>> actually i cannot understand why they are close continuing. >> sadness for seniors. how budget cuts are changing their lives. >> i just cannot -- >> parents on edge after another swine flu death. why two shots may be better than one. >> and christmas shopping in tough times. the way one retailer said it is trying to help. >> live in high definition, from wbff tv in baltimore, this is fox 45 news "late edition". >> hello, i am jennifer gilbert. >> and i am jeff jeff. budget cuts closing a senior center in northeast baltimore. >> been around for decades. and people say it is more than a gathering place. for many it is like home. and can anything be done to keep it open? karen parks joins us with more. >> unfortunately the closing date for the harford senior center has been set. but residents that live in the community say they will not give up without a fight. they tell me that they found out that the center would be

closing, which serves nearly 400 visitors, will shut down october 31. but seniors say it is more than just a place to play bingo on wednesday nights. center provides free flu shots, tax services pam percent and milk and prepares lunch phos $1.50 every day. but the city said the money is not in the budget to keep it open. although mayor sheila dixon said today, the cuts are from the state. but she does not want to see it close. >> it is not just about economy. it is everybody in the area. and there is nowhere else for them to go. >> sad. i don't want to breakup. >> they plan to write letters to city and state officials hoping for help. reporting live in northeast baltimore, karen parks fox 45 news "late edition". >> concern grows as the swine flu spreads. >> this map shows the 26 states with wide spread flu outbreaks.

shown here in red. most of the southern half of the united states. >> almost 60 percent of flu cases tested in the united states right now, turn out to be h1n1. and swine flu is already causing a lot of problems in some states. >> meanwhile second child in the state of maryland has died from swine flu. the victim is a 14-year-old student at montebello elementary and middle school in northeast baltimore. diagnosed with the swine flu last week after collapsing in the classroom. died last night. this morning, parents attended a meeting with school officials about precautions, still tonight that brings little comfort. >> i just going to keep my kids there, because they don't know anybody else in there has it. >> hard decision, really it is. you know, and you want to send your child to school, in the back of your mind you are thinking, should i? is the school clean enough. >> . >> they have thoroughly scrubbed the school. >> how bad is swine flu compared to the seasonal flu? tonight we try to put the numbers in perspective. every year about 30,000 people

die of the seasonal flu in the united states. now this year, the cdc predicts 30,000 to 90,000 people could die from h1n1. and children are the most at-risk. in a typical flu season about 60 children die of seasonal flu. already this year, since april, there have benefit deaths from swine flu in the united states. about 2/3rds of those children had other medical problems. >> a study by the cdc shows many people dying from swine flu also had other bacterial infections. the cdc you studied 77 patients that died from h1n1. 29 percent have co-bacterial infections. about half the infections were pneumonia. cdc said doctors may have missed detecting the infection in swine flu patients in the first place. for that reason, the cdc is adding one more shot to the list of recommended vaccinations. experts say a pneumo cock kel vaccine should protect you

against pneumonia. 70 million people at-risk for the infection. those people between 18 and 49. prime ages for swine flu. >> consumer alert poll shows many parents on the fence about the h1n1 vaccine. and just 35 percent say they will definitely have their child get the shot. 14 percent say they will not get the kids vaccinated. half of the parents asked say they will hold off on on making the decision. >> and that brings us to the question of the day. do you plan to vaccinate your child against the swine flu? so far, it is 50/50. split down the middle. jack from columbia writes. which is worse getting sick or mourning the death of your child? for more information call the state swine flu health line. 877 md flu for you. >> and there is more detailed inform had shun about what maryland is doing to combat the swine flu on our website. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on the swine flu icon. >> breaking news in baltimore

