Transcripts For WJZ Eyewitness News At 4 20091118

up next, the search for a killer continues and testimony ends in the dixon trial. killer continues and testimony ends in the dixon trial. >> from the city to the counties to your neighborhood, now it's complete coverage. it's wjz, maryland's news station. >> hey, everybody. i am sally thorner. >> a confirmed natural gas explosion near quarter hill road. at least one person is hurt. the fire department received a call about the gas leak and when they arrived, it exploded. we'll give you more information as we get more updates. this attack turned out dirptly than the one attack earlier this year. >> pirates tried to hijack the cargo ship again. >> they came up on a 300 yard away ship and used small arms to attempt to board the ship. >> this tile, they fired back and used a high pitched alarm on attackers. >> you really need some trained shooters that can shoot 1,000 yards. you can stop these guys. >> the u.s. surveillance plane is monitoring to make sure it reaches its destination on the coach. last year, they took american captain hostage for five days. they captured a 4th gunman who is now in the u.s. facing trial. >> u.s. and european al lies frequently face off against pirates in the region. cargo crews now hire private security crews. >> this time the crew was ready. >> all right. the u.s. deputy says all countries in the un need to adopt a policy with no concessions when dealing with pirates. two men were shot in a convenient store robbery. officers arrived and found waive and give up was shot in the upper body. he is expected to sure vooi. police found a customer, 52-year-old bryan meeks dead on the floor at the front counter. >> anyone with information about this crime is asked to call metro crime stoppers. mayor dixon's defense rests. the jury will deliberate in the corruption case. we are live with complete coverage with the analysis of today's legal development. >> reporter: the jury should have the case in its hands by tomorrow afternoon with closing statements in the morning. >> dixon kept up a public appearance at city hall knowing her future is about to be placed in the hands of a jury of 8 women and 4 men. the trial lasted just 6 days. jurors saw evidence seized from dixon's home. they heard from 19 prosecution witnesses and 4 defense witnesses. on the stand, arnold reed said in my dealing, she's always been honest and forth right. >> you know i can't make any comments. >> she's accused of stealing gift cards intended for the needy. the state prosecutor never put them on the stand. >> you heard what the state was going to produce as evidence. you saw what evaporated. >> it rests on gift cads donated by patrick turner, who is not accused of any wrong doing. he also testified he dropped the gift cards off at city hall without his name on it. dixon never took the stand in her own defense. >> i don't think she should speak about any of this. this is why she hired the attorneys. they should handle everything. >> it could land her in jail and throw her out of office and could cost her a major fine. if acquitted, she faces another trial in marchment >> thank you. we have legal analysis -- march. >> we have legal analysis on why she was not put on the stands. >> they have split opinions from the baltimore's defense attorneys. first, let's lookout side court this morning. jack young was observing this trial and told me he believes the nay your is innocent and stronger than ever. she didn't way a word in her own defense in court. could that help ore hurt her? >> i think it was a good decision. i am not going put the mayor on. i think reasonable doubt has been created. >> they say this is all you have is a state case. it's not that good. i find my client not guilty. when you make a presentation yourself, it does not include the defendant, then it becomes even more obvious to the jury that maybe this defendant is not testifying because they have something to hide. >> coming up, i'll take a closer look at the indictment and a quirk in the indictment that could mean good news for the mayor. for now, we're live at courthouse east. >> mike, thank you. stay with us for complete coverage of the trial. we're following every aspect of this case and how it impacts the city. 112 state jobs are being lost in maryland. $361 million in cuts were recommended to balance maryland's budget. more than half loss are skilled. they have reduced spending by $336 million so far. powerful waves from the storm pulled the tires from a man made wreath upon the national seashore. they need volunteers to help clean up the mess. the army core of engineers will know on monday how badly damaged the maryland's beaches are from the storm. >> our dry weather continues. outside, it's seasonably cool. tim william social security here with the updated numbers. >> i'm going to show you the radar. it's dry outside but the clouds have moved in. we'll show you the storm we have been tracking for a few days and continues to fizzle out. you do see showers with it. the other things that has happened with this storm, the winds have