paterakis. he eparlayed that ownership into huge areas of land. the land wasn't too desirable at the time. now you know that area as harbor east, one of the fastest growing areas of development in the city. and paterakis has a piece of all of it. now the state prosecutor has indicted him claiming he gave helen holton $6,000 to help pay for the poll and councilwoman is indicted on two counts of conspiracy to violate campaign laws. she could face one year 234 prison and a $25,000 fine on each of the developments. the developer, paterakis, 80 years old. the state prosecutor says he could also face a year in prison and a $25,000 fine. helen holton's attorney just released a statement which says in part miss holton is innocent there was no conspiraciful and he is confident this charge will meet the same fate as the earlier one. this story literally just developing late this afternoon.

we'll be bringing you any new developments as we get them. >> thanks, christian. two days after a violent and bloody sunday, east baltimore is filled with police. because of the federal stimulus money, baltimore will be able to hire even more officers to keep you safe. police continue to search for suspects in a series of connected shootings that wounded 15 people. it all happen around 9:00 sunday evening when a gunman hit 12 people in the 2600 block of ashland avenue in east baltimore. two more shootings would follow that abc 2 news brian kuebler updates us on the investigation, and a massive police presence in the neighborhood. >> reporter: come anywhere near ashland avenue in beast baltimore, and you'll see the heavy police presence the commissioner promised. >> the only update i can really give is the fact that yesterday we deployed a number of officers over into that area. i know the police were going back and questioning a number of the people who were in the yards. >> reporter: an effort police

say has yielded some good information that could soon lead to arrests. but on this day, still none. it is not for lack of trying. police are visible on nearly every corner, on foot, patrolling by car, even s.w.a.t. officers. a total of almost one extra police are teaming in this neighborhood, an effort many neighbors here appreciate. >> we can't have it, i mean 24/7. but they're doing the job they had to do. they did 2 job. and i commend them for that. >> reporter: but it will be 24/7 for the foreseeable future. the target of sunday is' shooting spree one of the members of the blackwell family. they are a well-known drug organization police say, leading them to believe this is a widespread turf war in retaliatory violence that stretches back nearly two years. expected violent retaliation to sunday's shooting spree may be the reason for the extra police presence. it is definitely the reason for

some residents' skepticism. >> it's fine while they're here. nothing is going to happen while they're hee. but once they're gone, you know, somebody else is going to do something else stupid. and it's inevitable. >> reporter: that is the reality here in east baltimore, a reality that the commissioner said in yesterday's news conference that he is trying to change by breaking the drug trade here. the show of force meant to quicken justice despite what he called concerning investigation into blackwell and his alleged dealings. brian kuebler, abc 2 news. >> the u.s. attorney's office had no comment regarding the commissioner's concerns about the federal investigation. city police say they will stay out in that neighborhood in those numbers for as long as it takes. and as baltimore city officers flood the streets, the police department was given a nice chunk of change to get even more officers throughout to keep you safe. >> reporter: kelly, the baltimore police department is looking forward to more than $10 million in federal stimulus money, and that's not all. eight other maryland

departments will get a cut, a total of $23 million now coming to maryland. that money is part of the cops' hiring recovery program. that stands for community- oriented policing services program. about 7,000 state and local police agencies applied for $7 billion in cops funding, but only one billion was handed out. baltimore police commissioner fred bealefeld says the money will be used to hire 50 new officers who will be on foot patrols around the city. >> all of us, whether we happen to be democrats or republicans from pennsylvania, new jersey, delaware, or maryland, all agree that there is no more important obligation that we have a than public safety. the cops program is an important program. it works. it makes all of our neighborhoods safer. >> governor o'malley in philadelphia today for the announcement of that funding. here interest eight other maryland police departments who will be given cops money. as you can see, prince george's county among those locales.

