shawn johnson and three of his friends were sitting on a porch in the 1700 block of cliftview drive on tuesday night minding their own business. all four were shot. johnson was killed. police said the irony is because of four victims did not have criminal reckons -- records, the case will be harder to solve because they cannot see if anyone wanted to kill them. >> it is good to know you are not forgotten. >> friday afternoon, the mother of one of the surviving victims and the rest of the committee came together led by councilman carl stokes. active members of the community expressed frustration and fears saying it is very active and outsiders are giving it a bad name. but these men were the best and brightest of our community. if that can happen to them, the rest of us are in trouble as well. >> it was stokes who showed the most anger, calling out city hall. he said they are not using police in the right way and are satisfied with the status quo. >> we want to say we have had improvement and that things are better. i do not want to rest on "it got better." we were so far down, what is better? >> the mayor's response was one of skepticism, wondering if his appearance was politically motivated given his recent interest in running for mayor. >> my focus is not on making political opportunity on it, but trying to focus our community on ways to prevent this from happening again. it is a tragedy. this child is not coming back. it is a life that has been lost. it did not have to happen. >> stokes insisted to reporters that friday's rally had nothing to do with politics. it was simply to raise awareness. the police tell us they have little to go on. they are looking for any information they can get. if you think you can help or saw something, call metro crime stoppers for you can text mcs followed by your message to them. we also have this information on our website at wbaltv.com lowell melser for wbal-tv 11 news. >> members of the waverly community remembered another innocent victim killed in the crossfire of gun violence. denise irwin was honored. she was shot back in march. during the ceremony today, her mother recited a poem from the family. >> as i walk past these flowers day-by-day, this is a reminder that my mother is just a whisper away. do not take this time up and cry for me. keep smiling because i am free. >> the event today was organized by the community organization in waverly aimed at keeping the community say. the 21-year-old has been charged in her death. >> and maryland state trooper killed while chasing a motorcycle last week and has been laid to rest. barry simms also attended the service. he joins us with more on today's remembrance. >> he was an 11-year veteran of the maryland state police and the father of six children. shaft hunter was remembered as a leader and dedicated public servant. >> his mother called him her action hero. friday, police officers, family, and friends packed new antioch to pay tribute to trooper shaft hunter. it has always been dangerous. we train as hard as we can. unfortunately, deaths like this to occur in our business. >> he died in a line of duty last weekend. he was chasing a speeding motorcyclist on may 21. his cruiser crashed into the back of an 18 wheeler. >> i do not know much else. investigators are going over all of the information and evidence they have tried to figure out what happened. >> an ex-marine and president of his class at the academy, a colleague called him professional and go getter. >> i was devastated. when you met shaft, he always had a big smile. he would help you, he would help classmates' out. i remember at the academy, he would help other classmates when they were down. it was kind of person he was. he would bring you back up. >> he was remembered for his work as a trooper. >> he was responsible for the introduction of a lot of drugs --terdiction a lot of drugs. he did a good job. >> his dedication to service is why so many officers from maryland, virginia, delaware, new jersey, and connecticut came to celebrate an honor his life. they also came to grief with his family, which includes six children. >> it is a very sad day when a young man with so much heart and a gift for service dies as such a young age. all of us need to say a prayer for his family. >> a long procession travelled through baltimore county to memorial gardens where trouper hunter was buried. his brothers also paid tribute to him. one of them is also a maryland state trooper. he says he was glad he had the opportunity to work with his hero. barry simms for wbal-tv 11 news. >> his untimely death came just days after state police honored its fallen heroes. he is the 43rd maryland state trooper to die in a line of duty. >> it was an interesting site in downtown baltimore today. a flash mob of dancers descended on constellation energy. they're protesting the possible merger between constellation and exelon, high electric rates, and the pay package for the ceo. david is live downtown. dancing protesters? but there are lots of contentious issues. there's even a dispute about the protesters themselves. constellation officials say it was not spontaneous. the demonstrators were paid $12 an hour. the event organizers claim it is not true. >it was a curious exhibition by protesters that turned heads and inspired horns to blare. a flash mob of line dancers descended upon the company during a shareholders meeting. the written lyrics to the tune of the electric slide included the lines open " we're getting cheated. it is pathetic. we can afford it. is but that it. -- it is pathetic." they oppose the merger. what they want is straight forward. >> stay here. keep the jobs here if possible. keep the rates down. lower the rates if possible. >> constellation contends the rates have dropped 25% since 