you're watching the station that works for you. good morning maryland at 4:30. the new target in a school bus bullying scenario. more on the kid at the center of this controversy. sheriff's deputies and police officers want you to be on your best behavior while driving. what they plan to do today. olympic swimming qualifier, how michael phelps finished day one despite a wake up call. i'm megan pringle. >> i'm charley crowson. we are continuing to follow the severe weather across and involving parts of tropical storm debbie. debbie is making a mess, not scheduled to hit until thursday. yes. so far, 60 miles an hour winds are swirling around and 25

tornados have hit. let's look at what is ahead with tropical storm debbie. we will check in with meteorologist lynette charles. >> good morning, let's talk about tropical storm debbie. the winds sustained at 45 miles an hour. it has weakened some. it is moving to the east at 3 miles an hour. it has picked up speed. it was stationary. the models in agreement. that's going to take it to the east. making landfall on thursday, if it stays on this track and speed and it will reenter the waters , the warm waters of the atlantic. it could become another tropical storm. mostly, all the rainfall and wet weather is off towards the east of this. with that, they are dealing with plenty of flooding across the area. we will detail that later. closer to home, not dealing with cloud cover or rain. good morning, if you are

headed to the tunnels, everything is up to speed. watchout for that construction south of the harbor tunnel toll. it will cause congestion. stick with the fort mc henry tunnel. this is white marsh, route 43. nice easy ride towards the beltway. if you are using the harrisburg, cheer onto the jfx. 11 minutes downtown to east fayette. 695, no problems. 11 minutes from 75 towards 795. that's a look at your time save traffic. four times more traffic deaths than homicides in harford county. that's enough to make officials say enough is enough. now, they are watching a crack down -- launching a major crack down to make roads safer. linda so is live.

>> reporter: you don't have to look far to see bad behavior. they want to do something about it. this is the sergeant with the sheriff's department. >> in develop, the lieutenant in bel air approached me about combining efforts with the task force, from there we built on that, we included the municipalities, which we have three, aberdeen, bel air police departments. what we started doing in april of 2011 was one day a week working combining officers from the agencies together, targeting a different area each week to enforce violations. >> reporter: this is going to get bigger. you have more officers involved. what can people expect to see on the road? will you be doing random pa

patrols. >> known target areas, we will be combining efforts. probably the strangest thing they will see is officers wearing different uniforms outside of jurisdictions to enforce the roads. >> reporter: what is one of the biggest problems? >> the problems we have is i wasn't paying attention. it's one of the most dangerous things you do is get in an automobile, people aren't paying attention. they are distracted, children in the car, cell phones, not paying atenge attention to the conditions around them. >> reporter: you will hold a ceremony to announce this task force. >> reporter: we will have the superstep adapt state police, the sheriff and the chiefs from the municipalities in the county. >> reporter: thank you.

speaking of the sheriff, he will join us later in the news cast along with a corporal who works out of the barracks. we will tell you what you can expect to see to make sure everyone stays safe. another potential traffic headache could effect drivers overnight. a thrans former is moved through -- transformer is being moved through for electricity reliability. the 900,000-pound transformer will minimize congestion. it travels 3-5 miles per hour. today a special event is held to welcome the opening of ripleys believe it or not baltimore attraction side show. the performers will be outside doing stunts, like knife swallowing, it's happening between 5:30 and 6:30. organizers are calling this the grand opening celebration.

