an armed robber is targeting people at atm's in catonsville. it happened twice in june and two more times over the weekend. the robber is targeting people both on foot and in cars. he always has a gun and hits between 9:30 land 10:00 on saturday nights and sunday. he was around baltimore national park and wilkins road. the penn state scandal has damaged more than the reputation. moody ease has put them on notice about a possible downgrade. right now the school holds the second highest rating possible. if they go through with the downgrade, it would make this more difficult for penn state to borrow money. >> in the wake of that horrible theater shooting in colorado, three other men have been

arrested for make threats either during or after watching the batman movie. in maine troopers pulled over a man for speeding on the turn pike. he had a weapon and in california a man was arrested for making a threat during the movie. a soldier, with ties to maryland, has died in combat in afghanistan. 31-year-old special forces staff srgt brandon pepper was killed on saturday. abc2 news roosevelt leftwich joins us with more. >> reporter: emails describe the 31-year-old as a good and honorable man. he was killed in afghanistan. when he was attacked, he was assigned to the 4ing at -- 4th battalion. he was a 1999 graduate of kenwood high school and joined

the reserves in 2000. he had also served in iraq and this was his first tour in afghanistan. his body was brought to dover airforce base. the funeral has not been set. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. >> we have an ray lateraling statistic from traffic safety officials. they slay traffic deaths are up for the first three months of this year. it's an increase of more than 13% compared to 2011. before the latest stats, traffic deaths had been trending downward over the past few years. all right. let's take a look at that severe thunderstorm watch map. we're working on that. you can see a couple of warnings in baltimore, anne arundel and montgomery county right now.

here's the wide view perspective of the storms, one moving out of northern baltimore county skirting south of harford county and a couple of storms encroaching on northern anne arundel county. 80s the rest of the evening. that's overall the perspective we have right now. we'll continue to work on getting that storm track to you in the next few minutes. tonight we're learning the jim len son company is cutting tie -- henson company is cutting ties with chicago if i lai. they said they made the decision because of chick-fil-a's opposition to same-sex marriage. they had been making muppets for the kids meals. the ceo said it supports the biblical definition of a family unit. that's when henson decided to

support glad instead. a mother and a sister abandon a baby in a walmart shopping cart. what made them sprint away from a child. a bridge gives out in china. more on the efforts to rescue the wedding party. [ male announcer ] it would mean one billion dollars for maryland

and our schools and teachers. thousands of good paying jobs it's the new resort casino at national harbor. but it won't happen unless lawmakers act right now. all that money -- and all those new jobs -- will go to delaware, pennsylvania, west virginia. the only loser: maryland schools. tell your delegate and state senator to vote yes for schools, jobs, and small businesses by saying yes to national harbor.

caught on tape, two sisters in florida caught stealing from walmart. when they're confronted, they run, aabandonning the -- abandoning the baby. they were apparently trying to swipe clothes from wal-mart when stopped by security. the child's aunt took off too. they were found at a local club. the baby is now in the care of the florida department of children and families, wow. a wedding in china take has dangerous turn and it's caught on tape. two cars in the wedding cara van plunged into a rushing river when the bridge gave out. that kicked off a dramatic rescue. rescuers had to use ropes to pull everyone out to safety. no one was seriously hurt. parts of china had been dealing with some heavy rain.

now to a different type of water rescue. this horse was stuck in a well in washington state. some 20 people jumped into action to help thunder's owner. they removed debris and drained some of the water. finally after a ramp was built thunder was able to climb out. the horse is not hurt, just a little wet and dirty. coming up, the recession sent home values plumb meth, but the latest numbers are looking promising. could housing values be back on the rise. >> and you plan for retirement but what about other future expenses. what experts say you should be doing for your financial future. >> i'm meteorologist tracking af thunderstorms moving out of eastern baltimore county, south of bel air, moving toward the wash -- whitemarsh area. i'll have much more when we come

back.

