will we know who is going to protect this city by the end of the day? they begin counting the absentee ballots to decide the state's attorneys race in baltimore city. the bedbug issue is so bad

the federal government is now getting involved. how they can get these critters out of our sleep quarters. justin watching such names like karl, julia, igor. good morning, i'm jamie costello. >> i'm megan pringle. >> thanks for joining us, thursday. >> hey listen, i'll be in cumberland tomorrow, broadcasting live on our on the go. i have my winter jacket ready. >> me and julia, down by the studio. >> simon and garfunkel. >> i feel like i'm in a barber shop this morning. we're not going to look at extreme chill any time soon. mild morning, thanks to the increasing clouds. small chance of clouds. if anything, mr. costello, you'll knee the waterproof jacket tonight. do you think we'll get a lot of

rain out of there in time for you to go out in western maryland. wet weather in the tropics. karl hit mexico, back over the water, strengthening, you've got hurricane igor at 34. currently 56 degrees, your start point on the thermometer and bel air. let's see what's happening on the roads right now. >> well from cumberland to cambridge and from cockeysville to columbia, everything's looking pretty good so far on the roads this morning. we don't have any delays or accidents. just fire activity in glen burnie at baltimore annapolis boulevard and mountain road. you could see fire equipment there blocking the intersection. as we look at 95, the whole 95 corridor is pretty much incident free. no problems at the tunnels and we're looking good on the harrisburg expressway. 695 is going to be all clear so far on both loops. megan and jamie, back to you. 5:33 right now. later today the city board of elections will begin counting

nearly 2,000 absentee ballots that could decide the race for baltimore city state's attorney. late last night, the campaign for pat jessamy says even if the count takes place, this battle could be far from over. >> reporter: this race could drag on for a few more days, weeks, even months. a spokeswoman for the patricia jessamy campaign has a lawyer looking into reports of problems at polling centers, polls opening late, voting equipment that malfunctioned and other problems. right now gregg bernstein holds a narrow lead over jessamy with over 1300 votes. both are waiting for absentee ballots to be counted. a city election official says there are 2100 absentee ballots and provisional ballots that still have to be counted. jessamy's campaign and supporters are frustrated with the delay. >> it's not fair to the county,

it's not fair to the voters and not fair to the process. the last thing we need to do is to take the integrity out of our political process, the process of voting, by having something like this occur. >> now election officials will begin counting those absentee ballots starting at 10:00 this morning. even after those final numbers are in, this race could still drag on with jessamy vowing to review the entire voting process. we're live in downtown baltimore, linda sow abc2 news. raging showdown over the bush tax cuts. it's all set to expire at the end of the year, both sides point to the still sour economy to justify their positions. emily schmitt's in washington to sort it out for us this morning. >> reporter: today the senate could pass a small business bill, something president obama has long wanted. if they can't agree there, they

can't agree to tax cuts that expire at the end of the year. >> the american people didn't send us here to just think about our jobs, they sent us here to think about theirs. >> reporter: the president wants families making less than $250,000 a year to keep those tax cuts. those making more, to lose them. republican leaders say everyone needs the break. >> extends all the current tax rates. raising taxes on anyone, especially small businesses is the wrong prescription for or ailing economy. >> reporter: the unemployment rate stands at 9.6%, including hundreds of steel workers in ohio who just found out their plans will remain idol through at least the end of the year. >> most of the men are scared, worried about their jobs. >> reporter: new foreclosure numbers out this morning from realty track show last month lenders took back more homes since the start of the mortgage crisis. some democrats say this isn't the time for change. >> my position position is that

given the economy, all of the bush tax cuts should be extended temporarily. 5:36 right now. they're tiny, gross, hard to find, but once you've been bitten by one, they're in and there's no stopping them. we're talking about bedbugs. they seem to be taking over some of the country's biggest cities. the national government is hard at work to develop a solution to squash the growing resurgence of these critters. >> as the problem has gotten larger and larger, we've looked at new chemistries which are synthesized by our in house chemists and we're even starting to examine existing chemistries. >> new york and philadelphia top

