the body of a washington, d.c. councilman's aide was discovered. police say 30-year-old desi duchesne's body was found at lighthouse point near canton. he was last seen sunday at the marina. jack evans visited baltimore on sunday to go boating, and that duchesne was drinking and was last seen 10:30 sunday night. police say there are no signs of foul play. d.c. councilmembers paused for a moment of silence today in his honor. tonight a woman is in critical condition at an area hospital as police search for the person who shot her early this morning in fells point. the woman was found lying in the middle of register street off eastern avenue, not far from the heart of fells point around 2:00 this morning. police have not released the name of the victim. a fire drives a dozen families from their homes, and now investigators say an arsonist is to blame. the three-alarm blaze came at 3:00 in the morning on sunday at the apartments at the greens

on robins way in westminster. abc 2 news jeff hager has more now on why investigators believe a man they have in custody set that fire. >> reporter: robert tye escaped with his life and little more when fire ravaged his apartment building early sunday. >> all my furniture, bedroom suite, all that's gone. i'm not even going to try to save it. >> reporter: ty says he owes his life to his neighbor who scrambled to get his wife and small child out of the building. >> i woke up and smelled it, went outside and saw the windows on fire. beat on his door and everybody else. >> reporter: as dozen people emptied out into the parking lot, someone spotted a man running from the complex, which was later identified as wayne doherty of hamp stead. ty found him trying to hide in a tree a block or so away. >> i think he was scared because i told him what i was going to do with him if he moved. and he wouldn't arrest. >> reporter: upon his arrest,

police learned doherty had violated a protective order in coming to the complex. >> some of the evidence was it was his girlfriend's apartment. he was seen climbing a ladder on the apartment building. >> reporter: doherty told investigators that he came to his ex-girlfriend's apartment, entered her closet, and then took a lighter and lit one of her blouses on fire. in his back pocket, police discovered a large knife. and they're still trying to determine whether he set the fire as an after thought when he discovered that she wasn't home. in carroll county, jeff hager, abc 2 news. >> four people suffered minor injuries in the fire. doherty is being held at the carroll county detention center with bond set at $100,000 pending a review. day 2 in the hot seat brought stuff questions for supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. abc 2 news terry owens shows us how senators turned up the heat. >> reporter: marybeth, as expected, republican senators grilled sotomayor on her record and her personal convictions

today, from abortion to gun rights, the supreme court nominee was peppered with questions. today she tried to explain off the bench comments she made that a, quote, wise latino woman could make better decisions than a white male. she says she was trying to make a play on words used by former supreme court justice sandra day o'connor. >> i do not believe that any ethnic, racial, or gendered group has an advantage in sound judging. >> tomorrow sotomayor sits down for another day of questioning, but her confirmation is likely to move quickly through the democratic-ruled committee, then on to the full senate for a vote. terry owens, abc 2 news. now an abc 2 news update we first brought you as breaking news at 11. southwest airlines has inspected about 200 of its planes after a football-sized hole opened up in the top of a jet while it was in flight last night. the boeing 737 made an

emergency landing in west virginia. the cabin lost pressure, but no one was hurt on the nashville to baltimore flight with 126 passengers and 5 crewmembers on board. passengers in the rear section of the jet could actually see outside through the hole. >> the pilot and flight crews are trained in how to act when there is a depressurization. they basically get the airplane down to a breatheful altitude around 10,000-feet high as soon as possible. and the airplane is designed to contain cracks that develop through the fuselage. >> southwest says it inspected other boeing 737-300 series jets overnight but found no similar problems. today another southwest airlines flight made an emergency landing at orlando international airport. flight 3238 from st. louis was about ten minutes away from landing in orlando when there was concern about aifying in the boeing 737's auxiliary power unit. a fire rescue team boarded the

