have a great news hour. i'm vic carter and i'm denise koch. firefighters are battling a large fire at a condominium in how ward county. it is happening in columbia in the 7500 block of weatherward way. there's a second alarm calling for more firefighters to respond. we are not sure if anyone inside the building or anyone hurt. we will bring you more as information becomes available. an emotional day as the 15-year-old boy apologizes to the mother of a 14-year-old boy that was attacked and kill in may. today the youngest of the

suspects entered a manslaughter plea for his role. >> reporter: chris jones loved life. his ended when he was just 14 while riding his bike home from the neighborhood pool in coughton last may. prosecutors say a gang of teens attacked him and left him for dead. the youngest one charged, a 15-year-old boy charged as juvenile has enter add plea admitting prosecutors can prove that he committed manslaughter. >> my son -- >> she has been incredibly strong woman. >> my son can't speak anymore so i have to speak for him. >> reporter: in an emotional courtroom, the parents wept and addressed the teen who apologized for his actions. >> he is still a child and i feel for him inside and i really do hope that i can for give him one day. >> reporter: he faces up to six

years in a secured residential facility, a judge ordered him held until he can be placed there. >> the juvenile could not have for seen the outcome of what he did. but when you do something of the nature you have to accept the serious consequences that flow from it. >> do you think justice was servened. >> i do. i do. >> reporter: 16-year-old la gel george faces adult manslaughter charges in connection with the death. his trial is scheduled for next month. chris' family will never get him back. they simply want justice. >> i think he would be proud that we are all standing up for him. >> reporter: the teen that entered the plea had a troubled past including 15 disciplinary referrals in the past school year, the department of juvenile services placed him on in formal supervision following an assault in march. in anne arundel county.

the judge will review the case, not known how long the 15-year-old will be in the facility. coming one after the other, first bill, danny and now tropical storm erica is out in the atlantic. we have it from the weather center, bob. >> a very active season, usually september is the most active time for these storms. take a look at the last satellite image. where is this storm expected to go? we have it a little bit stronger than earlier. expected to head to the northwest slowly, has moved slowly and wins as high as 58, almost as high as 78. it may become a minimal hurricane, a lot of dry air. not expected to be a strong storm even by sunday night just to the east of the bahamas, slow mover. tonight baltimore county police are searching for the men

that robbed two women at an atm machine and sexually assaulted one. it was caught a video. you can see the woman in parkville. investigators say he force add second female female to perform a sex act in the parking lot of a near by school. anyone that recognizes the man should call the police. police are searching for suspects in a double shooting in west bolt ta more, two men were sitting on the steps of a home where when someone opened fire wounding them. the recent drop in temperatures reminds us that flu season is approaching but the concern is over the swine flu we have a flu watch report. we explain what the president and governor mark o'malley says we need to know to protect your held. >> reporter: the president is trying to get the country ready for the h1n1 virus preparing for

the worse but hoping for the best. the h1n1 virus or swine flu has been a concern for sometime, nearly one million americans have contracted it and about five hundred have died from it. the virus is under the microscope and the news is troubling. >> you will find it everywhere, on doorknobs and telephones. >> reporter: at the white house tuesday president obama urged americans to get flu shots. >> this program will be voluntary but strongly recommended. >> reporter: president obama says being prepared means having a response plan in place realizing that a second wave of flu viruses oftentimes appears in the fall. the state has a h1n1 flu plan in place.

>> we will be taking advantage of federal dollars and hopefully getting the vaccine into the hand of the citizens. >> reporter: the earliest it will be ready is october. that jives with what some people are hearing from their doctors. >> my doctor does not have the vaccine until october. since i am diabetic i have to have it too. >> are you worried about it? >> no, i feel like god will take care of me anyway. i don't even take the flu shot. >> you don't, why not. >> because when i took it before it made me sick. >> the swine flu first emerged in mexico and spread. there has been more than 1799 deaths across the globe. if you have any questions about the h1n1, you should contact your doctor. one local mayor is making a boll protest against recent

state budget cuts. the mayor of ham steady lowered the municipal flag and raised another flag. the popular protest flag has the phrase don't spread on me. americans day they ared to talk about the disappointment with handlings of the budget cuts. >> the state of maryland gets $3.8 million in stimulus money and not one town gets it like ham stead. instead of the state getting its fiscal house in order what they have done is refused to accept budget responsibility for their mess and passing the buck to us. >> the mayor is upset because it affects funding for police and roads. he hopefully will avoid anymore layoffs.