the list of bedbug-infested cities. one exterminator says two years ago, he'd get about five bedbug calls a year, today he's getting around five a day. it's bad. she made headlines for crashing a party at the white house. she's a reality star, now she's saying she's living with ms. michaele salahi says she hopes the book will provide and prove that she can lead a full productive life while living with the disease. some drivers in new york are getting a very curious message. they actually get a toll-free number printed on the number of the state dmv brochures. >> they gave the wrong number. it's a porno site. >> that would make you gasp a little bit if you had a question about your uh -- you heard it

right, drivers who call that number, 1-800-dial-dmv for all you writing it down right now, are actually connected to a phone sex line. that number used to be legit, but was eliminated more than a year ago. it is supposed to be out of all the manuals by now, but a handful of pamphlets have it including one for teen drivers. they have to fix that. well this kid only two years ago. >> watch this. what her mom is coaching her in doing could land her in jail for a long time. plus: could a dispatchers mix-up at a 911 center cost a man his life? >> you'll see a lot more in the way of cloudiness. not now, it's still dark out there. street lights reflecting off the clouds. we have 64 degrees right now. wind out of the northeast at 8 miles per hour. on the clock, we have ourselves

5:39 and we have ourselves a day ahead. small chance of showers, we'll talk about that coming up. right now, let's go to the mta and check in with mark jones. on market train system, camden train 841, running 10 to 15 minutes late. other trains of mark looking good for travel. light rail holding close to the time table. on the buses, 27 with a 30-minute delay. the 10 and 30 buses continue to be diverted at light and pratt for construction. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones.

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. but you wouldn't want an antique computer. or an antique tv. ♪ or an antique remote control. so why are you still using an antique cable network created in 1948 for your 2010 tv? it's time to hook your tv up to a 100% fiber optic network. it's time for fios. visit verizon.com/getfios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v.

5:42 on this thursday morning. >> how are you doing? >> i'm great, megan pringle, jamie costello. >> justin berk, fill us in on the weather today. >> milder temperatures this morning. instead of widespread 50s, it's more like low to mid-60s. under canopy of clouds that moved in over the last few hours. we're looking at glen oak, 62 degrees. currently a mostly cloudy sky

overhead. we may break a little bit of sun. overall, a mostly cloudy set-up into the afternoon. still a warm day. two-degree guaranteed high, 84 degrees. there'll be isolated showers that pop up, mainly western maryland and we could have some late in the afternoon. increased, threat of showers overnight and tomorrow morning. >> traffic is starting to build ever so slightly. not enough to cause delays at this time. we're quiet, so far so good around the area roadways. no accidents to let you know about. drive times will be good as well. northbound 95, no problems through howard county. only a ten-minute trip. approaching 95, only going to take you six minutes this morning. just fire activity to let you know about in glen burnie, baltimore annapolis boulevard, mountain road. you could see equipment blocking the intersection. that's our only incident so far this morning. megan and jamie, back to you. a suspect in a police chase

is beaten. were the officers justified in their use of force? ♪

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everyday crime story has an everyday twist, actually, something far from it. police are still searching for a suspect after a liquor story robbery led to shots being fired near a soccer field where students were playing a game. abc2 news sherrie johnson joins us live in the studio with more from that coach. >> reporter: it's not something you see everyday. a girl's soccer coach apprehending suspects. that's exactly what happened yesterday afternoon when two men tried to rob a liquor store. it happened at the intersection of loch raven boulevard and northern parkway in northeast baltimore. a security officer fired shots when the men tried to rob that liquor store. across the street, the soccer team was getting ready for a big game. a police officer heard the shots and sprung into action make sure his team was safe by taking them into the school building.

he ran after the suspects, tackling one of them. >> i did what anybody else would have done. get the kids to safety and security that area and you know, just make it safe for the kids. >> thanks to that coach, one suspect was caught and arrested. police are still searching for the other man. in the studio, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. check this out, two hurricanes turning out in the atlantic, it's actually the tropical storm that made headlines yesterday. this is well to the south of cancun and cozumel. dealing with heavy rain, strong winds, power outages, mexican officials say that security forces took people from the coastal towns to shelter while others preferred to ride out the storm. did appear to have an eye on the radar that came out of belize to the south. it was a tropical storm, no indication it was a hurricane, it was trying to get there as it

