in legislating the significant increase in time with your family when you need it. sam ford is here to explain who is paying for it. sam, it's a lot more time off. sam: in fact, it is. right now the city offers about eight weeks for d.c. government employees. eight weeks of family leave. they are talking about taking it up to 1 weeks for everybody in d.c. they have control over. they don't control the federal government or the federal contractors or people like that, but this is a big deal. there was a lot of activity in the council chamber today. they dressed in red and brought babies to show their support that they want family leave. the councilmembers even consulted with the obama administration in drawing up their bill. >> this would put us in concert with the rest of the world in offering paid family leave. sam: under the council plan, the d.c. government and other

local employers would provide up to 16 weeks for family leave for a number of reasons including new baby, new adoption or to care for a sick family member. >> i have an 80-year-old dad and a 75-year-old mom. they're in good health but you never know when something is going to happen. sam: who pays for this? d.c. employers would see up to 1% tax increase to cover the workers. the chamber of commerce complains this makes d.c. unattractive to business. >> this will put us at a competitive disadvantage. it's easy for the businesses to move. sam: proponents say they could pass on the cost to the employees by withholding raises there. would be no cost for the d.c. residents who work for d.c. employers or non-d.c. residents who work for d.c. employers. so currently seven of the 13 councilmembers, that is a majority, are co-sponsors of

the measure. so at this point, the chances look good in the d.c. council. of course, there will be hearings and lots of talk and who knows what will ultimately happen when you hear from all the parties? that's the situation. we'll have more on the story coming up on "abc7 news at 5:00". we'll hear from some of the moms. reporting live from the john wilson building, sam ford, abc7 news. alison: all right. this will be the talk of the town. the talk of the nation. more information for sick leave in the area. in virginia, there is no statewide legal obligation for a private employer to cover your time off. it's a week worth of paid sick leave, but that never happened this year. in montgomery county, you can earn up to seven days off, working in a group with five or more people. just three days off in smaller businesses. jonathan: nine attacks now in just the past couple of months in arlington. look at the map. the red dots indicate where the attacks have taken place. the latest is the 1800 block

of north scotts street. now the suspect description is different from the others, but the attack is very similar. suzanne kennedy explains what makes the most recent attack different. suzanne? suzanne: well, what makes the attack different according to police that the woman for the most part did everything right. at the end of a night out saturday with her girlfriends, she took a taxi home to this 7-eleven in her neighborhood. this is where she and her friends with. but this is where the police say she made a mistake. she decided to leave her friends and walk what she thought was a short and a safe distance home. she lives here in the rosslyn heights luxury apartments. that's where the authorities say she made the mistake and that is where the attack took place. police say they are concerned that people are making mistakes as they head home from a night out and going it by not paying attention to the surroundings. >> in some of the cases the victims are on their cell phones. they are not paying attention to their surroundings. that is when the suspects are

seeing an opportunity to grab them. suzanne: the attacks started in late july. they are continuing now until the month of october. they say as far as a suspect description, it could be african-american male or hispanic male. in one case, they even say that the description was for a caucasian male. looking ahead to the 5:00 show, we'll tell you what women are doing to deal with this problem here in arlington county. reporting live in arlington, suzanne kennedy, abc7 news. alison: okay, suzanne. we want to let everyone know the web team posted an interact i map highlighting where the attack -- interactive map highlights where the attacks happened. you can check it out on wjla.com. today marks one year since virginia began recognizing same-sex marriage. it was this time last year the commonwealth began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognizing legally performed out-of-state marriages between same-sex couples. attorney general mark herring says so far, virginia has

distributed 2,670 marriage licenses and 70 birth certificates to same-sex couples. jonathan: day two for jury selection for charles severance. they're going through a pool of about 150 candidates to decide the murder charges. charles severance is charged with three murders over a decade in the city of alexandria. it is unclear when the jury will be seated. but as soon as the process is complete, we'll certainly let you know. alison: police believe a man accused of flashing a mall employee in fairfax county may have struck at other stores. police say alan jones was in the women's underwear section of the j.c. penney in the springfield mall when he asked the clerk for help in the dressing room and exposed himself. police are investigated whether he targeted another store in september. jonathan: deadly flooding across south carolina after days of rain. the rain finally stopping. look at the sunshine. you can see here in these pictures. this is allowing us to get an incredible view of just how