2009. they say they will decline even more next month. >> in a few days, the customers will be paying 11% less than we paid last year. >> is going to cost us more money, more jobs. it is not good for the city. >> according to constellation officials, if the merger is approved, to under $50 million investment will be made in maryland. -- baltimore. customers will get a onetime credit on their bills. the company will assist low income repairs. the company will remain in baltimore. jobs will not be affected 40 of years after the merger. the corporation is dedicated to donating $10 million a year for the next decade. protesters also took aim at the constellation ceo's compensation package. they questioned why he will get $15 1/7 million even though the company lost $1 billion. >> it is time to get them to regulate. >> constellations shareholders met today. they took a vote regarding his executive pay. the outcome of the ballot is duets 6:00. david collins reporting live from downtown for wbal-tv 11 news. >> we have a weather alert. much of the viewing area is under a severe thunderstorm watch. let's head over to tom tasselmyer in the weather center. >> areas west of the bay are under the watch until 8:00. it could be extended. the main threat for storms in baltimore will the past 8:00. severe thunderstorm in allegheny county. there are severe thunderstorms in pennsylvania. the yellow areas are in the watch box area. the storm in maryland is approaching cumberland. there is heavy winds and lightning. there is heavy rain heading into western maryland. it is quiet around here for now. a thunderstorm shower is trying to get going in montgomery county. that may drift into central maryland. all the activity is coming up from the south out of virginia into central maryland. we have a few more hours before we have to worry about anything significant in baltimore. we will keep an eye on the radar. we will check out the weekend forecast to see how many storms will hang around for the memorial day weekend. >> dust off the old cellphones. we will tell you what mall is exchanging them for gift cards. >> we will tell you the results of testing fish in supermarkets and grocery stores. >> even though you know where you are, nothing is recognizable. >> the cleanup continues in joplin, missouri. an update as the death toll rises. >> i am live in the newsroom with the story new at 5:30. >> baltimore city gets ready for the hot weather of summer. live report is coming up. >> it is the start of the long holiday weekend. this is a live look at the traffic towar >> the baltimore mayor unveiled the city plan for the unbearable days. the idea is to kickoff the code red for residents to get ready for the intense heat. rob joins us with more on the cooling plan. >> we all remember last summer. it was hot. we had 17 code red days of summer. summer is not even here and it is already hot. with the sun beating down, the temperature was already 85 at noon. for people outside, is already summer. >> and just went over to the found at the power plant. during my lunch break, i sit out there and try to stay cool. >> stay indoors. or given to the car and drive in the air conditioning. >> mayor blake kicked off the code red heat alert plan. >> when the heat index is expected to be over 105, the agencies have a responsibility to help our neighbors stay cool, safe, and healthy. >> the city will open cooling centers on code red days this summer. there will be five. they're located at the northern community action center, the southern community action center, the northwest community action center, the southeastern community action center, and the eastern community action center. >> if you know someone, a senior who lives alone may not have a working air-conditioner, it is not an intrusion. it is our responsibility as citizens to ask the question if they need anything. let people know we have these cooling centers. there is no reason for us to lose anyone this year. >> she knows how dangerous the candy. a heatstroke killed a friend of hers last summer. >> heart problems. she had oxygen problems. she was on all kinds of medication. her doctor told her not to go out in the heat but she always does it anyway. it took its toll. >> to give you an example of how dangerous the heat can be, last year, over 900 people went to emergency facilities in baltimore city with heat- related illnesses. reporting live, rob roblin for wbal-tv 11 news. >> young children may be experiencing issues from using cellphones endgame devices. that is according to a study of 250 students. it raises the concern about the impact the games may be having on the joints of growing kids. children have the most pain played the longest amount of time. think your pain was not as pronounced among mobile phone users, female reports and more pain than males. arthritis patients may benefit from yoga. they saw a significant improvement in their disease and overall health. yoga not translate to a better overall quality of life score, but researchers believe practicing long term could bring further improvements. another recent study found yoga also improves the quality of life for patients with fiber romyalgia. >> 1% of the population has a few more hours a day because they are short sleepers. they do not need the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep at night. researchers say they tend to be then, have faster metabolism, have a higher tolerance for pain, and usually of european descent. most interestingly, they do not develop issues associated with a lack of sleep. >> i am jealous of them. the rest of us not getting the minimum threshold of sleep, it really takes its toll on us. >> researchers are still studying the phenomenon. they looked at thousands of people who thought they were