county. if you're driving along i-83 in the next 15 minutes or so, you're going to be dealing with heavy downpours. strong wind gusts. even the possibility of hail with these storms. and we are definitely seeing a lot of lightning as well. if you're headed outside over the next couple of hours, bear this in mind if you're headed downtown for the game this evening. we're not seeing any wet weather over m&t bank stadium right now, but a good possibility heading in towards the next couple of hours to see some of that wet weather. we'll dry out later on tonight, but more storms in the forecast over the next several days. i'll have the details coming up in my full forecast. >> thanks, emily. a former anne arundel county police officer will serve time in jail after a fatal drunk driving crash on interstate 95. the accident happened near the maryland house rest stop in harford county last year, killing a laborer on his way to work. abc 2 news jeff hager with more on the former cop's sentence. >> reporter: rammed from behind in his ford explorer, the crash killed antonio martinez, who left behind a 2-year-old

daughter and a widow crying out for justice. >> everyone in her family has suffered the maximum loss. and that it would have been appropriate for mr. hall to face the maximum sentence. >> reporter: 29-year-old dane hall later admitted to being behind the wheel of the suv that struck the explorer and to leaving the scene, claiming he had fallen asleep, and he never saw the victim's vehicle, which jumped the guardrail on i-95 and landed in an oncoming la. he was sound asleep when police tracked him to his home after his license plate was discovered at this scene. five hours after the crash, blood alcohol tests revealed that he was still legally drunk. ultimately, the judge had to weigh martinez's promising death with the once promising life of a student athlete and cop who set his eyes on becoming an fbi agent. faced with a the maximum of 7 year prison sentence, he got 18 months with two years of house arrest to follow. >> i just think that the

responsibilities that come along with being a police officer and, you know, leaving the scene of the accident, and someone being killed in the accident was worth more than 18 months. >> he was concerned, again, for the martinez family, and he was concerned for his own family. he is immensely grateful that the judge did not include a period of incarceration in the division of correction. as a former police officer, that would have been the third tragedy in the case. >> reporter: through an interpreter, martinez's widow says she plans to file a civil suit against hall and others in this case. in harford county, jeff hager, abc 2 news. >> hall had left his shift for a party with other officers in glen burnie the night before the accident. he struck martinez's suv on the way home the next morning, just before 6 a.m. four marylanders are dead tonight after a helicopter crashed on interstate 70 near

hagerstown last night. kim felix and neil booth of new market, jeff nordaas of columbia and george tutor all died in the class. the ntsb is investigating, but say the rough weather could have played a role. >> witnesses reported that the aircraft was flying very low, that they saw sparks flying before the aircraft hit the ground. and then there was a post crash fire that substantially damaged the. >> >> the pilot had 630 flying hours. the ntsb says it will examine his flight experience, eyewitness accounts from drivers on 70, and the weather at the time of the crash. tonight baltimore police are investigating an attempted rape. the baltimore sun reports it happened saturday morning in front of the baltimore convention center. according to the sun, the woman was walking in the 300 block of sharp street near pratt around 6:30 a.m. when she was approached by a man who grabbed her from behind and began choking her. she says the man pulled her

underwear off, and then called for someone to pick them up. she didn't see anyone else, but the suspect took off when another vehicle approached. the d.c. police department is investigating a sergeant who says he filed an inaccurate report about his visit to benita jacks' home. jacks is on trial for allegedly killing her four daughters. u.s. marshals found the four girls when they evicted her from her home in january of 2008. in a report, the sergeant said he had not seen jacks' oldest daughter, but in a follow-up report he said he thought he had seen the girl and her sisters. the officer now admits his earlier accounts were inaccurate. the h1n1 virus has claimed another life in maryland. health officials say this is the fourth person to die from the virus in the state. authority says the patient did not have any apparent illnesses orris facts or the. no other details are being released in order to protect the privacy of the family.

