>> eah, yesterday we tied the today the record is 98 and ii3 think we may tie it again, which means we will be a degree warmer with the humidity. 1 more dayyof the humidity before we get a bit of a break, though. >> you felt every bit of that humidity. yesterday i did some yardwork and it was hot. >> this tiie we have a frontal stormssthat could bb severe ttis evening. 80s degrees in washington d.c., 75 in salisbury and 80 in hagerstown. the dew point in the upper 60s and low 70s throughouu much of the area. that is going to make it feel as if though the temppratures are warmer. we see the shower chances out o the west as we scan further on the wider scan on hd radar. some of that activity picking up in intensity as the front doee move through in the afternoon or evening. topping out, it will be breezy as well with a 10015-mile-an-hour wind. storms that are strong to severe. temperatures by the way will be feeling like they're closer to 103 today with the heat indes factored in. good morning, candace. teef. we'rsteve. we're talking about trouuleein howard county. there'' a medical emergency on3 the northbound lanes of route 29, youuwill find activity there and no significant delays as of yet. on 95, let's check in and see how that is looking at route 100, and it's getting busy on the southbound and northbound lanes. overall, though, we are in the green on southbound 95 from the beltway down toward 100, a 7-minute ride at bench mile geir hour. 8 minutes at 5 miles per hour and a 9-minute ride on southbound 895 from the harbor tunnel all the way down toward 95. that's a look at the morning travels, patrice, back over to you. 5:02 on fox 45 early edition.3 baltimore city council will take a final vote on the 2-cent bottle tax today. megan gilliland is mor is here h more on what has become the most controversial part of the votin3 today. >> reporter: ttday the city council will come back to city hall and take he final vote on the bottle tax. earlier this week in a lastú minute compromise councilmembers endorsed a 2-ceet bottle tax. that is half of what supporters were hoping for, but still more than some store owners say their customers can afford. >> it will drive thh business out of the city and that not good for the city and that is another spike in the coffin. >> reporter: the now the tax is expected to generate %-miik and juice would be exempt from this tax. it's said to expire after three -ears. the mayor has been very outspoken about her support for the bottle tax. she says if it's not passed today. othhr services will suffer. live from city hall this ú%rning, i'm megan gilliland. fox 455early edition. stay tuned to fox 45 morning news for conttnuing coverage of this story, we will talk to the mayor aboot the bottle tax and other measures passed to make up the city's $121 million budget deficit. that is coming up in the 7:000hour. it s going to be another scorcher and that means, another code red day in the city. but the air temperature doesn't necessarily give you a a good joel d smith is live at meadywood park to showwus how some of the places we touch every day really feel. patrice. i would say if anybody hass3 something to do today, do it right now. ii's not going to get much better. we're talking about tteeair temperature and steve mentioned the heat index as well. seeing how it feels out here, the temperature in the 80s, look out here, we have the teeperrture going, you see the ground on the grass 70 degrees and when we move to the pavement, it jumps closer toú 80 degrees. not too bbd right now, but once the sun comes out it's going to get a lot worse.3ú here at the aak in the baking sun, one the slides registered 108 degrees and another 113. to give you an idea skin burns at 130. hotter playground 116 degrees in the dirt and the astro turf here 128 degrees, just a couple of degrees away from burning ssin. the numbers surprised parents and a few dog owners as well. >> i guess the asppalt absorbs all of the heat, amazing. you would not have known that. >> 124 degrees on this. >> oh my, gosh. >> that is what the dog is walking oo. >> we need to ttke him home..3 that is too hot. >> reporter: it was so hot yesterday thattwe were able to fry an egg on the pavement. it took two hours, luckilyywe did not take a bite out of that. to keep everything in perspective, this is a code red day, it means that all the ú%elters will be opee. 11 shelters in the city f baltimore.ú around the county a lot of places you can go to stay cool. when you're touuhing, it's going to be hot the things that absorb heat like the slides. >> i can tell you one thing, i'm not touuhing that egg. >> reporter: don't eat it, either. just rying to show people how hot it can be. you think of how hot it is, and you know heez these things are e scorching. but when you see those numbers it's amazing. >> it puts into perspective. we know that today has been declared a code red day nd cooling summers will be open3 across the city again. there's 10 centers in all, and they're available for public use from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 .m. you can go there to cool off, get water and ice. a ager is rushed to shock trauma after being pulled from the powder river. crews say he was impaled while he waa swimming by the water, by the cfx tracks. the body of a man who went missing in the chester river is located less than a mile away from his boat. natural rrsources police say the body of 56 years old ssephen cohe was found yesterday morning. he had been reported missing tuesday night when he didn't return to a marine a in queen ann's county. an autopsy will be performed at the medicallexaminer's office3 here in baltimore. p>> tuesday night's violent storms k which resulted from the intense heat spelled trouble for the man was truck by lightning. the man was walking from a %-he was reportedly thrown about 15 feet. >> it struck down in ffont ofú our house at a neighbor's. unfortunately somebody as outside and struck by lightning. very scary, agaii, like i said, you