opened as a precaution. so far we don't know of any deaths. we'll give you more information as it becomes available. to our weather, it's only fall of course but are you ready to pay the price for a rough winter? temperatures are getting cooler and some weather experts predict we'll see the snowiest winter in five years. many homeowners worry that will add up to high irer -- higher heating bills but you may luck out. as jeff hager reports >> reporter: the chill in the air in downtown baltimore signals it's that time of year. pull out your sweater or light jacket and brace yourself for higher heating bills. >> i think they will. i think they'll shoot up. as soon as the heat goes on the bills will go up. >> they've been very high. i expect them to be high this winter. i don't know what i'm going to do. i'm retired and i don't, you know, have enough income to pay it. >> reporter: but experts say the downturn in the global economy may have an upside for

power customers. the price for a barrel of crude oil is down almost 50% from a year ago. heating oil prices have followed suit. and natural gas prices are down almost 80%. state regulators like public service commission chairman douglas mazarian say it should add up to savings for customers. >> rates for electricity and natural gas are going to be down this winter. they actually will go down and bge and delmarva territories on october 1st, not by a lot. the supply portion will go down about 3%. >> reporter: for its part bge isn't ready to predict how much its 1.2 million customers will pay just yet. part of the difficulty in computing your future power bills is there's far more than just the cost of power which goes into them. there's also consumption. how big your house is, the type of weather outside, and where you set your thermostat. predictions that we may be in for one of the coldest winters in the decade won't help much.

do you trust bge to bring the rates down? >> no, i don't. they have not so far. >> reporter: bge says it should be able to give customers some idea of whether the rates will go up or down by next week. jeff hager, abc2 news. lower fuel prices don't always translate into lower bills. many companies including bge purchase electricity in two-year contracts to prevent major fluctuations in your bill. we woke up this morning, it was definitely cool and will be even cooler the next couple mornings but right now there's no precipitation around the region but tomorrow we could see a brief shower pass through the region, mostly to the north of our area but in the meantime here's your forecast for the next couple of hours, partly cloudy, a chance for sprinkles, north of the pennsylvania line. our temperatures will hold in the mid-60s for the next couple of hours but by tomorrow morning many places north and west of the beltway will see temperatures in the upper 40s and that's only the start of the cooldown. we'll tell you all about it coming up. the naval academy has

quarantined 30 midshipmen with flu-like symptoms hoping to cut back on the spread of the swine flu. an academy commander says 170 midshipmen have been isolated at one point this fall but only seven of them had confirmed cases. each morning mid-are asked if they are feeling flu-like symptoms and are examined further if they do. anyone with symptoms is isolated as a precaution for two to four days. a midshipman faces larceny and forgery charges tonight. the charges against christophera rivers were filed after a criminal investigation. the academy says the alleged crime happened at the academy. rivers is a sophomore midshipman. baltimore city police are looking forget a suspect in a -- looking for a suspect in a strip club shooting in southeast baltimore. a man and woman were shot at 2:00 this morning at the ed dorado lounge on east lombard street before closing. both are in critical condition

at an area hospital. and city police are looking for a driver who ran down at least four people and then took off. it happened just before 3:00 a.m. at the corner of charles and 20th streets in the charles village area. medics took the four people to the hospital to be checked out. they are expected to be ok. an off-duty police officer's condition has worsened after being shot during an attempted robbery. outside of his home. detective aaron harris has been downgraded from serious to critical and he was moved from shock trauma to sinai where he's had five surgeries. two 16-year-olds were charged as adults in the shooting. both denied bail yesterday. a pharmacist at the university of maryland medical school is facing drug charges tonight after his girlfriend also a researcher at the school died in what looks like an overdose. police say clinton mccracken told investigators his girlfriend had trouble breathing after she injected herself with a narcotic, a

commonly used substitute to help treat heroin addicts. according to charging documents he told police he got the drug from an on-line pharmacy in the philippines. they were sents to their home packed in stuffed animals. >> these on-line pharmacies in china, in the philippines, these unregulated pharmacies that people can get drugs from, they are obviously a tremendous public safety risk. people who aren't trained in the potent medications, people ship them to the house. a lot of the times the drugs you take are not actually the drugs you ordered >> police searched mccracken's home, found three dozen marijuana plants, other drug paraphernalia. at this time he's not been charringed in johns' death. people want your help tracking down this man, wanted for questioning in a rape that happened on the 20th in the 47,000 block of homer avenue. anyone who could help identify and find that man is asked to