stocks tumbled on wall street today. despite strong economic reports from both the housing manufacturing industries, the dow dropped by triple digits. it may have something to do with the calendar. september is historically the worse month of the year. here are the closing numbers. the dow closed down and the s&p and the nasdaq also finished in negative numbers. the the the cash for clunkers programs was not as successful as originally thought. there could be a picture posted on a speed camera. the chief is asking the council to install speed cams ra in school zones. the general assembly has approved the bill putting the

decision in the hand of local government. the counsel will vote september 8th. there was a message from rodriguez, warning athletes to stay away from steroids. kelly spoke to students that heard a-rod's message. >> reporter: a surprise message, the yankees are in town, a-rod decided to take this opportunity to speak publicly to start speaking publicly about the mistake of using steroids. yankee player and multi millionaire rodriguez admitted using performance enhancing drugs earlier this year. >> i did take the banned substance and for that i am very sorry. i am deeply regretful. >> reporter: he used them from 20012003 while playing for the rangers. athletes got the surprise to hear the mega star's advice face to face. even the football captain that

spoke at the assembly had no idea. >> he said do you know any famous people that have been taking steroids? i was like the biggest person i know is a-rod. i was like a-rod is really going to be here? >> media was forbidden. st.joseph put the event together. >> he was clear that it was wrong and it was a mistake and he is kind of seeing the light so to speak and wants to make things better, clean up his image. >> reporter: rodriguez says i am here because i made a mistake. one of my missions in life is to turn a negative into a positive. >> someone of this stature coming forward and saying what he did today the way he did i think goes a long way. >> reporter: a-rod joins the orioles in signed power by me pledge. maryland athletes have been signing it for years saying they will not use steroids. >> i am the captain and if i see someone i will know they are

doing it and tell them and let them know what a-rod says. >> the power by me director says it took congressman elijah comings and major league baseball to make the visit happen as a-rod was looking for opportunities to start spreading his message. thank you, kelly. nearly 400 student athletes attended the a simply. sometimes second best is just good enough. that's the case when it comes to baltimore's finest bathroom. it was entered into a contest and it ran. first runner-up beating out music hall and drake hotel facilities. it is gorgeous and glamorous and ladies at the tre month, it is all and only yours. >> did you have to read that story and have a toilet over your shoulder? >> the humiliation. >> make room for one more. the du guard family has 18 children and counting and now

they are expanding their house. details next. video, why this dash cam tape after police arrest may be crucial in a pending lawsuit. a number of deadly accidents involving medical helicopters including a big one in maryland. how the national transportation board is recommending big changes, coming up. cool nights and pleasant day continues. we'll have the complete forecast coming up next. now complete coverage continues with denise coke and vick maryland's news

station. >> it is 59 degrees and clear in central maryland now. the complete forecast is coming up. new video shows a police beating caught on tape in beaumont texas. it happened in august of 2007, just last month two officers were indicted by a grand jury in connection with the beating. a local police union says it stand behind the officers. the tape which was released following a freedom of information request could be crucial to a lawsuit against the department. >> firefighters in california are making progress battling the fire across los angeles. a giant world war ii tanker was used to drop water on the flames which threatened areas in the

mount wilson area. the flames threatened to damage tv cell phones and radio towers. they are working hard to protect the buildings, they have set back fires which clear an information before approaching flames have time to spread. the national transportation board meets to discuss recommendations for improving safety on board helicopters which are used during medical emergencies. adam may reports from washington, the panel's recommendations are sure to haven't impact. the transportation board is making recommendations to improve the safety of mel helicopters and some of them will have a big impact on the system. 2008 was a record year for crashes in the u.s., more than 2 dozen people died when trooper two went down snare andrews' air force base. >> were you afraid you were

going to die. >> i just prayed to god. >> reporter: the accident triggered a plea from the lone survivor.. the national transportation board recommends mainly safety improvements to all 750 mel helicopters across the country. the ntsb says they need technology. auto pilot and single pilot choppers and terrain warning systems. >> we have seen too many accidents that could have been prevented had we implemented the technology. >> it is unclear if it would have prevent the maryland's crash which is still being investigated. >> we are believing we are on track of the technology. >> they have auto pilot and they are in the process of adding ter rain protection and night vision. the police are planning to buy 3 more helicopters. the budget could slow down the process. >> we will be retrofitting some