county to talk to you about. homicide detectives are investigating the finding of a body. the body was discovered about 4:00 this afternoon. police were still on the scene tonight. in the 9500 block on of liberty road in lan dals town where they found the body of a man. no word on the cause of death. >> police charge a couple for killing an elderly man in whitemarsh. police say the 35-year-old man and woman were david week wee's tenants. he was planning to evict them. relative foun him dead friday night in his home. discovered on his bed with a pillow taped over his head. >> woman testifies against william brown unlicensed cab driver. brown raped her she said and leaving her for dead six years ago. the cabbie's dna was linked to two homicides and 3 rapes. brown is charged tonight with 49 counts and 9 separate cases for assault, rape, and murder. >> baltimore man is charged with murder after setting his grandmother on fire. police say 29-year-old tyrone mason doused his 85-year-old

grandmother with alcohol, and set her on fire after an argument back in march. ethyl henderson died in june. >> well it really is starting to feel like fall. >> rain is on the way sooner or later? vytas reid joins us with the sky watch forecast. vytas? >> closer to the weekend. but for the next couple of days, fabulous weather. clear skies. temperatures on the cool side of things. overnight tonight with temperatures dropping into the mid to upper 40s. right now on sky watch hd radar. scanning the skies. no activity in the form of precipitation. clouds breaking. perch downtown baltimore. 53 in hagerstown. over the western edge of the mountains, chillier temperatures. in fact, garrett county and some areas out there in the midwest seeing frost advisories tonight as they see cold air out of canada. for us starting off tomorrow, around 48. plenty of sun. warm you go up through the mid afternoon to the lower 70s. hold onto the sunshine through most of the day. detailed seven day coming up. .

>> mayor sheila dixon could very well face two trials instead of one. no reasons as to why the cases were separated as of yet. tonight mayor sheila dixon faces two indictments on theft and perjury. prosecutors allege she used gift cards intended to needy families. defense claims dixon has legit active immunity to protect her. how far should legit active immunity go? >> it does not encompass everything that a public official does. >> we argued that the prosecutor here has played with fire for a second time. and has improperly introduced evidence of legislative act. >> as of tonight mayor sheila dixon stands trial next month on theft charges. >> maryland's naacp and american civil liberties unit want to see police internal records. they believe they are using racial disparity in searches and vehicle symptoms. the judge heard the hearing today. state police have denied the

request because it involves private personnel documents. >> beginning tomorrow, it will be illegal to text while driving in the state of maryland. today zoo students at anne arundel county community college saw firsthand how dangerous distracted driving can be. the drive square program simulates what happens if you text or talk on your cell phone while driving. >> we hope they take away that texting while driving is really not that important. you need to stay focused with your driving. you can always text when you stop the car. >> in 2008, nearly 6000 people died in crashes involving distracted driver. >> other new laws taking effect tomorrow. create stricter punishments for drunk driving. more laws to protect victims of domestic violence and maryland becomes the first state to include homeless in a hate crime statute. maryland's new death penalty law takes effect tomorrow.

videotaped or dna evidence is now required for prosecutors to pursue capital punishment. >> we don't want to take people's guns away. >> a fight over a gun ban in chicago s headed to the nation's highest court. how a ruling could change local handgun laws. >> walling mart is jetting a jump start on the holiday season. how they are trying to make it easier this year.

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>> president obama said the cost of health care reform can be

offset by cutting waste and inefficiency in medicare. republicans say the democrats prevented them from making considerably smaller medicare cuts four years ago. jim looks at this controversy. >> both the senate and the house are counting so-called savings in medicare to cover about half the cost of health care reform. but some question whether that much can be saved without hurting seniors. >> this, to say that congress can cut this much, spending for medicare, without having an adverse effect on seniors access to health care. >> all of this has political reaper cushions because seniors pay attention to health care and vote in large numbers. they appear to be worried about current reform efforts. fox news poll asked seniors if they think congressional plans will make them better off or not. 20 percent say better off. 37 percent say worse off. asked if they prefer the current system or reforms proposed by democrats. 54 percent of the seniors prefer the current system.

