now abc 2 news at 5:30. >> and you are looking live at downtown baltimore from our camera over the inner harbor. absolutely gorgeous day. but for the second evening in a row, some stormy weather is expected to move through the area. good evening, everybody. i'm terry owens. what can you expect if you're going out tonight? meteorologist emily grace si tracking all the details in the storm center. >> reporter: we haven't seen a whole lot as far as storms are concerned this month, but it's all coming here today and yesterday. let's take a look outside right now from the storm center weather net showing where the temperature is 86 degrees right now. winds are calm. that's the warmest we've been all day. and that warm air is just helping to aid in the

development of thunderstorms out there. in fact, let's take a live look from maryland's most powerful radar right now. you can see a lot of thunderstorms popping up in southern pennsylvania. now we're starting to see a few storms make their way into maryland. you can see in the westminster area of carroll county, getting east, getting into baltimore county shortly. we'll be dealing with some of the stormy weather that will be the case over the next few hours. overnight, more storms on the way. in fact, the next seven days looking a little wet out there. i'll have more on that coming up in my full forecast. >> all right, thanks, emily. if you've been driving around in a clunker, the federal government is willing to pay you to get rid of it. abc 2 news joce sterman tells us how a new program work, and why it's got car shoppers seeing big dollar signs. >> as you can see, i don't take very good care of my car. >> reporter: nick's nissan pathfinder has seen better days, but he hadn't planned on trading it in until now. >> i wanted to keep it and get a new car. but if they're going to give me

$4,500 for it, i'll take it. >> reporter: it's the so-called cash for clunkers program that has nick having a change of heart about his aging suv. the government program will give folks like him as much as $4,500 to trade in their cars for something new and more environmentally friendly. >> an overwhelming response we've had. we've had more than half of our customers have been coming in for just cash for clunkers program. >> reporter: at antwerpen chrysler: >> a government program. >> reporter: shoppers have already been asking about the discount which officially starts monday and runs through november 1st. but you can't just roll in any old piece of junk there are specific guidelines for which cars qualify for the program. your car has to be in drivable condition. it must have been continuously insured and registered to the same owner for a full year before the trade-in. it can't be more than 25 years old, and it has to have a combined fuel economy of 18 miles a gallon or less. >> the idea is to put better cars on the road.

that run better and get better gas mileage. that's the whole idea. >> reporter: it's an idea that have people like nick eyeing a deal that he otherwise wouldn't have considered. >> i think it's a great program. if there wasn't an incentive, i wouldn't be here. >> reporter: it could help energize the economy and get less fuel efficient cars off the road for good. joce sterman, abc 2 news. >> all right, i want to know if joce caught that car as it was rolling away. before you consider the program, make sure you find a dealer who is certified to participate, and reel read all the rules to make sure the car you're thinking of ditch willing qualify. you can find all the details you need to know by clicking on to our website, abc2news.com. and then click on the cash for clunkers story. next month, maryland will close two welcome centers because of budget cuts. the bay country welcome center in queen anne's county will close august 15th. so will the sideling hill on interstate 68 west of hancock. it opened back in 1991 and has

a four-level geological museum. one full-time and three part- time employees will be laid off. the bay country welcome center in queen anne's county will also close. >> i think it's going to be inconvenient for a lot of people to travel. and probably inconvenient for the people that -- disastrous for the people who are employed here. what are they going to do now? >> the spokesman says closing the centers will save more than $392,000 in fiscal 2010. and now for a look at tonight's top stories. the ntsb is trying to figure out if weather played a role in a helicopter crash that killed four people last night. the helicopter went down around 10:30 on interstate 70 and burst into flames. no vehicles were hit, and no one on the ground was hurt. just a few hours ago, a judge rejected a motion that would have blocked the archdiocese of baltimore from closing towson catholic high school. the archdiocese says shrinking funds and low enrollment forced it to make the decision.

