that's what's making news in america on this wednesday morning. >> make sure you stay with us for is baltimore city one step closer to having ads on fire trucks? i'm sharree johnson. i'll have the report coming up. a deadly earthquake has left 15 people dead in italy. the action the government is now taking to help the homeless. i spend on average 30 minutes a day just going over the [ indiscernable ] >> let the scripps national spelling bee begin. we'll introduce you from an eighth grader from elk ridge making the trip to washington. the rain wrapped up just a few minutes ago. >> abc 2 news viewers helped us monitor the storms. this is what the weather looked

like outside of david dawson's home. this is east baltimore on east 25th street. >> also this picture in edgewood yesterday. you can see the clouds forming. look at that well-defined system and a thick nice set of storm clouds moving in. lynette, i know from a meteorological standpoint you're impressed by that. very impressed. i love to see stuff like that as long as nobody is getting hurt out of it. strong thunderstorms worked through the area, severe weather as well. right now we look at maryland's most powerful radar, things are calming down a little bit, but we are dealing with a couple of showers over calbert county, also anne arundel county. chesapeake beach getting in on the action. it is beginning to cross over the bay. gracenville, greenstown, get ready for some of that wet weather in st. michael's today. as we go throughout the day, it'll start to die down a little bit. we'll start out this morning on the humid side, on the warm side, but these temperatures will not be as hot as we go into the afternoon as we saw

yesterday. let's get a check of the traffic with lauren. good morning. we're dealing with wet roadways out there. are there any accidents happening. >> no accidents just yet, but the roads are going to be slick. reduce your speeds and be careful if you are heading out. if you are using the jfx to get into the city, an 11-minute ride to east fayette street. everything will remain clear traveling through the fort mchenry tunnel and the harvard tunnel. taking a live look at the northeast corridor of 95 here, just north of route 43, no delays as you head into the city. and as far as the beltway is concerned, here's a live look in parkville at hartford road where you are looking at a very easy nine-minute ride on the outer loop from 95 to 83. that is a look at your abc 2 time saver traffic. charley, over to you. happening right now, we've been monitoring the situation in italy for you where 15 people are dead after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. this was breaking news yesterday on "good morning maryland." it happened in the northeast part of the country. factories and churches collapse inside a region where thousands

of still homeless after a stronger quake just nine days earlier. italian officials are now setting up shelters for those whose homes were destroyed. some say it's going to save lives by keeping fire stations open. we're talking about putting advertisements on the side of fire trucks. the issue is going before city leaders and now it is time to make a decision before these firehouses close up shop. abc news' sharree johnson is live outside fire headquarters downtown. sharee. >>reporter: we're live at headquarters right in front of the fallen firefighter statue here. last night a lot of the supporters, they were hoping that the fire truck ads might prevent the proposed closing of three fire companies in baltimore city. dozens of supporters actually packed the city council chambers yesterday. at this point the measure is not a bill, it's a resolution calling on baltimore city to allow advertisements be placed on fire trucks. councilman pete welts made the

proposal in response to permanently close three fire companies around the city. this includes truck 10 in west ploor and squad 11 in southeast baltimore. a spokesperson for mayor stephanie rawlings blake says a proposal to add advertisements to city-owned builds like parking garages and even schools is very close to becoming a reality. >> we support this and my community is in support of it. >> i very much, like i said, support this bill because it is needed. now, the three fire companies would close on july 1st, and right now they're just not sure, you know, with the added revenue this would help save the company. reporting live in downtown baltimore, sharree johnson, abc 2 news. the general election will not only be a political battle to watch come november, now same-sex marriage is going to be put to vote here in maryland. the maryland marriage alliance says it's admitted 13,000 voter signatures last night. that's more than twice the number needed to take this