felt it go through your body. >> the man was taken to the hospital nd at last check wasú ú%> some maryland residdnts got quite a shock yesterddy after a magnitude earrhquake strrck canada. many locals say they could feel -t, too.3 the quake struck hit about 30 miles north of ototowa at 1:40 yeeterday afternoon. the shaking lasted 30 seconds. %-beginning of the quake. things start shaking and once people realize what is going on, they start heading for the exits. residents in towson, linthicuu felt it here, too. animals.uers work to take out officers say a mule was freed but a horse was still trapped and laying down. %-no one is exactly sure what caused the roof to collapse but it's believed that the severe weather passing through the area played a role. republican state senaaor andy harris throws hhs hat inno the race for co congress. harris officially announced he wwll run for connress. is an anesthesia and a 3 term state senator. kratovil is scheduled to a ons no hiannounce his re--lection cammaign on saturday. bob ehrlich is making a pitch to bring in more hollywood stars to maryland. he wants to offer tax creddts to film commanies that do make the moviessin the state. while announcing a tax increase ensentive has been increased to 6% $6 million a year, and the t. projects dried up. >> it's so good for our state. there's no down side on this issue. industry brings to the state. it's all good, it's all upside. >> movies like ladder 49, and run away bride were shot here. and of courre, the wire.omicide bbltimore city homes will be required to have sprinklers. -ayor stephanie rawlings blake will sign the legiilation. maryland buys an additional 238 slottmachines forra casino coming. they approved the purchase yesterday. the naaional gaming has a license to operate up to 1500 machines at the planned casino located near interstate 95 near perryville. they approved buying slot machines a week ago.ú the casino is expected to open in late september. there will be more transparenny in government meetings. coming soon, meetings for maryland's powerful board of public works will be streamedd3 online for anyone to watch. the 3 member panel votes on state contracts worth milllons of dollars and it also approves spenddng for school conntruction prooectt and for slot machines. up unnil now the public haashad little access to those meetings. governor o'malley this will aad that nd add more transparency. >> government can bringga plat for and it helps in the transparency. >> the first board of public works meeting can be streaaed3 live. you will find it on july 7th. you can find a link to the meetings online at the website. just go to foxbaltimore.com/news links. the top u.s. commander in afganistan is out. general stanney mcchrystal -esigned yesterday morning and president obama immediately nnminated general david petraeus as his successor. mcchrystal found himself in hot water after making controversial comments about the vice presiienn and president in aarolling stones machine article. it referred to the vice ú%esident joe biden at vice president bite me. and the president said that the u.s. cannot defea deffat al-qaef the leaders are not united. >> i don't make this deeision based on any difference in policy with general mcchrystal as we are in full agreement about our strategy, nor do i >> general petraeus must be ccnfirmed y the senate before he takes over wart in afganistan. the past years petraeus oversaw the war in iraq.ú bp runs inno another problem repair work releases more oil into the gulf. for three weeks a containment cap was capturing some the oil spewing out of a broken pipe. but yesterday a gush forced the crees to rrmove the cap. they say a robot bumped the vent and caused the problem. for people boyyotting bp the mess is coming loud and clear. looal station owners say that business is hurtiigg buuiness is down thanks to people boycotting, he says, what many may not know is the majority of the bp gas station don't actually sell bp gas. >> what makes the bp additive is thattgoes into the gas. this could be anybody's fuel and what makes it the bp is the into the tank. >> this will hurt the small bbsiness more ttan it will hurt we have a recall to tell you about this morring fromma maryland company. recalling one of its finnshed produccs. it has found listerra that can cause problems. the spinach can be thrrwn out and save the package and then3ú call the ccmpany at 247-8125. the man at the center of a political scandal beiig given a second chhnce. >> god doesn't ban a person forever. >> how he is helping a local restaurant. yesterday we tie the record high for the day of 977degrees. today is the record is 98. will 516 now on fox 45 early -dition. enjoy theesomewhat cool tempeeature righttnow while you ú%n, because it's ot even all that cool, but ompared to the rest of the day, this is tte time of the day you will want to eejoy. meteorologist steve fertig is here to tell us how hot it's it's hot, i came in with the air-conditioning and usually i can roll down the window and ggt a breeze, not today. we're headed into the upperú 90s and it will feel like it's over 100 degrees as we factor in the humidity, too. take a look at the sky hd radar not a whole lot going this morning but as we look at the hd lightniig data, therr's lightninggstrikes in new yorr and pennsylvania and down on the southwest at virginia as weel. we expect to see some of that activity as we sit under a slight risk for severe weather throughout the entire state. that would be most likely for the afternoon ann evening and you see ha that extends throughe -astern seaboard and the travel plans runs thunderrtorms up as well. here is hat we look as far as temperatures starting out this mooning. 