they'll get more than 50 officers. terry owens, abc 2 news. well, tonight police have identified three victims from yesterday morning's gruesome car crash in white marsh. they were killed when the car turned into the path of a street sweeper truck. three people were burned beyond recognition. but police say they have a good idea of who the victims are. however, their names won't be released until police confirm them with their dental record. memorial service is planned for four people killed in a helicopter crash in frederick last week. advanced helicopter employees jeff nordaas, george tutor, niall booth and kim felix were killed when her helicopter went down on i-70. they were heading home from a business meeting in western maryland when the helicopter hit a power line and crashed. the crash is still under investigation. thursday a memorial service will be held at the frederick municipal airport. now an update on that

disturbing story out of san antonio, texas that we told you about yesterday. a woman accused of decapitating her 3-month-old son. family members say that adi sanchez had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. the baby's father says sanchez seemed fine in the days before the baby's death. he says she had been diagnosed with postpartum depression and was going to be admitted to a hospital. flannel members also say she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. sanchez is charged with capital murder and is being held on $1 million bail. anne arundel county police continue their search for two men who robbed a 65-year-old man. the robbery happened just after 3 yesterday afternoon on fourth street and/or charred avenue in brooklyn park. two suspects approached the 65- year-old from behind, grabbed his back pants pockets and ordered him not to move. the suspect stole the man's wallet and ran away. the parisian-year-old crofton boy will remain in a juvenile center until his

murder trial. he is one of two teens charged in the death of 14-year-old christopher jones. jones died last month after he was beaten while riding his bicycle. a judge denied a request to let the suspect live with an aunt until his september trial in juvenile court. 16-year-old jemmel george has been charged as an adult in jones' death. police say the crime is tied to gang activity. a baltimore county councilman has pleaded guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations. kenneth oliver told a judge that he made a mistake, and there was no criminal intent. oliver, a randallstown democrat was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and will also pay a $2,500 fine. the councilman acknowledged writing two checks to himself, one for two thousand, one for 300 from his campaign committee's checkbook. it has been a rough 48 hours for bge wokers. sunday storms rolled through over our area. workers have been moving really quick to get your neighbors out

of the dark. but as linda so tells us, there were a few roadblocks that they hid. >> reporter: according to bge, baltimore county was one of the worst hit areas from sunday's storms. this was the mess left behind in parts of owings mills and reisterstown yesterday. trees were uprooted. homes were damaged. outdoor furniture was thrown around, and power was knocked out. crews were able to get the lights turned back on quickly for many in the county, but some in timonium weren't so lucky. their power lines were above a field of bamboo, which crews had to get to before they could fix anything. and it wasn't easy. >> we had a lot of tree debris come down on to our wires. and in this case it was bamboo, which as you may know grows very quickly. it can be very, very dense. so the crews had to first cut a path through the area of the thick bamboo just to get to the section where the wire was. then they had to clear that sec of the bamboo so that they can access the wire, repair it and put it back in service.

and that did take a lot of time. >> crews say power should have been restored to everyone in that neighborhood by this afternoon. as more summer storms come our way, remember to always avoid downed power lines and report them right away by calling 1- 877-778-2222. linda so, abc 2 news. >> and you know, at one point, more than 47,000 begg customers were left powerless by the storm. but round the clock repairs have power back to most of them. most of the remaining outrages are in baltimore and harford county. i thought we ewould go precipitation-free today. but that's not the case. earlier this afternoon, we had one little shower that went over the essex area and on up towards white marsh. we've now got one little shower that is right up 95 from d.c. there it is right there. not providing any thunderstorm activity at this point in time. just very heavy downpours. but as we go lew the next couple days, the heat and humidity continue to build the afternoon showers and thunderstorms.

your forecast for the next couple hours, partly cloudy. but a few showers are going to be around. not everybody is going to see them, but they are going to be there. temperatures will hold in the 80s for the next couple of hours. what about the next couple days? how about that humidity? how about the thunderstorm activity? we'll cover it all, coming up in just a couple minutes. >> all right, thanks, norm. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor is closer to becoming the first hispanic justice. the senate judiciary committee voted today to send sotomayor's nomination to the full senate. just one republican, south carolina's lindsey graham joined democrats in voting for the nominee. she is expect to be confirmed next week. it is time for summer camp nfl-style. ravens players reported for training camp yesterday, but they hit the field this morning. our rob carlin was with them in westminster and is here to show us what happened. rob? >> reporter: the thing about the first day is not much happens. most of the veterans were held out of practice. the rest don't even arrive until tomorrow. so there weren't many able bodies even on the field.

