it's just... our best price of the summer. don't wait. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v good wednesday morning. don't let me interrupt you. >> i'm writing a note to myself. >> what did you write? >> know your produce. crystal register froming withmans will tell -- from west - wegmans tells you how do do it right. and "get back to work wednesday." >> job interview tips. i think it's the hardest part of the process. getting the interview is difficult but once you get there you have to sell yourself. not always easy to do. just need three tips. the hardest part is when the friend says they are out of work. what do you do then? advice on how to help the friend through it. and the ywca is here. >> we're talking about the shower of hope. some people dropping stuff off the other day for this. as well as i got an e-mail, someone wanting to help out. it's exciting to get feedback. we'll tell you more about how you can help out the community. and the junior league of baltimore. we'll visit the wise penny thrift store. it's been around forever. we'll have them to tell us about the good things they do. i want to show you the greatest paper in the history of the world. i want to take you to the crime blotter, police blotter. this happened the other day, ready? a caller in the 300 block of south main street reported saturday a man had been in the restroom for an extended period of time. there you go. >> it just means it's a nice community. that's all. >> if that's a crime, man, i'm serving life. wow. tell you right now. i didn't know. look at me with the newspaper! here's justin. >> tblt -- guilty as charged. confessing after all these years. by the way, 9:00 a.m., are we down to nine days? >> yes. >> miss pringle holding up very well. right now let's go outside. maryland's most powerful doppler radar, first sweep came through. harford county, this is jarrettsville over through bel air. notice that we've got a few spotty showers and some of these are just popping up at will. it may look like it's just threatening out there. occasionally it will dump light to moderate rain. the showers will grow heavier as the day wears on as we get solar heating and a little boost on the thermometer. overall just spotty light showers now, maybe a heavier one near pretty boy in northern baltimore county. overall, what we're expecting today, a day that will be humid, temperatures will be held back a little bit to 82. the risk of some storms, could turn severe, means large hail, damaging wind. look out for frequent lightning and some downpours could flood out local streets. this is possible later today. more on the forecast coming up. 9:02. back to you. >> every morning we start with the top stories. we start with a new indictment in connection to a peddling probe of city hall. city councilwoman helen holton once again has been indicted, so has developer and bakery entrepreneur john paterakis. he owns h & s bakery and is the developer of harbor east. the state's prosecutor says he gave city councilwoman helen holton $6,000 to help pay for a political poll. this is a violation of campaign finance laws. earlier this year she was indicted on bribery and perjury charges. a judge dismissed the charges in may. as for john paterakis a close friend told abc2 news he cannot believe the state prosecutor chose to target him. >> it's a sad day. but i'm quite confident that mr. paterakis will be exonerated of any wrongdoing. >> helen holton's attorney released a statement saying that "in part miss holton is innocent, there was no conspiracy and she's confident the meet will same fate as the earlier one." a spokesperson for mayor sheila dixon's office who still faces charges in connection to another case said the mayor would not be commenting on this. have you seen more police in east baltimore? yes. that's the answer, after a shootout over the weekend. we've seen dozens of police officers in the streets in the same area where a series of shootings left 15 people wounded. residents say it's nice for now but worry violence will come right back once police believe. >> it's fine while they are here. nothing is going to happen once they are here. once they are gone, you know, somebody else is going to do something stupid. and it's inevitable. >> the police department pledged to keep extra patrols in the neighborhood until they can make arrests in this weekend's rash of shootings. a private memorial service is being planned for tomorrow for the four people killed in the helicopter crash on 70 last friday. they were returning from a business meeting in hagerstown when the robinson r44 went down on eastbound lanes of a highway. the cause of the crash is still under investigation. the issue of separation of church and state is sparking debate in howard county this morning. the glen mar united methodist church in ellicott city is asking the county to approve a tax-free loan for an expansion project they want to do. church members say it would allow for more community outreach. those opposed say it's not the county's responsibility. and it crosses the line. >> i think that the county should not be in the business of church expansions, period. >> we did not build a sanctuary so it's not like we have this holy place that, you know, is only dedicated to worship. >> the project costs about $10 million but with the help of the county the church would save $1.5 million. the county council is expected to take up this issue very soon. however, they won't be voting on it until early september. by night it's a slow-moving megaload. by day, a modern marvel. a 250-ton transformer inching its way from havre de grace to a nuclear power plant in delta, pennsylvania. abc2 news jeff hager caught up with it along its path. >> reporter: the excitement is building here along main street in delta, pennsylvania as residents hope to capture a glimpse of one of the largest special deliveries in decades. >> i heard about it from the maryland side, not from the pennsylvania side. i heard it from maryland. that it was coming here. >> reporter: what is coming, a 250-ton generator bound for the peach bottom nuclear plant that will carry enough power from a nuclear reactor to the power grid to light up an entire state. >> the transfer was manufactured by hyundai in coria. from there shipped to philadelphia. from philadelphia barged to havre de grace. >> reporter: now it's making the last and most difficult leg of the 7,000-mile trip covering 30 miles of rural roads through northern maryland. at 16 feet wide, 27 feet high and a whopping 144 feet long with the two tractors it