as of 3:00 this afternoon that is 31,000 out of all the city's registered voters. the elections supervisor says this could be one of the lowest turnouts in the county in many years. more on this story at 6:00. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >> thank you. it's the marquis matchup for primary. the bitterly fought battle to be the democratic candidate for city state's attorney. we have the team coverage of the christian schaffer joins us live from the south baltimore headquarters of democratic incumbent patricia jessamy. christian? >> reporter: that's right. we're at the baltimore rowing club which serves as what she hopes will be her victory party tonight. it's expected to be a close race between her and attorney gregg bernstein. it's the first time she's faced a stiff challenge in her 15-year career. as some of the numbers that rosy was talking about earlier are definitely playing out in precincts in this area. i checked with a few precincts. let me give you the numbers. thomas johnson elementary

school, 23rd ward, third precinct, 9.6% as of 4:00 this afternoon. the same building, another precinct, 10.4%. and south side academy in cherry hill, 8%. at arundel elementary school in cherry hill also, 8%. low turnout, they say usually favors an incumbent. we'll have to see if it plays out like this here. we'll watch the numbers as they come in. christian schaffer, abc2 news. >> thank you. jessamy's opponent is gregg bernstein, a former federal prosecutor. he's attacked jessamy on everything from her running of the witness protection program to her prosecution of one witness cases. brian kuebler has more. >> reporter: we are at the jd smokehouse where bernstein plans his election watch party tonight. the polls don't close for

another few hours so it's empty now. earlier today gregg bernstein was casting his vote. he's vying for the city state's attorney in what is one of if not the most hotly contested race today. jessamy and bernstein have been battling this out for months now. it's believed he's run a good race and he's optimistic. >> we're feeling very good. the same energy and enthusiasm we've seen from the citizens of baltimore throughout the campaign. we're seeing as they walk up to the polls. >> reporter: again, those polls are open for another three hours, the festivities in canton won't really get started until 8:00 this evening. reporting live in canton, brian kuebler, abc2 news. >> thank you. maryland u.s. senator barbara mikulski is seeking a fifth term. she face as primary challenge from six candidates and crowded field of republicans is competing for the chance to take on the democratic winner. 11 candidates are running.

county commissioner eric wargotz seems to be frontrunner in that race. he's dumped $575,000 of his own money into his bid. we find another packed ballot in the races for maryland's third congressional district. representative john sarbanes faces four fellow democrats in his bid for a third term serving the third congressional district in central maryland. none of them raised enough money to mount a serious primary challenge today. in the district representing sections of baltimore, parts of anne arundel county, baltimore and howard counties. it features four candidates led in fundraising by technology consultant jim waltham of annapolis. he says he stands for term relief and tougher enforcement of federal immigration laws. one of the other areas is in baltimore county. the race for county executive, puts kevin kamenetz against joseph bartenfelder. both have been longtime councilmen and have taken shots at each other in political ads.

we begin with jeff hager at the bartenfelder camp in parkville tonight. >> reporter: if you're looking for honest joe don't look here. he's out there at the precincts, he's been working them all day. to that end we understand he's continuing this same line of campaign, door-knocking, putting shoe leather to concrete, old school traditional campaigning if you like that we've seen for the past few months. earlier today the candidate stopped off to cast his own ballot, that was at the fullerton firehouse and since that time he's been hitting polling places, we understand, across the county. perry hall, dundalk and parkville. greeting voters also in overlea, milford mill, randallstown, edgemere, wherever he can find the meager number of voters that are out today. bartenfelder is taking on his longtime fellow baltimore county councilman, chairman kevin kamenetz and honest joe has prided himself on running a clean campaign. he maintains, while his

opponents try to tie images even of the bp oil spill to joe's environmental record. kevin kamenetz outspent bartenfelder 4-1 on advertising while joe spent more on signage and brochures, but this ceapt has spent a -- candidate has spent a lot of his time knocking on doors even today as people are telling us, in spite of the fire and police union endorsement and the campaign basically playing itself out he's not only been out all day but understandably 400 of his workers have been at the precincts throughout the county throughout the day. i should say 400 on the beltway. a total of a thousand still tout today with the -- out today with joe bartenfelder signs trying to make an impact in the last three hours of voting. back to you. >> thank you. >> bartenfelder's opponent kevin kamenetz is also a four-term veteran of the council. the race is expected to be the closest primary contest for that nomination in three decades. cheryl conner joins us live and

continues our team coverage from the kevin kamenetz camp in pikesville. >> reporter: i can tell you that nothing is being taken for granted tonight. kevin kamenetz is still out working the polls, campaigning. pretty soon supporters will join him here at the hilton in pikesville, as the democratic hopeful hopes to move on to the general election for baltimore county executive. kevin kamenetz cast his ballot during early voting and plans to make at least seven stops at polling places today. his day started in his hometown of owings mills. you see him here at,well valley elementary school this afternoon. i talked to his campaign manager this afternoon who said they are not discouraged by low voter turnout because they saw a good response in the key areas early like randallstown. kevin kamenetz says he's the best candidate to become ceo of a $2.5 billion corporation that

