bessie has been a big economic boone for many people, both dealers and consumers alike. dealers have been able to move more cars it a month than the last year and consumers are going to save money in gas. aaa says don't let the clunkers for cash is the only thing that gets tout dealership. make your -- sure your car qualifies. know your trade-in value. it can be more than the $4500. above all, make sure you can afford what you want. >> i think that if hindsight were 2020, i think the government would have done it differently. >> reporter: so far, close to 350,000 cars have been sold under the program with $1.4 million payments to dealers. the processing has been slow and many dealers are concerned about how quickly they will be reimbursed. but the long-term results should be the stimulus that the auto industry needs. remember, the deal is off monday

night at 8. in owings mills, roosevelt leftwich, abc 2 knows. the most frequently asked questions about that program, head it our website, abc2news.com. you can find the cash for clunkers story in the slide show. tonight police in anne arundel county say this man robbed a convenience store in croft ton last thursday. he walked into the store armed with a long barrel revolver and demanded money. police say he was last seen walking toward route 50. if you've seen the suspect, you're asked to call metro crimestoppers. now a look at tonight's top stories. word of a $29,000 ben us for the baltimore city schools chief is drawing fire from parents, teachers an union leaders. but tonight the chairman of the school board is defending the

bonus. he says the money is for dr. alonso's imprufrments if the school system that occurred under his leadership. it's no bail for the two taej charged in the racially motivated beating of a 76-year-old man. emanuel miller and zachary watson were arrested yesterday. 28-year-old calvin lockner is being held without bail. mr. privott was see veerl beaten while fishing with his wife. the taens face charges including first degree murder. the man who escaped from a howard county sheriff's deputy is back in custody tonight. u.s. marshals found 20-year-old devon champagne of jessup last night hiding inside a wall in a home near richmond virginia. the sheriff's office said champagne had just been convicted of felony theft last week whether he attacked the deputy who was driving him to the detention center. champagne used his handcuffs to choke and hit the deputy and

tried to take his gun before climbing out of the window of the deputy's car. if you're headed down to the ocean this weekend, you need to be extra careful in the water. even hurricane bill is not a direct threat for us, we will feel his effects along the coast of the national weather service says hurricane bill will churn up high surf and dangerous rip current. if you get stuck in a rip current, stay calm and swim parallel to the shore until you can break free. across the region today, heavy shower and thunderstorm activity came marching through. there's where it is right now. maek its way on up into sections of new jersey. across the region, we've still got some severe weather out there. a thunderstorm watch remains in effect and a severe thunderstorm warning in sections of virginia and west virginia. more storms are heading in our

direction. for the remainder of this evening, cloudy skies, scattered showers and but the -- we'll be telling you where bill is and track where they think bill is going to be going coming up in a couple of minutes. new at 50 '5:3, the centers for disease roll reports that -- control reports that swine flu is sill spreading across the country. 522 people have decided from the virus -- died from the virus. here's abc's diana. >> >> reporter: the worng from the world health organization was grim. >> we have a short time period to be prepared orthopedic the organization urged nations to take swift measures to ramp up the response effort. in the u.s., five separate trials are under way to take test -- to test out the h1n1

vaccine. >> it's a pandemic, so you don't have a luxury of going a year or six months looking at data. >> reporter: the cdc says they hope to have data back from both trials in september. with only a third of the 120 million doses they had expected. the vaccine will come too late for the start of the school year. so administrators are focusing their efforts on teaching children good hygiene habits. in light of higher than normal flu activity this time of year. during the 2008-2009 flu season, there have already been 17 more pediatric deaths from all flu strains than the previous year. many of the most recent have been attributed to the h1n1 strain. and health officials fear that number may rise once the fall flu season starts. the cdc has reiterated its

warning that the virus is unpredictable. d in, there are now reports out of chilethat swine flu has been detected in turkey. the man hunt is on for a former reality star. the authorities are searching look oog for 32 ryan jenkins. he's accused of killing 28-year-old swim suit model jasmine finori. last couple the couple -- last week the couple checked into a hotel. her body was later found in a dumpster. >> ryan jenkins is an animal. what he has done to jasmine is unspeakable. >> investigators believe jenkins pled to his native canada, abandoning a boat at a marina in washington state and crossing

the border on foot. there's been a change in plans for the funeral of michael jackson. he will not be laid to rest on his 51st birthday. no run has been given for the change. jackson's family was planning on a private, daytime service august 29th. now the pop super star will be laid in a great maseleum. at this year's california state fair, four rides from the singer's neverland ranch will be featured including a jeep ride and one that sim lats a hot air balloon. the rides will be free for the first 5,000 guests throughout the gates. the theme of this year's fair is weird, wild and backy. it runs through september 7th just in case you happen to be in the neighborhood. and speaking of wild rides, after months of hearing the economic doom and gloom, huge news today about home sales.