lawyers for the family that filed the injunction say they'll look into other legal options, but time is running out. and it looks like the school will close as planned. los angeles police say they've got more questions for dr. conrad murray, michael jackson's personal physician. they think there is probable cause he committed manslaughter. yesterday, they took a copy of his computer hard drive, a suspension notice from a hospital, and a receipt for an untraceable cell phone and powerful anxiety drug. a powerful arc arkansas evangelist could spend the rest of his life behind bars. a jury has convicted tony alamo of taking five underaged girls across state lines for sex. the 74-year-old never testified in his trial. sentence willing be held in 6 to 8 weeks. well crime isn't getting one community down. the mayor, community leaders, and city employees took a ride through herring run park today to bring awareness to the earn a bike program. the program was created to help

build better relationships between neighbors and to teach young people responsibility. kids can earn bicycles by giving service to their community. you'll recall just a little more than a week ago, those bikes were stolen at about 30 bikes were donated towards the cause, making today's ride a huge success. a man's unique plan to sell his home. coming up, what he is offering as part of that deal. and people flipping over cool new video cameras. what you need to know so you don't waste your money. but first, we'll head over to perry hall, where it feels like it's 85 degrees. the current temperature actually 81. ú

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...enamel loss by forming a micro-thin shield against acid attack. only crest pro-health toothpastes... ...protect all these areas dentists check most. save your enamel. once it's gone, it can be gone for good. new crest pro-health enamel shield. also shield with the rinse. the market finished with mixed results. the dow was up almost 24 points. the s&p jumped almost 3. but the nasdaq, well, it was in the red today. it was down just over 7 points. there is debate in washington over who should be the country's top consumer watchdog. president obama's top money men were on capitol hill this morning, talking about reforms to protect taxpayers from

another economic meltdown. fed chairman ben bernanke wants responsibilities to stay with the central bank, while treasury secretary timothy geithner wants to create a new consumer protection agency. >> our patchwork antiquated structure of oversite responsible created large gaps in coverage, allowed institutions to shop for the weakest regulator. >> still, lawmakers remain frustrated that nothing has been proposed by the obama administration that would prevent americans having to bail out so-called too big to fail companies in the future. more money. an increase in the federal minimum wage pacs effect today. what it means for the paychecks of the lowest paid workers in our country. and playing the name game. a famous coffee chain is testing a new concept. we'll explain. but first, we'll head back outside for a check on the weather conditions. how about over in columbia. oakland mills middle school,

where it is 81 degrees. it feels a little warmer.

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the economy took a sudden turn for the better today for millions of workers. those making the minimum wage got a raise of 70 cents an hour. but economists say their gain is a loss for others. t.j. winick explains. >> it could be a haircut. >> reporter: for workers like carlos simpson, today's federal minimum wage hike to $7.25 is a long-time coming. >> i've got bills. my phone bill about kill me. i can't pay it no more. i need this raise. >> reporter: in washington, certain lawmakers heralded the raise, a final stage of a three- step increase in the minimum wage approved during the bush administration. >> this will put $1,100 in the pockets of working people. that means money for groceries, for rent, for school supplies,

money that will help with this economic recovery. >> reporter: but for many small business owners -- >> the timing is very bad. >> reporter: the fee increase is a backbreaker, happening at a time when they can least afford it. >> the rates go up. the employees who get to keep their job are happy. but overall, either people get less hours, which impacts them, or they lose their job. >> reporter: at small businesses like coastal cupcakes in wilmington, north carolina, the additional 70 cents per employee per hour adds up quick. a company with ten employees will pay almost $300 more per week. but for many businesses, it's not that simple. >> either don't pay the government and go to jail, or have fewer employees. and it's sad when any employer has to lay off people. >> reporter: under the health care reform being debated, businesses would have to pay a penalty if they don't provide health coverage for employees, increasing the skyrocketing cost for small businesses. a different type of

starbucks could be coming to your neighborhood. the coffee house is trying out a new concept at a seattle store there is no starbucks name and no iconic green and white logo. but rather, it's being called 15th avenue coffee and tea. it's supposed to be like a hip neighborhood hot spot. the coffee stays the same, but they'll also serve beer and wine. >> this is sort of a testing lab. this is where we have i think the courage to do. >> it's like a bait and switch to me. a little bit of a silly idea. i think people are going to know. >> starbucks is planning on two more of the neighborhood coffee shops in seattle without the starbucks names. the back to school shopping season will be here before you know it. and wal-mart is increasing its assortment of affordable laptops with the goal of becoming a computer guest nation for college and high school students. there is word the retailer offer a $298 notebook from hewlett-packard with three gettings of memory. the price is more in line with