a ribbon cutting will be held following the performers. a workshop is going to be held for distressed maryland homeowners offering relief and assistance. the workshop will take place at the polly western high school from 6:30 to 8:30 tonight. those taking part with speak with housing counselors. the attorney general will host an informal information session. the most recent housing numbers equal good news. home sales up 7% in may, up 20% compared with this time in 2011. home builders are applying for permits to build homes in may. home price index is expected to be released this morning, followed by new home sale reports coming out wednesday. michael phelps going for another 8 gold medals in london. he came in second last night at the u.s. swimming trials. between the morning and night

race he decided to take a break. the fire alarms at the hotel went off. there was no fire. phelps went on to place second against ryan lohse. stay with us, a mother in mourning after the loss of her son, now she is taking her fight to the community. >> how the mom of christopher brown says her fight is far from over. what she plans on saying to residents tonight. tropical storm debbie is releasing her furry on the gulf and she hasn't hit land yet. meagan, everything is up to speed on 695, harford road. i will show you what 95 looks like coming up in the time saver traffic report. this is the statute of liberty. stay with us, more coming up on good morning maryland.

people in florida are bracing for a stormy day as tropical storm debbie causes problems, the storm has yet to make landfall. rains from debbie are expected for the next several days across the pan handle, expected in some areas, people could see more than two feet of rain. in pensacola a man and his family survived a tree falling on his home and another came down while crews were in the area working. georgia, look at this pounding rain. it flooded streets throughout the city making it difficult for drivers , the red cross put volunteers on standby as the rain continues to fall for a lot of wild weather to talk about. calm out there. it is calm. once we get through the debbie thing, things looking better. satellite and radar, picking up on rain because of debbie, savanna, see bands across the area. here is the center of

circulation, see it's about 35 miles off the florida coast, it's going to take a few days before it makes landfall. here at home, it's beautiful, we are nice and dry and much cooler this morning as well. speaking of the temperatures, 59 degrees millersville. we are below average this morning. you might need the jacket as he 54 reisterstown. yesterday, it was gusty outside. this morning, breezy with the gusts up to 18 miles an hour, millersville. we won't be as breezy as yesterday but the winds will be out of the northwest at 5-10 miles an hour as we go throughout the day. let's get a check of the time saver traffic with loren cook. good morning, if you are using the jfx to get in to the city, it's going to take you 11 minutes from p the beltway downtown to east fayette. everything is up to speed, through the fort mc henry tunnel and harbor tunnel. speeds at 54 miles per hour

right now along the northbound lanes. stick with the fort mc henry or the key bridge. 95, 395, no concerns. as we look at the beltway, 11 minute ride towards 83. west side, will remain clear. that's a look at your abc2 news time saver traffic. the decision has been made. >> cuts to local fire companies are days away. after the closure of some city rec centers, what this means for the community. how man's best friends saves a toddler from drowning with an amazing balancing act. that story straight ahead. we continue in just a moment. that's a live look in miami, see the remnants of the rain, our coverage of tropical storm debbie continues when we continue with you on this tuesday morning.

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farmers markets are in full swing. tonight mayor stephanie rawlings blake will visit the ham illville market. mother of chris brown, the teenager shot by a county police officer is turning to her community tonight. she will be at a neighborhood association meeting tonight in randals town. it starts at 6:45 tonight. we will learn about how things are in the city schools, we mean the buildings, the physical state of the buildings will be released at 10:30. the leaders will work with the community to work for recommendations. a shooting in arizona left six people dead, 13 injured,

including gabrielle giffords, there is a hearing tomorrow. lit turn if laughner is fit to stand trial. today is the day rielle hunter's book will be released. she will write about her affairs and other affairs the then senator had while he was married to elizabeth edwards. time for a check on traffic and weather. a lot to talk about on both fronts. >> a giant transformer started to move to pennsylvania. it will cause traffic troubles. the deer creek bridge is closed until 5:00 tonight. it's going to make its way on level road, churchville, route 136. the beltway is clear all the way around if you are using the jfx. everything is up to speed at the fort mc henry and harbor

