we begin tonight with the fight over furloughs shaping up at city hall. good evening, everybody, i'm terry owens. baltimore needs to trim its budget to offset millions in cuts at the state level and that means furloughs for city employees. but police and firefighters are saying not so fast. we've got contracts and a deal's a deal. abc2 news roosevelt leftwich joins us now with more on their beef with the city. >> reporter: the city's union

says cuts and reassignments made six months ago are slowing response times now. they say what the city is proposing now will make things incredibly bad. the fire union says the contract with the city says the government pretty much has to show them the books before they can furlough or alter work hours. so far the union president says the city's just told them what they are going to do and what they are going to cut without seeking union interests. he says right now on any given day each shift is four or five fire companies short. he says that has led to slow response times in situations they feel are unsafe for responding fire crews. he says what the city is proposing now will severely hamper safety. [sirens] >> during these discussions the fire chief made it clear that he will have to permanently close eight to 10 fire companies if he has to lay off or furlough people. now, that message has not been delivered to the citizens of baltimore yet. eight to 10 companies is 20% of

the fire department, would be closed in one day. that's not temporary, that's permanent closings. >> reporter: city police whose contract forbids furloughs have been asked to give back vacation time. the mayor was unavailable for comment today. however, a city spokesman says there will be a news conference after the wednesday board of estimates meeting to spell out the latest round of cuts, roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >> thank you. tonight, we want your two cents on this story. because of these tough economic times should police officers and firefighters take furloughs? to weigh in head to abc2news.com. there's always room for you on the righthand side of the home page. now the latest on the devastation in dundalk. it has been three days since a huge watermain break flooded parts of the community. today many in the affected areas spent another day cleaning up. and as abc2 news linda so reports, it's really hitting some families hard in these tough times. >> reporter: monday morning was anything but normal for

april bright, she had to take the day off from work. this is the first time she's been back home after friday's massive watermain break. it flooded out streets, cars and about 100 homes. >> the washer and dryer, that's the bathroom. >> reporter: there used to be walls here. pictures and keepsakes, tossed out in the backyard soaked by water that rose to the ceiling in her basement. >> in many cases the electricity is back on, ours has to be rewired first. >> reporter: this was one of the hardest hit blocks. people lost so enough from the flooding. this yard is full of things damaged by the water. the past couple of days the folks trying to help these people back on their feet, it's been busy. non-stop for clean-up crews but for some homeowners insurance companies put the brakes on the cleaning up that needs to get done. >> we're kind of frustrated with everything that has gone on, how hard it is to get them to do what they are supposed to do. we're not trying to get anything done except trying to

get back to our livelihoods and it seems like we're just having a lot of difficulty. >> reporter: donald says state farm gave him and some of his neighbors the runaround. >> the adjustor hasn't even come to look at the property yet. they are still waiting, here it is on day four since the nightmare, they've had nobody even look and they got kids and families. >> there's a lot of stuff down there, a lot of pictures and things like that. from when i was little that is not going to get back. >> reporter: in dundalk, linda so, abc2 news. >> in the meantime it could take several weeks to get broening highway repaired and reopened for traffic. the 72-inch break collapsed a section of broening highway and dundalk avenue. the area affected stretches from logan village to i-695 and the highway exit from the beltway. the state highway officials are urging drivers to give themselves extra time to get through the detours during the rush hour. coming up on abc2 news at 6:00 -- who should take the blame for that massive watermain break? what's the city's liability in

all of this? abc2 news jeff hager goes in search of some answers. a manhunt for a convicted killer who escaped from a washington state mental hospital is over tonight. phillip arnold paul who is schizophrenic was committed to a mental hospital in 1987 for the murder of an elderly woman. police say paul was on a field trip to the county fair when he slipped away from his chaperone. investigators say paul tricked a friend into believing he had been released. hospital officials waited two hours before calling police. nurses say they warned their supervisors that paul should not be allowed on the annual outing in the first place. >> i can tell you that there was an extreme amount of anger throughout the law enforcement community that this event even took place. >> this is the second time paul has escaped while on a field trip from that mental hospital. last full day of summer 2009 ends on a mild note. and some nice blue sky for us. picturesque way to wrap up

