as we look at these temperatures, nice and comfortable this morning, coming in at 52 degrees in westminster. hairford at 63 degrees. ellicott city at 59 degrees. good morning, colombia, you're at 55 degrees and we're seeing 55 in northeast. middletown right around 62 and 59 in chestertown, goldsboro at 54 degrees. so some of those 50s that we're getting out there, you might

want to get that sweater. and also winds on the breezy side this will remain as we head through the rest of today. let's get a check of the abc 2 news time saver traffic with lauren cook. you've been busy talking about a house fire. >>reporter: yes, lynette, a house fire has shut down west baltimore street at stockton street. if you are traveling in the area, you do want to stick with lexington street as your alternate route. there is a serious crash on route 295. the southbound lanes are shut down right now at route 648. police just confirmed that this accident is fatal. it led to a car fire, someone actually was trapped neath. so we will bring you the very latest as it does become available. you will want to use 95 or washington boulevard as your alternate route. as we check in and take a live look at 695 at the southwest corner here at route 295, fortunately everything up to speed in this area. that is a look at your abc 2 time saver traffic. charley and megan, over to you. news time 5:31. back now to the developing story out of west baltimore. fire crews on the scene of a

two-alarm fire on the 1200 block of west baltimore street. linda stow has been live there for about an hour now. she joins us with the very latest developments. linda. >>reporter: the fire is now out, you can see the two firefighters on the ladder truck up there. they're just using some water to wet the building down, making sure there are no hot spots. here's what happened, around 4:00 this morning a three-story building caught fire. it happened to be vacant and the third floor collapsed onto the second. we're told no one was inside that building, no one was hurt, but there was some damage next door to the chinese carryout. we're told a woman who lives there, a pregnant woman suffered a cut to her hand as she was try to go get out. she was treated here on scene and taken to a local hospital. we're also told a firefighter cut his foot. he was taken to the local hospital, about 60 firefighters responded to the scene here. this was a two-alarm fire. they got things under control pretty quickly. again, the fire right now is out, but you can see firefighters, fire trucks covering most of this street here.

so you can expect some road closures in the area for the next couple of hours. we're told there's a church right here on the corner. it's the line of praise temple. no damage to this church. we did see some church members out here this morning worried there might be some damage from the fire to that church. again, firefighters tell us that church is okay. the only building that caught fire is that one vacant building and there was some smoke damage to the chinese carryout right next door. again, no one suffered serious injuries here, but we're told west baltimore street from the 1000 block up to the 1400 block will be closed for the next couple hours and operations go on here. but, again, one firefighter was taken to the hospital with a cut to the foot, a pregnant woman trying to escape the fire. she got a cut to the hand. she was treated on scene and taken to a local hospital. stay tuned, we'll bring you updates again in our next half hour. live in baltimore, linda stow, abc 2 news. >> thank you. the father of a fallen marine talks about his son and how he plans to honor him.

lance corporal gene mills died on friday in afghanistan. he was shot fatally in the upper chest. his father said 9/11 inspired his son to join the marines at just 21 years old he was on his second tour of duty. his father remembers the phone call three days before he lost his son. >> and he said one more mission, pops, and i'll be home. and he always ends with, i love you, pops. of course i tell him i love him back and that was it. and the world changed. >> lance corporal mills' younger brother plans to still enlist with the marines and a police procession now being planned from dover to a funeral home friday morning. all other details regarding the funeral and viewings still being arranged. 5:34 right now. baltimore city schools are in bad shape. leaders say an assessment of more than 150 schools show that nearly $2 1/2 billion in work needs to be done. the inventory of the system's

facilities identified 50 of the system's schools as candidates for either closure or rebuilding. school leaders will meet with communities throughout the summer to discuss the plans and the recommendations about which schools should be renovated, rebuilt or closed. they'll hopefully make those decisions by november. a change of speed for you this morning. it's not that a would-be thief in massachusetts wasn't using his head when he allegedly tried robbing a brockton business. the problem was the guy was using his head. now, the pictures tell the story. police say this man tried to break into a rent-a-center storage bay and found himself trapped. police arrived on the scene after the man had been stuck there for nearly nine hours. a rent-a-center manager found fernandez when he opened the store and the videotaped ordeal was there for everyone to see. >> how did you get in there? [ inaudible ]

>> oh, yeah, i'm fine. >> all is good, man. just shaking things out. that accused burglar suffered a large bruise on the back of his head from the pressure of the door. of course he went to the hospital. he's going to be charged with breaking and entering. a pennsylvania woman, a mother is charged with leaving her child behind after trying to steal clothe from a store. her 4-year-old daughter left behind. that's what she did when she was about to get caught. police arrested her when she eventually came back to the store to look for her daughter. the 4-year-old daughter is in the custody of relatives. the mother is charged with theft as well as child endangerment. stay with us this morning, she told us the story of harry met sally and, of course, so many other great stories. >> this morning we take a look back at the life and legacy of nora ephron. also ahead this morning, the iconic symbol of london, but big ben going to be getting a new name. >> what? debby has made landfall. i'll tell you where it goes

next. stay tuned for those details. >>reporter: a deadly crash has shut down a portion of 295, i'll have all the details coming up in my abc 2 news time saver traffic report.

