that obama spoke his opinion before the facts were in. >> will the divide tonight extend to beer? >> all i can see someone party saying less filling and the other saying more taste. >> no indication that beer will soften their first instincts in the nation's latest image of race and police. sergeant crowley and gates say it was the other who made the arrest about race. aides say obama hopes to open a dialogue and put an ends to what supporters admit has opinion a

distraction from his agenda. >> that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. what do you think of the president's decision to host a meeting between professor henry louis gates and sergeant james crowley at the white house? e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. no word on whether there is a two-beer limit. 5:37, 70 degrees on tv hill. officials release the list of people that will be the first to receive the swine flu vaccine. >> we know the dangers of tanning but could it be as dangerous as cigarettes if >> we have a downed tree in freeland blocking york road and one in owings mills.@÷p

and that will change the pattern the first half of the weekend.

we will be a little less humid on saturday. meantime, basically dry today. tomorrow partly sunny in the morning and clouds will thicken in the afternoon and bring in a 60% chance of showers and couple of isolated thunderstorms. 9 friday and saturday 87 but air mass will be more comfortable for us. sunday we roll back in with more moisture, 40% chance of late-day showers and storms then it looks like we are seasonably normal for the start of august as far as temperatures. >> a massive environmental clean up effort along south baltimore is taking shape. residents haven't been able to access it pause of hazardous trash and debris but that is changing. jennifer franciotti has details. >> on 54 acres of shoreline along the middle branch summer school students are learning about the environment in a new education center operated by living classrooms and national aquarium. >> we learn how the plankton s.

>> i get to do fun and understanding stuff. >> the building is green, solar panels, rain collection barrels only the beginning. >> it almost generates as much energys it is a massive restor project part of a $153 million effort to transform one of the most contaminated sites in baltimore giving the port a new terminal and the communities of kucurtis bay and balloon wharoo they have been denied. residents worked with the state on ideas for the site. >> they would like to have hiking and biking trails, a fishing pier where they could go fishing and kayaking. and a nature center where the kids could come and a community

building which is what is behind us where people could learn about the environment. >> this was a dump. this was a brownfield and is still a brownfield in some areas. >> frank hammons says two years ago crews began the undertaking of clearing 60,000 tons of debris. >> there was debris from the fire of 1903. there were about 27 sunken vessels there, abandoned vessels. there was a hazardous waste on board. it was one of the diriest areas in the -- dirtiest areas. >> some of these could be used to create fishing ree reefs. >> we are getting something we need to maintain the port of baltimore and the community is getting something that they wanted and didn't have for decades. and the whole area is getting cheneyed up. >> that -- getting cleaned up. >> some great news for maryland. and beachgoers.

the natural resources gave ocean city a five star rating. the organization helps protect public health and the environment. the rating is based on beach water quality, monitoring frequency and public notification of contamination. other beaches with five star ratings are gulf shores it alabama, laguna in california and hampton beach. >> just down there last week and the water was fountain. -- the water was fine. >> we will look at one of your answers to our water cooler question of the day when we come back. >> here is a look at last night's winning maryland lottery numbers. good luck.

>> the city started the one plus one trash program a few weeks ago changing pickup and recycling to one day a week. but it making some residents unhappy. many residents say they would rather the city stick with the two trash pickup days but one resident wishes other people would jump in line and start recycling. >> i was the only one recycling up until this. i'm still with what three people. >> you tried to be an example? >> tried. didn't do any good. >> why won't they do it? >> you tell me and we will both know. >> the department of public works says it believes the program is going well except a few missed pickups. when trash or recycle something missed it usually because it was put in the wrong place, out late or the crews missed it. >> a common question is

answered. is organic food better for yan ordinary food. the answer is no. researchers say organic food has little if any nutritional difference. the findings were supposed to be used to help consumers make a clear choice but now the real difference may only be in your wallet. people in the organiced if industry though say lack of pesticides and better reputation for animal welfare keeps people buying the organic products. now you know. >> very interesting. >> now we are going to get to an answer to the water cooler question of the day. we asked what do you think of the president's decision to host a meeting between professor henry louis gates and sergeant james crowley at the white house known as the beer summit. >> sharon says i think it is an admirable thing that as a friend the president supported mr. gates but he should have been more careful about the represent you are cushions of his -- represent you arepercuss

of words. we keep e-mailing the answers. we will read more the next hour and post them on the front page of our website. >> here is a look ahead to the next hour. one texas man says he has been ripped off by the same thieves more than once. >> 6:34, how officials are helping maryland principals stay on top of their game. >> a pair of elephants get to take a special vacation. that is 6:40. >> clear scan on h.d. doppler but it will be hot and humid as we wrap up july. almost starting august. stay tuned for the details. >> a new accident on 95 through the city. we will update that and check two downed trees blocking lanes this morning.

>> baltimore mayor dixon facing a laundry list of new charges after being reindicted. >> two weeks after the controversial arrest in massachusetts president obama invites the two men at the center of it to the white house for beer. i will have that story coming up. >> spotty heavy storms dotted the area yesterday. can we expect more of the same today? the insta-weather forecast as "11 news today" continues right now. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> i'm stan stovall. th