association. >> martin o'malley. higher taxes. fewer jobs. moving maryland backwards. >> reporter: but o'malley says under his leadership, maryland is turning in the right direction. >> we can't go back. we have to keep moving forward. >> politics is a contact sport. these guys are going to be going after one another, tooth and toe mail for the next -- toe nail for the next five weeks. >> they warn not to put too much stock in the rasmussen poll. >> because it doesn't do the type of screening to do fairness. it will almost always favor the republicans. if that's the case in this poll, it's even better for o'malley. >> reporter: the o'malley campaign is reaching out to their supporters, trying to raise $200,000 in the last nine days of september, in order to combat what they expect to be more attack ads from the republican governors association in the weeks come to come. -- weeks to come. >> i'm sure we can count on that. >> for the latest polls and updated information, go to wjz.com. unemployment is expected to be a major concern to voters this november. maryland's unemployment rate rose slightly last month. it now stands at 7.3%. it's up slightly from july. but still well below the national average of 9.6. earlier today, governor o'malley announced an expansion of the work exchange. we want to update the breaking news. captain mike perry with more. of course, the big news is all of the explosions out there. it's causing some problems here, vic. we're in the joppatowne area. this is along route 7. where about 45 minutes ago, a truck, utility truck, crashed into a utility pole. and into the front of the house. apparently the driver was not seriously injured. but earlier, this is what we had here. we had a fire burning on the pole which caused firefighters. they can't put water on this. because the electrical wires are energized at this point. this happened several times since we have been overhead. so police -- maryland state police and firefighters keeping everyone away from the scene. until bge arrives. and renders -- you know, takes the electricity out of these poles, which will render the situation safe. the trucks are here on the scene. we're just waiting for the all- clear from bge to ensure that these electric lines are deenergized. it appears no one was seriously injured. that is unfortunate. but you can see that it is causing major delays. north and southbound, philadelphia road, in the joppatowne area are closed. we understand it is not affecting electrical service to nearby homes. nor is it affecting any of the traffic signals along route 40 in the joppatowne, edgewood areas. that's good news. we still have a little smoke coming off of this pole. so this is pretty much going to remain status quo here. >> thank you very much. captain mike perry, live in sky eye chopper 13. a major ruling in the controversial death of a teen. isaiah simmons died at the bolingbrook preparatory school, after being detained by several counselors. a carroll county judge dismissed the charges against the counselors. but today's court of appeals reverses the ruling. all five will now face reckless endangerment charges. bed bugs strike again. this time, it's triggered the massive cleanup of the entire library system. the pests were discovered in one of the state's newest libraries, in urbana, frederick county. wjz is live. adam may has the latest on this. >> reporter: it's a big response to this tiny problem. they're trying to keep the bed bugs from spreading. >> reporter: bed bugs creep their way into the urbana regional library in frederick county. >> it's rlings. how -- it's ridiculous. how could somebody get bed bugs in the books? >> a librarian spotted the pest in two children's books, left in the book drop friday. >> we were incredibly fortunate that she saw it and knew immediately what it was and knew what to do. >> reporter: bed bugs have become a national pandemic. nearly eradicated in the 1960s, new limitations on pesticides have made killing them more difficult. costing the u.s. $258 million last year. >> immediately bagged up any of the materials that were in the near proximity to that book. bagged themuf and removed them from the building. >> reporter: right now, all of the contaminated books are in this truck, which is baking in the sun in the inside of a parking lot. once the inside reaches 120 degrees, the critters should die. but the sun and containment aren't the only remedies. all eight have been sprayed with pesticides. >> they don't know what causes a.l.s. and parkinsons. but some have tie today to that stuff. >> reporter: but most are confident in the cleanup. >> it's a nice, quiet, relaxing environment. >> you're going to keep using it? >> yes. >> some might think it's overkill the way we've addressed the problem. but we think it's something if handled quickly, we're going to be better off for it. >> reporter: as a courtesy to library users, the urbana library is planning to wave all late