the centers for disease control has now confirmed 766 swine flu cases statewide. nationally 263 people have died from complications associated with that virus. investigators are trying to find the cause of an early morning fire in baltimore county. the two-alarm blaze started shortly after 8 this morning in jacksonville. about 50 firefighters fought the flames. the man in the house was treated for smoke inhalation, but we're told he is expected to be okay. a smoke alarm being credited tonight for saving the man and his dog. a maryland senator now calling for federal oversight of subway trains. senator barbara mikulski's bill was prompted by last month's deadly collision between two metro trains. nine people are killed in what is the deadliest crash in the history of the rail system. the bill would require subway trains to carry digital data recorders like the black boxes on airplanes. mikulski points out there are federal safety standards for

buses, trains, and airplanes, but not for subways. a road closing to tell you about tonight. the csx and the maryland highway administration will close both eastbound and westbound maryland 132. that's west bel air avenue at the railroad crossings for five days beginning monday. csx will be repairing the railroad tracks at the crossing. drivers traveling in aberdeen are encouraged to plan ahead for travel delays. well, the chances of towson catholic high school staying open took a pretty big hit today. a baltimore county judge rejected an injunction that would have kept the school open for at least the upcoming school year. lawyers say they're looking at other legal options. >> i really thought that this would be able to prove that things would change, and that we would make a stand. but you know what? we did make a stand. these kids made a stand. and these parents.

and alumni. they all made a stand. >> two families filed the lawsuit last week, hoping to keep the school open. today dozens of girls gathered at the inner harbor to put their knowledge of science to a test with a rocket launch. more than 60 middle schoolgirls embarked on an exploration of their own. it's part of the camp at the maryland science center. the girls built rocket, and as you can see, they launched them. the rocket launch was the result of a week-long science project. >> two, one! >> i think it was really fun. and at the same time, we learned a lot. and i really liked making the rockets because you get to design it and then you get to experiment on it. and it was really fun. [ cheering ] >> once the camp is completed, the girls will meet once a month at the maryland science center to continue their learning. and now to the sea. an australian navy ship is

docked at baltimore's inner harbor. the crew is here to commemorate former president theodore roosevelt's visit in 1927 on the great white fleet to support australia's partnership with the united states. this is the first visit to baltimore since 1976. we ask one crewmember what the highlight of the trip has been so far. >> to be able to take an australian ship up through chesapeake and to enter the port city of baltimore and be welcomed the way we have has been something that is just exceptional. and i know all the men and women from my crew are looking forward to getting ashore and sampling that legendary hospitality from the port of baltimore. >> if you would like to get a look at the vessel, head down to the inner harbor. the ship and its crew will be docked until monday. some high school students are putting pasta to the test. johns hopkins university school of engineering hosting the spaghetti bridge contest. 88 students from maryland and across the country are designing and building model

bridges using only one-half pound of pasta and glue. last year's weights went as high as 130 pounds. the contest st. part of hopkin's four-week level introductory engineering course. >> these kids are our future. they will be building our bridges, building our national defense resources, they are going to be designing and buildings. they're going to be developing new materials. these students are our future. >> students have been taking the course for weeks and living on the university's campus. one baltimore county neighborhood is taking the idea of growing green very seriously. homeowners in dundalk have planted 5,000 trees. today county executive jim smith planted a tree at a home on 48 kinship road as part of the growing home campaign. the goal is to plant 10,000 trees. >> i feel like 10,000 is a great goal. and we're halfway there. it's taken us some time.

but i feel like we have done so in good standing. but i feel like we could plant more. >> planting trees not only makes the neighborhood look nice, but also reduces home energy costs and helps remove carbon dioxide from the air. also coming up, we'll get to delia goncalves live downtown in baltimore. she is at m&t bank stadium. plus, a special honor for a hometown hero. angel mccoughtry try gets the key to the city. our estimated temperature today was 84 degrees. we hit 87. no winner of the 2-degree guarantee. but i'll be tracking the storms on the radar, coming up after the break. >> watch abc 2 news any time on channel 1 with comcast on demand. they have alzheimer's and heart disease,

diabetes and cancer, and they've heard that biomedical research offers hope -- that it could control, maybe even cure, their disease. senator barbara mikulski understands the importance of innovative biomedical research for patients, their families, and our economy here in maryland. call senator mikulski today. tell her thanks for protecting the promise of biomedical research and the maryland jobs it provides. it's not just the future. it's life.