made its way on shore. sign of a strengthening storm that held together, now back over water. we'll show you in a moment. different story over the atlantic, really downgraded now, category 2 with 105 mile-per-hour winds. it's good news. we had two cat four storms yesterday for the first time in almost 100 years that we've had that type of activity and intensity in the atlantic. now down to 4 to 3. 125 mile-per-hour winds. we still focus on that. looks like it'll continue to down grade itself as it heads its way toward bermuda over the weekend. looks like a direct hit on the island. this'll be a big deal for that small island. no weather impact on the eastern seaboard as it will continue to curb away. there's karl, karl made its way on shore yesterday. bay of campeche, the southern portion of the gulf of mexico. winds up and out. 50 miles per hour. this thing really was spinning

up yesterday. holding onto some integrity. now speeding off the warm waters, it will reach hurricane status before making its way back onto the mainland of central mexico here, no impact on the united states, but still some very active weather with the three named storms in the atlantic. locally though, about the clouds that move across the area. 64 degrees in baltimore, 61, philly and new york. they had clearing down to 49 in allatoona. it does appear as if we have showers back in ohio. most of that activity stays to our west today. there may be a stray pop-up shower or storm in the afternoon. main line of rain will be across the front line of the appalachians. deep through central pennsylvania and just west of western maryland. comes through overnight. in the morning, maybe a scattered shower popping up in the afternoon. mostly cloudy skies, not as nice as the rest of the week. small chance of a shower that pops up through tonight.

we're down to about 67. as we check out the rest of our forecast, you'll notice we're back into the 70s tomorrow. nice weekend. 83 will do it. we'll stay in the low to mid-80s, dry into the middle of next week. now for a check on traffic, here's kim brown. >> traffic is off to a really good start. we don't have much to let you know about so far. the roadways are fairly clear. not a whole lot of volume out there. no problems with your drive times, we check those out right now. all in the green, mostly in the green so far, outer loop, west side. on the harbor tunnel thruway, no problems, only seven minutes between the split to 295 this morning as we look right now at our cameras. here we are on the beltway, northeast corner, harford road, not a whole lot going on out there. no problems around 695. stay with us, we have more of good morning maryland up next after this.

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5:55. the police department's in turmoil in texas. two officers beat a motorcycle rider they followed and hit with their police cruiser. you can see the victim being punched and hit with a baton, but officials say this gets worse. they say 22 police officers showed up in all, six, six made contact with the victim. one officer has been fired. two more face criminal charges. in pittsburgh this morning, officials want to know if a 911 mix-up caused a man his life. officials say the 73-year-old was having trouble breathing but a dispatcher sent crews to the wrong location twice. the man died of a heart attack. it's unclear if he would have survived if help arrived sooner. the dispatcher has been suspended. the city's smoking ban will be expanded to beaches, parks, pedestrian plazas. the move has support of michael

bloomberg who is strong letter anti-tobacco. a mother is locked up accused of teaching her 2-year-old to smoke pot. you can see it in this cell phone video, the toddler appears to know what she's doing. you can hear her mom coaching her in the background. that mother now faces up to 11 years in prison if she's convicted. awful story. have you gone in one of those baby stores and you can't help it with when you see the tiny little skirts and dresses? they're so cute and little. >> we have five tips for how to keep your baby looking fashionable and keep some dough in your wallet. how do we now define the american family? >> could your family religion be centered around the number and type of piercings that you have?

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it'll be up to absentee ballots to decide who will be the next city state's attorney. will it be jessamy or bernstein. shots fired, practice cancelled. more progress now in the search for a suspect. when driving in baltimore, police and firefighters want to send you a message. we have the latest billboard against the pension plan. we're reading it right now. >> good morning, maryland. i'm jamie costello. >> i'm megan pringle. thanks for joining us. it's the 16th of september. >> we're rolling. >> here's justin berk with your weather this thursday. >> not much action around here. we have a little change after beautiful days, a lot of sunshine, humidity, fantastic stuff to get outside. today, more in the way of clouds, maybe a small chance of a shower. maybe, a better chance of showers will come after dark tonight. don't sweat bringing the umbrella today. however we're talking about heavy rains and flooding in mexico, planning