net books. we are working to help you during the tough economic times. on our website today, check out the five signs that you're living above your means, and how you can turn your hobby into cash or even a steady income. just log on the abc2news.com and click on our financial survival guide. well, they say desperate times call for desperate measures. a homeowner in san diego has come up with a unique plan to get his home sold. if you buy the place, he'll throw in a $200,000 bentley. that's right. the home has more than 4,000 square feet, plus an ocean view. it's listed at a reduced price of $1.8 million. now the forecast certified baltimore's most accurate. here is meteorologist emily gracey and maryland's most powerful doppler radar. >> i haven't been out in a while. is it sticky to go along? >> it is sticky out there. we're starting to cloud up. and the storms we saw in southern pennsylvania now starting to impact parts of

maryland. so we're starting to see the storms move into the area. they may be impacting us here this evening in the next couple of hours. let's take a live look outside over the inner harbor right now. yes seeing the darkening sky out there. the clouds are rolling in, bringing in some hot, humid weather as well. our temperature right now from the airport at bwi 85 degrees. the humidity at 42%. winds right now out of the west southwest at 5 miles an hour. all right. one place where ethe did just see a shower not too long ago is rehoboth beach. a lot of folks were hanging out there on the water. but right now it's looking a little more barren out there. the showers came through just moments ago, and did clear off the beach. temperature down to 71 degrees right now. it feels like 74. still pretty humid out there. and gusts with those storms have been gusting up to 20 miles per hour. now seeing a little bit more sunshine out there. and we are going to see the mix of rain and sunshine this evening back here at home as well. in fact, let's take a live look from the radar right now. you can see some of the storms moving in towards the baltimore

area. now the they are moving to the east. we're seeing a storm coming in towards carroll county. it just caused a lot of lightning in westminster. now moving in closer to baltimore county. if you're headed up i-83 in the next 10, 15 minutes, you're going to be dealing with heavy downpours. a lot of lightning here as well. hundreds of lightning strikes with this storm. and these storms do extend all the way up into southern pennsylvania. and while they're just impacting baltimore county right now, they're going to be moving in towards harford county and probably cecil county in the next half hour so. we'll be tracking those as they pop up not only in northern maryland, but possibly all over maryland in the next several hours. if you're headed to the beach this weekend, looks like it will be a hot, humid one there as well. 83 degrees for saturday. partly cloudy skies are expected. and while we're more likely to see rainshowers on sunday, there is that slight chance both days, 82 for that afternoon high. on sunday. with that possibility of stormy weather as a cold front passes through the area. now i want to show you what the rain is doing to the

temperatures here, because while we're still very warm here in baltimore, 85 degrees, check out that temperature in york. 64 degrees. they had a good soaking not too long ago. really dropped that temperature down with the evaporative cooling. now that may happen here this evening as well, but it's still going to be very humid out there, all the way through the overnight hours as this upper- level system continues to work its way through the area. so as you can see, some strong showers and thunderstorms in southern pennsylvania. some warnings popping up there. no warnings yet in maryland. but there is that good possibility throughout much of the evening that we are going to see these thunderstorms cause some severe thunderstorm warnings. now as we head on through the rest of the night, we are going to start to see some clearing as the trough pushes further to the east. we'll lose the daytime heating and by tonight have partly cloudy skies. we are going to see warm weather continue through tomorrow afternoon there is a bermuda high sitting just off the coast, bringing in lot of southerly winds, and that's also bringing in that warm, humid air. sticky weather for tomorrow. high temperatures right around 90 degrees. and that's going to be the case for the next week or so, which

is not far off from where we're supposed to be this time of year. we've just been below average and dryer than average. so expect that shower and thunderstorm activity to continue all the way through next week as well. now for tonight, it's going to be pretty warm out there. the storms will happen early on in the evening. and then by later on tonight, we'll lose that daytime heating. the sun will go down, and we'll start to dry out with partly cloudy skies by later on tonight that heat and humidity, though, not going anywhere. 90 degrees tomorrow afternoon for that high. it has been hot and humid. tomorrow even more hot weather in store for us. and a slight chance of some isolated showers and thunderstorms by later on in the day. a better chance of storms as we head through the week. sunday a high of 87. in fact, that warm air continues all the way to the end of the week. we're looking at a good chance of showers and thunderstorms pretty much every day all the way through until friday. >> all right, thanks, emily. well have, you seen the cool new flip video cameras yet. they're affordable, tiny, and pretty easy to use. competitors are now coming up

