reisterstown area. >> then we lost visibility altogether. and it was a whistling sound. >> i saw the trees across the street lay down. and i knew something wasn't right. >> it was horrible. this is probably the most damage i have ever seen from a storm in my lifetime. thinking for sure it was a tornado. but i understand, it was just high winds. >> reporter: and while tornado was the first thought of many, the national weather service called it a straight-line wind, shortly after the thunderstorm hit. >> basically, it's an intense thunderstorm, where you have a downwind or down draft that produces very intense winds. they said sometimes from 60 to 100 miles an hour. but they're very certain that this was not a funnel cloud. >> reporter: but it was still strong enough to damage the roofs of some homes and crush cars under the weight of fallen trees. this one not only landed on a car, it brought live power lines onto it as well, trapping the driver for an hour. and repairing downed lines remains the area's big job. as of noon, 9,000 bge customers

were without electricity. and some won't be getting it back until later tomorrow. in a few cases, debris and power lines left homes cut off. >> my fiance. his sister from l.a., his other sister's family, and his parents were all stuck in his house. no electricity and no water. >> reporter: and back live now, in the sunny brook farm neighborhood here in the reisters -- reisterstown neighborhood, we can see the workers are trying to get the trees cleaned up and power back on. a survey ray -- a short time ago, shows 55 homes here suffered property damage because of this storm here. >> complete coverage continues now with mike schuh, who is live in eldersburg. >> reporter: there were a lot of terrifying moments here in carroll county. let me set the scene for you. a family. two kids in the back. one in a motorized wheelchair. they drove right in front of

this tree, which fell down. it hit the wire, started sparking and catching the tree on fire. so they decided it was time to back up to get out of the way. what happened was, they backed up right into the path of this tree, which fell on ton of -- on top of their minivan. >> out of the corner of my eye, i see this tree come down, hit this tree, the top half of it, just comes off. and they both land on the back of this caravan. >> reporter: this is how that minivan looked after rescuers got to the two kids inside. >> i almost -- i almost couldn't handle it. i'm like, i'm ready to go back inside. this is too much. it's like i asked him if he was breathing. he wasn't answering. then the mother was just saying, stay with me, stay with me. >> reporter: neighbors grabbed chainsaws. and 45 minutes later, firemen got the two successfully out. no one was in johns' car. >> both of them were on top of this car, the civic. and one of the trees in the front yard dame counsel also --

came down also. >> reporter: in this neighborhood, there are trees down everywhere. you is can smell the broken wood in the sap. and everyone seems to have a generator or is getting one. >> i am just getting out of the neighborhood. i've got a freezer full of meats that we try to stock up because of the economy. we're trying to cut corners and things like that. and you know, i probably have like $300 worth of meat or so in the freezer. and it's all going to go bad. >> reporter: not anymore. bge says it may be two days before all of the electric is restored here. >> everybody has got to climb poles. no bucket truck accessories. so everything you do, you gotta climb up and down the poles. and this heat like this, you just have to make -- take it slow and make sure everybody stays hydrated. back now live, in eldersburg, both of those children from the incident here were taken priority one to hopkins. no word on their condition.

at the height of the storm, nearly 3,000 people were without power, in carroll county. reporting live, mike schuh, wjz eyewitness news. kai, back to you on tv hill. >> complete coverage right now, continues with meteorologist bernadette woods whoa -- who has been analyzing last night's storm and has more on why it was not a tornado. very scary moments, regardless of whether the winds were rotating or straight. here's a loop from our first warning doppler radar. you can see them crossing off into reisterstown. we're going to zoom in a little closer and highlight the specific storm that caused all of the damage. sykesville right there, owings mills, up through cockeysville and up through harford county. as far as damage go, you saw a lot of the pictures. the actual reports go like this. winds were estimated at 60 to 70 miles per hour. we don't have any reporting sites directly in this line. so no official readings. we've also seen a lot of reports of large hail with this storm. and we've highlighted the area that got the worst damage.