fees until friday. and it could be open as early as sometime tomorrow. reporting live, adam may, wjz eyewitness news. >> all right, adam. i love you. i hope you didn't get too close to that van with the bed bugs. >> itchy just talking about it. and we'll talk about a unique convention that is trying to take the bite out of the bed bug problem. right now, family and friends of a popular teenager are saying goodbye. joey detriment was killed while crossing a road. police say the 19-year-old driver had the right of way. a viewing is held at this hour runs until 9:00. another viewing is scheduled for tomorrow. from 10:00 a.m. until noon, followed by the funeral. the maryland green party candidate for the u.s. senate has died after she was hit by a car while bicycling. state police say 38-year-old natasha ped grew was struck by an suv sunday. they say the driver drove nearly four miles with a bike stuck under her car. still, police thought she struck a deer but called them when she saw the bike. no word on whether she'll face any charges. making sure it never happens again. just days after the shooting and lockdown at johns hopkins hospital. baltimore is taking action to prevent a similar tragedy. mary is live now with more on this difficult challenge. commissioner bealefeld is turning to campus security at area colleges and universities to achieve that goal. >> security crisis at johns hopkins hospital tested its emergency response and that of baltimore city police. a man armed with a small- caliber pistol, shot dr. david cohen, before turning the gun on himself and his mother. the baltimore police department is still reviewing this. but today, the police commissioner summoned heads of security for local colleges and universities to a special security meeting. >> easy security plan -- assess security plans and make sure that should an incident arise like hopkins last week, that the baltimore police department and other agencies are able to come in there and have a turnkey response. >> reporter: at the table, heads of security for johns hopkins university and hospital. security directors from compton state university. the university of baltimore. morgan state university. loyola university. the college of notre dame. the university of maryland, baltimore. and maryland institute college of art. the response to the hopkins shooting, now the road map of what to do both for local campus security and police. >> training for these things at hopkins. and i know they train for these things as well. and when these tragedies occur, it is enormously gratifying to see things go as planned. their response was breathtaking. >> i'm sure if bge was to come in, we're able to speak the same language. there's not time lost during the incident, setting up a communications infrastructure. and the police commissioner hopes to start meeting with the heads of campus security four times a year to make sure everybody is up to date with the evacuation plans and crisis training. back to you, denise. >> dr. david cohen is expected to make a full recovery. it will be a nice, fall- like night. but it won't last much longer. wjz is live with first warning weather. bob joins us from the weather center with your updated forecast. bob? >> if you miss the warm days of summer, take heart. we have three of them coming our way. it's going to be very warm. beautiful around here now. 73, southeast winds at 8. barometer holding steady. but coming from the west right now in the southwest is some very warm air in the 90s over the tennessee valley today. and those very warm temps. maybe not quite that warm. but we'll get up into the upper 80s. maybe 90 degrees tomorrow, thursday, and again on friday. then we'll talk about the weekend coming up. it will cool down once again. denise? >> thank you, bob. in the shadows of the extremely popular towson town center, sits the old towson commons. that building, sold at auction today. wjz is live in downtown towson. weijia jiang has more on the auction that could drastically change the downtown towson area. weijia? >> denise, the towson commons sold for nearly $30 million today. and a lot of folks hopes that pumps energy into the development and into downtown towson. >> reporter: the sound of a business deal in motion. >> i have $26,500,000. >> reporter: a major development in the heart of towson. >> it was kind of cold. just doesn't look inviting. it has nothing to offer. >> reporter: the towson commons was handed over to a new owner, as is. >> sold for $26,500,000. >> it was ushered in as a jewel, a sign of rebirth downtown. but today, it's mostly vacant, except for a small restaurant and movie theater, despite its prime location on york road. nearly 900 parking spaces. it's unclear exactly what went wrong. >> the price per square foot was a little high. i'm not exactly sure what it was before. and i'm sure it's come down when the market has come down a little bit. but it's still too high. for an average