graffiti to make her move. those stories and more headed your way. >> i think -- nine days left, ladies and gentlemen, for her to -- you are holding up better than i ever thought. >> you're sweet, thanks. >> you all right? >> yeah. >> you want some weather? >> sure. look me in the eyes, you're there. let's go get some weather. justin berk. >> 6:30. i think megan said this morning she comes to work for a distraction. >> right. >> just don't talk to rob. you guys can go ahead and think i'm calm and cool. >> he's the mess. we're very nervous for you. this morning, outside, maryland's most powerful doppler radar, we've been watching some rain push through the west side. we had showers earlier on in through anne arundel county and passing off the new jersey shoreline. we're watching this little band of rain, doesn't look like there's much lightning with it but we're watching this band of moderate rain passing to the north side of reisterstown and through westminster and looks like we have this heading over towards the hereford zone.

looks like parkton and pretty boy getting a little wet this morning along the 83 stretch. overall showers this morning and chance of showers and thunderstorms through midday and this afternoon. our high temperature this afternoon will be 82. a little lower than our two-degree guarantee because of all the rain and the clouds around but it's going to feel warmer than that. 6:31. let's see what's happening on the roads with kim. >> thank you. 95 southbound has been reopened between o'donnell street and the keith avenue exits. however, only two lanes get by, the two left lanes, traffic slow from the 895 split and a lot of people bailed out on 895 southbound. that is slow from about moravia. give yourself a lot of time this morning. we still also have a crash, bel air road that is going to be u.s. route 1 and fullerton avenue in the overlea area. in perry hall, left lane is blocked at necker avenue and bel air road because of emergency work. you can see here lots of volume and slowing. just not a good way to start

off the commute. so like i said give yourself lots of extra time. back to you. 6:31. if you've ever had a sandwich or been in baltimore longer than two minutes you know the name of john paterakis. >> his name all over the news this morning. indicted in the city hall corruption investigation. sherrie johnson live with the latest. what is going on? >> reporter: good morning. new charges have been filed against city councilwoman helen holton, along with a powerful developer who is responsible for developing harbor east where we're standing this morning. the new charges involve developer john paterakis. he's charged with one count of conspiracy to violate campaign finance law. the charges stem from a poll conducted for city councilwoman helen holton. according to the indictment paterakis paid for part of that poll. holton is facing two counts of conspiracy to violate campaign finance loss. she could face a year in prison and a fine on top of each of

the counts. ronald lipscomb already pleaded guilty and in doing so court documents showed he implicated john paterakis. in a statement released holton's attorney says he's confident the new charges against her will be dropped as well. a spokesperson for mayor sheila dixon said that she's not going to comment on these new charges. we want to hear what you think about the new indictments. log on to abc2news.com and tell us your thoughts. reporting live in harbor east, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. a brooklyn park beauty salon owner says she's not shutting down her business after someone spray painted racist graffiti in the walls of her shop. it happened at the heavenly hands beauty shop on ritchie highway and brooklyn park. police say saturday morning the vandals broke in, stole a computer and other equipment. then painted racist graffiti on the walls and sprayed a flammable liquid all over the place. >> i was a little standoffish.

i'm not going to stay here, this is not for me, they want me gone, they won. my kids were like, well,ma, where you going? my sister around the corner, don't leave, don't leave. have i to travel. i don't have a car, you know? i'm like, i'm not going to just leave them hanging high and dry. i'm going to stick it out. i've been here two years, i'll going to be here. >> she'll stay put. if you have any information about the break-in there's a reward available to you on metro crime stoppers at 1-866-7-lockup. 11 words that cost a woman $50,000. a chicago woman is being sued for a post she made on twitter. this is her quoting now "who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? horizon realty thinks it's ok." her former landlord is suing her for the tweet, for defamation. >> sometimes a lot of people are -- they are not aware of

how much power it has when you do put something up. once it's out you can't take it back. >> so we went to the experts and a law professor says he doesn't think the defamation case will hold up in court. he says he doesn't think the company will be able to prove its reputation was hurt by a tweet to 20 people. a different social networking site leads police to a lead-footed teen who thought he got away. the 19-year-old was clocked speeding but when police tried to pull him over he took off. this happened in lincoln county, wisconsin. the next day police saw that he had posted about the incident on his facebook page. they were obviously able to track him down and he was cited for speeding, reckless driving and fleeing an officer. 6:35. some students in baltimore county are reaching out to american troops overseas. the harbor school in owings mills packed more than 30 box was supplies that have been collected from students, parents, staff members and were stuffed with things like peanut

butter, q tips, even sports equipment. the collection drive was put together by don emerson, a faculty member whose son shane serves in southern afghanistan. >> when you're out in the field and you just don't have the comforts of home the little things that we kind of take for granted are things that they can use. on a daily basis. and it's important to do it. >> we don't believe in learning about community service. we believe in doing community service. >> faculty members plan to send the packages this week to southern afghanistan. no spell check for road signs. >> and that's unfortunate for the folks who came up with this road sign disaster. not just one misspelling. almost the entire sign. we're going to meet the granny who turned her wheelchair into her very own wheels of justice. 6:36. we're watching the regional radar. we've got an active one this morning. it will stay that way throughout the day. keep the umbrella handy. forecast coming up next.