bad the damage is. not only that, how widespread. this an we have team coverage. elizabeth hur is in columbia. our brad bell is in kings street. we'll start out with elizabeth hur. the damage, we saw you there yesterday and the damage was horrible. but i have to imagine first-hand. we have a limited scope. it has to be huge how bad it is. elizabeth: it's incredible and heart-breaking. you can't drive a mile without running into a roadblock. one of reasons is what you see behind me. business is gutted. that, of course, is due to floodwaters. the bridge and the road right next to it, right now it is shut down. with the crime scene or the police tape up right now because the integrity of the structure is in question. the potential for rising rivers to crest and flood is the new concern for authorities in south carolina. reminding residents they are still not out of danger. >> the next 36 to 48 hours are

going to be a time we need to continue to be careful. elizabeth: already from charleston to columbia, the flash flooding from the weekend record rainfall toppled several dams. the rushing waters reaching rooftops. >> i went from water that was probably about four inches below my knees to having water at waste level and rising within 30 seconds. elizabeth: strandalling hundreds of drivers and homeowners. some still in shelters. >> i'm worried but there is nothing i can do about it. elizabeth: after tuesday an, 500 buckled roads and brims across the state remained close. additional help is now on the ground to help rebuilding process following a major disaster declaration from president obama to provide money and aid for south carolina residents. >> we have fema people up in the air right now doing assessments, trying to see the aerial views. we will have the fema people on the ground tomorrow doing

assessments. >> what you are looking at right now is a pickup truck swept away by floodwaters. just another example of what the damage assessment teams will be finding once they are on the ground here tomorrow. that is the latest from here live in columbia, south carolina isms'm elizabeth hur for abc7 news. alison: okay. thank you very much. well, just about an hour yeah east of columbia is kingsstree, which is being evacuated now. brad bell is just outside the small town. you are seeing first hand why the evacuation orders are in place. brad: yeah. a tremendous amount of flooding. all the water from columbia and inland state is heading here. this is the black river. this is not supposed to be here. this is generally a road into where there is a house. that house is most likely gone now. this water is just absolutely rushing. we know it's still rising. we put a rock down here in the water a half an hour ago.

i moved it a minute ago. it was here. covered with an inch of water. it's now here. we will monitor that for a while. now, we can show you some pictures of what it looks like right now inside the town of kingstree. main street is flooded. the black river floods when it reaches about 19 feet. it's now at 22 feet. so there is tremendous flooding in multiple areas. businesses and houses alike are submerged. for the residents, it's devastating. >> it's a sad situation for the residents here. because it's a small area. you know even needs to work. even needs to go on with their daily lives. now everything is just to a standstill. brad: it's to a standstill and it's cut off from the rest of the state. this is why. this is the last passible road in and out of the town of

kings tree. you can see the big truck gingerly making its way through the rising water coming across route 377 here. this route is officially closed. only open to emergency vehicles. the situation is getting worse. the question is how bad will it get? we're going to stay here and monitor the situation. jonathan: that is the stairry part. i could get worse. bombing raid at a hospital in afghanistan left 22 dead. all a mistake. the pentagon admitting that much yesterday but offered little explanation to how something like this could happen. doctors without borders which operated the hospital describe the attack as a war crime. the u.s. support was called in after the city was overrun by the taliban. >> based on conditions on the ground. based on the transitions i have talked about, i do believe we have to provide our

senior leadership options different than the current plan we are going with. absolutely. jonathan: that means it's a possibility that the number of troops staying in afghanistan beyond the end of the year could be more than previously expected. coming up at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- what would you do if you won a huge lottery? >> i quit automatically. [laughter] jonathan: i think a lot of us would do the same thing. call in rich. we're going to introduce you to the newest multimillionaire and let you know how much she is taking home. alison: plus flu seasons are getting underway. you have probably seen signs that the shots are underway. will it work after last year's dud? we talk to a doctor about it up next. doug: i'm doug hill in the belfort furniture weather center. what a beautiful afternoon. looking live at fairfax. we will tell you how many more days the weather is headed this way. an

