are going down in the sunshine state of florida. >> looking forward to it, thanks, charley. george zimmerman is due back in court on friday for a bond hearing. we have new video this morning of the neighborhood watch volunteer shortly after he shot and killed florida teenager trayvon martin in february. the video shows him with bruises and bandages, with cuts over his nose and his head. there it is. in the video zimmerman says that trayvon martin was focused on my head. zimmerman is charged in the murder of trayvon martin's death. he says he fired in self- defense. well, it would -- a would- be thief in massachusetts used his head when he allegedly tried to rob a business. take a look at that. this happened in brockton. these pictures tell the story. police say this man, manuel fernandez tried to break into a rent-a-center storage facility and then found himself trapped. when police arrived at the scene after the man had been stuck there for nearly nine hours, the rent-a-center manager found fernandez and that happened when he opened up the store.

he started videotaping the whole ordeal. listen. >> how long you been in there? [ inaudible ] >> the accused burglar suffered a large bruise on the back of his head from the pressure of the door. he was sent to the hospital. he's going to be charged with breaking and entering. police in annapolis now hope you can help them find this man. they say hakeem young in the photograph you see here, he was able to escape police officers last week as they were try to go arrest him inside an apartment bedroom. he escaped. he was wanted on two warrants, including violating probation. if you know where hakeem young is, give police a call as quickly as possible. baltimore county police are trying to figure out who stole a church van then used it to rob an elderly man. that van has been recovered and it was use today transport older parishioners and belongs to the mount pleasant church in

owens mills. police say the suspect stole the key from a church member's home in the city and they took the van from a church parking lot. they then drove to a mcdonald's in pikesville and stole an 83- year-old man's wallet while he was in the bathroom stall. the suspect ran out and was able to get into the van and leave the area before police arrived. however, the vehicle was recovered this morning in the parking lot of the mall. >> mcdonald's says it has a surveillance video and they've given that to police. meanwhile, the church should get its van back by sunday just in time for services. we'll have more on this for you at abc 2 news and at abc2news.com. a gifted screen writer has passed away at the age of 71. >> stay with us this morning. more on nora ephron who wrote fantastic movie scripts and she also dabbled in journalism. we'll take a look back at her life. a city in california is about to become the largest city in the u.s. ever to declare bankruptcy. how it got to this point, details coming up. and debby is still causing problems for florida. i'll tell you if it'll cause any problems for us as we head

toward the weekend. those details coming up. >>reporter: and police are investigating a deadly crash on route 295. i'll have all the details coming up in my abc 2 time saver traffic report.

news time now 6:36. she gave us such memorable movies "julie and julia" and one of my favorites "when harry met sally." >> nora ephron passed away after a fight with leukemia. she started as a journalist and switch today screen writing. she was once married to carl bernstien. she is ur viefed by her sons and her third sons. ephron passed away at the age of 71. there appears to be a bipartisan agreement in the u.s. senate that could help keep loan rates for student

loans from doubling in the next four days. house republicans are expected to discuss the issue with their members in a closed-door meeting later this morning. both parties in both houses are now trying to stop those rates from rising, but they disagree on how to come up with the $6 billion needed to cover those costs. so much more to come on "good morning maryland" this morning. >> your abc 2 news to go is straight ahead. we're following two breaking stories for you this morning. first sharree johnson. >>reporter: a deadly car crash in south baltimore. i'm sherree johnson. i'll have live details coming up. >>reporter: prz in west baltimore -- breaking news in west baltimore. a partial building collapse. why the first fire company to respond, that truck you see right there will no longer be in service come next week. and temperatures will be nice and seasonable for today, but record temperatures are in the offing. i'll have those details coming up. >>reporter: i'm tracking details of a fatal accident on route 295. i'll show you what 95 and 83

look like coming up in my abc 2 time saver traffic report. [ male announcer ] millions of dollars for new schools and teachers...

