comfortable levels. the tropics, really steaming up. igor still a category 4 storm but a little weaker than yesterday. now joining the party is hurricane julia, it had been upgraded to hurricane status earlier. we'll show you the images in a few minutes. right now maryland's most powerful doppler radar and five complete sweeps across the chesapeake, sounding the all-clear. currently temperatures range from a chilly 56 in bel air with light winds, to 61 at the gwynn oak elementary school. so basically we're looking at temperatures this morning, 57 degrees officially in baltimore. and our 2-degree guaranteed high brings us up with sunny skies to 80 degrees this afternoon. by 4:00 p.m. lets check the roads with kim. good morning. traffic is moving very well around the beltway so far. no problems up and down 95. as we peek here in anne arundel county, this is going to be 97 at benfield boulevard. traffic is pretty good

northbound towards 695. no problems southbound as you approach route 50 making your way in towards the capitol beltway. traffic looks good towards dc so far. as we look at drive times, very few delays especially northbound 95. nine minutes between route 100 to 95. howard county, 10 minutes between i-70 to route 32. on the outer loop of the beltway southwest corner, no problems. only six minutes between i-70 and 95. one incident this morning, in western howard county, woodbine, they've actually closed the intersection of route 94 and old annapolis road again. we had downed poles and wires and utility work continues so expect to see minor delays out in that area. back to you. do you feel safe in baltimore? you're going to think about that when you vote today for city state's attorney. it's a race we have not seen like this in years in the city. here's linda so live for us this morning. linda? >> reporter: the challenger gregg bernstein will be out here in 30 minutes, first, to greet voters as they head to

the polls at cross country elementary school. let me tell you, this has been a fierce battle. the sidewalk is literally lined with signs. who will it be? that is the big decision voters will make today as they head to the polls to vote for the city's top prosecutor. patricia jessamy will be doing the same, meeting and greeting voters throughout the city. it's the final push in which turned out to be the city's hottest race. jessamy is fighting on to hold on to her 15 years as baltimore's top prosecutors. on monday she got an endorsement from a group of baptist ministers. bernstein also picked up an endorsement from billy murphy, a well known attorney and former judge in the city. this has been a lot about baltimore's high crime rate and which candidate will do a better job at making the city safer and keeping criminals in jail, convicted criminals from getting out. voters, again, will have the final say as they head to the polls when they open up at 7:00 this morning. live in baltimore, linda so, abc2 news. 6:33.

today's the last big primary day before november's mid-term elections. not just our state but six others. emily schmidt is in washington with more on the preview. >> reporter: on this primary day in seven states some candidates worry this may not be the year to be a party favorite. >> i actually have a conservative voting record as far as finances are concerned in congress. while i'm a moderate that is generally on the social issues. >> reporter: in democrat-dominated delaware gop leaders think mike castle is their only hope to win vice president biden's old senate seat. instead he's in a tight race with christine o'donnell. she's lost senate bids twice before. this time she has tea party backing. >> the republican party lots lost it's way. they get behind opponents who continue to support the democratic agenda lock, stock and barrel. >> this is governor sarah palin, vote for christine

o'donnell for u.s. senate. >> reporter: sarah palin recorded calls for o'donnell and candidates in two other states today. the tea party could also factor into new york's republican race for governor with its pick of carl palladino. >> we're coming to the end of a few months of a lot of hard work. >> reporter: he's now running in a dead heat with former congressman rick lazio. >> i think i'm a candidate that is going to bring people together, that will unify people. >> reporter: the winner will face democrat andrew cuomo. another new york race to watch. congressman charlie rangel has spent 20 times more money than the next closest candidate but also facing a looming ethics trial. a tea party favorite is also making for a tight race in new hampshire's senate contest. tea party favorites have already won primaries in six states this year. abc news, washington. 6:34. coming up next, as residents try to recover from a huge explosion in california, we have new video. >> we'll show you the fire just moments before the explosion

happened. >> a drunk driver plows into a liquor store just missing a family and the whole terrifying incident caught on tape.

c

my commute home to the eastern shore every night only takes an hour but that's more time than congress spends reading massive spending bills, it's crazy. that's why i wrote a law that requires 72 hours to read every bill. i read the big bills and i said no. no to the $3 trillion budget, no to the bank bailout, and no to the health care bill. at home you would never pay a bill without reading it neither should congress. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message because i'm proud to be ranked one of the most independent members of congress.

