for a few days. 66 currently at veterans elementary school in ellicott city. they are relatively fog-free but we're mostly cloudy this morning, as temperatures try to climb into the mid-70s and maybe a peak or two of sun this morning and late this afternoon, we'll also spark showers. keep the umbrella handy. up to 80 for our two-degree guarantee. our warm day tomorrow. you can see it at the our wake-up window at the bottom of the screen. then we're expecting a big dropoff leading towards the weekend. more on that coming up in a bit. 6:30. let's check the roads with kim. >> volume is building here on the outer loop at liberty road on the west side as you make your way down towards the route 70 interchange. still moving along decently but obviously the volume is starting to pick up at this time. i'm just getting word of a crash at the inner loop at the jfx that blocks two center lanes so expect delays us a travel around that side of the beltway. utility work continues on the broken gas main, riva road at truman parkway, it should be reopened soon. i'll let you know.

still dealing with a crash southbound 95 at route 198. it's been cleared to the right shoulder only causing minor delays at this time. to follow us on twitter go to twitter.com/marylandtraffic. back to you. >> thank you. me now is 6:30 a.m. under fire nationally for the video scandal that started in baltimore, the community activist group acorn announced former massachusetts attorney general scott harshbarger, a democrat will conduct an internal investigation. the video shows workers advising a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute on how to hide her profession and cheat on their taxes. governor martin o'malley already authorized the state attorney general investigate this as well. >> i did sign off on it. he's proceeding and i think that all of us including his office need to be guided by the facts as they uncover them. >> right now it's still not clear who will be investigated. acorn or the makers of the video who apparently violated maryland's two-party consent law. >> it's clear who the

perpetrators were and who the messengers are here. and you know, don't shoot the messenger, go after the wrongdoing. >> in response to the video congress moved to cut off federal funding for acorn. the muddy waters receded and nation working to clean -- and neighbors working to clean up the mess in dundalk. a new threat now. workers in white jumpsuits sprayed disinfectant in waterlogged homes to protect against mold. >> once it gets to a certain point it starts to spread throughout the entire house. gets behind walls and everything like that. >> and taking a lesson from the aftermath of hurricane isabel five years ago the county moved quickly over the weekend to pump out flooded basements. some residents aren't just dealing with water damage. at last word some two dozen homes still without electricity. the watermain break in dundalk prompted senator ben cardin to call for the u.s. senate to look into america's infrastructure.

the senator says friday's flooding a dramatic reminder that infrastructure is in dire straits. he says our situation in maryland not unique. he and some fellow senators have now proposed the water infrastructure financing act. it will provide more than $35 billion in funding for clean safe water as well as improving the county and country's infrastructure. this next story is going to make you yell at the tv. bartenders are used to seeing customers with bottles but one couple with a baby bottle caught the attention of patrons. interest turned to current when they realized the woman and husband left their 4-month-old in the car. the bartender says the couple would take turns checking on the baby. other times they just left the infant in the car alone. >> it was right in front of the window so we all watched it. there was quite a few of us. everyone in the bar was pretty upset about the whole situation. i'm a parent so i mean, it broke my heart. i was like, you've got to be kidding me. >> the bar tender called the

police, the parents were both drunk when arrested. the baby is in protective custody. the couple faces charges of child neglect. if you're a parent here's some surveillance video that will make you gasp. a small child in washington state comes terrifyingly close to being hit by a car. the child can be seen walking behind two adults when all of a sudden, there you >> , out of control car crashes on to the scene. it looks like the child was hurt but amazingly she's fine. police say the car crashed down a and just missed the child. >> that video is incredible. for the obamas it was the fist pump heard around the world. >> we're going to show you who is learning the hip greeting when we come back. a car crash caused when a driver sees police. only on abc2 news. 6:34. we're looking at temperatures in the mid to upper 60s now. rain continues in the deep south. a break for atlanta but could

be more on the way and could be more heading our way by the weekend. let's check the roads with kim brown. >> the west side of the outer loop is moving along at a really good pace but we're working a crash on the inner loop approaching the jfx. i'll have more details up next. now the buses and trains with mark. >> good morning. on the light rail we're dealing with a delay running about 10 to 15 minutes late from bwi. metro subway on time. marc no delays on the camden, penn, or brunswick lines. on the buses, heavy volume of passengers on the 13, 23 and 5 buses. the number 17 bus with a diversion at corporate drive and international due to construction. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones. ( sighs )

