connected coming up. the president reviewing his pub for lower student loan rate. what he is doing and how long before the decision could be made. also, what would provide less stress on you and your wallet. those stories and much more coming. good morning i am charley crowson. megan is out live on assignment. there's lot going on right now megan. you are in a park in the inner harbor. >> reporter: there's so much happening this weekend but we are previewing a brand new park that's open to the public this weekend where you can relax and play music. so we will tell you about this park and what else is going on this weekend. back to you. >> thanks a lot. look forward to checking in in a bit.weather is going to be a big story as last night. let's check in with meteorologist lynette charles. >> we had some thunderstorms that woke me up this morning. but that round is pretty much out of here. we will be summer like for today. mild and humid this morning a brief break from the showers and storms and we are dealing with areas of patchy fog just

like yesterday. so we start you out on maryland he's most powerful radar and we are dry so we have a little bit of difference out there this morning. but that humidity is out there. you don't need the big coat as you step out the door this morning with the temperatures close to 60 in chestertown and goldsboro. we are at 63 degrees right now in easton. and as we go through the remainder of today, temperatures will warm up a whole lot, but as you head out the door. watch out for reduced visibility because we have two miles in baltimore and 7 in easton. let's check the traffic with lauren cook tell us how the road are with the patchy fog. >> reporter: good morning. there's a lot of reduced visibility across the region. so this morning not a bad morning to turn on the low beams. as we check in and look live at the west side of the beltway, everything up is to speed. a very nice 11-minute ride on outer loop from 795 down towards 95. and if you are headed out to the harrisburg expressway, everything is clear. this is north of the beltway, no delays to talk about. you want to keep in mind that

construction is still ongoing as you make your way on the jfx. one lane shut down in both directions at 28th street. and northbound lanes will be closed overnight as crews fix those drainage pipes. that's between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. through monday morning. and we have the flowermart in mount vernon. parking restricted in the area. that's a look at your abc2 time safer traffic. we brought you the story last night as breaking news at 11. more on the woman found shot dead inside a church. another woman critically injured beside her and a man was found dead in the woods nearby. sherrie johnson joins us hive with the layest. >> reporter: well, this morning, howard county police are trying to figure out what led to the shootings of two women inside a church in ellicott city. police responded to st. peters episcopal church at 5:20 thursday night after a church

custodian called 911 to report he he found two women who had appeared to have been shot inside a office at the church. one woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the other taken to shock trauma in critical condition. later police found a man's body in the woods close to the church. the man was dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicked gunshot wound. a gun was also located near the body. they say it's likely he shot the women before shooting himself and people who live nearby heard about what was going on and worried for their safety. >> immediately, we thought the woods behind the our house and that you had should we go to one of our parents' houses. >> reporter: police are notreleased the identities of the victims. they don't know why any of them were in the church building in the first place. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. one brother was found guilty and the other cleared of all charges. that's what happened in the case of two jewish neighborhood watch volunteers in connection with the beating of a black

teen in 2010. sentencing hearing will be for eliyahu weared shim. weared shim. they say the teen was so broken up by the trial they didn't want to put him through it again. new details about the wrongful death lawsuit of yeardley love. yesterday on the two-year anniversary of her death sharon love, yeardley's mom filed another suit this one against the university of virginia. according to the law shute, george huguely was never disciplineed by the school on lacrosse team after incidents involving alcohol and troubleed behavior. the suit comes on the heels of a 30 million dollar civil suit filed last week against huguely done once again by sharon love. today we will hear from the baltimore city police commissioner fred bealefeld about his decision to step down. he has been the commissioner for five years and yesterday he announced his decision to retire. according to city leaders, he says he wants to spend more

time with his family and will officially retire august 1st a nationwide search is underway for his replacement. the president, vice president and members of the cabinet are talking about a renewed campaign to extend lower interest rates for students loans at least for another year. president obama will speak at the northern verge high school later today -- verge high school later today. the -- virginia high school later today. republicans want to pay more with health care spending cuts. democrats by increasing the tax revenue a vote is scheduled for the sen isate and that's going to take place on tuesday. it's 4:35 and they were competing for the same jobs being the republican nominee for the presidential election. coming up a. preview of the meeting where they will be meeting and what's expected to be talked about. also this morning, it draws thousands of visitors to the nationil squareium for the summer. what's behind the cancellation of the dolphin shows at the aquarium. details coming up when good morning maryland continues. ff