now, we're going to break down the difference between straight line wind damage and tornado wind damage. the thing is, with straight line wind damage, it really is a straight line, a gust of wind coming out of the thunderstorm cloud. but there is no rotation. as far as tornado wind damage goes, there is rotation. and regardless, if it's rotating or not, when we have severe thunderstorm warnings, that means winds could be above 58 miles an hour. and we can see the damage that can cause. we want to keep you up-to-date here. remember, wjz is always on. check in with eyewitness news for complete coverage of first warning weather. for instant updates in the forecast and live radar at any time, log onto wjz.com. wjz is following the developing investigation into a night of bloodshed and chaos across east baltimore, where 18 people were shot. police say most of those victims were targets. part of a well-planned hit. eyewitness news investigates. live at police headquarters. mike hellgren has the chilling

account of what went down. mike? >> reporter: sally, it's rare to see this level of violence. neighbors described being scared for their lives. so far, no arrests and two gunmen involved in an ash land avenue shooting, where 12 people were wounded. >> reporter: blood and bullet markers are scattered behind a home on ash land avenue, where eyewitnesses described the drug- related mass shooting that happened here overnight. >> all of a sudden, i hear this barrage of bullet. they just sprayed into the ground and sprade everything. people were running, screaming, yelling. people were falling down on the ground. >> reporter: 12 were shot here, including a 2-year-old girl and a pregnant woman. all are expected to survive. a pregnant female. it took her right past me, on the a gurney, the ambulance. >> reporter: the commissioner says fighting over money and territory sparked the violence.

>> to the extent that young men are debt on absolutely annihilating each other, it is a continuing frustration. >> reporter: he also says one of the target was was steve blackwell. this shooting may be retaliation. the commissioner says blackwell had been under police surveillance. >> we can put this cat out of business. and he should be out of business. and the people who are trying to kill him should be out of business. >> it was a very cowardly act. you know. it was premeditated. very clear. >> reporter: police say the shooting on ash land was connected to at least one other shooting in what was an unusually violent night in east baltimore. they will now flood the area with police, including a s.w.a.t. team. >> we are certainly going to monday-morning quarterback every aspect of police operations connected to this incident. >> it's just sad that these feuds that are going on, people have no respect for life.

>> reporter: wjz has learned, one member of the safe streets team was also wounded. that's an organization that mediates disputes before they turn to bloodshed. >> reporter: that increase in police includes two shifts of 37 officers on foot patrol. reporting live at city police headquarters, mike hellgren, wjz eyewitness news. >> thanks, mike. the naacp is alarmed over the shooting spree and is urging pastors to preach about ending the violence. a tragic scene in whitemarsh this morning, after an accident leaves three people dead. it happened just before 5:00 a.m. on honeygo boulevard. a car rammed into a street sweeper truck. all three people in the car were pronounced dead at the scene. we'll have more as police try to figure out how this happened. breaking news about michael vick. he could be back in action this summer and playing for an nfl team by late fall. he has been reinstated by nfl commissioner roger goodell.

he said he is start preseason workouts and play two seasons. that is, if any team picks him up. he can then apply for full commission. it is late july and time for football. baltimore ravens' training camp begins tomorrow in westminster. and players started reporting. sports director mark viviano is live in westminster, with more on what we can expect out of a team. hey, mark? it was six months ago that the ravens played their last game on a freezing cold night in pittsburgh. and it is with that in mind that they arrive in the sweltering heat of westminster to kick off another training camp. now, that loss to pittsburgh, left the ravens one game short of making it to the super bowl. it was a good season. and that has hopes high as they get ready to start training camp once again. mostly rookies arriving on monday.

