mike hellgren is reporting live for us in dundalk. let's go to sally thorner who has more on what our viewers are saying. >> reporter: the issue of property damage is huge. we have tips for homeowners and also business owners impacted by flooding in the area. and these tips came to us courtesy of the restoration industry. they're basic disaster planning tips. let me tell you that if you are in danger of being flooded still tonight, move your contents to an upper floor or higher spot within your building. take photos of each room for future reference. and insurance claims. these will provide a digital inventory of some content. it's still probably not a bad idea to prepare for possible evacuation. it's impossible to predict the course of tonight's event. in addition to clothes and toiletries, make sure to collect medications, prescriptions, insurance information, health and homeowners, documents very important. irreplaceable items like jewelry, photos, mementos. cell phones always good to have with you. laptops and chargers, if they ge

reporting live from north baltimore, mike hellgren, wjz eyewitness news. >> mike, thank you. the home is owned by a rental company, and all of the students living in the home are undergraduates. >>> right now, an off-duty administrative police officer is under fire. police believe the man randomly approached the officer as he was on glenarm avenue. the suspect put a gun to the officer's back. the chase ended with the suspect shot and wounded about two blocks away. police now say they found additional shell casings that do not belong to the officer's gun. the wounded man still in critical condition today. >>> new details today in the city hall scandal. court documents reveal when sheila dixon ran for mayor in 2007, developer ronald lipscomb paid nearly $9,000 for a survey about her political opponent, state delegate jill carter. attorneys disclosed the information as proof she is being unfairly singled out in this case. >>> the sun is back. outside right notice. it's warm and bright and very comfortable. eyewitness news has weather and traffic together. meteorologist bernadett

in baltimore, mike hellgren, wjz "eyewitness news." >> it's quite a story mike. thanks the student are all undergraduates. >>> and that incident comes a day after robbery at someone eld's -- else's house end in violence. sally thorner is live with a officer-involved shooting in the city. >> reporter: police are learning more about the event pleading up to a gun fight between a would be robber and an off-duty cop. police believe a man randomly approach the officer as he entered his home putting a gun to the officer's back. that's when police say a chase began and that chase ended with the suspect shot and wounded about two blocks away. police now say they found additional shell casings that doesn't belong to the officer's gun. mary, back to you. >> don. >> thanks very much. >>> the wound man is in critical condition and the officer is on administrative leave. >>> maryland prosecutors say a 2-year-old law meant to target gang members doesn't work. a hearing beginning next hour many are fighting to fix it and as derek valcourt reports they hope gang-related crimes a

mike hellgren was up bright and early when the first bell rang. >> 3, 2, 1! >> reporter: dunbar high underwent the biggest transformation, a $28 million renovation that made it a show place for those interested in a medical career. >> you have greatness inside of you. [ music ] >> reporter: it was cause for celebration. >> that progress will be even greater the sooner we come out of this downturn. >> reporter: the head of the department said baltimore is benefiting from the renovations. >> doing reform with us, not to us, as opposed to what we see around the country. >> reporter: the school's ceo says his goals are getting students into the classroom and getting their test scores up. >> we want to engage, make sure that parents participate in decisions in schools even more than in the past. >> reporter: the focus is on students, more than 80,000. >> this is your first day? >> this is my uniform. >> and you look so nice. >> reporter: who have optimism and high expectations for this new year. >> i think it's a new beginning, and i think it's going to be a bette

mike hellgren has more on who and what could be affected. hi, mike. >> hi, kai.ow, we don't know exactly how much the budget will fall short. the projections are due out in just

mike hellgren, reporting live. the house is owned by a rental company. all of the students inside were undergraduates. >> a major victory to contain the swine flu. the food and drug administration has obtained this. >> swine flu vaccines will soon be available to the entire country. the government is working to get vaccines under way by next month. some hospitals have already given out trial vaccines. the new vaccines should begin arriving around october 15th. it will eventually be available to americans at 90,000 sites across the country. sally, back to you. >> okay, vic. children and pregnant women will be the first to get the vaccine. >>> coming up new at 6:00, our flu watch report. mary bubala talks to a man who nearly lost his life to h1n1. what he urges you to do to make sure you don't catch it. >>> kevin clark fires back. in 2004, clark was accused of assaulting his fiance. six months later, he was cleared of any wrongdoing, but still let go by then mayor martin o'malley. he has since been fighting to get his job back and monetary damages. marylan

