he's not who he said he was and a woman was fooled. we'll tell you when not to fall for a badge and uniform. and a new law aimed at teenaged smokers. and a night for o.j. it was a great night to fight als. we'll hear from his wife who was extremely touched by the crowd. thank you for joining us this wednesday morning. i'm megan pringle. >> i'm jamie costello. nice cool night yesterday. let's find out the forecast here today. here's justin.

>> good morning. i want to back it up and show you this beautiful time lapse imagery from yesterday which, by the way, was jamie's birthday, if you missed it. 50 years old! i didn't say young there. got to be honest. no, you look wonderful, man. yesterday looked wonderful, too. we had a sunny start. took until about lunchtime and early afternoon to build in the clouds in downtown baltimore. we turned overcast at some point with winds over 20 miles per hour. a sharp contrast to the 76-have a good day that -- 76-degree day. we built in clouds overnight. that held our temperatures at 53 in pylesville. we're showing you harford county here with joppa at 54 degrees. 55 havre de grace middle school. as we show you some spinks up to the north and back to the west, sprinkles, they are trying to make their way to the pennsylvania line. otherwise it's about the clouds, mid-50s and the breeze despite the fact that some sun tries to slip through

this afternoon. only 67 as our two-degree guarantee. 6:31. let's check the roads with kim. >> we have some minor slowing on the northeast corner of the beltway at harford road as traffic begins to build all around the area. we don't have incidents around 695 and the tunnels are checking in without incident. though i'm getting word of a crash in pleasant hills, harford county at blair road near the intersection of mountain road and fallston interchange. this is downtown, mlk at fayette street, we have some traffic beginning to build towards downtown baltimore but again everything is looking pretty good. back to you. 6:32. just because somebody is wearing a uniform doesn't mean they are an official. a woman in west baltimore kind of learned that the hard way. the victim claims she got a phone call last week about a delinquent water bill. the next day a guy dressed in a city uniform, sporting a badge, said he was there to collect the payment or shut off the water. >> he said they don't collect

checks and they don't -- i so i gave him $535 in cash. he said thank you. >> yeah, the victim said she was suspicious after the man left and she called the water department that is web she learned, hey, your bill is still unpaid. dpw officials are telling all of us they never send people out to collect cash. city police are investigating now. baltimore city council is trying to toughen the laws dealing with smoking. the committee proved two measures yesterday. one would ban candy-flavored wrapping papers in the city. the other would mandate that cheap cigars be sold in packs of five or more instead of being sold as single cigars. supporters say it would help curb teen smoking but opponents say it's unfair for adults. >> whether you like it or not adults can legally, lawfully smoke cigars. and what you're doing is you are dramatically

inconveniencing adults, your adult constituents. >> not to prohibit the sale of the cigars but to mandate them to be sold in packages of five or more, to remove the easy access to our teens and all from getting these products. >> a third measure to ban smoking near hospitals was tabled for the committee for further study. we want your two cents on this story. what do you think? do you think the city should expand the smoking ban? go to the right-hand side of the home page at abc2news.com. 5:34. a champion on the football field and in life. well, o.j. briggans celebrated his -- brigance celebrated his 40th birthday. two rings for o.j. brought fans and family to m & t bank stadium to honor him. there he is. he was diagnosed with als, also known as lou gehrig's disease

back in 2007. the event was called two rings for o.j. in tribute to the championships he helped bring to baltimore playing with the cfl and ravens. his wife was overwhelmed. >> we're so humbled by the love that everyone has given to us and all that everyone has done. i mean, i can't say enough. >> it's an opportunity for his teammates, for people close to him just to show our love to him and his family. that's why i'm here. >> nice to see him. there's terrell suggs. they all showed up to lend their support to the cause. his friends made it happen but it's o.j. that has been calling this work to find a cure for als and saying telling his story is his finest honor. as if a new mom doesn't have enough on her mom when going into. >> -- into labor.

>> she decided to multitask to ease the minds of her family in the waiting room. might be a good time to go to disney world. you can win a free ticket to the happiest place on earth. in the mid-50s this morning. much like mr. costello. it doesn't get old, does it? >> some things do. let's check the roads with kim. >> we have building volume here on the east side of the outer loop at harford road. the only accident in the area, belair road near mountain and fallston road interchange. now let's check the commute. >> good morning. so far so good out there for travel on the marc, no delays on the camden, penn, or brunswick lines. on the buses, heavy volume on the 13, 7 and 23 bus lines. light rail and metro subway are on time. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones. just as we promise 100% fresh produce... and rancher's reserve beef,