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you're watching baltimore's station that works for you. now abc 2 news at 6. >> 70,000 soccer fans, many of them from around the world will converge on downtown baltimore tonight for the world football challenge at m&t bank stadium. abc 2 news delia goncalves is live with the tailgaters, and she joins us. delia? >> reporter: terry, we just saw a caravan of escalades drive by, that could be an indication that some of the players have arrived. let me tell you, we're two hours away from the game, and the fans have been here for a really long time. we're live outside one of the entry gates, gate c. the gate will open in about 20 minutes or so, about 15, 20 minutes. but folks are lining up. we've seen a lot of folks tailgating, getting ready for tonight's big game. and you can imagine, because of all these folks, traffic is simply a nightmare. here is why. there will be a sellout crowd of more than 70,000 people attending the match between two of the world's elite soccer clubs, chelsea and ac milan.

tonight's game is part of an 8- day, six-city u.s. tour, and baltimore, believe it or not, is reportedly so far the only sold-out game, which bodes well of course for charm city. and future soccer tournaments here in the area. another good sign, we can tell you that the city is really banking on this event being a great event. a lot of folks are here. they're saying that this is going to be a huge boost for a local economy. they're expecting the game and the fans who have already sold out many of the hotels in the downtown area to bring in 14 to $20 million in revenue. so that's a good sign. we're going to hang out here at the stadium, have much more from the game, much more from the fans, coming up tonight at 11. live from m&t bank stadium, delia goncalves, abc 2 news. >> delia, i'm green with envy. in other news, a baltimore native received two of the city's highest honors today. in a special ceremony, wnba

player angel mccoughtry was given the key to the city. family and friends looking on, the mayor also presented a street sign bearing mccoughtry's name. mccoughtry was the number 1 overall pick in the washington nba draft by the atlanta dreams. after graduation, she played for the louisville cardinals, leading the team to the national championship game during her senior year. >> angel really reflects what our young people need to look at. and i think her message to the young people today was significant about the day they believed the dreams come true, they can accomplish it. >> it means a lot. because you see that carmelo anthony, rudy, they all made it. but they're men. for me to sort of come out here to encourage the women and for women to do it, got the key to the city, try to open up door for a lot of people and help the mayor out. come back in the community and do a lot of things. i'm excited.

shirks see a very special young lady. mccoughtry says she hopes to do more to help more young people reach their dreams. now the forecast certified baltimore's most accurate. here is meteorologist emily gracey and maryland's most powerful doppler radar. >> all right. you got 70,000 fans counting on you. >> i know. less than two hours to go. a lot of pressure. right now we're looking good down there. not seeing any rainshowers. across the area, it's stormy out. there is rough weather going on, especially in northern maryland right now. >> and we still need the rain. >> we do need the rain. >> the lawn needs it. >> mine is pretty yellow too. we could use the rain. we just escondido want to see it during the game tonight. let's take a look outside right now, see what is going on over the inner harbor. it's cloudy, but we're not seeing the rainshowers downtown yet. good news for the fans at m&t bank stadium. we'll see storms popping up over the next several hours. we'll be watching to see if any will be impacting the downtown area. 84. that's the temperature from the airport with the humidity at

46%. and the winds, they are bringing in that warm air from the south-southwest right now at 5 miles an hour. all right. here is where we sat today. 87 degrees was the afternoon high. 66 this morning. so a very typical late july day. we've been below average pretty much all month, not only with the temperatures, but with the rain as well. and now we're starting to see a shift here in the pattern where our temperatures are warming up to where they should be for this time of year. and we do have some showers in the forecast as well. so looking to catch up on some of that rainfall we've been missing out on. nothing record-breaking today. record high was 97. that was back in 198. checking out the radar this evening, yes dealing with stormy weather. not downtown right now, but in baltimore county we are picking up some wet weather. we're seeing some severe thunderstorm warnings to our west. as you can see right here in the reisterstown area, right along i-83, we're picking up strong thunderstorm activity. no warnings right now for maryland, for the baltimore area around maryland. but we're seeing some of the