packed for three weeks of practice, moving into their temporary home in westminster. second year quarterback joe flacco is joe cool, during an ice cream break, on his move-in day. it's the 14th season of ravens' training camp at mcdaniel college. the second for head coach john harbaugh. we want to have the best training camp in the nfl. and that starts tomorrow. we want to have the best day we can have tomorrow. that's how it was last year. that's how it's going to be next year. that's how it is this year. we're excited to get going. and go about the business of traing football. >> our guys are great. most are going to come in on wednesday. and tomorrow, we'll look at all of the young guys we have had. i think all of these guys are getting ready to go. they're kind of anxious to get out there and show the coaches. and show the other quarterbacks what they got. >> first practice, tomorrow morning, 8:30. a number of veterans, not required to be here, are here already. one who is not is receiver

derrick mason, who is pondering retirement after a surprise announcement a couple of weeks ago. coming up, a little later on in sports, we'll hear what the coach and the quarterback have to say about the status of derrick mason. that's ahead. back to you for now. great to see you back in westminster. thanks. we're looking at clear skies tonight. but some areas are under a severe thunderstorm warning as bernadette told us. here's a live look outside. which areas can see what to expect tonight. bernadette woods has a look at the radar. gets me all excited, bernadette. how are you? >> i'm doing well, kai. we want to show you first warning doppler radar. it's the same one causing problems. most of the state, as you can see, is fine. just an isolated thunderstorm popping up here in virginia. really, where we're seeing the action is southern parts of the eastern shore and the beaches. a few different rounds have gone through already, the possibility of hail in them. now we're seeing just off to

the south, dispatch trying to make its way to the north. pocomo city. seeing some thunderstorm and lightning out there. gusty winds and downpours. and the possibility of hail, as all of this pushes off to the northeast. there are warnings off to the south with this. no warnings for us at this hour. we have had some already. but there is a potential for more as those thunderstorms come our way. we'll keep you up-to-date on that. still ahead on wjz eyewitness news at 5:00. what happens. the 911 tapes are out from the night a harvard scholar was arrested at his home. what they revealed. flu prevention. the h1n1 virus is not going away. how maryland schools are working to keep students healthy. i'm ron matz at the inner harbor. baltimore goes over the top for a visitor from down under. the story when eyewitness news continues. so are we in for more storms tonight? the updated first warning forecast with bernadette coming up.

it's a controversial story that is fueled by claims of racism the african american harvard scholar harry gates is arrested by a white police officer. tonight, we hear the police transmissions frathat day, as well as the 911 calls. the recordings don't focus on race. >> reporter: the arrest that triggered a national debate on race began with a 911 call ma -- that made little mention of

it. >> i of. >> -- i don't know what is happening here. i'm standing here with an elderly lady. and she noticed some people trying to get into a house. >> reporter: it brought police to the home of black scholar gates. >> i don't know if they have a key, but i noticed they used their shoulder to try to barge in. >> only when prompted did she consider race. >> what are their descriptions? >> two larger men. one looks kind of hispanic. but i'm not really sure. >> reporter: they also released crowley's dispatch. >> a gentleman here is uncooperative. >> reporter: crowley's supporters say gates' arrest had nothing to do with race. while gates' supporters call it racial profiling.

>> i hope that this exercise truly becomes a learning exercise, not just for the cambridge police department, but for police departments throughout the nation. >> reporter: president obama, who fanned the controversy with his initial comment, is expecting sergeant crowley and professor gates together for beers at the white house soon. manuel gallegus, cbs news. >> the charges against gates have been dropped. fighting the flu. the state health department and maryland schools are teaming up to ward off potential outbreaks of swine flu. there have been nearly 700 confirmed cases of h1n1 in maryland this year. as pat warren explains, officials plant a front line defense. >> reporter: an ounce of prevention. a $4.8 million program is targeted primarily to school aged children. >> kids are in close proximity to one another. they have the ability to spread this disease among themselves