she gave us some of the best romantic comedies, "when harry met sally" and "you've got mail." nora ephron passed away last night after a lengthy fight with leukemia. born in new york, moving to l.a., she started as screen writing. she is survived by her sons and third husband. it is good to get clean, get things named after you from time to time. following the summer games in london, the park will be rechrissenned. now she'll be leaving her mark on big ben as well. the house of commons confirms the london landmark will be renamed elizabeth tower. our resident london guy is shaking his head right now. nobody will call it that. he's right. >> parliament, big ben. parliament, big ben. stay with us this morning,

if you plan on enjoying an adult beverage or two or three or four on the fournl, baltimore city wants to make sure you get home safely. >> how many will you have? >> zero, i have twin babies. >> how you can get in touch and get a free ride home. it's basically the california city that never want today happen. it's about to become the largest city ever to do this. we'll explain what's going on. >>reporter: a two-alarm house fire in baltimore has shut down west baltimore street at stockton street. if you are traveling in the area, you will want to use west lexington street as your alternate route. abc 2 new's linda stow is on the scene and will bring you the latest in just a little bit. a crash on route 295 at route 48. police do confirm this accident is fatal. you will want to use washington boulevard as your alternate route. a live look at the beltway, the southwest corner in great shape. that will continue all the way up towards 83. that is a look at your abc 2 time saver traffic. stay with us. there's much more to come.

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to vote "yes" on national harbor... one of the biggest new job projects in the country. 16 minutes before the hour. some top stories we're following for you on this wednesday morning. more homes burning due to wildfires near colorado

springs, colorado. 2,100 people now living on the grounds of the air force academy have been forced to be evacuated. a ranch southwest of the air force academy has reportedly burned to the ground. and teresa sullivan, the president of the university of virginia now has her job back. the board overseeing the university has reversed itself and reinstated president sullivan. her dismissal less than three weeks ago infuriated students and faculty, even virginia's governor. the board voted unanimously for that reinstatement. virginia's governor, we just said, threatened to fire the entire board if she didn't get her job back. stockton, california now set to become the largest american city ever to declare bankruptcy. they were unable to reach a deal to restructure hundreds of millions of dollars in debt under a new state law designed to help municipalities avoid bankruptcy. the city of 290,000 has seen its property taxes and other revenues decline while expensive investments and generous benefits have drained the city coffers. the u.s. senate has reportedly reached a deal to keep the student loan interest rate from doubling.

house republicans are expected to discuss this issue at a closed-door meeting the morning of july 1st. now, interest rates on july 1st on the federally-subsidized student loans are set to jump from about 3% to almost 7%. so lawmakers from both parties want to keep that rate from basically rising just to disagree on how to offset the $6 billion loss in the federal treasury. we'll keep you posted on how this all goes. the u.s. supreme court now set to rule on the constitutionality of president barack obama 2010 healthcare reform law, the affordable care act. they're going to rule tomorrow. you may know this as obama care. the crux of the lawsuit involves 26 states and the individual mandate. that's a requirement of individuals to buy health insurance by the government. popular aspects of the law include healthcare coverage of adult dependents up to 26 years old, also the protection for people who have preexisting conditions. time now for five things you need to know on this

wednesday. jerry lee loghner, the suspect of the 2011 shooting in arizona will have a competency hearing today to determine if he's mentally fit to stand trial. loughner is accused of killing six people and injuring 13 others, including former u.s. senate representative gabrielle giffords. a sting and arrests of people on four continenting involving online financial fraud. this crackdown is the largest ever against hackers who steal credit card and bank information. officials claim the fbi sting protected more than 400,000 potential victims. today is hiv testing day. this promoting testing as an important strategy to treat the infection. baltimore has the fifth highest rate of hiv in the u.s. president barack obama will meet with the crown prince of abu dhabi and discuss our continued cooperation in regional issues. in the evening, the president and first lady will host a picnic for members of congress. that's happening at the white house. the u.s. consumer product and safety commission will hold

a news conference highlighting tough new safety [ music ] 5:48 right now. happening today the tipsy taxi campaign is coming back again to baltimore. the maryland mda, aaa mid- atlantic, are announcing today the plans to offer free cab rides in baltimore during the 4th of july. they're teaming up with yellow cab to make sure you don't drive home drunk. the tipsy taxi campaign has also been used during st. patrick's day and new year's eve. time now to talk about the weather. i know a lot of people are going to be looking forward to the 4th of july, but also in the meantime they want to know about this weekend. >> they want to know about this week. yesterday was perfect, lynette. , but -- >> but? >> but? >> looks good, charley. it looks good. i think you're going to like today. it's going to be more seasonable out there. satellite and radar not picking up on a whole lot right now. we're just dealing with plenty of sunshine. i can show you that. i'll take you outside and you can see for yourself right now. mount airy, isn't that

