spend how much you spend on electricity or natural gas? the new smart grid initiative will give consumers more control over how they use their utilities. they have have the information to reduce their load and their bills. >> reporter: if approved by the public services commission early next year bge will begin installing more than 200 smart electric and gas meters in homes and businesses. they will allow for two-way communications between consumers and bge. the company will let consumers know when peak demand is expected and give them a choice on when to cut back on power. when you cut back and put more power back into the grid bge can sell that surplus on the open market and give rebates back to consumers. the pilot program saves consume -- saved consumers cash during peak days last year. >> we sent mail to customers letting them know the following day they would have the opportunity to earn credits on their bill. customers took advantage of it and loved it. the average savings they indicated was about $115 for the four-month experience. >> reporter: another benefit of the smart grid system is it makes it easier to identify and repair outages but also will make it easier to cut off power for nonpayment. if the pnc grants approval installations will begin next year with the entire bge system converted by 2013 or so. the grant will help lower the cost to consumers for installing this whole new system. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. now the latest on that coast guard drill on this september 11. the exercise led to false reports of gunfire on the potomac river on the anniversary of the terror attacks. the coast guard said it didn't know the president would be nearby at a memorial service and if they had they would have rescheduled. the incident spooked the capitol, sent fbi to the scene and grounded some flights from reagan national airport. two insurgent attacks in southern afghanistan have killed eight more american troops tonight. that brings the october death toll to 55 making it the deadliest month for u.s. forces since the 2001 invasion to oust the taliban. the assaults targeted troops who were patrolling in military vehicles, seven americans and an afghan civilian were killed in one attack while the eight americans died in a separate incident. this comes just one day after two helicopter crashes killed 14 americans. throughout the day, a kind of a damp dreary day but rain heading in our direction. maryland's most powerful doppler radar has been tracking it over the past four hours. look at the heavy rain now over the winchester, virginia area. we're talking some heavy downpours heading up towards portions of frederick and carroll county. they are going to get real downpours out of it. and going up into southern portions of pennsylvania. everyone seems to be about the same ballpark from columbia to myersville, perry hall and ellicott city, everybody in the mid-50s with basically calm or very light winds. your forecast for the next couple of hours, rain, fog, mild temperature, holing in the 50s for the next couple hours. the rain is going to be getting heavier overnight. we'll tell you about it in a couple of minutes. for a look at tonight's top stories -- a man is treated at shock trauma after he fell nearly 15 feet down a metal graitd while walking downtown. the man was on the corner of calvert and saratoga streets when the grate collapsed just after 8:00 this morning. we're told he was conscious but had neck and back pain and may be a sprained ankle. if the excuse goes through next month convicted sniper john allen muhammad will die by lethal injection. virginia state officials say muhammad decided not to choose between lethal injection and electrocution so under state law the method defaults to lethal injections. muhammad, of course the mastermind behind the 2002 washington, dc-area sniper attacks. his execution date is set for november 10th. the pink flamingo that once towered over cafe hon is coming back. flamingo supporters put more than 1,000 plastic flamingos on the grounds of city hall this morning. the city and cafe hon owner denise whiting reached a deal. the flamingo will go back up and she'll pay a reduced fee and stop her public protest. police charged a connecticut man in the stabbing death of a uconn football player. his lawyer says he was just trying to break up the fight. the 21-year-old was now charged with murder in the death of 20-year-old jasper howard october 18th. two other men also face charges in connection with that fight. howard was a cornerback on the school's football team. more trouble for those two northwest pilots who really missed their mark last week. the federal aviation administration has taken away their pilot licenses. the two men were working on their laptops last week and overshot a runway in minneapolis by 150 miles. both pilots are industry veterans with thousands of hours of flying experience and spotless records, but it is forbidden to be on a laptop while flying a plane. southwest airlines is offering huge savings now. flights to cities less than 374 miles away are only $25. and you can travel more than a thousand miles for only $100. but here's the catch -- you can't use the tickets on sundays. the bargain flights are only being sold for certain weeks and you must buy them before midnight thursday. we gathered all the information you need about the sale, you can understand the price breakdown, get the travel dates, even book a flight on our web site, abc2news.com. hopkins university is well known around the globe but in an upcoming movie about facebook the university will play the role of another well known college. and decorate your pumpkins and use the inside for a facial? that's what some people are paying for. the vitamins inside pumpkin guts that can uy-help your skin but first, a check of the weather conditions, head out to annapolis where they got, boy, almost an inch of rain today. the current temperature 57 degrees. 