wet weather, coming into harford county now. a lot of lightning strikes. southern pennsylvania and cecil county will be seeing some of the stormy weather over the next couple of hours. already starting to see some of this stormy activity and staying dry along i-95. we'll be tracking the severe weather as it moves into your neighborhood. and throughout the rest of the evening we'll be tracking it as well. temperatures out there right now. 84 in baltimore. 84 in easton. cooling down in york, p.a. down to 64 degrees where the storms have rolled through, and the showers have caused the atmosphere to cool down quite a bit out there. but you can see warm across much of the rest of the area. it will be a warm, muggy evening, especially in baltimore this evening, low temperatures dropping down into the upper 60s. but it's going to feel quite a bit warmer than that that will be the case tomorrow as well. we have a upper-level trough moving through. but the cold front that will be impacting the area this weekend will not be coming until sunday night. so most possibly a dry day tomorrow. a slight chance of some thunderstorm activity. but i think most of that will happen tonight. and then later in the day on

sunday. the bigger picture showing us we do have a high pressure system. it is sitting back to the west, bringing in the southerly flow from the south. and that will be bringing in the warm temperatures and humid air over the next couple of days. our pattern not looking to shift a whole lot. we're going to stay warm and moist until the end of next week. for tonight looking at the storms to happen early this evening. by the time the sun goes down, a lot of those will be moving out of the area. 67 degrees for the overnight low, though i think downtown will be right around 70 degrees. and then for tomorrow, you can expect a high of 90 degrees. so a hot day out there. a whole weekend, in fact, looking pretty hot. isolated storms are possible in the afternoon. but i think most of us will stay dry tomorrow as far as the precipitation is concerned. it will be humid out there, though. 8 for sunday with a better chance of thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon as the cold front pushes through. in fact, the wet weather looks to be a possibility pretty much all week. temperatures will stay warm as well in through next friday with highs reaching the mid- to terry? 0s for the entire week.

>> emily, thank you. an economic boost today for americans earning the minimum wage. tonight at 11, how the federal wage hike that went into effect today could provide the economy a much needed shot in the arm. plus, we'll have a complete wrap-up of tonight's international friendly down at m&t bank stadium. we'll have those stories and much more tonight at 11 after the abc news special the truth about oil. and now a live look from our camera down at the inner harbor. just a gorgeous afternoon. yeah, we've got some nasty stuff headed our way. emily will be back with our final forecast in the moment. first, a look at our exclusive weather net. we'll take you to darlington elementary school. where the high today was 84. look at that. temperatures dropped all the way down to 69. two medium ppcis,

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[ closing bell ] >> in your money, most stocks were up again today, though

textures were hurt by disappointing results from microsoft and amazon.com. the dow finned up 24 points. the nasdaq was down 8 points. and the s&p gained 3 points. and we are working to help you during these 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 steady income. just log on the abc2news.com and click on our financial survival guide. and tracking some severe weather as it moves through maryland this evening. looking live from the radar right now, you can see all the way from baltimore county up in towards cecil county now, seeing a strong line of thunderstorms. and while no severe thunderstorm warnings are in effect for that area right now, we will be dealing with these strong thunderstorms that do have a lot of lightning with them for the next couple hours as a upper-level trough pushes through the atmosphere this evening. across much of the rest of the area we're not seeing a whole lot as far as thunderstorm activity. a small cell just off of sandy point right there on the bay

bridge. and we'll be dealing with warm weather and a lot of moisture as we head on through the next week. terry? >> all right, thanks, emily. that's going to it for abc 2 news at 6. i'm terry owens. thank you so much for joining us. click weather. >> maryland's most powerful radar. >> baltimore's most accurate forecast. any time, anywhere. customize your weather by zip code. run the interactive radar. zoom anywhere you like. get your daily forecast, hour by hour. the most powerful radar. the most accurate forecast. guaranteed. try getting weather when you want it, how you want it. abc2news.com. click and see what works for you.