we will see the clouds start to increase throughout the day, especially this afternoon as we get moisture from what was tropical storm claudette. so, expect a couple of showers around and maybe some thunderstorms. some of those thunderstorms could be heavy at times for late this afternoon and we're looking at a high of 90 degrees. let's check the roads with kim. we've had a very active rush hour to start off your tuesday commute. checking the beltway, no problems to let you know about here on the west side of the outer loop. the beltway is running nicely, no problems at the tunnels, either. however, most of our problems are in the county. especially in glen burnie, that is going to be crain highway at route 648 closed in both directions because of a serious accident involving a car and motorcycle. just be aware of that. northbound 83 and middletown road, that crash is off to the right shoulder. eastbound route 50 at the severn river bridge, a disabled tractor-trailer blocks the right lane. and southbound bel air road at plumier avenue is closed because of a watermain break. try southbound harford road as an alternate. the jfx at cold spring lane, no

problems to let you know about here. back to you. 5:30. the united states won't have nearly as much swine flu vaccine ready by this october as we originally thought. 45 million doses could be ready instead of the anticipated 120 million doses. the now anticipated delay is being blamed on manufacturing issues. people at the highest risk are to get vaccinated first. they now have to wait an extra month. researchers at the university of maryland are continuing trial to test the latest vaccine against the h1n1 virus. an associated press photographer wounded in a bomb blast in afghanistan, that is come to baltimore now. he's going to be at the hospital for further treatment. emilio morante suffered severe injuries to his leg last week that resulted in the amputation of his foot. he and another videographer with traveling with a u.s. military unit when their vehicle ran over a bomb. two soldiers were also hurt in the explosion. 22-year-old dallas smith is going to prison, sentenced to

eight years for carrying a pipe bomb in his backpack near a biotechnology center in baltimore. smith was found guilty of having the explosive device and attempted to take a gun away from a police officer. the mystery is over. police have their guy. it was a robbery that sort of puzzled police in montgomery county. back on july 30th the saks fifth avenue store in chevy chase was robbed. several chanel dresses were taken. detectives had surveillance pictures of the suspect, the only problem, couldn't make out if it was a he or she. eventually they figured out it was a man and an arrest warrant was put out for 20-year-old jonathan bradley and last week during a routine traffic stop dressed as a woman bradley was arrested. what's taking so long to get the air back on in mccolloh homes? the worst heat of the summer making seniors steaming mad. linda so is live to tell us what is happening there this morning. >> reporter: maintenance workers will be back here first thing this morning to try to fix the problem.

it's been almost a week since the air conditioning stopped working. an uncomfortable and dangerous situation for the folks who live here. the senior citizen highrise on druid hill avenue has been without ac since friday. that has forced residents from their homes. some say it's too hot to cook, eat or sleep. the baltimore city housing authority manages the building. officials say they weren't notified of the problems here until saturday. at first only several units were without air. now it's several floors. housing officials have not been able to pinpoint the source of the problem. the hot weather and broken ac has many worried about their health. >> i'm a chronic -- i can have a stroke any time with the heat. management ain't doing nothing to settle this problem. >> reporter: the community room was kept open all night for residents. management doesn't know how long it's going to take before the ac problem is fixed but they insist they are working on the problem diligently. we're live in west baltimore,

linda so, abc2 news. 72 degrees. it's not the heat, not a fire or flood that forced a carroll county family from their home. the family said they lost everything they owned after mold made them sick. they first discovered the mold four months after they moved into the eldersburg home which was four years ago. they cleaned the house thoroughly and thought the mold was gone but three years later it comes back. even worse than before. >> the first time around we spent a ton of money. this time around we actually had to throw away everything in the home room by room in an attempt to clean up the house so that we could stay there. we threw -- we found it in the girls' room first and threw everything away, cleaned it up. i thought we were ok. then we found it in the boys' room. >> this is where the family has been living, in their mini van on and off since the summer began. they've also been getting help from their church. to help you can contact st. joseph catholic church in he eldersburg at 443-920-91 91.

