more like the low 90s across the board. through the evening we'll fall into the 80s. we'll talk about the potential for more rain. >> lawmakers come back to the capital. don harrison said pitbulls and gambling will be on the table. >> reporter: maryland lawmakers will convene for their second special session, this time to discuss dpam belg and pit -- gambling and pitbull legislation. the legislator will address the possibility of allowing a sixth casino at the nagsal harbor in prince george's county. they will also talk about changing the tax law. adding the use of live dealers

and other games will also be discussed. delegate ron george is the head of the anne arundel delegation and has heard from other members, the difficulty of holding the session. >> there are others on expensive vacations that they planned with their families, and they're going to go ahead and go on vacation. >> reporter: delegate george is concerned about thership working together. >> leaders at the house. other people have their ideas, and it means that we have a lot of work to do. >> reporter: senator said they should not have an issue with passing the gambling bill forward but he is concerned about the different factions coming together. >> the question is what will be in the house. i'm not sure they're all in lock

step. >> reporter: although no one is sure how long the special session will last, legislative leaders say it will go from three days to a week. in annapolis, don harrison, wcco -- abc2 news. >> the cordish company calls it unfair because they invested without knowing a larger casino would be allowed. it's back to school. parents there's a chance to save cash. the state comptroller announced the tax-free shopping week. now for that week only you don't have to pay the 6% sales tax on certain clothes and shoes. >> that 6% exemption adds up

quickly. >> remember, the items have to cost $100 or less. let's go back to maryland live. we'll be talking more about the casino is doing to be home to ramstad, center stage with an invitation only performance by the charlie daniels band. then the public can enjoy live entertainment from headliners to popular and regional bands. you have a sick dog and hear the dog tell you it's parvo. there's no parvo outbreak at the shelter in fallston but they offer these tips on how to cep your dog healthily. >> reporter: parvo is more susceptible to puppies and

unvaccinated older dogs. if you see something and you think it may be a parv p.o. situation, you need it take your dog to a development call and tell them what you're presenting. that's one of the biggest things is making sure your animals are up to date on their shots each and every year. >> all the dogs at the shelter are healthy. keep in point disease can spread quickly and easily. how do you prevent it and treat it. joce sterman joins us with the answer. >> reporter: first and foremost don't believe everything you read on the internet. many companies claim to have a product to cure parvo, but that's not the case. the doctor with the veterinarian hospital said prevention is all about getting that parvo vaccination. it's been falling by the wayside because of the down economy.

he says you don't have to waste your money with products whose claims aren't proven. parvo is easily cleaned by bleach. if your dog does show symptoms, zoo worry about those quick fixes on the web. you can hydrate for something you can find for a couple bucks at the grocery store. >> gator said simple. -- gatorade is simple or an energy drink. you can try to feed that to your pet. the important thing to remember once he get the disease, they really need to be monitored. >> he said dogs who get parvo often die of dehydration. so they need to get enough fluids. unless your dog is well vaccinated, you may want to avoid the dog park for awhile. here's the latest tonight.

the former girlfriend of the man who killed section people at the sikh temple is under arrest tonight. >> reporter: there is word today that lieutenant brian murphy, the police officer shot by the wisconsin gunman opened his eyes and said hello. it was believed the shooter wade michael page was killed by a plomplet this morning we learned differently. >> it appeared page decide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. >> reporter: the healing continued today. >> we'd like to thank god. >> we're all part of the same community. >> reporter: at the same time we are learning more about the

sheeter. his girlfriend misty cook was arrested yesterday on an unrelated gun charge. the fbi is eager to speak to the 31-year-old who lived with page until late june. it was then she moved out and they stopped talking. the couple reportedly shared ties to white supremacist groups. page was researching white supremacy. page said his beliefs came after serving in the army. >> he saw and experienced things that really angered him and frustrated him and convinced him that whites were victimized. >> reporter: the police chief calls the officer's progress amazing. t.j. winick, abc2 news, new york. we had a bomb scare in col could. the trailway busses were heading from salt lake city city.

no explosions were found the authorities arrested one of the passengers, a 66-year-old man in connection with the threat. we had another bomb threat today,s this one closer to home, part of the walter reed medical center after a threatening phone call saying a bomb would go off at 10 this morning. >> they -- they are relatively petty crimes but dozens of victims are impacted. how a spree of vandalism is taking a toll. >> reporter: people can no longer sleep soundly through the night and how could they? vandals have descended on those areas, spark car windows and stealing laptop computers, jewelry and eve -- even

prescription medicine. the victims are on edge now. >> i guess there is more of a feeling of community now. everyone says do you know anything? we really want retribution. >> in addition to damaging cars and stealing items, police say they have destroyed mailboxes and lawn ornaments. police believe kids may be behind the crimes. jeff hager, abc2 news. >> well you have to go back to the 1800's. rg steel was auctioned off and what this moons for the future of the mill and its workers. a man steals a purse from a woman at walmart. what caused her to pass out before her purse was snatched. >> stobs, you drinkers can leave

your cash and credit cards at home. how the company is letting you pay for their coffee.

