we have the department of natural -- sorry about that we have the maryland department of environment on the scene. the anne arundel county fire department. the anne arundel county police department are all on the scene. this is blocking richie highway in both directions. if you're head southbound on richie highway, the detour is at waterford road which is just after jumper road. your best bet is to avoid it all together. northbound your detour is going to be at east west boulevard which is also pasadena road in the other direction. and that should be clearing up within the hour. we'll keep an eye on that. and if you're headed southbound on route 10. that traffic is being diverted on to mount road eastbound so you won't be able to get on to richie highway from route 10. reporting live, i'm captain

jeff long, back to you. >> captain jeff, we will continue to check in with you. our other top story, drying up that's what's happening to a number of maryland streams. a new drought warning is effect for a large portion of our state. we begin with alex demetrick who has details on where the drought is hitting hardest. >> reporter: conditions on the eastern shore have been bad all summer now they are going from bad to worse. in drought springs are like the canary. some streams are running lower and some extremely low. >> one of them is the lowest

level since 1969. >> reporter: that has upped a drought warning. >> it's not only dry it's been excessively hot. >> it was just like being in a blast furnace. you can tell a lot of leaves that's actually scorching from the heat and the wind. >> mother nature hasn't been very helpful with any weather this year. we've had corn with mostly irrigated water. >> reporter: water pulled from ground water. >> it's not just coming from upstream it comes from the banks. water will find it lowest level. >> reporter: a more serious wash remains in effect because reservoirs are full. >> expect for the people who might have wells they might want to be careful, just very

conservative. >> reporter: because if a stream dries so does the flow. the next step is a drought emergency and mandatory rationing. >> complete coverage continues now with bob turk who's tracking our low rainfall and high temperatures, bob. >> reporter: particularly in the eastern shore, let's take a look some very interesting numbers we put together for you. look at this we've had 18 straight months of above average temperatures, 18 straight months and seven months of below average rainfall for much of the region. some areas more than others. as far as rainfall totals go still have a pretty big deficit. it's even growing larger. doesn't represent those places in the eastern shores some of those are worse. but we have a deficit of almost 8-2/3 inches. as far as radar is concerned there are some showers arnold. the eastern shore actually got some rain today. some areas have had decent

showers, earlier thunderstorms. right now lighter activity in the eastern shore and a few more popping up extremes southern maryland. so you might see a little bit of rain today. much of it wasn't all that heavy but for a little while they had a little rain. they even had an urban flood advisory for a few minutes there although that has since diminished. you might see more activity later this week which will be a good thing. >> stay with wjz for weather coverage. log on to wjz.com. new memorials are popping up tonight around a wisconsin temple. flags are flying half staff. wjz also continues to investigate the gunman and his tied to so called hate music. mike hellgren is live in

lincecum where some of the suspects supremist music was heard. >> reporter: in this particular massacre the fbi believe it is gunman acted alone. several watch groups say this was payge's sound track of hate. the southern poverty law center says he performed in baltimore and a label distributed it's part of a troubling picture to emerge of the suspected sikh temple shooting. >> tattoos he was wearing were badges proving that he was part of his neonazi. >> reporter: the university of maryland, michael greenburger.

>> people with extreme malita groups or hate groups are as dangerous to us as tradition, what we think of traditionallal

in march the former honor student let his fingers do the talking as he posted his threats on to social media websites typing quote i will be on a shooting rampage today on campus. hopefully i kill enough people to make it to national news. another possible mass killing similar to virginia tech forwarded because people spoke up. >> if you see something, do

something which was done in this case which led us to the arrest of mr. song. authorities are hoping this case as well as the recent shootings in colorado and wisconsin encourage laws to be changed here. >> before the general assembly and hopefully they will pick this up and consider legislation which will make it a crime in maryland because it currently is not a crime to make generalized threats. and song will also be required to continue getting his mental evaluation. mary back to you. >> rochelle thank you. song has been suspended from university park pending his case. two men from guatemala were carrying cocaine on their