you have dollars in your wallet? if you do you're carrying drugs. there's a new study that shows that traces of cocaine paint up to 90% of money in the u.s. and baltimore specifically has larger traces of cocaine than many other cities. scientists have known for years at that paper money can become contaminated with cocaine during drug deals and directly through drug use such as snorting cocaine through rolled-up bills. such studies are useful because the data can help law enforcement identify patterns of drug use in the community. you still planning a summer getaway? more and more people are including their four-legged family members even if it means a plane ticket. find out who will sashay and salsa their way to the top of our ninth season of "dancing with the stars." and let's dance outside, 72 degrees now and here is the mta's mark jones. >> good morning. the commute start is a good one now. you'll find light rail and

metro subway operating on time. marc showing no delays or problems on the camden, penn, brunswick lines. and out there on the buses look for the number 1 to be about 20 minutes late for the commute. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones. (announcer) back to school means back to busy mornings. that's why i got them pillsbury toaster strudel. warm, flaky, pastry with delicious sweet filling my kids will love. plus i get two bonus box tops for their school. toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat.

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5:38. weather now with meteorologist susan schrack. >> good morning. things are quiet for us and it's pretty pleasant out there and the daytime heating hasn't quite kicked in yet but it will later this afternoon. temperatures now, 74 baltimore. 69 perry hall. 71 fallston. 71 havre de grace. add in the humidity though and it takes the feels-like temperature up to the upper 70s. so a little on the warm side. satellite and radar composite shows mostly clear skies over most of the state. and we will see those clouds start to increase this afternoon. so here's what it looks like for the next 12 hours -- low 70s around early this morning. by noontime partly sunny skies and 83 degrees. 90 degrees by late afternoon. we could be seeing a couple of showers or thunderstorms as that moisture plume comes from the south from what was tropical storm claudette. that can create a couple of -- you know, thundery spots for us

and could have heavy downpours as well. let's check the roads with kim. as we look in anne arundel county this is route 50, on the righthand side, will be the eastbound lanes. we have a little minimal traffic that way. that is because of a disached tractor-trailer blocking the right lane outside of camera view. still dealing with crain highway closed in both directions at route 648 because of the earlier crash. anne arundel county police will attempt to have that intersection opened by 7:00 a.m. i'll keep you posted. earlier crash at northbound 83 and middletown road, actually closer to mount carmel road. i told but the disabled vehicle blocking the right lane and southbound bel air road at plumier avenue closed because of a watermain break. best bet, southbound harford road. checking the jfx at north avenue, traffic moving along nicely. this traffic report brought to you by baltimore's country station 93.1 wpoc where you'll find great music from stars like taylor swift, kenny chesney and keith urban and

rascall flatts. a wedding proposal at taxpayers' expense. coming up, more on the state delegate that went too far. this is more than my eon look. i t say, "booger." ...i-can-get-him-a- math-tutor" button. (announcer) staples equals savings on everything for back to school. staples. that was easy.

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strings when they know they are going to ask for a hand in marriage. slip a five to the baker for a cake or maybe a 10 to the may tredy for a good window seat. wait until you hear this. >> reporter: he was only trying to please this woman when a maryland delegate used bad judgment. john cardin is now apologizing for his marriage proposal that involved a police helicopter and boat at taxpayers' expense. cardin is the 11th district delegate and nephew of senator ben cardin. he said he wanted to make the night perfect with the proposal. this involved a police helicopter overhead and marine police pretending to search the boat. in response to our call about this incident we received an e-mail from a cardin aide. it says "in retrospect i should have considered that city resources would be involved and used better judgment to put a stop to it. i will be in contact with the baltimore police department and will reimburse the city for whatever costs they deem appropriate." we contacted city police for