summer. hard to believe it's the last full day tomorrow. we'll start fall. sparrows point high school now, 74 degrees there. feels like 77. a little more humidity today. you see blue sky with fair weather clouds there. for just shot. 76 now at bwi marshall. as you head to the eastern shore, warmer, 77 easton. i think temperature will trop off tonight but not nearly as significantly as the last several nights. it's been chilly the last two mornings and evenings. i think we're down to 612 overnight tonight. maybe a few outer suburbs get down in the upper 50s but we won't see 40s tonight. that will be a change. as we go into fall things getting milder. we'll talk about the 80-degree temperatures coming up, straight ahead in the 7-day forecast. this goes without saying -- we all want to keep our homes safe but also have to watch for our bank accounts, too. details on an alarm system scam that could have you locked in for a little longer than you expect. and the dazzle is back.

"dancing with the stars" premieres tonight. somebody's already hurt. see who is fighting the injury bug. but first, we'll head back outside. how about u.s. naval academy in annapolis? the low there today was 59 degrees. the high 75. the current temperature is 74. stay with us. we'll be right back. 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.

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we begin with a mixed day on wall street. one of the complaints about the iphone is that there's no key board but a new accessory is about to change that. a slide-on keyboard with real buttons. that company that makes it claims it will boost your iphone typing speed by up to 40%. the device will be available in november for about $30. green one day, yellow the next? see the beautiful sites people are stopping for along the roads in harford county. and, a turtle nursed back to health at the national aquarium in baltimore. is released back into the wild. we'll take you there. i'm jamie costello. we continue to help you in these tough economic times but inviting you to abc2news.com, our "financial survival guide." on there today, a lot of people

are cutting back, especially inside the home. we're going to peek inside one frugal home and the seven ways that this family's home is different than yours. plus, pay off debt to keep credit at its best. advice for a man who is caught in between a creditor and a bill collector and which should he pay? always check back on our "financial survival guide." we're updating it consistently throughout the day. i'm jamie costello, abc2 news. so with fios i get fiber to the home,

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we've got some breaking news from baltimore county. police tell us a man was shot just a short while ago in a parking lot of an apartment complex in the 1400 block of wentworth avenue, in parkville. police and medics are on the scene. no word yet on the man's condition. stay with abc2 news and abc2news.com for the latest on

this breaking news. we all want to feel secure in our homes so the idea of a free alarm system can sound pretty good. but as abc2 news joce sterman explains door-to-door sales that ask you to sign up on the spot may lock you down longer than you think. >> reporter: they say every man's home is his castle but since most don't have fortress protection alarms are a popular alternative. and with some companies you don't even have to search them out, they come right to your door and offer free systems they'll install the same day. sounds good but the better business bureau and local police departments are warning about some of those offers. saying you've got to be careful about signing up on the spot. >> you've got to read the fine print and should really think bit. >> reporter: otherwise you could end up like many marylanders trapped in a five-year contract. the bbb says you typically have three days to cancel any deal from door-to-door sales but are hearing from a lot of people who get the equipment installed right away. once you do that legally

there's no turning back. >> what most people complain about, they arch something on -- purchase something on the spur of the moment, an emotional appeal, want to get out of the contract and now they can't >> reporter: that's why the bbb advises against signing up for a high-pressure sale even if the equipment is free. ask for a copy of the contract, read to it see how long you're committed and how much it will cost you each month. get quotes from several companies. check the alarm company's record with the better business bureau and make sure they are registered with the maryland state police. >> you want to make sure they've been fingerprinted, they have a badge, id, that they have been actually -- gone through the proper channels to offer the service in maryland. >> reporter: simple accepts to protect yourself from those claiming to help you protect your home. joce sterman, abc2 news. >> if you would like to know how some of these companies make their pitch and what they'll say to get you to sign on immediately just check out angie's blog on the "scam alert" page, that's abc2news.com.

