caused the scare. that and more coming up until 7:00 when "good morning america" takes over. now a look at the forecast with meteorologist susan schrack. >> thank you. good morning. dawn just starting to break across the sky now. things look pretty nice. we're going to be seeing lots of sunshine in a few minutes. temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 94%. winds out of the south at 3 miles an hour. let's look down at rehoboth beach along the coast. 76 degrees now. feels like you're still 82 though. warm and muggy everywhere. we're seeing mainly clear skies now. we'll have a couple of high thin clouds starting to move in. oh, over the course of the next couple of hours. then things are going to get a little thicker as daytime heating kicks in. you'll see the condensation start up. 82 degrees by noon. then we'll have partly cloudy skies. then the clouds continue to build as well as the afternoon heat. 88 degrees is where we're going to end up. we're looking at widespread thunderstorms and showers once again and that will last all the way through into the

evening hours. it's going to be that way for another couple of days yet. let's look at the traffic with kim. >> thank you. traffic is moving along pretty nicely on all the major roads this morning. specifically here, route 50 at route 97. no problems to let you know about headed in either direction. 97 northbound also looking good towards the beltway. we still are dealing with a fire on philadelphia road and governor court and peaverley drive. emergency vehicles on scene. try pulaski highway as an alternate. on the jfx, still have that oil spill that has northbound on the jfx between fayette and st. paul streets closed as crews try to clean up the spill. i understand it's a music vehicle just driving up 83 -- moving vehicle just driving up 83 leaking oil. you may experience delays between the beltway and shawan road as well. definitely use caution if you're traveling the jfx or 83. looking for a business you know you can trust? let better business bureau help you. log on to abc2news.com/bbb.

back to you. 6:31. we hustle around here at abc2. we get news nobody else can touch but this one you have to hear for yourself. a man comes to our cameras and tells us exactly what happened. let's go live to essex with linda so. >> reporter: it was a devastating night for the folks who live here. the fire caused a lot of damage. it was a partial roof collapse, charred debris, it happened in unit 24 and this morning we're hearing from the man who lit the candle. he's speaking out to abc2. tom hannin told our our overnight photographer pete "on the street" o'neill that he lit a meditation candle in his bedroom. he fell asleep and accidently knocked the candle over. his bed caught fire, he tried to douse the flames but it quickly got out of hand. the fire spread to three other units and reached three alarms. it happened last night around 11:30 on spice cour -- spicewood court. the red cross assisted

residents. some had to go back inside to get medication. he said he tried to put the fire out, but couldn't. i >> i came out of the shower, lit a candle like i usually do. i fell asleep, and knocked it over. tried to put it out myself, didn't work. here we are. >> reporter: hannin says he feels incredibly sorry for causing all this trouble. meanwhile, management has provided displaced residents with another place to stay. linda so, abc2 news. the university of maryland began testing children for the swine flu vaccine. health officials at the university of maryland school of medicine held trials yesterday in annapolis and frederick. young adults and seniors who volunteer will also get the first doses of the vaccine. the university is one of many sites across the country selected to test out this new vaccine. in annapolis you're looking at dozens rallying against budget cuts for programs that help the disabled. another round of cuts are expected next week and those

cuts could affect the developmental disability administration. supporters chanted "no more cuts" and save our services at the rally next to the statehouse. one howard county parent had this to say to governor o'malley. >> don't cut the budget. these are people who are really in need. if you cut the budget then you're really going to be cutting the people who need your help the very most. please, mr. governor, don't cut our budget. >> the o'malley administration will submit more than $400 million in budget cuts to the board of public works next week. the life expectancy in the country has gone up. babies born in the year 2007 can now live to the ripe old age of 78. doctors say this is because americans are taking better care of themselves. the united states though continues to lag behind about 30 other countries in estimated life span. japan has the longest life expectancy rate, 83. ivy league colleges cost a lot but could still be the best

places to send your child. "u.s. news & world report" is out releasing the top rankings. the usual harvard and princeton at the top. in third, yale. and four-way tie, cal tech, mit, stanford and the university of penn. and then john hopkins is 14th. university of maryland college park is number 53. the rankings formula, they look at s.a.t. scores, selectivity, alumni giving. they were rejected from extreme home makeover but this family of 24 has angels watching over them. wait until you hear this story. a hard day for two spheams becomes even more difficult after a mishap at a funeral home. another quiet morning around the region for us with lots of sunshine coming our way this morning. then we're going to see more thunderstorms returning for us this afternoon. i'll tell you the most likely area where they will start to fire up.

let's check the roads with kim. >> traffic moving nicely at route 50 and route 97 but now let's check the buses and trains with mark jones. >> good morning. out there now you'll find on the marc train the camden and penn line services operating on time. but on the brunswick line, 890 running 55 minutes late. and brunswick 892 is cancelled. dc metro folks are honoring tickets on the way to washington. metro looking good. on the 50 bus, diverted at saint clare and chesterfield due to construction. and 1, 3 and 64 diverted at charles and conway. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones. today i'm making a classic sweet potato pie...

