ú% next on fox 45 earll edition. luxury spending during a city budget crisis. >> doesn't she have a license. can she drive. being chauffeured around baltimore. and america crowns its newest idol, but does baltimore agree with the rest of the country's decision.

good morningg it's thursday, may 27th. i'm patrice harris. we have a new ammrican idol. ú%at this mornnng, whether oo not you agree with who was crowned last nighh. first we need to check with meteorologiit steve fertiggto fiid ut what to expect. we are getttng closer toothe holiday weekend. -p>> it was hot yesterday. >> it was hot. >> and this time around more likely chance of a thunderstorm. yesterday we had a trace of showers at the airport, but 49 egrees, 779 degrees, and tes very warm to start the day. to the east ask wes!! and west t

brinns chances for thunderstorms and we will see them contiiue into the nighttime. before we get there, 90 degreesú for the high temperature. we need to check in with lauren cook wh!!ccoke who is standing a check on the traffic edge. lauren? >> reporter: we start with a an accident on the outer loop lanes at the ramp of lanes of 97. if you're using the northwest portion of the beltway, speeds are clocking in at a high 55 miles per hour at liberty road. as you take a live look a being is an speed of 55 miles per hour. all is clear at the tunnels, traveling through the fort mchenry tunnel to the beltway, you're looking at an average speed of 55 miles per hour and from the harbor tunnel, to 95, an verage speed of 53 miles per

hour. that's a look at the morning travels. patrice, back to you. as city hall wrestles with ú%yoffs and tax hikes, one job appears to be safe. the ersonal driver for crotth comptrooler joan pratt. the board of estimates just approved a $33,000 saaaay for the comptroller's driver. the tax paid position is good for another year. some watchdog groups are even needs a driver especially as the city faces a deep budget defiiit. according to the comptroller, though, theeman who holes the position is a city retiree. pratt says his duties go far beyond driving. >> he sppnds more time in the office putting forward agenda together, stamping documents, so his duties include much more than thht. >> i don't understand why the

city who is overseeing the city's finances thinks it's an okay use of city funns to get a driver. >> reporter: since the comptroller's assistant is a city retiree, the board of estimates had to waive the administrative rules in order to give him that posiiion. the mayor, the state's attorney also have rivers, too. megan gilliland, fox 45 early edition. a man suffers serious burnsú after anne arundel town house goes up in flames. patrick friendly drive.0 at a man was taken to the bayview burn center. meanwhile a neighbor who sent us this picture rescued a child in that home. >> i didn't see the baby until it criid and i lookkd down aad it was sitting on the porch. i grabbed the baby and pulled it

out and told someone else to hold and told omeone to call 9111 >> the cause of the fire remains under investigation. a montgomery county teenaggr accused of taking part in a plot to kill the president gets probation. yeeterday 19-year-old patrick was sentenced too3 years of supervised probation and 100 hours of community service. prosecutors say he helped his classmate collin mckinssy good ú%ilt a pipe bomb. material, firearms, and a map of the camp davii back in 2008 when the president was a candidate for office. mckinsey good receeved five years from federal press phon pr possession of a disvu destructie device. the llwsuit surrounds brrnning a casino to arundel

mills. they put the matter on the ballot in hopes of overturning it. the cordish company sued, claiming that the bbard of elections overlooked fraudulent signatures on the petition. they say that the referendum is being funded by the referendum jockey club which still wants to put slots at laurel park. the set over a polltical sign leads robert ehrlicc to3 take actioo. -e is set to meet with colbey at 4:00 this afternoon. colbey was ordered to take down a sign in support offrobber ehrlich after officials said it was too big. colbey has since hired a lawyer. the board of education approved a federal raae to the top education yesterday which includes conssdering student performance when evaluatiig teachers. it changes how teachers are

tenured. the application coulddbbing the state $250 million in federal grants. baltimore city and prince3 george's county is expected to receive the most money ifú maryland wins. >> i was delighted hat the state board of education was unanimous in support of this define a reform agenda for maryland education. we know we're number one in the country, but we can't rest on ú%r laurels. >> most school boards andd3 superintendents signee on to the application. however, teach union leaders say they felt they were not included in the application process and have concerns about value waitinevaluatingteachersed on t. to announce new drilling restrictions for oil companies. meaawhile so far so good for latest effort to plug the leak. bp crews began the top kill approach yesterday bb pumping mud into the blown out well.

