on the scene with the latest for us. >> the 911 call came in from register street but firefighters are telling us that the 5 400 block of broadway is where the fire was actually happening. one firefighter was injured with minor injuries. it quickly grew to five alarms as firefighters arrived. they are still trying to get this under control1. 20-135 firefighters are here now. there was thick, black smoke, lots of flames and intense heat. mated difficult for firefighters to handle the fire here on broadway. our roof collapsed inside the four-story building and had to evacuate an attack the fire from the outside. that made sure that people who rent adjacent buildings were evacuated as a precaution. -- people who were in adjacent buildings. the building was vacant at the time and there are no reports of

anyone being inside. fells point residents tell us that it was a grocery store and one time it was the reliable department store. a lot of people were here watching as firefighters tried to handle the fire. some wore masks and others used clothing to cover their faces to keep the smoke from getting to them. know what specifically the building was used as prior to the fire. it would appear there are ordinary combustible materials inside the building burning. >> we saw all the smoke about 1:30. this is the biggest buyer have ever seen and felt point. i used to have a store down here. these firemen are really working on a hot day like today. >> i have never seen anything with it like this force behind it. it looks like they would be down to white smoke and then it suddenly came rolling back with a vengeance.

i am so proud of the way they are working. >> i was on my way to the broadway bicycle shop and i noticed this was happening so i have just been sitting here watching the battle at and just hoping no one was injured in all of it. >> one firefighter was injured with minor injuries. mayor stephanie rawlings lake did come to the scene and was given a briefing. firefighters are still trying to get the situation under control. >> an unmanned military aircraft crashed on the eastern shore. here was the scene earlier today. coast guard officials say the 44-foot aircraft was on a routine maintenance light of the patuxent river naval air station. so far, no injuries have been reported. >> a woman's body was discovered lying in a wooded area in baltimore county. her death has been ruled a homicide. a bicyclist spotted the victim.

because of her death has not been released. anyone with information should call metro crimestoppers. a pitbull shot and killed during a drug investigation in southwest baltimore. we first broke the story last night on 11 news tonight. happened at the end of a foot pursuit of a drug suspect. police said the suspect ran into a home and the pitbull came barreling out to the officer, who reacted by opening fire on the animal. >> good news for the city of baltimore. it is no longer one of the top five when it comes to the of the largest national murder rate. fbi statistics show baltimore's 2011 rate at 31.3. that means 196 murders for the year 2011. it lands us at no. 6 on the list of cities with high homicide numbers per 100,000 people. the city saw a decline in murders of 12% last year, dropping below 200 for the first

time since the 1970's. now we have breaking news from city hall tonight. a controversial baltimore bottle tax has been passed. >> kerry cavanaugh has the latest from city hall. >> the bottle tax just passed a few minutes ago in a long and rancorous debate here at city hall. means the tax rate you pay on bottle water, so, an artificially flavored beverages will more than doubled. the mayor had proposed a plan to take the current bottle tax of 2 cents per bottle and higher than double it to 5 cents per bottle. the vote passed just a few minutes ago. the mayor had introduced it as a means to generate money for school construction. the current tax brings in about $5 million a year and she wants to double that starting next year. >> there is definitely a sense of urgency. it represents a significant step

forward in our efforts to improve the quality of schools for our kids. >> opponents say there were other means available that would not have jeopardized jobs, local sports, or the pepsi plant now it is carrolltowne. we'll have more on the debate coming up at 10:00 and 11:00. >> president obama continues to take heat for his comments on the economy friday, when he said the private sector is fine. nikole killion is in our washington bureau with the latest in our commitment 2012 report. >> even though the president walked back his comments, republicans accused him of being out of touch. for days after these five words were uttered, the white house fine-tuned the president's comments to put them in context .repar >> the simple fact that the recovery has seen a situation where because of massive layoffs of teachers and firefighters and police officers, reduction in

the public sector. >> the private sector is doing fine. >> mitt romney continued to use the president's words against him in a new web ad. the obama campaign countered, taking issue " romney said about the president's proposal to hire more local government workers. the dueling did come as president obama and mitt romney battle it out in several national polls that show them locked in a dead heat. >> the president's reelection effort is on the cusp. a former presidential advisor says the latest word play will not matter, but the economy will. >> the next few months are make or break. >> that is why both candidates are campaigning aggressively, especially in the swing states. this week, president obama stock in pennsylvania and ohio all mitt romney was in several key battlegrounds.