only 31 percent favor the proposed reforms. democrats seem to recognize they are losing the battle for seniors. as they emerge today to try to reassure them. >> better benefits, guaranteed access to your doctors, and 3, extended financial stability of medicare. extending the solvent see of medicare trust fund for five years. >> democrats accuse republicans of trying to undermine medicare. even though republicans added a new drug benefit for seniors in 2003. now democrats talk about reductions 10 times the amount once seen as immoral and they are worried seniors will not go along. in washington, jim angle, fox news. >> there is more information about health care reform on our website. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on the cure for health care icon. . >> the terror threat alive and well in the united states. that was the message at a hearing on capitol hill today. fbi and homeland security department told a senate panel

they are doing everything they can to prevent another terror attack. they cited several plots they were able to stop in the past six months. officials say the greatest threat is american citizens. traveling to pakistan and somalia for training. then coming back here to plan their attack. >> increase violence in afghanistan has u.s. leaders reassessing the war strategy. it is still unclear whether that means more u.s. troops on the ground. meanwhile general there told members of congress that the u.s. could withdraw about 4000 troops from iraq, by the end of october. >> a battle over a gun ban in the city of chicago goes to the nation's highest court now. u.s. supreme court will be hearing a challenge to chicago's restrictions. a decision could determine if local handgun bans are legal at all. opponents say the law will not cut down on gun violence. >> laws like that in chicago, have never kept criminals from being armed. >> this is a high profile case and it is high profile case

number one for judge sewed mire, court expected to hear arguments in the case early next year. >> beautiful fall day. >> rain in the future? go to chief meteorologist vytas reid with a look at the sky watch forecast. vytas, what do you think? >> not in the immediate future. sunshine out there. clearing skies. at this moment. downtown our hd sky ca cam looks at the inner harbour. 51 degrees. outlying areas in the upper 40s. and we will see the temperatures dropping into the 40s overnight tonight. so kind of a brisk cool night. winds are calm. humidity levels at 83 percent. now looking at the temperatures across the region. you can see the core of cold air. up over parts of michigan, toward cleveland. 45 in pittsburg. the temperatures drop into the lower 40s, upper 30s and there is frost advisories for the folks back there. and even garrett county on the western edge of the state here. but it looks like temperatures are down in the lower 50s, and upper 40s for overnight lows around central maryland. as far as cool air, continue to see the tracking down out of the

north. area of high pressure builds in and keeps us dry for a couple of days. but cool nights and cool day tomorrow. but with plenty of sunshine. which is good news. you can see the clouds breaking up. showers earlier today. mainly south of us. down around prince george's county. down around salisbury. but moved off to the east. breaks in the clouds west of us us. and that continues to breakup through the overnight. making way for pretty much clear skies through much of the day tomorrow. on the future scan clouds move out. and plenty of sunshine through the day tomorrow. to friday. and see clouds gathering through the afternoon. and then by late friday afternoon. friday night. we have a front just off to the west. cold front that is approaching. behind the warm front. so we actually have temperatures increasing friday to saturday. once the cold front pushes through it may spark off showers and thunderstorms. as we get to saturday afternoon. looking at the eastern shore forecast. 65 degrees. winds out of the northwest five to 10. and around the central portion of the state. plenty of sunshine. and temperatures doping topping out on around 70. with a westerly wind at five to 10. once again, the high pressure

bringing the cooler air around it tomorrow. and shifts from the southwest. and the mild air moves in friday. and then this cold front moves through and then the showers possible into saturday. but tomorrow plenty of sunshine. 70 downtown. cool mild day, with winds out of the west at five to 10. five-day forecast shows 75 friday. partly cloudy skies. and 77 on saturday with a 70 percent chance for showers. and then as we get to sunday, monday, temperatures back in the 70s. and it looks like we will hold onto sunshine for early parts of next week. . >> in tonight's news you need to know. coca-cola is becoming more forthright with its customers. atlanta based cola giant will display calorie information more boldly on the products. this after a congress considers a soda tax to decrease major deficit. coke hopes to have the changes complete by 2011. >> some cost cuts for travelers, in the works tonight. orbits no longer charges a fee

for hotel cancellations and changes. expedia and price line eliminate their fees this year. >> you can now drink starbucks coffee in a instant. starbucks new instant coffee debuted yesterday. many locations offering free samples and this weekend you can see how it stacks up to the famous regular coffee so what comes to mind