now "good morning maryland" at 4:30. >> welcome back. lightning strikes looks like it could have been here but this is eastern nebraska. the lightning was accompanied by hail and high wind and the possibility of tornado damage to buildings and vehicles once again in nebraska. look outside here in baltimore and things called down sincethose storms rolled through. you said it woke you up. it probably woke up all of us. >> nothing severe but strong storms. for today we could be seeing more possibility of storms this afternoon. we have nasty storms in kanza. you can see the super cell and they have severe thunderstorm watches in place across the areas. the severe their is towards the east for today. so, maryland is actually under a slight risk for severe weather. the storm prediction center hasus in that. satellite and radar not picking

up on a lot in terms of wet weather but we have clouds in place and we will get a few peeks of sunshine going throughout the day with the sunshine that's really going to fuel those temperatures and that's why we have a chance for more showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. but for this morning, we are quite mild quite humid with temperatures around 61 in glen oak and 58 in chestertown and goldsboro. let's go over to lauren cook with a check of your time safer traffic. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are dealing with quite a bit of fog this morning. so expect reduced visibility. turn on the low beams as you do head out. on the beltway no delays in harford road. you can see how foggy it is. you're looking at an 11-minute ride from 95 up towards 83. the west side will remain clear from 795 all the way down to 95. and if you are traveling the northeast corridor of 95 up in harford county no delays at route 152. it will be a nice calm ride as you make the drive into white marsh and will continue to be delay free as you make the

drive through the fort mchenry tunnel many we have that construction on the jfx. one lane will be shut down in both directions at 28th street. the northbound lanes will shut down overnight as crews work to repair the damaged drainpipes. that's a look at your abc2 time safer traffic. charley now back to you. if you don't have plans for the weekend and want to hang out with us, the annual towson town festival will be saturday and sunday. once again abc2 is a proud sponsor. stop by the booth downtown in towson and meet the staff. megan and i will be there tomorrow you will be there at noon? >> 12:30 to 2. >> it's saturday from 10 to 7 and sunday 1 to 7. it's been a year in the making a. new park downtown ready to welcome in visitors. it's a park for all ages and aopportunity for kids to work and play in the inner harbor. megan is is live with report coming up in a -- meg n is live

with a report coming up -- megan is live with a report coming up.how to celebrate cinco de mayo when good morning maryland continues. ♪

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it's 4:43. and five things to know on this friday. they were once fierce rivals and now mitt romney and rick santorum are making headlines for a secret rendezvous. they will meet in pittsburgh but the campaign is tightlipped about where and when. vice president joe biden isgoing to deliver remarks on the violence against women like at the ywca annual conference. the house needs to vote on the billand labor department is is releague the april jobs report later this morning. economic experts say they are not sure what to expect when the numbers are released. they are getting conflicting reports. a some predicting a growth of

170,000 jobs. and a high school is taking part in special cleanup day. students will work with ripkin baseball and the staff volunteer program doing landscaping and fence removing and power washing. and start getting your wagers lines up. who you pick in the 138th running of the kentucky derby. post time 6:24. a horse that is a favorite is union ride. don't forget to grab the margarita and sombrero because it's cinco de mayo. it will be celebrated in mexico and the u.s. so what do you need to know? this morning we are we have tips on the mexican beer choicesthe top choice is doseci amber and then modelo special. i've had all and have to recommend all. now it's part of a piece of land in the inner harbor part

of fun, art and family great times. abc2 news megan pringle is live with a preview of what families and their kids can be in store for starting on sunday. >> reporter: it is and i will say in baltimore we are so lucky to have great parks we have patterson and federal park and there hasn't been anything like this until now, and you can come check it out this weekend. it connects harbor east to the inner harbor. it's dark outside, but we did shoot video yesterday so we can show you what it locks like during the day. i don't -- looks like during the day. that's a double sided horn. we will learn more about what that is about. we are looking at video shot yesterday. there's a huge xylophone and it's a cool place and something for everybody. i am going bring in heidi right now. and she is with the downtown baltimore family alliance. thanks for coming out so early. >> thanks for having me. >> reporter: you must be excited about this. why is it so important for baltimore families to come here? >> we are excited.

