the screen. the only accident right now has pretty much been there overnight. joppa south of pulaski a. car hit a pole and the pole is on top of the car and they are trying to clean that up. traveling downtown, the usual spot, charles street south of pratt, left lane is closed for roadwork. back to you, charley. she got no justice. >> no other way to say it, a mixed bag of emotions following the verdict in the casey anthony trial. after ten hours, 40 minutes and 33 seconds to deliberation that, jury came back with its verdict. not guilty of killing her 2- year-old daughter. it's as shocking as the original crime and this morning abc2's linda so joins us live with details and reaction to that controversial decision. hey, linda. >> reporter: hi, we are live here at the royal farms in towson. really, this verdict caused a lot of people to be surprised, shocked and stunned and joining

thus morning is cecil. you were watching the trial as it went on. did you see when the verd being came in were you surprised. >> i was totally surprised i couldn't understand how a 2- year-old kid could get duct tape on their mouth and if my kid had drowned in a swimming pool i would have immediately called -- tried to get somebody to help her. it just didn't seem logical and it didn't seem very parental like for that kind of nonsees to -- nonsense to a it was out character for a mother 20 do -- for a mother to do things like that. >> reporter: why do you think the trial got so much attention? a lot of people were watching all over the country. they were glued to it, kind of remind you of the o.j. simpson trial. >> it was about a 2-year-old kid. for another thing, i think it got a lot of attention because we are focusing more now on our kids more than ever. and to see something like that happen is really -- i am getting back to the point about the duct tape and her being

found in the woods and constantly changing stories and people saying things that weren't actually true. as far as i am concerned, it didn't seem right to me i couldn't understand it. when i heard the verdict, i was totally shocked. >> reporter: thanks so much for joining thus morning. a lot of people felt the same way as you. but, again, casey anthony found not guilty on all but the least serious charges. she was found not guilty of murdering her daughter, child abuse and manslaughter. the jury came back with a guilty verdict on four misdemeanor counts she lied to police. she will be sentenced tomorrow. you can expect another big crowd to gather outside the courtroom for that. many legal experts believe that she could walk free, but she does face up to a year in prisonon each of the four counts of lying to police. live in towson, linda so, abc2 news.

>> people started to turn on their porch lights. >> yes. this is a call across the country for the memory of caylee act any. this is a picture from windsor mill. many many of you on facebook have been letting us know on the facebook page the effort to leave the porch light on honor the life of the young girl. >> if you about to gsh -- if you go to the facebook page on wm-ar you can see pictures and reading comments. but people are leaving the porch light on for caylee anthony. so check it out. we have a programming note. tonight, abc will air a one- hour special the case anthony saga beginning at 10:00. that special will replace the regular scheduled nighttime prime time beyond belief. so as always, stay with abc2 news because the 11:00 news continues after that special. >> on facebook we are asking you you've had a night to sleep on this and consider that

verdict. are you just as angry as you were originally? shocked would be the word many people would apply. or have you come to a level of peace or acceptance about the jury's decision. >> i think people have new reactions especially thursday because there's speculation she has done enough time served. >> when you consider the four counts which she was found guilty that care yeas one-year sentence. she has been in jail almost 3 years. weigh in on the facebook fan page. in the meantime, the nation's unemployment rate higher than 9%. now scammers are actually trying to pray on -- prey on those who need help. >> ways people and what they are doing to get their hand on taxpayer money meant for the unemployed. and what you can do to protect yourself. we will take you to texas to show you what caused a massive explosion that sent people scrambling for safety. some of the images you see now. you are watching "good morning maryland" first and only at

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this morning we have a developing story we are working on. this morning baltimore city police are looking for three different suspects.

guys that are wearing badges and they are not officers. this morning baltimore city police say they need your help finding the people. we will send it out to sherrie johnson who has been following the story live this morning. >> reporter: good morning, megan. that's right. baltimore city police need your help finding the people that are responsible for portraying themselves as cops. this latest incident happened yesterday around 5:30 in the morning when home owners were sonde asleep inside the west baltimore home on garrison avenue. three men with police badges barged in and robbed their home and when the fake officers got inside the home they tied up the people inside and ransacked the house. authorities say this same thing happened at 2 other homes. one on medford and northeast baltimore and the other in federal hill. now city police say the people in this most recent incident were not hurt. reporting live, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. a crackdown is underway on