tunnel. everyone is focusing on what is going on with debbie. >> debbie won't make landfall for the next few days or so. we are tranquil this morning. we got thunderstorms popping up in southern maryland, that's not the case on maryland's most powerful radar. we are nice and quiet. we are cool this morning. upper 50s, mid-50s northville and manchester, 54 in reisterstown. three fire companies in baltimore will be disband permanently part of the budget which cleared the final hurdle last night. truck 10, 15, and squad 11 will be out of service for good. the head of the baltimore city fire union fought discussions of saving one of the -- thought discussions of saving one of the companies was still going on. . another change that came with the final hurdles of the budge rett the closures of the

rec centers. counsel tried but could save four centers in west baltimore, parents are unhappy about the decision, wondering what this leaves the kids during the upcoming summer months. you close it down, the kids have nothing to do during the summer. that's my biggest issue. anybody nearby they can play in? >> nothing. >> step other rec centers could be closed if partners don't step in to help with the funding to keep them open. the consumer product safety commission will show the dangers of fireworks with more than a week until the july 4th holiday. this is an annual campaign by officials, they want to remind everyone there is no sufficient thing as a safe fire wok. they want people to lead the celebratory explosions to the experts. the sheriff's department are looking in to whether explosives played a role in the brush fire in queen ann's county on sunday. they are keeping an eye on the

burned land. many families had to evacuate homes. crews think fireworks set off in the area could have sparked the fire. this video shocked the country. a dprapped moe rased by -- a grandmother harassed by teenagers. there is a new twist. those bullies, they are harassed themselves. one of the boys got more than 1000 threatening text messages in just one night. someone called in saying they took one of the families hostage, that was a hoax. the video showed the boys making fun and poking bus monitor karen cline. robert held some helm says his son is afraid to show his face in public. >> it's really gotten oh out of control. i never thought it would get to this point. my family has received death threats. >> cline received support. website set up to give the grandmother a vacation has

reached $600,000. with that amount, she could live 40 years without working. head to abc2news.com, we have a link to the website this is also a question and hot topic on the facebook fan page. michigan mothers thankful for family dog. bears hailed a hero for saving 14-month-old stanley. mom was walking in the yard with her son and he disappeared. she thought stanley bus floating and noticed he was balancing on the family dog's back. the dog was keeping still making sure stanley didn't go under. some residents are using the florida weather for their advantage and entertainment. a guy wake boarding behind the car. it made a mess, but this guy, i don't know about this, decided to have fun and enjoy

it. this is not recommended. it's not recommended whatsoever. don't do that at home, kids. nice weather for today at home. we are dealing with cool temperatures. nice and crisp. look at the 55 york. 58 baltimore. 57 hagerstown. 55 winchester. 63 easton. the winds will be picking up as well. we have the winds out of the northwest at 6 miles an hour in baltimore, easton, 13 dc. satellite and radar, not picking up on a lot. not a lot of clouds to deal with. temperatures are on the coolish side this morning. here is the proof , the cold front moved through. high pressure building in. north westerly flow, speaking of high pressure, we have this upper level ridge that's not helping with the steering pattern of tropical storm

debbie, the winds are sustained at 45 miles per hour, moving to the east at 3 miles an hour. it's going to take a couple of days before it makes landfall. rain across florida and also portions of georgia. here, things not looking wet at all, plenty of sunshine in the forecast. speaking of the forecast, 80 degrees is what i'm going for today. pretty calm in howard county, if you are traveling interstate 70. no delays to 695, for those of you in baltimore county. here is a look at 795, cockies mill road. a 10 minute ride westminster to 695, drive times, no delays on the west side on the outer loop from 795, towards 95, that stretch is going to take you 11 minutes. everything traveling northbound from the beltway to the fort mc

henry, you are looking at an 8 minute ride. a woman wanted to do something to help her god daughter pay for college. she started collecting pennies. suspected drug trafficers open fire in a mexico airport. what they were doing and wearing that has thoughts puzzled. that's coming up when we go around the world. we are looking at baltimore, the temperature 58 degrees. if you want to download the apps, we are looking at the fact that rain coming in to florida if you want to follow along there. go to our application store and download the app. more about your forecast coming up later.