and think of it as cheese for the cheddar. imagine, if you could get a loan based on your parmesan still making changes. circle back later!! what's with the yelling? oh, our internet slows down during peak hours so sending e-mails and large files just takes forever. so, we just yell. ben!!! thanks for the flowers!!! i thought you hated me!!! lol!!! semi-colon! right parenthesis! winky emoticon! (announcer) switch to verizon and get a dedicated high speed internet connection from our office to your small business so you won't be slowed down even if your neighbors are online. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v today and for only $79.99 a month for 12 months with a 3 year contract you'll also get our award winning internet security suite, unlimited nationwide calling, and over $180 back in available online rebates. plus, the reliability of the verizon network.

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and n all up for the week. looks like a good day on wall street. good news from the nation's housing market. the national association of realtors reports that home sales have posted the biggest increase in the last ten years. it's attribute to do the first time home buyers taking vac of a $8,000 tax credit. that's raising hopes that the housing crisis may be losening its grip. only in italy, producers of the country's famous parmesan cheeses in bank vaults. the banks are accepting the cheese as collateral for loans. basically they are loaned with tours along with their cheese. a close call with a potential killer and this encounter is all caught on camera. and a major auto recall because

of a potentially deadly transmission problems. stay with us. we'll be right back. explain. oh yea, well for 6 months, customers get all three: fios tv, internet and phone for just $79.99 a month. oh, all right, see... you're just moving your fingers, aren't you? i gotta cut my nails. (announcer) now get three amazing fios services for the price of two. tv, internet, and phone for only...

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. abc 2 works with you with news of a major recall. volkswagen and audi are recalling 16,000 cars that can develop a potentially deadly transmission problem. abc's libdzcy davis has the story. >> reporter: across the country. >> the car stalled when i was getting on to highway 201. >> reporter: some volkswagen drivers share a familiar story. all close calls due to safety defects. >> you don't have all of a sudden have any acceleration. >> reporter: some call it the flash of death when all of a sudden the park, neutral, drive lights have flashed all of a sudden. >> there was no forward motion

at all of the car. engine was racing and the trans mission was just completely slipping. >> reporter: audi and volkswagen are recalling 16,000 vehicles to tiks a clutch transmission problem. it affects 2008, 2009 jetta, eos, tgti plus 2009 audi a3, 2 ttand ttroad sistersroad sters. >> reporter: they haven't had any reports of crashes or injuries as a result of the problem. now, the forecast certified baltimore's most accurate of leerz chief meteorologist norm lewis and maryland's post

powerful doppler radar. i know you appreciate good video. this is video about as close as you ever want to get to a possible tornado. and this happened in canada. violent storms tore across parts of ontario killing at least one person. people reported ceiling funnel clouds in at least three areas. look at that. very unusual to have tornadic activity in canada but it shows you it can happen basically anywhere. this afternoon we didn't have tornadic activity but we had heavy lightning activity t turned black and poured in some areas. things are looking better outside. your shot from harbor cam. seeing a little bit of blue sky out there. what a difference a couple of hours make. our temperature at dwi-77, temperature sticky at 91%. wind currently from the east and

pressure steady at 29.87. >> your winds tomorrow from the northeast 8 to 14 miles per hour. a severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect for the entire eastern shores, as well as cecil county and delaware until 9:00 tonight but i have a feeling they're going to take a lot of this watch down within the hour. back to the west we're seeing some thunderstorm warnings for thunderstorms that are warning through the region. temperature wise right now in haguers town, 86, 76 in downtown, over in ocean city, 88 degrees. they did not get the rainfall. they just had a brief shower and 81 in the dover area. as far as what's going on out on the atlantic, there's hurricane bill as it makes its way toward the north and making a nice little jog to the north but not really going to be affecting then united states. but along the eastern sea board we're going to see some rough surf and rip tied. the national

hurricane centers, bill right now with 105 mile an hour winds. it has calmed down. still a dangerous storm. still thinks the storm is going to take a path up toward the nova scotia area. throughout the day today, the humidity and the heat and we did get the high today up to 91 degrees. there's the showers and thunderstorms that came through the area. but there's more thunderstorm activity to the west of us. radar is indicating shower and thunderstorm activity back to the west trying to make its way in our direction and around the baltimore area, we've been seeing a few little light showers in the downtown area. let's zoom in. well, there was a little shower around the towson area but it's not over yet. the severe weather we had this afternoon continues to make its way to the north and northeast.

