it's no secret that many city schools are in disrepair. efforts to improve them fall in the neighborhood of $2 billion, a problem the mayor wants to nickel and dime. >> we have more than enough reasons to build new facilities for our students, but we are sadly short of funds. it is time to act now. >> reporter: her plan, in part, is to more than double the bottle tax to five cents. it excludes two liters, milk and juices. it's a move her administration said could raise $23 million. >> now is the time to make tough choices to support our students so every child in baltimore can receive a quality education. >> reporter: a quality education is hardly a point store owners

would argue. feels like the city is balancing her needs on their back. this owner said the original tax has cost her 7% in tax already. more than double the tax, and she believes her business will suffer as much. >> when you're buying a 24-pack of show das -- sodas, the price will significantly go up. >> reporter: this is her effort to help plug that gap and urges the council to vote it as early has this -- as this thursday. the mayor is also counting on slots revenue and help from the state. if it all works, the mayor is hoping to contribute up to $300

million towards bonds to construct new schools and renovate older ones. >> thanks a lot. although it's been more than a week since the penn state sex scandal broke, there are more developments. >> the man who has been rung, former assistant coach jerry sandusky share right -- charity is stepping down. it could mean lawsuits from the university are not far off. >> may the truth be known. >> a prayer circle before saturday's football game may have been step one in penn state's healing process but there are more troubling questions about who might have been able to step in. >> i was vaguely aware there was some issue in clinton county to the north of us. >> reporter: on "good morning

america," the president hinted for year there is were rumblings that former coach jerry sandusky had inappropriate relationships with young boys. the harrisburg patriot newspaper reports state police assigned only one investigator to the case. not until this year did authorities commit the resources that ultimately led to charges. >> we understand there will be lawsuits that will be filed. we're certainly prepared to do the right thing. >> reporter: abc2 news news has learned that one victim has already retained an attorney. possible targets range from sandusky himself to state police to officials at the second mile, the charity that sandusky started for at risk kids. >> i do think that jerry sandusky started this foundation with the intent of having children readily available for

his needs. >> reporter: and people are pointing out another flaw. that is the problem with the state law. this does not require people to report sexual abuse to police. a 15-year-old girl says she was walking to school this morning in severna park when a man pulled up and grabbed her through the window at 9:30 at white oak drive. the teen said she was able to get away, throne school and told -- ran to school and told the school's resource officer. the man was driving an old per model pickup truck with tinted windows. call the number on the screen, 410-222-3466. police in baltimore are asking for your help tonight to help track down a rapist. jeff hager joins us with more.

>> reporter: the rape occurred in the wee hours of the morning on saturday. police say a 29-year-old woman awoke just after 4:30 a.m. and found a man standing over her bed in the 3700 block of green avenue. the man bolted from the house landis appeared into the night. >> it's a home invasion type nature and, two the victim's two young children were in the residence at the time. >> reporter: if you happened to be in the area of greenmont and saw anything out of the ordinary, you're asked to call baltimore city police. tonight city police are searching for leads on an arsonist after someone targeted three separate homes with molotov cocktails in northwest baltimore. one of the fire bombs ignited a

fire inside the window of the time but the resident awoke and extinguished it before calling 911. police believe the same people who attempted to set these fires may be responsible for nine others. >> five teens were badly shaken up. just afternoon police were called to the intersection for a crash. they found a teen inside a mazda protoe jay upside down. police believe the driver was making a lefthand turn when she ended up flipping over. well, the ver duct is -- verdict is in for a man accused in a huge rental car scheme. lamondes williams is charged with duping dozens of victims.