right now let's see what's happening on the roads with kim. >> two lanes reopened on 95 southbound between o'donnell street and keith avenue. however, you're still dealing with significant delays if you head in that direction. right now let's check the buses and trains with mark jones. >> good morning. you'll find the 20 and 120 commuter bus both running 15 to 20 minutes late. number 17 bus working with a diversion at nursery and winterson. light rail and metro subway doing fine. marc train moving about on time on the camden, penn, brunswick lines. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones

if your job is to make up road signs you would think you would be a little more careful. a road sign in wisconsin has every single word misspelled except for the word "exit." even the names of the towns on the signs are spelled wrong. the department of

transportation says it makes one or two mistakes a year on road signs but this is pretty unusual. the department had even joked about requiring breath-alyzers for employees before they are allowed to paint any of their road signs. >> oh, he thought i was going to be this frail little thing that couldn't do anything. exactly what he thought. >> this crime-fighting granny wasn't going to give up without a fight. lula roads was outside her assisted care center in longview, washington when someone tried to steal her purse. it was attached to her wheelchair. that's when she decided to fight back. >> he had it like this. and he couldn't break it loose. so i started ramming him with the chair. told him a few choice words, and after i hit him about three times he didn't enjoy it so he went running off like a little girl. >> let me tell you something. we're going to rerack that

little sound there. ran off like a little girl. we're going to be right back with more in a moment. stay with us. >> don't mess with her. >> wow. >> wow is right. >> we got to bring that back.

i'm jamie costello. >> i'm megan pringle. wednesday, july 29th. before we get to the weather and look at the weekend let's look at the top stories we're working on for you. when it comes to the names in baltimore business it doesn't get much bigger than john paterakis. this morning prosecutors say he's got some explaining to do. who is going to get the swine flu vaccine? health officials will determine today who is most at risk to catch the virus. new information this morning about tanning beds. why one health agency says they are way more dangerous than originally thought. these stories and more headed your way this morning. here's justin at 6:45. good morning. >> good morning. that is 6:45 on the clock. a rule of thumb, when we have the chance of storms and the wind is from the southeast that actually increases our chance.

the light wind this morning but pumps in more moisture and really adds to destabilize the atmosphere. perry hall middle school, 75, feels like a muggy 78. while the showers are passing towards the north and west side we have those passing through northern baltimore county, hereford zone, that whole 83 trip up through york county getting wet. this is a shower shah extended back through -- shower that extended back through howard county. wider view highlighting the fact that we have rain, storms passing through with thunder and lightning in new jersey and back in pennsylvania now. essentially the chance of heavy rain-producing storms will continue through midday. our 12:30 plot around the bay and city, looking pretty wet, lunchtime on in through this afternoon, the comiet and on in through this evening. that adds the chance of fog overnight and more showers tomorrow. in the heat and humidity. 82 degrees today with strong storms and heavy rain producers at any point in time. 71, muggy with more showers tonight. let's see what's happening on the roads with kim.

>> let's update you on the earlier incident that had 95 southbound shut down between the o'donnell street and keith avenue exits. two lanes reopened. left two lanes get by but slowly. a lot of bailout traffic on 895 southbound, causing that to slow before moravia road. give yourself lots of extra time if you're headed in that direction. also, bel air road between fullerton and henry avenues, going to be closed this morning because of that crash that has resulted in a vehicle fire. give yourself time there as well. southbound bel air road between slater avenue and necker road closed, two left lanes blocked because of that watermain break repair this morning. looking here at 95 southbound, you see that traffic is easing some but there's still significant delays and a lot of volume southbound towards the whitemarsh boulevard area. 6:47. the big one. >> one of the biggest names in business in baltimore has been indicted. sherrie johnson has more. >> reporter: a prominent businessman is facing criminal charges, the developer

responsible for harbor east where we're standing. he's been indicted along with city councilwoman helen holton. the indictments come two months after similar charges against holton were dismissed. john paterakis owns h & s bakeries and again is a developer of harbor east. now a grand jury indicted john paterakis. the state prosecutor says he gave city councilwoman helen holton $6,000 to help pay for a political poll. earlier this year she was indicted on charges of bribery and perjury. a judge dismissed the charges in may. this time the charges that she violated campaign finance laws. as for john paterakis a close friend told abc2 news that he can't believe the state prosecutor chose to target him. >> it's a sad day. but i'm quite confident that mr. paterakis will be exonerated of any wrongdoing. >> reporter: helen holton's attorney released a statement saying in part "miss holton is innocent. there was no conspiracy and

she's confident this charge will meet the same fate as the earlier one." a spokesman for mayor sheila dixon says that she will not comment on the new indictments. reporting live in harbor east, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. a baltimore county councilman pleads guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations. kenneth oliver told a judge yesterday he made a mistake and there was no criminal intent. oliver was sentenced to 50 hours of community service. the randallstown democrat will also pay $2,500 in fines. oliver acknowledged writing two checks to himself, one for $2,000, the other for $300 from his campaign committee's checkbook. a visible increase in the police presence in an east baimore neighborhood rocked by bunfire this past weekend. dozens of police officers on the streets in the same area where a series of shootings left 15 people wounded. residents say it's nice for now but worry violence will return as soon as police leave. >> nothing's going to happen while they are here.

