technology. most electronic dealers will have the answers for you and you don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money. like most things you buy, there's one thing to remember. >> you are going to get what you pay for. >> reporter: so there's a lot of options to choose from. you might feel the pressure about which one to use and the law is about to change. one thing you can do is just use the speaker phone on your cell phone. that is already there. until you get a chance to come in and decide what is best for you. on kent island, don harrison for abc news. >> talking on the phone while driving will be illegal starting october 1st. pretty nice commute this evening for a drive. not bad. we've got sunshine out there after some pretty heavy rain at times earlier this morning in places. more rain on the way we think tomorrow night. for the moment we're looking good. maryland's most powerful doppler radar also, our satellite trend both showing clearing. though we will see a variably cloudy sky into the evening and maybe a pop-up isolated shower

or two. most of the rain is now offshore, out over the atlantic. look at the numbers. warm conditions out there this evening. 81, balmy degrees downtown. same in dc, annapolis, a little cooler along the bay at 79. most of the evening in the 70s. we will eventually drop into the 60s, even the 50s overnight. so clear and cooler but just for about 24 hours. more chances for flooding and we'll talk web that happens coming up. now for a look at tonight's top stories. the man convicted of ordering the murder of a suspected gay gang member is going away for life. steven parrish was murdered back in 2008, a jury convicted gang leader timothy rawlings believing he ordered the crime thinking parrish was gay. the baltimore city police department is mourning the loss of officer james fowler. he was killed in a crash in pennsylvania last night. investigators say his pickup truck crashed into a barrier and they say weather is to blame. the 33-year veteran was on his way to penn state to participate in a training

program on accident investigation. he leaves behind a wife and two children. with mid-term elections just weeks away major changes are in motion at the white house. rahm emanuel would like to run for mayor of chicago, which would leave president obama looking for a new chief of staff. political adviser david axelrod departs next year. national economic council director larry summers is leaving. and peter orzag gone already and christina romer is also gone. equal pay for equal work. a mantra that for decades has been part of the american dream but a report released today in washington shows that closing the waging gap between men and women still has a long way to go. here's abc's tj winick. >> reporter: this was the less than enthusiastic assessment of one expert on women in the workplace. >> women are stuck. despite decades of efforts to create opportunities for advancement, deep inequities persist. >> reporter: exhibit a, the

pay gap. according to a new report by the government accountability office it narrowed by two cents from 2000 to 2007, female managers now earning 81 cents for every male counter part's dollar. that is compared to 79 cents before 2000. >> more women are gaining education, we're closing the education gap but not closing the pay gap. >> reporter: while having children contributes somewhat to the discrepancy childless women still make less than men and researchers can't figure out exactly why. >> prejudices that exist are based on ideas that we had from another time and another kind of economy, another type of family life that don't exist today. >> reporter: the gao report also finds women have made slow progress moving into management. as of 2007 women accounted for about 40% of managers in the u.s. work force. in 2000 females held 39% of management positions. >> until women achieve parity

in pay and business leadership roles they will be marginalized in every other arena. >> reporter: despite the discouraging statistics women will soon likely outnumber men in the work for the first time ever. that is at least partly because men lost 74% of the jobs during the recession. tj winick, abc news, new york. along with toys, toys "r" us is bringing jobs to cities across the nation for the holiday season. the company says it will hire about 45,000 employees to help handle the holiday doubling its work force. toys "r" us is planning to add more pop-up stores for the holidays. the irs will not be mailing out tax forms this year. that will probably save them about $10 million. more than 96 million people filed returns on line, up six million from the previous year. however, taxpayers can still get the forms on-line through

local irs offices or through participating libraries and post offices. research in motion wants to leap frog the apple i-pad with the potential for social networking, media publishing and corporate uses. the tablet has a seven-inch screen and dual-facing cameras, has wi-fi and bluetooth but links to link to the smart phone to access the cellular network. it will be available on the commercial market in early 2011. as the leaves begin to fall so will the prices of airfare and hotels. we'll tell you why we're in peak season for cheap travel. and, it was an interesting night on the dance floor on "dancing with the stars." more on last night's promising and painful performances. it's "think pink" week at abc2. we've got doctors and nurses answering your calls about breast cancer. they are standing by until 6:00 to talk with you about treatment options, resources, anything you need. call 410-481-2222. 3q