joce sterman joins us with the latest. >> reporter: jurors debated for three days before coming back with a guilty verdict for lamondes williams and brown. the scam cost some of those victims their last dime. williams and brown reportedly ran a huge car renting scheme claiming you can rent cars. clients paid up front and told they could buy monthly and eventually owned car. in reality they were pocketing the money and making short-term rentals. a former secret service agent investigated the case. he said womens who was convicted in an apartment scam in 2005 simply thought he could outthought authorities. >> i don't think he thousand dollars he was risking anything. in their mind, the criminal, especially throws who perpetrate these kind of frauds, i don't

think they think they're doing anything wrong. they just blame the victim. >> reporter: he spent more than six months investigating that case, making undercover calls and piecing together the scheme that eventually brought down williams on charges of conspiracy and wire fraud. coming up at 6:00 he tells us what he thinks the worse is for those victims who fell for the scheme. weather wise today we have seen the clouds come in a little bit this afternoon, but warm temperatures, well up into the mid-70s, unseasonably warm. winds from the south helping to push off those temperatures. it's a warm breeze and just windy at times, gust as we seat temperatures in the 70s. the rest of the evening we fall through the 60s and still

breezy. we talk about how the rain will move in and the temperatures will drop straight ahead. >> it seems like it's something that more and more school aged kids have to deal with every day but stopping it is no easy tasks. we'll tell you what they're doing to stop bug -- bullying. >> and giving back to our troops. plus, she's been through so much over the past year. her husband has been right there by her side. diane sawyer sat down for an exclusive intervee view with -- inter interview with congresswoman gabrielle giffords and mark kelly.

giving back to the military community is something people think about but don't always do.

some baltimore county students started a project to honor servicemen and their families. they call it operation kid comfort. sherrie johnson shows us how their efforts are making a difference. >> reporter: here in the class in catonsville, students are hard at work making quilts for families of service members. it's part of operation kid comfort. >> it's always good to give back your talent,ive back whatever we can to the community and chair what we've learned with others. >> reporter: approximately 22 students are working on the project. these students are giving back to members of the military who fight and protect our country each and every day. they're making quilts with family member's pictures shown

inside. >> it's such a blessing to help these families. and monticello stresses it. it's important that we can give back in the best way we know how. >> helping them and seeing how much they care for each other, i just think it's amazing. >> this project has been a labor of love and not always easy eye didn't know how to sew in september. i have come a long way since september, but it's cool. >> the class is sewing four quilts for two service member's children. the goal is to provide kids a quilt while their parent is away. this is something that miss clements knows all too well. >> i have a daughter-in-law and step granddaughter. i know it's been hard having my son away for so long, but i

think it's important to support the family. >> reporter: with one stitch at a time, these students are making a difference. in catonsville, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >> this is the first year for operation kid comfort that they've actually helped out our servicemen and women. the program is sponsored by the armed forces ymca. well, good morning's maryland's charry crow consider it charley crowson was taking part in the reading program. the kids had a good time, making him read one of their favorites.

>> dinosaurs love underwear. i have to check my library for that one. we're past sunset but gorgeous dusk. 72 right now at bwi. winds are southwest at 12. visibility is unrestricted. this is at charm city in downtown bel air, giving you a shout out in harford county. then we time lapse the weather through the rest of the day and find some nice sunshine, temperatures pushing 70 degrees. you got to love that in mid-november. chesapeake beach, breezy conditions, a little tough to keep the sail boats straight. here's some of the wind gusts peaking at 21. 21 in chester town. 25 in goldsboro. it shows all clear. that will continue to be the case. tomorrow the chance for rain

goes up especially late in the day. warm temperatures 72. 60 in westminster. our temperatures were up in the mid-70s. we have 76 in the inner harbor. 73 in washington at reagan. the wind chill continues to be a due south wind, south 10 to 12. tomorrow we'll be above average. even with the clouds thickening up, we'll see upper commit account downtown to mt. washington. the view is showing clouds on the increase from the west but no rain near the state. that will begin to change tomorrow. this pound dry will continue to get its act -- boundary will continue to get its act together. we'll see a mild night, breezy conditions, mild tomorrow before the colder air behind president