takes to move it the state is shutting down portions of routes 155, 22, 136 and 165 this week as the very oversized load begins moving each night before midnight and halts its movement by 5:00 in the morning. there's nothing simple about moving something this big. in fact, movers say they can't travel more than three to five miles per hour, about the speed i'm walking now. but each stop along the way draws curious onlookers who show up just to see the mammoth machinery for themselves. >> we watched the movers a lot. to see how it's transported, you know? >> what did you expect when you came out here? >> i didn't expect it to be that big. >> reporter: in harford county, jeff hager, abc2 news. no doubt bit, life is tough after you've been laid off even if you're not getting the pink slip. >> next, how to help a loved one cope with an all too familiar snare joe. a thrift store gets help. how a local group is helping that story give communities a chance to get back on their feet. also ahead this morning, the countdown is on thanks to justin and jamie. nine days. we want you to help out the community. we'll tell you about the shower of hope and how you can make a difference. stay with us. coming up. you nervous? nine days away? >> yeah. >> remember this day as a cloudy one with storms in the forecast this afternoon. justin berk will be right back. it's 76 degrees. you nervous? >> no, i'm not nervous. i'm excited. only nine days left to my wedding. i don't know what i would do if it were not for you two giving me the countdown. one thing that made me uncomfortable is the question, where are you registered? my fiancee and i have everything we need. in honor of our pending nuptials we're asking you to help out baltimore's women in need. we started this thing with abc2, ywca, united way called the shower of hope. we registered at target stores to help something called my place project. this helps disabled homeless women get permanent housing. you can donate things that you have in your home, things that you take for granted, we're talking sheets, towels, lamps, cleaning products, you name it, they need it all. already we started to get stuff at the station that you're looking at now. so keep it come because we need to help out these women. the ywca is a partner in the shower of hope we were just discussing along with the united way and abc2. to tell us more about it, casey hardin with the ywca, vice president of operations. thank you for coming. >> thank you. >> a lot of people, jamie earlier was singing "ymca." explain what the ywca is and what you do. >> we've been around for 125 years. over the years through social service programs and social service agenda we've met the needs of the community. currently, we provide housing programs for women and children, leadership programs for women of all ages as well as safe affordable child care for families. >> a broad spectrum of things you do for women. >> absolutely. >> where does my place fit in? >> it's a project that came about, united way, women's leer leadership council approached the ywca and we wanted to work together to find a way that we could do something in the community. we have our arbutus project, project for chronically homeless women that is opening up in baltimore county. it was a really good fit to have women in the community and people in the community pull together fixtures and household items to give to women that have been formally chronically homeless that are now in our program working towards stability in their lives. >> what does that mean, chronically homeless if how have they gotten in this situation and why is it so hard to get back on your feet from here? >> typically chronically homeless women have a severe mental illness or long standing drug use issues. they may have experienced severe trauma in their lives. they typically have little to no income and may not even have identification. they come into the program after having gone into and out of emergency shelters, hospitals and localities and come to a program where they have efficiency apartments, privacy and independence that allows them, along with our intensive case management to get a handle on the obstacles that are preventing them from having stability. qqhow hard is it for these women to get back on their feet when they've been in these situations? you're talking homes and situation was nothing. >> absolutely. it's a difficult process, absolutely. the model that will be at arbutus and the support that will come from the ywca and initiatives like the one that we're talking about give them all the support services that are appropriate to their circumstances. so that they can take the next step. >> it must mean the world to them to have the opportunity to say i'm going to have a roof over my head. after being in this situation where i'm permanently homeless, all of a sudden i'm going to have a home. >> absolutely. the model is very intentional in that they have an efficiency apartment they can call their own. once they have those creature comforts around them then we can work with them to overcome the other issues that i've spoke about earlier. >> thank you so much for coming in. it's everything that they need. we're talking cleaning products, mops, sheets, whatever you think when you're starting over. we registered at target and it's under pringle and carlin but trust me, it benefits the my place project. we want you to help them. go to the target, you can do it on line, go to a store. if you don't want to ship it somewhere you can drop it off. there are dropoff locations and they are on our web site but they are right there on the screen now. you can drop it here at the studios, united way of central maryland which is baltimore city. or carroll and harford counties united way community partnership. thank you so much for coming in. >> and thank you, rob and wmar. >> we're happy to do it. now to other ways people are helping others. the wise penny thrift store has been around since 1970 but last night the store had a grand re-opening, better than ever. the junior league of baltimore spruced up a few things with proceeds from the store helping the community. sherrie johnson gives us a tour of the newly renovated facility. >> reporter: the sign above the door at the wise penny thrift store says "there is no place like home." after three years of renovation a new and improved store has opened to the public in north baltimore. this brightly lit store and wide open space, this new look is sure to please. >> we're hoping to improve the utilities that were running through it. offer an open