the big story, a scene from a movie, but it was all too real. it began around 3:00 this afternoon with the police pursuing a carjacking suspect in west baltimore. ended with a horrifying accident and a woman's death. >> police say the woman who was not being the victim had nothing to do with any of at other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> smashed up against the wall. it was horrible. it was a big crash like that. i did not get a chance to blink my eyes. >> it was like a boom. >> this car was spotted after

3:00, but police called off a brief pursuit quickly. >> we were not pursuing the car at the time of the crash. they got the alert that it was a carjacking, but based on the way the driver reacted when he saw the police, he drove erratically, they were ordered to break it off, at which time they did so. he continued on. >> witnesses say the car was going at an extreme rate of speed. you believe it was going on at hundred 30 miles per hour? >> yes. >> the woman's car was flat at least four times. police have not released the names of the victim or the suspect. >> new tonight, a seven-year-old

child is recovering after being stuck -- struck by a car in dundalk. there's no word on the child's condition. the county crash team is investigating. animal control is investigating a terrible case of abuse in northwest baltimore. a kitten was stoned and set on fire twice by a group of kids. >> the city formed a task force to address animal cruelty this summer. since then several pollin cases of abuse have come to life -- toohave come to light. some of the video you will see is graphic. the director of this center

says the captain was torture. >> there were two young boys who were throwing stones and bricks at a cat. then at the port a liquid on it and set it on fire. >> the cat rolled are around and put out of fear -- and put out the flames, then the boys said it began on fire. >> she is a very strong canton and had the will to live. >> although she looks ok, the cat suffered extensive burns on its right side. the head of the city plus a new task force emphasizes this is not an isolated incident. >> the cats are vulnerable because there are so many out on the street. four cats have been tortured and killed. this is the fifth cat. >> griffin is hope ting witnesss

will cooperate. >> it starts here and it will continue and get worse. >> the rescue group will take over the kid in's care tamara. -- tomorrow. >> if followup to the july 16 murder of a popular liquor store owner. police are searching for the person who shot him in a botched robbery even. the reward for information leading to the arrest of that person is now $4,000. chris a mess still works at the store. he said his boss would want it that way. customers are returning, but he cannot believe kong is gone.

>> sometimes i feel like i cannot do it, but if he were here, he would want me to. >> this man also knew kong. >> he had a beautiful family and he was a memober of a society. we do not need this. >> so far, police have received tips. he hopes someone will step forward with information. >> people have suffered -- wives, sons. you could not a man vision what kind of anguish a lot of people have gone through with this. any information given to the police will be appreciated. >> if you have information about the crime or the suspects, you

are asked to call the baltimore county police. you can remain anonymous. >> with this historic moment the senate has affirmed that judge sotomayor has the intellect, temperament, the history, the integrity, the independence of mind to it ably serve on our nation's highest court. >> that was the president speaking on the confirmation of sotomayor to the u.s. supreme court. the vote came in late this afternoon and it makes her the first hispanic to serve on the high court. we have more. >> the vote comes after a contentious confirmation battle whose outcome was never in doubt. >> yeas are 68.

the nomination of seminole sotomayor of new york to be an associate justice of the supreme court of denies states is concurrent class is confirmed. >> this is a wonderful day for the judge and her family. i think it is a wonderful day for america. >> his first pick was expected to win confirmation. supporters praised her life story and accomplishedments. thursday's final debate return to the president's comment to rule on apathy. >> her speeches and writings of the years revealed a philosophy that highlights the importance of personal preferences. >> but supporters fired back.

>> there is no record of substituting her personal views for the law. >> in the end, nine republicans across the aisle to vote for her. she will be sworn in on saturday in two ceremonies, a private one and a public one. television cameras will be allowed for the first time. >> there is coverage of the judge's confirmation on the website. we have posted reaction from the president and senators. go to wbaltv.com. barbara mikulski was among those who voted to confirm the judge this afternoon. she met with reporters at mercy medical center. she has been recovering after breaking her ankle and having

reconstructive surgery. she says she has been keeping an eye on major developments like health care reform. >> to the maryland citizens who do not have health insurance, i will work hard for you to get it. if you like what you already have, i will work very hard for you to get to keep it. >> the senator will continue to undergo physical therapy for her ankle. cshe is expected to resume her duties the sometime next month. the government may soon have the money to offer you that rebate. how is it being spent? how many jobs have been created? a lot of you had strong opinions on this story we ran last night. how young is too young to teach your child to swim?

>> the rain and moving off the coast. that will allow some unseasonably cool air to settle in tonight. 65 at the airport.

>> congress has passed the extension of the cash for clunkers program. lawmakers are making sure to keep the popular program alive. the white house says the program would have expired tomorrow if not extended. money from the stimulus package continues to stream into maryland. the money is intended to boost the economy by creating jobs. puris asked how many jobs have been created, and we asked a reporter to find out.

