it has been a dangerous year on maryland waterways. good evening. i'm kelly swoope. ten people have died in boating accidents that might have been avoidable. with three months left to go for boating season, officials feel this could be a record year for tragedy. >> reporter: if you own a boat, you know how much work is involved here. you have to clean it, repair it and work on it all the time just to enjoy all the fun that you're going to have later. but for a lot of boat owners, they'll tell you that there are some folks out there on the water, the fun part is all that they think about. >> there are too many people out there that are not following the rules.

>> reporter: suzanne bachman and her husband have been boaters for more than 20 years. she says she's seen people operating boats so badly that it almost wants to make you want to get out of the water. >> they're not wearing their life vest, hanging off the side of the boat. it's very dangerous. >> reporter: out of ten boating fatalities this summer, eight of the swrik tips were not -- victims were not wearing life vests. the maryland department of natural resources hopes to check that with stepped up enforcement and getting people to think back on boating safety rules. >> we need to educate. make people aware of the regulations. we're going to be out there in force and take the appropriate enforcement action if necessary. >> reporter: people don't seem to take this seriously. they think a boat is something that's fun, toaz do but it -- easy to do but it really isn't.

[ inaudible ] jack murphy was set to go out but something wasn't quite right with the boat so he stayed in. with his family's well-being in his hands, staying put was the right decision. for more information about boating safety, you can go to our website abc2news.com and click on links. well, if you're id riding a reason -- you're riding a rental moped or scooter, you'll have to wear a helmet. [ indiscernible ] resort officials say there have been more scooter crash thz year than in years -- crash this year than in years past. family and friends will remember the four people killed on a hill -- in a helicopter crash that happened last month. three were employees of a

frederick-based flight school. tonight's memorial service will be held at the flight school. federal investigators still haven't determined the exact cause of the crash. now some video you'll only see here on abc2. an apparent hit and run in downtown baltimore. crews at the scene say a driver was speeding away from police down saratoga street when he hit a person near utah street. police did arrest the driver who still has not been identified. the victim's name also has not been released and is expected to recover. even though there's a lot of humidity out there, it has not given us any rainfall across the baltimore area. we continue scanning the skies. there's a chance we could see a late night shower but if we got anything, it's going to be few and far between. for the next couple of hours look for partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies. a few showers later this evening are possible but for the next few hours are temperatures will an right around 84 degrees. now for a look at tonight's

top story. the judge has set a new trial date for the baltimore mayor. the judge postponed the trial on theft and perjury charges now until november 9. her trial had been scheduled for september 8 but it was delayed after prosecutors obtain add new indictment. she's been accused of stealing gift cards from the needy and failing to report gifts on ethics forms. police in pennsylvania say the man who opened fireuring an exercise class at a suburban pittsburgh health club killing three women did not have a relationship with any of the victims. investigators say george sodini had four guns with him. he actually used three of them in the attack. he was a member of the l.a. fitness club. he killed three women and wounded nine others before killing himself. it was an emotional homecoming for two american journalists held for more than five months in north korea. they were convicted of entering the country illegally. they were kept apart most of the time and fed rice with

rocks in it. the journalists were pardoned after former president bill clinton's surprise visit to north korea to win their release. president barack obama toured an r.v. factory in indiana today to push his economic stimulus plan. he unveiled grants for $2.5 billion to -- [ inaudible ] obama also hopes to create thousands of jobs -- [ inus [ inaudible ] >> i promise you we will pass reform by the end of this year because the american people need it. the american people need some relief. >> meanwhile the president is also promising health care reform before the end of the year. the white house says a website is being developed they will call misinformation about health care. it can be exposed and corrected. it's no surprise raising a child can be expensive. but you have ever thought about just how much money it takes? a new government reports

reveals the typical middle- income family will spend about $221,000 to raise a child through age 17. housing is the largest single expense followed by food and child care and then education costs. russia says it's no big deal and now the u.s. officials seem to agree. two russian attack submarines have been spotted in international waters off the east coast of the united states. a top russian general says the sub is on regular patrol and u.s. subs have taken part in similar missions near russia. this surely caused a concern. check out this. this is video of a seven-year- old chewing gum and driving his parents' honda crv in canada. his dad was in the driver's seat cheering him on. mom was in the back seat with the child in her lap. they didn't seem to be buckled in. apparently the kid was going faster than 40 miles an hour. intlz speaking of --

speaking of frightening ordeals smrks video you have to -- some video you have to check out. three window washers get the scare of their life. find out what happened. >> oh, god. >> some tourists get a picture of something they'll never forget. a horse runs right over a car. look at that. feels like 87. temperature 81. norm is in the storm center. he'll be back with the forecast. explain.