everyone can enjoy, lactaid milk. deliciousoló welcome back to the table. love it with lactaid. ? it was like "extreme home makeover" only in this case a community rallied to raise money for a family of 24. john and jeannette murphy

adopted 23 special needs children since 1983. they had been living in a crumbling home and just couldn't afford to move the family to somewhere better. so a local opportunity and kenyan kids foundation raised $800,000 and had a brand new home built for the family. it took three and a half years but the -- clan of 24 finally found their new digs. >> people said when are you going to stop adopting? i said when god stops sending them. >> the home is 7,000 square feet. each family member has their own room. there's even a pool in the backyard. that looks beautiful. coming up next -- 100 women you could learn a lot from. we'll tell you who is the most powerful woman in the world. a convicted terrorist responsible for killing 270 people in a plane bombing will be released from a scottish prison. i'm sherrie johnson. that story coming up next. ah, the first day of school.

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good morning. thank you for staying with us on this thursday, august 20th. we'll look at weather and traffic in a moment. first the top stories.

the hurt and pain of 1988 all coming back this morning. sherrie johnson on the possible release of a terrorist that is not sitting well in this country. new information in the indictment of mayor sheila dixon really has to do with attorneys and paperwork. we remain live in essex with linda so and final out exactly how -- find out exactly how this fire started. that and more coming up until 7:00 when "good morning america" takes over. right now your weather with meteorologist susan schrack. >> thank you. good morning. the sun is up. we're starting to see a little bit of sunshine peaking through the haze. let's look at the temperatures now. 74 degrees, relative humidity 94%. and the wind is out of the south at 3 miles an hour. let's look in parkton, at the -- parkville, excuse me, at the middle school, 76 degrees, winds very light. looking at temperatures generally in the mito low 70s it's only going to increase as we head into the daytime hours. that sun will start to come out and peak through the skies.

thunderstorms are expected for us to today. tomorrow. and we may as well make it saturday, right? since we're in this trend. after saturday the front starts to move through and things get better. it will feel much nicer come the end of the weekend. for today 88 degrees, partly sunny, showers and storms around and the next seven days shows that trend continues with the unstable weather as we head into the afternoon hours each day until, sunday, it looks better. low 80s and drier and quieter as we head into the early part of next week. let's check the roads with kim. >> the beltway is causing no problems this morning so far. west side at liberty road as you make your way towards the route 70 interchange and baltimore national pike traffic moving freely, no problems. however, that earlier incident that we had in abingdon, route 7 at governor court, they've actually decided to close that in both directions so be aware of that because of that fire

activity. also northbound on the jfx between fayette street and st. paul street is closed due to the oil spill. use caution there. and definitely try using charles street as an alternate. northbound at the jfx, approaching falls road, the left lane is blocked due to debris in the roadway. be careful if you're traveling 83 this morning. it's a little slick on certain spots. looking at the jfx here at north avenue, traffic appears to be moving very nicely in both directions so just try to use charles street as an alternate and be careful if you travel the jfx. back to you. 6:46. in 1988, george williams of joppatowne in his robe, cold coffee in in his hands, his mind blurred for his son who was killed and the man may be getting out of prison today. sherrie johnson has more. >> reporter: there's outrage among family members and government officials after news

a libyan man convicted of killing of hundreds of people in a terrorist plane bombing could be released from prison. a formal announcement is schedule at 8:00 this morning. scottish officials could announce that abd al megrahi will be released on compassion quate grounds and -- compassionate grounds and transferred to a prison in libya. he was convicted in taking part in the bombing of pan am 103 in december, 1988. it was carrying mostly american passengers, all the people died in the plane when it crashed into the town of lockerbie, scotland. he was sentenced to 27 years. but a review of the case suggested he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. the united states made its views known over a number of months and we continue to make the same point that we think it

is inappropriate. >> it's a bitter ending to a 21-year odyssey that this man is being released on compassionate grounds which is ludicrous in itself. he's been convicted of murdering 270 people. 259 at 31,000 feet. it's insane. it's a travesty of justice. and totally unacceptable. >> reporter: megrahi has terminally ill cancer. his lawyers say he has a few months to live. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. three shootings to tell you about overnight. police are investigating the shooting of a teen in northwest baltimore. this happened 2:00 this morning. sources tell pete "on the street" o'neal neighbors called police because they saw the teen lying in the middle of bell avenue. the teen had been shot in the head. he was rushed to the hospital. he's in grave condition. police don't have suspects at this time. two men shot in pigtown. police need your help to try to find the suspects. again sources say this happened around 11:30 last night. a man shot several times in the

back on carey street and pratt street. and then another call, another guy shot in the 800 block of carroll street. no suspects in either of the cases. windsor mill is a very close and friendly neighborhood but they are hurting like the rest of baltimore over the hate crime. neighbors will tell you that 76-year-old james prevet was a quiet man, avid fisherman and tuesday morning police say james, who is black was attacked at fort armistead park while fishing with his wife. police charge 28-year-old calvin lockner with attempted murder and a hate crime. investigators say he goes by the nickname "hitler," has a hitler tattoo on his stomach and is a member of a white supremacist group. >> it makes me sick to my stomach. that's all i can say about that. people got to learn to live in this world. it's ridiculous. >> men jumped out. >> police are still looking for two other white men involved in the attack. lockner remains locked up

