catering to them with a man aisle with razors chips and hot sauce and condoms. that's america's money i am rob nelson.

now "good morning maryland." clear your schedule for tonight. it's finally arrived. the london olympics kick off a report from the oakland ceremonies. and breaking news an update. two alarm fire in randalltown from earlier this morning. a live look at the mess now left as dozens are trying to find somewhere else to stay. those stories straight ahead on this friday. july 27th. good morning i am charley crowson. megan is off and lynette charles is here and mike take look at the roads. >> wires down across the northwestern sections of baltimore county. we will get into that and whoa just had tremendous storms last

night. >> exactly. tremendous storms last night dumped a quarter of an ininch at bwi but we need more. we-- inch at bwi but we need more. we are looking at heat advisory. let's start out with the areas shaded in the orange color. and we can see what's going on because northern baltimore is under the heat advisory until about 7. it kicks in at lunp time for today. -- lunchtime for today. areas in pink. so if you are going up north, and east, well, you are look at an excessive heat warning across new castle going until 6 this evening. so again very muggy conditions for today. very hot conditions once again. and speak of the temperatures, well, we are at 73 degrees in centerville and darlington coming in at 71. denton at 74 degrees. and with all that moisture, well, we have a little bit of reduced visibility out there. only about 9 miles in baltimore. 8 in wilmington and this is your hour by hour forecast. showers and thunderstorms are possible going no the afternoon with temperatures right around

95 degrees. let's check of the abc2 timesaver traffic with mike masco. >> reporter: good morning. we are talking about some downed trees and wires. frederick road closed and we have a few roads in town subjected to closures during to the debris from the storms last night. especially over carroll and baltimore county and howard county reporting a few issues with downed lines. frederick road closed route 97 at cearnlg mill drive be aware of that. we have police activity. this is unspecified police activity on park heights avenue. they have shut it down we will try to get more information to share with you in a little bit. baltimore city we have an accident off 83 and construction will continue certainly a long-term project we will have to deal with monument street is closed down again probably subject to closure over the next several days involving that sink hole. outside for a live shot and we will show you 95 at eastern avenue pretty smooth sailing thus far right now. we will talk more about traffic that's coming up in just a

little bit. and there's the shot charley look at that beautiful shot. 695 and harford road. >> 5:33 on this friday morning. back to break news for. you some in baltimore county looking for a place to stay after a two-alarm fire broke out overnight. started around 2 this morning. and abc2 news sherrie johnson has the latest. you've been you can -- talking to people who were there when the fire started. >> reporter: they are telling me they believe that it started from a kitchen fire. but fire investigators are trying to figure out the exact cause. that's what neighbors that live here say and they say it's all very scary. they just heard smoke detectors going off loud noises and then they all started to run trying to get out of the building as fast as they could. take a look behind me here. this is a building here. we are in randallstown at rockdale gardens apartment off liberty road. fire crews just left the scene a few moments ago. they actually have been out here overnight cleaning up hot spots and removing debris. that call came out about 2:00

this morning here at the apartment complex on yener lane. when crews arrived, they found heavy smoke and the apartment engulfed in flame. it started on the third floor and spread across the roof. fire damaged 12 units and several families have to look for another place to live. all the people who lib in the building got out safely. one for fighter was injured when debris hit him. he was -- firefighter was injured when debris hit him. he was taken to shock trauma. 08 # to 100 firefighters bad -- 80 to 100 firefighters were badeling the two a-- battling the two alarm fire. there's no word on the extent of the damage and firefighters are trying to figure out what caused the fire. but some of the people that live here say that they believe it started in a kitchen on the third floor. reporting live in randallstown, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. years of olympic sized preparations construction andplanning coming down to today. opening ceremonies of the london olympic games for the

summer. officially getting underway tonight. andrew spencer has a preview. >> reporter: it's the world's largest sporting event and london is the home until august. athletes have been arriving at heath row airport ready for their moment in -- heathrow airport ready for their moment in history. >> we are very happy and i am nervous that we are very happy. >> when we step up and get behind the block, we are doing what we have practiced to do for our hive. >> reporter: the or -- life. >> reporter: the olympic torch is also ready to shine. an stopings stops with the prime minister and duck and duchess of cambridge. torch will arrive during theopening ceremony and academy award winning director danny boyle is in charge of the spectacular which we hear will have dancing and farm animals. [ music ] >> reporter: boyle is probably

best known for the mega hit movie "slumdog millioinaire." london is not known for the sunny days, so british airways flew in apache rain dancers from arizona to perform a rainbow dance to ensure nice weather. a british artist want everyone to get into the spirit of the gam by ringing bells all over the country. >> it could be a brilliant sound you know if wherever you are in britain you could hear that. that's my idea as kind of all over the place piece of music. >> reporter: andrew spencer, abc2 news. it's topping selling suv in the u.s. last month but why ford is recalling nearly half a million escape suvs and what you need to do if you behind the wheel of one. they are negotiating contracts but friends of -- fans of modern family will not lose their show.