jonathan: check this out. the f.a.a. is prosing a $2 million penalty against sky pan international based out of chicago. the f.a.a. says between march

of 2012 and december of last year, that company had 65, just 65 up authorized flights in busy air space all for the reason of photography. across the country the pilots radioed in a record number of drones citing this year while at the controls. alison: it's just about flu season. many of you have gotten the flu despite getting a shot last year. doctors are stressing you can't use it as a reason not to get one this year. joining us today is dr. kumar, chief of infectious diseases at medstar georgetown university hospital. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. alison: what are we hearing about this year's shot and how confident can we be that it will work this time? doctor: all early data shows that the current flu vaccine is matching well with the virus, the flu virus that is circulating, because last year the match was not good. and that is why it was not

effective. this year, every data indicates that the match is much better. alison: that's good news. so is there any way to sort of tell us how likely it is to get the flu, if you get the shot? doctor: our best prediction are if you get the shot your chances of being protected against the flu is at least 60-70%. alison: okay. of course we hear who is most at risk, the elderly and young people. that still holds, right? are those the ones you really recommend getting the shot? doctor: they should get the shot. but actually any person about the -- above the age of six months should get the flu vaccine. alison: finally, what exactly is this year's vaccine combating? you mentioned that the strain seems to be matching up pretty well. doctor: there are two different kind of flu vaccines

available. one of them we call it a trivelant vaccine. it's two different a and one b. the second is two a's and two b's. overall both of them look to match the current circulating flu virus. alison: thank you. thank you very much. we appreciate it. hopefully we won't need you back to talk about the flu everywhere this season. doctor: it's important to get the vaccine. alison: all right. thank you very much. meanwhile, we want to let you know tonight local lawmakers and the union that represents healthcare workers are holding a community forum on the closure of laurel regional hospital. over the summer dimensions healthcare system announced plans to close the hospital and open an ambulatory care center. more than a hundred employees received layoff notices. tonight's meeting starts at 2:00 at the laurel partnership hall on fifth street. jonathan: all right. i have to get my shot. time for a check of the

traffic situation. robert altman is here with a look at the roads. it's kind of slow today. slower than normal. robert: we have a lot of problems. what we are looking at university at dennis, along the eastbound side of university. right near dennis avenue. it's the left lane block. obviously a water main break. big problems eastbound and westbound at this point. as we take a look around the beltway, slower traffic to contend with leaving tyson corner on the dulles toll road moving through the area on the interlope building to colesville road. heavier traffic continues through. northbound 270 jamming up near montgomery village avenue. that heavy traffic continues as well. expect big delays as you make your way to the northbound 270. westbound route 50 west of 97 the an accident blocking the two right lanes in anne arundel county. northbound third street tum at massachusetts avenue -- street tunnel at massachusetts avenue.

northbound 295, baltimore washington parkway at powder mill. the right ramp lane only that gets by because of the accident on the northbound side of the parkway. that is the latest in the traffic center. back to you. >> robert, that is a great shot. wouldn't you love to see that every day? that is the traffic situation. there is no traffic. alison: every rush hour. that would be nice. pigture perfect day. doug: we need a day like this to get sunshine, a bit of a breeze. dry up. it's not perfect but we are getting in a fall-like weather pattern. just about the time we warm up, get a snap of the chillier air. that is coming by the weekend. here we go. time lapse from the weather bug camera. one you don't see often. i don't know why. a beautiful shot. garrett county at sky valley lodge in swanton. a beautiful sunrise and a beautiful day there. look at the fall colors starting to come in already here. 2,000 feet in elevation. 2,200 feet, higher spots across maryland and virginia. the fall colors is more advanced but gorgeous this time of year. speaking of the fall color,

