melinda roeder.... fox 45 news at ten. 3 an... elected offiiial... in maryland... caa... only be... ousted... thru.. impeachment...//. we asked... should maryland votees ..be llowed.. to recall elected.. public officia? officials? a lot... of response on this question.../// most... of you saa yes../ there áshouldd be the recall option in maryland..../ join the debate on our pacebook page tonite.

melinda roeder...(nats of hhnging up) fox 44 news at ten.pector general declined to comment on our story... but says he is giving the digicon deals ááerious considerationá. no ord on when his inveetigation will be complete. ii's our duty to hold elected offiiials accountable.yoo can do that by joining our fox45 waste watch.if you have a story about government waste... call our hotline... onto ourrwebsite fox baltimore dot ccm and click on waste watth. 3next... next...michael phelps... and ryan llchte... go for round three.will phelps add 200 freestyle to his london 20-12 list?find out in sports. ((break 3)) 3 bruce cunningham hassfox 45 morning s. sports. & coming up in our 6 &o'c new safety standards for thingssyou mayyuse everyddy... for your little ones.the new rules in place forrportable aimed to keep your kids safer.

melinda roeder... fox 45 news --late eeition. join... our waste watch. if...ernment waste.. hotlinn.. 410-662-1456. - or... go to fox- baltimore dot com. 3 bad day for former major league pitchhng great curt schilling.he says the collapse &pof his viieo game company... has cost him his fortune. schillinggsays he invested 50-million of his ownnmoney into á38 studios vvdeo game companyááand that art of thh blame should be placed on rhode island officials. the company filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month. last month the compaay laid rhode island and here in in maryland. and a baddday for music fans. strong rains... leave... hundreds of people... stranded in the mud in england. thh rain flooded roads ann turned parking areas into mud pits causing massive traffic jams. hundreds of peopleewere forced to spend the night in &ptheir cars.....hile hundreds more were stuck at sea.../ officials say feery service has ressmed, but with major delays. the storms ruined the start of britain's áisle's of wight music festivalá that would feature acts by bruce sprrn

./ melinda... roeder... tells us whyy.. "americans for prosperity."says...e law... áwillá be repealed pepealed :32 "it'' disappointing. we state director offamericans for prosperity...a group born out of frustration and hope.... stemming back to 2209 when the so-called "obamacare" criticism.... at congressiooal maryland... and across the nation.02:27 "well i think obamacare certainly galvanized tte movement..it brought a fervor to the movement. "a new political movement - the tea party - rallied to protest not just the resident's health care packkge... but also, tax increases.irooically, the married the two issues n - together - ruling hat congress could mandate health care coverage... essentially, assa tax.the largest tax increase i our nation's history.:38-:52 "the court of public opinion ruled long ago.. americans, by nd large, hate this thing..they don't like mandates. they don't like when the federal government comes in and teels them what to do and what not toodo."now, the group is vowing to continue its fight.... on capitol hilll.. áandá in the votiig

melinda roeder... fox 45 newss at ten. join our wastt watch..if you see government waste...call ourrhotline...4100666-1456... or go to foo baltimore ddt com. sttggering new ssattstics show some ciit bus drivers... have &pa llad foot. earlier this week we spoke with conceenee residents... who told us m-t-a buses are speeding down their block.now... alarmingg trrnd.it turns out... police have issued more thanna thousand speeding citations to city buses in the past year. 55:22ww always wwnt ur pperrtors to follow all f the laws and rulee of the rood might a bus speed it's possiile but most of operators are ressonsible individuals who obey the laws and that's what expect from them :44 :44 compared... to last year's figuree... the number of speeding citations has almost doubled. geese in baltiiooe county... become target practic. practice.bird rescue groups abbut at least three geese with arrows in them like this one... walking around druid ridge cemetery in pikessille. wildlife workers ave tried to round up the geese to treaa them... bbttthat's easier said than donee david shuma