flight. both will face criminal prosecution. ernesto reaches hurricane strength. police are now moving hundreds of residents along the caribbean coast. bernadette woods is tracking the forecast and where it's expected to hit. >> reporter: it is now a hurricane as of two o -- 2:00. here's the latest we're seeing. it's moving west-northwest along this track it is going to make two separate land falls. first one the extreme northern part of belize or the part of the yucatana peninsula which is also mexico. some where in that zone. then it'll head back on the water probably on the southern fringe and make a separate land fall in mexico. it could restrengthen. this could be a minimal hurricane, not only the flooding that is potential with

this but with every other strengthening storm is never a good combination. this is a story that's still developing and we'll keep you updated. more success nasa's mars rover sent back its first color images. what its new pictures are showing. catholics come out in favor of marriage equality. why catholics could be a deciding factor and reaction from the church, coming up. i'm mike schuh, some of the most coordinated students try to text and drive in a simulator. their predictable result when we return. >> maryland gets a break from the heat. don't miss the updated forecast with bob. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

it's mostly cloudy and 86 degrees in central maryland. the first complete central fear cast is coming up. the debate of same-sex marriage gets emotional. today parents with gay children speak up. >> reporter: the referendum is just three months away and supporters are trying to win over a key group of voters, catholics. many maryland catholics find themselves at odds. >> each life whether son or daughter is precious. and they deserve a full life including marriage. >> reporter: catholic parents with gay children are urging catholics. >> marriage equality is really consistent deeply consistent with what the catholic church

over 2,000 years has tried to teach. >> reporter: the archdiocese the does not claim that. >> when someone speaks on teachings when they are not to do it is confusing. >> reporter: city councilman cole. >> i would prefer my church to recognize same-sex couples. >> reporter: the most recent poll shows marriage equality winning by 14 points. >> i think maryland will make history and say yes we're for it. >> reporter: despite the

catholic church's opposition. the archdiocese tells us that they will not donate any money to organizations against it. if you're waiting for someone to get home from work let's check in on our roads right now. here's kristi breslin. >> route 10 is closed in both directions we have northbound traffic on richie highway being diverted. south richie highway and waterford boulevard also traveling southbound 10 that's being diverted. if you need an alternate route 97 would be a good place. slowing from 29 to marysville road. traveling on the north side of the interloop, stop and go over to harper road. the west side interloop that delay has been building.

it's now from south western boulevard over to liberty. as far as 95 goes, some congestion there as well in the northbound direction from the beltway on the north side side over to marsh. old eastern avenue at eastern avenue. things are moving along but it continues to slow down and speed up. this traffic report is brought to you by baltimore county restaurant week. enjoy local flavor, delicious deals at over 30 restaurants throughout the baltimore county, august 10 through 19, back over to you. >> kristi thank you. >> the sun is coming out a little bit here. take a look at temps we just dropped 1 degree. but the dewpoint came down three. east winds at six. the barometer really falling just a tad 29.96. come back and take a look at more humidity for the rest of the week. right after this.

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cloud here and sun and showers actually popping up south of us. take a look at live hd doppler radar. south of us a few showers near that region and in st. mary's

county a couple of thunderstorms popped up there. one over easton and dayton. one little tiny shower just popped up here not too far east of our region. so there are some showers out there very widely scattered. at least some folks did get some rain on the eastern shore. particularly this morning where they had heavier showers. right now 82 in easton where they had rain earlier. 78 ocean city, light rain there mostly afternoon. 85 washington, 86 here, 85 and it's drier out to the west. a lot-sunshine in cup cumberland. last hour was six -- last hour the dewpoint was 67 now it's 64. 84 annapolis, rock hall and kent islands as well. average now is 86, 66 the

records. 105 that's the all time high for august in 1918 and 53 in 2004. a light east southeast winds not going to be a major factor but it'll keep that moisture coming back into the region. that front stalled out over the carolinas that front stalled. another front going to drag into the region thursday and saturday. that's where we'll have warmer conditions and a risk of thunderstorms probably starting thursday. preud is the best chance of the region of perhaps heavy or severe thunderstorms sometime friday afternoon or friday night and may linger a little bit everyone into saturday. so we could use the rain but we may have some severe weather to deal with. variable winds on the bay tomorrow. bay temp at 83 degrees. tonight look for partly to mostly cloudy becoming more humid by morning. 70 tomorrow, 85 to 90, it'll be