turned to the east. they got it hard last week. we have the easterly wind and the water will continue to pile up running a foot above average. southern parts of the western shore of the bay, that's what we have right now. >> thank you. let check on the roads right now with the traffic control. >> it's a was saw afternoon commute already. we have two problems with fire activity. the natural gas explosion is causing road close yours. watch for delays there. fire activity on east clemens street. and an accident on had you been berry. an upper falls, there's one at howard county. german road, at old washington boulevard and watch for two in the city at west northern parkway. there's your drive times and delays as well as the top and west sides of the beltway. there's a look at the west side. there's a look at the topside slowing at green springs. if you suffered a personal injury, call the the cochran firm. >> still ahead, eyewitness news at 4:00, some toys you may want to scratch off the christmas list. we have a high ranking of school official's death in chicago. comfortable fall weather continues. tim williams are updating your forecast. a total of 56 years in 230 days and the colleague praises him in the years of service including three terms in the house and three terms in the senate. >> looks good. the death of chicago school board's president o f michael scott has been -- of michael scott has been ruled a suicide. >> crime scene tape is the only thing left of the bridge. it was here in the waters of the chicago river that school board president michael scott's body was found monday. they believe he fell after shooting himself in the head. his friend of 30 years won't speculate as to what -- years won't speculate as to what may have caused it. >> daily and many others are shocked at scott's apparent suicide. others simply don't believe it. >> no one knows. only the police would know. they are doing a thorough investigation in this. with all situations like this, they have to do a thorough investigation for the family's sake as well. >> a gun was found underneath scott's body. they are trying to trace it. there's security cameras in buildings. whether it will help close this case or not will remain to be seen. >> there's nothing to make us think that it's anything but a self-inflicted wound. >> they added scott had no defensive wounds on his body. >> a bit of a step backwards on wall street today. concerns on housing starts. dow is down 11. we have tonight's money watch update. >> ford, volkswagon awarded the top safety pick to 19 passenger cars and 8 sport utility vehicles for the 2010 model year. a price war is heating up for the british candy maker. they are considering making an offer told rival craft's $16 billion takeover bid. builders broke ground on fewer holmes than expected last month as they waited for congress to extend the tax credit for home buyers. retailers are in a race for your money. wal-mart, target and sers will start discounting toys by as much as 6%. wal-mart is offering a 50-inch plasma tv for just under $600. tom tom for just 58 bucks and child's sleep wear for just 3 bucks. >> we're down off of 4th street in south baltimore. in the 1400 block of cook street, we have a collapse. apparently someone was working in the basement area of this home in the 1400 block when the roof and/or the first floor collapsed down on him. fire fighters have one person pinned inside. i believe they have a broken leg. we're trying to get a shot established but it's difficult to shoot how vertical we have to be. we know one person is injured and a rescue is in progress off of ford avenue. we'll keep you updated. >> thank you. >> still ahead at 4:00, mammogram advice a panel creates confusion about when women should get the tests. a prominent lawmaker weighs in. cloudy skies and another dry day. ♪ ♪ (announcer) yoplait's perfect blend of real fruit and the goodness of dairy... ...is just a peel away. explore all 25 delicious flavors. yoplait. it is so good. another beautiful fall day. >> it's nice out there. look at the sun peaking out again. we have had clouds and a few occasional breaks in the city. further north, the sun was dominate. in some cases, the clouds have completely take ever over. down to the south, clouds are in place and they have been moving north ward. the wind versus turned around to the east and picks up as a new storm moves our way. some of the water he wills will go high -- levels will go high. that easterly wind is pushing the water wac inland and along the title. that's what we're watching with this here. as far as temperatures, not too shabby. 57 in baltimore. still 40s to the west. 48 in cumberland. 