gorgeous? just breathe it in. oh, i love it. we're looking at mount airy right now, beautiful sunrise. more of the same as we slide over in bel aire this morning. we can see some of those cars out there getting ready to head off towards work or wherever you're going. temperatures with that clear sky, we're in the 50s in towson. we should be at 65 degrees now for our low temperatures this time of the year. 51 in westminster, barnesville coming in right around 56 degrees and bethesda at 57. just like yesterday we also will be breezy. those winds will be out of the west/northwest at about five to 15 miles an hour. we will begin to pick those winds up more in easton along the eastern shore. and high pressure is the culprit. this is the reason why we're going to be seeing plenty of sunshine for today. that hour-by-hour forecast brings us to 87 degrees. and the big story is the fact that we still will be nice and dry, meaning no humidity out there. it will pick up as we go into tomorrow, but a great day for a game. 83 degrees, 7:05 first pitch, dry and breezy with that northwesterly flow. seven-day forecast brings that humidity in here as we go through the weekend.

time now for a check of your abc 2 time saver traffic with lauren cook. good morning. >>reporter: good morning, lynette. there is a two-alarm house fire in west baltimore that shut down west baltimore street at stockton street. if you are traveling in the area, you do want to use west lexington street as your alternate route. linda stow is on the scene. she'll bring you a live report in just a few minutes. we are dealing with big problems on route 295 this morning where a fatal accident has shut down the southbound lanes at route 648. you will want to use 95 or washington boulevard instead. and sherree johnson is on the way to the scene now and we will bring you a live report there coming up in just a few minutes. as we check in and take a live look at the harrisburg expressway, here at york road, not too much activity. it will be a nice easy ride down toward the jfx. it will remain clear, 11 minutes to travel from towson downtown to east fayette street and no problems to report on the beltway. you're looking at an 11-minute ride traveling on the outer loop from 95 all the way up towards 83. that is a look at your abc 2 time saver traffic.

megan and charley, over to you. the campaign now popping up in cities across the country. >> stay with us this morning because posters have a very direct message are covering pay phones and they're not making a lot of people very happy. we'll explain. also the obama reelection campaign says it has the perfect gift idea for your next wedding or birthday celebration and here's the thing, you don't even have to wrap it. we'll explain when "good morning maryland" continues. 3q

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a advertising campaign now making a number of people angry in u.s. cities. >> it declares people, including cat lovers and crazy old aunts deserve to die. marissa bailey tries to track down who's behind this campaign and what it's all about. >>reporter: in case you haven't noticed, pay phones are still around to use for calls or coasters. and if you're like these people and normally just walk by, take a closer look. you haven't seen this before? >> i have not. >>reporter: come on. >> cat lovers deserve to die. interesting. >>reporter: what do you think? >> very offensive as an animal lover. >>reporter: if you're an animal lover like shelley,

crazy old aunt, rap the hipster look or a little bit smug overall, according to these posters, you deserve to die as well. >> i'd like to know who's behind them, that's really what i want to know. i don't like the fact that there's no attribute itions. >>reporter: we found this website noonedeservestodie.org. the website reads that every year 160,000 lives are lost to a deadly disease. they didn't ask for it, but many seem to think they deserve it. we've been driving around neighborhood and naind looking for the pay phones with these signs on it. we got to the one here in lakeview. take a look at what we found. someone wasn't happy with this particular sign. it was ripped off when we got here. >> if it's singling out certain people because they're wearing tatoos or they're considered a hippy, i think that's inappropriate. >> i guess it'll draw somebody, you know what i'm sayin'? nobody deserves to die. come on. that's a hell of a statement.

>> that was melissa bailey reporting. published reports speculate that the campaign may be tied to lung cancer deaths. this is one of those top stories right now on abc2news.com. do you struggle finding that perfect gift? well, now the obama campaign may have an idea, give the money to them. a new tv ad now encouraging supporters of president barack obama to mark milestones like weddings and birthdays by donating to his 2012 reelection campaign. when people see the mailman, they sometimes think of more bills i gotta pay. >> of course. now one family says next time they see this mailman, they're going to thank him for the heroic acts he took saving some children. sleep apnea affects millions of americans. if you got eight hours of sleep overnight and you still feel tired. there are some warning signs that experts say you need to be aware of. we are monitoring tropical depression debby. the threat still looming as she moves out to the atlantic ocean. we'll have a live report from florida coming up in a bit. the humidity is low again

today, but for long. i'll tell you when you can expect some change coming up. >>reporter: a deadly crash has shut down portions of route 295. i'll have the details coming up in my abc 2 news time saver traffic report.

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