melinda roeder... fox 45 news at 5:30.arforddcountys top lawmaker wants his couuty to be the first to offer a casino with gaming tables. david craig has ade a formal request asking the govvrnor's panel to consider harford county as a possibleegaming site. help booot the economy. it will also brrng in millions of dolllrs in revenue. craig says he doesnt want the money to cover the budget. he says it's needed to pay for things like teachhr pensions, where the state has made cutbacks. opponents worry it could bring in crime. 3& (james karmel-gaming analyst "i dont think research says 3 gaming tables will add to crime as far as gaming goes.. it could bring in a more afflueet player.. you may make more revenue" suppprterssof a casino in harford county hope the issue will be put in the form of a referendum, so voters can decide. maryland is rolling out a new staaewide radio commmnncation system for first responders. was unveiled today at the world trade center downtown. it's desiggnd to providd ssate agencies and local jurisdict

melinda... roeder explores... what recourse ...voters have...ncumbents. 3 (starr with vii of general up their session this summer in annapolis... voters... were already working on petitioo drives -- a grassroots push ... to overturr the legislature's decisions on some very divvsive ssues. (bite from 5/23/2011) "this is an issue about children and fairness.""here's the debate ovvr maryland's "dream actt - designed to give in--ttte tuition discounts for illegal immigrants...(bite from 5/23/2012) "i mean we don't even have money to give to our veterans and we;ree going to giveeilllgals tuition breaks..and the controversy over a ew law allowing same-sex maariage in our state....(bite from 5/10/2012) thii s the best thing for s - children, i don't think so." (bte from 5/10/2012) "hh's don't aaways have a voice."now both issues could be resolved in a referendum on the novembbr ballot.the result of discontented voters... seeeing of wisconsin.... maryland ate elections.anderson: 04:09 "i would not want marrland to have the same kind of recall ttat recal

melinda... roeder... has poured over some... records.../ and...he mayor wants to take over control of the city's phone system... through her office of information technology.but it turns out that office is contract workers from ithh digicon.... an outside vendor pundreds oo thousands of dollars every month... for years. 3the city comptrrllerrsaas thatts proof the mayor's office can't handle the work of operating the system in- significant costs for phones, claims.. adds up to more than 6500thousand dollars.we went online and found some of the same equipment for ssle at mch cheaper rates than the ccty paid. we tried contacting managers at digicon... who won't retuun our calls.but we did reach the person who signed off on thh invoice and estimates from digiccn - on behalf oo the city. he even &phas a city email address. bu he told us - he too - is a contracteddworker for digicon. and today -- as city council prepared to vote on some serious cuts in the mayor's budget plan... we tried assing the council president aaout áanyá questions.efused to take

melinda roeder... fox 45 news t 5. join... our waste watch. if... call... ouu - or...x- baltimore dot com. some... up... on... a... special ession. sessioo. this... week... a... special workgroup... failed to agreee.. on... severallbblls... to expand...gambling.../..lke... leegalizing... table games...and... allowing... a casino... at the... national harbor... inn.. p---g... county.../. but... other lawmakers... say... ttis... is too complexx.. to... resolve in.... (gladden) "if we want to add table gaaes, we probably want to do it now because weecan put it on the ballot but we just want to add table gamms, &pnext time, next yyar, it 'til pf... gambliin bill... is nott.. enacted this summer.../ marylanders... don't... it... for... 2-more - years. 3meantime... john rydell... pays...// some dogglovers... hope lawmmaers... will address... a... legal case... impacting... pii their owners. and... 3 owners. the only thing that's bugging lives at maryland's s.p.c.a. andddue to a court of appeals looger to be adopted.the ruling states that all pitt &pbulls...are inhereetly are

melinda roeder ... here... those groups --/ americans for prosperity is a group born out of fruutration pnd hope.stemmmng back to 2009 - hen taxpayers whh opposed the so-called "obamacare" - began protesting at congressional town hall meetings in maryland - and across the nation. they said they didn't want the government o come between them and their doctors. they increases. ironicalll, they say - the supreme court oday p cemented those fears.... essennially marrying thee issues of socialized medicine and taxes.the court ruled that congress ad the right to impose health care coverage under its ower to tax the public.but organizers of still insist the public doesn't want this kind of reform. < "the court f puulic opinion ruled long ago. americans, by and large, hate this thing. they don'' like mandatee. hey don't like when the federall government comes in and tells them what to do and what not to do."> the ggoup is now planning to continue its fight - lobbying care bill... and encouraging who support it.... ii t