call the department's sex offense unit at 410-396-2076. maryland state police are searching for 17-year-old jordan dupont who escaped from the grounds of the charles hickey school in baltimore county. authorities say he was last seen running towards i-95 in whitemarsh and may be headed to the eastern shore near his home town. baltimore county police are also looking for two world war ii era grenades stolen in a burglary. and police warn they could be dangerous. the grenades were taken along with several guns from a home in monkton last wednesday. and police don't know if the grenades are live or have been disabled. >> we want to advise the public that if they see these grenades they are world war ii style japanese grenades in a pineapple shape. if they see these, please call 911 and the baltimore county police department immediately. >> if you see the grenades,

call baltimore county police. president obama met with the new head of nato. at the top of the agenda, what to do about afghanistan. the new nato secretary general wants a plan to transition to afghan leadership as soon as possible. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan agrees. general stanley mccrist tal announced the need for more troops and shift in strategy. >> had we got the strategy right, why weather the decisions he made at the end of march the right ones? do we need to make adjustments in light of what we found? >> the president already committed 17,000 additional troops to afghanistan. the upcoming meetings will assess how that strategy implemented in march is going. and what adjustments need to be made. an afghan immigrant is being held without bail after pleading not guilty in an alleged terrorist plot. federal prosecutors told a judge in new york that naji zazi planned to build bombs for an attack in the city

reportedly for mass transit. his arrest broke up what is called an international conspiracy with accomplices yet to be named. here's abc's linsey davis. >> reporter: 24-year-old najibullah zazi was in court for only about five minutes. at that time the lawyer entered a plea of not guilty and learned he will be permanently detained while the government builds his case against him. >> mr. zazi has in agreement with one or more people who committed an unlawful act. the conspiracy charge cannot be sustained. >> reporter: zazi, a shuttle bus driver from denver, colorado, was the only suspected terrorist to appear in the new york court for arraignment this morning but authorities say they now know the identities of at least three other people believed to be involved in the alleged terror plot possibly targeting new york city subways. >> they better come up with someone else or the conspiracy charge fails. >> reporter: zazi faces charges of conspiring to use

weapons of mass destruction but he continues to deny any wrongdoing. officials say he shopped at beauty stores for bomb supplies. the accomplices reportedly traveled from new york city to denver, then used stolen credit cards to buy beauty products with hydrogen peroxide and acetone. >> in the memorandum accompanying the indictment it mentions three people. >> is it against the law to buy those materials? no. >> reporter: but the same ingredients were used in the 2005 london bombings and were also listed in the bomb recipes officials say were found on zazi's computer. zazi was ordered held without bail. his next court date has been set for december 3rd. authorities anticipate more arrests will be made. linsey davis, abc news, new york. tonight, the baltimore city health department wants you to stop using a product called miracle chalk also known as chinese chalk. they say it's a highly toxic pesticide made in china, sold illegally in baltimore. it's sold at specialty stores

and on the street for about a dollar, it's used to get rid of roach infestations the researchers say it could cause vomiting, convulsions and stomach pains. if you have this product you're told to seal it up and throw it out. cracking down on smoking in the city. why some baltimore city leaders want to see flavored cigar wrappers banned. instant gratification. details on the quicker and much cheaper brew that starbuck's has put its stamp of approval on. "jon and kate plus 8" minus jon? the newest show that has kicked one of the gosselins to the curb. and looking at the temperatures from northeast middle school in baltimore, 64 degrees. norm is coming back with the full forecast.

