creating a cleaner environment by using cleaner energy sources like solar, wind and natural gas. we've reduced carbon emissions by nearly 25%, which is the equivalent of taking close to two million cars off the road. cleaner air and cleaner water. it's good for all of us. dominion. depend on us for more than energy. >> now, abc 7 news at noon, on your side. jummy: this noon, a new top cop ready to crack down on d.c. crime. mayor muriel bowser introduced a familiar face as chief, john. john: that is right, a lot of folks know him. he has been

time. from thelaw degree university of maryland. now, peter newsham is not the interim police chief -- he is the acting police chief. inside the wilson building, city isl, in weeks, the d.c. cass expected to confirm him. he held the interim title for several months after cathy lanier left to go to the nfl in september. promoted.s chief, andstant today, the mayor says our new chief understands and believes and community policing and is trusted by d.c. residence. mayor bowser: without a doubt, washington, d.c. is safer today than it was two years ago, and going forward, we will not let our foot off the gas.

how we build on that progress. newsham: we are not going to ask your race, religion, age, sexual orientation. when you call us, we will always come, and when we come, we are coming to help. john: the mayor saying in the past year, total crime is down 9% throughout the entire city. now the mayor also took the opportunity to announce quincy booth as the new director of d.c. department of corrections, and one of the priorities will be discussing the new d.c. jail. the acting police chief joking event during the press coverage, saying the most important thing for him is trust, even though he .s a new england patriots fan reporting live outside of city hall, john gonzalez, abc 7 news. tierneyhank you, john police searching for the man they say abducted a woman

mount vernon. curtis watson is the one behind the kidnapping during the victim was able to free herself. they are searching around little hunting creek. he may be armed with a knife. right now, the search is on for a driver accused of slamming into a parked police officer's car and then taking off. it happened during a traffic stop before 4:00 on talbert terrace in southeast. the officer approached the car, the suspect reversed, slammed into the officer's car, and took off. the suspect got away. the officer suffered minor injuries and is expected to be ok. happening now, the conservative political action conference, or cpac, at the national harbor. our q mccray is live this noon with what is going on there. q? q: it has been a busy day to say the least here at national harbor. there is a death investigation going on as well is what is going on at

it isave been going on, day to come and we have video to show you, live pictures of what is going on. it is a big list of big names expected to take the stage today, including vice president mike pence, white house banner, tedteve cruz, and secretary of education betsy devos. she started off at 9:10 with a speech, and she talked about president trump. someone wasump if not fully understood for how compassionate and what a great bossy is to women. he has been promoting and elevating women in the trunk corporation, the trump campaign, the trunk cabinet, certainly the trunk white house -- the trump cabinet, certainly the trump white house. q:

on saturday. take a look at what is going on here at national harbor. the death investigation, i've i mentioned earlier, prince george's county police have been out here since about 10:30 a.m. a body was found on the sidewalk. they are still investigating what happened here. a witness i spoke to told me the body drop from a parking garage. this investigation is ongoing. we will let you know what happens next. i am q mccray. back to you in the studio. jummy: a major decision over from the white house. president trump rescinding the obama administration's moved to allow transgender students to use the bathroom matching their gender identity. suzanne kennedy with the reaction happening nationwide. >> equality now. suzanne: protests overnight outside the white house to the change of policy when it comes to transgender students in which bathrooms they can use. >> n

one, not even the government, can defeat a community so full of life, color, diversity, and most importantly love. suzanne: critics say the decision has dealt a major blow to the lgbtq community. >> the president has made it clear during the campaign that he believes and states rights, and issues like this are not best dealt with at the federal level. >> ♪ and the rockets red glare the singer whose thing at the president was the inauguration speaking out, asking this week for the president to meet with her and her transgender sister. i would like to enlighten him on what i've seen my sister go through every day in the school and people just like her, what they deal with, the determination is terrible. suzanne: on "good morning morning, a this local transgender student says he feels lucky to be in an inclusive s

protection. >> there are kids who have to go forugh day-to-day struggles even the simplest thing like going to the bathroom. it is really shameful that they have to do that. suzanne: d.c. mayor mariota browser- mayor mariota speaking out -- mayor mario el bowser speaking out via twitter. suzanne kennedy, abc 7 news. jummy: americans across the country are storming gop townhall meetings, demanding answers from representatives and senators. some politicians failed to show up to their packs town halls, cotton wasator tom there last night to face angry questions about the affordable care act. >> my husband has dementia, all summers, and