details on the fall season coming up in a bit. >> okay. dew points are high again for today and what is a dew point? i will answer that coming up. mike. >> reporter: all rightch good morning. we have issues across baltimore city. even lines down up north and west of town. we have details coming up in good morning maryland. [ male announcer ] what if that hemorrhoid pain

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now "good morning maryland." if you drive a ford escape, 421,000 people do so excuse me 400,000 are being recalled. it's popular suv and the problem is there could be acceleration without prior warning. this affect the 01 through 04 year moldels for the escape. if the gas pedal is pressed almost all the way down, a cruise control cable can become struck and it can occur when the cruise control is in use or not at all. the engine will not return to the slower speed even after releasing the gas pedal. ford recalling half a million escape model suvs. the family is back together at least for now. abc is confirming the cast of modern family set up for thursday for the first official

table reading for the upcoming 4th season. several cast members are in the mid of a lawsuit claiming the contract are illegal under california law. according to the hollywood reporter the 6 plaintiffs are set to resume contract negotiatings. from time to time we see interesting people with the way they dress or things they say. but in baltimore this weekend, you can see a few characters milling around in the inner harbor. a national convention coming to baltimore beginning today. and harbor east is a big attraction in baltimore city. it's going to be even bigger as an attraction for the ladies after a new store opens its doors today. [ male announcer ] food you eat is a blt.

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now "good morning maryland." 5:45. if you want to get away account kid and family this -- kids and family this weekend and enjoy a nice night out this is the best time to do it. more than 59 restaurants offering three course dinners and two course lunches at a price you cannot beat. this morning abc2 news linda so is live at city cafe in mount verno with a preview they have gotten up with you this morning linda. they are whipping up good grub. >> reporter: lots of good stuff. and joining us mike with

downtown partnership to tell us more about restaurant week. this is such an exciting week for people. they can get a lot of good food for a good price. >> it is. baltimore is a food destination over the last few years and i mean look at what the chef put out it's a testament to the quality of the food you will get and the creativity of baltimore chefs. and there's no better time to starting today baltimore running through august 5th. more than 96 and 96 restaurantsparticipating and you get a fantastic three course dinner at either $3.12 or 20.12 and many places are offering lunch. >> >> reporter: the price point is12 cents because of the 2012. tell us what you doing. >> right now i am start to sear off the scallops and we have a hot pan. be careful with the oil extra virgin olive oil. the sea scallops will be put in the pan. and we will get that searing.

that's nice. make sure they are dry whatever you put them in a pan to get a nice sear. >> reporter: we are talking about the ingredients. you go out of your way to keep everything fresh everything local. >> absolutely. we go to the farmers market up in towson and here the 83 underpass as well. you know a. least two-times a week to get as fresh as possible. >> reporter: how busy do you get for restaurant week? >> it's press pretty intense. i am not going to lie. trying to get 3, 400 people in here throughout the day, it's a lot. >> reporter: well, and you were saying you are going to be here all day. just prepping for tonight right? >> absolutely. >> reporter: today is the big kick off? >> absolutely. but it's part of what we do as chefs. we really have a passion for what we do and long hours don't seem as long. >> reporter: wonderful. you such a trooper and you got here so early. let me tell you this stuff smells delicious. it's great. you are offering a couple different dishes. >> absolutely. we have four appetizers and five entrees and three desserts

to choose from. >> reporter: we will get to the desserts in the next newscasts coming up at 6. but restaurants week starts today and runs for the next 10 days until august 5th. the prices you can get dinner a 3 course meal for 30.12 or 20.12 depending on the restaurant. and a hundred restaurants participating. we are live at city cafe in mount vernon. linda so, abc2 news>> the list of the restaurants available to you is at abc2news.com. if you are looking for something else to do head to m and t bank stadium. the ravens don't start for a couple more weeks. but a soccer match now taking place in the afternoon. so far, 40,000 people expected in attendance. the spurs playing a friendly against the liver pool the game kicks off at one tomorrow. and tickets still available if you want to see the action in person once again soccer coming to m and t bank stadium. there's a lot going on otherwise in the inner harbor. you will notice a lot of