you can always go to our website, abc2news.com to check out our interactive radar. he's here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. click on the weather tab, it will take you to our interactive radar. your forecast for tonight, the majority of the thunderstorm activity from this afternoon continues to make its way to the north and east. tomorrow afternoon, it bubbles up once again. showers and thunderstorm activity, some on the heavy side. sunday things start to clear up. mostly cloudy, showers and storms 75 degrees for the overnight low. during the day tomorrow, partly cloudy showers and storms but it will be cool or cooler than it has been, 82 degrees for the daytime high of the extended outlook the showers and thunderstorms continue it tomorrow but should clear up on sunday. monday and tuesday, 82 degrees. partly cloudy gradual warming trend but not as humid. we'll be back at 6 with more on the weather. all right. thanks, norm. how would you like to make

phone while investing in iraq's future? for some, it sounds like a win-win situation. our consumer reporter john matarese says if it's is it -- says is it a sure thing or sure fire way to lose your money. >> reporter: more and more people are investing in iraq's currency. some experts say you may double your triple your money in the next few weeks. is it worth considering or just the latest scam? search for the words iraqi dinar on line and you'll find dozens of investors. they are cheap, more than a thousand for a dollar, many people are snatching it up. >> our business partners gave us a tip that the iraqi money would be convert towed american money and when that happened, the iraqi deno, ma'am mitigation would increase in value.

>> he projected that about -- that three to five hundred dollars could net a hundred thousand. >> reporter: so he invested a modest $268 but when he checked the value several weeks later, it came up at as. >> 256 dollars. >> a couple people asked me about that. and i don't give a very positive picture of that. >> reporter: hammond tells me it's very hard to make phone trading foreign currency. yes the dinar has appreciated in 50% since 2003 but some vendors charge 20 to 50% excision. even banks charge currency transaction fees. without significant appreciation, you'll lose money buying and selling them back. if you must buy, find a bank selling dinars, buy from the bank. >> we lose that amount of money

pretty often, so that's okay. >> reporter: bottom line, this is speculation, so don't invest any money in a foreign currency that you can't afford to lose. and if you sdie sdi it buy -- if you decide to buy, do it through a legitimate u.s. based institution. never a company outside the usa. now with a look ahead to abc 2 news at 6, a well-loved neighbor is gunned down inside his home. latest on the search for his killer. and worried that you can't afford to head out of town for labor day? well, new holiday deals are being posted everywhere. all that and more straight ahead on abc 2 news at 6. explain.

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seems like everybody is connected through online site like facebook and twitter. people are finding sometimes it can be irritating to be so plugged in. sandra find out what people's pet peeves are when it comes to social networking and passes along dos and don'ts so you won't be befriended. >> reporter: even though you may be facebook friends some say there is still a thing touch as too much information. >> i don't know what someone is doing every second of the day. >> reporter: people connect throed facebook and twitter seem to have a megaphone at their fingertips updating their whereabouts about what they are doing any time any place. tech experts recommend good social networking etiquette to keep your friend status. >> update others as you would have them update you. don't post boring update after boring update. >> reporter: there are two

kinds. self promoting and . >> they are posting statussing. >> reporter: also the cut but dreaded poke. >> at one point they poke you and you poke them back, one has to say stop. >> if you are over 15 years of age don't poke. >> reporter: picture posters who upload photos of the late night out or tag you with pictures from the past. remember, your audience could include people you work worth. >> you have your professional and personal life merge into one. >> reporter: on facebook you can use privacy settings to limit what sees what and the amount of content you get. on twitter third party sites like friend feed.com can be useful to tune out some of the annoying online chatter. in washington sandra endo abc 2 news. it is the first of its kind in the nation. you'll find it in baltimore

county. let's take a live look outside over the north harbor. we are seeing clouds but sunny skies as well. however, storms have been rolling through the area all afternoon. good evening. right now some parts of maryland are under a thunderstorm watch. others a warning. what can you expect where you 4 live? we are here with your first forecast. >> thank you. the warnings have just been canceled for the eastern shore, but from cecil county all the eastern shore, as well as delaware a severe thunderstorm watch until 9:00 tonight. i have a feeling that the national weather service will be dropping that. as you can see the heavy thunderstorm activity is now moving through portions of new jersey. that's what we saw this afternoon. back to the west of us, as a matter of fact we'll zoom into it to a tiny bit you can see heavy showers and thunderstorms making their way. right now we are getting a breather. as far as your forecast for th