with their own versions. consumer reporter john matarese compares the flip with a new contender from kodak so you don't waste your money. >> reporter: now that many of us have made the switch to high definition tv, it might be time to upgrade your home video camera to hg as well. and it's easier than ever now, thanks to a growing number of pocket videocams for under $200. but are they worth buying? >> open, here they could. >> reporter: rachel is an amateur photographer and a mom who loves shooting nature scenes. when we showed her the newest high definition video cameras from kodak and flip she, flip over them. >> it's amazing. i really like it. >> reporter: like the millions of people who bought the first generation flip, rachel couldn't believe how simple it was to use. just press the big red button. >> this is really neat. >> reporter: it's such a winning formula, that kodak has come out with its own version, the zi6. both now shoot hd video. when you're done, you just flip

the usb jack on the side and load the videos tapeless into your consider. but which is better? to find out i duct taped them together and shot identical outdoor scenes. ducks upon a water fall. when it came to a close-up of the stream, the advantage went to kodak because of its special close-up lens. the kodak also takes still pictures. as for picture quality, it was a draw. but with simple cameras like these, ease of use may be even more important than ease of quality. and here the flip ultra hd gets the edge, because both rachel and i found its big record and play buttons simpler than the kodak's joystick controller. which feels easier to use? >> definitely the ultra high def. >> reporter: so while techies may forever the kodak, the overall winner the flip ultra hd. it retails for 199-dollar. the kodak for 179.

but the kodak requireious to buy a separate sd camera card so it adds another $20 making the price equal. so compare by features so you don't waste your money. i'm john matarese. with a look ahead to abc 2 news at 6. a former anne arundel county police officer charged in the deadly drunk driving learns his if it's a. and it's not your usual pasta. find out why these students are building a bridge out of spaghetti. now a preview of what say head on world news at 6:30. coming up on world news, president obama modifies his remarks about the arrest of an african american scholar saying both sides made mistakes. the white house wants public schools to compete for federal education funds. and we'll have our person of the week. fios guy! where ya headed?

uh, 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 is ted. (ted) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (ted) no i'm not. ted has betrayed me... okay... (announcer) unlike cable, fios brings 100% fiber optics straight to your home. switch now, and get a free compaq mini netbook computer. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. with fios, you'll get razor-sharp tv, america's top rated internet - now even faster, and crystal-clear phone service, all for just... call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v today and for a limited time, get an incredible compaq mini, to get the most out of your fios internet. get this great offer on fios tv, internet and phone plus a free compaq mini netbook computer. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v today before time runs out on this astonishing offer.

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.

she has been out of the spotlight for a while, but whitney houston is making a comeback. she has a new album coming out september 1. and the 44-year- old mega star is talking about her life away from the recording studio. >> i just took a break, you know. which sometimes you have to. you have to know when to slow that train down and kind of sit back and relax for a minute, you know what i'm saying? and kind of have a life. >> it's been seven years since whitney released a new album. during the break, she battled drug abuse and a rocky marriage to bobby brown which ended in divorce. britain's prince william is reaching new heights. he spent the day hiking with a group of homeless teenagers. they trekked with mountain team leaders through a picturesque peak in north england. the goal, to raise awareness for two of his favorite charities, one of which supports young people living on the streets. a baltimore native and wnba

player gets a huge hometown honor. that's coming up on abc 2 news at 6, which stars right now. >> now abc 2 news at 6. >> storms are set to roll through our area. you are looking at baltimore's inner harbor, where things are pretty calm right now, though. good evening, everybody. i'm terry owens. how long will the wet weather last? meteorologist emily gracey is here with a look at the first forecast. >> we've been watching the storms on the radar. while previously they were impacting southern pennsylvania, they are now moving in towards the baltimore area. let's take a live look outside and show you what is going on. those storms that were in carroll county, some still impacting that part of the area, but now moving in towards baltimore county as well. i'm going to zoom in here and show you exactly where the storms are. while we're not seeing any severe thunderstorm warnings in the baltimore area with the storms, that doesn't mean severe weather is not a good possibility this evening. as you can see, right along i- 83 and