$40 million. that's how much one baltimore county family is suing for after their son nearly drowned at a pool. parents say the incident could have been prevented had better safety measures been in place. but as abc 2 news linda so reports, the pool and its management company plan to fight the lawsuit. >> our son is our life. >> reporter: this is home video of james becker, an 18-year-old who needs 24 hour care, seven days a week. it's not the son mary and bill becker once knew, an active sophomore in high school who played several sports. >> he was a very independent child who is now totally totally dependent on my husband and myself for his care. >> reporter: it happened three years ago. mary and her son were at the pool when suddenly he went under. james was pulled from the water. cpr was performed. james survived, but suffered massive brain damage. >> what happened to james becker was absolutely preventible.

>> reporter: the beckers are suing woodcroft swim club for $40 million. >> the $40 million number is not a number we picked out of a hat. it is not a number for shock or awe. it is a number that is a realistic estimate of what james is going to require in medical expenses throughout the remainder of his life. >> reporter: the beckers are also calling for tougher safety standards at all public pools. when their son nearly drowned here at woodcroft swim club, they say four lifeguards were in duty. only one was sitting in the chair, and she only had three weeks of experience. but drd plans to fight the lawsuit. an attorney representing the company says they're completely stunned by the allegation. >> frankly, this is a situation where we don't think we did anything wrong. my understanding is that he had a heart attack while he was in the pool. >> essentially my husband and i always loved our son as we knew him. he is trapped in a body that is

not his body. >> reporter: in pikesville, linda so, abc 2 news. >> linda says the beckers plan to fight for tougher pool safety legislation in annapolis this session. they'll also be joined by the freed family. their son drowned at a pool in crofton that was also managed by drd. tonight the maryland transportation authority is publicly apologizing to a musician who was falsely accused of e-mailing a bomb threat to bwi thurgood marshall airport. george spicca was also given a $207,000 settlement after being falsely arrested. the agency has no information linking him to any illegal activity and regrets any damage caused by the arrest. despite a personal appeal on television last night, president obama had a setback today in his efforts to get a quick health care bill from congress. still, the president remained upbeat as he urged crowds to get behind his plan. here is abc's viviana hurtado.

>> reporter: the president took his pitch for health care reform to the heartland to enlist american support. while taking questions at a town hall meeting outside of cleveland, the president extended his original august deadline for health care reform, but with conditions. >> are you willing to speaker pelosi to stay in washington and get this job done? >> i have no problem. if i think people are really working through these difficult issues, and making sure that we get it right. >> reporter: but he turned up the heat on lawmakers who will be going home soon for recess. >> calling your congress people, calling your senators, making sure they know this is important. >> reporter: president obama was forced to move the deadline after the senate majority leader announced there would be no senate vote on health care reform until the fall. >> it's better to have a product that is one that is based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than trying to jam something

through. >> reporter: in the house speaker nancy pelosi continues to insist her members are on schedule, even though fiscally conservative democrats have slowed down legislation. republicans are taking advantage of the democrats' deep division. >> the president ought to scrap this idea and ought to work with republicans and democrats here on capitol hill to put a common sense plan together. >> reporter: political watchers say extending the deadline is a blow to the president. that's because lawmakers almost month-long recess could further slow down momentum on health care reform. viviana hurtado, abc news, washington. today congressman elijah cummings released a statement about the president' health plan. it says while millions of americans family grapple with the skyrocketing cost of health care, and another 47 million individuals grapple with no health insurance at all, the health insurance companies have benefited from windfall profits. the system is broken, and we must heed the president's call to act with the urgency of now

and fix it. and yesterday we asked you to weigh in on our abc2news.com web poll. we wanted to know if you understand president obama's health care plan. here are the results. 81% of you said no. 18% answered yes. in northwest baltimore this morning, a medic unit headed to the hospital with a medical emergency turned into an emergency. the crash happened at the intersection of greenspring avenue just before 9. the medic unit had picked up a victim from another crash and was headed to sinai hospital when it hit a tree. the accident blocked traffic for several hours as crews cleaned up. the hospital sent another medic to pick up the original patient. a man from anne arundel county is dead after crashing his car into a utility pole. the crash happened around 1:15 yesterday afternoon in the 8300 block of rock ridge road in laurel. police say a volkswagen golf was going north on brockridge road when the driver crossed