more humid today. a mix of clouds and sun once again. >> bob, thank you. still ahead at 5:00, his work is the sound track to hollywood hits, remembering the life of one of entertainment's greatest composers. >> swine outbreaks in several states has fairs on alert. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,get your ravens

it is 5:30, 86 degrees and partly sunny. good evening everybody. thank you for staying with wjz. here are some of the stories people are talking about tonight. an increeds in cases of swine flu are urging officials to warn people when attending fairs. monique griego is warning about where the swine flu is popping up. >> reporter: people who are showcasing their pigs here at the howard county fair are taking every precaution to keep it that way. a recent string of swine flu cases in several states has health leaders and county fairgoers on alert. >> it makes me nervous. >> reporter: the swine flu virus originates in pigs but can be transferred to humans. according to the cdc nationwide

29 have been reported since last summer. 12 of which popped up in the last week of july in ohio, indiana and hawaii. all of those cases were linked to people who interacted with pigs at county fairs. >> touching the pig, getting secretions from the pigs and then touching their eyes or nose and getting the flu that way. >> reporter: the swine flu isn't uncommon and so far no deaths have been reported. >> we're not trying to raise hysteria. >> reporter: swine farmers weren't taking any chances. >> we're trying to make sure they're healthy and stay healthy. if there's coughing then we need them home. >> reporter: there's also a swine superintendent who is constantly checking on the health of these pigs. people can protect themselves by simply washing hands.

>> always wash your hands, use good hygiene and let the kids go have fun. >> reporter: monique griego. >> this current strain is different than the one that caused the pandemic back in 2009. police say tabitha drobrinski ran the vehicle off. her daughter was ejected from the car and killed. her three other children were in the car but were not hurt. 48-year-old brazel ramirez is facing charges after authorities say she tried to kidnap a baby girl. a surveillance video shows her walking into the hospital.

she told the mother to take a shower and put the baby in a tote back. she was not hurt. kai back to you. >> vic, thank you. ramirez was arrested. authorities say she is being uncooperative. the suspect in the tucson shooting that injured gabby giffords is appearing in court. laughner appeared very different. pale, thin, gaunt. the judge asked laughner if he understood the charges against hip, he said yes.

laughner stood still. she said he told his doctor i especially cry about the child. apparently referring to nine kwraoerl victim cristina taylor green who was killed in the attack -- nine-year-old victim cristina taylor green. the 23-year-old college drop out is now expected to get life in prison without the possibility of parol. survivors of the shooting came to court but former congresswoman giffords was not among them. her husband former astronaut mark kelly said he and his wife are satisfied with laughner's plea agreement and said avoiding a trial will help them and the rest of the community continue to recover. and since last year laughner has been kept in a psychiatric doctor. dozens of people are homeless tonight in oklahoma in the wake of several wildfires. 120 structures have burned to

the ground statewide since friday. emergency responders are collecting donated clothing and water for victims and churches are serving as temporary shelters. authorities are also using dental records to identify a body discovered in one of the burned homes. a fire at chevron's refinery about 10 miles northeast of san francisco was could -- was doused early this morning. the fire could push gas prices above $4 a gallon on the west coast. both president obama and mitt romney have more fundraisers on their schedules today. some new figures show the former massachusetts governor raised more money than the president for the third time in a row. >> reporter: mitt romney is on president obama's turf campaigning in a manufacturers plant near chicago.

>> we will end a culture dependency and restore a culture of good hard work. >> reporter: the republican presidential candidate will also attend fundraisers while in new york. romney raised $57 million more than the president last month. the third month in a row he has won the money race. president obama is trying to keep pace. the president has spept about as much -- has spent about as much time on the campaign trail. president obama took aim at romney's plan. >> he would ask the middle class to pay more in taxes than he could give a tax cut to people making more than $303 million a year. it's like robin hood in reverse. it's romney hood. >> reporter: the president then headed to an exclusive

