emergency, the centers will remain open until 8:00 p.m. today even though it was hot it wasn't considered a heat emergency. there were three cooling centers in the county, lands down senior center on third avenue and. parkville senior senator on hartford road. the city has opened its cooling center for residents. the pool was activated for today and tomorrow. 11 cooling centers throughout the city where people can go and spend time in the ac and get free bottled water. the city even offers free transportation to cooling centers for senior citizens. it's called the care taxi card program. if you would like to enroll you can call the number on your screen, 410-664-0700. and when you're staying inside trying to keep cool, bge wants to remind us to use energy weissly during extreme -- wisely during extreme heat. set your thermostats higher than usual if weather permits and close your curtains and blinds to keep the sun out. if you'd like more tips on how to save energy and beat the heat, you can log onto our website at abc2news.com. you'll find all that information right there on our home page. well, the latest now, bge crews spent much of the day restoring power to customers in anne arundel county. the daniel over this 2-mile stretch spanning southwest of the airport to severn and ridge roads. jeff hager spent the day surveying the damage and has this report. >> probably 20 years. >> reporter: i-decade's old -- a decade's old pear tree splintered in an instant when heavy rains brought -- >> it hit that house over there in the back and i guess it's -- it just went straight across. >> reporter: the same storm that snapped majestic trees like twigs destroyed this modular office trailer, shifting it off of its foundation and peeled back a corner of this roof on this industrial building. the storm cut an extensive path of damage, starting from bwi marshall airport and ranging southward about 2 miles to just north of fort meade. >> power, no power. >> reporter: residents say what began as a light rain quickly turned into a destructive force. >> you could hear a howlinglike sound and right back behind us was a white cloud that looked like a funnel and there was lightning coming from all around the sides of it, so i think it was a mini tornado. >> reporter: in less than an hour's time, the storm snapped off trees which took out electric lines, knocking out power to more than 29,000 residents. whether the national weather service determines a tornado touched down or a micro burst may not matter much to those who suffered its wrath with no warning. in anne arundel county, jeff hager. >> as of late this afternoon bge restored power to all but 2600 customers. a cecil county man seriously hurt after being struck by lightning. the 40-year-old man was hit just before last night's storm. a neighbor told police the man was walking from a garage to a home when lightning struck throwing him some 15 feet. he is in critical condition tonight. and don't forget, you can track the weather right down to your own neighborhood. all you have to do is log onto our website, abc2news.com where you can also check out maryland's most powerful doppler radar. it has been a rough week for mark commuter train. one train breaks down snarling traffic for hours on monday, then on tuesday, high winds bring down powerlines and stranding commuters once again. the mta says they are trying to figure out how to make things easier for commuters when these types of problems arise. roosevelt leftwich has the latest. >> mta says it is reviewing all its procedures. two big delays turned the rush hour ride from d.c. into baltimore into one that took almost all evening. a broken engine on monday and downed wires made it rough for commuters who want to get home. the mta says it is apologizing to customers especially caught up in monday's mess in 90- degree heat for more than two hours. this has prompted an internal review. >> more important than anything, just trying to let our passengers know that we care about their safety, we care about their convenience and we want to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to get them where they need to be when they need to be there. >> now, owen says that mark, amtrak and the federal government are going over its procedures and protocols to see what can be done to help passengers who are stranded in similar situations. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. resignations are routine in washington but the one at the white house today had a historical residence unmatched for decades. it happened in the oval office when the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan came face to face with the commander in chief. general stanley mcchrystal offered his resignation to president barack obama who accepted it. abc's t.j. winick reports it was a bitter farewell for a career soldier. >> reporter: the president ended the speculation as soon as he stepped into the rose garden. >> today i accepted general stanley mcchrystal's resignation as commander of the international security assistance force in afghanistan. >> reporter: the commander in chief made his decision after a one-on-one meeting this morning in the oval office. mcchrystal had been summoned to washington after a "rolling stone" profile of the general in which he belittles the president and key members of his administration and defends key allies. >> the conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. >> reporter: standing beside the president, general petraeus. senator joe lieberman called it a positive turning point in the presidency. >> i think the unfortunate comments that appeared in the magazine article by general mcchrystal and his staff reveal what we have known, which is that there is not the kind of unity in afghanistan between our civilian and military leadership. he said that he would always welcome internal debate but will not count [ indiscernible ] its division publicly. >> reporter: general mcchrystal issued a written statement in which he said i strongly support the president's strategy? afghanistan. >> i believe this mission demands unity of effort across our alliance and across our national security team and i don't think that we can sustain that unity of effort and achieve our objectives in afghanistan without making this change. >> reporter: with general petraeus heading back out into the field. the president must now nominate his replacement. t.j. winick, abc news, the white house. time to make a decision on baltimore's city budget is running out quickly. tomorrow on good morning maryland at 911 they will be sitting down with the mayor to discuss what needs to be done in the next eight days. the mayor will be on the show to talk about the budget and also the new youth baltimore initiative. if you have a question you would like jamie or megan to ask the mayor you can e-mail us at j at morning show. make sure you tune in right here on abc2. today an $875,000 settlement has been reached between baltimore city, the naacp and the aclu in a lawsuit filed by 14 people claiming that they were wrongfully arrested. the lawsuit was filed back in 2006 alleging the people were routinely arrested without probable cause. the suit also claims that the so-called zero tolerance system was supported and enforced by city officials under the tenure of then mayor martin o'malley. it included an engineering student and a doctoral candidate in neurobiology. >> it was the first time being arrested, i just 18 so i didn't know what to expect going down there even though i was going down [ indiscernible ] and i didn't know what was going on. my mother, she was real worried about me because she didn't know where i was or what was going on or why i was being arrested so i was like a little afraid. >> the city police department has agreed to institute policies that reject the zero tolerance and establish a range of appropriate officer responses to minor offenses. four people in jail in connection with bottle bombs exploding in nine mailboxes in hartford county. two adults and two juveniles facing several charges. according to police 12 improvised explosive devices were placed in nine mailboxes in aberdeen this month. and rescue crews were busy trying to free a horse and a mule trapped after a barn collapsed in montgomery county. it happened just before 8:00 this morning in silver spring. crews were able to save the mule but unfortunately the horse did not make it. still no idea tonight on what caused that barn to collapse. bp says crews will put the cap back onto that damaged well in the gulf of mexico as quickly as possible. the cap, which had been limiting the oil flowing into the gulf, had to be removed after a re bot bumped a venting system, we are going to have the latest on that evident coming up tonight at 5:30. during the summer months, many of us hire people to fix up our homes. but sometimes you have to be careful about what you let in your home. abc2 is working for you to tell you what you need to watch out for. and insurance rates are always going up, but can you trust those ads claiming to save you money? we have that answer coming up so you don't waste your money. plus sometimes breast biopsies can lead to unnecessary stress and cost for women. tonight a new treatment that could spare women from going under the knife. and looking at pasadena tonight, currently 92 degrees. more heat on the way. wyatt has got details coming up in his complete forecast. since i've been doing roller derby for the last three years, i'm more brash, more confident and i love this. can i use my hands? is that alright? i take good care of my body and i do it so i can do this. [ male announcer ] to keep doing what you love, keep your heart healthy. cheerios can help. the whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. i, i want to be doing roller derby until i break a hip. and then i'll do it for a little bit longer. hahaha. [ male announcer ] it's simple, love your heart so you can do what you love. what do you love? see how cheerios can help you do it. well, last week we told you about a spike in