and consequently to their families and others. >> reporter: the maryland public school system are taking steps now to prevent a potential outbreak of the h1n1 virus when school starts. by planting immunizations for public school students and how to handle an outbreak, should one occur. >> if this decision is made to closed the school, -- close the school, how do you inform parents so that they know what they're doing by 6:00 in the morning, when generally, our high school students are beginning to get on the buses? >> reporter: this h1n1 summit in annapolis posed these and other questions in advance of the start of the year. >> we have about 2.6 million individuals that are recommending to get vaccinated. the function is that it will be an all-hands-on deck approach. the two individuals with the current thinking regarding the vaccine is that they're going tone two doses of vaccine, which is about 5 million injections that am be expected to be given in the state of maryland. >> reporter: it's not clear

what impact h1n1 can have on the state. >> we are not trying to fear- monger. we're trying to be prepared. >> reporter: for whatever reason, parents may not want their children immunized. you should know that the program at this point is not mandatory. highly recommended, yes, but voluntary. >> thanks, pat. there have been four confirmed h1n1 deaths reported in maryland. bernadette is here with our where. yesterday, we had them also on saturday. and we've each seen a few today. at this point of maryland, there are none. hoo this what we're tracking. we'll have the full forecast when we come back. ss on car insurance. what you might not know is that you can contact geic to see if you could save on homeowner's and renter's insurance too. for more information call 1-800-947-auto or check the yellow pages for an office near you.

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welcome back, everybody. it is dry in the city right now. but that's not the case for everyone. we're going to take you to first doppler radar. here's the overview picture. we've seen a couple pop up and do i down over the mountains of virginia here. we could see a few make their way over to the rest of us. but the other thing i really need to focus on is delaware

and southern parts of the eastern tour, this is where we've seen the hefty thunderstorms. follow this. that's a sea breeze front, making its way westward because of these storms. the biggest threat with these, gusty winds, damaging winds, upwards of 60 miles per hour. and hail. and most is off to the south. but it's creeping northeast ward. downpours, a lot of lightning. and it's starting to pick up also in princess ann. you can see when we put it in motion, all of this drifting off to the north slowly. this is something we will be monitoring through the evening. at this point, no watches or warnings in effect for our area. but just down to the south, we're seeing a lot of that. so that's why we are concerned with this event. we will continue to monitor that. now, if any warnings, do come out, we'll make sure about that. we have rains and thunderstorms that died down. and today, here's this next round, just developing over the last few hours. and isolated thunderstorms elsewhere. winds are still out of the south, generally speaking. they're kind of all over the

place in some cases. but that's keeping our moisture levels very high. it's muggy outside. that's one factor. the other is the warmth. temperatures at or above average. we're coming in at 87 degrees now in baltimore. 88 in cumberland. 79 with the thunderstorms going through in ocean city. but so far today, we've topped out at the average of 87 degrees. now, this front is the one that started moving in a couple of days ago. it's still still hanging around. tomorrow, we'll get off shore. but it will still be close enough to pop up. even behind the front, we are seeing some of that action. after this front leaves us, already on wednesday, still a threat of scattered showers and thunderstorms. as the next front approaches us. this is on and off every day that we are going to see these chances. and in this kind of atmosphere, there is a potential that any of these could be severe. if warnings come out over the next few days, we'll let you know.

small craft advisory still in effect. that is a possibility, thunderstorms will be dying down. then tomorrow, up to about 90 degrees. another round of thunderstorms late in the day is possible. then again so for the next few days. we'll have that five-day coming up a little bit in the show. >> thank you, bern. we have breaking news to tell you about right now. sky eye chopper 13. live over a train derailment in cecil county. captain mike perry with details. mike? >> it appears that this is a csx train. this is along belvedere road. it's near prin sipio creek. now, apparently, csx train has lost several cars from the rail head, which runs between these very two large warehouses. it is not clear at this point, how these cars derailed. obviously they are not supposed to go across the road. it appears there are no injuries here at this time. now, maryland state police do have the road closed. this belvedere road. in the town of belvedere.