plane once it was on the ground, but found no fire or smoke. as a precaution, the plane's 129 passengers got off the plane on the runway. no one was hurt. now to a developing story. three more arrests have been made in the murders of a florida couple. but police are still looking for one more suspect. the number of arrests made in the murders of melanie and byrd billings is now at seven, including a 16-year-old boy. and among those arrested is gary lamont sumner. police say he is one of the suspects seen on a surveillance tape approaching the couple's home. cameras captured them carrying long guns. leonard gonzalez, junior is seen here teaching children self-defense techniques in 2007. police say gonzalez has a long criminal history. police say the motive appears to be robbery. >> we have a small amount of business ties, some

friendships, but no direct ties that we can at this time confirm between the members here that are charged with this crime, and the billings family. >> the billings devoted their lives to raising more than a dozen children, several of whom had severe disabilities. police say at least three of the couple's children may have come face-to-face with the suspected killers. the president of that philadelphia swim club says he will resign if that's what it takes to end the dispute with a day camp that accuses the club of racism. he says the problem with the camp created steps had nothing to do with race. he says there was just too many kids who couldn't swim, causing a safety concern. the attorney for the camp says in addition to the board members stepping down, the club should expel those employees who used inappropriate language on that day. a burtonsville man has pleaded guilty to an armed robbery to a bank of america branch last year that left one suspect dead and a bank employee

injured. sharman se b and sed served as the lookout. the robbers fled from the bank in a pickup truck, later shooting and killing bern net after he fired a gun at police. sed faces 25 years in prison. tonight students, parents, and alumni will be at it again, showing their support for towson catholic high school. a week ago we learned the baltimore county school is going to shut its doors for good, and since then, those who love that school have held rallies. the archdiocese says they did everything they could to keep it open, but low enrollment in these tough economic times are forcing them to shut it down. tonight's vigil starts at 7:00 at the high school. and coming up on abc 2 news at

6, christian schaffer will bring us a live report. again, no precipitation around the region. we do need the rainfall, but we don't have any in the forecast for the next 24 hours. but some showers are in the forecast. what is in the forecast is some really nice weather. take a look at northeast middle school in baltimore right now, 82 degrees. 29% humidity unheard of here in the baltimore area. here is your forecast for the next couple of hours. partly cloudy, temperatures hanging in the 80s. by early tomorrow morning, we could set a record low at bwi. we'll tell you all about it, coming up. the man convicted in the biggest ponzi scheme in u.s. history is now serving his 150 year prison sentence in north carolina. bernie madoff arrived at the buttner federal correctional complex today. he was convicted in june of fraud after admitting he scammed investors out of billions of dollars. the prison at one time housed televangelist jim bakker and john hinckley who tried to kill

president reagan. months after being put on the list of banks needing a bailout, goldman sachs is back in the black. wall street's biggest surviving securities firm reported a 30% surge in earnings. today goldman sachs reported a second quarter net income of nearly $3.5 billion. the banking giant took $10 billion in the bailout. the bank was among the first to pay that money back. it also set aside more than $6 billion for employee bonuses. goldman sachs says strength in its trading and underwriting businesses helped them. >> taxpayer looks at this and feels that we're getting back to normal, which is not the case right now. it's a matter of risk-taking, extreme produces extreme profit, and vice verse. but this gives the consumers some heart at the same time. >> goldman sachs stock was trading up more than $150 a share in early morning trading. the much anticipated "harry

potter and the half-blood prince" is expected to cast a spell on fans. in the sixth installment of the series, lord voldemort is back, and the wizards are facing dark and dangerous times. dumbledore is intent on preparing harry for what he knows will be an ultimate battle between good and evil. "harry potter and the half- blood prince" opens at midnight tonight. you can bet there will be lines out there. all because of you, the lutherville fire department now has a new truck. we'll take you for a spin and show you how it may one day help save your life. experts are taking a stab at a new drug to help slim down. how a shot could decrease your appetite and increase your metabolism at the same time. and the photo that shows a maryland bus driver reading while driving. plus, the temperatures now from fallston 81 degrees. low humidity. it is july, right? norm is coming up from a full forecast.

