cars, most from the police department district where he worked and hundreds of friends and family. people knew him as a good guy, a dedicated police officer and good father. but all that came to an end when he was assaulted by an man in an argument over a parking spot. his sudden death has been difficult on his family. >> officer stevenson, wonderful person, great guy to work with. always wanted to help other people. so it's a tragedy. keep the family covered in prayer and to let this family know that we support them wholeheartedly. when the services are over, and everything is said and done and people go home remember the family. call the family. make sure that this wife and these children are -- have exactly what they need. >> reporter: detective stevenson is one of three city police officers to die in less than a month. they will be burying another officer on wednesday. it's in a terrible time for

city police as they grieve and remember friends who died well before their time. >> we have two funerals this week. our grief hasn't even subsided from the loss of jimmy fowler and, it's a tough day. affects a lot of people. his police family for sure but it affects a lot of people across this area and the city. tough day. >> reporter: he's survived by a wife and three small children. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >> thank you. funeral arrangements have also been set for another city police officer. who died last week after his squad car went into a parked fire truck. a public viewing is tomorrow from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. in towson. and the funeral will be wednesday at 11:00 a.m. he will be laid to rest at

dulaney valley memorial gardens in timonium. the united states honor flag has been sent to baltimore in honor of those police officers who died recently. along with officer stevenson and ports, james fowler, as the chief mentioned died in the crash in pennsylvania last month. the flag flew over ground zero during recovery efforts from new york after 9/11. the flag will arrive tomorrow afternoon. she was an animal lover. she had all her dogs. she was always out there with her dogs. i'm going to miss her. i'm going to miss her a lot. >> the victim of an early morning fire in dundalk has died. police say 57-year-old joanne julian was in a basement bedroom in the home on york way when flames broke out 6:30 yesterday morning. fire crews rescued three people asleep upstairs. she was found unconscious. it's believed she was smoking in bed. >> the cause in this bed was accidental and the fire began because the victim was smoking in bed.

some of the smoking materials apparently dropped and ignited the bedding material. >> julian was taken to johns hopkins where she later died. officials say there were smoke detectors in the home but they were not activated. seven people are recovering after a carbon monoxide scare over the weekend. it happened at a home in the 5800 block of main street in elkridge. which officials say did have a working carbon monoxide detector. everybody was out of the house by the time rescuers arrived. they were taken to the hospital in stable condition. a dug bust in anne arundel county leads detectives to this. nearly $120,000 worth of pot and drug paraphernalia and drug money. 26-year-old joseph divine faces several charges including possession of marijuana and possession of drug par fernail why. now to northeast baltimore.

it lost control and slammed into a 7-eleven. no injuries were reported. there's still no word on why the driver lost control of that car. weather was certainly interesting today. we saw the clouds roll in. things got a little breezy at times, the skies threatened rain but we didn't see much at least not yet. that likely to change later this week. maryland's most powerful doppler radar right now, you can see we picked up just a couple of light showers, mainly off to the west earlier today. now things are relatively quiet but the clouds have rolled in, they are hanging tough and temperatures have been warm again today. i mean flirting with old record levels in the low to mid-70s. the old records are in the upper 70s. not far off. this evening we'll eventually fall into the upper 60s. mostly cloudy, breezy, mild. the chance for rain coming back late tonight and again as we go toward the middle par of the week. more details in a few.

today opening statements began in the murder case of chandra levy. ingmar, an illegal immigrant from he will sal have door a-- el salvador accused of killing the congressional intern. it became headlines because it became known that she was dating what turned out to be a u.s. congressman. >> everyone was obsessed with the idea that gary condit from california had something to do with the murder of this young intern. >> her remains were eventually found in the city's rock creek park. police no longer believe condit had anything to do with her death. even though there's no physical evidence leaking ingmar to the murder, he allegedly confessed to other inmates he had made attacks on other women in the same area in the same time frame. democracy 2010, the race