>> resurfacing this road is one of the project. it is a sign construction money has come from the act. this man believes the stimulus money is working. >> it took a lot of pressure off my shoulders. >> he and others are bringing home a payment -- a paycheck instead of being on unemployment. we asked a professor of finance to review it stimulus money tracking the data. >> it is helping the economy. although we have implode rising is rising at a reduced rate. >> as of july 31, funds helped create over 2000 jobs in maryland. the problem is the number of new claims for unemployment is

greater at 5000. >> even the new claims, the politicians and the government will argue it will have been 10,000 with out the stimulus. >> 97 projects are still open for bids. 29 are under construction. housing programs are eligible for 236 million stimulus dollars. to have a $60 million has been spent for education. -- the $360 million has been spent for education. >> it takes time. you need congressional approval to get the money and then you need to figure out how it will

be dispensed. >> those on the receiving end are grateful. >> if you would like to track the money coming into maryland, go to wbaltv.com, click on project economy. they are resigned to finishing high school summer else. parents and students have given up on their fight to keep thousand catholic open for next year. -- towson catholic open for next year. a group said they did not want to leave the students' fate in limbo. and a recession one organization is providing students money to go to college. 200 students now have the funds to make their dreams come true.

students have pretty special donors to thank. >> there were plenty of reasons to celebrate at a luncheon thursday afternoon. the students are splitting $1 million in grants and loans banks to the bureau. >> if that word not before organizations like this, i would not be able to go. >> his parents have been working double shifts, and thanks to his grants, he will be able to graduate. >> it has paid for my school. >> others were awarded what they needed. >> i was lucky enough to get the opportunity to get this.

>> the bureau began in 1924 and runs on donations. requirements include at least a 3.0 gpa. students may go to any accredited college in the united states. the story is amazing considering the economy. the bulk of the donations came before the economy a slide and now more than ever the need to continue the funding. >> today is a wonderful celebration for these 200 students. >> the money is appreciated for those who made the cut. >> you're a 11 -- your 11 forecast. >> a different weather story in

southern maryland with heavy showers during the day. western maryland, completely dry. more concentrated rain to the south and east. the latest imagery shows it over the atlantic. the clouds did a job on the temperature. 77 degrees for the height city. in 1918 on this day we hit 105 degrees. the all-time record high, and contrast that to today's 77. the skies are clearing out. temperatures have been cool throughout the day. we're setting the stage for an unseen limit -- and unseasonably comfortable august night. expect the temperatures to settle back into the mid 50's in

the northern suburbs. light winds. sunrise at 6:12. the storm that produced heavy rain is over the atlantic. i pressure producing chilly temperatures over the great lakes. temperatures should stay below normal tomorrow. the humidity levels will be unusually comfortable. things will change as we head into the weekend. tomorrow afternoon, partly cloudy skies, but sun in most areas. saturday you can see more cloudiness developing. this is in advance of a significant warm front, more scattered showers as it lifts up to the north saturday evening. once the warm front moves up, it will open the door to the warmest temperatures of the summer, finishing us off the weekend.

the humidity tomorrow will be low. quite a bit of afternoon cloud cover. on the bay, the waste will be around 1 foot on the chesapeake. and nice sunny thursday, and it will do it again on friday. this is near deep creek lake. parts of garrett county will be in the upper 40's to begin tomorrow. looks like a beauty tomorrow. the surface temperature came out a couple degrees. a chilly 69 degrees at the ocean city. most of saturday dry, but more cloudiness and a late evening shower. sunday and monday, we bust into the warm air. hazy, hot and humid. >> strong reaction after we

aired a story on teaching infants how to swim. hear what it of yours h-- viewers had to say. ♪

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[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] who can forget that scene. the man who directed that phil has died. a spokesperson for john hughes said he died of a heart attack. he was a screen writer as well. john hughes was 59 years old. reaction from a story we brought you last night. viewers had strong opinions about it. others had trouble watching it. we took you inside a class called infant swimming resource. it is designed to teach toddlers and infants water survival skills. bebel -- babies are submerged and talked to flip over.

the american academy of pediatrics says it can give infants a false sense of security. babies should never be near a pool. and if you were whose children took the class set i know my children are more drown proof than those who did not. the swimming story and responses are on the home page of our website, wbaltv.com >> if you wonder, what we have next in sports. so are we. snoop

>> a week from tonight the ravens take off the preseason. the lineup of who sets it out practice, demetrias williams returned to practice this afternoon, but the wide receiver will miss the first to games of the year due to an injury. communication has changed radically in the nfl. you can hear a buzz in practice this morning twitter has

crashed. some teams have banned media and fans from twittering. teams have to figure out have to handle the world of social networking in football. >> we monitor it. we know if our guys art twittering. we have made clear to them it is public domain. however you come across on twitter, that is how you come across to the public. >> today it stands out as something different when snoop dogg came to practice. he showed up as a guest of ray lewes. -- lewis.

he coaches his own league team in california. he was doing his version of any dogs in the house. he dropped some philosophy on the world. >> are raven is like you got a target on you at all times. the offense is getting strong. being a raven is being like snoop dogg, targeting all the time. >> the orioles did not have him hanging around, but they have 54 games left. typically it takes two months, but judging the way the second half of this season has unfolded, the updated as the men -- up did it estimate runs along the lines of forever.

the tigers beat orioles, 7-3. david hernandez took the loss. bottom of the third, first major league hit. it comes off of her name this. 5-0 at that point. the orioles dropped three in detroit. after taking off two months, phil mickelson returns to the golf course today. he admits he misses the game more than he imagined. the birdie putt here, part of a round of 70, even par. the birdie on 13. two under, harrington the

leader. six under par on 70. stick around. back with our forecast. diabetes and cancer, and they've heard that biomedical research offers hope -- that it could control, maybe even cure, their disease.

senator barbara mikulski understands the importance of innovative biomedical research for patients, their families, and our economy here in maryland. call senator mikulski today. tell her thanks for protecting the promise of biomedical research and the maryland jobs it provides. it's not just the future. it's life.

>> tonight is going to be comfortable. open your windows. >> theoretically i am going to. >> cooler outside than in your house? >> 84 tomorrow afternoon. the heat comes in on sunday and monday. >> see you back tomorrow. >>y: f