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i'm jessica kartalija. here's what people are talking about today. breaking news this noon, ann arundel county's police chief stepped down. mike hellgren is in the news room with the latest details. >> reporter: the state prosecutor announced he's dropping a criminal investigation into james tier because tier decided to retire. it will become effective august 1st. police say he will not do any interviews. he faced questions over how much he knew about acquisitions his boss, john leopold, illegal ly used the state database. he was he has all along denied wrong doing. leopold is accused of making officers wait while he had sex

with a county employee in a parking lot and using his officers to conceal that. back to you. >> thank you. moments ago mr. leopold issued a statement saying the chief is retiring to spend more time with his family and he wishes him the best of luck. another developing story. baltimore board of estimates votes to approve the mayor's request to give city fire chief a pay raise. wjz is live. derek value court has reaction to the decision that came down this morning. >> reporter: the initial pay raise amounts to about $61 a week, but that is enough money to anger some critics who say that any raise is too much. >> just days a of the closure of two fire companies due to budget con straights the city's board of estimates in a three to two vote granted to grant the mayor's request to extend the fire chief's con trabt until 2018. -- contract until 2018.

his first raise will be $3,200 for next year. they had a record low of 17 fire fatalities last year and only three this year. the pay increases outrages firefighters and their union. >> if there's no money, there's no money, we should all feel the pain. it's a slap in the face to the people he leads. >> you don't give yourself a raise, you don't accept a raise when your men are doing more withless. it's just a disgusting proposal. >> reporter: the city comptroller and city council president were the two no votes. back to you. >> thank you. a baltimore city firefighter is arrested during an fbi raid. 29 jamar simmons and 33-year-old frankling coit ran the operation inside a warehouse in west baltimore. simmons is a retired

baltimore city -- excuse me, a baltimore city firefighter with 12 years on the force. they are both facing gun and prostitution charges. the city police department is making head lines after baltimore's police union calls for an over hall of the department. it calls the crime management strategy out dated and it's proposing changes. it says it will boost officer moral and reduce crime. among the union proposals is a recommendation that more officers be directed onto patrol units which respond to 911 calls. the mayor says the suggestions will be reviewed. a retired principal is found murdered in florida. two people are charged with his death. ron matsz is in the news room -- matz is in the news room with more. >> reporter: 76-year-old william norman was the first principal of chesapeake high school and spent three decades in the school system. his body was found floating in a canal with a plastic bag sealed with

tape over his head. two 19-year-olds are charged with premeditated murder. police say the men admitted to heating norman and rolling him into the water. money was the motive. one of the suspects rented a house from norman. >> he was principal in the 1983. in today's campaign 2012 report, candidates usually talk at rallies filled with supporters. that's not the case for mitt romney today. he's speaking at the annual naacp convention. most members of the civil rights group are supporting president obama. as danielle nottingham reports, the likely republican nominee is making his case for why they should reconsider that vote. >> mitt romney took the stage at the naacp annual meeting in houston, texas with a message for black voters. >> if you want a president that will make things better in the

african american community you're looking at him. >> about 90% of black voters are expected to support president obama in november. romney says that support has not led to results. he points out that while the u.s. unemployment rate is just over 8%, among blacks it's much higher 14.4%. >> the unemployment rate, the duration of unemployment, average income, media family wealth are all worse in the black community >> romney believes staying focused on the economy can help him win in november. polls show the race is thiethening. thiethening -- tightening. >> a new survey shows romney only 3 points behind. president obama has been working to lock in his support in the battleground states. >> the stakes in this election could not be bigger. . >> he traveled to i -- iowa on

tuesday trying to reignite the enthusiasm that led him to victory 4 years ago. >> i'm betting you are going to be as fired up as you were in 2008 because you understand the stakes. >> the president is trying to convince voters he's the candidate who can turn the economy around and defend the middle class. in washington, danielle nottingham, wjz eyewitness news. >> the president is meeting with democratic leaders today at the white house. they plan to introduce legislation that will help the economy. wjz 13 is always on. check in for complete coverage of campaign 2012. for instant updates log onto wjz.com. the house is expected to vote today on a repeal of the affordable care act, president obama's health care reform law. this will be the 31st time congress has voted to repeal the legislation. it's expected to pass the house but has little

chance of passing the senate. if it dez president obama will veto that bill. hundreds of neighborhoods lost power after the recent storms. now community leaders are asking bge and pepco about information about their response time. a letter from the mayor and several county executives urges the public service committee to review its procedures. they need better pinpointing of outages and evaluating their staffing. there's no sign of storms in our area right now, thank goodness. another day of nice weather out there. many are enjoying the cooler temperatures this afternoon at the maryland zoo in baltimore. taking a live look outside, skies are clear and temperatures are right where they should be this time of july. >> we're in one of the hottest times of the year. normal is the new cool.

did that work? >> works for me. >> work s for me. hopefully it works for you. good afternoon, everybody. 84 degrees on tv hill. that's 1 degree cooler than this time yesterday. noticeably it's less humid. it's not dessert dry but it's more humid. we've had some high clouds. you see the satellite around the area. it's a clear scan around the metro. we start to widen out and there's some isolated showers just south of the garls county. it's only worth a mention. there's a bit of a change coming our way. it's going to get hot and humid again, not blistering hot though. details coming up shortly. three oriels players are taking a well deserved break after giving their all at last night's all star game. adam jones, malt weeders and jim johnson representing the american league.