100% humidity. we'll be right back. hollywood is returning to baltimore. the brick and marble of johns hopkins university will soon be used as the facade of harvard university. this is for a new movie being filmed about facebook called "the social network." scenes in baltimore will be shot next monday and tuesday. jesse eisenberg, the star of zombieland plays mark zuckerberg, the man that came up with facebook and will be shooting in baltimore. justin timberlake has not been penciled in for any hopkins scenes. asian carmakers still coming out on top but ford is closing the gap. the reliability survey was released today and for the second year in a row toyota scion topped the list. toyota, honda and infiniti rounded out the top five but ford mercury finished 10th. chrysler was the worst of the 33 brands sold in the u.s. the full list will be released in the upcoming issue of "consumer reports" magazine. it was mambo night on "dancing with the stars." who put a jump in the judge's step? and who fell flat? and if men are buying underwear the economy is doing better. we'll stop listening to the experts and look at uncommon signs the economy is bouncing back. i'm megan pringle. everybody is trying to save money now so if you have not done it yet go to abc2news.com, check our "financial survival guide." there's new information on there everyday. it can be really helpful. for example, first-time home buyers are cashing in with the federal government's $8,000 tax credit. how it's not too late to take advantage of that program. plus, when you buy that new house many of you are looking for new housewares so buying at a thrift store can sometimes give your home a unique style. that and more on abc2news.com. under our "financial survival guide." i'm megan pringle. abc2 news. experts have the facts and figures to calculate how the economy is doing but there are other informal ways to figure out just how the economy is doing. abc2 news's t.j. brings it all in folks in this report. >> reporter: it's been said that one man's trash is another man's treasure, well, in this economy restaurant trash is treasure. >> it has progressively picked up a lot more than halftime -- last year. >> reporter: eating out has always been a bell weather for good times and bad but don't look inside your local restaurant, look outside, where more garbage means business is booming. >> everyday with the food that comes in, the deliveries, even just paper towels and toilet paper. you're just ordering more and throwing out more. >> reporter: according to one analyst consumers dress in dark clab clothing when the economy is bad. another positive indicator according to the study, bright happy-colored ties. >> we've seen an upswing in business in the past month and a half or so. and a lot of our regular customers are coming back. >> reporter: how do pink ties sound? "forbes" magazine suggest more men have been sporting them because the economy has been bouncing back. in case you're looking a bit more casual. >> do you think denim is a good indicator? >> absolutely. when people buy denim it's not something they necessarily need. >> reporter: call them blue jeans or dungaeries, it's one of the first things people buy when good times begin to roll. in fact from january to june denim sales jumped 5.3% versus last year. >> a lot of people have one for staple. when they buy them more and more you know the economy must be taking off. >> reporter: when you see other indicators like fewer hotel cancellations, the bottom line is things are not getting worse but they are still not good. >> there are signs of the economy starting to pick up but until the unemployment situation improves things look pretty bleak. >> reporter: this garbage is as good as cold when trying to call the economy recovery. abc news, washington. for a look at the action on wall street today. the dow was up 14 but the other indices were off. nasdaq dropped 25, s & p off almost 4. i guess they didn't like the weather on wall street either. >> no but we got the memo about the happy ties. we're doing all right here. bright-colored ties going on. it's a kind of a ugly evening. it will get uglier. look at the shop looking - >> jeez. >> it's raining and it's fog and it's -- at least it's not bitter cold and windy. our temperature at bwi marshall now 57 degrees. 96% humidity. wind from the north at 3, pressure falling 30.01. satellite and radar picture, early this morning we had a little bit of light shower activity go through the region. some places got as much as a half-inch of rainfall because the area of low pressure moving along the coast but there's a second area of low pressure, making its way on up through the area right here and that is causing some very heavy rainfall. it's about to enter the baltimore area. the heaviest rainfall we're going to be seeing is going to be right through this region right there. where you're going to see heavy rain. that is where they will get the heaviest slug of moisture as it makes waits any the region. as far as what's been happening across the area, there's baltimore, there's dc. the real heavy rainfall now moving up through winchester, through hagerstown. if you drive out 7 oyou know that -- 70, you know that set of mountains there, just the other side of frederick? that's where it's going, right up the mountain chain heading on towards the north and east and we're going to see some heavyev rainfall from it. it's going to come in waves. you'll get the heavy rain, lets up a little while, more heavy rain. that is basically how it will be overnight and into tomorrow morning. right now in westminster 52. 53 fairfield. frederick 53. 54 rockville. glen burnie 57. annapolis 56. aberdeen 56. 58 galina. 59 centreville. here's how the forecast works tonight -- scattered showers across the region. continuing to move to the north and east. heavier rainfall moves through and then by tomorrow morning things will clear on up but the clouds will stay with us, looks like for thursday and friday. your forecast for the overnight period -- rain, fog, some of the rain heavy at times, 53 for the overnight low. during the day tomorrow, rain in the morning, then gradual clearing. the rain will let up with a high of 59 degrees. your extended outlook -- on saturday, looks like we can see some scattered showers for trick-or-treaters but once the rain gets out of here tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow midday i should say, things are going to be looking a little bit better, temperaturewise but it's going to stay on the cloudy side for thursday and friday. sunday sun comes back. same monday and tuesday. you can always go to abc2news.com. check our interactive doppler radar. you can do basically manipulate it yourself. drag the screen. look at some of the heavier rainfall you see in virginia. going over into the ohio valley. this is all basically heading on up through the western area where we told you the heavier rainfall will be going. that is on