42 in oakland. there's not much left to this. then in the middle of the country and the rockies it's caused problems. it's going to pass north of us. it's the trailing cold front that will tap into the showers we see down south. we're dry today because of the high pressure hanging on. here comes the cold front and swings through tomorrow and into friday and showers with it. it's already out of here. we dry off in the beginning of the weekend. there's a second storm that will take a track more to the south and will make its way up to the coast of sunday ask into monday. we have a chance for a little bit of rain. but the first part of the weekend looks good. out on the water is winds out of the east at 10 knotts. tonight we're dropping it down into the 40s. by dawn action we may see drizzle breaking out along the region. it's high of about 60 degrees. this is not a huge storm by any means but not necessarily a dry day either. right now, saturday looks like the better half of the weekend. >> all right. still ahead, don't miss the prime time lineup at 10:00. we have the new episode of csi new york. >> football hang is is not a challenge. -- challenge is not a challenge. tim? >> reporter: you know, i don't know. i am not trying to brag. i don't know. what are you going to do. right now, i am running away with this thing. i don't know how. 107 points. that's top among the wjz personalities and tied for first in the whole competitionment that's out of 3, 374 people. some can't believe my luck. sam is in second place with 98 points and then it's marty and then jessica. bob got 14 out of 15 games right which is really impressive and came close to the score of the tie break game. he wins a $50 gift card from best buy and maryland lottery prize pack worth $35. you can just come right onto wjz.com and actually compare your picks to all of ours. go on to wjz.com. >> your modesty is inspiring. >> you can see the ravens take on the unbeaten colts. wjz 13 and the turfs have a big game against florida state. great weekend for sports. >> still ahead, 4:00, blown out of proportion. it's a ban on helium filled balloons in one town. >> a pregnant woman with h 1 n 1 and how she and her baby manages to survive the virus and child birth. >> eyewitness at 4:00 [house] wow! i feel like a new house thanks to this quick home energy check-up from bge. feels like i'm at a day spa. 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[sigh] ah... the efficient life is the good life. it is 55 degrees and 4:30. thank you for staying with eyewitness news. >> here's what people are talking about. eric holder spent hours in the hot seat today defending his decision to bring five terrorists to new york city to stand trial in civilian court. >> jill and peter eitheren came to the hearing armed with a picture of their father killed inside the world trade center on 9/11. >> would my father be happy and other 342 men, would they be happy with it? i don't think they would be. >> it's a disservice to the victims to try to men charged with planning those attacks in a federal court. >> to bring they will to new york -- to bring them to new york is a mistake. >> most republicans called the decision dangerous, arguing that terrorists should be tried by the military. once the cases make it to civilian court, anything can happen. >> it seems to be crazy. >> failure is not an option. these are cases that have to be won. i don't expect we will have a contrary result. >> the barack obama administration says federal court is the best play to try these terror suspects. many victims are telling him they still are not convinced. >> now holder says if the suspected terrorists were acquitted they would not be released in the united states. >> the attorney general also is responding to questions today about the forty hood shooting ram paid. >> reporter: he's disconcerned about the contacts between the shooting suspect and a radical overseas. there's e-mails did not advocate or threaten violence. police believe they signed open fire killing 13 people and wounding dozens of others. the government is in a process of conducting a federal review to determine if any internal warping signs were missed. >> okay. thank you. >> hello. we have had an above ground gas explosion. it's occurred shortly after 3:00 today. it's the 300 block of old stage road that's off off quarter field road. apparently, they were on the scene when above ground gas line apparently exploded. now it's not -- we don't know of injuries here at the scene. at this particular time, the damage appears to be reasonably minimal. no one has been sent to a local hospital. fire officials were on the scene a short time ago. they have shut off the gas line and appears there is no further danger from the gas line. police remain on the scene. >> thank you for the update. we have an up date on the young cancer patient that run away in order to avoid court-ordered chemotherapy. they were facing charges for fleeing to california with houser this year. they later returned and she went into radiation therapy. the teen is now cancer free. baltimore county police department had an announcement made today for the replacement turman rounding tu by's resignation. officials say the flames started among discarded smoking materials in a trash can. two people suffered minor injuries. pregnant women can be especially vulnerable to the swine flu. 30 expected mothers have died from the virus. in tonight's flu report, we have one new mother who had a close call at 7 months