to determine if the cases are related. in each attack a woman was walking by herself when a man snuck up and tried to assault her. maureen: we're live in arlington where the neighborhood is on high alert. rich? richard: this woman was walking alone. she had been dropped off from work. walking up this hill. she noticed a guy off to the right. acting strange. carrying a stick. she was like it doesn't seem like a major deal. she pulled out her smartphone and started to talk to a friend. that's when it turned bad. >> all of a sudden she realized the guy was next to her and grabbed her. got ahold of her wrist. had a stick in the other hand and started to pull her to agy sant wooded area. she is struggling. she had thrown her purse on the ground. continued to resist. >> this is scary. i'm a young single girl in

area knowing it's not the safest at night is scary. richard: to continue on with the narrative, she did struggle for a while. he tried to get her clothes off. she kicked, punched and screamed. finally he ran off. but she had a cell phone with her so she ran home and called 911. something to note about the cases, these were young women who were alone in their 20's or 30's. walking alone at night. a good idea to walk in pairs to avoid being distracted by the talking on your smartphone. like this lady was. they're trying to determine if they are connected and say it's possible. they continue the investigation. kimberly: this just in to abc7 news. newly hired university of maryland women's basketball coach bryce mckee resigned

from the job. we told you last night another 11:00. charged with sexual abuse. he is accused of inappropriately touching one of his former players. that woman also claims he tried to pay her to keep quiet. if convicted he could face 90 days in jail. jonathan: wheaton couple in court to answer charges of murdering their 2-year-old son. john and that and bianca arrested yesterday. the son died in february but today they ruled it was due to a homicide. the couple is back in court next month. for now they are held behind bars on $750,000 and $800,000 bond. kimberly: it's been a long -- maureen: it's been long time in the making but new hope for purple line. getting $20 million in funding. brianne carter is live with where the money will come

from. what it means for the real project. brianne: maureen, eare in college park. a -- we are in college park. busy route one. across from the university of maryland. this is going to be a big beneficiary. the area where they are five stops on or agy sant -- adjacent to the campus. a bonus. the residents in the area for the most part is r thankful to hear about the funding. >> i moved here five years ago and the traffic drives me crazy. >> maryland drivers are a step closer to being able to get off the roads and on the rails of the purple line. >> it's worth it. >> the county executive baker announcing additional $20 million for the project. in exchange for funding the state agreed to start

construction in the county on the line and put the primary command center for the purple line in prince george's. potentially at the glen ridge maintenance facility. tom, the budget and finance administrator says the county negotiated with the state for weeks to come to the agreement. >> this is a big step. >> agree ed to pay $40 million to move it forward. hogan said the state would contribute for a cost effective and a streamlined plan. >> the county can do it. it's important. purple line should be a success and built as strong as possible. reporter: others say it will make a big difference commuting. >> it will make getting there easier. instead of going to d.c. and going up on the red line. >> that was a similar sentiments from people in college park about streamlining. a lot of people say they depend on that. there is a number of steps that need to go forward.

we expect there could be another update on how this will all be played out. in terms of the state next spring. reporting live, brianne carter, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks. beautiful weather today. friday. dry weekend ahead. will we face heat and humidity? it is august. chief meteorologist doug hill with us. doug: this is nice for august. the heat and the humidity will be a factor but it may hold off until late sunday or monday. sunshine outside the belfort furniture camera. south toward the river. pentagon on the right-hand side of the screen. 88 degrees. winds are calm at the moment. 88 in frederick. 83 in andrews. 84 in quantico. 83 in baltimore. 81 in annapolis. as we get through the overnight hours we will be clear. the winds will remain light. air is dry. it will allow us to drop low levels by saturday morning. 60 in cumberland.