and they're investigating this incident through csx. back to you on tv hill. all right. still ahead at 5:00. weight costs. the more you weigh, the more you pay in healthcare. what is being done to curb obesity in america. an early-morning crash, involving a street sweeper leaves three people dead. i'm weijia jiang in baltimore county. the latest on the investigation is next on eyewitness news. what was in his system? a look at all of the drugs michael jackson was allegedly taking in the days leading up to his death.

it is 5:29. upon 87 degrees. partly cloudy. and here's what everyone is talking about. a car slams into the back of a street sweeper, carrying oil it happened on honey go boulevard. weijia jiang has the latest tonight. police have launched the investigation. and right now, they know virtually nothing about who the victims are. >> it was meant to be an early morning commute. >> they were just trying to get to where they were supposed to go. >> they were the three people who were killed in the monday morning crash. >> it's a horrible way to go. i can't think of a worse way to do it. >> the driver tried to turn left. >> they drove into the path of a street sweeper vehicle. that basically hit it in rist-

bone fashion. forcing it down the road. one was involved in a fire. and the street sweeper was involved. >> reporter: public works authorities say the sweeper involved is not part of the baltimore fleet. but part of a private contractor. crews were also on the scene. a spokesperson says it carries about 45 gallons of oil, some of which spilled onto the road. as for the three who died here, detectives say it has been difficult to pinpoint who they are or where they're from. >> we think this may be a temporary tag on it. so detectives are looking where that came from. detectives are trying to piece together what happened in this deadly crash. reporting live, weijia jiang, wjz eyewitness news. >> police say the investigation

could take several weeks to complete. as we have been telling you, big parts of baltimore county are cleaning up after extensive damage from last night's storms. and that includes my neighborhood in owings mills. once it passed, i grabbed nigh video camera and headed outside to see what i could find. the first thing i noticed was the hail in my house. >> i found this tree that it snapped off right outside of my house. then around the corner, the entire street was closed to numerous downed trees. and you could see where one had knocked do a damaged power pole. the storm was so bad when it first hit. i actually went to the basement, fearing it could be a tornado. fortunate lie, it was not. -- fortunately, it was not. if you want to see more from my diary, go to wjz.com. how bad did this storm get? meteorologist bernadette woods is live in the first warning weather center, with the answer for you. >> kai, always on top of it there. want to take you back to last night, and show you what these storms looked like.

that was the storm making its way through sykesville. into harford county, and continuing off to the northeast. we're going to zoom it in and highlight the specific storms that caused all of this damage. right there, with the purple, producing hail, damaging winds, and the wind estimates had been anywhere between 60 and 70 miles per hour. now, we don't have any reporting sites in this direct zone. so there are no actual readings. but the estimates from southern carroll county over into baltimore county, the area that got the of the -- got the worst damage is 60 to 70 miles per hour. in addition to that, a lot of hail to report. others, we had hail reports over an inch in size in diameter. so a lot of people getting problems across the region. now, we are still seeing some problems out there. first warning doppler radar, showing you parts of the eastern shore, there are more thunderstorms from the same storm system. and this has been producing severe thunderstorm warnings along the beaches. at this point, there aren't any. but just off to the south, we

do have some more. and this whole area is slowly creeping off to the northeast. so if any warnings come out, we will be here to let you know about them. the biggest threat, damaging winds and hail. kai? >> wjz is always on, check in with eyewitness news for complete coverage of first warning weather. for instant updates and live radar any time, log onto wjz.com. the world is anticipating the results of michael jackson's toxicology results. it's believed the king of pop may have been taking more than a dozen drugs when he died. dr. jennifer ashton explains for wjz what we can expect for the autopsy. ♪ [ music ] >> reporter: which drugs were in michael jackson's body when he died? and how much? and did they cause his death? those are just a few of the questions expected to be answered when the coroner's toxicology report is released. my guess is we'll find multiple drugs. it's the synergestic effect of all of these together that caused this respiratory problem. >> reporter: he was reportedly