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good wednesday morning, i'm megan pringle. this is your abc 2 news to go. >> i'm charley crowson. let's kick it off with the forecast and say good morning to meteorologist lynette charles. >> good morning to you. temperatures are feeling good outside, just like yesterday. a little bit cooler in meyersville coming in right around 58 degrees. 63 degrees in glen elle. the winds are light but gusting up to 10 miles an hour, 10 to 15 miles an hour. they will pick up more as we go throughout the day. we look outside in urbana right now, a beautiful sunrise. really not a cloud to be found. we're seeing crystal blue skies and that will continue as we head through the afternoon. maryland's most powerful radar is dry right now. that will stay dry, but we do have some changes in the forecast. but for this morning, for this afternoon, the big story, we do have the breezy conditions once again. and the reason why is we've been talking about fires. so let's go over to lauren cook. she has a check of the traffic now. and we've been dealing with a house fire and i'm wondering if

the winds are causing a problem with that. >>reporter: yes, lynette. we're still dealing with that house fire. we're also dealing with a fatal accident on route 295. it's really causing a backup. you do want to avoid it at all costs. it's right at the exit to 698. use washington boulevard as your alternate route. sheree johnson will bring you a live report from the scene coming up in a few minutes. if you are in baltimore city, as lynette mentioned, we are dealing with a two-alarm house fire that shut down west baltimore street at stockton street. you will want to use lexington street as your alternate route. two people did suffer minor injuries. linda stow will have more on that coming up on abc 2 in just a few minutes. traffic is starting to pick up on the west side of the beltway, as we check in and take a live look here at liberty road, you'll notice the outer loop starting to slow down. all together you're looking at a 13-minute ride on that outer loop from 795 down towards 95. and here's a look at 695 and overly, outer loop again picking up in this area. that will continue up towards loch raven boulevard.

but the inner loop nice and clear towards 95. if you are using the harrisburg expressway, no concerns, traveling from the maryland/pennsylvania state line down to the beltway, you are looking at a 22-minute ride that. is a look at your abc 2 time saver traffic. megan and charley, back over to you. as lauren just mentioned, we have breaking news that could be involving your commute this morning. >> we've been follow town hall meeting for the past two hours. it's a crash, lauren just mentioned it on 295. we find abc 2 news' sharree johnson live on the scene. sharee, what can you tell us? >>reporter: we're here live in south baltimore. take a look behind me, on the scene of a deadly accident. authorities were actually on the scene for much of the morning. we're here at 295 south at 648, annapolis road. it was shut down for quite a bit, but as you can see it has reopen today traffic at this hour. now, the accident, the call came in about 3:45 this morning. the call came in for a vehicle fire. when authorities arrived on the scene, they found one person was trapped under a car on

fire, the person was pronounced dead at the scene. now, authorities have removed that vehicle from this area and they're still investigating, trying to figure out exactly what happened here. now, the victim's identity has not yet been released. but once again, as you can see, this area has been reopened to traffic. one person pronounced dead after a car fire here at 295 south at 648 annapolis road. reporting live in south baltimore, sharree johnson, abc 2 news. >> thanks, sharree. crews are on the scene, the fire is out, but still it is quite a scene down in west baltimore where a fire happened. two people were injured. abc 2 news' linda stow is live this morning with more on why the firefighters union says this is exactly why truck 10, one of the first trucks to respond needs to stay in service. linda. >>reporter: well, you can see truck 10 right now, they're using that to douse the building of any hot spots to make sure there are no flareups. just a few minutes ago we spoke with the president of the

firefighters union who tells us truck 10 is one of the three truck companies that are slated to be shut down next week on july 1st. truck 10 here happened to be one of the first companies to respond. there are about 15 blocks away, the closest company on lafayette street and rick hoffman, the president of the firefighters union tells us when this shults down next week, this -- shuts down next week, this is a prime example of how it will hurt response times. around 4:00 this morning a fire broke out in a vacant three- story row home. it caused the third story to collapse. luckily no one was inside. but it did cause some damage next door which is a chinese carryout. and we're told a pregnant woman cut her hand. there was also a firefighter who cut his foot. both were treated and taken to a local hospital. we're told that the church that sits on the corner here, the lion of judah praise temple, there was no damage there. we did see some concerned church members come out this morning to make sure everything was okay. that church is fine.

but rick hoffman, the point he wants to get through this morning, he says this fire is a prime example of why they do not want these truck companies to be shut down next week. you see that black line on truck 10 going through the woods there, they say that's something they do when a fallen firefighter, they put a line through their badge to honor that fallen firefighter and that's really how they feel about truck 10 shutting down. again, we had a firefighter who cut his foot, a pregnant woman who cut her hand, both were treated, taken to a local hospital. the fire is out, but what firefighters are doing right now, they're spraying water on that building, wetting it down to make sure the fire does not flare up again. we're live this morning in west baltimore, linda stow, abc 2 news. news time now 6:46. debby's lost some momentum but still has a big punch, causing flooding across parts of florida this morning. that storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression. here's more from george howell. >> it's your own place, of course, you feel different.

