[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news at noon in hd. >> good afternoon.

i am mindy basara. five months after they were captured in north korea, two american journalists are back home. laura ling and euna lee arrived in burbank to reunite with family and friends. >> for laura ling and euna lee, a long trip, is finally over. back in the arms of their families, the emotions are overwhelming. >> the past 140 days have been the most difficult, heart wrenching time of our lives. >> law rubbing spoke briefly, providing a bit of insight into them -- laura ling spoke briefly, providing a bit of insight into the mwai when they realized it would be coming home. >> lou were taken to a location. when we walked to the door, we saw standing before us president bill clinton. [applause]

we were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. and now we stand here home and free. >> and thankful the for the support of so many. >> we could feel your love all the way in north korea. it is what kept us going in the darkest of hours. it is what sustained our faith that we would come home. >> the reward for the fifth realized in the emotional embrace of so many who had been waiting for so long. an emotional reunion for the families that continues right now in los angeles area homes.

> >> as far as your weather goes, a transitional day. we have a front on the move that will likely bring as showers and thunderstorms by this afternoon. just approaching western maryland. nothing in central maryland yet. we are seeing a mixture of sunshine and clouds out there. this will surge into the upper 80s before it is all over. yesterday we were 91 at the inner harbor. scattered showers and storms this afternoon into tonight. >> 3 students from brunswick high school have been charged with setting the middletown football field on fire. 379-year-old -- three 17-year- olds were arrested this morning.

the destruction caused $20,000 in damage. gov. martin o'malley says he hopes that one of the baltimore city's most visible police units does not disappear. officials need to raise $200,000 to cover the food and boarding expenses of the mounted patrol unit. they will accept donations in the hope of meeting the september gold. >> these are really tough times. there is not a county executive or mayor or governor in the country that is not faced with a lot of difficult decisions. but i hope we can find some way to maintain the police mounted unit in this city. it is an important tradition an important public safety and law enforcement tool. >> if you would like to help out the in it, go to our website, wbaltv.com. community members to to the streets last night as a call to stand at a crime and violence in neighboring st. organizers hope events will bring a neighbor's

fed up with being prisoners in their own home in touch with police to keep them safe. >> any of the police at these events will tell you that numerous people are coming up to them. >> they have grown up with that and they know what it is about and they know they are here to help us and to fight crime against the community. >> there were recording opportunities for baltimore city police. the department received a $10 million grant to put more police officers on the street. four people are dead and one voted after a lone gunman opened fire on an aerobics class in a pittsburgh gymnasium tuesday night. >> what is is to say it was a scene of chaos and confusion. dozens of shots fired, the victims everywhere, all of them women. >> you would hear one shot here

and one shot there. >> just saw people running around. i started walking down for my life. one of the scariest things i've ever seen. >> she saw the gunman had to make difficult decisions. >> he started shooting like this and started to shoot in the opposite direction. i thought, do i stay and stay dead? the door was open. >> the shooter apparently took his own life. he has been identified as 48- year-old george sodini, an nbc news reports that he had a block with ominous entries about troubles with his wife and relationships. he may have tried an attack like this back in january. he writes, " i chickened out. i brought the loaded guns, everything." >> there were many people who were shot. it is hard to say at this point if one person was a target eric cant.

>> this community is trying to cope with the aftermath as police tried to learn more about the man behind it. what police officials say tha -- one police official says that george sodini did what he set out to do and there is little anyone could have done to stop it. >> are infants and toddlers to young to learn water survival skills? tonight at 11:00, melissa carlson exposes the controversy over infant swimming. >> the video can be difficult to watch. she is only nine months old, but her mother believes she's learning a lesson that can save her life if she absolute -- if she accidently falls in the water. >> if something happens, god forbid, she will know what to do. >> the class is for children as

young as 6 months old. it may give parents peace of mind, but some doctors don't think it is a good idea. >> from a public health perspective, it is sending out a wrong message. >> tonight at 11:00, are infants and toddlers to young to learn water survival skills? and why some believe that these classes cause a bigger problem. >> a familiar face on tv's ultimate reality show will not be back next season. find out who will be leaving "american idol." and rachel alexandra will make an appearance away from the racetrack by the end of the year. year.

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>> 5 people were shot, two died after someone opened fire outside a home in buffalo, new york. a man and woman were killed at the scene and the others are in serious condition at a local hospital. police are investigating the motive behind the shooting and have yet to make an arrest. check out these dramatic images from michigan. officials said that about 15 explosions occurred, sending a 50-gallon drums of oil flying. residents were evacuated within a mile radius of the blaze. a powerful storm rocked parts of arkansas last night. workers in little rock continued to clean up after a possible tornado left fallen branches and

trees. thousands of homes are still without power. more bad news for arkansas as strong storms are expected throughout the day. if you cannot stop tweeting during the day, listen to our other. why companies are turning to twitter to improve customer service. and find out why teenagers are not getting enough of an important event, and why strong boats are not the only positive result. >> things are quiet over hd doppler over central maryland, but we are seeing some rainfall. this front will be making its way through here tonight. right now, 83 at the airport and 83 downtown.