natural short sleepers, but only 50 fit the criteria. when people do not get enough sleep, waistlines can suffer. researchers studied children entering their waste, height, and monitoring their sleep and activity levels. young children who slept the least were significantly more likely to be obese or overweight. the average sleet duration was 11 hours per day. experts say sleeping less could lead to eating more and getting less exercise. >> here is your weather forecast with tom tasselmyer. scattered storms are showing up on doppler. the closest storm to us is down in western montgomery county coming across the potomac towards southern frederick county. we are beginning to see a few showers and storms developing. there is a line of showers here -- it looks like showers but it is the bay breeze coming in. it may be a line of disturbed weather kicking up clouds off the bay. it produces the line we see on the doppler radar. you will probably see it drifting in from the bay moving westbound. there is cooler air pushing into other areas. the storms in montgomery county may be developing on the edge of the a breeze. it acts as a small cold front working west from the bay. in western maryland, the strongest storm is in western allegany county near cumberland. heavy showers and thunderstorms out there. we are under a watch until 8:00 tonight. it may be extended. let's take a different view of the watch area. the pink areas are under a watch. the lower part of the bay and westbound allegheny county into virginia. strong to severe thunderstorms are possible for several hours. grass pollen is in the high range. there's a total count of 87. look at the mold count. 1626 is considered very high. a nice sea breeze has dropped temperatures into the upper 70's at ocean city. it looks like a decent weekend for memorial day down in ocean city. it will be allowed stormy for the mountains. it will be in the 60's and even 50's over the ohio valley and great lakes. the cool air mass is colliding with our 80's. that is why we are catching storms on the boundary of the air masses. the actual front will probably not bring us cooler air. it will fizzle out as it tries to cross the mountains. it will fade away tomorrow. there is likely to be some scattered showers and storms but the front will not really clear the area to cool things off. the heat building up over west texas has temperatures in the triple digits. some of that will start pushing north and east. our temperatures will rise through the upcoming memorial day weekend. scattered showers and a strong thunderstorms early tonight. in clouds and fog. tomorrow afternoon, another round of in this storms in the area. you will need to keep an eye on sky tomorrow. we will look for the wind on the bay out of the south gusting up to 20 knots. there may be slightly lighter wind tomorrow. 78 degrees tomorrow. the best chance of thunderstorms will be run the central part of the state with a high of about 83. the lower eastern shore looks like it will have a pretty decent weekend. there may be some thunder storm struck. it is a slight chance. 82 inland. 74 on the beach. isolated storms tomorrow. lots of sunshine for a sunday and memorial day. near a.v. on the beach. inland, it will be a lot warmer. -- it will be near 80 degrees on the beach. a slight chance of thunderstorms lingering into sunday. most will have a spectacular memorial day monday. temperatures will stay in the low nineties for tuesday and wednesday. >> lawyers for casey anthony say the murder case against her should be declared a mistrial. >> egyptian revolutionaries takeover tahrir square again. it has sparked another day of raids in the middle east. >> they are finding more victims in joplin. we will have an update coming up next -- next. next -- next. >>you know what else is amazing? that's amazing. how easy it is to save on motorcycle insurance with geico. geico, saving people money, on more than just car insurance. meet pnc virtual wallet. it comes with a calendar that shows you all your finances at once. it lets you know when your money's going out. and when it's coming in. it even tells you when you're running low. we call that danger days. it's built to help you see your money in a whole new light. experience everything virtual wallet has to offer at pncvirtualwallet.com. pnc bank. for the achiever in you. ♪ >> the number of victims in joplin climbs tonight. >> officials announced more than 130 people are confirmed dead and more than 150 are still missing. the city stepped up recovery efforts. they're still looking for survivors as well. jay gray is in joplin tonight. >> the work continues in areas like this one. some of the initial shock may be giving way to the reality of what happens next. >> i have a mess i have to clean up. >> as families and recovery teams continued to sift through 6 miles of debris in joplin, mixed in with the rubble, many are beginning to uncover an agonizing reality. >> as we have begun to get over the shock of the initial event, as we continue to search and find more fatalities, i think we may be going into a second phase of shock realizing the number of folks we have lost. >> that number is up to 132 to date and climbing. there are more than one and 52 missing. search and rescue teams continue to look for any signs of life in the debris. >> will not stop searching for people until the absolute last piece of debris is removed from the last piece of property. >> officials warned that some of the unaccounted for are in the makeshift morgue. perhaps we want to make sure it would tell someone the family member is deceased that we have is accurate. >> the family members who do know are starting to say final, painful goodbyes. it is a somber reminder of how different and difficult things are after the