>> one of the witnesses we interviewed was stopped in traffic as this was occurring. we know that there were multiple other vehicles who were at that location who had stopped to look to see what was going on with that speed camera vehicle. >> police now say they are looking for a 50 to 60-year-old man around 6-foot tall and wearing glasses. and he may have been wearing or carrying a dark backpack. these ladies were taking a lunch break outside their office and witness saw the police activity in the area. >> no, no concerns at all today. no. >> one thing i'm concerned, i think the police did a good job of protecting the citizens. >> despite the attack on one of their vehicles, the state highway administration has their speed camera cars around construction sites. >> maryland state police contacted officials. obviously there's an issue of concern for security. >> they continue to search for the suspect, but it could take a few more days before they are able to go through all the security video in the area.

in lincecum, don harrison, abc2 news. >> state police are looking for anyone else who might have seen something yesterday on the baltimore washington parkway. you know there have been several arsons and police need your help. charlie tells us how you can help in tonight's crime checker report. >> abc2 is working to help police solve crimes in your neighborhood. each thursday, we profile a dangerous crime hoping that you're going to have information needed to solve it. this week baltimore county police immediate your help solving a string of arsons in the north point area. eight fires were reported, starting around 3:00 in the morning outside an apartment complex on sparrows point road and continuing throughout the day. that went on to include three burned out cars and a dumpster all within a couple blocks of each other. the baltimore county unit -- and the total damages at $50,000. anyone with information is asked to call metro crime

stoppers at the number on your screen. 866-7-lockup. you could be eligible for a reward up to $2,000. don't forget, you can see more of our reports by heading to our website. abc2news.com/crimechecker. charlie, abc2 news. all right, this just into the abc2 newsroom. voters, you're going to get a chance to weigh in on the dream act. enough petition signatures have been validated to put it on the ballot in november of 2012. undocumented immigrants who meet certain requirements to pay in state tuition rates. if you are just walking in the door here after your long day at work, i want to run down today's top stories. the mother of a six-year-old boy who drowned at sandy point park. wants the state to do more to protect swimmers. life guards are only on duty from 11:00 until 6:00, but kennedy's mom wants the state to add warning signs or make

swimming off limits until life guards go on duty. tonight we have an abc2news exclusive. a witness to the stabbing death to the inner harbor. joe of alabama died on monday night and this man who didn't want his name used or face shown tells us that although he didn't see the stabbing, he was within a few feet of when the incident started. he says he tried to stop his brother who shouted a racial slur and went after a man who hit him in the head and seconds later, his throat was cut. city police are looking for a person of interest in this case. johnny just called a timeout because he just invited a new tight end into heaven's huddle. the hall of famer and former player for the baltimore colts who battled dementia for years just died. john mackey was 69 years old. all right jamie, let's get into it. you can see big thundershower

here in central hartford county. if you are bell air or also in cassel county, get ready. this is not a severe storm, but it will pack gusty conditions, some downpours and of course dangerous lightning. the main concern, and a storm flairing up. we'll keep an eye on that. other than that, you can see the clouds and storms firing up. boy this has been the other story. heat index values around triple digits, 99 in easten right now. this evening we fall slowly through the 80s, talk about the increased chance for showers and storms coming tomorrow straight ahead. >> think it's hot here, go down to d.c. after weeks of tense negotiations on capitol hill, congressional leaders from both parties met with the president to try and hammer out a deal to increase the nation's credit limit before the august 2 deadline. now with both sides drawing firm lines on what they are

willing to cut, can any agreement actually pass congress? abc's karen travers with more. >> the debate over how to tackle the deficit has reached the final stage. congressional workers -- with time running out to reach a deal. >> nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. >> president obama and speaker boehner had been discussing a plan that would cut $4 trillion over the next 10 to 12 years. both parties would need to make significant concessions. that could be agreeing to close big tax loopholes and reduce tax deductions. >> comprehensive tax reform on the corporate side and personal side would make america more competitive, help create jobs in our country, and something that is under discussion. >> for democrats, that could mean signing off on cuts to medicare, medicaid, and social security. >> democrats, suck it up.

