. >> sherrie johnson is live at headquarters with more. what's going on there? >> reporter: officers here at police headquarters are investigating those robberies in the mount vernon area. it appears that there are males dressing up as females to rob people. the latest attack happened to mark fortio. he was unloading his car when he thought teenage girls attacked him with pepper spray. they only hit him in one eye. they tried to take his bag but he could still see enough to get a glimpse at men, not women of the president of the mount vernon association says cross dressing girls with pepper spray has become more common. he's telling his neighbors to beware. it's been almost a week since the attack and he's still fired up. >> they hit me with pepper spray on the side of the face and my arm and my neck. so violent. i was angry. i was ready rip their throats off. >> reporter: the company has sent out letters to people in that area saying there have been four similar attacks. abc2 has confirmed with police that they are investigating the case. reporting live at city

abc2 news' sherrie johnson is on the scene with the latest on the fire. >> well yes, 24 people had to find another place to stay after a fire hit this building last night. we've been in touch with baltimore city fire department this morning. trying to get an update on information. the american red cross was on hand last night to help with medications and food and clothing and shelter for those displaced residents. now firefighters, they were on the scene at late into the night. we're talking they didn't have the fire under control until about midnight. now the two alarm fire started about 6:30 last night in the 2700 block of sisson street in the remmington area. and crews had the fire under control about midnight but they didn't leave the area until about 4:00 this morning. there were reports of huge flames and black smoke shooting into the air from the roof. a portion of the building collapsed which caused firefighters to evacuate. and fight the fire from the outside. there are four businesses inside this building including baltimore body shop, sisson automotive. a detailing shop, cl

federal hill, sherrie johnson.2 news. >>> when it comes to customer satisfaction, in the skies virgin america tops the list. "consumer reports" released is an july list and -- annual list and virgin scored high in all areas. southwest and jet blue also rated very highly. at the bottom of the pack, spirit airlines while it had the lowest fares, it also charges for everything from booking a flight to carrying on a bag. >>> general motors right now recalling 27,000 cadillac crossover vehicles. their wheels could fall off due to potentially loose wheel nuts. there have also been reports -- no report rather of crashes or injuries because of the problem. gm right now is asking the owners to bring the vehicles to their dealerships where the tires will be rotated and a wheel nuts will be tightened to specification. >>> a great deal you can take advantage of before your memorial day weekend. bj's now offering regular unleaded gas at the baltimore club gas station for $2.50. the special price will be limited to the first 500

others aren't too happy and abc2 news' sherrie johnson is live this morning to explain more about the vacant program. >> reporter: the goal basically is to clean up the city and make it safer for residents. but not everyone is on board with that. you know those who want to hold on to their homes surrounded by vacant buildings, they say they just want a fair price for their home if they are forced to sell. now many neighbors have disappeared leaving vacant homes and the blight that comes with them. the same program that aims to wipe out entire blocks of vacant homes will try to save them. the city plans to knock down 1500 more vacants over the next three years and many of those blocks will become urban green space. by replacing blighted blocks with parks the taxpayers will ultimately get the biggest rewards from the program eliminating pockets of crime, fire traps and eyesores in the process. in the 1100 block of east hoffman street in the oliver community is now just a shell of its former self. and clara bailey and her mother- in-law are now the seoul survivors. her -- sole survivors.

abc2 news' sherrie johnson is on the scene this morning of that fire. and this has been going on overnight. we know details are limited right now. so what do we know today as we make news time. >> reporter: well, we do know that the firefighter that was injured with minor injuries has been released from the this hospital this morning. everyone was able to escape safely from this fire. take a look behind me here. this is where it all happened. in the 2700 block of sisson street in remmington. where firefighters yes were on the scene late into the night. fighting this fire. 24 theme had to find another place to stay because of the fire. the to alarm fire started about 6:30 last night. crews had the fire under control at about midnight. there were reports of huge flames and black smoke shooting into the air from the roof. they actually had to fight it from the outside after the roof collapsed. there are four businesses in the building including a detailing shop and clear view auto glass and 22 studio apartments on the second floor. now hazmat and the maryl