>> mitt romney will kick off that battleground bus tour friday in new hampshire. tonight he is campaigning in georgia. meanwhile, the president is expected to make a stop in baltimore tomorrow. he is scheduled to deliver marks that the hyatt regency at the inner harbor, part of a fund- raising reception for his campaign. it is set to begin around 1:15. we have learned he plans to take part in other campaign events while in baltimore, including a private fund-raiser. >> right here in baltimore we mark the bicentennial of the war of 1812. lowell melser is live in federal hill with all the hustle and bustle just days before the big event. >> come wednesday, this place will be filled with tall ships. you will not even recognize it. we are starting to see some of the preparations underway. we are seeing some tents popping up around the inner harbor. this is scheduled to be the biggest maritime event ever that

baltimore has seen. the inner harbor may seem quite right now, but within the next couple of days it will be transformed to resemble a scene out of 1812, at least on the water. >> this star spangled stuff gets in the dna here in baltimore and maryland. everyone who has been asked to help has said why not, why would we not do this? >> 45 tall strip -- tall ships will start arriving wednesday for baltimore's star spangled sailabration, which is expected to bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors. >> we have a dozen restaurants gearing up for door-to-door service. we have lots of retailers gearing up with staff and merchandise to appeal to the attractions and to the masses. we are gearing up our staff. all hands are on deck this weekend to make sure we provide a safe, secure, and family friendly atmosphere.

>> an air show will take place at fort mchenry and ships will be docked at locust point and fells point. >> we have to have every single person on staff here and ready to go. >> the businesses in the area are expecting a huge weekend, including all kinds of food and drink specials. >> every restaurant and shop in fells point is gearing up to have an extremely busy weekend. it is a great thing to be able to showcase all of these local restaurants and shops in fells point. >> area attractions will be offering all kinds of discounts as well. parking will be at a premium, so public transportation is recommended. organizers say on top of all the fun, it will be quite a history lesson for young and old. >> baltimore has a lot of naval history associated with it. we'll have three large ships coming in from our navy as well as several other ships from

navy's around the world. >> there is a liberal laundry list of events and special set up in and around baltimore city. we have all the information on our website, wbaltv.com. lowell melser, wbal-tv 11 news. >> don't forget that we have a special thing coming up on wednesday night. that will be simulcast with maryland public television. it will be from 7:00 to 8:00 on wbal-tv in maryland public television will also be doing it, and i will be there. it is going to be great. >> derrick mason spent less than half of his nfl career in baltimore, so why did he want to retire as a raven? he will tell you, later in sports. >> is heating up a little bit and there are some storms out there. the forecast is just ahead.

clouds moving in, rain nearby, 84 the

>> a maryland murder that elderly make carjacking a federal crime. the horrific and dragging death. >> it was one of those terrible crimes that you never, ever forgot. for the first time in 20 years, the doctors has been speaking pox exclusively with us. he sat down with debra winger.

>> the scene of a virtual horror show 20 years ago. a man left behind by all speaks exclusively to us. for 20 years, he never spoke publicly about the brutal carjacking of his wife. dragged to her death, entangled in the seat belt of her car as she was trying to save her toddler daughter who was in the back seat. the little girl was thrown out of the car. pam's mutilated body was left on the side of the road. >> how have you come to terms with the lack of humanity that was exhibited that day? >> that is really, very, very hard. i don't know if i could ever come to terms with that. >> tonight in his first interview with baltimore media, he is talking about the day 20 years ago that changed everything. >> i never thought that he would do an interview. >> and neither did i.. >> coming up tonight at 11:00,

or on this carjacking that defined the crime in maryland and changed laws across the country. images of that little girl left behind on the side of the road, shared with the i-team. >> now, your forecast with meteorologist john collins. >> the first check of the doppler radar satellite image, pure cloud over us -- if your cloud over us. 94 the high. we had a couple of isolated showers, no thunder and lightning on the eastern shore. a stalled out front is dying over the delaware bay. not really related to the rain that is out west of us. the clouds are heavier out there. moisture is coming up from the gulf of mexico ahead of a cold front that will be moving in tomorrow. tamara, a lot more rain is in the forecast for us, a lot of cloudiness as well.