people living in howard county are still angry over the time it took bge to get their power back on after hurricane irene last se. now they want to hold them to the power. >> i did not have power. >> reporter: kathy lives in the dunn loggen area in ellicott city. she expressed her frustration with the service from bge. she will get her wish tonight. a meeting will be held with the psc, bge and neighbors in ellicott city. kathy feels she is not getting the service she pays for. >> we're paying high prices for

deregulated power in maryland. we expect service that's commensurate with the prices. >> reporter: cattily it is taking matters into her own hands and installing a generator system. >> it's an $8,000 project and i can think of lots of things i'd rather spend $8,000 on. >> reporter: bge said it has been concerned about the reliability in the area. they said not only has bge embraced the area in the efforts but has implemented numerous initiatives. >> they've switched a lot of things around. >> reporter: the community association president for the past 10 years. >> they came up with fixes but they're not fixing the problem. >> reporter: with storms so prevalent residents feel the next power outage could be just around the corner. >> is there going to be a storm or winds and are we going to lose power. >> reporter: david rubin has

severe sleep apnea and needs power for his machine. >> after one flight of power outage, i'm on my own. >> please step. please look at what they're doing, what they've done and haven't done and prescribe what needs to happen. >> reporter: in howard county, don harrison, abc2 news. >> tonight's meeting will take place at the george howard building. >> well, in your money tonight, home values are rising for the first time in five years. so does that mean the worst is over. abc2 has the latest. >> reporter: home values took a hit but the worst may be over. it may be a small increase but this is the first positive move in five years. zillow, the real estate website

said home numbers seemed to have hit bottom. the growth isn't spread equally across the country and most of the city surveyed by zillow, the prices have dropped. the biggest was in chicago. the average home lost 6% of its value. there are big gains skewing the number higher. home prices in phoenix have again 12%. in miami prices are up more than 6% but these are cities hit hardest by the housing crisis. so the biggest the hit, the biggest the recovery. with the growth home price nationwide are lower than where they were before the recession. various reports say prices are down 20% to 30% since then. there's still a lot of ground to make up. with the recovery this slow it has been a long time since homeowners have gaind what they lost. reporting from new york. >> let me take a time to pat one of our own on the back.

he was honored for the foundation's giving program and preston received a $10,000 check to help his nonprofit organization, press on it mitchham foundation. it's dedicated for a brighter future for at risk children. con grat lagses, preston. keep up the good work. a look at maryland's most powerful radar. you can see the storms in the northern edge of baltimore county and harford county, south of perriman moving north of the area. that is where you're going to see a little bit of lightning continue. this is a warned severe

thunderstorm. this is a fairly gusty thunderstorm moving north of elkton. but the storms are actually losing their strength, this one losing most ofs it punch in gaithersburg. it's weakening, not strengthening. that's what we want to see. all right. let's get into the rest of the story. the setup will continue to be a severe thunderstorm watch which is being trimmed. we saw it being trimmed out of southern pa for most of m again, quite a few storms on the ma. current conditions at bwi, how about 89. winds west 15. the boundary is pushing in causing the skies to stay relatively cloudy today. some hit and miss storms across the northern part of the state, nothing yet around the laurel area, maybe a few raindrops edging in from the northwest side of d.c. as we take a look at the setup temperature wise, it is hot.

highs have reached into the 90s. the humidity is still extreme. we expect to get a break from the high humidity tomorrow. in the meantime we're dealing with heat index up around 100. peoples like 100 annapolis, joarn town -- georgetown. the bulk of the weather is down through virginia. most of this is not severe either. we're in one of those border line severe thunderstorm situations. any storm can pack dangerous lightning, one of our number one weather killers. any storm needs to be treated with respect just for the lightning. okay. here it is, active map, front pushing. it's not going it bring cool air per say but it will usher in dry air. it's more of a dry front than a cool cold front. it's rotating around a high pressure cell and keeping thing as bit unsettled, but, again, the good news is that boundary

edges in. the storm threat diminishes. we're dry tomorrow, sunshine on tap, a good looking day. the storm threat after tonight will not come back until thursday and friday. so overnight 67, early thunderstorms this evening. we stay tropical in the upper 60s. look at this, 88 tomorrow and two words we love to see this time of the year -- less humid. less humid weather tomorrow and tomorrow night down to 68 with a lingering thunderstorm in the mix. the extended forecast, relatively unchanged as we look to the weekend. temperatures will bounce back a bit, low 90s. humidity comes back as well. this is what you wanted to see, kelly. we get the dry day between the steam and the humidity. won't have the thick haze. we get one day of border line relief. >> one day of good hair and -- >> back to extra hairspray. now to democracy 2012 news