for governor in maryland, according to the latest poll from "the washington post" governor martin o'malley continues to lead former governor robert ehrlich. "the post" polled over 2,300 randomly selected adults and found the percentage of voaforts with an un-- voters with an unfavorable view of ehrlich since last month. 54% were found to support o'malley. the poll has a margin of error of 2.5 to 3%. the governor's race is getting national attention. this weekend, former big apple mayor rudy giuliani was in the state to support bob ehrlich. with just eight days before the midterm election president obama is in rhode island tonight to raise money for the democrats. but the democrat running for governor this says he won't be

attending any of the president's events. john hendren tells us former mayor and lieutenant governor michael steele is in rhode island as well. >> reporter: president obama headed for the smallest state in a big dispute with one of the few democrats he's not endorsing. >> he can take the endorsement and shove it. >> reporter: rhode island hopeful frank cap rio steamed, is apparently steamed because his rival endorsed the president two years ago. caprio says he won't attend the president's stops in rhode island. his 23rd visit to a blue county he won big in 2008. with an average of 7 o% of the vote. with eight days to go the head of the gop is also in rhode island after predicting on "meet the press" the democrats' high profile campaigning won't work. >> i think you're going to see a wave -- an unprecedented wave on election day that will surprise a lot of people.

>> reporter: in michigan former president bill clinton used his resurging popularity to put out the vote. >> i believe tomorrow's electorate will not show up. if you prove them wrong you will have a blowout here. >> reporter: in delaware christine o'donnell is struggling to catch up telling cbn her decision to run came from the highest source. >> i know god called me to this. >> reporter: president obama and former president clinton have crisscrossed the nation and in new hampshire vice president joe biden made his 100th campaign stop. >> stay with us for continuing democracy 2010 coverage. coming up at 5:30, jamie costello sits down with the constitution candidate running for the congressional third district. you can always log on to abc2news.com for the latest election news. voter information and useful links. all that information is on our web site, abc2news.com. click on news and then head to the political tab.

a world-class swimmer competing with the best in the world doesn't make it to the finish line. why there are plenty of questions surrounding the death of the swimmer and why the competitors say the swimming conditions were just too dangerous. pregnant women told not to drink alcohol during pregnancy. why some women decided not to -- ignore the doctor. and your child and education. in our "take 5", we break down five independent schools in the area. [ ehrlich ] four years ago unemployment in maryland was under four percent. today, it's nearly double.

and nearly a quarter of a million marylanders are looking for work. in addition, we face a national health care plan that will hurt small business and cost us jobs. so we have to ask, are you better off today than you were four years ago? we're heading in the wrong direction. we need strong leadership. say no to things we can't afford. fix our health care plan. and refuse to raise taxes. martin o'malley can't do it. i will.

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it sounds like a script from a movie. actor randy quaid, he and his wife are seeking asylum in

canada. on the run from a group called star whackers. they claim the group killed actors heath ledger and david carradine. recently the quaids were charged with burglary for squatting at a property they previously owned. last week they didn't appear in court and were arrested as they tried to enter canada. experts say the canadian government probably won't grant them asylum. an investigation is underway into why a athlete and olympic hopeful in top physical shape died in dubai during a competition over the weekend. as tj winick reports, friends and family and even competitors are raising questions. >> reporter: fran krippin was a six-time national champion in the open water swimming circuit. the 26-year-old who dreamed big. >> the olympics are right around the corner and it's something that excites me, something that i feel i'm a kid again. >> reporter: that dream was dashed saturday when the philadelphia native died during

a rugged 10k race near dubai. divers found his body 400 yards from the finish line. >> if you wanted a friend, you wanted fran to be your friend. i just left the family and his teammates from uva and that was all we talked about. >> reporter: according to race officials an autopsy has been completed but the official findings have not been yet released. there is speculation he died of a heart attack due to overexertion from heat and the winner of the race, germany's thomas lurs said the competition should not have been held. the water was amazingly hot he said. many swimmers had serious problems in the water. race organizers claim the water was 84 degrees but someone says the temperature was closer to 90. what can't be explained, why it took two hours to find the body. his older sister told "good morning america" the family wants answers. >> in the months leading up to this event my brother has written letters to different organizing committees about safety -- one of my

