Baltimore made local breaking news (pictured here) and national wires on news that the HiFlyer tethered balloon got stuck for 90 minutes 350 feet in the air during sudden high winds from a storm. At one point, the gondola, which had 15 passengers, bumped into an air conditioning unit on top of nearby Police Headquarters. The balloon was slowly returned to the ground, and some of the passengers suffered minor injuries. Take a look at my blog post and photos from our ride last month. This might be the only way to see the balloon in operation while it is grounded during the accident investigation. And since the attraction has been suffering financially, and will be hurt more by today's bad news, there's a possibility it may not open for business again.

- mike lee - baltimore