storm. the funeral was the first of what will be more than 130 in this community. it is a number that many here fear will grow significantly over the next few days. in joplin, missouri, jay gray for wbal-tv 11 news. >> the destruction is so widespread it can be seen from space. you can see the pictures on our website and find out how you can help. wbaltv.com >> still had, we will look to the day's top stories. >> more evidence that sarah palin may be seeking the nation's highest office. >> baltimore county is looking for ways to keep students learning in the >> live, local, latebreaking -- this is wbal-tv 11 news at 5:00 in h.d. with stan stovall, donna hamilton, tom tasselmyer. the news continues now. >> summer school is right around the corner for thousands of students throughout our region. they're still counting down to the last of the regular school year. districts are trying to wrap up their plans for summer learning programs. >> that has not stopped school principals from finding ways to keep students on point for the summer. tim is live with that story. >> very few systems require students to complete the summer reading list. in baltimore county, they're looking for other ways to keep them on point. the re- lake elementary media center is a popular spot for these third graders. >> tell me something you would like to do over the summer. >> they found out they will get to check out five books to take home for the summer. >> i think is really cool. i really like reading. i really like the books in the library. >> you can tell them how many books to read and put it in your reading log. >> is only one of a handful baltimore schools allowing all students to take books home for the summer, read them, and return them in the fall. the school's media specialist is confident the project will pay off. >> we want them to complete a relay review packet and enjoy reading our library books to work on fluency and comprehension. >> summer learning programs have been put into place to help students in all grades ahead. they can take special courses only offered over the summer. >> it allows them to create an extra slot in their schedule in the fall to take another course. we are very happy we can offer this to the students. it makes a world of difference in many cases. >> school officials said they are confident that programs like this one will help to raise student test scores. summer school in baltimore county starts july 11. there is still time to sign up. to learn more about the program and take a closer look at what you will need, log onto wbaltv.com and click on "education alert." >> here is a look of some of our other top stories. thousands of lives will honor fallen heroes at arlington national ceremony this weekend. members of the third infantry regiment placed small flags at every grade marker on thursday. there are more than three is 60,000 gravestones at arlington. the old guard has been putting flags at graves every year just before memorial day since 1978. thousands of egyptian protesters returned to tahrir square for what they call a second revolution. organizers want the military rulers to speed of democratic reforms. many are frustrated with the military leadership during the transition and claim it is too lenient and allied with officials from the former regime. a belgrade court ruled the bosnian commander fit to stand trial at the hague. his attorney argued he is too sick to stand trial on the charges. his attorney says he will appeal the decision on monday. if rejected, he could be extradited to the u.n. tribunal on war crimes within hours. >> a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable. nato is now getting help from russia on libya. there's good news from pakistan in the war on terror. steve has the story. >> the russian president made a diplomatic reversal to back the american side. >> when president obama ordered u.s. pilots to intervene in benghazi, and later when france, italy, and the u.k. to over the nato combat role, russia objected. today, medvedev joined the obama and make a call for muammar gaddafi to give up power and leave. >> it would serve his country, said the russian, who promised to find someplace for gaddafi to go. it is an obama diplomatic win. secretary state clinton arrived in pakistan for a visit. the pakistan government will allow the cia into the hideout. it will be csi al qaeda. they will be looking for records and dna of terrorists. >> we have reached a turning point. >> the pakistanis said they killed 23 militants in the northwest mountains. if true, it is more good news for president obama. tonight he is in poland on the last leg of his diplomatic mission. finding out how osama bin laden avoidaed to action for five years will be part of the cia probe. theast night's passage of national defense authorization act and the house brought a victory for the maryland congressman. he offered an amendment for the military to pick up the travel tab for national guard soldiers serving in egypt on the peace message -- mission. there currently not included in the program if they're not involved in combat. if it passes in the senate, the expenses will be covered for all u.s. service members. >> it is de four testimony in the casey anthony murder trial. the defense is asking for in mistral. >> a group of teens is pulled from flood waters. they may be facing charges. >> coming up, highlights from the 2011 naval academy graduation, including an emotional speech from robert gates. >> it was quite a scene in montana yesterday after four teens were rescued from raging flood waters. you can see them pulling one of them to safety. officials said they were trapped by rushing water after being told to stay away. the teens were not injured. the sheriff said they may face charges. it