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prove it. enough's enough. d-con baits are specially formulated to kill in one feeding, guaranteed. d-con. get out. stocks are restarting a september rally as investors brush off news that consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level since february. the dow is up 46 points at the end of the day. nasdaq up nearly 10 and the s&p 500 is also up more than five. in tonight's consumer alert, looking for a way to get away on the cheap? fall could be the peak season, between the summer vacations and holiday rush it usually means more discounts and deals for travelers ready to take advantage. karen kafa has details. >> reporter: more options, fewer crowds. airfares and hotel rates tend

to fall in the autumn months, a slow season between the summer boom and holiday rush. this fall easy to get to destinations with frequent flights top the list. >> younger couples are going to the u.s. virgin islands. it's very easy to get there, you don't need a passport. for the quick weekend getaways we see napa very popular as well as las vegas. they are easy places to get to as well as they are just a ton of fun. >> reporter: no matter the destination, there's a common theme among travelers now. making their dollars go the distance. so if you're one of the many not looking to spend a lot, the fall often means more flexible opportunities to use rewards points and bonuses. >> look to cash in your points. we've all been saving up these points for a rainy day and maybe this is the rainy day. so look and see how many points you may have and see what are the options to cash them out. >> reporter: when checking out airfares don't forget to factor in extra fees for checked baggage and seat selection. that can make the difference between a deal or no deal.

for "consumer watch," i'm karen kafa. towson university's cook library is cracking open some banned books. coming up, how you can celebrate the classics we didn't always have the freedom to read. a man picks the wrong day to tickle elmo. he's learned how to kick butt. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message. the real andy harris. buried in his website - a promise to replace the tax

code with a 23% sales tax and eliminate the mortgage interest deduction. a bush tax panel said families would pay $6,000 more a year. a reagan tax advisor calls it a very dumb idea. but that's not his only bad idea. harris was the only senator to vote against expanding the child care tax credit and against the state's cancer treatment program. andy harris' extreme ideas will cost us. i always feed in the fall. but, it's the best time. feed your lawn in the fall. the fall feeding makes all the difference in the world. what the fall feeding does is build the roots.. that's when the roots sorta want nutrition. i give my lawn scotts winterguard. it's like a root building machine. it builds your lawn from the roots up. next year you get this! the stronger the roots, the stronger the lawn.

all year long. the best time to feed is when it will do the most good. there's no substitute for the fall feeding, trust me. it is the best thing you can do for your lawn. i use scotts winterguard.

the great gatsby, to kill a mockingbird, gone with the wind, at one time banned from the school or library but today in towson the controversial books and others were celebrated for their freedom of expression. tim rutherford has that story. >> he hasn't got much of it - >> reporter: normally reading aloud at the library is a big no-no but tuesday at towson university reading aloud was

encouraged. >> as though it was high noon. >> reporter: this week has been designated banned books week by the american library association and in the lobby of the towson u library volunteers spent five minutes at a time reading aloud from books that have been sometimes banned from schools or libraries. public and school libraries must often deal with controversial books. >> it's one of the issues, where should the library place the book, how should the library present it to students. but withdrawing it all together we don't believe is necessarily the answer. >> banning a book is, no effective way to have open society and open discussion. >> when people ban books i think often what they are trying to do is control thoughts. >> reporter: joan mays chose a toni morrison novel to read aloud. >> i don't think you should live in fear. i think we should live in a place where people are free to express themselves and we work through things we're uncomfortable with. >> reporter: amy becker read

from a judy blume novel. >> the main character has a mature sexual relationship. i think she talks about it quite responsibly and in a tasteful way. i'm sure in 19735 that was pretty -- 1975 that was pretty questionable and still for some today. >> reporter: age appropriateness can be a delicate balance. >> when i wanted to read it at age 12 my mother told me i needed to wait. i probably read it at 15. that might have been about right. >> reporter: librarians must consider everyone. >> what might not be great for one family might be perfect for another. >> reporter: in towson, tim rut rutherford, abc2 news. it got balmy out when the sun came out today. you think back to last night and this morning, heavy showers and storms. the concern is tomorrow night we get another rave of rain and the ground is already sat