. >> abc2 news' sherrie johnson is son the scene this morning of that fire and i understand some of the information we have is limited but you have some new stuff for us today. >> reporter: that's exact little right. i just got off the phone moments ago with captain clark with the baltimore city fire department and he was updating me on the fire. we are actually in the 2700 block of sisson street in the remmington area. you can see this burned out building here and you know firefighters were on the scene late into the night. actually crews just left about 4:00 a.m. now captain roman clark tells me that 24 people had r place t of this fire. that two alarm fire started about 6:30 last night. they didn't have it under control until about midnight. there were reports of huge flames and black smoke shooting into the air from the roof. a portion of the building actually collapsed. which caused firefighters to evacuate and they had to fight the fire from the outside of the building because it just wasn't safe. there are four businesses in the building including baltimore body shop, sisson auto

and sherrie johnson is live with how they will honor the men.dents are setting up and getting ready for the ceremony that starts at 7:30. in just about a half hour. right now i am in front of a memorial guard than is actually in honor of lance-corporal anderson and josh snyder. they were killed in 2005. the graduates were killed in the line of duty and serving in the marines. this is a garden that many of the students can pass through each and every day and pay tribute to the fallen soldiers. that's what today is about. the high school for our troops club put together an observance. that will take place. they offer services all year long. >> i have emily. you know tell me about why this ceremony is important. >> and alumy. >> serving our country and that is important. what does it mean. we show our appreciation. and for everyone to see. and it is always a remembrance of them. >> what do you want people to get together. you worked hard and what do you want them to take away. >> and cook outs and a day to remember to serve and help the nation. >>

and reporting live, sherrie johnson, abc 2 news. >>> and oklahoma is dealing with more severe weather in the form of flooding. and rain poured down slowing down a recovery effort and flooding the roads. take a look at this. this car had to be towed. the weather sells is warning of more possible storms across the midwest. officials say the number is you will remember that is from the twister on monday. >>> and carrie underwood is donating 1 million-dollars to the red cross. this is for disaster relief. she watched the devastation with sadness she wanted to help the victims. >> and a donation drive led by the owner brought in more than 16,000 pounds of goods. that's thanks to your generosity. food, water, soap collected from the people of oklahoma. right now the red cross are overflowing with donations of 53-foot box truck with the donations will leave for oklahoma today. the spirit of maryland going out across the nation. >>> and uvv, uv 40. a lot of acronyms when it somes to the sun protection. what is the best. >> ub ridiculous. >> and how to score the labels. >> ub right. >> and wha

and sherrie johnson is live at a school where they will honor those young men. how are they doing that? >> it will be a very patriotic morning here a number of the students have started to show up and set up. and the ceremony will start in a couple of hours. and the high school four-hour troop club is hosting the event. they have put it together. they severe and help the military. they want to raise awareness. >> this is the third year for the event. they will have the leagues and raise the flag a patriotic morning and i have a the student advisor. first of all tell bus what we can expect at the observation. we have an area set up for active members and fallen soldiers. we will honor and raise the state flag and the high school flag. give them a sense of what the hol as you sit here today about. >> this is amazing. >> this is, you know. a unique club you don't have a lot of students to do this. and bright and early and remembering our military. everything that you see is what they have put together here. what do you want the community to take away. it is more th

sherrie johnson is on top of the story to bring you the latest details. what can you tell us? >> reporter: this morning the heartland is on alert. 50 of them hammered the states over the weekend and here on tap today, from texas, minnesota and wisconsin. the storms left one man dead in oklahoma and has many in the dark this morning. a parade of powerful storms from kansas oklahoma. the twisters created swirls of debris. now, funnel clouds dropped from the sky, and hail pelted drivers on the eds are. a massive tornado pulverized homes and killed one man. high winds toppled power lines and tossed tractor-trailers off of the inter state. the hail was so strong, it took paint off homes. >> the wind is unbelievable. the him and everything was coming sideways. >> the wind came up all of the sudden. the rv started shaken. i'm thankful we were not hurt more. >> reporter: now, the severe storms marches east from texas, minnesota, wisconsin, and missouri will get tornadoes today. back to you. >>> people are cleaning up from the last round of tornadoes in texas. some lost their homes and

and sherrie johnson is following the story. >> well, megan, two people missing from a trailer park wasound. they were not home when a tornado destroyed homes. and a tornado touched down in golden city, missouri. no word on the injuries and extent of damage. one person was killed and 21 others injured in oklahoma. a 79-year-old man was killed at a trailer park in oklahoma. several hower companies report 57,000 outages related to the storm. tornado hit six states on the weekend. oklahoma and kansas were the hardest hits. the ripped homes, downed power lines. and tossed vehicles. authorities in kansas are blocked roads because the storm knocked down entire rows of power poles. right now it is not safe for drivers to be in certain areas. >> you can look at there and see the irrigation lines are down. from the damage i would say it is a tornado. not straight line winds. >> we sustained damages to the trees, out building and the house. >> now the roads will be closed for a while until crews can clear the power lines off of the roadways. back to you. >>> we want it remind you, you can see the