pregnant. >> reporter: jessica cruz adores her son kevin. >> look at that yawn. >> reporter: the new mother couldn't recognize her baby back in august. she was coming out of a drug induced coma after a severe case of h 1 n 1. she was 7 months pregnant, and incoherent after being rushed to the er. >> we don't know if she was going to pull through. >> reporter: they had never treated a pregnant woman with h 1 n 1. >> that changes the whole ball game to manage the patient. >> they worked to stable lie jessica for ten days. they decided it was time for an emergency c section. she was not awake for the birth. >> they kept saying you had a baby and i was like, no i didn't. >> reporter: she did you want remember a lot of what happened here. >> the boyfriend was tampered with worry. >> i was excited but then i was like mama is still in the hospital. >> reporter: the 34-year-old survived and has made a slow recovery. they decided to commit to the engagement they had postponed for 9 years. >> i said, honey, will you marry me again and she nodded yes. it's on. >> reporter: they wedded on october 10th, the baby's original due date. >> stay with wjz for updates on flu and past stories. there was an appearance of clouds today. are we in for some rain this evening? bob is here with the updated numbers. >> north of the city has been sunny until just awe few hours ago. the clouds are coming in from the ocean. there's nothing around here. but out to the west and south of us, we have development of west virginia and carolinas. it's generally moving to the east and north east. we expect to see drizzle by morning and spotty rain. the end of the week is brighter. we'll have that forecast at the end coming up. >> we're watching fire activity. there was a gas explosion on old stage road. watch for fire activity on cook street. expect road closings there as well. there was an accident south bound and wind mill at north rolling road. watch for a few more in the city. there's a look at drive times and speeds for 95 and the beltwayment there's the three slowest spots. or all, they are not -- overall, they are not so bad. there's a look at the west side. it's pretty open at baltimore national pike. traffic report is brought to you by the cochran firm. back over to you. >> thank you very much. right now, kayty is joining us live from new york with more on stories you will only see on this evening news. good afternoon. >> reporter: hey, how are you? >> i am great. >> we have the new mammogram recommendations. >> reporter: this couldn't be worse with timing as health care reform is winding its wau through capital hill. this recommendation comes as republicans were quick to say which is what happens with bureaucrats dictates your health care. she was very set on distancing the white house and the department of health and human services from these recommendations insisting it's up to a woman to talk to her doctor and various groups have various recommendations like the american cancer society and the susan coleman foundation. so i think right now, they are saying talk to your doctor. you wonder if there's not this mandate that women starting at age 40 should get mammograms. what will that mean with covering and will women not be as encouraged or not be as likely to get screened themselves? we have been feeling the reck pep dayses for a -- recommendations for a couple of days now. >> you have heard of some cancellations of women cancelling mammograms that were scheduled. the secretary didn't have an opinion? >> not really. this is one panel's recommendation she was saying and it's really between an individual woman and her daughter. a lot of women still adopt get screened starting at age 50. we need to encourage everyone to get screened. this is one panel's recommendation but it's up to the individual woman because this is a panel of people that sx they don't know you, me or any of our health care history. it's interesting to see how this is playing out from a health care perspective and a medical perspective and a political perspective as well. >> indeed. thank you very much. remember, you can see those stories on the cbs news and much more tonight at 7:00. that's right here on wjz 13 right after eyewitness news at 6:00. we have the complete coverage continues with new reaction. >> there was a statement released today and deeply troubled by the new report and believes it threatens progress on breast cancer screening. the controversy began on monday with the new recommendation to get mammograms at age 50 instead of 40. she's urging women to ignore that advice and listen to your doctor's orders. the secretary says federal policy on who should get breast cancer screening has not changed. >> breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the united states. >> with the recession weighing heavily on the traveling her, there's a lot of lures for hotels. guests get a room, free breakfast and a harly to take in the coastline. others have roller blading lessons. the deals will likely continue. >> free dinner would be good. toxic toys at 4:00, and which to scratch off