( music throughout ) hey bets, can i borrow a quarter? sure, still not dry? i'm trying to shrink them. i lost weight and now some clothes are too big. how did you do it? simple stuff. eating right and i switched to whole grain. whole grain... studies show that people who eat more whole grain tend to have a healthier body weight. multigrain cheerios has five whole grains... and 110 calories per lightly sweetened serving. more grains. less you. multigrain cheerios.

a drug bust turns into nine hours of fun for some officers who had no idea they were being watched by security cameras.

these officers in florida stumbled upon a wii bowl game after taking down a suspected drug trafficker. the detectives started to play the games while searching for the evidence. the sheriff calls the display embarrassing but says he'll wait for findings from the internal investigation and then figure out about disciplining them. the hair-raising competition in germany. more than 160 men showed off various styles of mustaches, goatees and beards. the men were put into 17 different categories and faced a panel of judges. each judge scored them on a scale from 1 to 10. a german in the musketeer category won the competition with his creative scruff. wow, look at that guy. jamie, you ought to do something like that. >> here we go. look at this. the dalai lama just as cool as the obamas. he arrived in memphis, tennessee afford after placing a white prayer scarf on the mayor's neck the two

fist-bumped. he blessed mississippi with a white prayer scarf. how about that? >> pretty cool. >> you said he's come to dc? >> yes. >> all right. so is the boss. >> yeah. fixing the city budget deficit. >> how it could affect your safety. >> baltimore's mayor tackles the city's budget. i'm sherrie johnson. i'll tell what you that means for city employees. 6:39 -- 6:40 -- a couple of hours i'll be live broadcasting from cockeysville middle school. lets get ready for the bus, rog in baltimore county -- patchy fog in baltimore county, 65 to 70. maybe spotty showers. not right now. ellicott city 66. stay with us. we'll be right back with more on weather and traffic to come. got nfl-sized odors in your house? febreze air effects actually eliminates odors in the air and leaves a fresh scent. febreze air effects, it's a breath of fresh air.

got a wet pet in your house? febreze air effects eliminates odors in the air and leaves a fresh scent. febreze, official air freshener of the nfl. and rancher's reserve beef, guaranteed tender 100% of the time. at safeway, we have a new promise. a commitment to thousands of new everyday low prices... with savings of up to 25%. so you can get what you want... when you want it. at the price you need. today... and tomorrow. that's our promise. that's ingredients for life. safeway.

(announcer) why not make this year's holiday one to remember? call 1-800-royal22 today.

he give th and taketh away today. how much money will be coming to our state? we know how much the boss will cost and where he'll be friday morning at 10:00. from dancing in the dark to "dancing with the stars" the ladies get their turn on the floor last night. we'll see who did what and how. and how is right.

>> those stories and more coming up. first let's go to justin. >> good idea. justin? >> we talk about floods in atlanta, fires in l.a., california. so what we have now is fairly easy to take. 77 in ocean city. that is a sign of some really warm air surging up the coast. 72 atlantic city. modest rains this morning. 72 dover. then drops into the mid-60s around the bay. 68 easton. 66 baltimore and up towards york. there's that rain band we've been watching, a tropical feed out of what was once hurricane fred out in the open waters of the atlantic still continuing to pump in more moisture across the coast. we've got some showers back here in the mountains trying to spread their way up north from roanoke and looks like we may have some spotty showers build in by this afternoon. again, nothing well organized. the main system here off the coast and still off the coast is that old former fred hurricane, it was at least a category 3 two weeks ago but we're watching that thing just dump in some rain along the carolina coastline.

atlanta gets a break but another surge of tropical moisture is just to the west. will all try to move eastbound the next couple of days. we get a little warm-up, then the pattern will collapse and be on top of us with a cooldown over the weekend. enjoy 80 degrees, not going to be all wet but a chance of showers this afternoon and back into the upper 60s with fog overnight. here's kim brown with the latest on traffic. >> thank you. traffic is building and slowing a little on southbound 795 at franklin boulevard. we're kind of slow on the west side of the outer loop at liberty road down towards the baltimore national pike but we are working an incident on the inner loop approaching the jfx. we have a crash that is blocking two center lanes, traffic begins to slow on the inner loop at about greenspring avenue. also, in parole, riva road at truman parkway, still working on the gas main leak repair. i'll let you know when that reopens. to follow me on twitter, do so at twitter.com/marylandtraffic. feel free to follow.