commitments, moving forward is to make sure that passionate, he had to make sure that happened, continues. >> reporter: several other swimmers in saturday's race complained of dehydration. three were taken to the hospital. tj winick, ashz, new york -- abc news, new york. breezy today, clouds rolled in after a nice sunny weekend. there are changes. within five degrees of the old all-time record. >> i was at a pumpkin farm yesterday. >> enjoying the warmth. pumpkins and warmth. you don't always find that. there will be big changes later this week on the temperature front but not for the next couple of days. now, a kind of gray day but relatively dry at the moment. we have not had much rain at all today and in fact we've been watching the radar

closely. the closest rain well north and west of us, north of hagerstown, well up into pennsylvania. 74 here now. humidity 66%. winds southwest at 7, barometric pressure 29.79 and on the rise. that will not continue to be the case. we expect to see that drop big time the next couple of days as a storm rolls in. today unsettled more than yesterday but still generally dry. generally, what we'll call broken cloud cover across the region. a little bit of sun sneaking through at times. a little different perspective in frederick. again, generally cloudy, a few blades of sunshine sneak through at times but really not a lot of sunshine to be had out there today. maryland's most powerful doppler radar, as we were just talking about, closest rain well north and west of hagerstown, a couple of showers in that direction but most of the state crystal clear right now, in terms of active rain falling but we think the chance for hit and miss showers later tonight and especially on wednesday and wednesday afternoon. current winds have been picking up. it's breezy out, been breezy

ever since 12:00 this afternoon. we're going to keep the winds around. in fact increase them pretty dramatically tomorrow. tomorrow, windy day, and even wednesday will be breezy. right now the temperature, again, not far off the old all-time records which are around 78, 79 degrees. today we're in the mid-70s even as we speak. high temperatures a little warmer than that. 75 at the inner harbor today. we hit 77 in cambridge. that really gives you an idea. tomorrow, another overcast day. another day where we could see hit and miss showers. i think more miss than hit. not a lot of rain. once again, very much above average, into the low 70s, lutherville 73. look for the chance of a shower towards catonsville, up around 72, 73 degrees as well. overall trend, more active across the mid-atlantic. a lot of rain across virginia beach now. some sneaking up into southern maryland down toward calvert county. then we've got a lot of rain in western pennsylvania soaking the pittsburgh area but none of it for us right now. a wider perspective up and down

the east coast, a very active pattern compared to what we had all last week. the big storm well off to the north and west, toward iowa. this is where the main storm system is. it will probably produce a lot of really severe weather conditions tomorrow across michigan and ohio. as that same system finally comes into our area mainly as a rainmaker but windy rainmaker wednesday, that's when we'll feel the biggest impact, wednesday. future forecast, hit and miss shower activity tomorrow. another mostly cloudy day with maybe a few sneak peeks of sunshine. and then wednesday there's the main line of showers and storms, likely to come through late in the day. overnight tonight though 58. cloudy, showers and storms possible but a slim chance. then tomorrow 74. early fog. kind of a gray and breezy day again. the wind and early fog, chance for a few showers tomorrow night. stays breezy and a quick check of the 7-day forecast, the same sort of stormy pattern lasting

through wednesday. we do cool things off and dry out as we go toward the end of the week into the weekend. >> thank you. women are advised not to drink alcohol while pregnant. that's nothing new but some expectant mothers not only disregard that advice they drink in excess. in our medical minute dr. timothy johnson tells us how their children can pay the price. >> reporter: it may seen simple common sense that pregnancy and heavy drinking don't mix. yet every year 40,000 babies are born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder or fasd, an umbrella term that includes fetal alcohol syndrome which can occur when a developing baby is exposed to alcohol, consumed by his expecting mother. a study at wayne state university school of medicine tried to unravel the learning problems of children with fasd which are poorly understood. the scientists measured electrical brain activity of children whose mothers reported

binge drinking while pregnant. in memory tests and coordination tests at an average age of just over 11, they had an decreased ability to understand the meaning of a stimulus, less attention dedicated to specific tasks and reduced memory processing all compared to a control group. the authors of the study hope it will lead to more effective methods for teaching children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. with this "medical minute" i'm dr. timothy johnson. there's one question in this upcoming election that is stirring up a lot of controversy. in fact, one man's passion about his views on question a on the ballot landed him in jail. that story at 5:30. when it comes to choosing schools which ones are the best? many parents now are sending kids to independent schools. a look at a few in our area.