colorful costumes in the harbor and no you. you didn't miss halloween. it's the annual otakon festival a comic con like atmosphere for asian pop culture. the festival celebrates all facets of the pop culture with some people getting in and they really get into this. the three-day event kicks off today and runs through sunday. let's hope today is pay by a tore a lot of you because harboreast has new places to check out. clothing store anthropoliie and mac open up. j. crew opened next door. lululemon a is a store kate toarg yoga enthusiast will open in the coming months. five things to know on this friday. opening ceremonies for the olympic games kicks o michelle obalanca -- kicks off. michelle obama will lead the u.s. delegation to the stadium. mitt romney will be in tanneddance as well.

international aids conference in dc comes to a close today. bill clinton will speak at the closing ceremony. whoopi goldberg will address the crowd earlier in the day. a lucky group of kids will play some games with oilers reliever. the team is work with the y of central maryland to filed obesity and promos healthy living. and -- and promote healthy living. and sock people were blocked from accessing the microblogging site twitter. they apologize for the outage. a new report warns that drought may grip 2/3 of the u.s. and it's getting worse showing no signs of improving. 20% of the nation is now in sustaining 2 or some of the worst stages of drought. colorado, eye, with a kansas, missouri and nebraska seeing the worst conditions. if you want a chance to win money, head to harford county today a new game show called

let's ask america now look for condefendantants. -- contestants. you will compete against people answering questions for cash and you don't have to leave your home. a top prize is 25,000 dollars. you can fine the abc2 news booth at harford county farm fair. a casting call is from 3 in the afternoon until 8 in the evening. the show kicks off september 17th at 7:30 here on abc2. but for more information, go to abc2news.com/laa. time for a check of the weather forecast with lynette. you know a. lot of people making plans between the soccer and oat cop and restaurant week -- otakon and restaurant week, how will the weather be? >> better than today for sure. but let's talk about what dew point is. people ask me this all the time the lefter from frederick asked what's dew point and it's so important. so dew point lester is the meshof the moisture in the atmosphere. it's at the point where the atmosphere is saturated. it's important because basically it determines how

uncomfortable you are going to feel. it's also determines how high fire danger is going to be during a dry spell. we have experienced that. and also, it determines whether it's going to rain or if it's going to snow. so you can see the dew point is important. now check out dew point chart here. you heard me talk about the 55 to 60. that's comfortable. we are feeling good. slightly humid is 60 to 65 and we go up. 65 to 70 and feeling humid now. and oppressive. the 70 to 75 and it feels awful as we head over above 75 into the 80s. and we hardly ever get to that point budget look at what we have for today. we are in the 70s. so we are feeling oppressive across the area. temperatures right now, coming in right around 73 degrees. so we do have a heat advisory that goes into effect at lunchtime today until 7 for all the areas shaded in orange. and this is a bigtory -- story for today. showers and thunderstorms popping up and some could be on the severe side. storm prediction center has us in a slight ribs and damaging wind and large hail is the

biggest threat. now the abc2 timesaver traffic. dew points. >> reporter: i know. you just got all into it now. here's what's going on. if you are going to bwi, an early flight, we have an accident on aviation boulevard. a crash on aviation avenue subject to lane closures during the course of the morning. an issue towards rox berry mill road. a closure due to the downed lines from the storms last night and also police activity as you make your way out toward pikesville this morning. be aware of that. 795, 95 looking good. drive times are on par for average this morning. also those issues monument street eastbound between north patterson and park and north glover. outside and there's a live shot as we leave you at 6 95 at york road. more good morning maryland coming up after this. hi there.

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now "good morning maryland." here's a lesson in love, a pair of silver star were caught

kissing. the children squealed at the sight no reason why the fish were kissing. we are hours away from the opening ceremonies from the summer olympics in london. the city bustling with activity as more than 500 americans are ready to take part. we go live across the pond to london with an up to the date minute getting you ready for the day letting you know what's going on over there. the jackson family in disarray. new details over the meeting katherine jackson had with her attorney and what she had to say about reports that she was missing. the 6:00 hour of good morning maryland back in minutes. ♪

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