issue to referendum. the issue has divided many in maryland. >> every poll is nothing but propaganda at this point because what we are seeing is that countless, thousands of marylands around the state want to see marriage go on the ballot, but they also want to see it defined and upheld between one man and one woman. [ cheers and applause ] >> the collection of those signatures does not reflect the growing momentum among voters. the truth is our opponents have lost ground. we've seen a substantial growth. we know that 57% of maryland voters now support marriage equality. >> they always expected that law to end up in referendum. a recent poll shows more than half of marylanders supports same-sex marriage. today a pretrial motion hearing for former penn state assistant coach for the football team jerry sandusky. sandusky made a surprise showing in a courtroom yesterday which was about protecting the identities of his suspected victims. jury selection is next week in his trial and lawyers for the

three accusers want the judge to keep their identities from being disclosed to the public. all new this morning $60,000 is going to housing assistance for a mortgage settlement here in maryland. the governor and mayor are going to talk about the first payment today and the nearly 1 billion total maryland is set to receive. that announcement will take place in baltimore at the hope hotline call center. it helps worried homeowners get in touch with housing counselors. there may be a new way to stop skin cancer. >> stay with us this morning, a new study that researchers say could prevent the deadly disease and how aspirin and ibuprofen could ep had. and a rare weather warning across the northeast. residents had more than just severe rains to deal with. you got lightning, you got winds and you got flash flooding. lynette. >> all right, charley, we do have showers on maryland's most powerful radar, and to stay ahead of those storms you'll want to download your mobile app to stay ahead of those storms. details on that coming up. off to a rainy start, but no delays at 895 at o'donnell

street. i'll show you how traffic is shaping up on 83 and 95 coming up on "good morning maryland."

severe weather in new england now causing some flooding in new hampshire. >> and it also triggered tornado warnings yesterday, something that's rarely seen in this part of the country. scattered power outages were also reported and emergency officials reported significant flooding in the southwest portion of the state. and meteorologist lynette charles is here. lynette, we had rain last night, but nothing at all like that. >> oh, no, nothing at all like that. no type of flooding concerns. but we did get a round of rain. i'm going to show you some of those totals a little bit later. as we look at the big picture here, we are looking at some thunderstorms now diving down out of -- diving down out of oklahoma and texas. they could get more severe as we go throughout the day. we are watching beryl. it's moving from south carolina up into north carolina.

they're getting heavier rains across that area. and we can see that complex of rain moving out of maine right now. so just lots of areas that we're dealing with some wet weather. that will be the scenario for this morning. and then as we go into the afternoon things will begin to dry out, we'll get some dryer air come in here, so tomorrow will be less humid. but for right now these temperatures are quite mild. good morning, joppa, you're in the upper 60s, more of the same in sparrows point and rock hall, 69 degrees this morning. late get a check of abc 2 news time saver traffic with lauren. good morning. how are the roads look sng >>reporter: as you know, the roads are going to be very wet, very slick, so be sure to reduce those speeds. if you are traveling through the fort mchenry tunnel, no delays to talk about. the harvard tunnel also clear. all that construction has finally been finished on the jfx. as we head north into baltimore county, here's a live look at the harrisburg expressway at shan road. a nice easy drive as you make it towards the beltway. here's a look at 695. no problems to talk about if

you're headed up towards 495 or up towards the tunnels. on the wtdz of the beltway, no delays 795 down towards 95. clear from parkville to talson that. is a look at your abc 2 time saver traffic. over to you. coming up at 9:00 our four- legged friends are putting the thunder shirts to the test. these shirts are supposed to calm your dog during a thunderstorm. we're going to put these to the test and find out if they work. one bark for yes, two for no. that is once again tonight at 11:00. i turn to you, megan pringle, would you put one of those on roxie? >> i would try anything to calm roxie down, but i don't know if it would do the trick. i'm a skeptic. >> put one on oscar about four months ago, he ate it. there you go. >> he did. ate it, $40, gone. stay with us this morning because it is a battle that some see as racist, others say it's religious freedom. what a judge has now ruled outside of nashville, tennessee

when it comes to the construction of an islamic center and what some are saying about his ruling. also this morning, there may be more reason to grab the aspirin and ibuprofen when it comes to skin cancer. you're waking up to "good morning maryland." a live look at the inner harbor. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] with xfinity,