into oncoming traffic. according to police, oscar ivan petrino lost control and struck a utility pole. he died at the scene. the passenger, angelic ca torvila is in critical condition. she is at shock trauma. a metro firm is working to build a backup for a system that is supposed to prevent crashes. an engineering systems firm began that work last week. the company has a $15 million contract with metro. the national transportation safety board still has not found the cause of last month's crash that killed nine people. investigators say the train protection system is inadequate. the ntsb recommends metro add realtime continuous backup. metro officials say the tacoma station will remain open thursday and friday night. they've been occasionally closing the tracks between tacoma and fort totten at 10 to accommodate the ntsb

investigations working to determine the cause of last month's deadly crash. the tacoma station will stay open until midnight thursday, and service will run from 5 a.m. to 3 a.m. on friday. two state welcome centers are closing due to budget cuts. sideling hill exhibit center on interstate 68 west of hancock is closing on august 15th. the bay country can welcome center in queen anne's county is also closing. the sidling center opened in 1991 and has a four-level geological museum. the closings will save more than $390,000 in fiscal 2010. the latest now on towson catholic high school, and the decision of the baltimore archdiocese to close its doors. according to the president of the school's alumni association, a hearing is scheduled for 2:00 tomorrow for a restraining order to block the school's closing. the archdiocese says it's closing the school because of financial issues and low

enrollment. that is not sitting well with students, alumni and parents. tonight the alumni association will hold a fundraiser and rally at fredonia station. university of maryland medical center is celebrating a distinguished honor. it has received magnet designation for nursing excellence. hundreds of nurses and hospital staff celebrated the honor this afternoon. the magnet program recognizes hospitals that demonstrate excellence in nursing, team work, and quality care. only 5% of the hospitals in the country have achieved this honor. >> the nurses are thrilled. they are saying this is great because we knew what we had, and who we were within the institution. now everyone externally knows what the nursing care sat the medical center. >> the university of maryland achieved the honor after years of preparation, a three thousand page application, and four-day onsite visit by

reviewers. you may have seen them being sold in the mall or on the internet. they're being market as the healthy cigarette. coming up, why the fda says the safe smokes aren't so safe after all. involuntary manslaughter. why that may be the charge facing michael jackson's personal doctor. we've also got the latest details in the custody battle over jackson's kids. one man, a string of burglaries. how police busted the suspect they think is responsible for a mini crime spree in cecil county. but first, we'll head outside and get a check on the weather conditions in crisfield. it feels like it's 83 degrees. boy, it's humid, 69%, but the temperature is 79. stay with us. we're right back.

you're watching baltimore's station that works for you. now abc 2 news at 5. >> in 2 your health tonight,

the food and drug administration says those popular smoking devices known as electronic cigarettes contain carcinogens and other toxic chemicals. these cigarettes are battery operated with cartridges filled with nicotine and other chemicals. the creator of the product sells them as the healthy way to smoke. but experts say they basically turn nicotine and other chemicals into a videotape they're is inhaled. doctors say it's important parents let their kids know the e-cigarettes are not safe. having trouble getting the kids to sleep at night? the solution may be easy. get them moving. here is abc 2 news dr. tim johnson. >> reporter: around one in six parents say they have a child who finds it difficult to get to sleep. researchers studied the daytime activity and sleep patterns of hundreds of 7-year-olds by giving them activity monitors to wear for 24 hours. they found that children with the highest levels of activity during the day fell asleep the most quickly at night.

but every hour spent in sedentary activity increased the time it took children to fall asleep by an average of three minutes. in addition, children who took longer to fall asleep, slept for shorter amounts of time. the study points to the importance of activity, not only for physical fitness, but also for healthy sleep, which is critical for many aspects of well-being, including overall brain health. with this medical minute, i'm dr. timothy johnson. now the forecast certified baltimore's most accurate. here is chief meteorologist norm lewis and maryland's most powerful doppler radar. >> terry, before we get into the weather, i've got something i'd like to plug. if you're a motorcycle rider, everybody knows i ride a bike, we need your help. we've got a big blood drive going on in the baltimore area over at harley-davidson of baltimore. you don't have to drive a harley, but the blood drive goes through tonight, into tomorrow and the next day from noon until about 7:00 in the

