to 7 p.m. >> reporter: the water taxi service will be available all yearlong. the hope is to get more people to use alternative modes of transportation, and to ease traffic congestion in the city. >> if we can get people to see, park the car, use the water taxi, use the circular, take the subway, light rail down to move around, i'm trying to fit my schedule some time this summer to take alternative means of transportation. >> reporter: the city intends to keep the water taxi service free for as long as it can. in fells point, linda so, abc 2 news. >> linda says the city is also rolling out a new bus service called the charm city circulator that will allow commuters or the get around downtown for free. rescue crews in montgomery county are searching for a man who disappeared while swimming across the potomac river. 32-year-old granado was last seen south of old angler's inn in potomac. his friends say they were on a

fishing trip when he decided to go for a swim. park officials say an assateague island pony think was struck and killed by a car. last tuesday a car drove past a herd of ponies and scared them. one of the ponies collided with another car and died on impact. park officials say visitors should be aware as soon as they cross the bridge, there are ponies roaming the island freely there are nearly 150 wild ponies at the park. and now for a look at tonight's top stories. baltimore county police are searching for a witness who was on the light rail train that hit and killed two teens walking on the tracks. police say this man is not in any trouble but, they think he may have seen something. jared connor peterson and kyle wankmiller were walking on the tracks near the lutherville station when they were hit by the trains. if you know who this man is, take a look, we've got a picture here. if you know who this man is -- we don't have a picture, but we have a phone number.

call 410-307-2020. police in anne arundel county are investigating an early morning murder. it happened around 7 a.m. at the rainbow view apartments. neighbors heard what sounded like gunshots, and the victim was discovered lying on a wooded path at the apartments. police have not identified the man, and they say they have no suspects or motives in the case. area schools were put on lockdown until noon today as a precaution. today a senate committee approved a $600 billion bill that would provide health insurance for all americans. the move was praised by president barack obama. the senate bill includes a public health insurance option favored by the president. the proposal was passed through the committee along party lines, and many republicans warned against its passage in the full senate. >> it will be the most liberal bill that this country has ever seen. and it may do things that we will never be able to correct. >> this bill because of what we

have done, we think is going to increase access. it's going to reduce costs to individuals. and it's going to improve the quality of health care in our country. >> in the house, a 1 1/2 trillion dollar plan supported by democrats would place a tax on families making more than $350,000 a year. any bill will need to be agreed on by both houses before it can make its way to the president's desk. the latest now on that southwest airlines jet bound for baltimore that sprung a football-sized hole at 30,000 feet. could the plane's age be a factor, or is there something wrong with the way the planes are being inspected. abc 2 news christian schaffer takes a look. >> reporter: in cell phone video shot by a passenger, shown on youtube, you can see daylight coming through the plane's ceiling. look closely. those are oxygen masks deployed during the emergency landing as a flight attendant's voice crackles through the pa system.

>> we definitely knew that something was going on because we kept going further and further down, and we could see the trees and we were thinking where are we going to land this big plane. >> reporter: with the hole in the fuselage, passengers were forced to put on oxygen masks to breathe. pilots quickly descended from 30,000 feet and prepared for an emergency landing at an airport in west virginia. >> obviously, we made e option to divert and get that airplane on the ground as quickly as possible. >> when we land and everybody knew we were going to be safe, everybody started clapping. the pilot came out and people were hugging him. >> reporter: now that hole is under scrutiny by the national transportation safety board. likely culprits include metal fatigue, corrosion, a scratch, or damage to the fuselage during maintenance. >> these people on the airplane really don't know how lucky they were. >> reporter: lucky, because the hole could have gotten big were disastrous results. some 20 years ago, the entire top peeled off of a boeing 737 that had been flying at 24,000 feet. that led to mandatory inspections to look for signs of corrosion or weakened metal

in older aircraft. southwest says this jet was 15 years old, old enough to be considered an aging aircraft, and it was last inspected just six months ago. but last year southwest was fined millions by the government for failing to inspect all of its older planes for cracks. once the airline did do the proper inspections, it found six planes had problems. christian schaffer, abc 2 news. >> the next step, the ntsb plans to take the black boxes and the portion of the plane where the hole to its lab in washington, d.c. so experts can take a closer look. and bad news for some boeing employees. the aircraft company plans to lay off about a thousand people because of pentagon cuts can. back in january, the company announced it would shed 10,000 jobs this year. no word yet if the new cuts are included in that number. boeing has cut 3500 jobs this year alone. a little bit warmer today. and also increased humidity. take a look at some of the temperatures right now from thurgood marshall high school