holy -- what the - >> we had a man who returned home to the blown-out neighborhood in san bruno taking incredible video of the huge ball of fire ripping through the neighborhood just after the explosion. the footage was taken from a house balcony just behind the pipe. as investigators tried to learn what caused the explosion questions of service about the pge pipe that blew out. a document outlining costs to replace the pipes says the likelihood of failure makes the risk of failure at this location unacceptably high. a suspected drunk driver is accused of hitting a bicyclist,

then smashing into a liquor store. much of the dramatic scene caught on camera. the driver of the car plowed into a vw bug with the woman an her child inside. her husband was in liquor store when the car came barreling through that store. all three were uninjured but the bicyclist did not survive. president obama is taken to the nation's airwaves again. this time will address the america's school children which he will tell them nothing is impossible as long as they dream big, work hard and focus on learning. the president will make that point today in philadelphia at a school when he delivers his second back-to-school pep talk. the white house released the text a day early so people could read the president's remarks beforehand and judge the comments for themselves. schools are not required to air the president's speech. 6:39 now. rafael inady'all is the -- nadal is the men's champ at the u.s. open in new york. it was the only major tennis title he had not won. nadal has now captured three

consecutive major tournaments and nine overall. the match was postponed sunday by rain and interrupted monday by a thunderstorm. nadal, who is 24, is the seventh man in tennis history with at least one title for each grand slam tournament. >> you put nadal on there and everybody is going, oh! >> i put my glasses on. he's cute. he really is. it's primary day. >> it is. back to news. it's primary day and one of the hottest races for the top prosecutor job in baltimore city. >> will it be bernstein or jessamy? i'm linda so. voters will decide as candidates make their final push on this primary election day. >> kevin kaminetz and joseph bartenfelder square off. i'm sherrie johnson, i'll have more on what the candidates have to say.

>> ray lewis lost a step? i don't think so. ray lewis is the best linebacker in football. no doubt about it. >> it was a w for the ravens in the meadowlands last night. >> before the jets lost some players had to say i'm sorry. why this reporter was so upset. >> 6:41. no apologize for this. we're minutes from sunrise. it's getting bright. we have a mix of sun, clouds and mostly clear weather expected but chilly 57 in baltimore. we'll have the warmer afternoon forecast and much more when we come back. >> we're actually looking pretty good through baltimore city, no issues on the jfx. however, we are getting reports of an accident northbound 95 at caton avenue. it's blocking some lanes and causing delays. we'll see how that will affect your commute when "good morning maryland" returns. in case of everyday emergencies, it's important to be prepared for dinner. that's why i've prepared my perdue perfect portions fresh chicken breasts.

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but we're 1-0 and of course helodi makes a big play at the end of the game so the ravens win 1-0 on the year. 10-9. first, we're going to the head coach of the weather center, meteorologist justin berk. >> i kind of like that. i got upgraded from julia this morning. >> where is your headset? >> right here. i need an impressive one. we have another hurricane to talk about. we'll do that in a couple of minutes. this morning we're down with chill. in bel air 55. a lot of us in the 50s to low 60s. we'll have a mix of sun and clouds this afternoon. with our 2-degree guaranteed high of 80 degrees. for the chief of traffic center, here's kim brown. >> thank you. we have a bad accident this morning. northbound 95 as you approach caton avenue you'll see the two left lanes and shoulder blocked at this time. as we look at the cameras, emergency crews on scene, traffic begins to slow at about 195. if you're coming in towards the

city i probably would take the bw parkway as an alternate or perhaps washington boulevard but try to avoid 95 because these delays are just going to get worse until they get this crash cleared. back to you. 6:46. today will determine who is going to be baltimore's next prosecutor. it has been a nasty race with debates over race, crime and experience. today it all comes to a close. linda so is live in the city with more. >> reporter: both candidates are not going down without a fight. they will be working overtime today. gregg bernstein is expected here in 15 minutes to greet voters as polls open up at cross country elementary school. jessamy will be spending her day doing the same going around the city to meet and greet voters. it's their final push, what turned out to be the city's hottest race. jessamy is fighting to hold on to her 15 years as baltimore's top prosecutor. on monday she received an endorsement from baptist ministers. bernstein picked up an

endorsement from billy murphy, well known attorney and former judge. this race has been a lot about baltimore's high crime rate and which candidate will do a better job at making the city safer. voters will get their final say as they head to the polls on this primary election day. polls open at 7:00. 6:47. republican ken on his way to see who is going to win. the joseph bartenfelder/ken kaminetz race. >> reporter: they will square off in primary voting today. they are both four-term councilmen. kaminetz has been accused of an ugly mud-slinging smear campaign, bartenfelder has chosen for a positive campaign. the democratic primary for baltimore county executive is

one of the hottest races in the area. >> we have a great county, fiscally well managed but we have challenging times. i think when times are going well we tend to keep doing things the same way. now that we're facing difficult times i'm looking forward to the opportunity of rethinking how do we do things. and can we start to do more things with less? >> we're going to have to have somebody who uses the right judgment as we move in order in baltimore county and make -- forward in baltimore county and make the right decisions to handle things efficiently and effectively.. >> reporter: it's estimated 32% of eligible voters will turn out. the nice weather and hot races will draw voters to the polls today. in the studio, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. 6:49. let's look at more democracy 2010 news. a crowded field of republicans is competing in the chance to take on democratic senator barbara mikulski who is seeking