and bright space for customers and generate new traffic. >> reporter: the original store opened in 1970. it sells everything from gently used clothes to housewares, shoes and toys for kids. all the proceeds support agencies of the junior league of baltimore. >> our customers know that when they check out the money they've spent that day not only benefits their wallet but also benefit a community nonprofit organization. all of those dollars, 100% fund our operating budget that allows us to do programming in baltimore for at risk communities. >> reporter: the new store is already paying off. within the first week of the opening in june sales nearly doubled. and why not? with such top notch items to choose from. >> i think with people being more conscious on recycling and ecofriendlyet helps the shop and thrift stores. thrift stores have grown 5% in the last three years as people realize getting bargains and recycling clothing is great for the environment. >> reporter: while customers can shop until their hearts desire junior league members can take business on the second floor with renovated office space. anything to keep this nonprofit on the right track to help the citizens of baltimore. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >> several architects and graphic design artists donated their time to help renovate the store. what did you think? nice. what are you hearing from the people that come in now? >> they are so excited. we've seen a more than double of our sales just in the few weeks we've been open. >> what are you hearing and why they are shopping there now? >> some don't realize it's the same store. they are asking for the wise penny and are so happy. some sales associates burst intoaries when they -- aries when they saw the new buildings. >> tell me about the intrernship program you have. >> we're proud of this program. it evolved out of our women's mentoring program that was held offsite. now that we've invested in our building we're able to bring more of our community programs on site including the internship program. it provides real job training to women who are on their path to self-selvesy. they are getting retail coaching and on the job coaching, logging in 10 hours a week. then getting one-on-one mentoring with the junior league volunteer to help get their resume in order, practice job interviewing, dress for success and get a reference. so when they get out there -- >> what does it feel when they land that job? >> it's wonderful. i think with the unemployment rate so high it's a much added benefit for them. a couple of them have gone into a training program. the other one just got her green card last summer. we support them the whole way through. we follow up with them. >> we talked about the building. it looks great. we're talking about you. how did you get involved with the junior league in the first place? what makes someone watching right now get involved and do volunteering? what made you start? >> there are many reasons that women come to the junior league. one is friendship. one is professional networking. one is building your professional leadership skills. and then also having to do good for the community. for me it was a mix of everything. i joined with three of my best girlfriends. we decided that we were not going to be on the same committee so we could spread out, make new friends, we ended up doing a lot of our work together. for me, i actually transitioned by leadership that i learned in the junior league into a staff position as their director. first-ever director. >> how with you? you been around 10 years? >> nine years. i'm the president now. i want to be exposed to things that maybe my personal life and professional life wouldn't have exposed me to. marketing, public speaking. as a cpa i would not have been exposed to it. >> not only the store but you do things throughout the whole year. off the top of your head, i know you have a calendar of events going on. anything to shout out now about what the junior league, big events coming up? >> we have community events. we have fundraising events associated with the store. community events, we have a health fair coming up november 7th. it will be our first onsite community program in our building with our brand new expanded multipurpose room on the second floor. then the special sales, boutique warehouse sale coming up in the fall which also provides boutique owners the opportunity to move some of their indices and clearance merchandise. they sell it with us under one roof and we split the profits. a lot of them let us keep the unsold merchandise to put into the wise penny. >> the wise penny is open, days and hours? >> tuesday through sunday, mondays our only day off. it's a late-day tuesdays until 6:00. otherwise 10:00 to 4:00. >> thank you so much for your service here to baltimore. go out there and shop. we'll be right back. we'll look at weather coming up next. on "good morning maryland" at 9:00. and this is your movies on demand screen. oh cool. (cable guy) so what are you going to do next? who are you? who is he? it's okay. well, i'm going to... activate over 100 hd channels? program his remote? it's like you've been watching him all day. have you been watching me all day? no. (announcer) want the ultimate upgrade for your home? switch to verizon fios. unlike cable, fios brings 100% fiber optics straight to your home for razor-sharp tv, america's top rated internet, and crystal-clear phone service, just... it's like 3 services for the price of 2. just sign up today. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v and, at no extra cost, we'll set up your wireless home network, remote and walk you through the features. with fios, finding movies is a snap. check traffic, weather and more on screen. even stream music and photos from your computer to your tv. it's just... our best price of the summer. don't wait. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v we take a look outside now. 76 degrees and yes, the -- i believe that's the love boat we're looking at. >> aw. >> i didn't know they had a port in baltimore. 88% humidity. winds out of the south at 29.85. barometer rising but that's actually a low level and that's one of the reasons we're in this atmosphere that is just prime to produce more showers and storms. right now we're looking at some showers on the north side of the beltway. we have that basically from towson, timonium, through hunt valley. looks like heavier rain just north of reisterstown, and to the north side of finksburg. some of the showers look like they are just sitting in the sa