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jurors are now entering day eight of the john edwards trial. the judge has held a couple meetings with lawyers on the matter, relating to one specific juror. the men accused of going on a shooting spree in tulsa, oklahoma back in april are due in court today. three people were killed, two injured. authoritying say both suspects have confessed to being involved in those shootings. a live look this morning in new york city where today city officials are marking the 10th anniversary of the formal end of ground zero cleanup

operations. an event is being held for the 9/11 memorial for rescue, recovery and relief workers. the house of veteran affairs committee is holding a hearing today about vets with ampewtations that are able to get -- amputations that can get the right prosthetics. democratic leader ploas proas and other -- nancy pelosi and other house democrats are looking at the it time now for a check of a little weather and traffic. we start with your commute this morning because the rain last night was a real soaker. we could see some residual effects on roadways. >> i actually had trouble driving in from bel aire. the rain was coming down hard, it was difficult to see. it's important to reduce your speeds this morning. if you're using the jfx, the construction has finally cleared, no delays to talk about as you head into the city. the tunnels are in great shape so far. no problems on 95 white marsh

into the city. >> it's interesting you are dealing with rain as you were coming in because i was dealing with fog. >> we do have patchy fog in some spots this morning, but the roads are still slick, take it easy as you head out and about. we can still see the rain mainly to the south of baltimore right now. so if your travels are taking you around anne arundel county, you can see saverna park, chesapeake beach, all of that is crossing over the bay, so to the north of easton, you are dealing with wet weather this morning. temperature wise, well, we are quite mild. we are still a little bit humid out there, but look at the rain we've already received, darlington close to .60 inch of rain. charlly. health news this morning, a new study says common pain relievers like aspirin and ibuprofen can prevent skin cancer. it showed that those who took a low dose for three years of less likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. they say it has a greater benefit for those who took

aspirin for seven years taking it at a higher dose. 4:46. things are heating up this morning for hartford county teachers. the whole thing is over equal pay. with a packed house last night, teachers protested outside the hartford county teachers association. they say the teachers need a raise. the teachers say they don't blame county lawmakers, however, they do want parents to know about their frustrations. maryland state officials now want you to know that every time you eat your crabs you know it's coming straight from the bay. the true blue program will certify restaurant that is primarily serve home grown maryland crab. the marketing director for natural resources says 87 restaurants have signed on, but to be sure, 75% of crab used by a restaurant must come from maryland. a tennessee judge has ruled that construction on an islamic center outside of nashville, tennessee must stop. he says the public was not given proper notice of the meeting where the rutherford county planning commission approved the mosque.

>> bigotry and racism in our beautiful city that otherwise should have the best reputation in the country and that's really sad. >> we're very pleased. this was a victory not only for these plaintiffs but it's a victory for all the citizens and taxpayers of rutherford county. >> the islamic center is scheduled to open sometime in late july. a detroit woman who was shot and set on fire has given birth to a baby boy. it happened on the same day the child's father and his friend were charged in the attack. police say that the two bound the pregnant woman with duct tape, set the house on fire and shot her in the shoulder. >> this is one of the most disturbing, it's so difficult to get your head wrapped around crimes we've had in our city. >> the woman escaped by playing dead. the father now facing multiple charges. charley. a washington state couple has been found not guilty of

unlawful imprisonment. they're accused of locking their two severely autistic boys in a caged room. prosecutors say the parents locked up the boys to get them out of their hair. the jury saw what the boys went through everyday with the boys' extreme forms of behavior. >> this is somehow of how we got here in the first place. >> the verdict doesn't mean the parents get the boys back, though. that still has to play out in family court. there's still quite a bit of cleanup today throughout upstate new york following some violent storms there. for example, seneca falls, this is near buffalo, crews using chain saws to clean up the trees. >> all that debris has caused power outages. some trees were ripped right from their roots and ripped from their homes. time for a check of the forecast. let's go to lynette. >> we got some decent rains here as well. let's show some pictures right off the top here, we can see what's going on because we did