you fete out west, you know, 2,200 feet, moderate color. higher is better color. you get in the piedmont, in the coastal plain and lower elevation. that should come on strong quickly. it's i-95 where we see the peak color. sooner and the farther west you go to the holder region and the higher elevation. 75 in fredericksburg. 76 at reagan national. 68 in baltimore. annapolis, breeze off the river. 73 degrees outside of andrews air force base. a gorgeous afternoon. temperatures tonight will get cool. won't be told. low to mid-50's for the metro area. we head through the day tomorrow in the 70's. 77 with a lot of sunshine through the an. then we will paint out the next seven days, the next chance of rain is 30%. it will come with a cold front friday afternoon or evening. not sure of the timing yet. the only implications is the

clouds may linger in saturday morning. it's pleasant and a crisp fall weekend. sometimes i do that, because i once sprayed someone, anchor lady on the air and she didn't appreciate it. alison: i appreciate you turning your head. jonathan: you denied us a youtube moment. that would have been good. around the nation this afternoon, new information about the midair death of the american airlines pilot. captain is 57-year-old michael johnston. the flight was headed from phoenix to boston when the pilot died monday. her wife said her husband had double bypass surgery in 2006. the coroner believes he did die from a heart attack. >> he has had to have every six months complete medical. in perfect health, when he left, he seemed fine. >> the copilot took control and made an emergency landing. the passengers didn't realize

the severity of the incident until they landed. f.a.a. tells abc news there have only been eight other incidents like that in the past 20 years. alison: this is a dutch freighter that sank this morning in the north sea. after colliding with a gas tanker. 19 crew members were rescued. now the concern there is the environmental impact. two small oil slicks have formed. jonathan: the search of a missing ship and its crew lost in hurricane joaquin near the bahamas. the feds are on their way. the key piece of evidence they are looking at. we'll show it to you ahead. ja a lot of us would walk off the dog if they hit the jackpot. we introduce you to the

luckiest person in america and how much she is taking home is next.

jonathan: we have breaking news to share without out of the district. muriel bowser will be holding a news conference on the city's efforts to revive a potential pepco-exelon merger. a settlement has been reached. we'll take you to the wilson

building for the press conference when it's underway. >> but first, we want you to meet the newest multimillionaire. she is from western, michigan. the jackpot was $310 million. from the powerball. abc introduces us to julie leach, who as you guessed is retiring. >> the dream of million hopeful lottery players finally comes true for 50-year-old julie leach. the sole winner of last wednesday's powerball jackpot for $310 million. bought her ticket at this gas station in three rivers michigan. on the way to work the overnight shift at a fiberglass factory. >> i quit automatically. [laughter] i was done. reporter: but she didn't quit as soon as she could have. she waited until the lunch break to check the numbers. >> i'm having a bad night at work. i might as well check my numbers. i didn't believe it.

i had to go back to work and get verified from a couple other coworkers. i couldn't believe it. reporter: she is taking the lump sum. $140 million after taxes. what will she do with all the cash? a little house shopping. leach says she will stay in michigan and buy up property for her family. >> i am going to take care of my kids. i don't want them towork like i had to work and deal with what i had to deal with over life. i want to make it a good life for them. >> there may be a marriage proposal in her future from her partner of 36 years. >> i said he has to sign a prenup now. [laughter] reporter: leach has hired an attorney and financial adviser who will help her manage the money. abc news, washington. alison: if he popped the question sooner he wouldn't have had a prenup. jonathan: timing everything. what are you going to do with

all the money? i wish someone would say whatever i want. you could. alison: food for her. still to come here at 4:00, the feds are searching for the missing cargo ship and the crew. the task ahead. what the data recorder they are looking for may show. discover the world

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jonathan: beaking news that we're keeping an eye on. inside the wilson building, get an update on the pepco-exelon. the mayor is about to go in front of the camera to explain. she will hold a press conference. as soon as she steps in the microphone we will listen to what she has to say but we'll keep going with the news here. alison: we have word of a disturbing crime. a group home employee arrested,, accused of beating a disabled resident he was hired to look after. kevin lewis has details of the arrest. kevin: the group home is for the hearing impaired. this is 41-year-old david robertson. the house dad accused of repeatedly abusing a female resident over the course of two years. in one case robertson shoved a deaf woman down a flight of stairs because she didn't do the her laundry.