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pay up to light up. smokers who work for orange county, floarld will have to -- florida will have to shell out 25 buck as paycheck for the privilege of lighting up. commissioners just voted in favor of that surcharge on health care premiums for smokers. they hope the money will help offset medical insurance increases. >> it is something that we do think number one is going to help mitigate the cost of tobacco use and it's really something that we hope that employees will understand and really take this opportunity to change that behavior. >> this month and next month september employees will have to sign an affidavit that will remain -- that they will remain smoke free. otherwise the payments will start coming out of their

paychecks in january. do you get tired of the telemarket us calling your house? who doesn't. you may get annoyed but you might want to be careful what you say to them. we'll tell you what one man said that led to his arrest. all of a sudden the water just appeared like i was in a river. i've never seen anything like that in my life ever, ever. >> fender deep in a flash and stranded cars weren't the only problem as record-setting rain triggered some massive flooding. we'll take you there.

record rainfall in kentucky has forced thousands from their homes and cut off electricity to thousands more. torts are struggling to keep -- authorities are struggling to keep the resulting flood waters from becoming deadly. louisville is hit the hardest.

>> reporter: the water rose spoke fast in parts of louisville tuesday, roadways became rivers in minutes. >> i was just driving up the drive and all of a sudden the water just party like i was in a river. i've never seen anything like that my life ever ever. >> reporter: torrential downpours dumped up to six inches of rain in a single hour. flash flooding followed forcing people to abandon their cars at home to seek shelter and forces police to take swift action on those who disobeyed orders. >> we will arrest people who in fact go around those barricades, do not respond to the personnel who are staying there saying don't foe forward. >> reporter: the track at churchill downs a muddy mess. >> our track superintendent who has been here for 42 years, he says he has never seen anything quite like this. >> reporter: in some parts of the city, flood waters were so high, national guard members went from house to house by boat evacuating residents. the governor's office estimated

at least 20,000 households lost power and 700 power lines were down. parts of indiana were also hit hard. residents were quick to pitch in helping stranded motorists. >> i'm here trying to get these cars out. i noticed it was flooded on the other side of pennsylvania. saw some people in the street and thought i could come and get them out. >> reporter: strong winds destroyed several structures in jackson county and in indianapolis, hard rain fell while lightning strikes lit up the sky. >> thankfully those storms have posed through the region and nothing like that around here. a lot of humidity but it wasn't that hot today. come the first part of next week, we're going to really crank up the heat. but it's all relative compared to what we normally get. normally we see hundreds. >> this is august.

>> we're not going to see that. >> we won't complain then. >> good for you. your shot from harbor cam overlooking the downtown area. some folks motoring into the outer portion of the harbor. our temperature right now 82 degrees out at bwi thurgood marshal. 06% humidity. wind from -- 60% humidity. wind from the northeast at 9. low tide 2:41 in the afternoon. our winds tomorrow from the north at 6 to 12 miles an hour. sun comes up at of:10 -- at 6:10. temperatures around the region basically where they were. dover, delaware at 85. 85 in atlantic city. philadelphia at 86. 82 in downtown baltimore. we take a look at the tropical atlantic. there's florida. there are the carolinas. there's the coast of africa. way over there, we've been watching the troop inning -- tropics the past couple of weeks to see if anything is brewing. a little wave just coming off of africa. we'll keep an eye on that but

nothing of significance. just an area of shower and thunderstorm activity approaching the leeward islands but again no real tropical development but we'll keep our eye on it for you. throughout the evening those heavy thunderstorms that came through kentucky passed all the way down to around the memphis area early this morning at 5:50. around the area a few light clouds and breaks in the overcast. a few showers are starting to generate down to the south of us. it all moves on towards the east. we're going to -- there's baltimore right there. we'll be right on the northern edge of the system as it passes over portions of virginia and down through the carolinas. we could see a brief shower later on tonight but looks like any shower activity if we got anything will be far and few between. right now nothing showing up on maryland's most powerful radar. nice scan. just didn't have a lot of heat today to build things up. no real triggers in the atmosphere but again we'll keep an eye on it. 81 at carney. emmitsburg 79. 79 in olney. over on the eastern shore rock

hall at 84. 84 in easton and cambridge also at 84 degrees. as far as the forecast for tonight, the showers that are down to the southwest of us will basically maintain that track southwest of our region. there's a chance we could see a brief shower here. but doesn't look like very likely. tomorrow afternoon same kind of situation. the majority of the rainfall will be to the south of the area. then a cool front moves in and then the heat comes in. take a look at it. for tonight mostly cloudy, showers late tonight are a possibility. tomorrow during the day mostly cloudy. a few showers mostly south of us. high tomorrow only reaching 81 degrees. that's the cooler air. the cooler air will continue into friday with a high of 85 degrees. saturday we start to build the humidity in. up to 90 on sunday. 90 on monday. 90 on tuesday. a little bit of a mini heat wave right there but relatively speaking for this time of the year, 90 is really not too bad. then on wednesday partly cloudy and 86 degrees.