83 degrees in baltimore, 88 deggees in washington, 75 in salisbury.3 in hagerstown, 75 degrees there, as you look at the dew point numbers, mid-60s to near the area.s throughout most of it's going to be feeling a bit warmer. in fact, we're already seeing values in terms of what it feels liie by a few deggees. right now it only feels a few degrees warmer than it reads on the thermometer, but later this feel like it's 103 degrees, the frontal boundary is well to the north. we have the warm air moving in. futureemodee. by this afternoon, expecting o see to the north aad east. the further east you go, the better the chance of the thunderstorms because of the timing of that front nd when t moves through during the warmest part of the day. the eastern shore probably the most vulnerable and but everybody seeing strong storms, ú%eing it here and then we dry out behind it as the igh pressure moves in behind it. the temperatures down to 90 degrees for the high and with less humidity it will be more comfortable, ccrtainly then. we will looo at another dry before the hummdity returns as we get more warm airstreaming in for the end of the weekeed. of he 7 day forecast as we get to hat for a bit.ú a thunderstorm chance in the afternoon, ccntral part of the state getting p to 98 degrees with those afternoon orrevening ú%understorms, west winds t 10-20 miles perrhour.3 back to the west we go, look for a high temperature of 90 degreee with thunderstorm chancessagain, in the afternoon, evening and also a little breezy with 10-20-mile-an-hour winds gustin3 higher with the passing storms. weewwll get to 92 bb noontime i thinn with mostly clear ssies to partly cloudy skies and then the thunderstorms come in with more3 cloud cover. 88 for the first pitch at camden yards when the orioles take on a chance of thunderstorms inccease as the frontal boundary approaches.ú 71 for thh overnight llw. - warm and humid night with a northwest wiid a 5-10 miles per hour. as we move through the week, you will see tomorrow, 90 degrees ú%ll feel relatively comfortable withhlower humidity. that is kind of surprising thing to say, sunshine, plenty of it. 90 degrees on saturday, and late night, a shower or thunderstorm, better chance on sunday as the nnxt system moves in. 91 degrees and on mooday with thunderstorm chances. 86 and 82 for wednesday and thurssay. heading to the beech, 86 for tomorrow's high temperature, mostll cleaa, and partll cloody, and a chance of thunderstorms on sunday. %-the commute?s you head out for here is candace dold with the answer and the ras traffic edge. >> reporrer: thanks, steve. we're talking about eltway ann clearing construction. we can show you what the area looks like. we have the activity and you can see a lot of cars trying to come down the pike. take a look, all the flashing lights are right on the shoulder. that is where the coostrrction ii. we will continue to moniior the situation as ffr as the deeays on the beltway traveling farther we are going to shek tha check . it's going to be a much eaaier drive. speaking of 95, there's nothing to impede the commute on the northbound lanes all the way up there 395 and eventually toward the fort mchenry tunnel. that's aalook at the morning travels, patrice, back to you. diiney ising into the hoosing mmrket. learn how the new community the house of mouse is developing. >> god doess't ban a person forever. >> a fresh tart for disgraced formmr wa guys remember, we're a solar system. mars is down...and... um, it's only 10am. who hasn't had their jimmy dean breakfast this morning? mmmm! now lets orbit i feel awesome. you're all awesome. jimmy dean breakfast sandwiches, fight the morning fade. he was part of a major politiccl scandal and now former washington lobbyist jack abramoff is work the a pizza place in pikesville. he is not taaking to reporters but his new boss spoke to us. >> we got a phone call and he wassin halfway house in >> reporrer: the owner of pizza in baltimore diin't know how high-profile his new employee had been innthe past. lobbyist abramoff to do marketing or piz pizza and kos. >> reporter: abramoff is wrapping up a 6 year conspiracy charge foo bribery. >> i remember the day and everything, yeah. vaguely reccll the case but back in 2006 the scandal was so big it brought down someetop-ranking republicans. investigators ound abramofffwas and organizations and using its3 to pay for trips and lavish gifts for politians from both he was recentll transferred from prison to a halfway house in detention after etting a job. >> it's a second chance. i'm not hiring . reporter: his new boss says it's no big deal. he has hired inmates before. >> in the past it's been pizza guys, cooks, mate nanc mainteea. hoping it works for him. >> god doesn't ban a person forever. >> reporter:: but it's too soon to tell if he is a model employee. it's only been three days. later on the early edition, boycotting bp. how local gas stations are sufferiig ffllowing the gulf oil spill. but next, makinn the governnent a minority instead of [ female announcer ] welcome to busch gardens virginia, where baltimore goes to get away. maybe it's because baltimore loves the legendary coasters. or that your entire family will have fun, even the little ones. it could be that water country usa has more of the waves, slides and rides everyone wants. so plan your getaway and come play. you never know who you'll run into. get started at buschgardens.com/va. new home sales falling, but3 %isney makes a bet that theirr33 adam shapiro eeplains. housing hammered new home saaee diving by nearly 33% last month falling to the lowest level on record. the expiration of a bbg3 government tax credit hitting the market haad. disney is going to build 450 community at disney world in $1.5 million a pop. thh federal eserve keeping a key lending rate at a reeord low near zero percent. the fed says rates will stay that low for an exteeded periodú to wall street, the do you -aining 5 points. general motor a plln to raise up to $15 illion gm reportedly said to sell 15% of tte company and its stock offer. that will make the government a minority instead of a majority owner. a marx train brraks down -eaving passengers strarded inú theestranded inthe heat for hou. what thh governoo is doing about the incident. >> reporterr it aln