gorgeous weather just keeps on coming. >> what a day -- what a way to wrap up the last day of summer. i think i got that out. >> you got it. >> sunshine, cool start again but a nice rebound into the 70s. >> i love the sunny days. >> the first few days of fall we'll see temperatures actually go up a little bit. kind of reverse of what you think. fall comes, we warm up some. >> we're bracing for the long indian summer. >> we know what comes after that. the flag flapping a little in the breeze, a southeast breeze 5, maybe 10 miles an hour. depending on where you are exactly but a nice shot tonight. a lot of sports teams out doing their practice tonight. they've got great weather for it. 76 degrees now at bwi marshall. humidity 52%. there's that light south wind around 5 miles per hour.

speaking of sporting and blue skies, i have to show you ocean city. if you look closely here not a lot of people on the beach us a might expect but see the flags go up there? a couple of people out there enjoying kite-flying. you see the clouds rolling from the south and east there, just a gorgeous day down in ocean city, they are 71 now. this morning, pretty chilly, not as cold as just one day ago. sunday morning, we had temperatures flirting with the 30s up just north of the pennsylvania line. nothing like that this morning but it was still chilly out there. 49 to start the day at bwi. eastern shore starting off in the low 50s. high temperatures rebound pretty nicely. winchester got up to 80 this afternoon. we got up to 76. that was what we forecast by the way. so we'll have a weather umbrella winner. stay tuned at 6:00. we'll tell you who is winning that. bay forecast tomorrow, looks great. foot a chop, water temperature still 73 both in the chesapeake and ocean city.

so water staying nice and warm in september. high tide 9:30. low tide 3:37. look for sunset tomorrow night just after 7:00 p.m. days getting a little shorter. clouds came in at times today but they were thin fair weather clouds, not as ominous as the infrared satellite picture makes it look. completely dry, radar showing nothing, until you get off to our west. you see exactly what i'm talking about here. heavy wet weather training up along a frontal boundary here, basically from northern alabama where they are getting almost flooding rains right up through west virginia and some of the mid-atlantic including western pennsylvania but you see maryland down into southern virginia, north carolina. we're dry here, just fair weather clouds drifting in. i think we'll stay that way for the most part as we go into the day tomorrow but i think late tomorrow we could bring a couple of showers. you see the cloud cover does build in, after clearing a bit overnight, a little more cloud cover, southeast breeze bringing up the humidity a little bit. we could see a couple of

showers tuesday afternoon. i'm not expecting a lot. even on wednesday we could see showers on and off throughout the day but our forecast model not picking up on a lot of rain. i don't expect a lot of rain the next few days. it will get a little warmer though with the south wind. tonight, 62 degrees, clouds on the increase, milder at daybreak. might want a light layer in the morning. the 7-day forecast -- first three days of fall, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, we warm up. it's a warming trend in the early fall but we do also see some sunshine toward the end of the week here and a little cooler by the weekend, back down into the low 70s. >> thank you. there's been a lot of rubbernecking in northern baltimore and harford counties recently, not because of problems on the road but because of what's along the roads. abc2 news kelly swoope explains. >> reporter: it's nothing special to look at, travelers pass it day in and day out but look at this. a ray of sunshine is covering farm fields in baltimore and

harford counties. people are slowing, stopping, and even snapping. >> definitely different from what it usually is. >> i never noticed them before. don't know where they came from. there was green one day. yellow the next. >> reporter: zach rose is the man behind the yellow that brightened jarrettsville and other neighboring communities. >> we decided to try sun flowers, we use grow soybeans. >> reporter: he's the third generation. selling the sunflowers. >> we plant them in mid-july, we'll start harvesting them in the first of december. >> reporter: this is actually the third year for the sunflower crop. the first year they started with the 150 acres and it did so well they expanded to 600. >> a different option. gives us a different market. it helps diversify the farm a little bit. we also have beef cattle. it just helps us spread our risk out. >> reporter: and spreading the risk is important, rose says because the tough economy has hit the farming industry hard.