put the entitlements on the table. make sure that at the end of the day, these are still programs that serve the public. >> senior congressional republicans expressed doubts that anything resembling a tax increase could pass the house. >> we as republicans are not going to support tax increases. >> democrats ruled out cuts to medicare and social security. >> poor middle class children and seniors have been asked to make a sacrifice. >> president obama and republicans ruled out a short- term deal that raises the debt ceiling, but doesn't tackle the deficit in a meaningful way. both sides may need to blink. karen travers, abc news, washington. and you're not the only one look at your bank statement. so is your bank. they aren't just keeping this information to themselves. wells fargo, citi bank and others are selling your information to others. those stores are e-mailing or

texting shoppers with discounts. banks get paid whenever a shopper uses one of the deals and in the most cases, people are automatically enrolled in the program, but you have to write out of it to get out of this deal. wow. all right listen, are you cutting back on fido's food or toys because of the cost? coming up, we have tips to help you save some cash and keep your pet pampered. plus, getting rid of cursive writing. what some parents think is a bad day cigs. decision.

in tonight's consumer alert, the social security numbers, personal income, account, tax id numbers of investors with morgan stanley are at risk right now. the financial company lost two cd's with personal information for 34,000 clients. the information was reportedly lost in transit to a government agency. morgan stanley is busy notifying customers of this problem. >> as more and more people use their credit and debit cards, the treasury department is printing less paper money. last year the government did not print any $10 bills. that's unbelievable. however, cash will likely continue to hold value over plastic in the minds of consumers for quite some time. and your breakfast bacon is

going to cost you more. bacon prices are expected to sizzle this summer. high feed costs are pushing bacon and other pork products higher. hot temperatures are also hurting supplies and that is raising prices as well. in a little over a week, your kids will be dragging you to the theater to see the final harry potter movie, or is it the other way around? harry and his friends will live on. here's something that has many turning his broom over. a 350 found bear founding wandering on a virginia highway. how animal control officers think he ended up there.

denny's new tour of america menu. 50 star cuisine. the new tour of america menu. starting at $4.99. only at denny's. america's diner is always open. all right, abc2 is working

for you right now with an important recall. many stars building sets by ltd are being recalled. the plastic knobs can break from the center of the stars, posing a choking hazard. so far no one has been hurt. for more information, call the number on your screen. it's 800-404-4744. we love to spoil our pets. only sometimes those expenses can really add up. there are ways to cut back without fido or fluffy noticing from food to vet bills. karen has tips we can save on tonight. >> even with the economy not so hot, there's one area where americans didn't cut back. consumer reports found during the last two years, 16% of americans scaled back on spending on their furry friend. but there are ways to save without leaving your pet feeling any less pampered. comparison shop on food and buy it in bulk and be weary of

premium and super peopleup labels. it can be tough to gauge how much a veterinarian should charge for pet procedures. shop around before an emergency strikes. >> shop a vet before the next regular checkup for the pet because the regular checkup, the price the vet charges for that is often a good indicator of what the vet will charge for more expensive procedures down the line. >> preventive care can help save money later on. >> pets have obesity problems, as us humans have and obesity can lead to other serious ailments that can make your pets life difficult and also can be very costly in terms of vet bills. >> if your pet needs medicine, consider options other than buying it from the vet's office. if it's a medicine prescribed to humans, you can probably fill it at a chain drugstore or supermarket pharmacy. for consumer watch, i'm karen capa. a big problem tonight, how will future doctors ever make those prescription notes sloppy now?

because in indiana, the state department of education is doing away with cursive handwriting. instead it told the school superintendent at the end of this school year, students should now become more proficient with a keyboard and with more kids e-mailing and texting away, they don't seem to mind. what about the parents? >> kids are learning math and reading, they'll say, when are we ever going to use this? but they obviously do throughout their life and being able to read and write cursive is no different. >> the one thing you have to ask yourself, how are the kids going to sign checks or other legal documents when the time comes in how are they going to do that? now maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most accurate by weather rate. >> i'm wandering the same thing myself, jamie. fancy x. a little extra. i don't know. check it out, we have a new flash flood warning for hartford county. a couple severe thunderstorm warnings, but this is the storm of concern for us. i want to give you a close look

at this thing on maryland's most powerful radar. you can see the storm expanding, reaching now down into north eastern baltimore. all the way down i-95 toward park and north of essex here. north of all these corridors, but as we look up into hartford county and the storm kind of -- two different cells, one that initially went in north of bell air and a new one tracking over the same area. that much rain that quickly, you get an inch or two or three of rain, you get low lying flash flooding in the terrain. there's low valleys, creek beds etcetera. be extremely careful, flood warning up for all of hartford county. >> all right, take a look. windy conditions here in baltimore. looking at federal hills, shaking our camera good. 92 right now. winds southwest. it is a humid breeze. and as we take a look at some of our sky cameras across the network here from towson, we