the procedure has never been tried a mile underwater, but a ú%p bp executive is working as effectively and fficiently as they hhd hoped. >> while we are very encouraged by some me thooe of this procedure, i do not want to express optimism until we know for sure that we have secured the well and the leak has topped. they hope to top the well with cement, and ssal the well. theyyshould know today r tomorroo if this technique will stop the oii leak. in many ways the leak in the gulffaffects everyone and now two maryland companies are trying to help out. joel d smith is live in sykesville where they are preparing to send desaster coast. practs t products to thea >> reportee: they are loading things up here and getting ready to go. this a group that helped out with katrina and now they're getting ready to help out again. i have tom brown here hisú

morning. eerly morring to you. >> yes it is. >> reporter: good to be with you. how did they contact you and say we need some help? >> i did some work at katrina and someeof them contacted us, they gave us a call and we are senting up kitchens and ovens, rerefrigerators, and dishwashers and camps we're setting up for the rrlief workers. >> reporter: these aae folks who are trying to cleen up. they need a place to stay, and that is where you come in. supporr they need.hem the >> reporter: how many items are you sending. >> we cent a tractor load yesterday and we are sending two more. this is our irst camp ask we are expecting nine more camps to follow. >> reporter: have they given -ou a month persppccive of how >> six mmnnhs they are expecting for this camm. a lot of cllan up. >> reporter: you have enough to get it out of hhre for six months. >> we do. we are ready to go.

ú% reporter: when it first happened, did you think we might >> yes, we did a lot of work with katrina. we do a lot of work and when they need someehing we expected them both. >> reporter: will you be going? >> i will head down probably sunday or monday. >> reporttr: interesting. so they're getting paid to do this, of coursee this is not, you know pure volunteerism, it's something that is needed, they have the equipment so they are sending it down. >> did the folks out there, call them,,we need your help, or did they get in touch with hem, say we can offer you, and we are going to come down. >> reporter: i think i knoww3 the answer. did they contact you or you knew about them. and ttat is how this got going. >> theyycontacted us and we foe all of the prime intimmtely. it's a two way street. >> reporter: this is the gulf that has seen something like this before. they know who to contact when

emergencies happen. >> it's good that we have the resources. thank you joel. governor o'malley says there's no worry that the spill in theegulf of mexico will have %-waterways.n the maryland %-preearedness task, and part of the meeting surrounded the oil well problem. in a scenario, small tar balls could be blown in.ú dinner is served courtesy of the school syytem. city schools are expanding their free breakfast program to now include a ffee aveng evening mer all students participating in after school program. the meals will be prepared by students participating in the city school's career technology education program. >> the ool thing we're doing here s we're incourting food that we're growing at the greaa %-the kids it gets us vertically

integgated experience of plantiig, it harvesting, ii, preparing it, serv ssrving it, d eating it. >> should 10,000 meals a day are prepared for baltimore public school stuuents. america has spoken and lee de wjz e is your new american idol. ,3ú %-idol 2010 is lee d wjz e.ido -p did beat out some toughú ccmeeeio!!competition this seasn including crystal bower sox who said she called it before he resulls were announced. >> i'm ext ecstatic, tonight waa

lot of fun.3 i told win, you're going to win and i hopeeyou do anddsure enough he did. congraaulations to him. it's amazing and he deserves every second of it. >> we were all saying that crystal was goinn to win yesterday. we were wrong. stay tuued ffr fox 45 morning news for continuing coverage of the american idol finale. the party iss't over yee. froo hollywood with more on what you didn't see after the show. %-8:00 hour.ng up in our thought about last night'ssshow, ú% you agree with america's? you can post your comments on facebook page. or send us a tweet at fox we're continuing our phone poll with your reaction to america's decision. so we want ou to call in and tell us whattyou think about who won and who didn't. we are goong to update the results througghut the show.

just give us a call and let us the number is (410)481-4545. coming up on the early editionnof break in a cold case. >> i couldn't believe it that they hhd called me. >> a baltimmre olice caught a murderer suspect. start in the 70s and very war [ vrrroooooomm! ]

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[ male announcer ] lease the 2010 tiguan for just $269 a month. it's a whole new volkswagen. and a whole new game. it s 5:16 on this tuesday morning. the heat is definitell on once again. take a look at hd radar not rrflecttng anything in our vicinity in the wwy of rain. ú%at can change again this afternoon..3 there was a chance of rain, but otherwise the bettee chance as the frontal boundary approaches closer. right now it's to the west and east as you see the rain to the long island. it brings us a chance to some thunderstooms to ssvere the risk -- he risk oo severe weather will be to our south as you can see in virginia and further points south. however, there's still a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms later oo into the

afternoon or evening. 79 degrees is where we start this day at the inner harbor. wow, ii it warm already. %-variable wind of 45 miles per hour. look at the temperature, 79 in balttmore, 74 in d.c., cooler, but still warm in salisbury, 68 and 72 and hagerstown. and we do have a flash-flood watch to tell you about tonightú on the west sideethe chesapeake bay in howard county, howard montgomery and pg county and anne arundel county. storms that could produce heavy rainfall. ú% are not looking at heavy dose of rain. maybe a quarter to a half an innh but it could come over a short duration. that is whh the ffash-flood watch ha has come in the chesape bby. a best chance. for p.m. or and 7:00 p.m. and it drifts further sout to the soutd