fundraiser at the home of movie producer harvey winestein where hollywood heavyweights paid nearly $20,000 each. he has won more fundraisers set for tonight. tara mergener. stay with wjz complete coverage of campaign 2012. we will continue to bring you the latest on the can candidates. time for a quick look at some of the stories you will find in tomorrow morning's edition of the baltimore sun. more maryland athletes competed in the olympics today. a new way to eat watermelon, try grilling it. remember to look for our

forecast from wjz's weather team. one day after making a successful landing on mars, curiosity rover is beaming back its first pictures. a camera on rover's under belly took pictures from above. they show mars tan and dusty surface. the purpose of the two year mission is to decide whether mars can support life. marvin hamlish has died at the age of 68 after a brief illness. some of the well known stage -- he wrote some of the most well known music of the last years. >> reporter: few composers have left mind a bigger legacy in hollywood and broadway than marvin hamlish. he wrote barbara steisand's romantic hit the way we were.

>> you're thinking to yourself what is this going to be when she records it and you find it's beyond what you could imagine. >> reporter: there were thousands more from the family drama ordinary people to the postwar sophie's choice. one of his biggest hit was his adaptation of chaplain's sting. marvin hamlish composed, conducted and arranged more than 40 film scores but one of his greatest successes was on stage. the long running musical a chorus line. hamlish was born in 1944 in new york city into a musical family. his first job was as a rehearsal pianist for barbara streisand's funny girl. marvin hamlish's work earned him every major entertainment

award including three oscars, four emmy's and a tony plus a pulitzer surprise. and hamlish had the benefit of knowing that far after the curtains came up, people were humming his tunes. >> i have the chorus line cd in my car. i'm going to play it if his honor. >> how many times have you seen it? >> i've seen it at least 50 times. >> he would be proud. spewing ash, a volcano erupts in new zealand how it's impacting flight traffic. >> and i'm here in the weather certain, i'll have the exclusive five day forecast.

here,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

you see them as every ravens home game now you can see them at home. the ravens cheer leaders are part of the big excitement. their new calendar has just hit

stores and all of baltimore is talking. >> reporter: with 70,000 fans screaming, being a ravens cheer leader is something special. so is their new 18 month swim suit calendar shot in the bahamas in april, courtney is miss april. lindsay is this year's cover girl, staying in shape is very important. >> i actually work out with three days a week. >> i kind of tried out on a whim to see if i would make it or not. i made it and i'm so grateful. >> this is lindsay's mom, you have to be proud of your daughter? >> i'm very proud. >> reporter: especially on game day. >> i cry every time she runs

out of the tunnel, and this is her third year. >> reporter: no crying this year as the ravens and their fans look for a february trip to new orleans. >> it seems like last year we just had our play off game. >> so you're ready. >> we're ready, we're ready for superbowl. ron max, wjz eyewitness news. >> the ravens cheer leader swim suit calendar costs $15. for more information on where you can buy it log on to wjz.com. we're getting a break tonight from the heat and humidity. there's lots of clouds out there. can we expect muggy conditions to return this week? maybe i should say that like, can we expect the muggy conditions to return this week? i don't want to be too cheerful on that. bob turk has the five day forecast. but first bernadette woods shows us how tomorrow is shaping up. >> hello there mary, yes it will get more muggy over the course of the week. we're going to up those chances of showers and thunderstorms throughout the week.

tomorrow we start partly to mostly cloudy. chances start to increase during the week. >> particularly thursday and friday thunderstorms activity, could be some strong storms here on friday afternoon and friday night. maybe a left over shower on saturday before it starts to dry out. 86 with sun and clouds on sunday. kai. >> bob, thank you. a dormant volcano in new zealand springs to life. many families were forced to evacuate. caught off guard with the eruption. this is the first time mount tungarino has shown any activity since 1957. there's been no reports of injuries. but some flights have been delayed because of volcanic

ash. rigane has been sentenced to a year of community service for his role in the 2008 accident. he was blamed for setting up a shotty repair a month before the crane collapsed killing two construction workers. vargane pleaded guilty but his boss went to trial and was cleared of all charges. police are concerned about a florida man caught with a box of fake i.d.'s and uniforms. they found a fake cia badge, and even troop leader uniform investigators believe he bought everything off the internet. a woman gets scammed at a popular store in philadelphia. she picked up two vaneta handbags at a tj max. someone bought the original bag