not quite as warm as yesterday, 89 high at the airport. the clouds cut things down a little bit. the inner harbor hit 94. 66 and 76 were the respective lows this morning. what you see an orange on the map, those are the temperatures in the mid-8's to near 90 degrees. the gallows indicate readings in this 70's. that is close to the de -- de yellow's indicate readings in the '70s. even a few 60's that you see out there right now. here is the satellite image, again showing some of the clouds on the eastern shore. the clouds below lot bigger as you head west. this is where most of the moisture is, and a lot more is coming our way ahead of this cold front running across the mississippi valley right now. a lot of this occurred over the weekend down in the gulf coast region. parts of florida got as many as

20 inches of rain. all that tropical moisture is coming in our direction. let's take a look at our insta- weather futurecast. the clouds get bigger tonight and the rain chances go up for a few scattered showers overnight. the real rain chances are during day tomorrow and tomorrow evening. there could be some heavy rain as it all move through. overnight, mostly cloudy skies. we might get a rumble of thunder. the highest range chance is during the day tomorrow with mostly cloudy skies, rain and thunder periodically. 79-83 for the high. how much rain and we expect out of all this? at least a half-inch to an end, but some areas could get 2 inches or better before the whole thing is over on thursday. here is the seven-day forecast. 81 for most of tomorrow and on wednesday, a little cooler because of all the cloud cover. tomorrow is the highest range chance day. on wednesday and thursday, the

rain chances go way down but they do not disappear completely. only about 80 on wednesday and in this 7's to near 80 on thursday. it starts to dry out friday through monday and temperatures bounceback. >> from the susquehanna bank sports center, this is 11 sports. >> no one has caught more passes in a ravens uniform than derrick mason. he wanted one last day, his final day in the nfl, to come as the reagan. mason officially announced his retirement today, ending a 15- year nfl career. he spent the majority of that career with tennessee but his car remained in baltimore, and always will during football season -- his heart remained in baltimore. he had more than 57 under receiving yards. he never missed a game during his six seasons with the ravens. he would take on anyone.

on a team known for defense, mason brought toughness to the offense, but he found nothing tough about deciding on when or where of his retirement. >> it was not hard to retire, the decision where to retire was just as easy. like i said, a heart was here. it never left. there are not too many places you can go and the place really embraces you the way baltimore embraced me. i will be forever indebted to the city. >> raphael nidal captured his seventh title, becoming is the all-time king of clay courts. the finals began yesterday. appeared to have lost momentum in the fourth set when rain postponed play last night in paris. when they resumed played today,

a double fault on match point. nadal has the most all time titles of the french open with an amazing 52-1 record. the kings could face a potential choke tag in game 7. you can see the game right here on tv 11. the kings put in a practice this morning. if the devils extended series tonight, it shifts back to jersey for the deciding game seven. both teams based colossal pressure. -- both teams face colossally pressure precooks we still know how great a team they are and how much better we need to play to make this thing go even further. that being said, we are still a really tough spot, having to

win a road game to extend this thing. >> the last time that happened, a team had a 3-0 lead and lost the series in the nhl was seven years ago when the stanley cup final ended in april. >> that is crazy. >> stay with us for a look at the seven-day forecast, right after this. switching to progressive could mean hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today.

>> here is a look of what we are working on for 11 news tonight. continuing coverage of that huge baltimore blaze in fells point. a former nba star lands and to help spruce up a place for kids to enjoy e

>> some rain is coming our way. >> we argued for some rain, and tomorrow is going to be the date -- we are due for some rain. >> just bring an umbrella with you tomorrow. the rain chances godown but do not disappear wednesday and thursday. most of the time it will not be raining, but it cools down midweek to around 80 or over 70's and then it warms up and dries out garrett kern >> the reagan start minicam tomorrow. -- ravens start minicamp tomorrow. >> thanks very much for joining us. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--