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kim brown. she tweets to tell but traffic all morning long but one mother in kansas city is using to it keep her family in the know. when the new baby is born the family normally waits anxiously in the lobby for word from the mom and the dad. but twitter made it possible for them to know what was really going on while it was going on. you see the mom, candy started a mommy blogging site in kansas city. when she went into labor she decided to take to it a new level. >> i sent out, just kind of the first update that we were getting ready to have the baby. we were leaving for the hospital. i just didn't really have a plan. i just kind of did it when i could and didn't make extra effort to do it. i just did it between contractions. >> that's cute. that is some twitter dedication. mom even posted a picture of her third child just moments after he came into the world. the new baby is named jacob

david. i have a new idea for justin. >> i wonder how many typos were in the tweets>> how do you spell ouch? >> ooh. >> you got to do it now. >> no. >> yeah. >> no. coming up next on "good morning maryland" -- >> part of your car probably never thought it could be this dangerous. >> before you get into your car we have an important recall to tell you about. it could save your life. i'm linda so. details coming up. 6:40. how about getting into the bus. in a couple of hours we're live at joppatowne elementary school. mid-50s, mostly cloudy, even a sprinkle up near the pennsylvania line. we'll talk about the cool days ahead in just a bit. stay with us. we'll be right back after this. getting dirty the art of getting clean salsa doesn't stand a chance against the power of wisk®. wisk®. powerfully clean. perfectly priced.

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toyota floors us with this recall. floor mats could jam your gas pedal and cause a crash. we'll tell you if your car is on the bring-back list. [sirens] >> one man's decision to crash bang his car near hopkins hospital.

the pictures you'll only see on abc2 news "good morning maryland." and pretty in pink. the city takes on a new glow to make us all aware of the fight against breast cancer. thank you for joining us this morning. >> let's go get some weather, here's justin. >> good morning. you want glow? check this out. 6:44. our live view downtown looking eastbound. we've got it overcast except for just a little sliver of the eastern sky. the clouds extend out towards the beaches and then the atlantic is where the clear air is found, clear sky that is. while we may see a little glimpse of the sunrise coming up in about 19 minutes in baltimore but officially we'll call it overcast, 56 on the thermometer and 50s pretty much across the atlantic. we've got the chilly breeze, also sprinkles coming through just clipping their way now from about york through adams county and maybe up near the pennsylvania line so it's possible hereford zone back towards manchester, maybe even westminster getting a sprinkle.

otherwise it's just a cloudy sky and wrapping around this area of low pressure to the north. we'll be looking at the clouds try to break to a partly sunny afternoon. looks like clear and chilly tonight but otherwise a downtown temperature, this afternoon, 67. again, mostly cloudy to partly sunny. kim? we've had 291 followers on twitter so far. if we can get to 300 today that would be neat. let's look at the 695, northeast part of the beltway at harford road. that's a big slowdown towards providence road headed to the top side of the beltway. that's really just volume, no incidents on 695 to let you know about. dc commuters, a heads up. southbound on the bw parkway in south laurel between route 197 and powder mill road, bw parkway southbound is shut down because of a crash, the right lane might -- sorry, the right shoulder might be getting by but if you 23450ed to take 95 -- need to take 95 that is probably your best alternate. don't hop on the parkway soon. pleasant hills, near bel air roads near mountain and fallston roads, use caution at that intersection.

jfx at north avenue, traffic building but looking good in both directions at this time. back to you. 6:46. you think what can go wrong with your car? your floor mat probably not on the list. >> but toyota says they can cause a deadly problem and it is issuing a major recall. linda so has the details. >> the recall affects some of the most popular models for toyota and lexus. this morning we're hearing the chilling 911 call made just moments before a california family was killed. the problem, shifting floor mats that jammed the brakes. >> 911 emergency, what are you you reporting? >> our accelerator is stuck. we're in trouble. there's no brakes! >> ok, and you don't have the ability to, like, turn the vehicle off? >> approaching the intersection! we're approaching the intersection! hold on. pray! >> the problem stems from driver-side floor mats that can move around and get stuck under the accelerator. the recall affects these car models, the toyota camry, ascra

long -- avalon, prius, takoma tundra and three lexus models. owners should get rid of the floor mats immediately and not replace them. >> it's an unknown hazard that is waiting to strike. and when it happens the average driver doesn't have the reactions of a fighter pilot and can't bring the car under control. >> back in 2000 five toyota recalled more than 900,000 vehicles to fix a steering issue. in the studio, linda so, abc2 news. exclusive video to abc2 news. it looks like it's out of the episode of "cops." our overnight photographer was on the scene of this car crash as it happened. in facts he was directly behind the car that was hit. this started as a police pursuit in west baltimore and ended when a red van crashed into a car near caroline and monument streets. it's near johns hopkins hospital. the driver of the van was being followed by the city police chopper, sped off. when police tried to pull him over he t-boned a car from

monument street. that crash caused the van to hit a security guard outside of the booth. the driver of the car and security guard both taken to the hospital. the driver of the van was taken to the hospital but in handcuffs. we're getting new information on the overdose of a university of maryland researcher. police say 29-year-old carrie johns died after using a drug used to treat heroin addicts. on monday clinton mccracken called 911 and said his girlfriend had overdosed. she died a short time later. mccracken told police that johns had injected a drug used to help heroin addicts get through withdrawal. but it's dangerous when abused by nonaddicts. >> if you're not a heroin addict and you use it and inject it you can overdose really quickly as we saw here with this woman. >> police believe mccracken ordered the drugs on-line from a pharmacy in the philippines.