evening. we collected about 130 units of blood yesterday. over 100 today. so if you're riding a bike, we need for you to kind of pitch in and help out the red cross. it's a time of the year when we really do need blood donations. so take that bike and head on over to harley-davidson out on route 40. they really appreciate you being there. >> an excuse. >> exactly. great excuse. let's take a look outside right now. our shot from harbor cam overlooking the downtown area. things are looking a little peaked here in baltimore. man did we have rainfall around the region this morning, especially from 95 eastward. our temperature right now at bwi 82 degrees. 67% humidity. wind from the east at 13. and the pressure falling 29.83. there are the tide tomorrow. a high tide at 8:13 in the morning. low tide at 3:16 in tavern. winds today from the south at 6 to 12 miles per hour. sun comes up at 5:59. we'll set at 8:26. as far as a coastal flood advisory, still in effect for delaware and new jersey as the area of low pressure moves

along the coast. up in pennsylvania they've got a flash flood warning up there. varying heavy amounts of rainfall. 82 in downtown. 80 at pax river. 81 degrees over on the boardwalk and ocean city and dover, delaware reports in with 77 degrees. throughout the day, well, early this morning, look at the heavy rainfall that comes crashing through this area. the very small storms. but boy, heavy amounts of rainfall. and we've got some very heavy storms that have been moving through portions of carroll county and into baltimore county. those storms very small, but very intense. that area of low pressure that we're talking about continues to funnel moisture into the region as it moves on by the eastern seaboard and is heading right into new england with very heavy amounts of rain. they could see two to three, maybe even four inches of rain over portions of connecticut can, rhode island, as well as massachusetts. in the meantime, we've got showers and thunderstorms that are lurking back just to the west of us. right now here is the baltimore area. here is that one storm system that came through the carroll

county region. it's now gone into baltimore county. just some light showers. but another batch of thunderstorms is heading in that direction. once that batch gets through the region, things should calm down for the night. as you can see, again, very spotty storms across the area. temperature-wise right now, in moncton 76. 76 in owings mills. westminster at 77 degrees. it's 8 for rock hall. northeast right now at 77 degrees. here is your forecast for tonight there is the majority of the rain, just to the west of us, getting ready to pull into and through the baltimore- carroll county region. it makes its way towards the north. during the day tomorrow, okay. a chance for scattered showers on and off through the day. but once it gets through, saturday is looking pretty good. but by sunday evening, we're getting another system headed in our direction. here your forecast. for the overnight period, showers and storms, some areas of early morning fog. an overnight low of 67 degrees. during the day tomorrow, have some morning showers, but some clearing during the afternoon. the high tomorrow 84 degrees. now the extended outlook, saturday looking pretty good at partly cloudy, but very warm and humid day, 90 degrees.

87 on sunday with scattered showers. monday a good chance for general rainfall, 84. then tuesday, wednesday, and thursday, a chance for some very light scattered showers on wednesday and thursday, and temperatures getting a little more summer-like during that time. yes, i donated today. it's harley-davidson. get on over there. give them a pint of blood. they need it. >> all right, thanks, norm. the investigation into what killed michael jackson continues to expand. today los angeles police are sifting through documents and records seized in a series of raids yesterday in houston and los angeles. and as abc's alex stone reports, there is also activity surrounding the future of jackson's estate and his children. >> reporter: federal drug enforcement agents and los angeles police swept in looking for evidence that showed evidence of manslaughter. murray, jackson's personal physician, was with him the day he died. >> they have ratcheted up this criminal investigation, and things are getting a lot more

serious for dr. murray. >> reporter: according to tmz, investigators also grabbed documents from dr. cheryl lynn lee. authorities are focusing on propofol, a powerful sedative. jackson wanted it to relieve his chronic insome anyia. >> he wanted to look at the clock the next morning and know he slept six hours. >> lee warned him it was too dangerous to use outside a hospital or clinic setting. >> providing propofol for sleep at home is ridiculous and dangerous. >> reporter: if the coroner's office rules next week that jackson died from the drug and can link it to murray, the doctorrer could face criminal charges. >> clearly, they've got a -- they've got him in the crosshairs so to speak. and want to prosecute or arrest somebody for what has been going on in this case 689. >> reporter: meantime, the jackson family continues its legal maneuvers. jackson's mother katherine has filed papers to possibly challenge michael's two coexecutors for control of his

estate. she has temporary custody of jackson's three children, but sources say they may actually be raised by jackson's oldest sister rebi, seen standing here at the singer's memorial. a custody hearing is scheduled for august 3rd. alex stone, abc news, los angeles. >> and earlier today, katherine jackson asked a judge to approve an allowance for she and jackson's three children from the estate. the judge said he'll consider the request at the august 3rd custody hearing. the fbi says new jersey's corruption problem may be the worst in the nation. three mayors, two state legislators, and several rabbis all arrested today. details on the sweeping construction investigation. an $80,000 sports car now patrolling the streets of one north carolina town, looking for speeders. how the department got their hands on that hot rod. >> watch abc 2 news any time on channel 1 with comcast on demand. ú

every day about 30 women in the u.s. learn that they have cervical cancer. that's why i chose to get my daughter vaccinated.