is de four of the murder trial against casey anthony, accused of murdering her young daughter. her attorney asked the judge to declare a mistrial. >> the state has put on a case solely of dealing with the bad character of my client or the attempted character assassination of her past conduct -- boyfriends, people she slept with, things that have absolutely nothing to do with the crimes charged. >> demotion for mr. roh will be denied. -- the motion for a mistrial will be denied. >> caylee like door of the explorer. >> another possible contender for the republican presidential nomination. the texas governor rick perry says he will consider joining the race. this is a reversal for the lone star state's longest serving governor. he had been saying he was not interested in being president. he now says he will decide whether to run after the texas legislature adjourns on monday. sarah palin is about to hit the road. many speculated could be the start of a potential presidential run. if, alaska governor begins a nationwide tour this weekend. -- the former alaska governor begins a nationwide tour this weekend. right now, she is tied with new from the in the polls. she sent out an email solicitation last month hoping to raise money. >> from trash to cash, how to make your unwanted cell phone worth something again. >> gas prices slowly come down. see what the officials are preparing for this memorial day weekend. >> some local veterans are getting much needed dental work in time for memorial day. i have that story coming up. >> scattered thunderstorms on doppler. the potential for a few severe storms tonight. we will check out the complete memorial day forecast. it is 86 at >> is a rare sight. a line dancing flash mob protested outside of constellation energy. coming up, more on the line dancing protest of its possible merger that could land a big pay package for the ceo. after puerto years of the naval academy, more than 1000 seniors throw their hats into the air. we will have more on the graduation and robert gates. those stories and much more when you join us tonight >> some residents at the university of maryland dental school is fine-tuning their skills on special patient. >> they have a partnership to give homeless veterans dental care at no cost to that. kim dacey has details. >> he spent eight years in the army serving all over the world. after he retired, he worked in the civilian world. then he fell into trouble with drugs and ended up homeless before entering the treatment program. >> the v.a. is helping me build my life. they're helping me do the things i need to do to become a productive citizen again. >> one of those is getting needed dental work. it is part of a partnership the v.a. has with the university of maryland. it allows dental residents to do cleaning and repairs on veterans. >> they come in and our residents will do a complete exam. they will evaluate them. they will develop a treatment plan. it has to be approved by the v.a. the patient comes back and we complete the treatment. >> increases the help and self- esteem of veterans. that can lead to a better quality of life. >> they can eat more food. they can adjust their physical and mental health by having higher self-esteem. it is a lot better to be able to sit there and smiled and tried to cover-up -- than try to cover up when you go in for a job interview. >> appearance is very important. i had a couple of teeth missing. i am going to get parcels eventually. it is going to help meet in terms of my esteeme and feeling better about myself. >> he says that goal long way to helping is his life back on track. >> i am going to let the process continue. i will take all the help the v.a. wants to give me. at some point, i will rebuild my life and become a productive citizen. that is what i am looking forward to. this is part of the process. >> the dental partnership is one step in the five-year plan to end homelessness among veterans. >> it is time for your insta weather forecast with tom tasselmyer. the severe thunderstorm threat continues into the evening. we're likely to seize showers develop and intensify, especially on the west side of town the next hour or two. scattered showers in frederick and montgomery county. there's a big storm in allegheny county moving north into pennsylvania. this has prompted the weather service to issue a tornado warning for southern pennsylvania. strong rotation is indicated with the storm coming out of the allegheny county area of western maryland heading into southern pennsylvania. there is a tornado warning in bedford in western pennsylvania. the big storms have been in the mountains this evening. we're keeping an eye on big storms out of virginia moving north. they could impact southern maryland and central maryland. a severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 8:00. it may be extended because of the storms in virginia and out of the mountains still moving in our direction. it may take several more hours for them to clear our area. in western maryland, these red areas are tornado warnings for the storms in allegheny heading north into pennsylvania. strong rotation is indicated by radar. this is the same basic pattern. there's a lot of unseasonably cool temperatures in the upper midwest and great lakes. it is 58 in chicago. temperatures have been in the 40's and low 50's on the peninsula of michigan. as that moves in and hits the warm temperatures, thunderstorms pop up. we're still on the warm side of things. the front coming in from the west is likely to dissipate before the cold air gets here. it will stall and begin to dissipate. with the front in the area, the chance for thunderstorms will linger tomorrow and then gradually fade away as high pressure builds in off the coast. slowly we will have a drying and warming trend. some of the heat in west texas will build into the mid- atlantic. our temperatures will go to summer levels next week. that is to the clock tonight. big storms in pennsylvania. scattered storms around baltimore. another round of thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon. lesser chances for rain into sunday and monday. it will be around 70 tonight with fog developing. 