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in 2 your health tonight, obesity can cause a lot of health problems. and now doctors say too much weight can lead to osteoarthritis. in the study researchers looked at three thousand patients between 50 and 79 who were at risk of developing osteoarthritis. they noticed the patient's bmi, or body mass index is the based on a person's height and weight. for every increase in one unit of bmi, their odds of rapid cartilage lost increased by 11%. the classic "hit me with your beth shot" could be the slogan for a new weight loss drug. it's an injection that could slim you down by 25% in just one week. millions of americans want to lose weight, over their treadmills and salads, they dream of a quick fix that doesn't require excessive diet

and exercise. researchers at indiana university may have found the next best thing. they've combined the properties of two natural hormones into a single drug that in rodents suppresses appetite and increases metabolism. a single injection of this drug decreased the rodents' body weight by 25%, and fat mass by 42% after one week. >> our focus is in finding therapies that effectively lowers body weight, and then can treat diabetes. >> reporter: the drugs, which would be taken as a weekly injection, happens to be the active ingredients in two fda- approved medications, byetta and glucogon. deintruction of the pill alli in 2007, surgical interventions like gastric bypass remain the closest thing to an obesity cure. expert says this new drug mimics the action and that this drug shows we've made enormous progress in understanding obesity. >> we're beginning to

understand the pharmacological. >> the drug is still years away from human trial, so expert says don't give up your treadmills and salads just yet. a young cancer survivor here from pennsylvania is giving other young cancer patients the gift of clean air. it's called katherine's gift. while 9-year-old katherine was living at the ronald mcdonald house in baltimore, she was fighting aplastic anemia and had bone marrow transplants. in her room her parents kept an air purifier that they are convinced that kept her virus- free. they decided to donate 37 air purifiers to her friends at the ronald mcdonald house. >> shared with them our desire for katherine's gift. and it was literally a gift that landed not only in our laps of an idea to put filters in ronald mcdonald house here, but also a desire for katherine

to give back to children as well. >> if you would like to learn more about katherine's gift, or future you would like to donate, you can head to abc2news.com and check out the links on our website. now the forecast certified baltimore's most accurate, here is chief meteorologist norm lewis and maryland's most powerful doppler radar. >> i think today was even better than yesterday. >> i tell you what. absolutely gorgeous day today. we started thought morning tying the record low at bwi at 58 degrees. now tomorrow morning, we could set a brand-new record low at bwi tomorrow morning. so we'll have to see what happens. >> amazing. >> the cool air just continues now. over the next couple days, we're going to warm up a little bit, get more humidity. give us a chance for much needed rainfall. things are look good outside. and looking good in the studio. ted, our computer guy just visited us. so hopefully he'll be able to keep things working real well. even got the keyboard working here. our temperature right now at

bwi thurgood marshall -- oh, it's not going to work, ted? he is saying no. 84 degrees right now at bwi thurgood marshall. 24% humidity. that is low! wind now from the west at 9. the pressurizing 30.0. temperatures across the area right now is 80 up in york. 84 in downtown. 85 in hagerstown. winchester, virginia at 82 degrees. 81 in ocean city and easton right now reports in with 82 degrees. our satellite picture throughout the day, lots of sunshine. a few little light clouds during the afternoon. but what you'll notice with the clouds, no precipitation. as the sun goes down, a lot of the clouds are going to be dissipating. pretty nice night tonight with clear skies or mostly clear skies, which means mother nature is going to rip the blanket off the bed, and whatever heat we get during the day is going to radiate right back out into space. the larger picture showing the ohio valley shows a system that is making its way in our direction. very heavy showers and thunderstorms making its way through portions of missouri and illinois. but as you can see, we got some