and martinsburg. 63 in baltimore. 61 around andrews. 59 morning low in manassas. the express forecast. kick off weekend for saturday. sunshine in the morning, sunshine in midday and afternoon. comfortable high of 91 degrees. we have more in a couple of minutes. >> see you then. thanks. new at 6:00, 147 pounds of cocaine seized in the port of baltimore. they made the discovery earlier in month. this is the largest seizure at the port in eight years. they were come sealed in gym bags with estimated street value of $4 million. no word of arrests. maureen: new at 6:00, law enforcement officials in charles county are getting a lesson in community policing. today the sheriff department took part of a policing workshop with community activists and naacp. the goal is for the community to see officers more than just

force. >> when a significant incident happens the community can see we have a particular incident but we are not sum total of the incident. maureen: sheriff says the deputies helped to achieve the goal to volunteer for the youth and the service program. he wants them to be educated about the diversity of the community they serve. jonathan: the u.s. flag over the embassy in havana cuba. the flag-raising was the result of the effort to restore dislow mattic relations between the countries. next month they will begin talk on composition for the damages caused by the u.s. embargo and the payment for the property seized by the government. one issue that is not on the table is the transfer of the guantanamo bay facility to cuba. >> at the moment there is no current discussion or plan to change the arrangement with respect to guantanamo. jonathan: also today, the

presidential candidate marco rubio blasted the diplomatic outreach. rubio the son of cuban immigrants said he would sever diplomatic ties with cuba if arrested president. jonathan: still ahead at 6:00 -- horror in china. the latest on the explosion that killed dozens and the investigation going on now. maureen: also, might al gore run for president again? there is growing buzz but mixed reports. jonathan: consumer alert for volkswagen drivers. hundreds of thousands of cars are recalled.

jonathan: the pictures are amazing. hard to watch when you consider how many people lost their lives. no word on what caused the mistypings explosion at a port city in china. at this point we know 56 people were killed. 700 others injured. there were glimmers of hope. firefighter rescued today, 30 hours after the blast. many others remain missing. small fires are still burning. crews in hazmat gear testing the air quality and so far the air quality is okay. maureen: presidential campaign news today. there is speculation and back pedaling about al gore. an adviser tells abc news the former vice president is having a conversation with aides about a possible challenge to hillary clinton but another spokesperson says

it's not true. al gore himself hasn't commented yet. "7 on your side" with a consumer alert for volkswagen drivers. 420,000 cars are being recalled because of a problem with a front air bag. it may not deploy in a crash. it involves eight models. they are trying to solve the problem. to see the full list of vehicle goes to wjla.com. jonathan: also tonight alert about the price of prescription drugs. research now shows evengerrer in rick version of -- generic versions are getting more expensive. we have advice to save money. first, talk to your doctor about costs. it is possible to find alternatives. also shop around. call your insurance company to check whether certain pharmacies are better covered. third, don't limit yourself to dug stores. mail order services sometimes be the cheapest option.

still ahead for us at "abc7 news at 6:00" -- mike: i'm mike carter-conneen. live in gaithersburg coming up the sights an the sounds at the montgomery county fair. gates open earlier today. coming up, details on a deal to ride all you can ride with a special wrist band. maureen: the heat and the humidity coming back this weekend. doug is back with the complete forecast when we come back. robert: i'm robert burton. coming up in sports we look at the q.b. play in cleveland. coming up in sports we look at the q.b. play in cleveland. and that is as "abc7 news at

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maureen: at this very moment family festivities are underway at the montgomery county fair. ups of thousands of people expected to head to the fairgrounds this weekend for lots of music, exhibits, food and fun. mike carter-conneen is there live with a look at what should be on your agenda at the fair. mike? mic we are in the center of the action in the shadow of the ferris wheel. they are making cotton candy,

caramel and candied apples. the food is a big draw at the carnival every year and also all the cute animals, the baby, adult animals. the sights and smells that come with them. family friendly activity. the scavenger hunt, veggie races and flower arranging contests. carp value rides. in honor of the first day at the fair which continues through the 22nd of august. tonight you can spend $15 to get an all you can ride wrist band and enjoy all the rides in the carnival area. carnival is open until midnight as the rest of the fair. the gates open tomorrow at 10:00. continue to stay open until midnight each day. so many activities here. a lot of celebrities as well, including the teenage mutant ninja turtles. we're a proud spon or of the montgy county fair. jonathan: thank you.