almost 300 followers this morning. back to you. 6:45. now to a story you'll only see on abc2 news. i know it's tough to park at towson university but this is now the way to do it -- not the way to do it. pete "on the street" o'neal was on the scene of this crash. sources say a man stole a car, got scared when he saw police, ended up driving over the wall. the driver of the car was not hurt but he was arrested right there at the scene of the crash. today we are expecting to learn exactly what is going to be cut from the city budget. >> that could mean massive sacrifices for the men and women who work so hard to protect us everyday. abc2 news sherrie johnson joins us live outside of city hall with more. >> reporter: good morning. today the board of estimates will meet right here at city hall later this morning to decide on furloughs and budget cuts. right now baltimore city is facing a budget shortfall of more than $60 million. last night baltimore city fire chief met with his personnel to discuss the situation. he says cuts are coming. there's no way to avoid it.

the question now is how to make the cuts without sacrificing public safety. mayor sheila dixon says she needs to cut $60 million from the city budget to close a shortfall caused by the slumping economy. the head of the union says all the city's firefighters could be furloughed for several days and more than 90 of them could be laid off. this could close up to 10 fire companies permanently. and this causes confusion and anger among firefighters. >> even though they are hurting and worried about what is coming. they didn't get a pay raise this year. because of the issues with the economy and they are worried about next year. >> they have never seen morale lower than it is right now. we have absolutely no support from city hall. >> reporter: the board of estimates is expected to approve the mayor's plans today and the negotiations between the police department and the firefighters is expected to continue through october 21st. reporting live in downtown

baltimore, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. you better believe this is a hot button issue and it could have a huge impact on services in your safety in the city. we want to know what you think. should the police and fire departments' budgets be cut wack? friend us on facebook or twitter. write what you think. we'll try to read your comments on the air. 6:48. civil lawsuit against a baltimore city police officer has been tossed out of court. a youtube video released last year, you saw it, shows the officer yelling at the boy while he's skateboarding. >> - >> shut your mouth, i'm talking. >> eric, shut up. >> where are you from? >> gee, i didn't do anything. >> the civil lawsuit was filed by the family of the teen being yelled at. according to a police spokesman, 17-year veteran salvatore riviera was put back on the patrol a year ago. the panel is still determining whether or not he will be disciplined. no word if the teen's family is going to appeal the decision. "the daily record" is

reporting the family of 2-year-old payton potochney tburnd after two teens -- burned after two teens poured acid on a middle river playground slide settled a lawsuit with the board of education. the school board was named because it was the school's acid that was improperly secured and the $6 million suit was supposed to go to trial next month. now at 6:49 -- by next year you could be mailing slots in maryland on the eastern shore. the chairman of maryland slot machine commission said we could know today if the first slots license for the ocean downs racetrack is approved by a panel. once approved the slots could be operational by memorial day of next year. a baltimore county church burglarized two months after a string of similar break-ins. late monday night burglars broke into st. andrews lutheran church on taylor avenue in towson. they ransacked the office, stole two laptops, one hard drive. in july eight churches in

cockeysville, timonium and towson areas were all burglarized just like st. andrews. police say the culprits broke in through the back window. >> cabinets were left open. this is the only place i really see any damage. i've been with this church for 50 something years. this is the first time i've ever known it to be broken into like this. >> there are two unique aspects on this break-in. a blackout in the area and lice station just two doors down. the search for the suspect continues this morning. "good morning maryland" news time now 6:50. money is being cut from the city budget. >> but a federal grant is pumping more money into the state. abc2 news linda so -- joins us to tell us where the money will be spent. >> the money will be for mass transit, fire stations and port of baltimore. the port is already undergoing changes to make it greener. last month it got $3.5 million to upgrady equipment to reduce diesel emissions. the money was used to buy new

trucks, tugboats and locomotive. this latest money is all part of the massive economic stimulus package congress passed back in february. part of the money will also be used to modernize mass transit. this morning's announcement comes on the heels of a report that shows a huge jump in marylanders using mass transit. environment maryland reports the increase in ridership saves the state about 60 million gallons of gas last year. memorial day is the third in the nation for increased ridership. drivers drove 4% less in 2008. the homeland security secretary and the governor will be on hand for this morning's announcement at the inner harbor. in the studio, linda so, abc2 news. the world has come to new york this week, represented by 100 world leaders and president obama will be giving his first address to the general assembly today. the president is expected to ask leaders to act together on nuclear nonproliferation and peace, especially in the middle east. president obama will also thank nations that have contributed peacekeeping troops to afghanistan where he's likely to ask for even more help.