sherrie johnson is live at city police headquarters with reaction from neighbors. >> reporter: peoplee mount vernon area are certainly keeping a close eye on their surroundings. police here at city headquarters are investigating a number of robberies of males dressing up as females trying to rob people in the mount vernon area. it appears the latest attack happened to marc fortino

reporting live at city police headquarters sherrie johnson abc2 news. >>> sex drugs and scandal at the baltimore city detention center. 25 people are in trouble. the push is to find out how high the corruption went. the department of corrections issued polygraph tests to administrators. those tests are set to expand to the rest of the correctional officers here today. the union that represents 7500 correctional officers all over the state held a news conference to talk about what it's really like inside these facilities. they described the 13 indicted correctional officers as "bad apples who don't represent all of them." >> as long as management continues to collapse post and work with less officers enterers, don't have the eyes on the tiers to observe behavior. you're going to see things like this happen. >> tavon white who is the alleged ring leader of the black grill la family gang pled not guilty this week. the rest of the suspects are expected to appear in court this week. >>> several lawmakers are speaking out about how things are being run in the baltimore detention center. the

. >> abc2 news' sherrie johnson is here with more. >> reporter: those who want to hang on to their homes surrounded by vacant buildings are worried about getting fair value for their homes if they are forced to sell. now many neighbors have disappeared over the last 50 years leaving vacant boarded up homes and the blight that comes with them. ironically the same program that aims to wipe out entire blocks of vacant homes will try to save some. the city offered one home up for sale for $5,000 plus incentives in hopes of renovating vacant to make them stronger neighborhoods. now the city plans to knock down 1500 more vacants over the next three years and many of th

recovery program the assistance i do for some people i was able to write this book and our editor sherry johnson was amazing and coming over here tonight. i never thought i would do a book about my cousin i always told the republican he claimed the phrase. that was his successful movie the one he was known best for. my cousin always told me you need to write a book. i just never thought i would write this one. so i put a lot of thought into it. i outlined that in here and then i had 16 minutes with my former chief of staff and we agreed to do 16 minutes together and i tell you why we did we are going to have jack abramoff for 16 minutes and then you and there was better to have the two of us. it shows more of an honesty factor. if i say this you could say no or vice versa. having the two of us side by side with a better way of doing that. i went to india and salles 60 minutes over their. when i saw it i watched jack abramoff and i did this to myself, period. so we don't sit here saying he made me have dinner or i made those decisions. but i've watched him on at 60 minutes and then i have some em

recovery program, assistance that i do for some people i was able to write this book and our editors sherry johnson was absolutely amazing and À la rattner who is here tonight, changing lives press. i never thought i would do a book that my cousin god rest his soul frances wallace so i always told the republicans he coined the phrase the gipper. ronald reagan, that was his successful movie or the one he was known best for so i always give my cousin -- because of that gipper. but my cousin always told me. he said you need to write a book. when i was a little kid at eight years old, i would write a book but i never knew i would write this one a write in this way. i didn't do the book at first. i didn't want to do it and i outlined that in there and then i did 16 minutes with my former chief of staff. neal and i agreed to do 60 minutes together not tell you why i did. we were going to have jack abramoff on 60 minutes and then we'll have neal and about you. neal and i talked it was better to have the two of us. i think it shows more of an honesty factor. if i say this, neal could say no pop or vice ver

johnson, jr. here next. >> brian: no one ever mocks bill hemmer. am i right, steve? >> steve: actually i heard you in the last commercial. >> brian: shhh. >> tell sherry mentioned this. a big day in benghazi. what are we going to learn about what happened that night? what will learn about what happened in the days that followed? jason chaffetz, michael shirtoff and others will guide us. also from cleveland, do police have any answers to what went down there? we're still awaiting charges, we'll see you shortly on "america's newsroom" for all of that and more how can you get back pain relief that lasts up to 16 hours? with thermacare heatwraps. the only wrap with patented heat cells that penetrate deep to relax, soothe, and unlock tight muscles. and now, introducing reusable thermacare cold wraps. pain relief without the shock of ice. ♪ [ male announcer ] sixty-two horsepower. fifty-three miles per hour. the gator rsx 850i. it's a whole new species of gator. the gator rsx 850i. for sein a whole new way. for seeing what cash is coming in and going out... so you can understand every angle of your cash flow- last week, this month, and even next year. for s