melinda roeder... fpox 45 news at 5. the body of a marine from laurel was transported back to defense annouuced the death of 21-year-old ... eugene mills the third , sunday morning.he before being killed in a fire- fight in afgganistannhe was a graduate of atholton high school ii columbia.friends say he was inspired to oin the marines after september 11th. meredith mancini, neighbor: 12:31:04 "and i had told him &pto be careful, and he hugged me gooddye." goodbbe." robert mancini, neighbor: 12:50:36 "walked with his head up. there was no reason not to. he was verr proud of whatt he was as a marine." marine." plans for services have nott yet beee released.mills is maryland's sixth service member to die in combat this year. people yelling mom hugging kids friends and fammly werr filled with emotions as mmmbers from the air national guard returnnd home.aaout 30 mmmbers froo the guard's á135th air lift groupá were greeted at guard baseá afttr a 90-day deploymmnt in afghanistan. thh men nn women were elping with ongoiiggcomba

melinda roeder is here to 3&the cooptroller has been contract with i-b-m to ooerate the city's telephonesystee. but the mayor says it's house.,.. through her office of information technology. so she started a so-called pilot program to see f that's feasible.but it turns out... a lot of stafffin her office - are actually contract workers from an utside company called digicon.and they seem to making some preety lucrative deals with the city lately. in fact....the comptroller ssowed us a typical monthly bill from digicon... totalling 213-thousann dolllrs. she claims the city hassspent more than 9-million dollars over the last few years on hhsee consulting fees.and whee the mayor wanted to start her piiot prooram... she purchased 80 high-tech phhnes... frrm - you guessed iit --digicon.but the comptroller says that purchase should've beee bid for other companies to compeee. she says the mayor spent ore than 65-thousand dollars on those phones anddtechnology to support thhm.the mayor is refuting that figure.. but <"ss the citizens should be outraged ... wasting taapayers inspector general's re

./ melinda roeder.. has beenncovering the story.../ and... is here.. with the latest.the mayor saas she did purccased 80 new telephones and a host of echnology to iifrastructure was necessary - regardlees of the phones.but the omptroller iisists it was much more expensive than the mayor let on...totaling more than 650-thousand dollars. áandá that the purchase was violation. the comptroller came forward with her claims last week. and ssnce then - she's provided documents for puchases ranging from switches to computer ssftware - all necessary for the new telephones.she says the mayor a company that's eenndoing business with baltimore for have been put out ffr bid.she concerns with the ayor - buu was instead, offered a kiid of bribe --- more money for her department's budget in exchange for her support on the mayor's phone project.shee says the mayor now refuses o meet with her. a claim the mayor - of course - denies. 3 < ""wanted to defer so ww about it and she's in the - a realityyshoww the city dessrves better... i'm gonna make sure they get it."> an internal nvestigat

melinda roeder... fox 45 news - late edition. city ealth officials... want to strip... the liquor licenses... of... more than hundded corner stores in ballim. baltimore. the majority are neighborhoods....// researchers found... the establishments contribute to higher levels of viooenttcrime. the health department decided to take actiin fter hearing concerns from community groops looking for ways to improve theirr neighborhoods. 10:24:11 through the zoning code these bbsinesses can choose to ontinue ooeratingg pbt not sell alcohol they can choose tt move to a differret looation where they can sell alcohol or ii thee want to make other decisions it is up to them 10:24:25 10:24:25 there will likely be a ear's worth of reviews and public hearings before any changes are made. here's... our... question offthe ddy.../. you agree... with the plan... to revoke ...dozens of piquor licenses... inn baltimore city? city? a lot of resppnse on this question and maay of you are not convinced its a good idea. go to foxx baltimore dot com .../ tell us what you think./. sound off thru fac

melinda roeder... fox 45 news at 5.le the audii bill failed, a heety hike n theecity's bottle tax didn't.a bottled beverage in the city will &psoon cost an extra 5 cents. that's nearly double the current bottle tax.the tax increase was approved by thee city counicl earlier thiss month and was signed into law by the mayor today at northwooddelemmntary school. the newwtaxxis expected to raise ten million dollars.... money the mayor says will go towards school construction and repair.today theemayor released a report whch concluded city sshools need two point ttree billiin dollars in upgrades. the u-s government... áencouraaingá people to get on food stamps? stamps?margie looks amazing i told me food stamp benefits helped her eat right and she stays active too. too.believe it r not... the spending about 3-million is dollars on radio ds... that encourage eligible americanss that brings us to oor question of the day. should the federal government dvertise its food assistance programs? go to fox-baltimore dot com yyu can also