in another indon't he allegedly pushed the same woman to the ground and began kicking her. disabled woman had injuries to her leg, chest and forehead. multiple employees witnessed routine abuse but waited until robertson was on vacation to report it because they, too, were scared. >> that is appalling. and that is clearly abuse. that is unacceptable. >> it could be frustration. that you have gone over the things so many blasted times. and if nothing is going on and you can't communicate effectively, you are unable to communicate with the other party you might snap. kevin: robertson was arrested and charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult. he has since bonded out of jail and is living in glen burney awaiting trial. i'm kevin lewis, abc7 news. alison: kevin, thank you. turn now to the weather. look at the bright sunshine out there. several days of rain, of course, now we are back to

really nice afternoons. doug, it warms up nicely, doesn't it? doug: we made a nice jump from the lower 70's. 70, 71 another lunchtime, now the mid-to-the upper 70's around the area. it's beautiful at congressional country club. look at the graphics. the story for the rest of the day will be the sunshine and a few high clouds around the area. and just delightful conditions for the remaining afternoon and evening hours. we made up some of the rainfall deficit, i will say. in august we came in 1-3/4 inches below average. 1-1/2 below average in september. for first few days of this month of october we're almost at two inches and that puts us in a plus, sur plus of 1.39 inches of rain so far. that is 3-1/2 inches of rain in the past eight days. temperature wise, very comfortable. 76 at reagan national. 75 in frederick. 73 in winchester. heading through the evening hours, clear, cool, clouds. temperatures in the 50's. gorgeous again. partly cloudy, upper 70's with

a light please out of the northwest. that is the latest on the weather for you. jonathan: thank you for that. the feds are in florida trying to find answers after a huge cargo ship disaster and hurricane joaquin. i could be the deadliest accident in more than 30 years. the el faro was last heard from five days ago. and the only sign of it one body in a badly damaged lifeboat. not a moment to spare for searchers trying to spot survivors of the el faro, across 300 square miles of the atlantic. the ship believed to have sunk during hurricane joaquin. ntsb team now on the way to find out what happened. >> so obviously this is a huge challenge that there is a large debris field. jonathan: the focus today near the cargo position last position, 35 miles off the bahamas in an area called crooked island. it's not far from they found a body in the immersion suit and one of the lifeboats empty and badly battered.

>> we have report of other lifeboats, we need to get out there. if we don't do it right away, it could sink. each 3 crew member had suit to keep them floating and warm. the company that owns the el faro blames the engine failure for stalling the ship. the captain believed he could avoid the hurricane. he was wrong. >> his plan was a sound plan that would have enabled him to pass around the storm. jonathan: but families of the ship's crew are critical of the decision. holding vigil as they wait for answers on the fifth day of the search. anxious families believe there is hope. >> i know he is out there floating around. they're just going to pick him up anytime and bring him home. jonathan: ntsb investigators say they are looking over the el faro safety records. but the first priority is what has been found floating in the

ocean near the bahamas. alison: as the debate over gun control continues in this country, sales are on the rise for america's top gun-makers. just a week after the deadly shooting, in fact community college -- at the umpqua community college in oregon the stock of the top two gun makers jumped 3%. smith and wesson and rugeer have almost doubled sales in five years. a central nores neighborhood on edge after a bear attacked a man and killed his dog. this happened monday night as the man let out his 2-year-old yorkie in the dark. he heard the dog yelping and everything fell silent. he went outside to investigate he saw the bear. hest mailed weighed 150 pounds coming right toward him. >> he knocked me down with one swipe.