bob ehrlich is desperate, and he'll say anything to get elected. negative attacks the media have repeatedly called "dishonest" and "total malarkey." and why can't we trust bob ehrlich? because he raised taxes and fees by $3 billion then denied it... because he says he's for us, but made $2.5 million at a special interest lobbying firm. and ehrlich says he'll cut education again if elected governor. bob ehrlich-- a career politician we really can't trust.

n are charged 40% more for the same health insurance as men. domestic violence is treated as a pre-existing condition in eight states. women are abused by their husbands and then by their insurance companies. and last year they tried to end our coverage for mammograms and other preventive services. well i'm proud to say i got the law changed. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message so you'll know that being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition.

imagine denying a pregnant woman the choice of health care providers. only one senator voted with big insurance over pregnant women: andy harris. protecting our bay? harris was the only one to vote against cleaning up toxic waste sites. he always sides with the polluters, one of the worst environmental records in the senate. and harris was the only one to vote against extending education for special needs kids. no wonder his republican colleagues think he's too extreme. we can't afford his extreme ideas. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message

for some parents there's the decision on whether or not to send your children to independent schools. there are things to think about, class size, amenities, tuition. in our "take 5" series we're going to look at five independent schools in the area. sherrie johnson starts off with the bryn mawr school. >> reporter: they are celebrating the 125th anniversary here. that is 125 years of educating girls preparing them for the world. the focus is strong acdeaths determination -- academics, and college preparation. from kindergarten to 12th grade this school sets the bar high for over 700 intelligent young women. >> we know that girls learn best together. at bryn mawr we know that

strong smart ambitious girls learn best amongst other girls who are equally energetic, equally intellectual, equally ambitious. >> reporter: here are five tips parents need to know about choosing an all-girls school. first, girls learn best together. they are more honest, more creative and comfortable. second, girls can learn to lead and they are also eager to contribute. third, girls are their best crestles selves, with this supportive environment they can be the best they can be. fourth, parents should read the school's mission statement to make sure it's in line with your child's education. finally, visit the school to make sure it's the place your daughter will enjoy. we caught up with students here, here's what they think. >> i love it. it's great. i love my teachers and classes. it's great. yeah. >> it's my first year. i can already feel the warmth. it's so diverse.

it's my first year and i've already become class president. >> reporter: it's all about saying i can and i will. young women poised to make their mark on the world. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >> a house ends up in the ocean after hundreds of feet of land washes away in front of it. how fast the land disappeared, coming up at 5:30.

woman 1 sync: i knew what bob ehrlich did as governor. man 1 sync: raised my property taxes 60 percent. woman 2 sync: let utilities hike our rates 72 percent. woman 1 sync: but i didn't know what he's done since he got fired as governor. man 2: ehrlich's raked in millions. man 3: he worked for a wall street bank that took 10 billion dollars from the bailout. woman 3: 10 billion of our money. woman 4: our money. woman 5 sync: and he worked for another bank that collapsed. man 4: costing tax payers 17 million. anncr: tell bob ehrlich big banks don't need help. middle class marylanders do.

when it comes to whether a slots parlor should be placed at arundel mills mall, it's not just a heated debate, some folks are caused to break the law. police say one man took a gamble he would not be caught by police allegedly stealing signs in support of the slots parlor. abc2 news constitution don harrison has more. >> reporter: as with any political issue there's a lot of passion on both sides of that issue. some of that passion could lead to irrational behavior. >> about a month ago we started to see an incredible rise in the kind of -- in destruction of signs we were putting out across the county. so we decided to file a police