change is brewing in the coffee world. after conquering coffee connoisseurs with its pricey blends starbuck's is courting new customers, with a new feature. instant gratification. abc's carla wohl explains. >> reporter: starbuck's is adding a new drink to its menu. not another high-priced latte. in fact, the opposite. >> it's our new ready-to-brew coffee, has microground coffee for extra body. taste it. >> reporter: instant coffee. starbuck's calls it via and it's less than a dollar a cup. still, the very idea could be a tough sell with the hard core coffee crowd. >> if i say instant coffee to you, your reaction? >> decaf. >> my mom drank instant coffee when i was growing up. it tasted terrible. >> reporter: starbuck's is hoping to change minds and lure new customers, customers it needs since the recession. >> it became fodder for the

media to make the statement that one of the things you should cut out is your latte or your visit to starbuck's. >> reporter: and people did. sluggish sales forced starbuck's to close a thousand stores and cut jobs. now they are trying to make a comeback by gaining a foothold in the $20 billion instant coffee market. >> tasters choice. the taste of choice. >> i think it's a smart move because this is a way for them to try to grow their business without opening new stores. >> reporter: so starbuck's is passing out free samples hoping the new java will give its business a jolt. it's too soon to say whether committed coffee drinkers will buy vie via but starbuck's says tests have exceeded expectations. carla wohl, abc news, los angeles.

speaking of coy, -- coffee, have you ever tried this? have you ever tried just chewing a regular coffee bean? >> no, i had espresso beans. >> you take the bean and just chew it up. >> yeah. i would say yes, i have. and they are really good dipped in chocolate. just saying. >> in addition good dipped in chocolate. >> just about. >> take a look outside right now. our shot from harbor cam. overlooking the downtown area. things are looking nice. a little breezy, a little cool, way below normal. 65 degrees at bwi marshall. 48% humidity. wind from the west at 24. pressure falling 29.67. temperatures across the region right now, it's 61 up in york. 63 hagerstown. winchester, virginia at 63. 66 dover. ocean city, they win the prize, 73 degrees. look at oakland, 43 degrees, wow!

that's at 5:00 in the afternoon. that's the cooler air that is coming in our direction that we're going to be seeing some of that overnight. during the day, lots of sunshine today. a few clouds back to the west. that area of low pressure rotating counterclockwise continues to drag down the clouds. as soon as the clouds hit the mountains they are basically falling apart. we're seeing a little bit of precipitation there but look at this, right there, up in the high elevations of west virginia. they are seeing a little bit of frozen precipitation in some of the higher elevations. oakland, 43 degrees, kind of early for them to see sleet and freezing rain out there but there it is right there. currently showing up on the satellite picture. the larger view, this area of low pressure continues to drag down the clouds and overnight -- most of the clouds will go away. we'll see a few but early tomorrow morning this trough of low pressure hero tates through the region and there's a chance we could see a brief morning sprinkle. we're not talking about rain. we're talking a brief morning

sprinkle as that thing rotates through the region but for the most part what it will be doing is rotating in some much cooler air from canada. right now nothing showing up on maryland's most powerful doppler radar. nice clear scan around the baltimore region. temperaturewise right now from our storm center weathernet, live data only available here on abc2. monkton already down to 61. the same in downtown. westminster at 61. 59 in mount airy. glen burnie already at 64. 67 rock hall. aberdeen 64. northeast now at 64 degrees. here's how it all boils down -- we've got a few light clouds over the top of the region but really pretty nice. here's the cloudiness back to the west of us. we're going to be finding that it rotates through the region and tomorrow just a chance of brief shower, most of it will be to the west of us but then by wednesday evening and thursday things start to clear up very nicely, high pressure moves in. your forecast for the overnight period, partly cloudy, breezy, chilly, 49 for the low. north and west of the beltway

temperatures in the mid-40s. tomorrow, during the day we recover to 67, partly cloudy with a possibility of a brief shower, again, a kind of a light sprinkle. the extended outlook, thursday mostly sunny, 67. look at the overnight lows. some of the places north and west of the beltway could be seeing upper 30s wednesday night and thursday morning. friday, mostly cloudy. a chance for scattered showers on saturday. sunday and monday things start to clear up. we main, again, below normal temperaturewise. back with more later. the latest on "jon and kate plus 8", now just "kate plus 8". according to tlc the show will be relaunched as "kate plus 8" in november. the show will be focused on the kids but will have a deeper focus on kate's role and her journey as a single mom. jon will still be on the show but not regularly. in june after months of speculation the gosselins confirmed on the show they were divorcing. another night of twists and