once they are gone, you know? somebody else is going to do something stupid. it's inevitable. >> the police department has pledged to keep extra officers in the east baltimore neighborhood until they can make arrests in this weekend's rash of shootings. even in this city where gun violence has become all too common, this past weekend was almost unbelievable. 21 shootings in just six hours. so the timing of this news could not be much better. thanks to the federal stimulus money baltimore city will be hiring 50 new officers in the coming months. we're told new recruits will be assigned to foot patrol in the eastern district. >> the police could get a relationship with the neighborhood. >> if they go to the right places you think that's better and not focus on where there's no crime but where there is crime. >> the officers will be hired thanks to $10 million in federal funding. after the two-year grant

expires the city has to come up with the money. an alarming discovery in the sand at ocean city. police say that a person found a pipe bomb yesterday on the beach at 40th street. the area was evacuated while technicians used robotic equipment to remove the device. here's the latest on the investigation into the death of michael jackson. federal agents spent nine hours searching the home of jackson's personal doctor conrad murray. the agents left with plastic storage containers, large envelopes and several boxes and tonight at 10:00 here on primetime crime complete coverage of the investigation and a look at how michael jackson's death is shining a light on celebrity drug use and the doctors who enable them. catch "primetime crime," 10:00 on abc2 news. no relief still mixed with horror for two teenaged girls. best friends and middle school cheerleaders in texas, disappeared this weekend.

police assumed they ran away but the mothers feared something worse. after hiring a private investigator one of the moms discovered her daughter had been on line, even though she didn't have a computer. >> this is her profile page. it's very shocking. she had to have been doing it at other peoples' houses. >> a man says he's 23 years old talking to a 14-year-old asking personal questions. it's alarming to me because it appears he's probably a predator. >> the cybertrail feeble led the girls' families to the shocking truth. the teens had taken a grandmother's car, driven to north carolina to meet a man who they likely met on-line. a good samaritan spotted them, called police and this morning the girls are safe. there's new hope in the treatment of spinal cord injuries this morning to tell you about. researchers at the university of rochester medical center injected special blue die into rats' spinal cord injuries and they were able to walk again. get this, the potential medical

miracle similar to the coloring agent found in m & ms and gator raid. >> what we need to give to patients would be every bit as harmless in terms of side effects to what we ingest everyday. >> there's one obvious temporary side effect. see the rat in the experiment? you can see his feet, ears, nose, even his eyes tinted blue. despite optimism, researchers say it will take several years before the drug could be used in people. it's flo secret that tanning is bad for you but the new researcher reveals how bad. experts with the world health organization now label tanning beds, as a top cancer risk! even as deadly as arsenic and masstured gas. the -- mustard gas. the report includes that skin cancer increases 75% for those that use tanning beds before age 30. as a result researchers upgraded uv staning from a

likely -- tanning from a likely cause to a definite cause of cancer. new recommendations expected to come out today regarding h1n1. pregnant workers and others at the front of the line. a baltimore boy being called a hero for helping a woman who fell into the water. >> it happened around 4:30 saturday afternoon at the long beach marina. 12-year-old brady was hanging out with his friends on a boat, he saw a woman. he says she hit her head on their pier and fell into the water. and brady now describes what he saw. >> she fell in, in there. her feet went up first, then her head came up. her eyes rolled back in her head. that's when i asked somebody to pull her out. >> while the woman's boyfriend

was trying to pull her out of the water brady ran to get an emt and crews say if brady had not and so quickly -- acted so quickly her injuries could have been much worse. brady says he plans to join the junior firefighters. good place for him to be. 6:5 5. be safe and careful on the water today. in fact anywhere outdoors. we've got showers around and of course there's always the take -- danger of lightning and listen for the first warning sign of thunder. we have rain basically north side of the beltway. in fact north of the beltway through the lutherville/timonium area on 83 all the way through york county, some rain. more rain could pop up this afternoon. i'm going to stay below our two-degree guarantee because of the clouds and rain already. 82 today but some could be heavy rain producers. near 90, about 89 both tomorrow and friday with rain lasting on and off into the weekend.

the two lanes on southbound 95 have been reopened. only the left lanes get by between the o'donnell streets and keith avenue exits because of the earlier crash. traffic slows significantly on southbound 895 because a lot of people are bailing out there. that slows from moravia road. in the nottingham area, a couple of incidents, expect bel air road to be closed between henry and fullerton avenues because of the crash that resulted in a vehicle fire. southbound bel air road between slater avenue and necker road, two left lanes closed because of the watermain break. back to you. coming up on "good morning maryland" at 9:00 -- do you know someone who has been laid off? spirits can be down. we'll tell you how to help them get their spirits up, hopefully land a job. and the grand reopening of a thrift store. we'll tell you how it works and who it benefits. >> that and more at 9:00. in the meantime, thank you for joining us. have a great day. ( music, toasters popping )

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