nice weather before it gets here. as it makes its way towards the east, it will pick up some moisture and give us a chance for some showers, maybe even some thunderstorm activity on thursday. right now nothing showing up on maryland's most powerful radar. nice clear scan, but along with that frontal system, there is some pretty heavy weather out in the central section of the united states. take a look at our tornado alley. what's going on right now? by the way, this is available on our website at abc2news.com. what's going on right now is we've got one tornado tracer right there. she not streaming. another one right there not streaming. they were chasing this pretty good thunderstorm that came through the region right there. but as you can see, basically, east of the mississippi river, almost precipitation-free with just a few scattered showers over florida. again, it's available to you on our website at abc2news.com, 24/7, 365. now here is the forecast. look at the absence of clouds, through tonight, and through tomorrow. then we see this weather system making its way in our direction. and by thursday, we'll see some showers. they're going to be very

spotty. it's not going to be general rainfall, unfortunately, because we do need some pretty good rainfall. later on in the week over towards the weekend, we could see more showers make their way. but things are looking pretty good temperature-wise. here is the forecast for the overnight period. 55. it's going to be chilly by tomorrow morning. a record low is possible. if we hit that 55, it will set a brand-new record low. and i think we're going to do it. during the day tomorrow partly cloudy, warm were a high of 87 degrees. and the extended outlook, the 87 tomorrow. up to 89 and more humid on thursday because of the scattered showers and thunderstorms. things cool off again on friday with a high of 85. a chance for scattered showers again on saturday with a high of 80 degrees. 83 on sunday. monday again another chance for showers. but look at the temperatures. way below normal for this time of the year. we'll talk more about that approaching weather system and the likelihood for rainfall coming up in just a little bit. >> thank you, norm. as you know, norm, when you get married, your vow is death till you part. but when it comes to apartment rentals, even dying can't break

the contract. tonight at 11, abc 2 news investigator joce sterman explores why rental leases in maryland don't expire even when you do. we'll hear from a local woman who got this eye-opening lesson following the death of her 94- year-old grandmother. months of rent were deducted from her security deposit because she broke the lease by dying. >> it's just craziness. okay, she passed away. we gave them notice, you return the money. it seems to me how it should work. >> tonight at 11, we'll tell you why it's perfectly legal to collect rent from the dead. and why landlords can come after your estate if the payments aren't covered. a plan to steal puppies turns out being a bust. watch how a couple crooks tried to sneak the pets right out of a pet store. chaos in the courtroom. why order turned into a full- out brawl after the judge handed down the sentence.

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with a look ahead to abc 2 news at 5:30, hello. another attack in maryland, this time farm animals are hurt. why the owner calls it such a setback. we've learned the stork has stopped by their new nest. and photos snapped of a maryland bus driver reading while driving? you decide. those stories and more straight ahead on abc 2 news at 5:30. news around the nation starts in michigan with a courtroom brawl. it happened inside genesee county circuit court. the fight broke out after a man was sentenced to life in prison for killing the son of a former

interim police chief. in the end, several people were arrested, including the defendant's mother. and in georgia, a man dangled over a creek while being rescued after falling in. official says the man fell into the swollen waters while walking across a waterfall with his dog and son. rescuers braced the man's injured back and slid him across the creek with a rope. his injuries are not life threat engine. two women were caught on surveillance tape this weekend stealing a dachshund puppy from a store in washington state. a woman walked in carrying a puppy. making her way to the puppy bin, looks around and hands her dog to another woman. she reached into the bin and stole another puppy. both women walked out of the store with the $500 dog. this is the second time this store has been hit by dognappers. the first time a man walked in and stole two cocker spaniel puppies. he was later caught and the puppies returned. last week many of you saw it, but never found it.

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now abc 2 news at 5:30. >> the owner of a livestock rescue farm is calling it the worst day of her life. good evening, everybody. i'm terry owens. the farm's owner says a neighbor's pit bull attacked and killed two of her animals and injured a half dozen others. this all happened on pawtuxent road in odenton. as roosevelt leftwich tells us, the farm struggling to deal with the devastating turn of events. >> reporter: she has always been a tough old goat, the first to run after strangers in the yard. but now anna is in pain, her eye swollen after her head was caught in the vice-like jaws of a pit bull. >> i saw the pit bull with anna's face and its mouth flipping anna around like a rag doll. i couldn't believe what i was seeing. >> rt