of the older aircraft in an effort to maintain them. >> we think the maryland state police operations are receptive to some of the recommendations that we issued. we look forward to working with with them. >> a final report at the maryland medevac crash is coming out soon. three other recommendations made to the fda in 1996 have not been implemented. >> a man tried to use marijuana to fill up his tank. he offered it on old pike, marijuana in order to pay for gasoline. the clerk called authorities and the man's motorcycle was searched and the police found cocaine and oxycodone as well. he has been charged with possession of illegal substances. it will soon be another addition for the dugger family

as the unexpecting parent learned that they will welcome child number 19. jim bo and michelle dugger have 18 children and a grandchild on the way. the family's life is captured on tape on their show 18 and counting. their youngest child is 18 months old. >> that is a woman that can use the bathroom at the tre mont grand. >> can you imagine their food bill? >> let's move on. the weather is delightful. the temperatures, 59, winds are dead calm and the barometer, rising and the dew point is at 53 and temperatures tonight in the low 50s. 52 in oakland and 40 in the local area. 62 and mid upper 50s, doesn't get bert than this. the warm spot 68 in annapolis

and dc at 67. the dc and anywhere near the water is much warmer. to the south, some shower activity off of the carolina coast. this front is kind of hanging it up through here through florida and the gulf coast. precipitation east of the coast. by the end of the week there may be moisture to see the clouds by thursday or friday and mainly south and east. it looks like most of it will be suppressed by a big area, you can see how clear it is, big area across the great lakes and that will guarantee us really nice water, probably in to and including labor day. at this point you see the cloud moving out. beautiful conditions around the entire region and hopefully it will stay that way. we will say nice conditions and it will hold all of the way through labor day. it is possible, maybe some cloud for the weekend and some of the moisture may creep up but right

now keeping our fingers crossed. night so great down here east of the leeward island, not a big storm but erica will be getting a little stronger to the northwest by sunday. it is only just to the east of the baja mas, about 250 miles. it has a long way to go and will only be maybe category one storm. a lot of dry air and a lot of sheering of westerly wind which will help probably to keep it from developing much stronger. in our region, northeast winds five to ten knots. beautiful cool clear 52 overnight and tomorrow sunshine and a pleasant afternoon and high around 78 degrees and the next five days temperatures where they should be upper 70s and low 80s. maybe some clouds here friday and saturday and sunday. all in all, we do not expect much in the way of any precipitation at all. denise. >> i thank you, bob. plenty of souvenirs hit to the

seats orioles that coming up ne.

>> a report from the ballpark, we talk about the pitching. sometimes there's the slugfest, homerun derby, a ball flying out like beer league softball but not refreshing for the birds. they fall flat against the yankees. the home team had a couple of luke scott. he came through with a blast. off of aj burnet, a three run homer to utah street. that gives the os a 6-5 lead and celebrating but new york fires with fire power. chris ray pitching and 7thi, swisher unties it drive to right center and two run homer and lead for the yankees, the next batter similar results this time to left center, off of the bat

of eric hinki, back to pack shot off of chris ray proved to be the difference. it ends up 9-6 finals. the new york has beaten the os in the 9 last meetings. after all of the home runs let's appreciate good pitching. none better than what cole hamel against san francisco tonight. he goes the difference and strikes out nine in nine inning, a two hit shutout. a winner over frisco. let's kick it to football where the ravens had one last practice before the final preseason game and will travel to atlanta to face the falcons thursday. the final warmup game will determine the roster spots but the ravens know who will and will not make it. the veterans are looking forward to the start of the real season. >> i think now we are going into the last game, i think everyone in the whole nfl is ready for

the preseason to be done with. we have to go in and continue to do what we do and focus on this first week coming up. and welcome back number 55, linebacker terrell thugs says he plans to play on thursday and recovered sufficiently from a left heel injury that has kept him out of the previous three games. day two at the u.s. open, fan favorite maria sharal popa back in the u.s. after left year with an injury wearing her glittery outfit. 6-3, 6 love and maria on to round

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be right back. >> an open house of bernie madoff. he was forced to give his home up he was sentenced for 150 years in prison. i think they are asking 6

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