>>reporter: dodging power lines and low-hanging branches, we took a boat ride with larry and crystal as emergency crews took them through what used to be their neighborhood. >> i just can't believe the current through here. i mean, the current is really, it's rippin'. >>reporter: after passing several homes: >> just down here on the left somewhere. i don't recognize anything now. >>reporter: the reality of what's left became painfully apparent. the family evacuated, but officials in this county say crews had to rescue dozens from their homes. >> the amount of rain that we had, the water levels came up so fast, some of the folks didn't have time to actually pack their things and move out, so they're having to do it after the fact. >>reporter: across florida people are returning to their homes to find out what, if anything, is salvageable. debby made landfall late tuesday and is headed for the atlantic, but not before the storm drops another four to eight inches of rain on top of the two feet that's already fallen in some places.

the water rose to the second floor in some homes, but this family is determine today start over, though they can't help but look back a little regretfully at all the hours they put into their house that they now have to rebuild. we're safe. >> god will get us through it. >> that's george howell reporting. we'll continue to track debby's path. you can always check out our website at abc2news.com for a slide show of all the flooding and damage caused by this tropical depression. you can find more information also on our home page. charley. a little closer to home, a man accused of beating a black teenager will be sentenced. eli woodashine is facing up to 10 years in prison, but city prosecutors are expected to ask for a three-year suspended sentence, probation and community service. woodashine, an orthodox jew was a member of a neighborhood watch group and the teen told police that woodashine struck him in the head and began shouting you don't belong around here. woodashine says he was acting in self-defense. news time right now 6:fraig. the new york man who pled

guilty to stealing historical documents from several museums, including ones here in maryland will be sentenced today. barry landau is scheduled to receive his sentence in baltimore for conspiracy and theft charges. he admitted to stealing items that one belonged to past presidents, including abraham lincoln and george washington. he now faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. in just a few hours the board of estimates will hold a public hearing on a proposed rate hike. that meeting set for 9:00 at city hall this morning. baltimore's department of public works says the increase is needed to repair the aging system and make necessary upgrades, but for a family of four, a 9% rate hike for you is going to cost you about an extra $100. a baltimore city schools are in bad shape and leaders say an assessment of more than 150 schools show that nearly $2 1/2 billion in work needs to be done. that inventory of the school facilities is identified in 50 of the school systems as candidates for either closures or rebuilding. the school leaders will meet

with communities throughout the summer to discuss the plans, and come november they're going to recommend which schools will either be renovated, rebuilt or closed. there's a public hearing this evening and it's all to discuss the possible improvements to three intersections along maryland 22, also known as the aberdeen thruway in hartford county. the projects would affect beertold road, paradise road and old post road. the hearing starts at 6:00 at aberdeen high school. dan bongino is going to be rallies against federal, state and local bureaucrats. he's heading that rally today in central hills, citing rising costs in healthcare as federal government run amok. he is running against ben carden. mr. carden is a democrat. the holidays are notorious for causing a lot of traffic jams and aaa predicts 5% more people will be traveling this 4th of july weekend versus last year. about 35 million plan to travel by car for independence day trips this year and aaa says

the lower gas prices could actually be a driving factor in this. but it also could have something to do with independence day falling on a wednesday this year. if you are going to be traveling and headed down to ocean city or dewey beach for the weekend, here's another reason you'll enjoy the places. we found out through the natural resources defense council that they have ranked delaware's dewey beach number three and maryland's ocean city beach number four. the report found that water quality at america's beaches remain largely stable in the past year with 8% of water samples violating public health standards, the same as the year before. it's 6:51. time for five things you need to know before you head out the door this d lee loughner, the 2 shooting suspect in arizona has a competency hearing today to see if he's fit to stand trial. he is accused of killing six people and injuring 13 others, including former u.s. representative gabrielle giffords. the florida a and m board of trustees hold as special meeting to discuss its budget