in the baltimore area. umbc and catonsville. it is 83. but feels like 84, or they had a high today of 84 rather. pikesville, or piney ridge elementary and sykesville 86 degrees. and deer park elementary in owings mills right now at 83 degrees. here is your forecast for the next couple of hours. partly cloudy. temperatures holding in the mid to low 80s. we'll have the complete forecast, which does have some shower activity in it, coming up in a couple of minutes. well here is hoping the sixth try is the charm. astronauts are aboard the space shuttle endeavour right now, hoping the weather finally stays clear enough for tonight's launch attempt. the endeavour is sitting at the very spot where apollo 11 was 40 years ago tonight on the eve of the first moon landing mission. the shuttle is scheduled to lift off to the international space station in less than a half hour. bad weather and technical problems have scrubbed the launch five times. baltimore classrooms are hitting cyberspace. why teachers and students will soon be ditching the chalk for

computers. and more details surface about the florida couple killed in their home. tonight we're learning about a mystery woman. ♪ (announcer) worst-case scenario. so i'm thinking we need a better way to save money. better than subleasing office space? ideally. (announcer) best case solution.

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average was up nearly 257 points. the nasdaq jump 63 and the s&p 500 was up over 26. it is a story that will have you scrambling to check your bank statement. a man in new hampshire was doing just that when he notice head had a negative balance, a number that was, get this, 17 digits long. josh was saving to buy a home and had a couple hundred dollars tucked away. when he went to check on his stash, he found a huge negative balance. josh says he used his card at a gas station to buy cigarettes earlier that day, and after seeing the enormous overdraft, plus the $15 fee, he ran back to the station's clerk. >> i thought my card had been compromised. i thought somebody bought europe with my credit card. it was -- it was very concerning. >> bought europe. the clerk didn't know what to say, so he called bank of america, who was just as confused over the charge. 24 hours later, the negative

balance disappeared. look away from your computer. are you addicted to facebook? coming up, we've got the five symptoms that would slap you with a title facebook addict. and shocking new video and pictures are being made public. how all of that could help investigators learn more about michael jackson's health before his death.

karl, don't you have friends coming over? yeah, so? it stinks in here! have you smelled this chair? or these curtains? you've gotta wash this whole room! are you kidding? wash it?! let's wash it with febreze! whoa! [ sniffs ] hey mrs. weber. [ sniffs ] hey, it smells nice in here. you know, i like to keep things fresh. helps me concentrate. [ male announcer ] for all the things that you can't wash, wash it with febreze. ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds.

and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) unlike cable, fios brings 100% fiber optics straight to your home and when you switch now, you can get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. with fios, you'll get razor-sharp tv, blazing fast internet and crystal-clear phone service all for just... sign up today. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v, and for a limited time, get an incredible compaq mini, to get the most out of your fios internet. get it all together with a great deal on fios tv, internet and phone plus get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v before time runs out on this astonishing offer. a dull metal clanking sound. bear groans.

♪ ominous music ferocious growling. roaaaaaarrrrrrr!!!! ♪ whistling bluegrass tune now the latest on the murders of a wealthy florida couple. police now say an eighth person was involved in the deadly home invasion, an accomplice who didn't show up as planned. that person was supposed to cut the surveillance system before the crime there is also a mystery woman in the case. seven suspects are in jail in connection with the murders of melanie and byrd billings. police are asking the public's help in finding more persons of

interest, in particular a woman identified as pamela long. >> she was located in orange beach, alabama by the orange beach police department. it is my understanding she currently being cooperative. she is coming back to escambia county. >> she rented property to leonard gonzalez, junior, the master mind behind the killing. gonzalez has denied the charges. police in los angeles will not confirm or deny a report they're treating michael jackson's death as a homicide. and tonight old pictures may cast new light on the star's medical condition. abc news has exclusive photos that could bear out reports of intravenous drug use. abc's alex stone explains. >> reporter: in these exclusive photos obtained by abc news, michael jackson can be seen displaying an enormous wound on his right leg. the photos taken in 2002