taking the pape killers demmerol and vicodin. and the -- painkillers. the prime suspect among the drugs that may have contributed to his death is diprivan. a powerful sedative used in hospitals to put patients under. several bottles of the drug were found in jackson's manor. >> if you make a small error in how much you give yourself, even 1-cc difference, you might go from being high to being dead. >> reporter: and the potency can be affected by other drugs. so if jackson was on painkillers and sedatives, the combination could have been fatal. >> all he wanted was to sleep. but he was in trouble. >> this drug being used for sleep is madness. it's like using a cannon to shoot a mouse. >> reporter: the toxicology report may determine if charges will be brought against dr. conrad murray or any of

jackson's physicians. >> diprivan is a smoking gun and this may very well border on criminal activity. >> two safely administer diprivan, you need sophisticated equipment to monitor breathing and heart rate. that's why it should never be administered in a home setting and should only be administered by an anesthesiologist. reversing a 15-year decline. the city wants to make sure teen girls stay in school and baltimore's babies are born healthy. today, mayor sheila dixon, the health department, and other organizations met to make a new strategic plan for prevention. >> i think we've got to start at an early age. i think we've got to make it very plain and clear. i think we've got to bring families together, where you see there's a history in a family. >> reporter: at last check, the rain of teen births in baltimore was almost double the statewide rate in maryland. in tonight's healthwatch,

the cdc tackles the obesity rate head-on. joel brown explains for wjz, solving obesity could cut healthcare costs. obesity isn't just dangerous for your health. it's also bad for your wallet. new research shows on average, an obese person spends an extra $1400 a year on healthcare. that number is doubled in the last decade. now, the centers for disease control is taking aim at obesity with a three-day meaning, part of a new push to encourage healthy eating and physical activity. former president bill clinton kicked off the conference, urging healthcare workers to act now. >> we are trying to turn the titanic around before it hits the eyeglassberg. iceberg. >> reporter: since his bypass surgery in 2004, clenton has been leading the fight geaks obesity, especially in children. >> reporter: some doctors in healthcare hope by holding this

conference in washington it will send a strong message to lawmakers that if you want to fix the rising cost of healthcare, you're going to have to address obese it. >> reporter: among the new programs, new ideas for promoting physical activity. and making sure healthy food and beverage are available and affordable. that's something they support at this new york city's farmer's market. >> i think it's important that people prioritize cooking at home and, you know, maybe getting the whole family to pitch in. >> reporter: doctors and health officials point to the latest data as evidence that this conference comes at a crucial time. new studies estimate about one- third of adult americans are obese. and that number continues to rise. wash -- in washington, joel brown, wjz eyewitness news. >> researchers say overall, obesity-related health spending has hit $147 billion. that's nearly double what it was 10 years ago. time now for a quick look at some of the stories you'll find in tomorrow morning's edition of the baltimore sun.

bwi thurgood marshall has dropped the half hour free parking at the garage at the airport. complete coverage of the ravens camp at the acc ravens football. and passersby were treated to free compliments. for all of these stories and a whole lot more, read tomorrow's baltimore sun. and remember to look for the updated forecast from wjz's first warning weather team. from sydney to baltimore, thousands of people came to the inner harbor over the past several days to check out a ship from australia. ron matz reports, baltimore is still buzzing about a special weekend visitor. at 390 feet, it's a sight to see. today, baltimoreans are still buzzing, about the battle rat. a guided missile from the royal australian navy. >> i'm taking pictures. we're on vacation. i didn't know it was here. but we're excited that it is. >> reporter: good morning, sir. >> good day, ron, how are you? >> fine. >> reporter: he says his crew

of 180 sailors is halfway through a six-month voyage. and they're finding it difficult to leave baltimore. >> the welcome in baltimore has been exceptional. the hospitality and friendliness, the history of this city and its importance to the maritime history of the united states, has been something else. >> reporter: from a distance, you might not know where the ship is from. but get a little closer. >> it's from australia. >> that's what we figured. because we looked at the kangaroo up there. and i said, it must be from australia. >> reporter: during its stay, 2500 people visited the battle rat. it's the first australian ship to stop in baltimore iny 33 -- in 33 years. >> i might want to sneak on a little later when they're not looking and have them take me back to australia with them. >> reporter: the battle rat left baltimore, a stop on the way to sydney. but one the crew from down under will never get over. >> and the welcome of the