raided. we could see flooding. in the meantime, a dry evening and dry start tomorrow. a little break in the action. our weather bug headquarters. skies looking just, partly to mostly cloudy. not too bad. looking west there from our weather bug site in germantown. temperature-wise, 79 now at bwi marshall. humidity 49%. winds southwest at 9. let's look at what the weather looked like through the day today actually. this is laurel, our weathernet camera in motion there. you can see clouds holding pretty tough. at times we got decent sunshine breaking through but rain-free for the most part after that rain this morning and just a nice-looking day overall later into the afternoon. rainfall totals, around a third-inch, in some spots more than that. also, look at some of the temperatures. we're talking mid-70s right now. so we are cooling off pretty nicely as winds turn west/northwest behind a front pushing through.

highs were warmer than that. we were up close to 80 and beyond in many places today. 81 from easton actually. and a little cooler in hagerstown at 77. much cooler out towards deep creek lake and temperatures falling a couple of degrees. humidity has begun to come down. joce nailed it earlier. it was muggy out early this morning but now you can see the high humidity levels over on the eastern shore. but western and central maryland now seeing that drier air work in. wish we could see that dry air would stick around a few days. it looks like 24 hours of drier air and rain-free conditions. although maybe just a renegade shower to the west. most of the rain is now just shore, but as we check the overall trend weatherwise, briefly drier air moving in but, as we look at the overall pattern, this dry air will work in only for about 24 hours before yet another storm spins up down in the carolinas. and you can see that here in the forecast model. watch as we work into the tomorrow afternoon. we're dry through the day. this storm really begins to get its act together tomorrow night. as we go into wednesday night

into early thursday very heavy rain possible. overnight tomorrow night. and especially early on in the day thursday. this rain could come down pretty heavy especially baltimore westward, looks like through maybe 6:00 or later thursday. so thursday could be a real washout around here. we'll watch as this coastal storm gets its act together. for the evening, we have the coastal flood concern from annapolis back up through, we'll say havre de grace and edgewood. because, we still think higher than average tides in the bay tonight in the wake of the last storm. another one beginning to approach tomorrow evening. overnight tonight still dry, 57 cooler. a nice west wind. we'll start off the day nice. early sun. 2-degree guarantee, we're going 73 for you. that is a nicer day, but clouds building in, in the afternoon. probably mostly cloudy by this time tomorrow evening. a chance of rain really picks up tomorrow night. in fact, there will be some possible flooding developing pretty quickly overnight tomorrow night. then we think in through the -- at least the first half of the

day on thursday. again, once we clear that out though we're looking good for the weekend here. drier conditions, only into the 60s for highs. saturday, sunday and into monday. so, if you've been waiting for fall to arrive it's going to get here but it will take until this weekend. week two of "dancing with the stars" is in the books. it was certainly an interesting night on the dance floor which included a painful promise, a boost for one dancer and a reaction to sarah palin's appearance. george runs down the scores starting with who is on top. >> reporter: jennifer grey and her partner derek huff, huff and puffed their way to first place. >> i don't know what my face looked like but i know it was hurting. hurting all over. >> reporter: audrina is second with the judges with 23, her partner promised they would get triple 8s or he would wax his legs. >> this will hurt. it's not hair.

it's like a forest. >> oh, my -- this is what all the females go through. >> reporter: the two teens are in a two-way tie for third. kyle massey and bristol palin, whose mother sarah showed up to cheer her on. >> i'm glad that i have her support. it was really comforting to look at both our moms cheering us on. i'm thankful she could make it. >> reporter: not too bad. i'm happy with third. >> yeah. >> i'd be happier with first though. >> reporter: triple 7s, three-way tie for fifth with the basketball star, football star and singing star the suddenly you're a lot tall they are evening. >> i'm standing on an apple box. i'm tempted on taping that to my legs next week and dancing on it. >> it's about climbing uphill. we're starting to do that. this week better than last week. i am enjoying our time together. probably one of the easiest seasons, we've complicated. we understand each other.