is baltimore county. touting his record on public safety and working to modernize county government but has to beat out joseph bartenfelder who also had a long-fought campaign, spending thousands of dollars after serving 16 years on the county council. now the kevin kamenetz camp hopes more people come out to the polls 7xvññtonight. of course they are open for another three hours, until 8:00. kevin kamenetz is expected to be here at the hilton at 9:00 and again this room is expected to be full of supporters. we'll be here throughout the night as those numbers come in. live in pikesville, cheryl conner, abc2 news. >> thank you. u.s. representative dutch ruppersberger faces a primary challenge from an accountant who says he wants to end reckless spending in congress. jeffrey morris from pasadena is one of three democrats hoping to end dutch ruppersberger's fifth term. five candidates are seeking the republican nomination. the leader in the gop campaign fundraising is marcelo

carterelli of brooklynville. positions include former republican candidate ellen salabre. and three republicans are taking on peter franchot. the youngest is 18-year-old brendan madigan who is still in high school. 63-year-old bill campbell is former chief financial officer for the department of veterans affairs, and just received an endorsement from former governor robert ehrlich. the third candidate is 72-year-old armand girard, a retired high school math teacher from baltimore. we want you to know that abc2 news is your source for democracy 2010. at 11:00 tonight we'll have live team coverage of the races and we'll bring you the latest results from all the major races in the mid-term primary. as always abc2news.com will have you covered with up to the minute results as well as video updates from the key headquarters. for all the voters still headed out this afternoon,

weather looking good for the last-second voters. in fact, a few clouds over the state now. we won't have blazing sunshine into the sunset here because a stalled front just south of the baltimore area, kind of keeping cloud cover around. we look at winds, it's been a little breezy at times today. winds gusting 20, 25. so we had a fire advisory up from the national weather service today. for dry and breezy conditions. so outdoor burning still a bad idea in maryland. 78 at the inner harbor. 76 in annapolis. the rest of the evening will be in the 70s but eventually dropping into the 60s. a cooler night ahead and the rest of the week featuring changes in the weather as well. that's coming up. tonight the power is back on in baltimore's little italy neighborhood. dozens of folks were left in the dark after a sunday morning fire. crews worked all day yesterday to replace an underground cable that failed. still no word on exactly what caused the fire damage in the underground cable. we have new video tonight

from businesses around the site of that huge gas explosion and fire in california. there's a problem that is usually concealed underground. we'll have the latest. plus, some thieves get away with more than 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel. how police are trying to track down the suspects. and, teens and 'tweens love to go shopping for the latest fashions. we're going to break down the top five trends that kids are into this fall. looking at easton now, currently sitting at 76 degrees. wyett has a complete look at the forecast coming up for this election day. with óp

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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.

the city of san bruno, california, is settling down after the horrendous pipeline explosion that destroyed part of a neighborhood thursday night. questions are being asked about the safety of gas pipelines under residential neighborhoods. also emerging, video and 911

calls from the first panicked moments. here's abc's diana avillar. >> we have possibly several blocks on fire at this time. >> reporter: in the moments following the explosion the scene in san bruno was pair chaos. >> be advised san bruno -- >> reporter: tuesday first responders recalled what they saw as they drove up. >> there were citizens fleeing the street running up the hill. san bruno police department was arriving on scene. it was very chaotic. >> reporter: authorities announced the remains of a fourth victim have been recovered. they've also allowed most residents whose home are in tact to return. most aren't sure they want to. >> people say it's all -- even if people say it's all clean, ready to go back inside i don't know if i want to live there.

>> reporter: a bigger question, what happened in san bruno could happen anywhere. consider this, the nation has some 2.5 million miles of subterranean pipeline, much of it at least 40 years old. pg & e said the pipeline had been inspected as soon as march and showed no signs of anything that foreshadowed the terrible tragedy that followed. those doing the inspecting are also under scrutiny. a former employee is suing the company, he says for turning a blind eye to safety. diana avillar, abc news, los angeles. it was great weather to go boating. >> we had a good-looking day out there. clouds rolled in this afternoon and with that temperatures hovered in the upper 70s. not too hot. we like it. we're going to keep this going another couple of days. >> no complaints. >> not too hot.

80 degrees. beautiful sunrise this morning. if you were up early. i wasn't, but if you were, you saw it. recap it, in towson here, our weathernet camera capturing a nice-looking day. you can see at times there was decent sunshine poking through but a cool front coming through today kicking up the breezes. as we went late into the day squeeze finally clearing out a little bit as that boundary pushes further south. nice sunny start in mount airy but again the clouds at times becoming overcast there. so, really, a mixed day of weather in terms of how much blue sky we were seeing but overall temperatures comfortable, upper 70s and there was a bit of a northwest breeze. some fire concerns still, here's why, gusty winds and even though we had decent rains on saturday, not incredible but some rain things are still awfully dry out there. overall, the weather pattern of the last three weeks, that plus the wind making for the possibility at least of some