scam artist swindling a staggering 17 billion intaxpayer dollar. almost two years ago the president signed an executive order calling for a crackdown on the illegal payments. however, in some ways, it is now far easier than ever to cheat because people can apply for unemployment benefits online and on the phone. a fore scene in texas tuesday. using a back hoe construction workers hit a gas line. the result a massive explosion you see the flames therefrom the video overhead. one of the back hoes caught fire but the operator was not hurt. no one in the surrounding homes, no damage either. several fire departments respond and they spent hours and more than a day to fix the gas leak. shutdown continues in minnesota. budget talks between the governor and legislative leaders broke off with no word on progress. in the dispute, this is all over taxes and spending that's led to a state government shutdown. mark dayton led for about on

hour towards a resolution. now maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most accurate by weatherate. >> good morning. hope you are doing well this morning. maryland's most powerful radar not picking up on a whole lot but in the last couple minutes, we could be seeing a shower trying to develop right into virginia. you can see it off toward the west of d.c. as of now. but it's not moving that quickly. doesn't look like it will affect us. going into the afternoon, yes, we have a chance for showers and thunderstorms to pop up across our area. temperatures right now, coming in at 71 degrees in cockeysville, 7 # in sparrows point. and 72 to annapolis. ellicott city at 706789 upper 60s to laurel and westminster. sykesville around 71. our hour by hour forecast brings us to 87 very humid going into lunchtime. and that continues going throughout the day. 92 for a high. t's se it over to tonya. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the sun is up and people are

getting up and out the door. we are starting to get some volume on the outer loop, but no incidents to report. that's always good news. let's look on the northwest side. 695 at liberty road. outer loop to the left. as being see there's volume there. but it's moving. that's good news inner loop is doing fine. right now the only accident harford county joppa road south of pulaski highway, that's in the cleanup stages. the beltway is moving well. we have some construction downtown on charles street just south of pratt left lane closed. back to you. if you plan a trip to a area water way soon, you want to stick around. >> this is for you. you may be surprised to hear what we have learned about maryland state parks and lifeguarding policy following the 4th of july drowning of a 6- year-old boy. we will tell you all about that.

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now "good morning maryland." news time 5:44. today it's about fixing roads and finding solution. baltimore city mayor is setting out to do in few hours and what's being dubbed operation orange cone. this morning, abc2's sherrie johnson is live with the details. >> reporter: yeah, this morning baltimore city mayor stephanie rawlings-blake wants to work on

cleaning up the neighborhood roadways. she is working to improve them. today at 11:30, the mayor will team with up councilman and the department of transportation officials to us imprt. is is a part of operatio orange cone. it's a city wide project to expand the number of lane miles resurfaced in baltimore city. this project also highlights and showcases construction projects around the city. now the projects include bridge construction, road construction, and paving projects. operation orange cone is making it easier to get around baltimore city roadways for many of the drivers in the city. reporting live in downtown baltimore, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >> gl a crofton man accused of breaking into women's homes and videotaping them as they change clothes is expecteded to plead guilty today. charles know -- expecked to -- expected to plead guilty today. charles novak was arrested.

they searched his home and found evidence linking hem to other burglaries including the theft of girl's underwear. he faces several charges including burglary and peepingtom. this morning police in carroll county are searching for a man accused of kidnapping an 8-year-old boy. police say the man first assaulted his girlfriend and her 2-year-old baby outside the sykesville home before turning his attention towards the woman's son. officers are oking for michael terrell. neighbors say he has a long history of domabuse and he was seen driving a brown 1996 oldsmobile four-door sedan. you pay $5 to get in but don't assume lifeguards on duty at sandy point state park will be there. after a 6-year-old saquan kennedy drowned, we learned lifeguards were not on duty at the time. the boy and his family were swimming on the 4th of july at 8 a.m. when he drowned. lifeguards came on two hours later at 10. and they stayed for 8 hours. in all, nine lifeguards keep an eye on the bay but when they

leave, the stands collapse and the warning signs go up. >> i assumed a lifeguard was on duty during the park hours. this is new to me. >> we guard with lifeguards during the busiest time of the year when it's the most popular time for people to swim. >> there are several state parks in maryland with similar policies. lifeguards are not on duty but the entire time the park is open. changes may come following kennedy's death. a deadly summer on the water so far and rescue crews fear they are not going to find a missing boater alive. james kane from pasadena was on the magothy river when a boat he was in took a sharp turn and turned him and a friend overboard a boater picked up the friend. 13 people have died so far in boating incidents more than last year. some of the cleanest beaches in the country are a short drive away. natural resources defense council awarded superstar beach

status to delaware's rehobeth and dewey beach. shining stars. the council says the beaches are of special notice for the perfect 5 star scores and for having perfect water testing results on each of the past three years. now maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most accurate by weatherate. >> hi. i am meteorologist lynn jet charles and check out numbers -- lynette charles and check out numbers on this wednesday. the low around 65. the record was set in 1979 at 5 # degrees. the record high -- 59 degrees. the record high in 2010. so last year, 105. it was a hot one. and we should be right around 87 degrees now for this time of the year. and i think we will be above that for today at least that's what i am forecasting. yesterday, we were above that and we came in around 93 into baltimore. 91 in easton and 90 in winchester. and not so bad in oakland around 77 and 89 in york and more of the same in hagerstown.