according to experts seem to suggest drug addiction. >> the wound on the shin area of his leg is typical of someone who is injecting drugs on a regular basis. what happens is the tissue becomes severely infected. >> reporter: you can also see jackson's discolored skin, which he claimed was the result of a medical condition. the photos also show what appears to be puncture marks along jackson's ankles and feet. >> that's a common finding that you see in people who are injecting drugs for elicit purposes. >> reporter: but last week, jackson's dermatologist, arnie klein said when he was treating the pop star, he didn't see anything to cause concern. >> i saw nothing at that time to make me worry whatsoever. >> reporter: yet on tuesday the los angeles coroner descended on klein's office looking for evidence into the investigation of jackson's death. over the years, jackson sought the help of many doctors to deal with various ailments, especially for pain medication after he was injured in a freak

accident while filming a pepsi commercial in 1984. in this never before seen video obtained by us weekly, you can see his hair catch fire after a special effect went terribly wrong. jackson received second and third-degree burns on his scalp, and was prescribed pain medications, drugs which the star later claimed caused his addiction to painkillers, the same drugs that may have ultimately killed him. alex stone, abc news, los angeles. tonight people in parts of minnesota are looking for a place to live after a tornado tore apart homes, damaged pharmacy, and uprooted trees. considering the damage, it's amazing no one was hurt. the storm also brought some heavy rain through western minneapolis. just another day of gorgeous weather. >> nice weather here. but man, i tell you, it's getting awful dry out here. we do need the rainfall. the system that you just saw that came through that section of the country is now moved down through the ohio valley, will not affect us.

but some remnants of that could give us some shower activity by the time we get along into the weekend. we'll talk about that in a second. let's take a look outside right now. your shot from harbor cam overlooking all the boats in the downtown marina. our temperature right now bwi 85 degrees. 40% humidity. wind from the southwest at 9. the pressure steady 30.02. as far as what is going on out in the atlantic, we take a look all the way from florida and the carolinas all the way back across the atlantic, through the island, back to the coast of africa. not much happening out there. kind of a slow start to hurricane season. you can bet there will be some storms. but just nothing going on right now. just wanted to let you know we're keeping an eye on it for you. early this morning we had clouds around the region. that's what kept it from getting real cool. throughout the day lots of sunshine, but here come some clouds make egging their way in our direction. we're talking about the cloud and thunderstorm activity. there the tail right there. very heavy thunderstorms moved through louisville area about the midday period. the storms have moved down and into the western portions of

virginia. they're moving in that direction. as the system makes its way in our direction, we will see some showers pop up. and it's going to be very few and far between. the next real chance for showers is not going to be coming until the weekend. right now nothing showing up on maryland's most powerful radar. nice clear scan. don't forget, where ucan always go to our website that will show you in just a second. manchester 84. columbia 83. 84 in towson. right now in northeast 81 degrees. 82 in aberdeen. and around right now at 82 degrees. here your forecast. overnight, few light clouds continues to thicken overnight and during the day tomorrow there is the spotty showers around the area. looks like the majority of the rain will push north and south. but then friday night more rain kind of develops off to the west and will head in our direction. that's what we'll see during the day on saturday. the forecast for the overnight period. 63 for the low. during the day tomorrow, mostly cloudy. a few showers around, but quite frankly, i wouldn't count on it. 87 degrees for the daytime high. and the extended outlook.

friday a partly cloudy day with 84 degrees. and we're talking about the chance for shower and even some thunderstorm activity once we get along to saturday. and as you can see, the temperatures will be a little on the cooler side. monday a chance for scattered showers again. also, on tuesday. and again, don't forget you can always go to our website to abc2news.com. when you click on the weather tab, that's what it look like right there. what you want to do is take your right little scroll bar and scroll on down, and there you'll see the radar around the baltimore region. nothing going on right there. but again, you can take and you can move those maps around. so you can take a look at other parts of the united states. you can even zoom in and zoom out to get a little bit different picture. it's available on your pc, 24/7, 365 at abc2news.com. >> thanks, norm. baltimore city schools are going high-tech this summer. 60 students will experience a summer pilot program that is an online virtual learning experience. abc 2 news kelly swoope takes us inside the classroom. >> what number -- >> reporter: class is in