. >> mike hellgren, reporting live. the judge said he wanted the teen to be rehabilitated and called his actions cowardly. >>> a baltimore county man is shot and killed outside his home, while unloading items from his car. witnesses say 30-year-old tejohn praincher was approached by a group of men. the men began shooting. and grainger ran away. he died at the hospital. police have no suspects at this time. >>> a fatal crash involving a maryland state police medivac helicopter, is prompting new safety recommendations from the ntsb. alex demetrick has more on the new rules presented to the ntsb. >> they want new training and new equipment. auto pilot control. and night and vision systems are all being recommended. four people are being remembered last september when a state police medivac helicopter hit in maryland. 35 people died. deadly plane crashes were also a topic in washington today. the ntsb has been recommending since 1990, rules on how many hours pilots can be scheduled to work. the agency said new research is n

mike hellgren, wjz "eyewitness news." >>> thank you mike.always on you can find out more about efforts to improve the safety on 32 click on the link posted with this story on wjz.com. >>> a check of other news make headlines this saturday september 12th. homicide detectives continue to investigate a life-threatening shooting in east baltimore. it happened friday afternoon on northern parkway just as students are leaving a nearby high school complex. police say a man in his late teens or early was shot in the head while sitting on his bike near a bus stop. media partner the baltimore sun reports he was not a student and he was in critical condition at last check. >>> a scare on the potomac has neighbors pressing for answers. the coast guard staged this exercise in which people reported hearing gunfire on the river. nearby flights were grounded and fbi agents swarmed the scene. in fact no shots were fired. no one was injured. >>> a baltimore city police officer pleads guilty to sexually assaulting a juvenile last year at the home of 34-year-ol

in north baltimore, mike hellgren, wjz eyewitness news. >> thanks, mike. donald rice was 49 years old. the student is turning 21 this week. >>> teens may soon find it hard to visit a tanning salon, even with their parents' permission. weijia jiang is in the newsroom with more on a proposal to ban minors from using tanning beds. >> everyone under 18 would be banned from using indoor tanning beds. the howard county executive and the house commissioner wants the regulations because of increased risk of skin cancer. hay new propose -- a new proposal will be held. minors need parental permission to use a tanning bed. >>> after another cloudy start to the day, things are improving. a live look outside. it's sunny and mild, as the clouds continue to move out of here. eyewitness news has weather and traffic together here. bob turk with the updated first warning weather. >>> we cleared out beautifully. temperatures have gone back up. take a look at radar. nothing around the scan. we're at 75 now. west winds at 5. looking at the weekend, big high pressure later toni

mike hellgren has been following the case. and since its beginning. >> wjz has learned the teen who entered the plea had a troubled past. but he had 15 different disciplinary roles. and they had him under in -- informal supervision justly 3 months before chris jones' death. >> chris jones loved life. he was just 14, while riding his bike home from a pool. police say a gang of teens attacked and beat him, then left him for dead. now, the youngest one charged, a 15-year-old, wjz is not naming because he is a juvenile, has entered a plea, claiming he can prove -- prosecutors can prove it's manslaughter. >> my son -- >> she's been an incredibly strong through all of this. >> my son can't speak anymore. so i have to speak for him. >> reporter: in an emotionally charged courtroom, chris's mom and dad wept as they dreafsed the teen -- addressed the teen. >> he's still a child. and i feel for him inside. and i really do hope that one day i can forgive him. >> reporter: the teen faces up to six years in a secure residential treatment f

mike hellgren reporting live. wjz is always on. for instant updates on maryland's budget crunch, log onto wjz.com. >>> a virginia man is under arrest after trying to get near the president with a gun in his car. vic is in the newsroom now with the latest. vic? >> u.s. capitol police have arrested 28-year-old joshua bowman. he is accused of trying to get into a secure area near the capital. he approached a security checkpoint and was told -- and told officers he wanted to park. it was there that his vehicle was searched. >>> a shotgun and ammunition were found in the trunk of bowman's car. >> thanks, vic. bowman is charged with having an unregistered firearm and ammunition. >>> president obama is not letting up in his push to retake control of the healthcare debate. he is trying to push front and center in order to win skeptical lawmakers. joel brown has the latest from washington, d.c. >> reporter: president obama is launching a full court press to get a healthcare reform bill through congress. >> the time is right. and we are goin

