>> reporter: now more than 100 patients who claim they had the procedure, arguably unnecessary, unwanted and potentially harmful have side stepped efforts to establish class action lawsuits in this case to have their own day in court. >> we took the extraordinary measure of filing 101 individual lawsuits and the reason for that is because each person has an individual claim. everybody's damages are different. >> reporter: on average the stent procedure is $10,000 apiece. and that is what attorneys are seeking on behalf of 100 patients plus pain and suffering. patients who received them in many instances must take blood thinner for life. but that can cause fatigue, joint pain and excessive bleeding. i asked miller how the jury can place a price on that. >> hundreds of thousands, yes, sir. >> reporter: miller says the hospital only offered a small fraction of that opting instead to fight the claims of each patient even if it means one trial after another.

in baltimore county, jeff hager, abc2 news. >> this afternoon the hospital released a written statement saying it's open to discussion with any patient who believes they have a claim. and the fact it sent letters out to patients notifying them of the problem is not proof of liability. former president jimmy carter pitched in in baltimore for a nationwide project for habitat for humanity. he joined volunteers as they worked on 10 houses in the 2400 block of jefferson street. earlier today he worked in annapolis. much more on the habitat project coming up tonight at 6:00. we had good news for folks struggling to stay in their homes. a new federal loan program is bringing millions of dollars in no-interest loans to families near foreclosure. roosevelt leftwich has details. >> reporter: the emergency mortgage assistance program is not free money. uncle sam expects every dollar

to be paid back but it may be the thing to help folks stay in their homes until the economy gets better. assistant housing and urban development secretary david stevens made the announcement at the baltimore constrengths center this -- convention center this morning. the feds stress this is not a giveaway but a zero percent interest loan that has to be paid back. the state says the need in maryland right now is great. >> we received over 50,000 calls on our hotline over the last two years and our network of housing counseling agencies are working with these families everyday. one of the biggest problems they see is that many homeowners are, because of our employment situation are either unemployed or under-employed, they've lost income. this program will give us the opportunity to help those families who have lost income by helping them to catch up. >> reporter: there are

specific needs that have to be met including loss of income and the ability to pay it all back but authorities say this could help keep people in their homes until they can find work again. more details at 6:00. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >> thank you. tonight, police are looking for the 89-year-old father of baltimore city council vice president. he was last seen friday in the 1,600 block of south ellamont street in southwest baltimore. he went to a neighborhood check-cashing stop. he was last seen in a blue jacket, blue pants and black boots. the council vice president says he doesn't have dementia or alzheimer's and often goes on walks. anyone with information is asked to call the missing persons unit. the number is 443-984-7385. an odenton man in jail tonight after police say he attacked officers. police received of a report of a person walking in the street

in odenton forcing a driver to stop. when the driver stopped police say the suspect, steven weiss, jumped on her hood and sat on her bumper to stop her from moving. an officer arrived at the scene and asked weiss to show his id. police say the suspect resisted and appeared to be under the fluence of alcohol or drugs. >> pepper spray, hoped to gain compliance by distracting him or causing a distraction. it incited him more. so the officers escalated further. after one officer was attacked and thrown to the ground another had a taser and-pointed it. it was somewhat ineffective because they couldn't gain control of the person so more officers arrived. then batons were used. in that case that and the officers in concert together were able to bring him under control. >> he faces several charges including resisting arrest, assault on a law enforcement officer and attempting to disarm a law enforcement

officer. tonight, crews are searching yellowstone national park for a missing maryland man. authorities say 48-year-old stewart isaac from burtonsville was on a cross-country trip. his black 2009 lexus sedan was found september 26th along the trail. crews had searched from the ground and air but still no sign of isaac. baltimore city firefighters were busy with a two-alarm fire at a popular fells point restaurant. it started 11:00 this morning on the roof of paza. firefighters say they had difficulty getting to the fire. the fire did not spread to the restaurant. no one was hurt. the restaurant expects to be back open in a few days. baltimore county is winning the war against crime. police say the county saw lower crime rates in the first half of last year. the most significant drop came in the number of homicides. murders dropped 44% this year.

10 homicides occurred in the county between january and june of this year. in comparison to 18 at the same time last year. vehicle thefts also dropped 22 %. overall crime in the county dropped to its lowest levels since 1975. weather today, temperature didn't warm up a lot. a little better than yesterday. we struggled up to 60 degrees out there but man, it was breezy, 50s and the clouds didn't make it feel much warmer either. first, we look at the numbers. bottom line, chilly stuff. 58 in baltimore. 55 for frederick. dc, just a little warmer at 61. most of us certainly keeping the cool factor going so to speak. satellite and radar trend, murky, cloudy conditions statewide but if you look carefully the weather picture is quiet. this evening, in the 50s, cloudy and chilly. the outlook is a warmer one.

i'm happier to report. we'll throw in that and some sunshine coming up. >> thank you. pakistani immigrant who tried to set off a bomb in times square will spend the rest of his life in prison. faisal shahzad got a mandatory life term. he pleaded guilty in june to 10 terrorism and weapons counts. prosecutors used dramatic video of a test explosion before he was sentenced today. it supposedly captures the devastation the car bomb would have caused had it not fizzled out in busy times square last may. and militants like shahzad trained by arcadia shores in pakistan -- al qaeda in pakistan. at least five people were killed monday at a terror training camp in pakistan where german citizens had been recruited for the alleged plot. 11 people were arrested this morning in southern france in sweeps against suspected islamic militant networks.