your pc or apple, 24/7. abc2news.com. back at 6:00 with more on the weather. speaking of nasty weather, nasa's newest rocket is stuck on the launch pad because of clouds and high winds. launch controllers tried repeatedly tuesday to get the rocket flying but two and a half minutes before the launch the weather stalled things. officials are deciding whether to try again tomorrow morning. this is the first step in nasa's effort to return astronauts to the moon. bruce springsteen and the e street band cancelled last night's show in kansas city because of a death in springsteen's immediate family. his cousin lenny sullivan was found dead in his room at the intercontinental hotel at the plaza. the 36-year-old was an assistant tour manager and worked for springsteen for more than 10 years. fans were shocked when they showed up for the concert but why obviously sympathetic. >> i know how it is, a death in the family, our hearts go to bruce or whoever is -- whichever family has experienced the loss. >> the cause of death was not released but police say it's not suspicious. all tickets were refunded. the boss performs in baltimore november 20th. week six of "dancing with the stars," who is screaming and who has a very good reason not to go home? plus, who is in the lead? who is enjoying being out of his comfort zone? for a look at what happened last night here's george. >> reporter: joanna and her partner derek won the mambo danceoff and went from being tied for first place to getting it all for themselves. the 26 they got for the waltz also was wonderful. >> the slower dances, the more control you need. people go it looks easy. the easier it looks, trust me, it's harder. >> it's really hard. the nerves don't help your feet. >> reporter: and how thrilled are aaron and karina to be tied for second place with their judge's scores? it's about time! we worked our butts off. >> reporter: they tied with mia and her partner chaplain who upped their standings with the group dance competition. >> i was worried earlier with the jitter bug. and the scores. we're still in the game. >> a point behind them, mark and lacey. >> this one here, she said you have to bring it, jitter bug, you can do the tricks and stuff and she had me do them. >> if you have it flaunt it. >> reporter: donny osmond and kym jitter bugged their way to fifth place. he's out of his comfort zone? >> thank you, kym. >> we're having so much fun. >> i'm sleeping on the couch now. for the second week in a row. >> reporter: in sixth place kelly and her partner. she says she just can't go home tuesday night. >> it would be the worst birthday present if i went home on my birthday. i do not want to go home on my birthday. >> michael irvin and anna are again at the bottom of the leaderboard. tonight's results show may be the most dramatic show of the season. that is because we're heading into a double elimination. in los angeles, abc news. >> you can see who stays and who goes tonight on "dancing with the stars" only on abc2. the elimination starts at 9:00. here's a woman who gives new meaning to the term super fan. carol walden can't remember the last time she missed a hawkeye football game, even a broken bone won't stop her from watching every play. she was rushing to the bathroom during a commercial break when she fell and broke her hip. instead of going to the hospital she asked her husband to carry her to the couch and take her home after the game. now the team is sending her well wishes. >> those flowers came from gary and the athletic department. the next day he called me to make sure i got them and that i was ok. >> get this, carol has never actually been to see a game. but she'll get to go next month. the university's president invited her to watch the iowa/minnesota game from her sky box. >> i hope she's real careful. with a look ahead to abc2 news at 6:00 -- the final report on the deadly medevac crash now in. what investigators say caused the crash of trooper 2 september of last year. and the ravens are now flying high. a look at the team's new very cool plane. a preview of "world news" now at 6:30. >> coming up on "world news," bill and melinda gates, they bring home the impact of u.s. aid in solving some of the world's biggest problems. learn about their new project in a rare tv interview, coming up. one night i said to my husband, come on, we're going to a steakhouse yes, i wear dentures super poligrip seals the denture to your gum and it prevents food from penetrating it was very very comfortable fitting (charlie dullea) super poligrip helps keep out food particles. just a few dabs create a seal that helps keep food particles from getting between dentures and gums to make them more comfortable while you eat. super poligrip lets me be me we've been going to steakhouses ever since (charlie dullea) try super poligrip when you reach your hand in a pumpkin and pull out its insides, i bet you never thought of rubbing it on your face. the fall fruit is packed full of antioxidants and beta care teen that is supposed to be good for you. at the spa in texas they offer pumpkin facials and pumpkin peel to treat acne and exfoliate the skin. they are especially great for fall because one, you've got to get rid of the blemishes from the summer. two, you have that, the fall smell to it. >> the spa owners says the orange offers a little something for everyone to moisturize, tighten, plump or soften the skin. a baltimore raven took time off the field and headed into the chasroom. that is coming up on abc2 news at 6:00 which starts right now. the national transportation safety board says it was a lack of training by maryland state police that contributed to the crash of trooper 2. i'm marybeth marsden. weather also played a role and air traffic control shares the blame but as brian kuebler reports victims and their families got to hear how a lack of training also helped cause the crash. >> reporter: sole survivor jordan wells can still remember the very last seconds of trooper 12. >> the last thing i remembered was the look on -- the look on libby's face and then i heard something rub up against the helicopter. then i blacked out. >> reporter: but exactly 13 months and more than 20 surgeries later wells came to find out the details of what happened next. the ntsb ruled trooper 2 crashed when pilot steven bunker tried to quickly get beneath the fog and clouds to get a visual only to hit trees and crash in walker mill regional park. the board found bunker was ch