-- the front arrives mid-week. near 80 in jackson, mississippi. you get idea, a warm surge for mid-november. our trend says the chance of rain begins to go up tomorrow afternoon. then into the day on wednesday on and off rain with the rain chance peaking late afternoon into wednesday evening. then we clear out for thursday and friday but it will be colder. 57, mostly cloudy with a chance for a shower. we go 67 on your two-degree guarantee. showers becoming much more likely as we stay cloudy. your seven-day forecast looking ahead finding that the numbers will continue to be mild for another day or two. things changed dramatically. as we go into thursday and friday widespread sunshine but col conditions. we'll struggle to get out of the 40s. interesting that this looks like we'll get another bounce back

temperature wise early next week. >> the only thing that seems like fall, are all the leaves falling all over the place. >> we'll get another taste early next week. shifting gears now, today is world diabetes day. with nearly 29 million people living with the disease in the country that's more than 8% of the population. roosevelt leftwich is in mt. vernon where the city is trying to prevent this disease. >> reporter: they hope to make a difference. the best way to heighten that awareness is to let people know what's going on. look at the washington monument. it's one of two buildings that will have that blue tinge to it to let people how this epidemic is. in baltimore city one in fivedi. that's 20% of the population.

20% could be affected by diabetes. it's not always what you think it is. people think maybe because the person is heavier, that they may be prone to that. let's talk to amanda witherspoon. she's the person behind it. she approached the city and had them say, hey, we need to let them know about diabetes in our area. how did you get the idea for this? >> i'm a diabetic. i realize no one i knew knew about it. i had it keep explaining it to them. so many have it. i wanted to raise awareness. >> reporter: you're a tennis player, athletic. you don't fit the stereotype. >> with type two, usually you're more obese. type one, if there's -- there's no real cause of it. it's random and we don't know exactly why. >> reporter: we have the

washington monument and the brumele building. thanks a lot, amanda wither spoorntion the brains behind this -- witherspoon, the brains behind this. they will give us an idea of the extent of diabetes in baltimore city. reporting live, roosevelt leftwich. here's one thing, nobody can accuse the ravens of being consistent this season as they drop another disappointing loss to a team with a losing record. seattle seahawks may have come in as the underdog but the seahawks turned them into points. ran for fewer than 30 yards on just five carries. the ravens have a week to brush themselves off and pick themselves up and get back on track against the cincinnati bengals. tonight a special heings did

of "20/20". diane sawyer has an exclusive interview with gabrielle giffords. she has had months of rehab and surgery and kelly has been at her side for just about all of it. >> that's what i think of when i think of you, too, brave and tough. >> the couple will share their story tonight, gabby and mark, courage and hope. all right here on abc2. before the interview check out "dancing with the stars," down to the final four couples. then diane has an interview with the give fords -- giffords.

experts have been telling us to stay away from the sugary drinks. a couple of them a day may not make you gain weight but there are other consequences. president obama's hockey -- healthcare plan was the subject of a new poll and the results may surprise you.

everybody knows the best place for a good time is mississippi. and that's only until they visited us in louisiana. which is a distant second to sunny florida. for beautiful vacation, nothing beats alabama. ok, we'll never agree on who's best. but we can all agree on one thing. the gulf's the worlds number one vacation spot.

and we've gone all out to make this year the best ever. mississippi has wonderful people, great music, and the beautiful outdoors. louisiana's the best seafood you'll ever eat. shrimp gumbo, crab cakes, etouffee. florida means beautiful beaches and sugar white sands. actually experts agree that the best beaches are here in alabama. which can't compare to a good time on the gulf in mississippi. louisiana fresh catch. florida beaches. alabama beauty. mississippi outdoors. the gulf is the world's goodtime headquarters. and we are 100% open for business. i'm glad we got that settled.

you've heard the stories before, sugary drinks like sodas could be bad for you. they could be affecting women's figures. researchers at the university of

oklahoma said women who drank two sugary sodas a day had an increase in their waist line but not their weight. a new survey shows a lot of people are still thinking about the 2012 healthcare law. a new poll shows the number of americans in favor of requiring everyone to have healthcare has groafnlt as of june only 44% thought this was a good idea. now it's 52. the scct will decide whether -- supreme court will decide. it's the latest addition to the baltimore skyline. we'll give you a sneak peek. and it's still anybody's race. we'll tell you what's happening

on the campaign trail and which candidates are on the top of that poll list right now.