investigator found more than 25 marijuana plants in that home as well. he faces drug charges in connection with those plants. he's free on bail. he's not charged in connection with his girlfriend's death. it's a robbery of explosive proportions. baltimore county police are looking for two world war ii era grenades stolen from a home in monkton last week. police warn they can be very dangerous because they don't know if the grenades are active. so if you have any information about this baltimore county police want to hear from you, 1-866-7-lockup. 6:50. in maryland tomorrow you can no longer text and drive. but on capitol hill today there's a push to make it a nationwide ban. the department of transportation will meet today to figure out how to curb the growing and dangerous trend of texting behind the wheel. 2008 numbers show that drivers who weren't paying attention took nearly 6,000 lives. it also says that drivers who are texting are 20 times more

likely to get into a crash. >> so we need to raise public awareness that texting is a bad thing to do while you're driving. >> it's about the same as driving when you're drunk. >> only 16 states and the district of columbia prohibit texting and driving. the transportation secretary says he would like to ban the practice nationwide. breaking news. indonesia's meteorological agency says a powerful earthquake has shaken western indonesia. this is a look at where it happened. the pacific tsunami warning center issued a tsunami alert for indonesia, malaysia, india, as well as thailand. the indonesian agency said the tremor had a magnitude of 7.6. it's epicenter was just off the coast of sumatra. the u.s. geological survey put the strength at 7.9. it's caused fires, damaged

homes and bridges near the epicenter of the quake. witnesses tell local tv stations that buildings collapsed in the powerful indonesian earthquake. right now no word on injuries. and the death toll -- we've just been -- this is just in to the -- the president has declared a major disaster for the tsunami-ravaged american samoa. the death toll of the wave in the pacific is expected to grow now. we know 82 people have been killed in samoa and american samoa. villages are flooded out, flattened. authorities say dozens of people are missing cars and people were swept out to sea by the fast-churning water as survivors fled to higher ground where they remain huddled hours after the quake struck. thousands of happy reunions will happen across the country in the next month. the top general in iraq said about 4,000 troops will be brought home, that will leave 20,000 troops still overseas. the general will officially announce the drawback and the drawdown at a house armed

service committee hearing that is happening later on today. deep discounts if you plan on flying southwest this fall. as well as the winter. the airline announced a major fare sale for seats to certain destinations starting as low as $59 each way. it's from october 13th to february 11th but they will not offer flights near thanksgiving or christmas. you do a good deed, you go to disney world. disney is now offering free-day admission to one million guests that do one day of volunteer work next year. give a day get a disney day program will provide volunteers with a ticket to disney world or disneyland and disney is partnering up with hansen network, a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities, to connect people with projects and to certify that the work was done. you volunteer, you get a disday at disney. >> i love it. pink is our favorite color. >> abc2 is working to bring awareness and raise money to fight breast cancer in the united states.

city hall also wants to support and will do it in a bright way. sherrie johnson has more. >> reporter: good morning. that's right. this morning city hall goes pink. that all starts at 11:30 this morning. this is all a part of october's breast cancer awareness month. this morning baltimore city mayor sheila dixon along with the maryland affiliate of susan g. komen race for the cure will light the city hall dome pink. the race for the cure will be held in hunt valley once again. komen maryland conducted a 10-month study to evaluate the state of breast cancer in most of maryland. the report showed that women and families in comb maryland service area -- komen maryland service area had high death rates from breast cancer. that is why maryland komen officials say routine checkups are really important. ask what we hope is that people will get a little bit tuned into breast cancer awareness and will think about what they've done in terms of their own health and have they had their mammogram this year and had their clinical breast exam?

>> reporter: according to komen, maryland has the fifth highest cancer rate in the country. african-american women in maryland do not have as high as incidence of breast cancer as white women but have a higher death rate when compared to white women. this means once diagnosed an african-american woman has a better chance of dying from breast cancer than a white woman. and more than 800 women in maryland will die of breast cancer this year. the race is october 18th. for more information go to abc2news.com. click on the "think pink" tab at the top of the page. reporting live in downtown baltimore, sherr sure, abc2 news. time now 6:55. the party over for kathy ireland. the former supermodel and actress was sent packing last night on "dancing with the stars." meanwhile, some of the celebrity dancers continue to shine. mya, aaron carter and donny osmond topped the leaderboard. next week the remaining 13

couples will take on the rumba. mostly cloudy skies here at 6:55. we're in the mid-50s and will remain mostly cloudy to partly sunny this afternoon. there's a possibility of a sprinkle up near the pennsylvania line but otherwise just a breezy day, upper 60s. 40s tonight. 67, more sun tomorrow. we're getting into the low 70s friday into the weekend with another chance of a round of showers on saturday. still slow on both loops of the outer loop on the beltway. but good news if you're traveling southbound on the bw parkway. between route 197 and powder mill road. it's been reopened. traffic only briefly held for that crash that has been moved to the shoulder. we're still dealing with significant delays on the bw parkway this morning. thank you so much for joining us. >> off to joppatowne. >> see you at 9:00.