all three home favorites were on the field together. johnson pitched a scoreless 8th inning. it just wasn't enough to pull off a victory. national league won 8-0. still to come on wjz eyewitness news at noon, a fire explosion, a freight train derails. >> happy free slurpie day. 711 is giving away free slurpies in honor of the date but only until a certain time. >> how long will this weather stay with us? marty is updating the first warning weather now. please stay with us.

it's partly cloudy and 85 in central maryland. your complete first warning weather forecast is coming up. people living in koe lieu bum, ho -- columbus, ohio get an early morning wake up. part of a freight train was carrying ethyol. people were evacuated as firefighters and hazmat crews worked to control that blaze. two people were injured. the cause of the derailment is under investigation. three sisters are dead their

father in custody in wisconsin. they went to this home after the mother called police concerned for their safety. officers say the house smelled of gas. the children were between 5 and 11. officials have not released their cause of death. the parents of a florida a&m drum major who died after being hazed is now suing the university. robert champion's parents say they're filing the lawsuit today 6 months after their son died after being hazed inside a bus. 11 band members face felony hazing charges. champion's parents sued the bus company claiming the driver stood guard outside. the date is 7/11. that means free slurpie day. you can clench your tlis thrist. they plan to give out 5 million of them

today. pink tongues everywhere. still ahead, it's shaping up to be a little more toesty than yesterday. your first warning weather forecast is 2.5 minutes away. >> here's a look at today's midday stocks and last night's winning lottery numbers. good luck. the first time i saw fios it was absolutely amazing. for years and years we had to put up with cable. once we got fios it was like somebody like took our computer and shook all the junk out of it. [ male announcer ] don't settle for the same old cable technology. switch to a verizon fios triple play and upgrade your entertainment equipment with our 100% fiber-optic network

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i'm going to invoke some past baltimore tv history. >> all right 689 >> -- all right. >> a long time ago in a video galaxy far, far away, every time i see that dragon boat i think of the sea moster. this one is -- monster. this one is for you, buddy. god rest your soul. am i right? that was years ago on channel 45 in the afternoons. the side kick was mony the sea monster. it was some of the best local tv ever. i know some of you'll are smiling thinking about it. 84 right now on tv hill. the barm ster is -- barometer is at 3015. that 84 is one degree cooler than at this time

yesterday. a little bit less humid. 78 oakland, 82 cumberland, 84 elkin and easton, the mid 80s dc, 78 ocean city, westminster and bel air 85 and 85, 84 columbia, 85 rock hall, annapolis and kent island both at 83. the high pressure continues to build from the north and forces that stalled front further south. it's tough go. it's fighting for control. the high is going to win out with the help of an area of slow pressure moving down to the south. i want you to know what's happening thursday. i don't want you to think warmer more humid air is going to come piling in. that high is going to et is up and we -- set up and we will indeed see a return to -- if you want to say hot, not with a capital h and humid conditions you can curtesy of the high that's giving us a

pleasant day today. that trend is going to continue into the weekend. with humidity, we are going to see a chance of isolated pop you are showers and thundershowers in the afternoon. i don't think the weekend is a waste of time. it could get unsettled. 90 is high today. 48 your over night low, patchy clouds. tomorrow the same deal, 90 but slightly more humid. we will take a look at the five day forecast coming up shortly. still to come, quitting smoking, how much weight you could gain. details coming up in health watch. >> wjz 13 is always on. here are the top stories on wjz.com. for instant updates on all today's news and the updated first warning weather forecast log onto wjz.co,,,,,,,,,,

in today's wjz health watch, pregnant woman who got the h 1 n 1 flu vaccine can rest easily. a new study of babe's born found in increased risk of birth defects. an estimated 2.4 pregnant women received the vak seeb in -- vaccine in the united states alone. smokers who quit may gain more weight. the average spoker gains more than 10 pounds a year. that's more than the 6 pounds doctors quote.

medical experts say the health benefits of quitting out weigh the modest weight gain. check back in with eyewitness news at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00. the ann arundel police chief is stepping down. how that effects the case against john leopold. >> a huge fight at a game. wait physical you see -- until you see who was involved. join us for these stories today at 4:00 after dr. phil. stay with us, your five day for,,,,

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all right. welcome back. take a look at the five dau forecast. what -- five day forecast. what we're seeing is an increase in humidity. friday i think it could be rainy. we're not indicating showers, but a little common sense says maybe. 90 and 92, 92 for sunday through monday. it's only 2 and 4 degrees above normal. that's a walk in a shady spark compared to the last couple of weeks. >> say that again. >> that's a walk in a shady park compared to the last couple of weeks. at 10:00 it's another episode of csi. we've been up for 8 hours now. stay tuned ffr -- for eyewitness news at 11:00.

that's when the humor starts kicking in. >> there's a new -- >> we're always laughing on this show during the break. thanks for watching eyewitness news. have a great day. we'll [ dog growls, barks ] bring your dog to work day... not our best idea. [ barking ] george! stop it! stop. oh. it was a nice thought. [ male announcer ] some business decisions are better than others. the best decision is switching to verizon. you're good to go. that was fast! thank you. [ male announcer ] speed, reliability, and now with our worry free guarantee, it's the best time to switch. get your choice of terms. no activation fees. a 30-day money back guarantee. flexible scheduling. professional on-site installation. and 24/7 tech support. and now, get a 2nd line. it's all included for just $84.99 a month

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