west. thattfront movee to the southú and east and we will see improvement as the high pressure moves in for the weekend. we are looking a whole lot this hhliday weekend would be rather nice even if it is warm for a part of that peeiod. 80 degrees with the eastern shore today. a chance of a shower later this afternoon. a northeast wind at 5 miles per hour. the central part of the state a better chance of a thunderstorm with 90 degrees for he high with the thunderstorms coming in western baltimore, a better chance as we move toward the evening hours. definitely hot and tonight 65 degrees, can't rule out anú evening scattered shower with thunderstormssthat may continue later on at night but the best chance ill be earlier on. aa we move through the next several days, first let's start with today and ttll you how %-85 degrees by noon and mostly clear. the clouds move in later in theú day with the ttunderstorm chances. we are looking at a a high

tomorrow, 87 degrees. a chance of showers lingeringg33 and maybe early saturday we definitely dry out. 83 sunday, and mostly clear, warmer for the memorial day and 85 and 80 with a chance of a couple of showers and or thunderstorms tuesday and approaches from the west. fox 45 iradar weather is availlble at your finger tips. you can use fox 45 powerful doppler radaa to track ncoming storrs. the interactive tools will let you know when rain or thunderstorms will be over your3 house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click -n iradar. -ow lauren cooke is back for can kass dold an--candace dold and g out the traffic situation. >> reeorter: iido have an accident on the eastbound lanes of route 100 pasta run dale mill1000past, arundel millsboul. we're still dealing with the %-you will notice traffic is moving freely.

it really isn't having much of an impact. if we'reeusing the northwest portion of the beltway, speeds are clocking in at a ery high 56 miles er hour here at liberty road and fortunately, it %-59 as well herr at harford ro. it will be an easy drive from parkville to towson and from towson to 83. if you're using the jfx, no problems to report, from 695 all the way downtown to east fayette street. all is clear at the tunnels, no or the harbor tunnel. we are dealing with one lane of dundalk avenue at burning highway. that's a look at the travels. patrice, back to you. the summer season is about to kickoff on fox 45. the season premier of so yoú think you can dance is tonight at 8:00. and one lucky viewer will be able to dance with the best oo %-it's our we can't wait for so you think can you dance contest.

one viewer will win a nintendoú wii fit system, an a pod nano. watch the season premier of so

-p a 20-year-old mystery involving the rape and murder of an elderly woman could now be solved. police have ade an arrest and as steve daniels reports, dna evidence help crack the case. >> i did not believe it. elaine curb ha curb has the old newspaper clippings with the headlines of her grandmotter, a dillon street ssore owner slain. now after 20 years an arrest. >> i'm just glad that they got him. i hope that he takes ann pays for doing this. >> police have charged eddie acaro with first and second-degree murder and first and second degree assault in the cold murder case of 86 years old ana curb. dn helped catch him. look at the crime sceee. pictures of policeeworking the killing stunned the neighborhood. investigators say that he broke into curr's grocery store on

doyle looe streedillon street a, anddup to curb's second floor apartment. raped the elderly wommn and killed her. >> i stood her . >> reporter: curb's daughter-in--aw was the first to arrive in the family store. now she knows that police arrrsted killer after nearly two decades. >> i couldn't believe it hat they had lockkd somebody up. the thing is i know the guy. >> reporter: tte family says ttat arcaro lived at the neighborhood attthe time. police arrested him at tuesday night at a friend's house in essex. investigators say they have matched dna from the can go matched from 2009 sex case. now everyone caa rest seeing

her kkller got caught. coming up lattr on the early edition. remembering yeardley love. the fun he fund her family has t together toohonor her

gas prices are down, but so is the dow, plus, apple takes a bite o out of microsoft. the dow down are the blue chips closing below 10,000 for tte first time since february shedding 70 points on wednesday, %-the treasury departmenn sellig more than 1 1/2 miilion shares of citiy stock. new home sales rising by nearly 15% fflling mortgage rates and an eepirinn tax credit pumping up sales. apple passing microsoft to become the world's biggess technology company by market3 value. exxon mobile is the onll bigger company that is bigger than apple. gas prices falling down 8-cent in the past week. ellen degeneres is judging singer on american idoo.ú nowwshe wants to sign singers.

it's called 11-11. coming up a dundalk owner killed. %-police have found had his murder. some the city's top elected officials are keeping their person drivers. i'm megan gillilandd how much you're paying for a ride around town. >> reporter: i'm joel d smith, live in sykesville where this ompany from maryland is getting ready to send