and visitors association announces that more future hotel rooms than ever have been booked for the first time. in 2007 over 281,000 future rooms were booked. last year over 451,000. and for fiscal year 2009, the most ever, with a record 522,541 future rooms. that's an increase of 70,000 rooms in just a a year. they attribute the record success to the number of new hotels popping up across the downtown. >> we have the hilton, four seasons, the kempton hotels, which should open up in two or three weeks, and it's phenomenal. >> reporter: and with all those new hotels in downtown baltimore, the city is now able to book up to 5,000 rooms per night and compete with much larger cities, something that wasn't possible here just a few years ago. >> but we just have so many great amenities all over the city. great restaurants, great institutions, great museums. i think people realize when they come here for the first time, or come with their families, they are pleasantly surprised. >> reporter: the mayor also says despite the lagging economy and recent crimes which involve several fights and stabbings, tourism isn't slowing. >> i think we responded very progressively and aaggressively and tearing people from the perception as well as working more on what we need to do with the presence of officers. >> reporter: almost all of the rooms books stem from conventions coming to town. the industry council will meet here in 2010 as well as the american association of blood banks. and the national art education association. the record number of books is expected to dump as mump as 700 million dollars back into the economy. carin redman, abc 2 news. >> and the future room books stretch from this year to the year 2019. well, along with many other libraries across the street, the enoch pratt free linebacker system announced changes at several locations today. the cuts were evaluated first to make sure that patrons wouldn't be too greatly impacted. there will no longer be service hours on fridays at the hamilton, herring run and light street branches, and sunday hours will be eliminated at the southeast anchor library. all other branches will remain the same. >> a lot of people rely on the library for the internet, for books, obviously to 2 free programs. but as i mentioned, we looked at all the statistics and all the times that people visit us. fridays and sundays are the least impacted times. >> for a list of the updated service hours, you can log onto our website. you the find the information on abc2news.com. towson university has the opportunity to expand its incoming class, but has to hold back due to the state of the economy. the admissions office has cut back on the number of fresh member admitted to towson this year. towson plans to enroll about 2500 freshmen out of 16,000, compared to 2800 last year. the university has the ability to grow to meet the demand of the applicant pool, but it depends on the economy and whether or not the campus can provide enough resources like faculty and staff. tonight the baltimore county council could vote on a bill banning businesses from leaving flyers on their windshields. it could also restrict delivery to homes and apartments. if approved, advertisers would have to leave a toll-free number on every flier so you can call to request it not to be delivered. violators will face a $500 fine for their first offense. $1,000 for repeat offenders. and many are hoping this measure will help cut down on some of the litter. temperature-wise across the region right now, from our storm center weather net, only available here on abc 2, live data from westminster, 82 degrees. iamsville 83. 86 in columbia. capital heights down in the d.c. area. 84. 87 at stevensville. bel air right now at 81 degrees. here is your forecast for the next couple of hours. partly cloudy skies, temperatures will hang in the 80s for the next couple hours, but cooler by tomorrow morning, and rain is on the way. but not for a couple days. tell you all about it, coming up. >> thanks, norm. today the first steps were taken in mending the relationship between the united states and russia. president barack obama and russian president dmitry medvedev have agreed on a treaty arms control limiting the number of nuclear warheads each country can deploy and the number of missiles they have to launch them. >> the world's two leading nuclear powers, the united states and russia must lead by example. an that's what we're doing here today. we have signed a joint understanding for a follow-on treaty to the start agreement that will reduce our nuclear warheads and delivery systems by up to a third from our current treaty of limitations. >> medvedev says relations between the u.s. and russia are beginning to revive after years of significant deterioration under president george w. bush. now to western china where a peaceful protest apparently spun out of control and left more than 155 people today. news agencies reporting members of a muslim ethnic group clashed with police. cars and homes were attacked and barricades were overturned. more than 800 others have been hurt. in the meantime, heavy flooding in south southern china has claimed the lives of at least 20 people, blocked roads, left hundreds of teenagers stranded at the school with limited food and water about 700,000 people had to flee to higher ground. according to the chinese government, damage is estimated at $31 million. and now for a look at some of tonight's top stories. the second victim in sunday's light rail accident died this afternoon. conner peterson and kyle patrick wankmiller, both 17, were found lying on the light rail tracks at the lutherville stop. both teens are from that area. and tonight the mta is still trying to figure out what may have happened. a spokesman says a train may have come in contact with the teens, but they don't know why they would have been on the tracks. new developments in the murder of steve mcnair. a relative of the woman found shot to death with mcnair says she recently bought a gun. he doesn't believe she would have killed mcnair and herself despite the fact that police told him they're almost sure she was the shooter. kazemi's nephew will says she believed mcnair was divorcing his wife and she was preparing to move with him. michael jackson has lost