melinda roeder... fox 45 news - late edition. 3 3 down several blocks... and - to evacuate.the smoke could be seen for miles... luring hundreds of people to the scene.they watcced the firefighters at work... battling thh fire as it went from bad to worse. "right now its goiig about over 100 feet... ""well i sse a lot of smoke.,.i ope o body in there..""it looked like the flames or smoke was doww for a while..and then all of a sudden you saw it shoot back up ann get black and grey and that brown kiid of tinge and they just keep coming" &pcoming" 3 even aater the fire was brouuht under control... many poads were flooded with water..... thousands of motorists ad to take deeours during their evening commute... see ore of our video from the baltimore dot com slass raw news three peeple shot in south baltimore...two of them believed to be teenage girls. tonight... at the intersection of annapolis road and russell commotionnand says she allo noticed two young children who were hhddled neer the victims. "i don'ttknow what happened with them they were crouched at t

melinda roeder takes a look at the fiscal oversight... or lack of it... in baatimore pity governmentt in a city facing steep cutbacks and tax increeses.... some say the need to watch spending is more important than evee.19:32::3"every time there is a deficit here, inssead of doinn good &pfinancial analysis, they all for a new tax"that was councilmaa carl stokes last yeara&&elling fox 45 thhtt instead of raising taxesa money by digging deeper into the books of city agencies. 19:24:411we don't have money to throw around, and i think in some instances we're throwing away moneybut fast the city council shot down stokes' ideaa... in a close vote..... to amend the city ccaater... adding a &prequirement for regular audit. it was defeat coming on the heels of another tax increasesathat left stokes frussrated.44.1.02"an audit bill just faileeais this a real cityawhat's going n?" the ayor opposed stoke's pudit bill, arguiig ii was too expensive to review 55 city agencies once every two years.... 22:46:14 "i think that's arbitrary. they ssould be auditee as needed."

./// melinda roeder... live... at... ciiy hall... with... more... on the cootroversial... melinda? the city is trying to overhaul its nttre phone system. and while the comptroller was working out a long-term contract proposal... the mayyr'ssi-t office... began movvnn forward with a plan of its oon. a plan that's already cost millions of together a pilottprogram.and the whole deal is now raaiing questions.us legal and ethical . don't want to talk about... s from the mayor(mayor from tuueday) 11:25:28-42 "the only surprise i had is that you're &pthe city council president -3 (jack young from thursday) "this meeting is over, thii is over." a political game oo phone &ptagg. over the city's teleehone system. a battle that erupted in a public meeting more than a week go. (pratt from llst wednesday 6/13) 15:49:52 "the mayoo is not being truthful... she's not being honest." a fight that's brouuht to light... some very critical quustions about the city's dealings with a compann called digicoo.a coopany that sold baltimore high-tech telephones and tech support for the phones - that'

melinda roeder... fox 45 news at ten.ouncil meeting...the council ádefeatedá a measure hatt would require city ageecies to be audited once every 2 years. councilman pett welch voted against it... even though he was a co-sponsor.the mayor said the audits... woulddbe too expensive 3 "ummm theyre raying for me to get a new heart" heart" the change... that could makk this young girl's lifesaving surgery possible...in our cover story.../in just 15 minutes ...and look at this baby bear... tuckkin a garaae.how mama-bear got her out..later on fox45 news at tee how do i paak up your kids things.... " " but next...her son... killed ddriig a confrontation with an off-duty cop...but no one has been aarested.the 3& es she wants... after t a teenager dies after a connrontation with a baltimore county police officer....but no one has been arrested. kathleen cairns spoke the boy's mother......who says the officer appearssto be &preceiving special treatment... ...and tells us the changes she wants. wants. the browns living home in randall

tells melinda roeder.../ this... could have... implicatioos....// pnless the law is repealed. the mays chapee swim club... lifeguards keep careful watch over kids in the pool.but their bbss....ii keeping a close watch on his bottom line. 13:17:32 "it is government rrgulation at the umpth degree."david watts owns d-r-d 13:07:422"some of them work .- over 30, some of them work staadup 13:00:28 -42á13:00:52 care guidelines."13:09:52 ""f they average more than 30 hours a week for mmre than 90 days, then yyu must offer them insurance."he says the so- called obama-care... is costing him a lot of caah. first.. he had to hire attorneys to help figure ouu the new law.and because he's company issso big during peak- &pseason... nearly all his automaticclly enrolled in his &pinsuranceeplan. it'... even though many workers already parents - or another full-time pmployer.opting them all out... will be an administraaive ightmare. 13:12::2 "and the reporring reeuirements to the federal government are mind-boggling." but suuporters of &pobamm-care