so my family is definitely devastated. >> reporter: that was mike hellgren, reporting. coming up at 6:00, the new fundraising efforts to pay for the student's legal bills. >>> it is fundraising friday. and fans are revved up. right now, the team is on its way to san diego. wjz is live in federal hill. jessica kartalija has more on the ravens' pep rally, with fans that will be rooting from afar. jess? >> reporter: that's exactly right, sally. we are just outside of severna corvino. it means black raven. it is a new hot spot here in federal hill. of course, all the talk about the ravens and their road trip to san diego. >> reporter: all eyes on the ravens this weekend. in columbia, fans snap photos with cheerleaders. >> defense! >> reporter: a pregame pep rally. >> it's pep friday. everyone comes excited. >> i'm a big fan. and guess who is my quarterback. >> reporter: as the team prepares to head west to san diego. >> i'm really, really excited. i really hope we pull out another win this week. >> reporter: the bottom line is the focus on what we do. and do what we do best

reporting live in north baltimore, mike hellgren, wjz eyewitness news. >> thanks, mike. this house is owned by arundel company. and all of the students inside were graduates. >>> a city police officer is under routine administrative leave. police say a suspect tried to rob the off-duty officer at gunpoint. the officer chased a suspect and shot him after the suspect fired at the officer. the suspect remains at shock trauma. >>> the u.s. is moving one step closer to mass vaccinations against the potentially deadly swine flu. eyewitness news is live with complete flu watch coverage tonight. mary bubala speaks with an h1n1 survivor. but first, we begin with sally who is in with more on a key ruling just made by the food and drug administration. >> it's part of the massive effort to prevent the potential swine flu pandemic. just a short time ago, the fda opened up to swine flu vaccine. however, only about 45 million dose will be ready by mid- october. that's when the government wants people who are most at risk to get sick, including pregnant women and children, to get the va

mike hellgren with reaction to the ongoing budget woes. >> racing is right, vic. -- bracing is right, vic. a lot of people are on edge. we don't know exactly how much the numbers will be down. the numbers will be out in a few days. >> reporter: the governor says maryland's budget crunch could deepen, forcing another $100 to $200 million in cuts. it's not official. but based on what its advisers are saying, it doesn't look good. state workers tell wjz they're concerned. >> i would rather be furloughed than laid off. you know, if i had a choice. so i don't want anybody to lose their jobs. >> reporter: the problem, sales and income tax revenue continue going down, creating a budget gap that is growing wider by the minute. and by law, the governor has no choice but to balance it. >> at this point, now that we're cut -- we reduce spending by a billion, on a $15 billion state budget, we're into things that affect real people in real ways. >> reporter: the last round of cuts hit governments hard. slicing road services. more than 200 people lost their jobs. >> reporter: the job cuts really co

and mike hellgren has more. >> reporter: such a sad story, denise. and many say a large volume. some of that you can see behind me. a narrow, poorly designed road and speeding, have created a dangerous combination. and the three most recent deaths won't be the last unless action is taken. >> reporter: dr. brian emory's acura rl is a mangled mess. you can see the tragic scene on route 32, just a half mile from his home. police say the driver of the van wasn't paying attention, slammed into emory and pushed his car into a dodge pickup. >> it's becoming such a problem now that it's not even safe to leave or come home. >> reporter: tracy's son was in her home, waiting for his dad. >> he didn't know exactly what happened except that his father may have been involved in an accident. >> reporter: dr. emery was deeply involved in the effort to make route 32 safer. >> he was very serious about trying to get this fixed. and then for him to be the one that was killed is tragic. >> the last comment i had was, well, brian, i have to go to eye meeting to talk about safety on route 32. >> jay

." >> reporting live, mike hellgren, wjz eyewitness news. >> the victim's family has started work on a youth center to keep kids off the streets and out of gangs. >>> and another developing story tonight. a new tropical storm has just been named in the atlantic. bob turk is closely tracking tropical storm erika. from the first warning weather center. bob? >> reporter: right now, it's about 320 miles northeast of the leeward islands. take a lack at the satellite picture. just updated. there you see it. there you see the string of islands. that's north of south of america there. they're the leeward islands. and here comes erika. winds around 45 to 50 miles an hour. and has developed. take a lack at the newest track we just got in a minute ago. now, the national hurricane center does not really develop this into a hurricane through sunday. i guess that's the good news. but you see it passing north of the islands. north of northeast of cuba. northeast of the bahamas. sometime sunday would be let's say, 200 to 300 miles east of the bahamas. so it could become stronger. looks like it's goi