a round in court to control her son's estate. the long time attorney and family friend will take it over for now. in the meantime, participants taking part in tomorrow's memorial service for the king of pop will include stevie wonder, kobe bryant, and some of martin luther king, junior's chin. of the more than 1.6 million people who registered for online tickets, just over 787 names were chosen. tomorrow abc 2 news will broadcast live coverage of the memorial service for michael jackson. the service start at 2:00 in the afternoon our time. but starting at 1:00, charles gibson will anchor abc's special coverage which is being called "remembering michael jackson." you can watch it all here on abc 2. the man who served as defense secretary under president john f. kennedy and lyndon johnson has died. the wife of robert mcnamara has been in poor health for some time and passed away at his washington home this morning. he was 93 years old. lights, camera, action! still ahead on abc 2 news at 5:30, who is letting some kids in baltimore take over television. ferocious growling. september, he started doing the housework and caring for his 7- year-old daughter elizabeth. >> you know, in spite of being laid off, i feel like i'm so blessed. when i get a phone call from my daughter and she daddy, i don't feel well, can you pick me up, and i'm able to do it. >> reporter: when chuck lost his job, he became a stay at home dad while his wife kept going to work. >> there is definitely like old- school thought process on staying at home and being a male where you're supposed to be the provider and everything. >> reporter: in tj mckenna's book, he lists five mistakes new stay-at-home dads make. trying to do things the way their wife did them, not asking for help, worrying about the mr. mom stigma, not getting involved in their kids' activities, and isolation. men could lose their identity and forget to take time off for themselves. he also represents dropping the mr. mom talk and coming up with an acronym like stud, such as spending time as an unbelievable dad. lindsey davis, abc 2 news. have you ever stopped to think where is the happiest place on earth? according to a british research group, costa rica has the most content people on the earth. here is how it breaks down. costa rica in first place, the runner-up the dominican republic followed by jamaica, and then guatemala. in addition to happiness, the index considers the ecological footprint and life expectancy of the countries. we didn't do so well. the u.s. fared 114th. now the forecast certified baltimore's most accurate, here is chief meteorologist norm lewis and maryland's most powerful doppler radar. >> kind of have costa rica-like weather. >> i've going to have to visit costa rica. never been there. happiest place on earth. >> let's take a look outside right now. it is a gorgeous day. it has been a beautiful weekend here in the baltimore area. the flag up on federal hill, as you can see, it's not much wind at all. our temperature at bwi thurgood marshall right now at 85 degrees. 31% humidity. wind currently from the northwest at 3. the pressure steady, 29.74. as far as what's going on on the atlantic side, normally at this time of the year, we've seen at least a couple of little systems try to develop. but there is florida right there. there is the east coast of the united states. we're looking all the way back to the coast of africa. not much going on out there. but that's okay. you know, we don't need any hurricanes this year. maybe we'll go through the year with none. but as you can see, there is some shower and thunderstorm activityout down here. but it doesn't look like it's going to develop into anything. around the region today, lots of sunshine, down to the south shower and thunderstorm activity. they've been getting some very heavy rainfall over portions of florida. and right now, in fact remember northern florida going down from orlando northward to the gainesville area. they were so dry for such a long period of time over the next couple of days, they could see as much as 5 inches of rain. whether we be precipitation- free with lots of sunshine, a few little clouds around. but for the most part, things looking good. nothing showing up on maryland's most powerful radar. but let me show you something on our website. if you go to abc2news.com, you click on the weather tab and pull up this weather page. over on the left-hand side of the page, i'm going to put the pointer where it says tornado alley. when you click on that, it will bring up map of severe weather all over the united states. and you scroll down, let the map load in. it will show you where the showers and thunderstorms are. you can see the car, that is vern carlson. he's got 55 people looking at him right now. they're in the process of chasing some tornadoes. you can click on it and get live streaming video of them chasing storms in the midwest, or you can get rid of that page and scroll around and see what is going on. not only here, but also down in costa rica. abc2news.com, 24/7, 365. here is our forecast for tonight. what we're calling for is a few little light clouds around. but as the sun goes down, the clouds are going to be dissipating well. will see some showers move through the philadelphia area tomorrow afternoon. but we should be precipitation- free, the way things are looking right now there is a chance we could see one shower. but i don't think so. the majority will be coming from a system that is going to be generating down here, sliding up the eastern seaboard that will be coming into our region by the end of the week, and over the weekend. so make your plans accordingly. sheer the forecast for the overnight period. mostly leer, not quite as cool. an overnight low of 66 degrees. tomorrow during the day, mostly sunny, 87 degrees. again, a very slim chance for a shower up in the northeast corner, like up in cecil county. but mostly going northward up into new jersey and the philadelphia area. again, the daytime high tomorrow is a normal temperature for this date, 87 degrees. the extended outlook for the next couple of days, the morning sun give ways to a few clouds. partly cloudy on thursday. again, below normal temperatures, continue below normal on friday. saturday we can see some shower