timers disease, and multiple other things -- alzheimer's disease, and muscle other things, and we are expected to be calm, cool, and collected. what reaction do you have? jummy: the white house responding by questioning their legitimacy, some being called professional protesters and "liberal activists." developing now, what sparked a fire that ripped it apartment building in northwest d.c. this morning? four apartments were badly damaged. fortunately, no injuries were reported. still no word on what started that blaze. let's stay outside and talk of a before guess right now -- 70's and sun. tomorrow looks even better, but don't get tricked. it will get cold again this morning. doug hill is here with a look at the forecast. doug: temperatures are going to drop. it will not be cold,

on sunday -- it will just be average, the way it should be, in february. here is a time lapse outside of bull run elementary school. everyone is in this warmer phase. everyone will wind up in the 70's this afternoon. at this moment, 60 degrees at one to go, 73 at -- at quantico, 73 at leesburg. andybody else headed to 70, actually a very pleasant afternoon in store with a few areas of clouds. we will have more sunshine and warmer temperatures as we head through the day tomorrow. here is what is coming next across the area. we will see temperatures climb slowly but steadily to about 73 today, dropping to 60's this evening and staying mild tonight. this weekend, yet to change. the cold front you need to know about, how it will affect the weather conditions on saturday, and the next 10 days -- at no extra charge -- in about seven minutes, jummy. jummy: all right,

you. noon, up on abc 7 news at a popular site in d.c. will be much harder to reach. we will tell you why that is happening. plus -- >> -- jummy: is that the voice of a killer? the crueler piece to a murder investigation -- the crucial piece to a murder investigation of two little girls in indiana. plus, a tiger catch has two officials going wild. . right now, wes have a major distraction in lowell as police are directing traffic on u.s. 1. as we go through our big picture map, you can see not a lot of red. of middayt a lot construction zones set up your tie has up on d.c. to 95 as well as in the third street tunnel, both northbound and southbound, you will see delays as you travel in the cities. let's head outside to our traffic cameras and

delays on the capital beltway, due to a midday for zone set up on the wilson bridge. you will need to take the local lanes to avoid that closure, and of course that is creating a major back up here. you can see the cones on this span of the bridge. that is a look at traffic watch.

>> you are watching abc 7 news at noon, on your side. jummy: this noon, officials say anywhere between 25 to 50 pipeline protesters remain at the campsite in north dakota, ignoring yesterday's deadline to get out of there. officials warned the area will soon flood. since last april, the land has been at the center of a fight against the 1200 mile dakota access pipeline that wilru

illinois. protesters arrested wednesday remain behind bars, facing obstruction charges. happening right now, a big break in the search for a killer in indiana. police releasing an audio clip that could be the voice of a man who murdered two teenage girls hiking along a popular hike trail. >> go down the hill. jummy: you can hear it, "go down the hill," police say is the distinctive voice of the killer ordering the girls to go down the hill. the girls bodies were found valentine's day at the foot of the hill. authorities are searching for the main suspect in the case, you can see his picture right there. a man is hoping that florida's controversial stand your ground law will save him from a murder conviction. 73-year-old retired police officer curtis reeve is arguing

killing of chattels and -- chad olson. wife claims her husband was standing on a lower platform and was not in a threatening position. also developing now, it is an island dedicated to our nation's 25th president, and it is awfully popular during the warmer months. starting next week, roosevelt island will be harder to reach. our sam sweeney explains why. sam: it is another day of 70-degree temperatures in the middle of winter, which means here on roosevelt island, that will be packed with people today and this weekend, meaning this parking lot will also likely be very full. but it is the last time that is going to happen for quite some time. beginning march 1, the national park service will shut down this parking lot and parts of the nearby mount vernon trail. both projects are due for much-needed facelifts. the parking lot desperately needs repaving, new curbs, and new gutters.