session at matthew henson elementary. but this is no ordinary lesson. >> to the one. >> reporter: students are getting a virtual lesson. henson is part of a pilot program spearhead bade group called connections academy. >> we call it a live lesson because they're working with a teacher who is on the other end of their computer so to speak who is actually instrucking them. >> reporter: however, there is always help nearby if students need the real teacher. >> when you have a question, you ask someone in the classroom. >> reporter: yoga lessons are also part of the summer pilot program. even state school superintendent dr. nancy grasmick was getting in on the act. yoga is to help the students learn to better concentrate in class. >> this is another way that we're looking at for closing the achievement gap. >> reporter: carla bragg, the school's principal, says it's technology the kids are

comfortable with. >> they can text. they can type. they online. they have myspace and all that other -- you know the kinds of things that children do. that's what they do. they have things like this all the time. so their brains are moving along with their little fingers. >> reporter: and the kids agree it beats the old way. >> it will probably be ead easier because you get to type it instead of writing it. >> reporter: and educators say the interaction with the computer seems to keep the students interested and more engaged. in west baltimore, kelly swoope, abc 2 news. >> kelly says the summer program is for third, fourth, and fifth graders. school officials are hoping in the fall the program can be expanded. well, hey are, you addicted to facebook? it's not only been around for about five years, but doctors are starting to look into its negative side effects. doctors say they don't have a universal description of what makes a facebook addict. so they came up with a five- point test to determine how much it's affecting your life.

are you ready? one, you're losing sleep because you're up late checking your profile. two, you consistently spend more time on the site than you intend to. three, you become obsessed with old loves, and you cyber stalk. four, you're ignoring other responsibilities, and five, the thought of logging off leaves you in a cold sweat. >> i'm definitely not addicted. here is a look ahead to abc 2 news at 6. help for homeowners in one area county. what leaders have decided to do that could save them some money. and is now a good time to buy a piece of the american dream? what one real estate expert is saying. and now a preview of what say head on "world news" at 6:30. >> coming up on "world news," remarkable insights into the developing brain. new research conducted inside the womb. that shows how a fetus can actually remember things. the amazing way researchers can

test to determine that. details coming up on "world news." fios guy! where ya headed? ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds. and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) unlike cable, fios brings 100% fiber optics straight to your home and when you switch now, you can get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. with fios, you'll get razor-sharp tv, blazing fast internet and crystal-clear phone service all for just... sign up today. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v, and for a limited time, get an incredible compaq mini, to get the most out of your fios internet. get it all together with a great deal on fios tv, internet and phone plus get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v before time runs out on this astonishing offer.

online, he masked as mr. right, every girl's prince -- charming. a preview of tonight's prime time crime. >> reporter: he called himself dr. jeff. authorities say jeffrey more marsalis. sometimes he was a cia agent and an astronaut too. investigators showed us the doctored photos, the fake hospital ids, the supposed cia documents in his apartment.

dozens of educated professional women, a lawyer, a researcher, a marketing executive. and what many of them say happened on those dates stunned even the most veteran investigators. >> i took a sip of the drink, and that was the last thing i remember. >> how many of you believe you were drugged? >> reporter: they believe they were date raped. but two separate trials and two separate juries would acquit him. jurors weren't convinced, instead believing many of the women were angry they had been gypped smooth talker. but there was another the jury hand heart from and there was a third trial about to turn the case upside down. though he never took the stand, jeffrey marsalis broke his silence to abc 2 news. who are you? >> i'm the guy that the girls kept hanging out with. and that's the guy with the great personality. >> and you can watch the entire story of dr. jeff on prime time crime starting at 10 here on

abc 2. after that, of course, you can stick around for abc 2 news at 11. the mother of a maryland soldier killed in iraq wants answers about her son's death. the story on abc 2 news at 6, which starts now. >> now abc 2 news at 6. >> we're following breaking news tonight from north baltimore. good evening. i'm marybeth marsden. a light rail train hit a woman near the mount washington stop. abc 2 news brian kuebler is live with details on what happened. brian? >> reporter: well, marybeth, mta says that woman was hit here at the mount washington stop just at the beginning of the rush hour. they say it all happened around 4:15 this afternoon. mta officials tell us the woman was hit on the southbound side and suffered noncritical injuries. she was taken to sinai hospital. a passenger we spoke to says the train operator tried to brake, but that they all felt the train hit something. now of course this all come dons