and thunderstorm activity a high of 88. same situation on sunday with a high of 88 degrees. and the showers and thunderstorms will continue into monday. back at 6:00 with more on the weather. >> thanks, norm. firefighters across the country are among those feeling the pinch in these tough times. but are accounts in fire services putting lives at risk? jeane meserve reports. >> reporter: a 47-year-old man died in this flint, michigan in april. the first firefighters onscene attempted a rescue, but because of recent cutbacks didn't immediately is a pumper truck to douse the flames. >> if weed that water, potentially we could have made it up the stairs on the first trip. >> reporter: last month in alameda, california a firefighter was injured by cutbacks slowed the response. officials in flint and alameda dispute that budget decisions had a significant impact on the tragic events be. the firefighters unions maintains all across the country they're playing russian roulette by cutting service. >> we're seeing firefighters furloughed, taking cuts in pay, cuts in benefits, stations are being closed, stations are being browned out. >> reporter: if there atlanta, georgia this firehouse is one of five that have been shutterrd. the firefighters union says the city has half the fire personnel it should. >> on any given day, we'll only have 140 firefighters on duty in the city of atlanta to protect the city with day-time population with well over a million and a half. it is a national scandal. >> reporter: a survey in january indicated 6% of cities had cut emergency services. though the number has almost certainly grown, expert says emergency services are almost the last thing on the chopping block. >> the fact that you're seeing cities around the country making cuts to the services is evidence of the depth of the current recession. >> reporter: take prince george's county, maryland, which is reto be fiscally responsible to the citizens and residents and do the job and provide the services that we need to provide with the resources that we eare provided with. >> reporter: county officials say public safety is not being jeopardized. >> currently there is no staffing at this station today. >> reporter: but firefighters insist job and overtime cuts, furloughs, and rotating station closures are increasing the risks to firefighters and the communities they serve. >> nobody is home. turn out the lights. >> reporter: the obama administration has proposed increasing grant money the pay for firefighting positions, but as communities' budgets get tighter and tighter, more are expected to cut emergency services, which really can make the difference between life and death. >> that of course is jeanne meserve. coming up on abc 2 news at 6, a warning about your next tweet. it might offer you a lot of money future a little effort, and cost you more cash than you ever imagined. beware of scammers using twitter or the rip you off. and the flu usually disappears during the summer, but the swine flu is breaking all the rules. we'll have the stories and much more coming up on abc 2 news at 6. fios guy! where ya headed? ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds. and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) unlike cable, fios brings 100% fiber optics straight to your home and when you switch now, you can get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. with fios, you'll get razor-sharp tv, blazing fast internet and crystal-clear phone service all for just... sign up today. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v, and for a limited time, get an incredible compaq mini, to get the most out of your fios internet. get it all together with a great deal on fios tv, internet and phone plus get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v before time runs out on this astonishing offer. caused by a completely blocked artery, another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix, taken with other heart medicines goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots. ask your doctor about plavix, protection that helps save lives. (female announcer) if you have stomach ulcer or other condition that causes bleeding, you should not use plavix. when taking plavix alone or with some other medicines including aspirin, the risk of bleeding may increase so tell your doctor before planning surgery. and always talk to your doctor before taking aspirin or other medicines with plavix, especially if you've had a stroke. if you develop fever or, unexplained weakness or confusion, tell your doctor promptly as these may be signs of a rare but potentially life-threatening condition called ttp, which has been reported rarely, sometimes in less than two weeks after starting therapy. other rare but serious side effects may occur. 7th graders from sisters academy, a middle school for low income girls from all over the city are getting a chance to see what it's like to be in our shoes. the girls are part of a communications camp at the college of notre dame of maryland where they're learning to put together a newscast. >> but also some knowledgeable how the media works and thou news works and maybe they'll gain a little more interest in technology and communications. >> these middle schoolers will get a jump-start on each element of the news broadcast. they're going to write their own stories, understand and learn the technical side, and also have a chance to anchor at the news desk. way to go. coming up, a not so sweet tweet could cost you cash. and what was that loud noise that scared people from maryland to pennsylvania this morning? abc 2 news at 6 starts right now. >> now abc 2 news at 6:00. >> no bail for a baltimore teenager accused of shooting a 5-year-old girl in the head. good evening. i'm marybeth marsden. lamont davis is charged with shooting the girl during a street fight last week. he faces a long list of charges, including attempted first-degree murder. abc 2 news brian kuebler reports this is hardly davis' first run-in with the law. >> reporter: this is the young man police say nearly killed 5- year-old raven wyatt last week as she got caught in lamont davis' crossfire. today at central booking, davis' public defender accepted the teen will be held without bond for last week's shootings. davis faa