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know" is going home. paula abdul is leaving the show after eight seasons. the fox network confirmed the report today. she was a successful singer and dancer before she joined " american idol." instead of tweeting about their mood or a favorite song, some companies are discovering they get better service by using twitter. why many major companies are paying attention to twitter. >> got a complaint? you call the customer service line, you often hear something like this. >> your call is important to us. please stay on the line. >> sometimes you never get an answer. >> the people you call sometimes don't have any real expertise in any product you are dealing with. >> some consumers are fighting another way -- twitter, the

social networking site. many major companies are paying attention. >> if i post on my twitter account that i had a bad experience with comcast, the person liable to my department is probably in a better position to fix our problems than the general customer service line. >> using twitter amounts to shouting your complaint through a megaphone. companies do not what one company's expert -- one customers' bad experience to reach others. >> it puts the onus on someone from the company to get back to me. it changes the dynamic. instead of me being at the whim of the company, they are now having to respond to my more powerful voice. >> using twitter has its risks. responses may come from stammers. >> it does not necessarily mean that the responses you get are

from the company. >> and now your 11 insta-weather + forecast with sandra shaw. >> we are seeing a batch of showers brew over to the west. that is associated with an area of low pressure and a front that is along with it. this will continue to move through the area this afternoon. we are seeing some clouds that are starting to thicken. some clouds are just trying to infiltrate the central maryland. . a mostly cloudy afternoon, as the hours progress. a good chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and more so into the evening. low eighties for the most part around the area. not quite as bad as we were yesterday. we will see you monday it stick around until the front gets through here. -- we will see the humidity stick around to the front gets through here. we still have the potential to get into the upper 80s or even

90 around the bay. then the cloud cover will hold the temperatures down a little bit more with the rain. 87 for the shores of ocean city. a chance of scattered showers and storms as well. this is nothing compared to the 82-degree readings in the chesapeake bay. quite mild as far as the waters go with their bread wins at the south, southwest, at about 10 knots. it has been an incredibly quiet hurricane season. this is hurricane felicia. it is a category 4 storm. it is moving to the northwest, away from baja mexico. a pretty oppressive hurricane as a category three behind it, you're seeing a tropical storm. a very quiet start to the atlantic hurricane season. 57 to 74.

this front is going to get through and often in the wake of a fight you see more of it nor the league, northwesterly flow. the temperature range will be a bit lower. tomorrow looks like the mid- 80's. a morning shower east and south of the city. slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm in the evening hours. for the weekend, 89. back to the heat and humidity. potentially the hottest day of the year so far -- 95 on sunday, hazy, hot, and humid. >> two new studies show that kids and teenagers are not getting enough of vitamin d. tracie potts shows us why a deficiency can lead to serious problems later in life. >> a study finds that seven in 10 american children do not get enough vitamin d. one in can have a level so low that they are deficient.

milk and fish are big sources of vitamin d, but so is the sunshine, and that is where researchers think american children fall short. >> four hours a day of using computers or watching tv or playing video games, there were 60% higher risk of developing and vitamin d deficiency. >> i get it from yogurt or anything with not in it. sometimes i go out in the sun. i play with my friends. >> it is a bigger issue for those with darker skin, because their bodies cannot absorb vitamin d as easily. six in 10 african american girls are vitamin d deficiency it can lead to osteoporosis and cancer. >> two times the risk of high blood pressure, two times the risk of having high blood sugar or blood glucose concentration, about four times higher risk of having the metabolic syndrome.

>> all of which are risk factors for heart disease, but can be reduced for most people with just tend to 50 minutes of sunshine every day. -- 10 to 15 minutes of sunshine every day. the experts say that kids should play outside for a few minutes, and then apply sunscreen to prevent cancer. >> children as young as three years old can suffer clinical depression. researchers at washington university's school of medicine in st. louis took a sample size of a 300 preschoolers and found that 75 had signs of a major depressive disorder. 79 kids also had signs of anxiety or other destructive disorders. the symptoms were most commonly found among those whose mothers were depressed or had a traumatic events in life. anti-depressant use has almost doubled in the time of a

recent survey. it rose from 30 million in 1996 to 27 million in 2005 -- 3 --13 million in 1996 to 27 million in 2005. up next, the maryland lottery numbers and another check of the forecast. i need the baker file stat!! reply!! still making changes. circle back later!! what's with the yelling? oh, our internet slows down during peak hours so sending e-mails and large files just takes forever. so, we just yell. ben!!! thanks for the flowers!!! i thought you hated me!!! lol!!!

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the owner of the superficially -- super filly also owns a winery. only 300 cases will be produced, each with rachel alexandra's image on the label. coming up on "oprah," after the recession, what social cost to you fit in now? and what people don't want you to know. tonight at 5:00, the latest on today's big stories, including the shooting at a fitness club in pittsburgh. and why it took police so much to take this suspect out and the crime they say he committed. that is at 5:00. and now the maryland lottery pick three and pick four numbers. >> it is a green ball double

draw, a new promotion from the maryland lottery. now through august 16. >> now you have a chance to win on it two pick three drawings with the green ball double draw. if the green ball pops up, we will draw a bonus set of pick 3 numbers. your pick three numbers for today are -- and now it is time for the green ball double draw eight white balls were made. remember, if a green ball comes up, we will do a bonus drawing, given the chance to win on both sets of pick 3 numbers. it is a white ball. before the next drawing, we will remove one white ball, making the chances for a green ball even better. and now here is bright and raws with an important message. >> watch tonight's strike for

another chance to win on the pick three. >> green ball double draw going on and off for august 16. >> get out there and get your tickets. >> and now your pick four numbers are -- i am sarah and this is bob for the maryland lottery saying hey, maryland, let yourself play did for the details on the green ball double draw, visit your local lottery retailer or go to a wbaltv.com. -- mdlottery.com. >> showers and thunderstorms

this afternoon. in the in the afternoon and into the evening hours. only 84 tomorrow afternoon. in 84 on friday agreed injury those two days, because by the weekend, we will be small the ring, especially on sunday, when we had a 95-degree high, and a 95-degree high on monday as well. >> great. hit the pool all day. have a great day, everybody.