>> reporter: so do florence hennedderson and her partner who quick-stepped to eighth place. >> instead of 76 i felt 26 tonight. >> reporter: with triple 6s, margaret cho and her partner and the situation and his partner tied for 9th with each improving 20%. >> thank you. i'm really happy about it. >> i'm trying. i'm putting in the work. >> reporter: michael boaton boaton -- bolton was last with a score of 12. 11 stars remain in the competition until tonight. that's when one more gets the boot during the results show. in los angeles, george pinocchio your abc news. country music returns to nashville tonight for the first time since the devastating floods closed the grand ole opry. one nashville flooded the opry sustained $20 million in damages. they've spent months restoring what the water destroyed.

some of the biggest country singers are all going to be there to celebrate. >> joy, you know. it's a celebration. it's truly a celebration for the grand ole opry to be back. >> after the flooding curators sent damaged costumes, instruments and memorabilia to restoration shops around the country. much of it is still being worked on and they hope it all comes back in tact. tonight though it's all about the music. david simon, creator of the hbo television series, "the wire," is among 23 recipients of this year's macarthur foundation genius grants. the $500,000 grants were announced. the money is paid quarterly over five years, it comes with no strings allowing winners freedom to persue their creative projects. now with a look ahead to abc2 news at 6:00. the killer is silent and you'll never smell it coming. tonight, how more people in

baltimore county will be protected against carbon monoxide poisoning. and everybody needs water but one town in maryland just isn't getting it. a preview of what is ahead on "world news" at 6:30. >> coming up -- the study about women, workplace and money. what experts say women do most often that hurts them on equal pay. the question of religion. can you take the quiz americans took? i take you home to louisville. my dad is the supervisor of a train station and my mom's a teacher. my dad's an auto technician. my mom's a receptionist. i'm not sure i would have been able to afford college without the tuition freeze. while tuition in other states is rising out of reach... governor o'malley made the tough choice to freeze tuition. he made my dream of going to college into a reality. i'm the first in my family to go to college. my brother and i never would have been able to afford college. even though times were tough... governor o'malley kept his promise. there's never a doubt... there's never a doubt whose side he's on. martin o'malley... moving maryland forward.

just a couple of minutes left to get your questions answered. let's talk to a doctor, what is the importance of physical activity after you get the diagnosis? >> many studies have shown that physical activity decreases the risk of breast cancer and some other cancers like colon cancer. it also prevents the recurrence of breast cancer in the cancer survivors. the amount of physical activity is variable but anything more than three to four hours per week is beneficial. it has to be regular though. it benefits both overweight and lean women. however, obesity increases the risk of multiple cancers including breast, yiewite

uterine and colon cancer. >> we have a couple of more minutes to get your questions answered from our lovely medical folks from the med star health system. thank you for joining us. this is the beginning of "think pink" week.

can you imagine setting a track record in a pair of stilettos?

that's what these women did. in heels. they completed an 80-meter course in about a minute and four seconds. about 100 women and one man competed in the race which helps raise money for the national breast cancer foundation. a florida man picked the wrong way to tickle elmo. police say he was performing at a toy store and walked to nearby music store still in costume. was attacked by a customer without warning. this elmo fought back tossing the man into a dispay case. >> it looks good for the kids though. elmo is kicking butt. keeping the society good. >> prosecutors are waiting for a mental health evaluation before deciding whether to press criminal charges against elmo's attackers. the victim, as you see wasn't hurt and promises be to be in full costume again for a kids' event this weekend. tonight, which town is considered one of the most expensive zip codes in america and you won't believe how much the hopes there sell for.

abc2 news news at 6:00 starts right now. if you win property in baltimore county a tough new law is about to arm you against potentially deadly carbon monoxide. good morning. the state already requires landlords to install co detectors in units built since 2008 but now as jeff hager reports baltimore county will require them in every unit new and old. >> reporter: carbon monoxide detectors save lives. just ask the father of these children. >> i heard three beeps. sounded like an alarm. rolled over and said what the heck is that? >> reporter: fortunately, the owners of this complex in middle river had chosen to install co detectors months earlier. after the toxic gas turned up in a number of units. next month landlords throughout the county won't have any choice. >> the deadline for the installation of these units arrives in two we