as you said, there were parks over in patterson and federal hill park but nothing for the growing contingent of families in little italy and harbor east. we have found being able to walk to a park is so important for families and for retaining families in the city. >> reporter: why is that so important for families? >> when we live in and have sm and the joy of not having to do yard work we want our kids to be out in green spaces and it's great to walk a few blocks and be in a wonderfully maintain green space. >> reporter: my photographer when we were setting up i have 6 months old and he he has an older child an 11-year-old and we are saying this is something we both could enjoy. was that taken into consideration and something you thought it would be interesting a little something for a diversity of families. >> yes. emily who was on the downtown baltimore family alliance board was very involved in planning the park and make sure it was attractive to families of all ages. >> reporter: all right. and like you said, a walkable

space if you live in harbor east or little italy and maybe if you are out in the county and coming for the aquarium it might be interesting to check out. >> exactly. >> reporter: thanks so much for coming out here so early in the morning. we want to let you know the ribbon cutting ceremony is sunday at 2. and it's open to the public i know you talked about cinco de mayo. there's so much going on let's talk about a few other things happening. >> right. >> reporter: flowermart that'sbeen going on so long and happening in mount vernon. we will put the information up on the screen so you can check it out. that's today, that's also tomorrow, and that's happening from 11 until 8. this year it's going to be cool because they have a pet parade contest and flower contest and a hat contest. a great place to go if you want to look at gorgeous flowers and eat great food. that information is on your screen. it's on the website and one event that is so unique and so cool that you have to check out at some point is going on for 14 years is the kinetic

sculpture race at the american visionary arts museum saturday starting at 10. that's a 8-hour race and you have a opportunity to go down at any point and it goes throughall neighborhoods in baltimore and if you wonder what it's all about, i encourage you to check out the website and look at it. the pictures tell the story. this is an opportunity to go out and people watch. people show up in costumes and they basically build their owndevices to race in on land and in the water. so it's a great opportunity to see the city. we will be down here and it's a special place and we will learn more who the park is named after and yes was so important to baltimore and everything this has to offer. we will send it back to you. he will be down here all morning and show you what the park is is all about. >> thanks a lot. it's 4:49 and for more free and discounted items, we have for you courtesy of free sample mamma. -- mama. if you were -- mama. if you are thinking about

redecorating a room you can print out a coupon. go to boston market for a free meal including individual meal and drink. and there's free items all month for gardi ee. we have the list from free sample mamma under the lifestyle section. the latest on the maryland court of appeals ruling with pit bulls are a dangerous breed. humane society launched a campaign seeking to have that ruling overturned. the group says maryland is the only state that officially regards pit bulls as dangerous. that ruling was made last week. a warning from baltimore county police. this morning people are apparently use household items to create cool drugs. they are mixing-- bombs. the botels look swollen and when disturbed they explode. it can be enough force to blow off fingers or burn your face

and hands. last year there were 13 incidents similar to the one you saw there. nationwide, millions of stray and surrendered animals end up in shelters and humane societies leaving them overrun and some carry the banner of no kill shelters but are they really? coming up at 11, we will look at some shelters across the u.s. and what they are doing to get around what we think qualifies as no kill. we will show you exactly what the animal groups in baltimore are doing to keep them alive and finding them great homes. that's tonight on amount bc2 news at 11. news around the nation a. family got a sinking surprise after they had been in the home for two months. yeah a giant sink hole opened up in the backyard. that hole was 100 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep and growing. the florida family says it opened up overnight and saw -- swallowed four trees and a hamic. -- hammock. a man is making a promise

for those who can can find him a job. he lost his job two weeks ago after falling short on his commission. he also is hitting the pavement with his job for a trip idea staying at tulsa's busiest intersection. it's a interesting side note. this is how he landed the first job when he did this and came out of college. so that's an interesting concept. you foe we have had the stories throughout the weeks on "good morning maryland" people creative looking for jobs. he is offering a vacation to hawaii. >> i like that. maybe i could find him one. >> you need an intern. >> exactly. let's take about the fog we have this morning. it's patchy and we have reduced visibility. only one mile in baltimore right now. this time yesterday, we are actually worse. so make sure to have the low beams on. people at a distance between you and the people in front of you as you head out. looking at easton, five miles of reduced visibility. one in york, 7 in hagerstown and two in culpepper. right now temperatures are quite mild.