behind bars without bail. the latest on the political scandal in baltimore city. mawrs lawyers -- lawyers for mayor sheila dixon renewed their request for all subpoenas after the original grand jury indictment was returns in january. the mayor's lawyers claim subpoenas issued after the first indictment constitute an abuse of the grand jury system. perjury charges that were dismissed are now included in the new indictment. let's go live to essex. a few hours ago they were scrambling to get out of a fire. linda so with the man who says it was his fault. >> reporter: apparently that man lit a candle and it caused all this damage. you can see it caused a partial roof collapse. there's charred debris, the foundation is damaged and this morning that man who started it all is speaking out to abc2. tom hannin told our our overnight photographer pete "on the street" o'neill he lit a meditation candle in his bedroom. he fell asleep and accidently knocked the cannedle over.

his bed caught fire. he tried to douse the flames but it got out of hand quickly. the fire spread to three other units, reached three alarms. it happened last night around 11:30 on spicewood court. the red cross responded to assist residents. some had to >> back inside to get their medication. he said it happened so fast. >> the bathroom is two seconds away. i figure i will run in the bathroom, throw water on it. by the time i got back to the bedroom it was totally involved. running downstairs, grabbed my shoes, put stuff in the car and here we are. >> reporter: he says he feels incredibly sorry for causing all this trouble. meanwhile, management is providing displaced residents with a place to stay. live in essex, linda so, abc2 news. let's go down the road from where linda is standing and look at the cove village apartment complex. now the company says they fixed the carbon monoxide leak that sent three people to the hospital. on tuesday night we reported on

a young couple and baby girl at the cove village in essex, had to go to the hospital. franklin square. and cove village has had be a ongoing carbon monoxide problem over the years. in 2005 we had a family killed. then a month later nine people had to go to the hospital. many residents say they are angry and frustrated and want this problem to be taken care of. we received this statement from sawyer realty. in it it says "it was determined an exterior vent malfunctioned. this was corrected yesterday morning. our resident safety remains our highest priority." if you have credit cards expect to see some changes. today. they are supposed to protect us but it may actually lead to new fees. credit card companies are expected to lose revenue because of the changes. consumer experts say those companies might start hitting with us new charges to make up for it. >> we may be seeing fees on cash advances that weren't there before. increased fees. we may be seeing fees on balance transfers. and those credit card holders,

say 55% of americans actually don't carry a balance on their cards. they may be seeing fees. we'll see increased expenses added on to rewards. we may see reduction in access to rewards. >> i didn't hear any good news from that, did you? let's put up the big print. the new rights in effect today. you have the right to reject rate increases but you have to choose your amount and promise to repay the balance at the current rate within five years. also companies will be required to give you 45 days' notice before they can increase a rate. they kept telling us it was him. i knew it was not him. >> family and friends attending a funeral say the mortuary brought the wrong body. people told the funeral director but they say he insisted there wasn't a problem. apparently two bodies were somehow switched. the family waited an hour and a

half for the correct body. and the body was face down and partially hanging out of the casket making a heated situation even hotter. a similar scene played out across town as family members realized the wrong body was in that casket. the funeral home, no response to the mix-up yet. it's time to honor some very powerful women. "forbes" power women's list is out. the celebrities and poplarity here and who has the influence. for the fourth year in a row german chancellor an tops the list. going -- angela murkel tops the list. hear from this bus driver -- i'll talk for her. a 16-year-old girl from queens is being hailed as a hero for saving a bus filled with kids after the driver collapsed and died. the camp counselor quickly took action, stopped the bus when the driver fell out of the

door. the teen then slammed on the brakes and saved all nine children on board. good morning. i'm meteorologist susan schrack. another hot and hazy one for us today. we're looking at lots of sunshine around this morning. then we'll see the clouds start to move in. 88 degrees, partly sunny, showers and thunderstorms around for us yet again this afternoon. that trend is going to continue for a little while longer. we still have to go through that on friday. and throughout the day on saturday before a front comes through and then things look a whole lot better as we cool down a little bit for sunday and monday of next week. let's check the roads with kim. >> no problems to let you know about on the beltway. let's be clear. the west side is running good from liberty road down through to about the route 70 interchange. the real problem is the jfx. reminder, abingdon, route 7 at governor court closed because of fire activity.

use pulaski highway as an alternate. back to northbound at the jfx, closed at fayette street and st. paul street. use charles street. northbound on president street being diverted on to the northbound falls way. use caution because of the oil spill. on "good morning maryland" at 9:00 -- are you or your child ready to go back to school next week? we make sure your child is prepared while also eating right and wearing the right shoes. we're living longer these days but are you keeping yourself in tip top shape? we'll tell you how to stay fit at 50. all that plus we talk to the pink dress girls. local teens raising awareness about diabetes. and dr. fioramonti will be here to talk to you about your pets. that and more at 9:00.