i chose to get my daughter vaccinated when her doctor and i agreed that the right time to protect her is now. because it's about prevention. (nice) gardasil is the only cervical cancer vaccine that helps protect against four types of hpv. two types that cause seventy percent of cervical cancer and two more types that cause other hpv diseases. i chose to get my daughter vaccinated because the cdc recommends that girls her age get vaccinated. gardasil does not treat cervical cancer or other hpv diseases. side effects include: pain, swelling, itching, bruising, and redness at the injection site, headache, fever, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and fainting. gardasil is not for women who are pregnant. gardasil may not fully protect everyone and does not prevent all kinds of cervical cancer, so it's important to continue routine cervical cancer screenings. i chose to get my daughter vaccinated because i want her to be one less woman affected by cervical cancer. one less. gardasil. ask your daughter's doctor about gardasil.

guess what we're working on new at 5:30. we're going on -- well, i guess you can call it a kitchen stop tour. next stop the b & o building, secret dine on a dime. find out the ten worst things you could ever buy on a credit card. and he has popped up again. yeah, the latest spotting of ilya the manatee has been spotted. and the stormy forecast straight ahead on abc 2 news at 5:30. a look at news around the nation takes us to san francisco, where we're getting a look at surveillance video of a train crash last weekend. dozens of people were hurt when a muni train slammed into another train last saturday. the driver blacked out shortly before the crash. authorities are looking at the driver's medical records, and they've also subpoenaed cell phone records. the driver is still in the hospital. and a wild turkey is ruffling feathers in this new jersey neighborhood. people there have accused the four-foot bird of chasing

people down the street, pecking at tires and blocking cars. so far no one has been attacked. so animal control hasn't gotten involved just yet. but local nature center is asking neighbors not to feed the turkey, and to clap oriole to scare it away. you better hope you're not speeding if you come across this corvette in north carolina. the $80,000 sports car is now patrolling the streets of wake county. it was picked up during a drug seizure, and is now being used by the police department. the corvette can go from zero to 60 in 3.7 seconds, and reach speeds close to 200 miles an hour. well, you may not have an $80,000 patrol car, but that doesn't mean you can't help kick crime in your neighborhood. stick around for tonight's crime checker. abc 2 news at 5:30 starts in just two minutes. ♪

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>> an elkton man freed from jail after allegedly committing a burglary is back behind bars after police say he struck again. good evening, everybody. i'm terry owens. abc 2 news jeff hager spoke with some of the victims today, people who actually tried to help the man, now accused of stealing from them. >> tore off and the doorjamb is all busted. >> reporter: he survived a car crash that nearly took his life, and lee klein believes he knows why burglars targeted his home in chesapeake city. >> they broke in for the pain medicine, i guess. and then jewelry was just something extra for them. >> my wedding band. he paid almost $3,500. all my other jewelry. it was more sentimental than anything else. you know, i had chains, bracelets, that my dad gave me. you know, i can't replace none of that. >> reporter: cecil county sheriff's deputies arrested 24-

year-old charles samuel hall d charged him with the recent string of burglaries, which came after he was build a out on a previous burglary charge. >> mr. hall is possibly using prescription drugs. he did comment to us that he has a problem with pills. >> reporter: ironically, klein knew the man charged with breaking into his home. >> yeah, i was trying to help him. he was out of work. i was trying to help find him some work with a few friends of mine that do construction and what not. and the whole time he was just sizing us up. >> reporter: at this point, investigators believe hall may have made off with $14,000 worth of goods. >> once the pawnshops get the jewelry, they usually melt it down. so i probably won't get anything back. >> reporter: investigators do not believe hall was acting alone. and they say more arrests could be forth coming. they also suggest that hall could be tied to as many as three additional burglaries. reporting in cecil county, jeff hager, abc 2 news. >> and jeff says hall is being held tonight