the bears have no business in here. they don't. alison: the man says his wife's scream distracted the bear enough for him to get away. the florida life and wildlife officials set up traps to capture the bear. jonathan: coming up, who is ready launch pumpkins? how do you not do this? this is fun. how a farmer created a pumpkin cannon and a look at one of the largest pumpkins we have ever seen. alison: and the kardashian making headlines. this is for the magazine cover. that's ahead at 4:00. jonathan: we are standing by for update on the pepco-exelon mergeer. mayor muriel bowser is expected to speak any minute. that is a press conference that is yet to get underway. when it does, we'll t

alison: we have a must-see video. a farmer in washington state is really getting into the fall spirit. putting on a pumpkin display. he used pressurized air to

create a pumpkin cannon. it has the power to launch the jack-o-lantern a mile away. it draws in hundreds of children every october. >> my pride and joy. only one in the world. >> we want to create an experience. alison: he is doing just that. in the past he has water gun racetrack for the vis to bees. the pumpkin championship is october 7-8. jonathan: i want one bad. but i'll raise you. how about a pumpkin you can't lift? the farmer couldn't get it in the cannon. this has to be the biggest we have seen. a farmer in oregon grew a

pumpkin near 2,000 pounds. that is good for a state record. the total weight is 1,997 pounds. alison: what? jonathan: i want to know how she got it to the fair. if you are thinking of sharing the stories on twitter the social media giant is introducing a tool for us a of us. the is called moments. this lets you follow events like a football game or debate as if it were a person. when it ends, tweets will end. there you go. alison: okay. still to come, all you "twilight" fans listen up. major changes to your favorite characters. that's next. jonathan: first, a controversial magazine cover. are the kardashians really the first family? you have no idea how hard it was to say that. i choked on the wordsium.

weigh in. we have the answer when we return on "abc7 news vo: today's the day. more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about long-acting levemir®. as my diabetes changed, it got harder to control my blood sugar. today, i'm asking about levemir®. vo: levemir® is an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. and levemir® helps lower your a1c. levemir® lasts 42 days without refrigeration. that's 50% longer than lantus®, which lasts 28 days. levemir® comes in flextouch, the latest in insulin pen technology from novo nordisk. levemir® is a long-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes

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alison: it's not a surprise that the kardashians are on another family. most of the family graces the "cosmopolitan" 50th anniversary cover. but it's with the headline "america's first family." the title goes to the president's family, right? we posted the cover to the facebook page to wonder how you feel. it was overwhelming. alison: you can join the conversation on the facebook page. look for wjla tv. jonathan: left off one word. america's first dysfunctional family. alison: fill in the blank. jonathan: ad from of mine came

into the country and said what makes them famous? i was stumped. i don't know. researchers in indonesia discovered a new species -- this is an interesting segue. the hog-nosed rat. the australian museum victoria has features never seen in science. a large nose similar to pig and large ears, a small mouth and long front teeth. the research will be in the your mall of mamology -- your mall of mamology. >> a big surprise on "twilight" series revealed on g.ma. jonathan: and they reveal the character you can't see the same again. >> the tenth verse edition.

with a -- tenth anniversary edition. with a twist. ohhh! >> there is another story. it's the same story. but it is a new version of it. >> how is it different? it's a gender bender. >> it is. now bella is beau. i want to do something fun for tenth anniversary. the publisher wanted a forward. i thought well, something more interesting. i'll rewrite everything. >> how much changes? >> the more you get in it changes. it starts out similar. it's really the same story. a love story. it doesn't matter who is the boy or the girl. it works out. >> why did you decide to write it this way? >> trying to think of something to do. a question came up. damsel in distress. but anyone surrounded by superheroes is -- >> we don't have the powers, right? >> i thought what if we switched this around.

>> we have die-hard fans in the studio with advanced copies. i was told they didn't have microphones and they didn't need them. it sounds like they like what they read. alison: interesting. we understand that a live picture. big news from the national zoo. little bei bei opens his eyes for the first time a little bit. we have a live look at the panda cam for the national zoo. bei bei is now up to 4-1/2 pounds. it looks like mom is nuzzling. cute. jonathan: if he is just getting teeth mom won't get any sleep. give them something to suck on like they do with babies.