are melinda roeder... has tonight's... cover story --/ "ddwntown decline."in downtown baltimore... offee lots of office space.prooably too much for the current economy. there's plenty of prime office space available! (show shot labeled 'prime')(kirby) 12:38:28 "well most of it has it's nnthing unusual."experts agree - downtown decline - is a nntionwide trend.(jay brody) 12:35:09 "well i think the drop... typical of major cities in the nited states." but theee's little sign of improvement.in baltimore - a few buildings are now in foreclosure (shot labeeed 'foreclosure 1')....handed back over to the lender....a auction.and many have seen their assessed valued drop... (kirby) 12:38:40 "weehad banks downsize and they left some buildings. we also had just general... state was willing to decrease their assessments." (nats of avel @ 12:31:30) it's a concern raised among city leaders this week.... when it was revealed property values downtown - as a whole - are down about a quarter oo a billion dollars since the recession. 12:35:19 "recession been more like a depres

melinda roeder... fox 45 news at ten. join... our waste watch. if... you see government waste.. 410-662-1456. baltimore dot com. just... an... hour ago...//he jury... in the... jerry sandusky... sex abuse... case.../ called it... a... night...//bbt... not....before asking... to... re-hear testimony... penn state ... assistant coach ... mike mc-queary. queary. too... kline..., for... victim number five,... says... the ddfense's aagument ...was ttat everyone... conspired,,... against sandusky..../ kline.... also... pointt out... what he thinks... wassthe eeephant... in the room... p at... court today. today. i thought the elephant in the room as the fact that mr. sandusky had clearly been willing to testify to the nation. but, wasn't willing to pestify to these 12 jurors. this man gave a national interview, but dddn't speak to them. 3 meantime... matt sandusky,... one of six adopted cchldren... of jerry sandusky,... áheá... was sexually abused... by... sandusky../ nd... he... was ready to testiff...// sandusky's... accused off...sexuulll abusing... ten boys... over..,. 15--yeaas..

the inspector general is now investigating the melinda roeder... 3 fox 45 news at ten.tline...410-662-1456... - or go to ffx balttmore dot ccm. all eees will be on the stock market today... as new connerns are raised about the healtt of the economy. stocks closed much lower thursday .. the dow down 2- hundred fifty points. &pcongreesman chris van hollen is the top democrrt of the house budget committee. pe says the european situation could cause problems in the taken.and action needs to e - ((:38 the ealityyis we eed to focus on what we can with respect to the american economy, which is why we shoulddtake uu the pressdent's jobs bill which is in the house of the shelf - actions like pass the &ptransportation bill because i two weeks thh authorrzation to invest if our ransportation system will expire. thht will hurt the economy and hurt jobs." 1:00)) shows that in june... u-s manufacturing grew at its slowest pace in eleven mmnths. 3 after closing arguments... jurors in the jerry andusky sex abuse case deliberated until about 9:30 last night. night.they're expeccee to re

melinda 3 roeder... fox 45 news at ten.ntable.you can do that by joining oor fox45 story about government waste... call our otline... 410-662-1456.you can also go to our website fox baltiiore dot com and click on waste watch. jailhouse... calls... etween george zimmerman... and his wife... shelly... are releas. released.in... onee conversation.. .. zimmerman iistructs his wife... to transfer money... prosecutors... say ... this shows... the zimmermans... ákneeá... that poughly ...135-thousand dollars... haddbeen raised... money for his defense.../ something .. that ...could play a crucial role.. in zimmerman'sssecond bond hearing... next week.../. in... a separate instance... zimmerman tells shellie... to uy bulletproof vests ...for them and his attorney. 3zimmerman: pprsonally i want you wearing one. shellie: okay zimmerman: as uncomfortable as it is, i want you wearing one. shellle: uh huh zimmerman: and second of all i want, o'mara having one.. shellie: okay zimmerman: and third, i would like to have one at leaat here. s