find the hot, hazy conditions we have seen all week long and today the combination about as oppressive as it's been all week, feeling like 100 degrees in baltimore this afternoon. as that sun peers its way down and you see what looks like the beginning of storm development here and that's what we are seeing, moving across i-95. the heat the other story. mid, low 90s. humidity so extremely high. the heat index which is a key number. 100 now at the inner harbor. 103 down toward the beaches there in georgetown. so we're cooking out there. we're steaming. and that amount of heat and humidity really helping to fuel a couple of isolated storms where they have popped up, they have been intense just like the one there in hartford county right now. will we see more of this? probably tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening, we will. you can see this stationary front just north of us here. this boundary is going to extremely slowly drift southward overnight tonight and as we get into the day

tomorrow, storms will be more likely where they were in southern pennsylvania today, they will be over maryland tomorrow and this will be basically one of those days where you can get those hit and mise showers any time after lunchtime through tomorrow afternoon. so again, a few popup storms this evening, including north and east of town. on your friday, scattered showers and storms likely any time after lunchtime and really could strike anywhere around the baltimore area, that boundary shifts southward. should clear things up saturday. saturday and sunday, looking less humid. although they will be quite warm. 92 tonight, real steamed up. muggy, stagnant. come more likely in the afternoon and evening. they will taper off probably late overnight tonight. it should be less humid

saturday and sunday. >> called it right. have you ever camped out to wait for a movie? i'll give you an overnighter? >> are you talking about a new release? i've waited in line at red box for a while. two or three people in front of me t. takes a long time. it doesn't count. >> let's go over to london because fans are already camping out a week before the final movie, harry potter and the deadly hallows part 2 premiers. it will be in red box when? when will that be there? a couple weeks? the first book featuring the boy we sadr wizard published how long ago? harry potter and the deadly hollows part 2 hits britain and the u.s. on july 15. though the movies may be ending, the brand is expected to remain lucrative through the

magic of marketing. jim explains it to us. >> the tag line for this, the final of the eight harry potter films, it all ends here. that may be the case after seven novels, but harry will live on in the form of a new website coming soon. >> back in 1998, i knew i was generating a lot more material than would ever appear in the books. it was simply ridiculous. to me at the time, who will ever want to know the significance of all these different wand words? this was all in my head. >> now the author joined with sony to create a home for the potter discussions and games and material. potter fans once signed up will answer questions, which will place them in one of the four houses and there will be room for users to have their own potter web pages.

though everything will be free, rowling says it's her way to giving back to fans. >> you don't have to pay to get the extra material. you don't have to buy a single thing to go on to the website and have the whole experience you've just seen. that was important to me. >> the site will be the only place to buy potter e books. rowling kept the digital rights to her material. she never before allowed e books. these books will not be tied to a certain kind of electronic reader. >> people are asking for these e books and audio books. there's a big demand for them. what is incredible, this digital experience has been created and allows you to accompany the reading in an interactive and innovative way. >> of course there is the official potter theme park in orlando, florida. and from spring next year at the harry potter experience tour and studios outside london where potter was shot. it's being built now by cnn

sister company, warner brothers. and then there are all of those unofficial tours in london. clearly -- potter mania will not disappear among the deathly hallows. jim bolden, cnn, london. >> we're having a debate. i think she makes more money than zuckerberg from facebook. how would you like to score free tickets? we teamed up with z104 and we have our hands on some. head to our website right now at abc2news.com. and click on the link under the spotlight section. coming up all new for you at 6:00, it was a shocking end of the fourth of july celebration at the inner harbor. in an abc2 news exclusive, you're going to hear from the man who saw the aftermath of a deadly stabbing and held the victim's head. and it was a special reunion in

east baltimore, while families continue to make the annual visit to the children's center. those stories and more coming up all new for you tonight at 6:00.

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here's something you don't see every day. that's a 355-pound black bear just wandering along the highway. we're in portsmith, virginia, a big surprise for drivers. animal control officers were able to capture the bear so they could release the animal back into the wild. the bear got lost while searching for a meat. don't we all? the bear is okay right now. listen. you expect your baby's crib and playpen to be a safe place, but there are surprising dangers

and one family had to learn the hard way. that story plus wyatt's updated forecast on abc2 news at 6:00 which starts right now. now, abc2 news at 6:00. >> there are few leaders, i think in the history of football that could ever match a man like john. i will always remember john as someone who was a tremendous, emotional, eloquent, brilliant leader. >> hall of famer and union leader, john mackey died. the former great showed us how to play until the final whistle. >> it's about right. >> her six-year-old son drowned at sandy point state park on the fourth and tonight she wants the state to review its safety measures right there. >> there are so many they had. they took awesome care of her. i wouldn't