and a rebranding plan. the school has been under fire since the hazing death of robert champion. 13 people have been charged. today stockton, california will be the largest city ever to declare bankruptcy. city leaders had hope today restructure hundreds of millions of dollars of debt under a new law designed to help municipalities avoid bankruptcy, but they were unable. today is national hiv testing day. this promotes testing as an important strategy to treat, prevent the infection. baltimore ranks fifth with the highest rate of hiv in the country. the u.s. consumer product safety commission will hold a news conference to highlight tough new safety requirements for kid products. this follows the commission's vote on new regulations to make play yards safer. it's going to be a good day to get out there and play, do any type of outdoor activities because we're not seeing a whole lot on the satellite and radar, no type of clouds, no type of rain and that's going to stick throughout the day. let's take you out into bethesda right now where we start to see that sunrise, and

look at the skies, crystal blue. we're still seeing more of the same as we head into calbert county. chesapeake beach, a beautiful sunrise there this morning. it's going to be a good day to take the boats out, although a little bit choppy out on the waters. let's look at these temperatures right now because we do have that pool of cool air that's around baltimore right now, even as we head back off towards roanoke, 56 degrees there. as we look off towards the west and south, that's where we begin to see more of those yellows and the oranges. that's the warmer air, and the hot air that will get to us as we head towards the weekend. we're talking about heat indices up to about 105. oh, boy, it's going to be hot, feel hot. now, the winds today will be a big problem. it will be a little bit on the breezy side once again, especially we don't want any type of fire risk, fire danger, so if you're going to be doing any cooking out, grilling, make sure you don't do any outside burning for the most part. we could see those winds out of the west at five to 15 miles an hour, gusting maybe up to about 20, 25. so here's tropical depression

debby. had has been downgraded. the winds sustained at about 35 miles an hour. the track still sliding over florida after it made landfall yesterday, heading back out into the atlantic, the open waters, that's what we like to see. it has picked up forward momentum, about nine miles an hour to the northeast. high pressure our friend for today and that's what's going to be providing us with plenty of sunshine and a temperature coming in nice and seasonable at 87 degrees. and here's what it looks like for your seven-day forecast, as we will get humid starting tomorrow. temperatures jumping into the 90s. the upper 90s by friday, but feeling like we are in the triple digits as we head through the weekend, and we will have a chance for some showers and storms. let's get a check now of your abc 2 news time saver traffic with lauren cook. good morning. >>reporter: good morning, lynette. a fatal accident has just been cleared on route 295. it happened just before 4:30 along the southbound lanes at route 648 and is no longer causing delays in the area. in baltimore city there is a two-alarm house fire that continues to shut down west baltimore street. that's right at stockton street. you will want to stick with

lexington street as your alternate route. no delays traveling through the fort mchenry tunnel or the harvard tunnel. we do have all the construction south of the harvard tunnel toll plaza that you do want to watch out for. your best bet is the fort mchenry tunnel or the key bridge. traffic is really starting to pick up on 95 moving through white marsh. the southbound lane is packed from route 43 over to 695. as we check in and take a live look at the beltway here in parkville at hartford road, no delays whatsoever all the way up towards 83. the west side, that's where it's going to get a little tricky. this is liberty road. outer loop will be moving slowly all the way down towards edmondson avenue. take a look at this before we go on this wednesday morning, ireporter ken gill sent in this picture of a river washing through a main road in safety harbor, florida where tubers and kayakers made the most of the situation. she compared this to the flooding of myrtle beach, south carolina where this is much worse. more rain and more flooding, more widespread. a lot of places remain under

water. lynette, we kind of have fun with these videos and we say, okay, fine, don't do it, but the dramatic aftermath of debby we're going to be dealing with. >> yes, we sure will. how ironic the name of that town is safety harbor and what he's doing it's not safe at all. >> we like to leave the show with some fun video. lynette is shaking her head. she doesn't approve. as you mentioned earlier, there's critter in that water. >> snakes. >> there are vermin in that water. we're talking florida. they have gators down there, and they are not friendly. >> i'd rather run into a snake than a gator. >> i wouldn't want to run into either one of them. stay out of the waters, but they can't see me saying that, so it doesn't really matter. >> they don't understand. the whole english language is lost on them a bit. have a great day,

everybody.

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