it's interesting to stand there. isn't that your favorite ride? maureen: the green thing? the big green ride. abc7 and newschannel8 are proud sponsors of the fair. meet some of our reporters and the anchors who will be there tomorrow. open from 10:00 to 5:00. stop and say hello. jonathan: i would pay money to watch you climb aboard the tilt world. that would be awesome. would you do it? maureen: no. doug: it would be more fun to put a go pro on her when she does it. jonathan: turn the audio up. maureen: let's go to the weather now with doug hill. doug: we love you, mo, you know that. a great-looking weekend. gorgeous, great start to the day. the high school -- at john champe high school high school. in aldie. it's dry for for middle of august. a couple of days similar to this one. however, a minor variation

with slighter warmer temperatures and the slightly higher humidity. you won't notice big spike until sunday or monday. today is 88 and 6 of 4. thea high and the low at reag national. we have some areas in low to mid-50's this morning. 88 in frederick. 84 at quantico. 83 in baltimore. the all important dew point. this is what we look at to know if it's warm or comfortably warm. the numbers, dew point in 50's tell us it is comfortably warm. that will change late sunday and early next week. time line, clear skies and the light winds to drop out of the 80's through the 70's. by morning in the range of 60 to 69 across the viewing area. this big high pressure area giving us a gorgeous weather pattern. this is in the way. it will slide east.

we will see the air turn. so for 2 weekend, two-panel lookment sunny. mostly sunny. beaches are beautiful. looking at a live camera all afternoon long. cloudless sky. beaches loaded with people enjoying the sunshine and the comfortable authorities. mid-80's at the beach areas. the -- we have a good afternoon thunderstorm. risk tuesday through friday. i think i'm done. jonathan, maureen and robert. maureen: sea you at the fair. jonathan: now she wants to get on the ride. >> wants to get on the tilt

world. maureen: let's get on with the sports. robert: tough injury. jonathan: couple. robert: preseason game, too. you don't to see it. the injuries aren't good. don't want to see it at all. the nats need to get the juice back fast.

robert: not a bad night for ring but not a great night. we didn't learn much about the other quarterback. but griffin 4-9, 36 yards. no touchdown or interception. cousins 4-14. colt mccoy was 4-6. after the game, jay gruden said the team had a long way to go but it is a good start. for the tight eng paul is out for the season because of a broken ankle. carted off the field last night. as you see in the first quarter. that makes tight end thin. pallson without with a toe injury. reed out because of a hamstring and now this this is

a tough pill to swallow. he tweeted out he got the opportunity he always wanted and it took him four years to get there. yikes! in baseball, the nats are on a freefall. like tom petty but they need to win the n.l. east for a chance at the playoffs. they lost three in a row. losing to the giants last night 3-1. they are 4.5 games behind the mets in the division. one run in the last three games. that won't cut it. max scherzer will try to turn it around tonight. all right. new york, 2015, whistleblowers. watch this -- wiffle ball world series. this looks like a goner. but it's not. boom goes the dynamite. the best of the best from wiffle ball. look out for that espn, top ten. guarantee it. pga championship, tiger is four over par midway through brown hill needing incredible finish to make the cut.

jonathan: sounds like he is watching another weekend. robert: yeah. yeah. familiar with that. jonathan: seven year since he won a major. robert: long time. maureen: great weekend coming up. little hot but dry. doug: the humidity levels will ramp up so slow you won't notice tomorrow. sunday an you might. check it out. 91 tomorrow. 93 on sunday. partly to mostly sunny skies througho the weekend. if humidity and temperatures increase mnday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday becomes hot and humid. chances of showers and storms and back to normal august weather. so enjoy every minute of this. we will update the weekend forecast at 11:00. maureen: "world news tonight" with david muir is coming up next. jonathan: thank you for joining us tonight. see you at 11:00. have a great night.

tonight, history in cuba. the american flag flying for the first time in half a century. the cuban people cheering as we ask how soon will americans be able to travel there freely. and the vintage cars we showed you of the trip. the plane crash, the new fires on the ground. tonight, the reports of evacuations. >> >> the other air scare. 9 flight headed to america. we learn the pilots suddenly having trouble breathing in the cockpit. the unarmed black athlete whoegs car breaks down knocking on a door for a help. the officer who shoots and kills him. tonight, the officer in court. the tears and his explanation.