have some thunderstorm clouds across the area. this first picture was sent in from laura ashley and she's in jarrettsville and you can just see those clouds as they formed yesterday evening in hartford county. so thank you for sending that in, laura. we also have a picture that was sent in yesterday by karen, and she took this in walkersville, maryland and this is definitely fredrick county there. and we can see, again, just a beautiful shot here. i love these type of pictures. you can see the clouds forming across the area. and with that definitely did get some thunderstorms out of that. so speaking of the thunderstorms and the rain, let's go back, and you can see what's going on here. we are definitely looking at lots of cloud cover this morning. most of the showers and storms are down to the south of us as of now. i'm not going to rule out for some more showers to roll in as we go through the day and things will begin to dry out. speaking of the moisture, well, the dewpoints are still up there. i know you're wondering, well, that cold front moved through, right? it's going to take its sweet ole time to actually bring in that dryer air. so by this evening that's when we'll start to feel it and

tomorrow is going to be a much nicer day in terms of the dryer weather and definitely more sunshine. temperatures this morning very reminiscent of what we had yesterday, quite warm. 70 degrees right now in baltimore, 70 in easton, 73 in salisbury and 72 in d.c. right now. we're seeing the effects of the dryer air right now in hagerstown and also winchester. that cooler air trying to filter in across the area. today will not be as hot by any means. future trend picking up on the fact we still have some showers lingering around, maybe around 8:00 this morning, and then we dry out nicely as we head into thursday, plenty of sunshine moves back into the picture. but then we will have another cold front that's going to swing through friday evening into the weekend and that could be bringing us some more rain. but for today that temperature i'm going with is right around 85 degrees. not so bad, right? we should be at 78 degrees now for this time of the year and we will get there. but we look at your seven-day forecast and an awesome looking day on thursday. more showers and thunderstorms move back into the picture as we into friday and then we get

much cooler as that front rolls through the area by the weekend with some showers and thunderstorms, especially as we head into saturday. let's get a check now of the abc 2 news time saver traffic with lauren. and we're dealing with slick roadways out there, but fortunately no accidents to talk about yet, right? >>reporter: no accidents yet. roads are extremely slick. important to reduce your speeds this morning. no concerns on 95 moving through the white marsh area. you're looking at a 14-minute ride from the beltway all the way to downtown baltimore. as you do get onto 695 here's exactly what it looks like in talson, no concerns whatsoever at york road. everything will be up to speed, it will be an easy ride making the drive up towards 83. as the west side of the beltway is concerned, here's a live look at liberty road. no delays to talk about here. you are looking at an 11-minute ride on the outer loop from 795 towards 95. the good news on the jfx if you are using that this morning, all the construction has cleared and it's just going to take you 11 minutes to travel from talson all the way to downtown baltimore that. is a look at your abc 2 news

time saver traffic. over to you. 25 year ss certainly a long career, but a career that has touched many lives across baltimore. >> absolutely. so we want to say congratulations and thank you to our very own jamie costello, celebrating 25 years. yesterday he did it with the abc 2 news team. he started back in 1987. now, if you look at this video, you may notice there is a lot of popcorn there. that is his favorite snack. popcorn for the occasion, his wife, his children, they showed up. there's jamie back in the day. >> that is good hair. >> that's good hair. dpl and he's a great guy, a great father and a fun person to work with, not only so knowledgeable of baltimore, but really has an amazing sense of human and good guy. and rest assured each of those bags of popcorn had been counted and he will know if one ends up being taken. >> absolutely. he'll come looking for you. >> he will absolutely hunt you down. >> congratulations to jamie. he's only in the eighth grade, not jamie, but this young man can spell most of us

have never even heard of. >> the teenager from hartford county who's headed to the spelling bee. and how does a spelling bee become so big? at 5:00 we'll look at the evolution of the bee and what's changed over the past 87 years. and as we go to break on "good morning maryland" a live look. we're back in a bit.