turns on "dancing with the stars." who proved they have what it takes to stay in the game? and who has a good chance of being shown the door? >> aaron carter and smirnoff are now in first place. >> there's first competition now. everybody's really stepping up. i'm just really honored to be here. >> reporter: also tied for first, maya and deplete tree -- dmitri who jackknifed their way to the top. >> you have to worry about the basics, executing those and pleasing the audience at the same time. i'm so happy we were able to do all three tonight. >> reporter: donny osmond and kim johnson and her sexy little dress. get this, it actually had to be lengthened after the dress rehearsal. >> i decided to go a little conservative. >> i think that's why we got the nine. >> reporter: swimmer natalie coughlin and actress debbie are tied for fourth place. the football star and his

partner were up a whopping seven points from last week. >> that's all we're looking for. steady. when we get there, at the top. >> reporter: and fast forward to a tie for last. tom delay and cheryl burke, and tony and kathy ireland. remember, to stay in the game they need your votes. another star must fall tonight. watch the results show starting at 9:00 on abc2. a fire dispatcher gets the call he never wanted to get. why he had to go running after he heard the address of the fire. and watch as a man dangles from suspension cables on a bridge in ohio. who finally got him down? excuse me, mary?

what? okay, ah. verizon's high speed internet and phone package give us more for less - speed, security and online storage! that's the edge our small business needs. tom, look what i found. verizon could help us be more productive within our budget. well done, mary! i know. boss, i found the perfect solution from verizon... great work tom. (tom) yea, well, you know. tom stole my thunder. i'm a machine. thunderstealer-tom. (announcer) want the perfect solution built for your small business? switch to verizon and get more for less. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v and for just $79.99, you'll get it all: a dedicated high-speed internet connection from our office to yours, unlimited nationwide calling, 50 gigs of online storage and our award-winning internet security suite. that's high speed internet, phone, storage and security for just $79.99 a month for 12 months with a 3-year contract. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v today and switch to the complete solution built for your small business.

abc2 news at 5:30 is coming up. i'm terry owens.

beefing up the city's smoking ban? what is being proposed now to curb underaged smoking. and some good news for health officials hoping to keep the swine flu in check. when the vaccine should start arriving in cities like baltimore. "in focus" tonight. the unprecedented efforts by the white house to bring the 2016 olympic games to the windy city. we'll have those stories norm is tracking ourlike weather. at 5:30. our news around the nation takes us to toledo, ohio, where there were tense moments as a man dangled from suspension cables. police say he made it all the way to the top of the bridge, nearly falling a few times until officers convinced him to come down. there's no word on why the man climbed up there in the first place. he was arrested and then he was taken to a hospital. it's not unusual for a dispatcher to get a call about a house fire but a massachusetts man was shocked when he realized the fire was at his house. >> i'm like, are you sure? are you sure of the address?

that's my house. >> mike boze's boss told him to get home and check on his parents who live with him. his family was safe but lost everything. he says he's just thankful no one was hurt. fighting hunger and free cheesecake. hmm. more on that sweet deal when abc2 news at 5:30 starts in just two minutes.

the city of baltimore wants to get even tougher on smoking. good evening, everybody. i'm terry owens. first came the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. now city officials are set to vote on two new measures designed to curb underaged smoking. but as abc2 news roosevelt leftwich reports, critics say it puts an unfair burden on adults. >> reporter: you can get them at just about any convenience store in the city. cigars, flavored tobacco wraps. convenient, easy to use and in

the case of the wraps taste sweet almost like candy. that's the problem. >> the flavor wrappers appeal to young people. that's what we need to stop. >> reporter: there are two separate measures here. the first would require little cigars to be sold in packs of five or more and would forbid single cigar sales. the second would ban the cigars in the city completely. a survey of 1500 teens, close to a quarter of them smoked just one brand of the little cigars, in the 30-day period. cigar smoking among teens in the city they say is on the rise. by selling these little cigars singly, the helicopter department says it's -- the helicopter department says -- the health department says it's encouraging the young people to smoke. and also something other than tobacco. that other thing is marijuana. the city says the