your holiday wish list. it's a bit cooler outside but the dry weather is sticking around. get your up dated forecast. -- updated forecast. for instant updates all the time, click wjz.com. a 13-year-old boy in france brings his father's hunting gun to school and the boy planned to shoot his teachers and then himselves. realizing the weapon was missing, the parents contacted the school. he's been taken into the custody for psychological testingment no one was hurt. the beshgly city council wants to ban helium balloons because it takes 6 months to bio degrade. council members told them to come back with more documentation so a decision could be made. one consumer group is issuing caution with high level of led in toys. they found 7 products with high levels of led. >> no company wants to be caught with led in their stuff. their independent testing caught the following problems. the activity tote, paula open toed shoes, bar bibike flair kit and water lily necklace. the disney disputes the results showing the necklace is in compliance with safety regulations. they licensed the bar by-product and it was on older puck that passed in 2007. led tainted toys led to a recall of 2 million toys two years ago. experts say there's far fewer dangerous toys on the shelf. >> in 2008, the product safety commission recorded 19 toy-related deaths and nearly 173 emergency room visits to children under 15. a thief gets stuck in a window as he tried to break into a supermarket through a small window. the thief was trapped halfway through the window and his pants fell off leaving him showing his under wear to the world for 11 hours. once free, he was taken into police custody. the suspect tried to rob the minnesota gas station with a bottle when 3 men jumped into help. no one was injured during the brawl. british composer has been readmitteded to hospital. webber has been admitted again to the hospital after developing a chronic infection following surgery for prostate cancer. a statement on his website says that despite the complication, the 61-year-old's cancer operation was successful and hopes to get back to work in the new year. we have an updated forecast right after this commercial break. we're appreciative of the little sun we got most of the day. >> yeah. >> we have clouds coming in from the ocean with an east wind and by morning maybe enough to get a little drizzle possibly. tomorrow, a little rain nothing like last week, though. 55 now. east winds steady. humidity is coming up to 71%. 55 here. ocean city is at 57. oakland, stuck at 41. amazingly cooler. there's a cap over the atmosphere and very little wind there. temperatures have not gone anywhere. dead calm. that's why the cool air formed last night has not been able to move out. oakland, you see the easterly wind off the atlantic ocean. down to the south, rain along the east coast. this front is going to move across and you will have valley motions. we will see clouds tonight and yes, a good chance, probably 50 or 60% chance, to see rain tomorrow afternoon and evening for the best bet. once it passes, l it will continue to move and friday it should clear out and be quite nice. and saturday, it will be clear as well. it will drag this front across our region with the shower possibility. high pressure building here once it's through. a portion of sunday looks good as well. late sunday is another expected low pressure to develop near texas. it will probably bring us some rain sunday night and into monday morning. it should be dry and cloudy for football here in baltimore. east winds at 15 to 20. bay temperature down to about 54. maybe a bit of drizzle by morning. low is still quite above average, 47. tomorrow, up to 60. a lot of clouds but spotty rain around. not a lot, maybe a quarter inch. all in all, it will be done by late tomorrow night and friday looks nice. temperatures are near 60. >> how do you see this? >> it's tiny rain drops. it's like patchy fog, you know. >> i thought the rain was polka dots. i can survive. okay. >> still to come, a man is dead after a tuesday night shooting after the convenient store and the owner is clinging to life in the trauma center. hear breaking news in federal hill, with a partial building collapsed. major developments in mayor dixon's criminal trial. the defense rests and the case could soon have a defendant in its hand. i'm mary bubala. fatal shooting. a businessman and a customer are gunned down inside a store. eyewitness news at 5:00 starts now. hi, everybody. i'm sally thorner. >> i'm kai jackson. we want to update the breaking news from 4:00. a floor collapsed, and leaves a man trapped inside a home. let's go to captain mike perry with more. >> reporter: and what a collapse it was, in the 1400 block of cooksy street off of fort avenue in south baltimore. firefighters called here just shortly after 4:00 this afternoon, as a 51-year-old male became trapped by at least two floors' worth of debris. we know that the roof collapsed onto the second floor, which collapsed onto the first floor, and trapped this

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