pacifiers. alison: so cute. doug: not that many weeks ago it was a stick of butter. jonathan: now he's adorable. alison: now he's a huge four pounds. jonathan: here on out is nothing but cute. alison: we have nice weather. doug: never too soon to talk about the weekend. that's my job on a tuesday. it will be cooler. a warming trend today. by the weekend it will cool off. the clouds could linker to saturday morning but late morning to mid-day it will clear out. taste of d.c. looks good. we'll be fine in the next two days. a cold front will come in early evening on friday. a 30% chance of the thunderstorms along with the frontal passage at 75 degrees. if it comes in late the clouds

will linker to saturday morning. if it comes in like this time on friday, it will clear out. the weekend looks great. on a sunny tuesday see how the traffic is working in the area from robert altman. robert: you can see the flashing lights up ahead in the local lane north of shady grove. jammed up traffic continues. and 270, plenty of stop and go. moving around the beltway toward the area. connecticut avenue, inner loop is stop and go. toward the university. again 9 it 5. college park. expect very heavy traffic continuing. as you approach the stretch of the beltway. the heaviest pace through 50. no major problems right now. definitely brake lights to the

frederick county line. that's the latest check of the traffic center. back to you. alison: a kay. thank you. get back to breaking news. we're monitoring the situation here in d.c. we are waiting for the mayor. muriel bowser now. who is expected to come to the podium and have a press conference about the city's efforts to revive a potential pepco-exelon merger. we are hearing that a settlement has been reached. you are looking live at the wilson buildings as reporters are awaiting the mayor. we will hear what she has to say about the proposal. jonathan: this was a merger that a lot of folks were against. they were voicing concerns. they wanted the mayor to know and the city council to know they had no business getting them to merge. they thought the by product for them would be the higher bills. but things behind closed doors have changed. alison: it will be interesting to hear what mayor bowser has

to say. the reports are that a settlement is reached in the pepco-exelon merger. we are waiting on the mayor but we'll step away for a second. we will tell you about the fight to find a cure. >> you want to hear that there is advancements. the more targeted the better. is advancements. the more targeted the better. alison: the new treatment that

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jonathan: again, mayor bowser talking about the pepco-exelon merger. >> good afternoon, everybody.

thank you for being here and joining us on short notice. pleased to announce the district of columbia with the agreement of pepco-exelon. i want to thank so many people who got us here. and put their good minds to work for the people and the rate-payers of the district of columbia. let me acknowledge the city administrator young and director tommy wells. my legal coup sell for leading negotiations on behalf of the district. i want to to thank the settlement signatories who joined us today. the peak's counsel fry -- people's counsel fry, d.c. water, the office building association of metropolitan washington. the national consumer law

center and housing trust and others. in august they rejected the pepco pem merger because it did not do enough to benefit the residents of the district of columbia. i fully supported their decision. however the district deserves a healthy utility company that guarantees affordability, reliability, and sustainability for residents and taxpayers. we have all had concern over the long-term health and reliability of pepco. so the district kept the conversations with pepco and exelon alive because we knew we had to do better for city. i sent the team to keep negotiating until we got the deal that put the rate-payers first to put utility cost effective, dependability and

environmentally sound. alison: we'll step away from this. you have been listening to d.c. mayor muriel bowser discussing the new settlement in the pepco-exelon. we'll have more at "abc7 news at 5:00". which starts right now. announcer: no, "abc7 news at 5:00". alison: a community is on edge after months of harassing graffiti. it's happening in columbia heights around 19 and mop row street -- 13 and mon re street. that is where stephen tschida is live with the story you will see only on 7. stephen: this is a trendy, progressive neighborhood but for the past couple of months someone has been targeting a homeowner here with homephobic slurs -- homophobic slurs. >> i don't understand it. >> the man on the end of the taunts is troubled.

he has lived in the columbia heights house for nine years. harassment started in august. >> i came home one day and someone writing the word [bleep] on my garage door. >> on another occasion he found his car covered in graffiti. but letters prompted him to call police. >> one was written in crayon and the other was typed. stephen: they're specific and threatening. >> said i was in the crosshairs. reporter: they are stunned that this is associated with the 1950's than washington, d.c. in 2015. >> people with stall mind. stephen: while police investigate the homeowner is protecting himself. he installed surveillance cameras. his neighbors find it hard to believe whoever is responsible could live in that community. is there we have a diverse neighborhood -- >> we have a diverse neighborhood in a lot of ways. that has never been a problem or an issue from our pers