then returned them with these chief counter fit versions. it's tightening procedures to keep that from happening again. >> those are expensive bags, wow. those who text and drive are 23% more likely to crash. now as mike schuh reports, school leaders are getting that message out. >> reporter: the most dangerous thing these teens can do is get behind the wheel of a car. almost half of teen deaths are due to car crashes. >> a lot of our student athletes are driving home, learning how to drive and driving home after practices and contests. >> reporter: that's why here sits a very special simulator. they dawn video gobbles and told to driver and give them the item that will make them all eventually crash. they're told in this setting go ahead and try. just try to text and not crash. >> driver. >> yeah. >> you were horrible.

>> reporter: the simulator is not rigged to make the kids crash. >> it was pretty hard. like i don't normally do a whole lot of stuff when i'm driving. so just having the phone in my hand for me was difficult. >> it was definitely hard. you couldn't really, when you're looking down there's no way you could look on the road. >> reporter: and their learning is real. >> what did you hit? >> people. >> just keep your phones off, you're just putting everyone else in danger including yourself. >> reporter: these teens are here because they are leaders. hopefully what they saw today will be passed on to others. one of the instructors suggested that students trace the phone in the trunk of the car to avoid the temptation to text while driving which is illegal in maryland. >> vic is standing by with the pre preview of what's coming

up. new details about the man accused of a mass shooting in a house of worship. the bandit gambling ad campaign. >> check in with more of these stories and all the day's breaking news. still to come tonight on wjz eyewitness news, the ravens are just days away from the preseason opener. >> mark vivano joins us live from the team's facility in owins mills. >> enough of this practice let's get some real football ,,,

you know what's exciting? graduation. when i look up into my students' faces, i see pride. you know, i have done something worthwhile.

when i earned my doctorate that pride, that was on my face. i am jocelyn taylor, i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives and i am a phoenix. enroll in the program that's right for you. at phoenix.edu/maryland the ravens have just completed their full scale practice before the season opener in atlanta. wjz is live in owins mill, mark vivano has more from the team for us. >> reporter: an indoor work out. the ravens will take on the falcons in atlanta coming up on thursday night. coach john harbaugh says his starters some of them will play

about a quarter, maybe less. a lot of his older veterans veterans aren't going to play at all. so don't look them to be on the field thursday night. they get at least a little playing time everyone if just one quarter. what flacco does beginning september 10 in the regular season opener against cincinnati is what obviously matters the most. flacco tells us he and the offense looking forward to building from a strong 2011 season that took them within one game of the super bowl. we will hear from joe flacco coming up on eyewitness news at 6:00. an update on one of the rookies linebacker courtney up shawl finally showed up on the field. she missed more than a week with a shoulder injury, he was back out there. but not enough practice for up

shaw yet to be playing in the game in atlanta on thursday. he's been part of the defense right away with that injury to terrell suggs. more on the ravens coming the next hour. plus those baseball birds, they're pitching well. game three of their series with seattle. some would be robbers picked the wrong man to mess with at a convenience store in massachusetts. the store owner fought them off with a stick. apparently the men robbed him last week putting a knife to the wife's throat. still to come tonight on wjz's eyewitness news. >> from the classroom to the courtroom, i'm rochelle richie, the latest on a maryland ,,,,,,,

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coming up on wjz's eyewitness news. >> reporter: wjz investigates, i'm mike hellgren with the suspected sikh gunman's maryland ties. was he fueled by the music of hate? >> abandoned baby the amazing discovery at this church. wait till you hear what police say about the child's mother. that's coming up. i'm alex demetrick coming up water is running low in

maryland streams and setting some worrisome records. that story as eyewitness news continues. so is there any rain until the immediate future. the updated weather forecast is coming up. check in on all of these stories and today's breaking news. wjz eyewitness news starts right now. ties to hate, police dig deeper into the life of the man accused of a deadly shooting spree. >> his connection to maryland and his family is reacting. hello everyone i'm vick carter. >> and i'm mary bubala. here's what people