businessman to put their shops in there. >> when you have to pay to park, people don't want to just have to go through that trouble to do it. >> reporter: yet a short, five- minute walk away from the commons, reveals a stark contrast. several new residential complexes and a bustling shopping center. the mall boasts restaurants. it's a consumer mecca, the commons once was. and what many hope it will become again. >> we hope whoever get its can revitalize it. >> and the lawyers for the new owners say they're not quite ready to reveal exactly who they are. so we don't know the exact plans. but sources say they will tear down the commons and start from scratch. weijia jiang, wjz eyewitness news. >> the towson chamber of commerce says 85% of the vacant space in town is located in towson commons and the small building attached to it. >> it is not an uncommon thing. still to come. casualties of war. american soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in afghanistan. what the military is saying tonight. i'm suzanne collins at the federal courthouse. intentional pollution in the atlantic ocean. i'll tell you how federal prosecutors say they would have never known about that crime had it not been for some very courageous whistle-blowers. that's coming up next. the baltimore symphony orchestra, sharing the stage tonight, with amateurs. i'm andrea fujii. i'll tell you about the rusty musicians program. that's coming up tonight on eyewitness news. and a live look outside. and another perfect eaching we have warmer temperatures moving in. find out how high they'll clime. ,,,,,, old gibbs canning company. ,,,,,, today these factories are full of dot com businesses. and now my job is helping maryland create new economy jobs. training new math and science teachers investing in our institutions of excellence pioneering new cyber security jobs and giving an old gm plant a jump start building electric motors. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message so you'll know i'm fighting for you. a major victory. four maritime workers received whistle-blower awards after telling the baltimore coast guard about illegal dumping from their ship. and the shipping company was fined millions of dollars in court today. >> reporter: this photo shows a black pipe that diverted waste oil from an oil-cleaning machine. the polluted liquid was instead dumped directly into the ocean. but a filipino shiphand who had to carry out that attack decided to slip this letter to an official at port. >> the whistle-blower who produced the note will be rewarded with $350,000. and the other three will share the remaining $250,000. >> reporter: today in federal court, irika federal shipping agrees agrees to pay $4 million. some will go to the man who reported the crime, and three others who also gave information. $750,000 will be donated to help the chesapeake bay. >> reporter: the company today accepted responsibility for certain acts and activities that occurred on the high seas by certain crew crewmembers, without the knowledge of the company. >> reporter: the prosecutor says these discharges only took place at night, as the irana sailed from gibraltar to baltimore. >> official records were falsified to conceal any dumping took place. >> reporter: evidence including flanges. >> reporter: they stayed in baltimore for eight months in a hotel, working with federal prosecutors. that i just returned to the philippines and their families in august. >> reporter: the whistle- blower's lawyer said he took a big risk of never being hired again in the shipping industry. >> he could have been blang -- black-listed. >> reporter: the whittle blower- - whistle-blower was paid about $800 a month. he will now get a reward equal to 26 years' worth of work. suzanne collins, wjz eyewitness news. >> and the ship's engineer pleaded guilt to criminal charges and received five years probation. right now, professionals and amateurs are making music together at the rusty musicians concert. andrea fujii takes us in as the bso prepares to share the stage. tonight, this amateur cellist will be playing with the pros. professor of orthopedic surgery and pathology is by no means rusty. he's been playing the cello for decades. but tonight, he'll be playing in the rusty musicians program. >> i wasn't quite good enough to really play professionally. so i thought that i could make it a good hobby as an amateur. >> reporter: this is the second time for the event in which any musician who is over 25 years old and reads music, can play with the symphony overnight. 