78 in announced merger. thunderstorms are likely there. it should be better out west. -- 78 in the mountains. about a 40% chance, 83 degrees. the lower eastern shore including ocean city will be partly cloudy for most of the day. there will be a couple of hit or miss storms. 84 right on the beach in ocean city. there will be lots of sunshine for memorial day with a high temperature around 78. the 7-day forecast shows a 15% chance of isolated storms on sunday. a nice looking finish for the weekend. the holiday on monday will be hot, up to 92. 91 on tuesday. another round of thunderstorms roles in the middle of next week. ♪ >> the unofficial start of the summer travel season is upon us. according to aaa, nearly 35 million americans will travel this weekend. that is a slight uptick from last year despite the high cost of gasoline. >> a little sign of relief. it is more eye-catching in jackson, mississippi. >> if it keeps going down, that will be all right. >> gas prices have gone down slightly recently. the national average of $3.81 a gallon interim holiday weekend is more than $1 higher than one year ago. >> it is outrageous. i never imagined it could get this bad. >> aaa is forecasting only a tiny drop in the number of people hitting the highways this weekend compared to last year. almost 31 million americans. >> the bottom line is the pain at the pump will not keep us at home during the holiday. >> the same goes for air travelers. withte higher prices summer air fares of the highest rate since 2008, they expect and 11.5% increase in the number of people taking to the sky. >> their great deal for june and july. -- there are great deals for gin in july. overall, you are probably paying $60 more. >> that is money they hope americans are willing to spend. >> i believe this summer will be a strong travel season, probably stronger than the last several years. >> the public will determine if the prediction becomes reality. >> speaking of great deals, some hotel chains in resort towns are trying to take a bite out of high fuel prices. ocean city is on the list. the deals range from gas gift cards to free nights. some chains are offering reimbursement if the guests show gas receipts. you can find the details at wbaltv.com there's an added incentive to recycle old cellphones. they're offering gift cards for them through sunday. for every two dropped off, they will give you a $10 mall gift card. the program is a result of a partnership between montgomery mall and green ambassador. a consumer alert concerning your food. reports of fraud on fish legally. 25% of seafood products tested were bogus. yellowtail was used for mahi. talapia stood in for just about anything. watchdog groups are calling for tougher regulations to prevent mislabeling. >> within 50 students donated their hair for a worthy cause today. kindergarten through eighth graders at immaculate conception and faculty members donated here to the pink cards -- ahir to the pink hearts group. it was organized by the girls got troops and the fourth graders. a severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect for the area. we will see if conditions will hold up for the holiday plans. his final commencement speech as defense secretary was emotional. you will hear the inspirational message from robert gates to naval academy graduates today. how about a tv with the world's biggest screen? it is on display this weekend. we will ha >> just in time for memorial day, someone has come up with a way to watch tv with 100,000 other people. each will get a spectacular view. it will be put to use this weekend at the biggest crowd you will see any sporting event. >> remember this? >> he has got a knife. >> that is not a knife. that is a knife. >> the same applies to big screen tvs. in other words, that is not a big screen. this is a big screen. it is the biggest big screen in the world. it is 200 feet, 80 feet high. it is on the backstretch of charlotte motor speedway for the viewing pleasure of 100,000 fans who will be here this weekend for the big race. the gigantic tv took four months just to set up. it has 9 million led lights. >> it is large enough to h old four nascar cars. it is taller than the white house. it is pretty big. >> it is even bigger than the screen at cowboys stadium near dallas. it debuted at the all-star nascar race last weekend to rave reviews from fans. >> i would love to have it in my bedroom. >> it is nearly 15,000 square feet. that is a lot of picture for people to enjoy. >> enjoy it they will -- until someone else comes along with an even bigger one. nbc news in charlotte. >> that is big. that is all for us at 5:00. here is what is coming up new at 6:00. >> a big thunderstorm watch is in effect. we will keep an eye on the storms next. >> a flash mob dances in protest outside consolation energy. what day and the companies' shareholders have in common -- next. >> the final tribute to a maryland state trooper the diagonal line of duty. that story's coming up. >> live, local, latebreaking -- this is wbal-tv 11 news at 6:00. >> the line dancing flash mob protested outside constellation energy headquarters while the shareholders met upstairs. we will have more on that in a minute. we have a weather alert for you first. >> some maryland counties are currently under thunderstorm watch until 8:00. we will check in with tom we will check in with tom