willis mcgahee is among the group on the physically unable to perform list. john harbaugh says mcgahey should be ready by tomorrow or thursday the latest. kelly greg is back on the field. he looked great after missing all of last season with a knee injury. second round pick paul krueger showed a big motor today. they're still waiting on first round pick michael. joe flacco looks like much more of a leader this year and ready the take control of the ravens. >> it's my job to let everybody know what we have here and how special we're going to be. as long as everybody understands that and i make everybody understand how special, i believe we're going to go a long way. i think we showed that last year. and i think we can get back there, and we need to get a little further. >> joe doesn't need a security blanket. joe is a big show. going to be the best quarterback that he can be in his second year. whoever is catching for joe is going to be real happy he is

throwing to him. >> at 6, we'll hear from willis mcgahey. and he makes his point who he thinks should be the ravens starting runningback. >> thanks a lot, rob. you tried everything, diets, exercise, medications. but you're still lugging the extra pounds. still ahead, why the price and safety of weight loss surgery depends on which state you'll be operated in. and 49 passengers and one other person died when a plane crashed into a new york neighborhood. new evidence tonight that shows one of the pilots was too sick to fly. plus, the scary truth behind texting and driving. just how risky is it?

2 your health tonight, with more than 60 million americans weighing in as obese, weight loss surgeries are actually becoming more and more common. a new report looks at hospitals nationwide and finds that the safety and cost of the

procedure actually depends on largely where it is performed. obesity present once of the most challenging public health issues for americans today. when diet and exercise fail, increasingly, those who struggle with obesity are turning to bariatric, or weight loss surgery. as with any surgery, these procedures can be both expensive and potentially dangerous. researchers who looked at the cost and safety of weight control surgery across the nation found that costs varied widely from state to state. for example, the average bariatric surgery in california costs over $35,000 more than the same procedure here in maryland. the most important factor in predicting safety and affordability was how many surgeries the facility performed in a year. at hospitals with a high volume of bariatric surgery, patients had fewer complications, spent less time in the hospital and paid less for their procedures. and patients who went through a

low volume hospital were 67% more likely to have medical complications after the operation. now the forecast certified baltimore's most accurate. here is chief meteorologist norm lewis and maryland's most powerful doppler radar. >> i was inside all day. >> definitely on the thick side out there. it was like peanut butter. >> eww. >> yeah, it feels like it's 5, 6, 7 degrees warmer than what the temperature actually is because of the high humidity. and on top of that, we've got some showers coming, which is going to really add some steam to it. doesn't that feel good? >> yeah, let's go ahead and take a look outside right now. your shot from harbor cam over looking the downtown area. a few folks are out in the paddle boats. shea they should be in shortly as showers are about to arrive in downtown area. 85 degrees at bwi thurgood marshall. humidity 61%. wind currently from the southeast at 5. the pressure falling, 29.88. here your tides tomorrow at

fort mchenry. low 8:37, low at 1256th. sun comes up at 4 minutes past 6:00, and we'll set at 8:21. our temperatures around the region right now in york 84. 89 in hagerstown. 84 in winchester, virginia. even down in ocean city on the boards 85 degrees. 84 in dover. 90 in easton. and 84 in the pax river area. throughout the day, a few clouds early this morning gave way to some sunshine, which because of the heat and humidity gave rise to a few light showers. another little shower heading right up the 95 corridor. but on the larger picture, what we can see is we take a look at the atlantic. nothing going on again with the tropics. even though it's really heating up out there, nothing going on at all. but something is going to be going on for us. now this is our wider eastern satellite picture. watch this area down here. as this system, which affected us during the day today, moves out of the way, giving a place for this one to go because two weather systems not occupy the

same place at the same time. so this one is moving out. and we'll have pretty decent sky tonight. but then this system right here with all the moisture right there, that makes its way in our direct. once it gets here it's going to get stuck right here in the midatlantic which means hot, humid. afternoon shower and thunderstorm activity popping up through tomorrow and through the end of the week there is the shower right now. we're starting to get lightning strikes out of it. as it crosses over -- that's the parkway that goes down to bwi right there. but it's already starting to make inroads on the inner harbor. it's coming right up the 95 corridor, which is going to add to the steamy conditions i cross the region. in germantown 85 degrees. walkersville 88. churchville 87. 88 in rock hall. and tillman island right now at 87 degrees. they've been getting more sunshine than we've had. our forecast for tonight. a few little light spritzy showers. you just saw it on radar. during the day tomorrow, more heat and humidity gave rise to