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. >> unbelievable video of the aftermath of a tsunami. get this. this video from american samoa shows the destruction left behind from yesterday's deadly waves. >> i can see over here the bridge is totally wiped out by the waves. >> video was shot before authorities blocked off access to the area. >> residents in charleston west virginia are trying to uncover the mystery of these painted eggs. unknown artist has been leaving his mark in the form of eggs, sunnyside up, to be exact. in spots all over town. the viral art is not permanent. the yellow and white paint is water based good here is a car wash you will every forget. wildlife safari is capitalizing on the fact that elephants love water. alice and her friends are offering visitors car washes. high pressure rinse but no

guarantee your car will be any cleaner than when you drove in. >> alice, are you tired of washing cars? >> no. >> the exhibit which opened this summer has been a big hit. and there have been plenty of repeat visitors. >> patrice harris fox 45 news "late edition". >> we have breaking news. another case of a student with swine flu in baltimore. on the website of baltimore city college, the school said one of its students has a confirmed case of the disease. we will have more on the story, of course, coming up on fox 45 news morning news. >> the ravens went back to work today. after the normal tuesday off. the intensity was probably a little higher than normal. this week, they have a very significant game. they are, of course playing the patriots. in foxboro. now the ravens have jumped out to a 3-0 start behind joe flacco's high octane offense and several of the rankings have

them number one in the league. and they feel this week's game is a good yard stick to measure how far they have come. >> that's how you measure what your program is. such a great team. they have a great coach. and they are fundamentally sound. so you will have to get back to the little things to win. >> we respect the patriots. respect what they have done of the respect everything they are about. but you know, that's the thing. you have to respect them and then you have to attack them. play your game. >> i think, any time you are penned up against, you know, the new england patriots, you have a test in front of yourself. not only do they have great players, but over the years they have always, you know, coaches come up with great schemes. so that's kind of what we're expecting. >> we have to go on the road and get a win. you know, they are a good team. and we expect their best. come ready to play. >> interesting side bar to this sunday is the battle between two probable hall of famers. tom brady for the patriots, and

ray lewis for the ravens. like manning brady likes to change plays at the line of scrimmage and john harbaugh likens it to a popular board game. >> interesting to see how the ches match as you put it plays out. i mean, i am sure tom he takes a lot of time at the line of scrimmage trying to get an idea of what you are in before the snap takes place and then good as anybody. once he has the ball in the hands to figure out what you are doing and getting the ball in the hands of the play maker. >> play a great chess game. tom takes his time, him and bill trying to figure out all the defenses before he makes the calls and things like that. so, i mean, i think, playing the game with them, you have to be in your own game. let them settle in to what they will do. and then you do what you are doing. >> and nice, if unlikely honor for a baltimore raven. brendon was named afc player of the week. brought in last year as a special teams ace. he has been getting a lot of

snaps at line backers and last week against the browns he came up huge. he had an interception. a sack and six tackles including one for a loss. kickoff set sunday at 1:00 in foxboro. ravens two-point underdogs. back to you. >> we're looking at clear skies ♪ save up to an extra 30% when you use your jcpenney card.

stores open early saturday with doorbusters. sweaters for her are just $14.99. st. john's bay sueded polos are $12.99. go to jcp.com and see everything on sale. jcpenney ed >> final look at the seven-day forecast. plenty of sunshine tomorrow. you will need the sunglasses. high of 70. 75 on on friday. little warmer air builds in. partly cloudy skies. mostly cloudy with showers saturday. high of 77. maybe a rumble of thunder or two as the cold front moves through, dropping us to a high of 70 sunday. sunshine returns, which is good news. and we stay dry for early parts of next week. 73 on monday. 74 tuesday. 72 on wednesday. and pleasant conditions. >> vytas, thank you. that does it for the "late edition". thank you for joining us tonight. i am jeff barnd.

>> and i am jennifer gilbert. have a great night. real time closed captioning provided by u.s. captioning