their response. in a statement they say "an internal investigation is underway to determine if there was any inappropriate use of departmental resources." after all of this, at least cardin's fiancee said yes. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. a look now at some of the other top stories this morning. senior citizens at the mccolloh homes in baltimore are melting. the air conditioning went out last friday at the highrise building on druid hill avenue. they say it's been too hot to cook, sleep. many are sleeping out there on the balconies. the officials at the housing authorities say managers on site monitoring the situation. we're live with linda so. and the reward for information leading to the capture of devon champagne now jumped up to $5,000. he's the prisoner who attacked the howard county sheriff's deputy during an escape last week and that deputy is ok. champagne though considered dangerous. so if you spot him or have information where he is call police, howard county sheriff's

deputy, 410-313-2150. and it's the return of rex ryan. next monday the ravens will host ryan and his new team from new york, the jets. here on the 24th of august. at m & t bank stadium. it looks like super rookie mark sanchez will get the start for the jets. don't forget, 9:00 on abc2, shaq versus, premieres tonight. he will be tackling pittsburgh steelers quarterback ben roth listberrer and the show is with the 7-footer taking on the best athletes in the world. what would another season of "dancing with the stars" be without a big-time ex-nfl superstar? this year it's former dallas cowboy wide receiver michael ervin. he will be joined by former congressman tom delay who danced away from politics in a bit of controversy. and donny osmond and kelly osbourn, macy gray, aaron carter, nya, all taking on the

floor here. snowboard champion louie veto and olympic swimmer natalie coughlin. also chuck lidiel. season nine begins here on abc2, beginning on september 21st. you could be dancing all the way to the bank if you're holding the winning mega millions jackpot ticket. it's climbed to $170 million. the cash option is just over $106 million. don't forget the drawing will be tonight. so go out and get a ticket. good morning. i'm meteorologist susan schrack, a quiet start. let's look at the current conditions. 72 degrees now, relative humidity 84%. and winds are calm. we had a couple of high thin clouds for the most part, we were looking at a mainly clear sky to start this morning. that will be for most of morning. then we'll have a couple of more clouds moving in as we

head towards the latter half of the day. we have a little bit of moisture, that's all that is left of what was tropical storm claudette, came in land and really weakened very consider plea and now there's just a little bit of spotty shower activity left far to the south of us. we have a cold front that will be approaching the region. that combined with that moisture is going to tap into the moisture. that could create a couple of thunderstorms for us late this afternoon. taking a look in the atlantic ocean. there it is. hurricane bill already a strong category 2, just intensifying very quickly and forecasters are very concerned about how this storm is going to intensify and how large it's going to get. winds now at 100 miles per hour. you can see it's going to threaten bermuda as we head towards the weekend and then the track takes it up along the mid-atlantic coastline. so we'll have to keep a very close eye on that particular storm. for today, 90 degrees, partly sunny, showers and storms around. as you head into the next seven days we're looking at more muggy humid conditions and again the chance of storms and

showers each afternoon all the way through the weekend. let's check the roads with kim. >> we've had a busy active morning so far to start your tuesday. fortunately nothing on the beltway though. you see here on the outer loop traffic is building but moving along nicely as you head down towards route 70. i'm getting word from owings mills, canes road at barrownet road, be advised all lanes blocked because of a downed tree. crain highway and baltimore annapolis road in glen burnie remains closed in both directions because of the earlier crash. police hope to have it reopened by 7:00 a.m. in the meantime, ritchie highway or route 97 is an alternate. parkton, 93 and mount carmel road, that crash is off to the right shoulder. eastbound route 50 at the severn river bridge, right lane remains blocked due to the tractor-trailer. and watermain break has southbound bel air road at plumier avenue closed, try southbound harford road as an alternate. the jfx, things are moving along nicely southbound towards downtown.