afternoon and thunderstorm activity. but again, that feed of moisture coming in from the southwest continues to give us the chance for showers and thunderstorms. and that's going to continue all the way through the end of the week and into the weekend. here is your forecast. for the overnight period, partly cloudy, humid, fog. we can even see some thunderstorm activity. what we're calling for is mostly cloudy, showers and storms with a high of 85 degrees. and the extended outlook there it is right there. 85 tomorrow. 89 humid degrees on thursday. 89 on friday. 86 on wednesday. sunday, monday, again, a chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms. a little bit of relief from the heat. partly cloudy and 84 on tuesday. i'll be back with more on the weather. >> thanks, norm. was the copilot of a commuter plane that crashed outside buffalo last february too sick to be flying? that's what authorities want to know. in the newly released cockpit recording, the copilot said she felt sick and considered skipping the flight. the crash killed all 49 people on board, and one person on the ground.

abc 2 news joce sterman has more. >> reporter: as colligan air's flight 3407 prepared to take off from newark, rebecca shaw sniffled in the cockpit telling the captain "i'm ready to be in the hotel room." shaw had flown through the night as a passenger from seattle to newark, new jersey for the flight to buffalo. she said if i felt like this when i was at home, there is no way i would have come all the way out here, but now that i'm here. >> captain responded "you might as well." an hour and a half later the flight crashed five miles from the buffalo airport there is no evidence that shaw's illness caused the crash. and air safety expert three-way race is no way to know whether shaw was unfit to fly. >> reporter: air colligan puts the blame on shaw saying fatigued or sick is not an option. every pilot has an obligation as a professional to show up

for work fit for duty. robin who lost her husband on the flight faults the airlines. >> it was a complete recipe for disaster from the moment that aircraft took away from the jetway. >> reporter: captain marvin renslow was at the controls, not the pilot. the ntsb just released an interview summary with executives from gulfstream training academy where renslow had studied piloting. the director told the ntsb renslow's performance at the academy was bob average. joce sterman, abc 2 news. >> it was only later in his career that renslow repeatedly failed test rides, some of which he failed to disclose to colgan air. how much does texting while driving affect your ability to drive safely? researchers from virginia tech put cameras in long haul semi- trucks and found texting boosts the risk of crashes by 23%. the researchers recommend a total ban on texting while

operating a vehicle. currently 14 states ban texting while driving, including maryland. the ban makes it illegal for you to write and send a message. it goes into effect october 1. we'll be right back after a short break. and this is your movies on demand screen. oh cool. (cable guy) so what are you going to do next? who are you? who is he? it's okay. well, i'm going to... activate over 100 hd channels? program his remote? it's like you've been watching him all day. have you been watching me all day? no. (announcer) want the ultimate upgrade for your home? switch to verizon fios. unlike cable, fios brings 100% fiber optics straight to your home for razor-sharp tv, america's top rated internet, and crystal-clear phone service, just... it's like 3 services for the price of 2. just sign up today. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v and, at no extra cost, we'll set up your wireless home network, remote and walk you through the features. with fios, finding movies is a snap. check traffic, weather and more on screen.

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a look ahead to abc 2 news at 5:30. hello, everybody. i'm terry owens. a hate crime in anne arundel county has police working overtime. roosevelt leftwich is working this story. are lawmakers nearing a compromise on health care reform? we've got the latest from washington. and a frightening story involving an apparent case of product tampering. the dangerous drugs found in a candy popular with children. norm is all over the forecast, and it's all ahead on anson 2 news at 5:30. see you then. to iowa where a race car driver is recovering after crashing his car. check this out. two cars collided on the track at the knoxville raceway.

one car burst into flames. firefighters pulled the driver from the burning car. the firefighters had minor burns. the driver also had some burns to his face and legs, but we're told he is out of the hospital tonight and doing well. what goes up must come down. the boat goes airborne during a race in washington over the weekend, and starts flipping. amazingly, the driver of the boat wasn't seriously hurt. and the traffic jam at a court in phoenix. that's because 3600 people were ordered to show up at the same time. but only about 300 of the people summoned to court actually showed up. about 100 people lined up early outside of the justice center. all of them have been summoned to appear in court for speeding tickets that they received. some who went to out said they would fight the tickets at trial. abc 2 news at 5:30 is moments away. many surfaces that seem smooth and strong...

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