>> the kids are collecting backpacks, crayons, dpliewrks sering that a youngster needs to enter into school. >> just a good opportunity for businesses. >> they love it. our communities are coming together. families are walking right in and asking how they can help and they're dropping off the backpacks and school supplies. >> the information is on the screen. you can did to our website and find out how you can get involved.

some students are get an education on how the government works. education reporter sherrie johnson has more. >> reporter: students are getting an up close and personal education on local government and the environment. today the students are studying animals. pj boyd is teaching them about animals and how to protect them -- from an owl to a hawk and a lizard and a huge snake. students saw it all. >> i want them to be awar of the things they can did and to

change things and how they can let other people know. >> reporter: baltimore city has offered the program for 33 years. they team up with local community partners. students between 14 and 18 already how the government works. students also learn about environmental and conservation issues to help maintain the environment for the future. >> overall, it's to get students, get them into a program during the summertime, get them off the streets and teach them things about local government and the things that we do. >> reporter: it's a golden opportunity to expand students' horizons and learning about animals. students are receiving a well rounded education and loving it. >> i think this program is really good because it provides teens with a productive summer. >> i really enjoy going to pat

son park where we pulled out the weeds. >> reporter: so thanks to his hands-on learning program students cannen joy keeping the environment clean for the future. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >> the youth program runs four weeks in the summer. i'm meteorologist wyatt everhart. we're off to another cloudy afternoon. there has been some sunshine, mainly north and west. there has been sun and it has been hotter with the sunshine coming out. 88 degrees right now and let's take a look at some of our weather in motion. this was a cloudy scenario just about all day. for the sunshine coming out at the end of the day in baltimore. in mt. airy clouds giving way to a little bit of sun. as we go further east, kent

island, we have not seen much sun. so it depends on where you are in terms of how much sunshine you'll be seeing. just about none of us has seen anything in terms of rain but muggy with temperatures pushing 90. as you go much further west there is some cool are relief toward oakland. the bay water temps are in the mid-80s. heat index values, mid-90s, what it feels like this afternoon. i think we're going to be right back here tomorrow, kind of a car been copy with the muggies hanging out. the active weather has been from the virginia state line into the carolinas, some showers offshore, but most of us and most of the area has been dry even for the white marlins.

most of the active stuff has been into charleston and atlanta. the area of low pressure causing that. there is some sleetly drier -- slightly drier air to the north. you can see the boundary. it is a surface boundary separating the drier air north of us and the more humid conditions. north of the pattern we have hotter numbers because the air is drier and the sun's out. you get hot are conditions north of the boundary. the trend is showing not a lot of action until we get into perhaps tomorrow afternoon where we could see a few pop-up showers and storms. some could ling per into the day on friday. by the way right now ernesto down to a tropical storm and is expected to restrengthen. overnight 0 -- 70. a bit hotter tomorrow night down

to 73. could see showers tomorrow night. i think the better chance will be friday night into early saturday. that's sort of our ski rain window if -- key rain window. there could be dusty storms. then into the early part of next week temperatures back in the upper 80s. august like but not severe. >> okay. all right. we need the rain, though, but late friday night into saturday morning. >> good time. >> that's a nice little window. hey, listen, our kids are going back to school. with it a long list of school supplies. abc2 is working for you. so we're teaming up with the preston mitchum foundation and celebree learning center. >> we're collecting school

supplies like this. kids, what do we need more of? that's right, they are excited. this drive goes through august 24th. let's talk to the man behind the preston mitchum foundation. tell me what was the impetus behind the event. >> we see some good and some bad. i got tired of seeing the negative in the community and wanted to make a difference. 1 years ago myself and a few volunteers started with no funds and said what can we do. we started with the back-to-school drive and then career awareness. 20,000 people have been impacted. >> you're really giving back to the community. >> the great thing about this is a lot of the kids that we helped in the past, now they give back. they participate in our rallies. they help sort and distribute

those items to others in need. >> you can't pull off an event look this without a major sponsor. let's talk to the president and ceo. how did you get partnered up with preston. >> they came for help. they love getting involved and using our resources. >> why is this so important to have that business partnership to make things happen. >> we have 20 locations throughout the state of maryland. we're a dropoff center, so we make it very convenient, very easy for our aren'ts to help support hour communities. >> what do we need to put in those backpacks. >> we got a backpack right here. we have composition books, markers, pencils, pens, notebooks, you name this, any school related item. drop that off at one of the 20

celebree locations. they're listed at abc2news.com/school supplies. >> the drive goes through august 24th. check out our website. go and see what you can do. when picking up school supplies, pick up some for the kids in nee.d jamie, really a great program. >> i know several people are taking the kids out. this is a learning lesson. this is good. >> all right. thieves wearing masks, caring knives, trying to rob a cheens convenience -- convenience store. >> auto accidents are the number one cause of death for our kids. [ male announcer ] the emotional burden of debt.

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car crashes, the number one killer of children between the ages of 1 and 12. a study found young passenger are in danger because we're not putting them into the car seats the right way. the most common safety lapses have to do with children not being kept in the prop ter safety seat and kids should remain in the rear facing seats until they're two, booster seats until they're taller than 57 inches and should ride in the back seat until they're 13. although childhood obesity rates have been on the rise, a study finds overall cholesterol levels in our kids and teens are going down. the study was conducted on 16,000 people over three different time periods between 1988 and 2010. research ares found a slight decrease in total cholesterol levels and a drop in the number of children who had high

cholesterol. here's some surprising news for overweight people with type two diabetes. a study finds obese people are likely to live longer than normal weight people after being diagnosed with type two diabetes. doctors say this doesn't mean people should abandon their weight. information surrounding the sale of rj steel has been hush, hush. >> students in kentucky are happy to be back studying after a tornado destroyed their school. where they are attending classes until the school is rebuilt. >> we will show you how you can help other kids get ready for school when we come back.

the reason many of us are here is because our grandparents went to work there. at one point we had the largest stretching four miles. it involves our future. rosie? >> reporter: the hawks yesterday, no buyers -- auction yesterday, no buyers, with a bid far less than what the hadn't is -- what the plant is worth. everyone knew that the rg steel plant was up for sale. now people are worried about the buyer. he paid $72 million for a plant that was close to a billion dollars. hillco specializes in acquisitions and dispositions. simple terms, a liquidatetor. >> that's not what we were looking for but we have