>> if al qaeda is explanning smalltainious -- planning simultaneous attacks in europe there's nothing to say they can't also include the u.s. on the list of simultaneous attacks. >> this friday amtrak will hold a high security exercise in which there will be an increased security presence along national transit routes. u.s. security officials are trying to get americans to pay closer attention around potential terrorist targets like hotels, malls and arenas. the department of homeland security made a training video for hotel employees. the video also offers guidance on what to look for in hotel lobbies and kitchens, even in guest rooms. dcc metro riders will hear a direct warning from homeland security secretary janet napolitano. in democracy 2010 -- with four weeks to go to the election, a pre-election

snapshot shows the race between democrats and republicans tightening up. a new abc news "washington post" poll of likely voters still shows an unnamed republican defeating an unnamed democrat 49% to 43%. just last month that gap was twice as wide giving republicans a 13-point advantage. the news isn't all good. >> you can't lose independents by 20 points and expect to win a lot of the seats. >> what is behind the change? a third of americans now believe the economy is improving. still low but up seven points since last month. a "newsweek" poll had better news for democrats. it found voters trust them more than republicans on nearly everything from the economy to afghanistan. a spokesman for the o'malley campaign says president obama will campaign with the first-term democrat this thursday. the president is expected to rally supporters on the campus of bowie state university.

mr. obama says o'malley made tough decisions to prioritize education, safety and job creation during some very difficult financial times. your electric bill could soon be going up. new at 5:30 -- how much more you can pay and what is behind the latest price hike. a warning tonight about using your laptop on your lap. a new phenomenon called toasted skin syndrome. plus, it's a very itchy problem. we have five tips to help ease the pain of poison ivy.

two governors, two different approaches. even in good times bob ehrlich didn't make education a priority. he increased college tuition by 40%, cut school construction by $200 million, and ehrlich voted to eliminate the department of education while serving in congress. but in the toughest of times, martin o'malley has made record investments in public schools, new school construction, and o'malley froze college tuition four years in a row. with martin o'malley, our children always come first.

if you've ever had poison ivy you know how uncomfortable it can be. in tonight's "take 5" abc2 news' linda so has five tips on treating the itchy rash. >> reporter: they come in leaves of three and will leave you with an itchy rash. if you get poison ivy, there

are five ways to treat it. first, remember that serious cases should not be treated at home. >> if you have a severe allergic reaction or you experience chest pain or trouble breathing, get yourself to an emergency room. >> reporter: second, use cold water and soap to wash the exposed area thoroughly. >> you don't want to use hot water as that will help the poison ivy be absorbed into your pores. cold water, wash yourself off. >> reporter: third, products out there can provide relief. oatmeal bath, calamine and special soaps. there are even products you can put on before going outside. >> these actually protect your skin from poison ivy. they protect you from getting the oil that poison ivy has in it. >> reporter: fourth, don't scratch. >> you're not going to spread the poison ivy once you have it. but it can cause scarring. >> reporter: fifth, where the right -- wear the right kind of

clothes. >> wear loose clothing during recovery and stay cool. you will probably experience blisters on whatever part you've got the poison ivy on. it's important that you don't wear tight-fitting clothing. >> reporter: five tips for relief from that itchy rash. lynda, abc2 news -- linda so, abc news. coming up on "good morning maryland" tomorrow, five places to find poison ivy in case you're camping and want to avoid it. in many warnings for people who put laptops computers on their laps. doctors say patients are coming in with something they call toasted skin syndrome. 24-year-old kristin madagal uses her laptop about seven hours a day and started noticing the skin on her legs looked different. >> started looking really funny. i kind of overlooked it. it started to spread. and of course that made me really nervous. it would hurt once the laptop

got really hot and i sat it there and it got tingly. >> the condition is rare. before central heating was common people used to get it from sitting too close to a fireplace. but technology is bringing it back. a recent case of a 12-year-old who used his laptop to play games was the 10th reported case in the last six years. it was chilly but better than yesterday. >> we did say dry. that was an improvement for us. we'll see the weather pattern begin to turn. we're going to warm it up again. low 70s is still the average now. we're way below that. like down here. low. let's look outside. murky day. a few rays of sunshine there, see that? see a couple of breaks in the clouds. some -- sun will come out