her fifth term. 11 republican candidates are running. county commissioner commission eric wargotz seems to be the frontrunner. he's dumped $757,000 of his own money into his bid. three republicans are vying to take on comptroller peter franchot. the youngest in, brendan madigan who is still in high school. armand girard is a retired high school math teacher from baltimore. abc news is your new source for democracy 2010. we'll have live team coverage tonight of the hottest races in the area. we'll have you covered with the up to the minute results. head to abc2news.com for the interviews with the candidates

and a handful of the selected primary races. 6:50. even before kickoff look at ray rice getting into it with the jets. he flings a football right here. then former raven bart scott in the upper righthand corner of the screen flings it back. but anquan bolden was the star of this one. great catch right here. he was the great target for joe flacco, as joe rolls out here and fires another one to bolden, over 100 yards receiving for the new wide receiver for the ravens. this is more like flag football. the jets held the ravens more than i held my wife on our honeymoon night. what do you think of that? here's a trivia question. who is the coach of the ravens? oh, there's coach harbaugh and coach cam cameron who called for this big play. watch this. the tight end, todd heap stretches it out and all we heard in the meadowlands, heap! what a great catch. the ravens move the ball making

third-down conversions. where was ray lewis? in the middle of everything. keller, you're not catching it. on that big third down play, hello, sacking sanchez and this would hand sanchez to keller who stepped out of bounds before making a first down. ravens win 10-9, the jets cannot cash that check. >> we bend but we don't break. that's how we played today. we proved we can be the number one defense out there. >> i'm proud of the football team. i'm proud of the ravens. i thought we were disciplined. i thought we were poised, i thought we played with fundamental soundness. ok? that is a team that creates havoc against you and you have to be able to dust off the situations and be able to play the next play. >> the ravens play the next game in cincinnati coming up sunday. an apology will get you far. all you have to do is ask "dressed to thrill" tv reporter ines sainz, she got a call from the new york jets who

apologized. the i'm sorry came after she made allegations that she was harassed by personnel this weekend. the nfl says it's investigating media reports that jets players behaved inappropriately including allegedly hooting and hollering at her in the locker room. she said monday that woody johnson called her, apologized and she said she accepts that and thanks him for his concern. after two weeks of jury selection the ken harris murder trial got underway with testimony from the only person who witnessed his death. almost two years ago an armed robber shot the former councilman in his car outside of the new haven lounge. the mysterious woman seen next to him that night took the stand. monica foreman-robinson told the jury that she met harris through banking at the same financial institution and they became good friends. she testified that she saw a person in a halloween mask shouting at harris just moments before he got into his car. he attempted to start it and something shook the vehicle. when he attempted to drive away

he struck a tree, she learned he had been shot. the state claims that the suspect, jerome williams' dna ties him to the mask but they dispute that claim. >> no one could identify the three individuals. as i indicated in my opening, this is a high-profile case and my suspicion is the police department had to make a quick arrest to calm the fears of the community. >> the state's witness list contains more than 50 names and the trial is expected to take almost a month to complete. 6:53. little italy is expected to have power restored. crews worked all day yesterday to replace an underground cable that failed sunday morning. we spoke with vince over at sabatino's, just one of the many restaurants closed for two days as the crews work to bury the new cable. >> lost business is like lost sleep. once it's gone it's gone.

but it happens. sometimes you have a snowstorm. sometimes you have a power outage. >> still no word on the cause of the fire. that damaged that underground cable. 6:54. the university of maryland hospital for children unveiled a new fun center for patients yesterday. >> the starlight fun center was a donation from the wyndham hotel group and it's a mobile nintendo wii which can be wheeled up to the child's bed when it's time for an iv change. doctors and staff say it's a nice distraction for young patients and allows them to be kids. good morning. 6:54. you'll hear more about this on "good morning america" coming up in a few minutes. i want to point out julia upgraded to hurricane status this morning. winds 75 miles per hour and just off the coast of africa. igor down a little bit in strength but still a category 4 storm, 135 mile-per-hour winds.

it's going to pass just to the north of the caribbean islands and probably going to weaken at least to a category 3 or 2 as it sets sites towards bermuda by this weekend. not going to hit the east coast but big waves expected in ocean city with nice weather this weekend. at home not much going on, 57 in town. a clear to partly cloudy start. we'll have a mostly sunny sky with just a few high clouds streaming in from the western system today. that system, if anything, just adding texture to the sky and beautiful sunrise now. we're also looking at this afternoon, mostly sunny, we warm up to the 2-degree guaranteed high of 80. overnight, we're generally clear to partly cloudy. that allows us to slip back into the mid-50s. we cool off this evening. tomorrow, near normal, 78. sun and a few clouds. 82 thursday, a shower possible. that next system will bring us a better chance of thunderstorms on friday, a 80. ongoing utility repair in

woodbine still has route 94 at old annapolis closed in both directions. a crash in baltimore city northbound 95 approaching caton avenue. this is pretty much stretching to 195 this morning. delays are running close to 10 minutes. allow extra time. drive times are going be to up again, 95 corridor, 29 looks good. just one more accident to let you know about. that is in reisterstown, doba road at butler road. >> we're going to send you now to new york for "good morning america." join us throughout the rest of the morning. because we'll be back.

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