>> the dairy industry is really hurting bad now. the price of milk, they lose money everyday grain prices aren't so high right now either. nobody's getting rich quick, i guess you can say. it's still a struggle everyday. >> reporter: but sunflowers are helping the efforts. and are also bringing the community something to ?iel about. >> i guess it was like last thursday, coming home from work, i come over the hill here and all these yellow things are staring you in the face. it's beautiful. >> reporter: enjoy them at their full bloom for a few more weeks. then they will be back next july. in harford county, kelly swoope, abc2 news. >> gorgeous. 500 people watched a now healthy sea turtle return to its habitat at assateague state park. >> be careful. >> the turtle was admitted to the national aquarium in july of 2008 with nearly 10 pounds of organisms infecting its shell.

he looks like he's ready to go back. the sea turtle is an endangered species so it was very important for the aquarium to help him heal. he was named flight and release and will be tracked by a satellite tag so the aquarium can follow its progress. this loggerhead turtle is the 82nd animal held by the aquarium rescue program. >> cool. a look ahead to abc2 news at 6:00. home flooded, cars damaged, a massive watermain break. who is responsible for paying for the repairs? baltimore city schools score record marks. a look at the numbers and what dr. andres alonso is saying about it. now a preview of what is ahead on "world news" at 6:30. >> coming up, the commander in afghanistan says the mission will likely fail without more troops. we report on that. brian ross will have the latest on the terror investigation in new york and colorado. and we have early results on testing of a flu vaccine on children. so with fios i get fiber to the home, over 100 hd channels

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it is back. "dancing with the stars" will heat up your living room with the largest cast ever this season. get this, there's 16 celebrity contestants and it starts tonight with a live three-night event. >> let's get ready to rumba! >> reporter: the start to your week just got a little sexier. "dancing with the stars" kicks off tonight with a special two-hour premiere. this season promises more chacha. or salsa. and more viennese waltz. as always, there's a wild and wide variety of celebrities from former star dallas cowboys wide receiver michael ervin.

to a veteran cowboy from congress, former house majority leader tom delay. >> what was your first impression when you heard i was your partner? >> i had to ghoogle you. no joke. >> reporter: turns out it's a family affair this season with george hamilton's son ashley and marie osmond's brother, oh, come on, you know who. >> want to see a preview? >> reporter: the stars and their partners have been practicing for months at dance studios all over l.a. though donny has been practicing in sin city and singer macy gray has practiced everyday while away on her european tour. >> a couple of times we'll practice after the show. like 1:00, 2:00 a.m. sometimes. >> and we practice in hallways. behind the stage. in like conference rooms at the hotel. >> reporter: practice makes perfect and what about the injuries? remember all the ones from last season? get this, tom delay has already taken a hit. >> they call it a pre-stress fracture.

>> on your foot? >> yeah. >> what do we have to prevent it in >> hiking boots. aren't they cute? >> reporter: hiking boots or heels, no bheart what is on your -- matter what is on their feet tonight's the night to cut the rug and no one wants to be the first to go home. you can catch all the shakes and spins tonight at 8:00 on constitution -- abc2. big changes to maryland's dui laws. details at 6:00. news at 6:00 which starts right now. >> reporter: we begin with breaking news from baltimore county. good evening, i'm marybeth marsden. police are on the scene of a shooting in parkville. few details are available here's what we do know now. a man suffering from a bullet wound was found lying in the parking lot of an apartment complex on wentworth avenue. there's no word on how the victim is doing or if investigators have suspects at this point. our other big story, the deluge in dundalk. clean-up and repairs continue after