tomorrow. but, not a lot of sun. one more day where we're going to see this type of sky. mostly cloudy conditions. 58 degrees now at bwi marshall. and winds west/northwest at 10. let's look at some of the weather through the day here. our weathernet camera downtown capturing a pretty murky cloudy-looking day. that is the bottom line here, but those clouds, again, as we worked into the latter part of the afternoon you see some breaks of sunshine and clouds feeble breaking up just a little bit but again tomorrow another kind of mostly cloudy day on the way. i think before we finally see decent improvements into the end of the week and into the weekend. when you want them. friday night into the weekend. that's when they are coming. mostly cloudy conditions statewide now. a little more sunshine at deep south maryland down toward, like calvert cal cliffs. dc warmed up into the low 60s. the bottom line, we still have a chilly northwest wind flowing

in. it will hold the temperatures down, especially tonight. we're talking another chilly night in the low to mid-40s. highs today, only around 60 and we're already cooling off sharply on that north wind. down into the mid-50s. this feels a lot more like mid to late november. wind chill factor now, look at some of the numbers, 53, what it feels like in wilmington. felt like 40s earlier this morning up through york and back across through frederick. satellite and radar, we're dry, no rain around here, until you get way up into northern new jersey or western pennsylvania, towards pittsburgh where the tears are probably still flowing from the weekend's game. the bottom line, let them have the rain today. we'll have the slight chance for hit and miss showers through the day tomorrow. a large area of circulation. bottom line, moisture keeps wrapping around. this keeps weakening but still there. still has enough umph to wring in enough shores at least tomorrow. chilly north winds continue to flow in thanks to the high pressure off not east and we've got a low offshore, it adds up

to a chilly north wind. mostly cloudy cloudy into tomorrow. and the chance few a for shows tomorrow though not a widespread heavy rain. thursday, the clouds clear out and we'll look forward to seeing the sunshine again and warmer weather too. tonight 46. stays chilly, mostly cloudy and cool tomorrow. we're talking about 63 or so. with just a couple of showers possible. and then tomorrow night down into the upper 40s. the weather pattern not just -- just doesn't want to break until we get into thursday. there you see us pushing close to 70. we'll call it 69, into the weekend. low 70s, lots of sunshine. it's coming. >> thank you. construction

workers and employees joined in the fight against breast cancer. they wore pink hard hats showing support for family, friends and colleagues who had been affected by the disease. the event organizers say they wanted a visible call to action for breast cancer awareness and screening. >> i know that not only here on the job site that the other trades pay attention to the fact that our men and women, those that are wearing the pink hard hat but they are also noticed by their families, noticed by people in the community as they walk to and from the job site. so it's definitely something that stands out against the norm. >> the workerings also created an amazing piece of art work with their pink hats by forming a human pink ribbon. if you've always wanted a new i-pad now's your time to get one for free. all you have to do is "like" us. from now until december 3rd, we're giving viewers a chance to take home a 32-gigabyte apple i-pad with wi-fi. just log on to our facebook fan

page. search for abc2news.com and click the "like" button. then click on the sweepstakes tab and enter to win. you have to be at least 18 years old to enter. additional services like a 3g plan and apple care protection are not included in the prize. good luck. it was a happy ending for a california family after their daughter was kidnapped. new at 5:30, how a good samaritan's quick action helped save an 8-year-old girl. plus, a connection between traumatic events and alcoholism? the surprising results of a new study.

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i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis. i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free -- it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well fitting dentures let in food particles. just a few dabs of super poligrip free is clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. super poligrip free made even the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try super poligrip free. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message. the real andy harris. his past attacks have been called deceptive, his new attack, false. harris voted for deregulation increasing our electric bills by 72% it's not surprising, harris always sides with the big guys. he opposes cracking down on wall street and supports tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. harris even opposed making big insurance cover cancer screenings. andy harris' extreme ideas will cost us.

is there a connection between traumatic events and alcohol abuse? a new study tried to find out if exposure to disasters increases alcoholism. the results may surprise you. dr. timothy johnson has tonight's "medical minute." >> reporter: many people turn to drink in times of stress. researchers at the university of texas wanted to find out if exposure to a traumatic event actually causes new cases of alcoholism. the study centered on almost 700 people who had firsthand exposure to such major u.s. disasters as the 1993 missouri floods, the 1994 north ridge, california, earthquake and the oklahoma city bombing in 1995. they're drinking habits were surveyed for a period of up to three years after their exposure. the authors say that just .03% of them became alcohol abusers

as a result of the experience. but they found that a stunning 83% of recovering alcoholics went back to the bottle following a traumatic event. the study concludes that most alcohol abuse following disasters is the result of former alcoholics suffering a relapse. with this "medical minute," i'm dr. timothy johnson. stink bugs and bedbugs can be real pests but before you call that pest control company we've got a very important warning. coming up at 5:30.

it may not be that much for some but your electric and gas bill could go up by as much as $50 a year. good evening, i'm roosevelt leftwich. bge is asking customers to pay more to deliver gas and electricity to their homes. abc2 news brian kuebler explains why. >> reporter: in a year that was already full of weather extremes you just may have to pay even more to heat or cool your home. >> certainly our costs of continuing to in-- are continuing to increase. so we believe this request is not only necessary but it's prudent. >> reporter: bge is asking for customers to pay just under $2 a month to deliver electricity and just more than $2 a month to deliver gas. the utility is quick to remind people it has not asked for an increase