deaccept tip burglaries in -- deceptive burglaries in baltimore county. many of us use these summer months as a time to fix up our homes and that means, of course, hiring people. abc's consumer reporter liz elizabeth liamy tolls us what we need -- tells us what we need to watch out for. >> reporter: police say gabriel cook was a patient man with a plan. >> he laid in wait until she got home. >> reporter: in the small town of franklinton louisiana a 91- year-old woman called a satellite cable company for installation. cook was the subcontractor dispatched to her home. >> he was able to gain the knowledge at that time to be able to come back and commit this crime later. >> reporter: more than a year later, police say cook broke through burglar bars and tied up his victim to get the pin number to her credit card. cook is charged with burglary and kidnapping. he has pleaded not guilty. >> she wanted gold, she wanted quick cash. >> reporter: in bergen county new jersey, police say the daughter of a housekeeper cleaned out several homes where her mom worked. the daughter denies the charges. >> they could have killed me. >> reporter: in philadelphia, neighbors say a two person team claims they were water department workers to get inside people's homes. this 90-year-old man says he was tackled to the ground and robbed. the thieves were never caught. bob is the president and ceo of the independent insurance agency brokers of america. he says the number 1 way to reduce crime in these cases is to never leave a contractor alone in your home. >> you form a bond, a relationship with the contractor and you build up a semblance of trust with that person. however, sometimes it's false trust. >> reporter: he says one risk this time of year, heavy summer rains. they create the perfect storm for some contractors who may want to capitalize on your catastrophe. >> they are knocking on your door, they are hire them on the spot and that is the exact wrong thing to do. >> reporter: the wrong worker could take not only your money, but your sense of safety. now, the forecast certified most accurate by weatherate and maryland's most powerful doppler rarity. >> i could say could it get any hotter out there. >> it could actually. >> i know. >> it's going to be interesting to see if we tie the old record today of 97 degrees. bwi is 96 so far, downtown we have gotten to 97 and tomorrow pretty much a carbon copy. hot days here. >> came back at a great time. >> and i know. i brought the heat. >> i'm telling you. you brought the heat. take a look outside, inner harbor right now is sweltering, no doubt about it, sweltering in the heat. not much wind. we have had some gusty breezes at times today to help kind of at least move the area around, not stagnant but that overall temperature is awfully hot, mid to upper 90s. give you a little historical reference point, 97, the old record from 1894. that is an old high temperature record that we may well at least tie today. have to see those in between hour observations at bwi. should have those about 5:30 or so. baltimore today, blue sky and then some clouds at times. sort of hazy sunshine, but a lot of sun. i really don't think we have any chance for a thunderstorm tonight, although tomorrow night it will be back in the picture. we had pretty nasty ones last night. sunshine, widespread over d.c. as well. southern maryland just baking in the heat as well, anywhere in the mid-atlantic way above average. temperaturewise again right now 96 out at the airport, 93 from easton to ocean city. our moisture level, dew point around 70 in southern maryland, patuxent river. not quite as humid as the air we had in here yesterday but still very, very steamy. heat index value, what does it feel like when you add the heat and humidity together? the answer, sort of the reverse of the wind chill, heat index number of 100 right now at baltimore so a couple storms north and west will not affect us tonight, we will see partly cloudy skies into the evening, take you out to broader perspective here and what we basically have going on, low up in new england dragging in more hot and humid air behind it. that's going to be our pattern into the day tomorrow but tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening, little boundary slides in out of the north may spark a shower or storm by about 5:00 tomorrow night. behind it slightly cooler air, i mean slightly. you'll see tomorrow high temperatures bounce well up into the upper 90s and then as we go into friday, cooler, maybe closer to 90. hard to believe that 90 degrees will be a little cooler but that's how it's going to shake out. 94 real steamer tonight, hot and humid. tomorrow we are going 97-again. more searing heat. the old record to 98. we will be close and tomorrow night 69. the outlook here again tomorrow night slightly cooler air coming in. the outlook as a result, friday about 90, saturday about 92, heat builds into the second half of the weekend. that weather change finally the big relief coming in toward the middle of next week. kelly. >> thanks