locals, to all of my young people from australia, we're on the other side of the world, and we felt like we're at home. >> reporter: ron matz, wjz eyewitness news. next stop is dorfork. she's not due back into sydney harbor until october. wjz and the baltimore orioles are teaming up to feed the hungry. and we need your help. during this weekend's home stand, take nonperishable foods. wjz will collect your donations at the gate. it's all part of wjz's continuing community commitment. >> rocking out there. don't miss the cbs evening news with katie couric. here's one of the stories they're working on. inside the columbian jungle, with special forces. and a success story that's never been told. i'm laura logan. that story coming up on the cbs evening news with katie couric. still ahead on eyewitness news tonight. wrong way. eight people are dead after a tragic crash on a new york interstate. dramatic crash.

a boat flipped over during the columbia cup. but did the driver make it out all right? and i'm bernadette woods in for bob turk. we're putting together your exclusive first warning five- day forecast. and we'll have that when we return. here's today's report from wall street.

stir we have -- we have some thunderstorms out there right now. not necessarily in the city. but mainly along southern parts of the eastern shore. as far as tomorrow's forecast, the same front could still produce another round of scattered showers and thunderstorms as we head mainly through the afternoon and evening hours. otherwise, muggy and another warm one. getting close to 90 degrees. scattered thunderstorms possible with it wednesday, thursday, and even friday. and then this type of a weather pater, there is -- pattern, there is a chance that this could be strong to possibly severe. something we will be monitoring daily. and we'll bring you updates if warnings do come out.

a hydroplane racer manages to survive a serious accident. watch and you can see the craft flip a couple of times in the air, before landing in the water. cockpit down. the driver was ability to escape through the hatch. and was picked up by a rescue boat. he was checked out and surprisingly is okay. he will compete in another competition next week. police are now saying a minivan driver reported feeling sick. diane shula drove nearly two miles the wrong way, before the mini -- before the minivan drove head-on into another vehicle. the children killed were ages 2, 5, 7, and 9. the crews managed to rescue a 5- year-old boy who is now in stable condition at the hospital. economic times continue to be tough. but home sales are on the rise. low mortgage rates and bargain prices caused home sales to jump last month. the increase goes along with a significant price drop.

the average price of a home has fallen to a little over $200,000 nationwide. wjz and the baltimore sun wants to help people. every day, we will bring you suggestions that can save money. here's mary bubala with one way to ride out the recession. your opinion counts. and it could put much-needed cash in your pocket during these tough economic times. our home is home to one of the most respected in the nation. baltimore is a firm. it's where marketing companies go to get the public's thoughts on products and services. click on the link that says "join our database." it's free. and you just have to give them information to figure out what focus groups you're a best match for. recently, they sent out a call for men and women, ages 24 to 60 who own one or more dogs. if they qualified, respondents were paid to come in as part of

a focus group for a canine product. an easy way to make money. for more recession tips, go to wjz.com. and click on our special section on the home page. and check out tomorrow's baltimore sun. check in for these stories on eyewitness news at 6:00. justice denied. a young woman, full of life, brutally murdered, inside the baltimore county convenience store. why her family is outraged at the punishment for her killer. and how they plan to keep her memory alive. and we will keep you updated on the breaking news. an unusual train accident in cecil county. the latest on how it happened. check in. one man is thrilled to be the winner of a look alike contest like no other. the annual ernest hemingway lookalike contest took place over the weekend in key west to honor him. this man beat out 139 other contestants at the papa hemingway lookalike contest. that's pretty good. persistence paid off for this