lows this morning, 72. so we are starting out on the warm side starting out on the muggy side as well. dew points are coming up. 69 degrees this morning into dulles and 70 in winchester. 72 in charlottesville. here are the dew points i want to show you because they are high. 71 degrees in dc. 70 in culpepper. upper 60s into baltimore and frederick and check out easton right around 7 3. so when you talk about the 70s, upper 60s oppressive outside. we have a code orange so we are definitely looking at some very stale air out there. we are not getting any type of momentum or movement out in the atmosphere and that's why we have the code orange. so if you do have asthma, lung disease, limit your outdoor activities today. satellite and radar not picking up on a lot as of now. but we will have a picks turf sun and clouds as we go throughout the day. and i believe as we go into the afternoon, we will see more showers and thunderstorms popping up. and this is what we are looking at. we have the stationary front

that's going to be the focal point if the showers and thunderstorms do pop up. we have a slight risk for damaging winds and also hail. those will be the biggest threats if we get strong storms, the storm prediction center has maryland, southern maryland in that. so we can see future radar picking up on the showers and thunderstorms possible going through the afternoon today and tomorrow and even as we go into friday. make sure to have the rain gear as you step out and about. 92 hot and humid going into the afternoon. the showers and thunderstorms possible and we will continue to be possible even as we go through tonight. very warm and very balmy outside with the temperature coming in right around 70 degrees. by the time we hit tomorrow, the temperature will be right around 90. and that humidity is going to stay high and once again we will have showers and thunderstorms possible in the forecast. >> reporter: no major incidents reported on the highways. that's a great way to start the day. let's look at white marsh boulevard at pulaski highway very light traffic. no major incidents to report.

we have one accident that's been there all night in the cleanup stages in harford county. joppa road south of pulaski highway. also construction in most other places the west pratt street between hopkins and south calvert in both directions two lanes are scheduled to close. back to you. >> all right, thanks so much. he was one of r toy. it's a presidential first. how president obama will use a popular social media networking site to take your questions. it's part of a town hall meeting set up for later today. we will give outdetails. you are watching "good morning -- you the details. you are watching "good morning maryland" first and only at 4:30.

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5:54. five things to know before you head out the door. national will hold a prelaunch news conference two days before the atlantis final mission into space. final task will be a 12-day mission transporting supplies to the international space station upon returning to earth. atlantis will be retired. james whitey bulger is due back in a boston courtroom this

afternoon to be arraigned on murder charges. the 81-year-old was arrested in california last week after 16 years on the run. bulger on the fbi's top ten most wanted list faces charges in 19 mob related hits. jury selection in the perjury trial for roger clemens begins today. he faces federal charges he lied when he denied using performance enhancing drugs. the trial will last six weeks. he could face up to 12 years in prison. attorneys for dominique strauss-kahn will meet with prosecutors to go over the case against the client. the reports tuesday indicated that the manhattan da would be dropping the charges against strauss-kahn after numerous questions began surfacing about his alleged accuser, a hotel maid who says she was raped by strauss-kahn. the first for the white house, a twitter town hall meeting with the president obama this afternoon. he will likely answer questions

about the economy and jobsch the questions that he answers will be moderated by the social media site. they say thousands of questions have been submitted. charley. >> megan thanks. a unique rescue in china after a mud slight left a road unseen. we will take a look at the damage and show you the clever ride the safety crews are using. july 4th video like you've never seen a look at fireworks caught on fire. and you heard of deer crossing. what about horse crossing? that's right. how a horse end up running down in the middle of a highway. we have a look at that and the video to prove it. you are watching "good morning maryland" first and only at 4:30. as we go to break, a live look at the white house 1600 pennsylvania avenue. it's going to be a busy day.

now "good morning maryland." as to the charge of first- degree murder, verdict as to wont con, we the jury find the -- as to count one, we the jury find the defendant not guilty. >> those words stunned so many of you. we are getting your thoughts on that verdict this morning. and this morning, those who lead our city are saying enough is enough about a violent 4th of july. many of you are asking is it safe to go downtown? >> it happened again. thugs pretending to be cops bust into another home. what police are saying now that it happened three times. those stories are a just ahead. it's the middle of the week. thanks for joining