back at 6:00 with more on the weather. >> thanks, norm. all the arrows are in the wrong direction today. the dow jones down 39. s&p down almost 3 and the nasdaq down 18 and a quarter. if you ever received an unwanted telemarketing call during dinner time, you really probably had the urge to say some pretty nasty things to the caller but think twice because what you say could get new trouble with the law. consumer reporter john matarese tells us what not to say to a telemarketer so you don't waste your money. >> reporter: many of us have received those annoying car warranty telemarketing calls and you may have considered telling them where to stick their warranty. but the arrest of one man for threatening a tell marketer now raises the question what to say and what not to say if they call. you may not remember the name charles but you'll probably remember what he was arrested for. police arrested a northwest ohio man for threatening a car warranty telemarketer.

the people who dial our cell phones with annoying pitches like these. >> you are still eligible to activate warranty coverage. this is the final call before we close the file good i get this call i would say three to four times a week. other people i know sometimes they get multiple calls in the same day. >> reporter: a few months back i reported on tim henderson's frustration with warranty calls, especially since he drives a 40-year-old damage dart. -- dodge dart. but luckily tim didn't threaten the caller. so what is okay to say? the ftc recommends saying put me on your no call list or i am reporting you to the do not call violation line or i am reporting you to the state attorney general. you can even say get lost, creep. but not okay? threatening to harm a telemarketer or death threats against anyone as charles learned the hard way. perhaps the most interesting part of the story is the

response from the better business bureau which by the way gives that warranty firm an f rating. the bbb says while it does not approve of the threats, it understands them. just be careful what you say so you don't waste your money. i'm john matarese. on abc2news.com you can get our financial survival guide. today find out the seven most common money mistakes and be sure to check out a special calculator that helps you figure out how long it will take you to pay off credit card balances. we offer new tips on this page every day. before you do any yard work, you'll want to know break and decker is recalling -- black and decker is recalling these trimmers. they can cause serious cuts and burns. about 58 people have reported being hurt from the pool. only models ever the trimmer with the black spool caps are being recalled. those with the orange spool

caps are not affected. if you want to get all this information, just go to our website at abc2news.com and click for details about a repair kit. a florida woman's cash for clunkers deal nearly hit the brakes. bobby french says she traded in her 2002 chrysler voyager for a new van, but three days later a salesman called with a disturbing message. >> bring our car back. you've got 48 hours to return my car. and i said what are you talking about? then he proceeded to say you don't qualify. >> turns out miss french's old van did qualify for the program but the new van didn't. it gets the same gas mileage 18 miles per gallon as the old van. the dealership is going to allow mrs. french to keep the van. say it ain't so. fox is confirming that paula abdul is leaving american idol. the news comes as auditions for season nine begins -for-in two

days. -- begins in two days. producers say abdul had been an important part of idol and are saddened that she decided not to return. meanwhile the american idol 2009 summer tour comes to baltimore tonight. you'll get a chance to hear the top ten finalists including adam lambert. they perform at 7:00 tonight. here's a look at what's coming up tonight on abc2 news at 6:00. a baltimore city police officer has changed her story after a deadly shooting possibly setting a man free. the officer now admits she blamed the wrong person. we'll have her story at 6:00. along with proof that you're in good hands when you go down to the ocean or any other maryland park as maryland lifeguards put their talents to the test. those stories and more coming up next at 6:00. seem smooth and strong to irreversible damage. no different. irreversible loss of enamel. enamel shield enamel loss by forming against acid attack. toothpastes dentists check most. save your enamel. be gone for good. enamel shield. with the rinse.

if you're not near the tv, you've got to come and check this out. some tourists in northern israel captured more than just beautiful pictures. she shot video of horses galloping down the highway. they weaved out of the cars' path but the third took it head- on smashing through the windshield with its hooves before leaping off and going on its way. the driver was taken to an emergency room with some minor cuts. it's believed that the horse was okay as well. a scary deal for some window washers in boston. the in inwith are -- the men were dangling from a platform at a downtown office building 40 stories up. firefighters broke windows to get to the workers who were stranded after their hanging platform malfunctioned and one side of the basket dropped. the crowd gathered below and some took pictures with their cell phones.

a baltimore city police officer changes her story on the witness stand setting the stage for a jailed suspect to go free. abc2 news at 6:00 starts right now. a police officer changes her story after a fatal shooting. good evening. i'm marrybeth marsden. as abc2 news jeff hager reports, she blamed the young man. >> reporter: a domestic dispute brought the officer to this baltimore neighborhood where she shot and killed 61-year-old joseph forest after an apparent struggle for her gun. >> one shot was fired at this time. two the -- to the suspect. both the officer and suspect fell to the ground. at that point the suspect was witnessed going after the officer's weapon and additional