papa. he said he previously entered eight times before winning. >> that's just eerie. >> the sun also rises in key west. >> apparently. eyewitness sports, live in westminster tonight. hey, mark. how are you guys doing? yeah, are you ready for some football? if you're a raven, you better be. practice begins tomorrow at the start of training camp. i'll have the latest on the status of derrick mason. plus, the orioles ar

mark viviano is live out in westminster. hi, mark. >> how does it feel, mark? >> it's warm here in westminster for sure. it's a mandatory reporting date for the rookies and the quarterbacks. but a number of ravens veterans have shown up early in anticipation of getting camp started after a very good play- off year of last year. one veteran we have not seen is receiver derrick mason, who is pondering retirement. what's an announcement he first made a couple of weeks ago. now, quarterback joe flacco spoke with mason recently, and

we asked him what he knows about mason's status for this season. >> i have no idea. i really don't. i really have no idea what he's thinking. obviously he thought about it enough to come out and say that he's going to retire. so we'll see what happens. we're going to go out there and practice like he's not going to be around. and if he happens to be around, we'll obviously work with him. but like i said, i really don't know what he's thinking. i haven't talked to him enough. andion if anybody knows-- and i don't know if anybody knows what he's thinking, except him and his family. >> we'll have enough to fill out for the training camp. we're looking for the best guys out there, young guys, older guys, whoever that may be. >> veteran receiver mark clayton is here in westminster, checking into the team headquarters hotel today. he stands to be the number 1 receiver in mason retires, practice tomorrow morning, at 8:30. and we go from the ravens to the orioles. the baseball birds are back home, playing at camden yards

tonight. back home after a nine-game road trip. he'll take on the kansas city royals this evening. the start of a seven-game home stand. and the road wrap-up yesterday, the birds played the red sox in boston. and rookie pitcher david hernandez had his best big league inning. and a much-needed quality start that played a big part in the orioles snapping a five-game losing streak. as far as the hitters, nick markakis, batting in the number 4 spot. hitting cleanup for the first time this year. he drove in three runs. this is a solo home run. orioles win it, 6-2. i was with the team at fenway park, and got some reaction to what is for them, an important win. >> you looked unflappable. tell me how you felt out there. clearly the results were good. >> i felt pretty good, going into the game. i knew i had to pitch well to be able to compete against this. they had a very good lineup. i was able to throw my fast ball to both sides of the plate. >> coming off the road trip,

the importance of this, first and foremost. >> oh, it was big. it's been a rocky road trip. and we needed to come out and get a win. >> reporter: o's in kansas city. tonight, more on the ravens ahead on eyewitness news at 6:00. we'll see you then. still to come tonight on wjz's eyewitness news. i'm mike schuh, wjz eyewitness news. picking up the pieces from the storm in eldersburg. the story when eyewitness news

wild weather. hundreds of trees toppled. the cleanup is just beginning. the coverage is coming right up. i'm mike hellgren, at city police headquarters. investigators are delving into a string of shootings in east baltimore. including one that wounded a pregnant woman and a 2-year-old girl. the investigation straight ahead. horrific collision. three people dead, when a car slammed into a street sweeper. how did it happen? check in for these stories and all the day's breaking news. >> eyewitness news at 6:00 starts now. path of destruction.

powerful storms toppled trees, damaged cars and knocked out power. >> tonight, the intense cleanup. and efforts to get power restored to thousands. >> hello, everybody. i'm denise koch. >> and i'm vic carter. here's what people are talking about tonight. >> the wicked weather. at this hour, people throughout the region are still assessing the damage. the powerful storms storms that roared through last night, knocked down trees and power lines, causing extensive damage. some of it, you can see from sky eye chopper 13. we're live with first warning weather coverage. mike schuh begins. but we begin with alex demetrick, live in baltimore county, hit particularly hard. alex? >> reporter: well, denise, what started out as a quiet sunday evening, exploded as a hor zonta -- horizontal rain. it ripped through neighborhoods. >> reporter: thick trees, cracked like wish bones or

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