>> no sign of the cat? too bad, >> there's footprints. >> they were back at what was left of their homes to see what they could salvage when this happened. an explosion rattled the neighborhood and blew up the garage. >> the building just exploded. >> whoa! >> and the garage door flew up and landed about five or six feet from my front porch. >> yeah, i was scared. they blew out real hard. >> pretty hectic. people started running everywhere. it was chaos for a few minutes. >> fire crews quickly arrived to put the fire out. they say it was caused by a build-up of gases after the flooding. here's some video from overnight. sydney, australia, covered in red dust because of an unexpected dust storm. the storm cancelled flights and ferry service and caused a lot of people to have trouble breathing. it also put drivers on high alert as they could barely see in front of them. dust storms like these are very

rare in sydney. and if you're under 18 you may no longer be able to allow to fake bake in howard county. we're talking about tanning. officials there made the county one of the first communities in america to compose a complete ban on minors using tanning beds. there's already a law requiring consent from parents on the books but some say it's not enough. >> society has deemed it not correct, or not appropriate, for parents to have the right to choose to give consent to their minor children to be able to buy a pack of marlboros. we think the same should hold for indoor tanning beds. >> some tanning booth owners worry about the impact on their business. we want your two cents. do you agree with the ban? log on to abc2news.com. when you get there look on the right side of the home page and you can vote in our on-line poll. 6:53. for the first time since 1973 you get to see the boss on

stage in baltimore. i know he played towson state, now he's the boss and you can see him in november on the 20th at first mariner arena. tickets go on sale friday morning at 10:00. general admission seats on the floor cost $100. balcony from $31 to $67. go to the box office at 201 west baltimore. you can order by phone at 410-547-7328 or get them on-line at livenation.com. it was ladies night on "dancing with the stars." >> the eight contestants strutted their stuff for the first time on stage. it may have been the dark horse contestant kelly osbourn, stole the show. seen as the hard rocking chick she was poised and graceful and performed the waltz with her partner. and the tough girl was very emotional after her performance. >> i thought of crying but not on tv again. but it was -- so special to

be -- for me to share that with him and all our hard work really paid off. my family was here. it was incredible. >> she looks great. >> not bad. >> amazing. you can catch the live elimination show tonight on abc2 at 8:00. 6:54. we're checking out our extended forecast. we've got warm temperatures to keep you happy for a couple of days. near 80 today after you start off with cloudy skies and patchy fog. a scattered shower not a washout. when you see the raindrops, doesn't mean it will be wet all day but take the umbrella with you, keep it handy, on and off showers today and tomorrow could give way to a thunderstorm after reaching 83. dropping to 73 and clearing out friday. that whole wet pattern out west falls back eastbound and looks like increasing clouds and late day or evening rain saturday. 68. rain could be heavy at times through sunday, 70. we range from the mid-70s to back in the upper 60s next

week. we're looking good at the tunnels. no problems to let you know about at either the harbor tunnel or fort mchenry tunnel but we're a bit of a slowdown on the west side of the beltway, liberty road. it will be pretty slow between 795 and route 70 just because of heavy traffic. we have an accident on the inner loop of the beltway approaching the jfx that has traffic slow from about greenspring avenue, the two center lanes remain blocked so give yourself plenty of time before heading out. we're still dealing with the gas main break that is causing delays at riva road and truman parkway but aside from that traffic looks pretty nice around the area. hit kim up on twitter. in the meantime, "good morning america" is next. and we'll have one of the "good morning america" contributors to our show. >> she had a job with the network, a producer and all of a sudden got fired. now what? she's made a big what of it and telling other people how to get a job out there if you're running into a dead end. her story coming up.

i'll be live in cougartown. cockeysville middle school. 9:00, see you then. (announcer) they're highly trained specialists.

true professionals, always ready when they hear the call... guys, pancakes!

(announcer) it's another job well done. because when it's pancakes, everyone's in it together.