325 amateurs will be there. and the bso is a fabulous orchestra. probably five feet off the ground at least. >> the orchestra will be split in half, with each rusty musician, sharing a stand with a professional. >> i get to share some of my expertise. get to teach them tricks of the trade. >> reporter: professional solo piccolo lori is a veteran and looks forward to sharing the stage. >> don't have the thrill and the excitement of someone who has been sharing the stage. i get to share in that. >> for dr. mcarthy, this is a dream come true. >> the thrill of playing really wonderful music. music is part of my inner workings. >> reporter: to play beautiful music with the best of the best. andrea fujii, wjz eyewitness news. with so many rusty musicians, the concert will be split. and you can buy tickets at the door for $10. >> wow. >> should be a lot of fun. >> that's a bargain. let's take a look at the weather. beautiful day today. it's going to get very warm, though, trust me. take a look at temps. down to a comfortable 73. still very dry. southeast winds at 8. barometer going up. come back and take a look at that midweek summer-like warmup on the first day of fall coming up tomorrow. ,,,,,,,, name something truly awful. [ bell dings ] microwave pizza! awful! [ buzz! ] [ show announcer ] now there's red baron pizza by the slice. unbelievably good pizza from the microwave. red baron. bring home that pizzeria taste. bob ehrlich pretends to be for the working guy... but he's not on our side. i thought i knew bob ehrlich, but then i found out... he raised property taxes on every maryland family... and business. he increased college tuition... by 40%. 40%. and i thought i knew bob ehrlich. he was against raising the minimum wage. made $2.5 million... working for a lobbying firm. $2.5 million? he's not really on my side. with this tough economy, we really need a governor on our side. bob, you love getting weather like this. >> thanks. >> look how clear it is. yesterday, we saw the washington monument in washington. then we shot the appalachian. the blue ridge mountains, clear as day. even though the sun was getting ready to go down in the next 45 minutes or so. let's take a look at temps and conditions. very pleasant afternoon. 73. the hot spot, cumberland down in the valley. warmed up to 82 now. 70 in ocean city. close to 80 in washington. dew point still low. still very dry air. that should come up a little bit in the next couple of days. temperatures going to come up as well. it's going to feel warmer than it has the last couple of days. 71 in oakland. and 77, 47 today. very chilly start this morning. some northern and western se suburb -- western suburban areas. going down to 45, 42 degrees. it was chilly. 77 and 55. and the records, 96 and 37. right now, winds a little more to the south and southeast. tomorrow, it will be a little more to the south and southwest. that's going to get us pretty warm. ahead of us to the west, actually, a bunch of showers with the front. but the front is going to kind of lay it across new england. it's not going to get to our region. some of the clouds will get here. there's a slight chance of a shower, north and west of our region. but for the most part, this is basically going to keep us in warm air. across maryland, pennsylvania and virginia area, through the end of the week. beginning tomorrow. by the weekend, that front will slip through the region. maybe a shower saturday night and second. and temperatures will start -- sunday. and temperatures will start to fall once again. for the night, we'll call it cooler temperatures. much warmer air. in fact, one station in tennessee got to the upper 90s. if you can believe that or not. yeah. now, that front kind of sliding across new england. may bring us a few clouds and a brief chance of a shower. otherwise, still warm air for thursday and friday. until that front begins to clear things out by the weekend. and drop temperatures. a weak tropical storm, just sitting out there. barely moving. north/northwest at 2. going to stay there for days and days. probably have no influence on the united states or any land mass at this point. we expect it really to become a hurricane briefly and die out. it's so far out in the atlantic. now, this area of disturbed weather, south of the antilles, could develop into a tropical depression over the next several days. and we're watching that as well. south winds at 10 knots. bay temp at 73 now. tonight, clear night. beautiful moonlight. upper 50s to mid-60s. about 10 degrees warmer than last night. upper 80s tomorrow. sunshine and clouds coming in by late in the afternoon tomorrow night. all in all, it will be considered a hot start to fall this year. tumly, fall doesn't a -- actually, fall doesn't arrive until 11:00 tomorrow night, officially. >> what does that mean? if fall begins with heat? >> doesn't mean anything. [ laughter ] she's looking for something -- >> there was nothing there. [ laughter ] still to come tonight. wjz eyewitness news. bed bug. pest problems are growing across the u.s., including here in maryland. how a bed bug conference could help get it under control. don't ask, don't tell. the senate makes a key vote in the fight over homosexuals in the military. and hawaii five-very could -- five-0 could mean big bucks for an area university. ♪ [ music ] the story coming up