tender -- very flammable vegetation out there, especially in the wooded areas. so temperature-wise, highs today, talking about upper 70s and right now we're still in the mid-70s from fallston to northeast. bel air still 80 but most spots dropped off. westminster 76 right now. winds across the state, steady at 10 or so. a little quieter up north of the pennsylvania line, but it will stay breezy tonight. highs comfortable but again would have been a bit warmer if we had seen more of a steady sunshine today but just didn't happen. boundaries sneaking through dropping our humidity levels comfortably low except for maybe in cambridge where it's a little muggier. as we take you across the region you can see this cluster of cloud cover on our satellite and radar image. we have no rain on maryland's most powerful doppler radar but what we do have is some decent cloud cover, especially from baltimore south into southern maryland. it's all part of that pesky stalled-out frontal boundary and as we look at the overall pattern, that boundary sliding south through the day but on

the whole just taking its time to move much further south. through the day, partly cloudy skies are the rule but no huge deal weatherwise for us. even into the day on thursday, i think a mix of clouds and sunshine. the next weathermaker doesn't make it here into friday. that is here. another boundary coming down the pike, this may have low pressure riding along it. that means decent rains we think on friday. we could really use those to help quell that fire danger. there's that disturbance pushing in late thursday. in the tropics, it keeps getting more active. hurricane igor still category 4 with a well defined eye. tropical storm julia just upgraded to a hurricane by the national weather service so we now have two hurricanes out in the atlantic ocean and our track still brings this hurricane, this powerhouse igor, which could make cat 5 status potentially but looks like it stays a strong 4, brings it right over the island

of bermuda. if that track doesn't change. still a wide track but very interesting situation for the island there as we go into the weekend. we'll be tracking igor closely and julia behind it. 54 tonight, a few clouds tomorrow. i think a lot of sunshine actually. 79 though behind that front. so things looking better for us. into tomorrow night we're talking about 56, partly cloudy and dry. 7-day forecast, the trend, basically more decent weather on tap here. we will have the chance, again, for showers late thursday into friday. right now the weekend looking like a lot of sunshine. kelly? >> thank you. for many teens and 'tweens fashion is very important. they like the bright colors and want to look good for all their peers. abc2 news sherrie johnson hits the stores to find the top five fashion tips for teens and tweens. >> reporter: here at cohen clotheiers in cockeysville it's about looking good for teens and 'tweens, that is 9 to 14,

this family-owned store has been in business for 100 years. you'll find parents and children searching for the perfect outfit. pat cohen is the coowner of the store and offers five fashion tips for the fall. >> this is roxy. this is a roxy skirt with the layers, which is popular. should probably wear this with black leggings and little knit jacket. a lot of bright colors we have this year too. this is the rockets and rock dolls, a new brand for us. for the fall. we're doing really well with it. the longer flowy top. again, with the leggings or skinny jeans. girls like the scarves to accessorize. again for us this year, the frye boots, we're just starting to get them in, the cowboy boots, they are a big thing this year, too. the jeans, with the -- all the worn-out look. this can be accessorized with

the ravens colors. the belts are popular with the rhinestones this year. this knit jacket with roxy skinny jeans and roxy flat shoes. a lot of the girls like the flat shoes for going out in the evening and accessorize with a pretty bright skirt and woven shirts are popular for the girls too. this is for the boys 8 to 20. these are the bright-colored pants which the boys really like. plaid shirt, you can put a tie with it. that's the brand that is really popular with the boys. >> reporter: following these tips will have you looking your best for the school year. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. exercise and diet are key to living a healthy life but getting motivated can be tough for some folks. how counseling is helping some improve their quality of life.

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we're working on brand new stories for 5:30. i'm roosevelt leftwich. more than 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel is stolen in anne arundel county. how much this is worth and how many trucks of fuel it could power? who washes hands more often in public restrooms? men or women. a new survey lists who is the nastiest. plus, we're all trying to save a buck or two and coupons help. how saving money can be as easy as looking at your cell phone. that plus wyett's forecast all

coming up at 5:30. in tonight's "health alert" -- incorporating a healthy diet and consistent exercise in daily life can be a tough road for a lot of folks. it can be even harder when trying to get motivated on your own. a new study found that exercise and diet counseling intervention in primary care may lead to better quality of life and lower medical costs over time. here's abc's dr. timothy johnson. >> reporter: the combination of a healthy diet and regular exercise is known to reduce the risk for a host of diseases. but for many people it can be difficult to make lifestyle changes without a lot of support. a new swedish study found that exercise and diet counseling intervention appeared to improve quality of life among adults at moderate-to-high risk of heart disease. 151 men and women were involved in the three-year study. half the participants attended group meetings, diet counseling and exercise training on a regular basis.

the other half were given verbal and written information about diet and exercise at one group meeting. although initial costs were higher for the intervention group patients had fewer doctors' visits in the three-year period. this ultimately saved them more money and time than the non-intervention group. in diseases that are strongly affected by inactivity researchers say such lifestyle interventions ventions could be an important key to fighting those illnesses. with this medical minute, i'm dr. timothy johnson. cheerleaders and mascots are a mainstay of football and basketball games but what happens when one of the mascots eats a cheerleader? that story is coming up at 5:30. ♪ ♪ ♪

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on election day you are used to hearing