61 in baltimore. 61 in easton. and we should be at 48 degrees now for our low temperatures. you can see that we are well above that. not only are we mild outside, but we are on the balmy side. not feeling too good and feeling sticky. the summer like pattern for today and tomorrow. showers and thunderstorms to the north in pens heading into west virginia as of now. this little upper level disturbance is going to slide across our area a little later today. so we have a severe weather risk a slight risk for severe weather. the biggest threat is damaging wind, large hail across the area. the areas shaded in the yellow. future trend not going to be picking up on a whole lot. maybe a couple scattered showers today and tomorrow. have the rain gear but there's slight chance then. sunday looks to be a better day and for today, coming in at 86 degrees, warm and balmy. scattered showers and storms possible. let's check the traffic with

lauren. good morning and how are you. >> reporter: i am great. yes nice to be here again with all of you this morning. as you mentioned, we are dealing with a lot of fog so expect reduced visibility. no delays traveling on 895. it's nice and clear at o'donnell street for a easy ride for the harbor or for mchad been rich 83 is going to be -- mchenry. 83 is going to be clear. we have the construction that is going on on the jfx. that's at 28th street. so one lane will be shut down in both directions this morning. and then the northbound lanes will be closed altogether later in the evening from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. and will continue through monday. falls road not look like a bad alternate. that's the abc time safer traffic. charley, now back to you. >> all right, thanks a lot. police officers put their lives on the line every day protecting you and me. and today, we are taking time to honor those fallen heros who have given the ultimate sackry fight. linda so is live at due lanny

valley -- dulaney valley memorial gardens. >> reporter: it's the 27th annual hallen -- fallen heros day and this is jack mitchell. tell us what will be going on? the ceremony starts at one this afternoon. >> that's correct. it's open to the public and we will be honoring this year's there was a fallen hero who died in the line of duty, and we will be honoring his sacrifice. >> reporter: okay. and that's trooper hunter shaft who was a maryland state trooper who died is that correct? >> that's correct. >> reporter: and a lot of people you're expecting 1300 folks to come out? >> exactly. many families of past fallen heros come and many just come to give recognition to the sacrifices that these men and women made. >> reporter: what about people in the public who just want to cop to pay their re-- come to pay their respects are they able to do that? >> it's totally opened to the public and anyone who wants to come. and everyone who comes will receive a commemorative pin in

honor of the ceremony. >> reporter: you will be here with us throughout the morning. thanks for that information. look for the white tent set upwhere the ceremony will begin at 1 this afternoon. live in timonium, linda so, abc2 news. the smithsonian will get a million dollar overhaul. who made the donation and how they plan to honor the generous donor. it's a case one year wedding anniversary. ,000 get in on the action. details straight ahead. you are watching good morning maryland, what's new, now and next thank you for starting your friday off with us.

now "good morning maryland" at 4:30. new dinosaur hall is come to the smithsonian museum of natural history. david coke is donating 35 million dollars for that project. it's the singeling largest --

single largest guest in the 200 year history. he is a billionaire in new york city. the dinosaur hall will be named in his honor. and happening today, dolphins show at the national aquarium in baltimore is ending and today the dolphin program will be opened all day. spend as much time as you like watching them play eat and train. before that you had to pay extra to watch a scheduled show. you won't have to pay extra anymore but the aquarium israising the regular admission price by a few dollars. the second day of the maryland film festival is take place in downtown baltimore from now until sunday. that's including more than 40 new films and more than 75 short films from around the world. you can check out the vintage 3d film and silent film with live music by the orchestra. this is the 14th year for the film festival in baltimore. time for news around the world. there are a lot of toads in the road in central china them make look small and cute, residents are worried they could spread

disease and parasites. many toads sometimes make the roads look completely black. scientists say the invasion may be the result of abnormal weather conditions. tradition says save a peeves your wedding cake for the first anniversary. well, we are not sure if prince william and katherine did this but you could. a slice of the royal couple's cake up is for auction. the auction is expected to get between 13 and $1600 for that one year anniversary slice of cake. let's start the 5:00 hour. >> now "good morning maryland." two women shot in the church in ellicott city. another man found dead. the latest on the website here at abc2news.com. find out how police say it's connected. >> reporter: honoring our fallen heros who paid the ultimate sacrifice. i am linda so. what will be happening later today to remember fallen police officers and firefighters. >> they served more