93.1wpoc with lori young in the young and baltimore's country music for the work day, listen to stars like taylor swift, kenny chesney and keith urban. back to you. if you're looking at a longer getaway trip, farther away, do you know what you're going to do with your pets? there are all kinds of options but many pet owners prefer to bring along their four-legged friends and now deciding where to go and how to get there is easier than ever. barbara owensby considers her dogs part of the family. that means when she travels she brings them with her. >> we've taken them to places like asheville and key west, florida. >> when making sleeping arrangements she's sure to book places that are pet-friendly. experts say this summer she'll be surprised by the growing number of options catering to pet owners. >> we see people not only being pet-friendly but putting together packages with pets spas. they provide pet sitters. >> reporter: though pet travel is simpler now it's not always easy. >> you must plan in advance.

>> that means if traveling by car get your animal accustomed to it in advance and pack appropriately. >> you want a leash, collar, identification on the pet at all times and you want to have portable pet food bowls, water bowls. >> reporter: you plan to fly with your pet? check with your carrier for rules on how they will handle the animals and what kind of carrier you need. >> it can't have wheels. it's got to have a spring lock door. it has to have ventilation on all four sides. >> reporter: this summer, a new airline, pet airways, is catering to animals, flying them in coach almost like a kennel in the sky. that may be the only option when it comes to travel to warm places where pets aren't allowed to fly as cargo. >> the airlines have adopted what is known as a summer heat embargo. what this means is if the temperature on the tarmac is over 84 degrees there is no carrier that will put a pet in cargo. it's simply too risky and too warm. >> reporter: if you're headed overseas do your research.

european cups require specific vaccinations and microchip along with veterinarian-signed health documents. those can be included in what is known as a pet passport. >> e.u. form 998, a health certificate. the pet must go see a veterinarian within 10 days of travel to certify that they are free of ticks and parasites and any commune cable diseases. >> it may not be easy to just get up and go but pet owners like barbara say it's well worth the effort. some forms are travel still difficult in the u.s. the majority of pets are still not permitted on many buses and trains but in europe that is not the case. two things many of us love, just not together. but it's a sizzling hot seller. bacon covered in chocolate. coming up next at 6:00 on "good morning, america" -- something out of a fairy tail is working beneath the water. if you can prove it you can win $1 million.

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it's delicious. delicious. i know. but it can't have... can't have about half a day's worth of fiber? i assure you it does. i was expecting... expecting sawdust and cardboard? i know. i can only taste... only taste the crunchy clusters, honey, and brown sugar. no madam, i don't have esp. ok. i'll take a box, but you probably already knew that. (announcer) fiber one. cardboard no. delicious yes. 5:55. you're having your breakfast, getting ready for work. have you thought of take tag bacon and dipping it in

chocolate? >> never had the both together. ? you first. >> try it. >> this is good. >> it's good. >> it doesn't even taste like bacon. it just tastes like a chocolate candy bar. >> it's good. >> it's kind of the salty and sweet combination. >> the curious culinary combination the rave at the iowa state fair. a des moines chef named shawn valderamma grabs hershey's chocolate syrup, flips it over the top, drizzleles it over and flips it again. more than 5,000 strips have been sold. a look at our exclusive weathernet and then we'll start the 6:00 news. stay with us. "good morning maryland" continues now. carol! denise! you've lost weight! it's just all these giant things make me look small. (chuckle) i hate dieting. me too. that's why i eat this fiber one yogurt.

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welcome. i'm jamie costello.

it's tuesday, august 18th. we'll look at weather and traffic in a moment. first the headlines. she said yes but that is not the problem facing a man who makes laws for a living. why a man's question is being questioned this morning. and we'll have the latest in michael jackson, why his mom is now gathering her attorneys together. and if aubrey huff called baltimore a horse blank town what is he going to say about detroit? these stories and more coming up this morning. first, let's look at the weather forecast with meteorologist susan schrack. >> good morning. a nice start for us. we're seeing some clearing in the skies and some pretty mild temperatures. right now 74 in baltimore. 69 perry hall. 72 manchester. 67 walkersville. 71 mount airy. temperatures around the region -- 65 york. we're seeing 74 degrees in ocean city. 72 in dover now. feels a little bit warmer than what you're seeing on the thermometer though because of the humidity. we're looking at mainly clear skies,