it is also slated to get raised and widened, all good news for tourists who flock here during the springtime. we caught up with regulars who understand but are disappointed. >> a lot of people have to cross along the parking lot here, so they are kin trying to bypass that it make it easier for runners and bikers. >> i think it is a good idea. obviously it will suck that i cannot come here as easily, but it is for a good reason. sam: a separate path has been set up your for the mount vernon trail. you should know that roosevelt island will remain open during this construction. you will just need to park somewhere else, either in rosslyn or down at columbia island. they expect the project to last through the end of the spring. reporting live, i am sam sweeney, back to in the studio. jummy: runners are not going to like that. for those still wondering, iloved panda bao bao

china conservation and resource center for giant pandas. she landed safe after her flight from dulles. after her three-day -- 30-day willation period, bao bao be with the others. park officials say they used a drone to keep a tighter fit. they fly it around, so they get some exercise, doug. and they knock it down. doug: it is probably not too tasty. jummy: no. if you see the whole video, they are bouncing it, and then they realize, ok, this is not food, and they walk away. [laughter] doug: are you ready for more springlike weather? temperatures today and tomorrow are like what we normally find here around the middle of may, so we are jumping way ahead. we will fall back into a wintry pattern ridley on sunday, but we

here. by the time we hit our average high, close to 50 degrees, close to 51, that is an average high. when we get hives and the upper 40's, 50's, that is the way it insupposed to be -- highs the upper 40's and 50's, that is the way it is supposed to be. through the morning, we have enjoyed nothing but sunshine, and that will continue for the balance of the day with just a chance later this afternoon for a a few showers moving in from the west. what you see here is this cavalcade of high-level cloudiness overhead, but it does not block out the sun. it is absolutely delightful. disturbance good swing out of the mountains and fire up a few showers this afternoon. that will be possible north and west of washington. 72 right now and winchester, warren, and dulles, 66 at college park, 71 at andrews, cooler in quantico along the river, cooler in annapolis, cooler in spots with water nearby. tomorrow could be a few degrees warmer, we think. ahead of

have a shower starting to line up now among the western slope of the mountain. we see isolated showers, not many, as our futurecast shows just a few out there. most areas in the 70's. again, this time of year, especially near the water, you will be a lot cooler. as we get through the late afternoon, early evening hours, the best chance of showers will shift north to frederick, hagerstown, that area. maybe a touch of fog, and overnight temperatures will stay in the mid-50's, so very mild. of the colde timing front, 70's and saturday morning midday, but in the cold front comes the afternoon with scattered showers and thunderstorms, probably just after the noon hour here. that will let some breezy and cooler conditions all across the region late saturday night into sunday. --e is how it will work out 75 degrees tomorrow, saturday near 70 with showers and thunderstorms, breezy and cooler. by sunday, sunshine, highs of only 47 degrees. so that is cold, but not freezing cold.

have been traumatized by all this unseasonable warmth. 72 degree high today. saturday. we start to warm up tuesday and wednesday, then we stay mild. some model guidance this morning suggests that by next friday or saturday, we could be in a brief cooler again, so we will see what happens. jummy: really come in march? after a warm february? doug: we have had snowstorms and marchtorms in many times in the past. i am just saying. jummy: i know. doug: should i leave? [laughter] jummy: i am not liking that forecast. an alarming 7 on your side report every parent needs to hear -- it is about be live streaming apps that are popular wi c

go live, and there they are. they were not designed for kids, and makers do not allow children to since, but kids are getting online with them anyway. when they go live, anyone can watch them and talk with them. law enforcement says that has become a huge problem. find out why tonight when 7 on your side troubleshooter horace holmes brings us "who is watching your child?" that report on abc 7 news at 11:00. coming up on abc 7 news at noon, just days away from the 89th annual academy awards. we bring you the reasons why "la la

--my: we are counting down now just three days to the oscars

this year's heaviest contender -- "la la land." land"of cour "la la could take the big prize at the oscars the sunday, having tied the record for most him in nations with 14. it is no coincidence that the sweetheart of the 2017 awards season looks and sounds a lot like a flashback. two academy award nominated films of the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's. the planetarium waltz coming from the scene in "broadway melody," this scene from "sweet charity," and hit ryan gosling's costume of course from "singin' in the rain." >> ryan was of course inspired by it. we cannot not geive a little wink to it. jummy: kidd o'shea will be live. and start watching him on "good morning

can watch the oscars here on abc 7.

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] doug: plenty of sunshine today, an isolated shower, more warm weather tomorrow. jummy: i cannot wait for that, doug. perfect way to introduce the weekend. news atto watch abc 7 4:00. have a

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