a lot. insurance premiums have been going one way in recent years, you guessed it, up. that's why tv ads claiming you can lower your rates seem so appealing but really is there any truth to them? our consumer reporter john matarese checks out some of those ads so you don't waste your money. >> many of us would love to lower our auto insurance costs, especially if your rates are raising while your paycheck is stagnant. you may be wondering if you can really cut your rates with just a quick phone call. we decided to find out. you've seen the geico commercials that imply you can slash your auto premium by just giving them a call. >> 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >> reporter: aarp runs similar ads like this one where a police officer pulls over a driver to tell him he's paying too much. >> and aarp, their auto insurance program could save you money and give you benefits you'll rarely find anywhere else. >> can you really cut your rate by calling? to find out we asked news producer mike mattingly to get several rate quotes. >> interested in possibly getting a quote on some auto insurance. >> reporter: mike started by calling geico and asking for a quote for his family's older camry and accord. >> '96 honda accord. >> reporter: he went online at an insurance comparison website which shopped it to several different companies. geico did live up to its 15 minute claim offering him a six month policy for $324. unfortunately, mike says that's only about $5 less than his current rate where he gets a discount by bundling it with his homeowners policy. not worth switching. however, all state e-mailed him a quote of $131 for one car, six months, or $262 for two cars. that's about $70 less and might be worth switching for. so it paid for him to shop around. so the bottom line, calling around can get you lower rates but be sure to get quotes from a number of different companies not just one that you saw in a commercial so you don't waste your money. i'm john matarese. breast biopsies versus ultrasounds. could a new experimental technique be more effective than the traditional tool to detect cancer? the results of a new study in tonight's health alert. plus looking for a new job? the people whose resumes we choose and how we are working to get you back to work. storm gear and promotional consideration provided by l.l. bean. [ male announcer ] let's take the garden into our own hands. soak our yards in color. get our hands a little busier. our dollars a little stronger. and our thinking a little greener. let's grab all the bags and all the plants and all the latest tools out there. so we can turn all these savings into more colorful shades of doing. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now scotts naturescapes mulch or miracle-gro garden soil is just $3.44. we are working on brand-new stories for you tonight at 5:30. hello, everybody, i'm roosevelt leftwich. efforts to contain that massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico hit a big snag. a row back camera knocks off the cap on the main leak. and millions of first time home buyers benefited from a tax credit but you may be surprised to find out who else would see some big checks from uncle sam. plus, are you team edward or team jacob or team lane? "twilight" fans if you can't wait for the new movie check out jimmy kimmel live tonight for all the scoop on all the stores. those stories plus wyatt's forecast just ahead on abc2 at 5:30. a new method of detecting tumors holds new hope for diagnosing breast cancer. abc's doctor timothy johnson tells us it can also spare some women from the scalpel. >> reporter: a noninvasive experimental technique might one day lower the number of women who must endure uncomfortable and potentially scarring breast biopsies. biopsies are often performed when mammograms and ultrasounds cannot determine if a suspicious breast lump is in fact cancerous but the majority of those biopsies don't find any cancer which leads to up necessary stress and costs for the patient. university of connecticut researchers studied 178 women who underwent breast i am manualing that used -- imaging that used a combination of ultrasound and infrared light. they were used to differentiate between healthy and cancerous tissue because the cancerous tissue absorbs more of the light than the benign tissue. it diagnosed nine out of 10 lesions that were detected with biopsies. the lead researcher of the study says the technique could help radiologists re valuate small to medium sized tumors that can be hard to detect with traditional diagnostic tools. a larger clinical trial is being planned to further example this new technique. with this medical minute, i'm dr. timothy johnson. a maryland restaurant is getting some special recognition for its breakfast. find out which one it is coming up at 5:30 which starts for you in just about two minutes. you're watching the station that works for you, abc2 news at 5:30. in downtown baltimore another hot and hazy evening right here in the charm city. befu