tonight. mitt romney spoke to the veterans of foreign affairs today after a one-day convention dlibbed by president obama. tory dunnan joins us live from washington. for affairs in the spotlight. what was romney's speech? >> reporter: mitt romney heads off on an international trip. earlier today he spoke to that group of veterans on why he believes he would be a better cleave. >> i pledge to you if i become commander in chief, the united states of america will fulfill its destiny and duty. >> reporter: on monday president obama addressed the same audience. >> i pledge to take the fight to our enemies and renew our leadership in the world. as president, that's what i've done. >> reporter: at the moment more americans appear to be buying that argument. a new poll shows 55% -- 52%

believe the president can handle for affairs compared to romney. >> we haven't seen much that inspires confidence in a second. >> reporter: today romney went on lay tack, accusing the administration of leaking classified intelligence for political gain. >> if the president believes the buck stops with him then he owes all americans. >> reporter: the military budget cuts are set for next year. romney pinned the blame on the president. the president pointed the fing are at congress. >> strategy is not driving the president's massive defense cuts. >> people in congress ought to be able to come together and agree on a plan. >> reporter: so tonight mitt romney heads to london for the olympics and he will be making stops in israel and poland. he said this is an opportunity to listen and learn and you can expect to see quite a few photo

ops. >> the president was busy continuing his west coast tour. what would you tell bus his tour there? >> reporter: this is a three-day tour. this is what's on the agenda. he will be holding a round table event in mort and, oregon. tickets are $30,000 each. and then he speaks at an event that's $500. then he goes to washington state for two more fund-raisers at private residences. >> thank you. seems like a new poll every day on the presidential candidate psz but the latest one is about the race itself. the knights of columbus survey shows 78% of voters are frustrated with the whole election cycle and three quarters said this has more negative campaigning than the last few and many believe the negative campaign really hurts

the political process. >> i'm jamie costello. coming up all new tonight at 6:00, it's been a year since their loss. still no answers. a local family is trying to find who killed three of their loved ones. the summertime is a good time to lounge by the pool but a tough time for asthma. what are the triggers. those stories coming up at 6:00. i'll see you then.

with many americans struggling with day-to-day finances, many are having difficulty planning their financial futures. karin caifa some tips that any house can use to plan for

emergencies, retirements and more. >> reporter: the sluggish u.s. economy has not made it easy for many households to think about their financial future. the certified financial planner board of standards asked financial decision makers and their families about money planning during the nation's economic recovery. less than one third said they have a comprehensive financial plan planning is not just about retirement. it's about shorter term goals, too. >> certainly people think about retirement, but planning for rainy days, credit management and taxes. >> reporter: more than half of those surveyed said investing seems too complicated or it's difficult to know who to trust for financial advice. simple savings could be a good start. don't skip it. small incree plts can add up if

you start early in a child's education fund or a retirement fund. consider the consequences of any money decision, no matter how small it appears at the time. it's okay to revise the plan. revisit needs based on life events like the arrival of a new chilled or change in salary. i'm karin caifa, abc2 news. well your chance to become a game show contestant is coming to harford county. the new game show called let's ask america. if picked, you will compete with people from all over the country. the top prize is $25,000. the search happens friday at the harford county farm fair. you get to meet the host, kevin ferrera, plus a casting call from 3:00 to 8:00. the half hour show will start at 7:30 on september 17th. for more information, go to our

website abc2news.com/la. at 6:00 a very generous gift from the estate of one of our former governors. we'll tell you where it came from and what the money will be used for. that's coming up on abc2 news at 6:00, which starts right now. >> i don't care who you are, just say something. if you don't want to tell it to us, go to someone else. just say something because we need closure. a year later two families still without answers on who shot their loved ones and set a fire to cover it up. >> you stop by the bank for a quick with dprawl and end -- withdrawal and end up the victim of a robbery. >> his job was to bring peace to our world and today staff srgt brandon pepper is resting in peace while the rest of us cry. that story with roosevelt leftwich just moments away. first we want to take you to the heart