priest in northern virginia. alison: father william aitcheson. he recently wrote a letter reflecting on his time in the k.k.k. and then announced he is taking a leave of absence. now one couple who saw a cross burning in their yard years ago wants to meet with him. jonathan: richard reeve spoke with him. rich? richard: yeah, phillip and barbara butler say they can certainly forgive but they can't forget. it was in this college park neighborhood all these years ago back in 1977. when a neighbor called them and said you have a cross burning in your front yard. now they say they want to sit down, have a face-to-face meeting with the priest who has confessed to doing this. the butlers speaking to reporters with the attorney say they want to ask father william aitcheson why he did come to the house and do this. two days ago he confessed in a first person account he was a k.k.k. member and called the actions depickable. at the time -- despicable. at the time he was a 23-year-old maryland student

identified as part of the k.k.k. lodge. he was charged with cross burning, count of making bomb threat and two count of manufacturing pipe bombs and he served several months in jail. butlers won $23,000 in damages but william aitcheson 11 years before being ordained in a priest never paid the amount. with the revelations the butler want compensation and they want to talk to the father. the couple, the memories of finding a burning, smoking cross are still very real. >> i went to the door. where did this come from? i had never seen crosses before. just on television or something like that. to have one in your yard, there is that much hatred in your heart. richard: the butlers say they not only would they like the meeting but they would like the father to reveal who was with him that night, who were the other k.k.k. members. they w

coming up at 6:00, will the meeting happen? we'll examine the issue coming up. reporting live, richard reeve, abc7 news. alison: thank you very much. keep us posted on that. if you want to see the original reporting and share the story online head to the website wjla.com. new in charlottesville, the one at emancipation park is being covered. this is the epicenter of the unite the right rally. a woman was killed when the car plowed in the counterprotesters august 12. early tuesday morning that the city council there voted to shroud the statue with another confederate monument. we move to this story now. cleaning up after a massive fire that took place in hagerstown. jonathan: this was huge. the officials are confirming it was a lightning strike that sparked this thing. 75 people now looking for a new place to live this afternoon. alison: kevin lewis is there. people saw the flash. they heard the thunder and they knew right away

kevin: that is the case. some people were in the shower when the lightning hit. one was on home oxygen. it happened last night. firefighters had challenges, too. two fire hydrants ran completely dry of water. that inspired tanker trucks to be called to the scene. >> heavy fire from the roof. kevin: bright orange flames consumed the hagerstown apartment building. firefighters on scene in the night, dawn and day. >> it was boom! kevin: beatrice lives in the house next door. she heard a bolt of lightning. grab her maltese and purse and drove off in the chrysler minivan. >> my fear it would come here, that it would come to the house. kevin: this afternoo

marshal's office confirming that lightning hit the attic. the water sprinklers did little because they were only on floors one, two, three. >> someone has the wherewithal to pull the fire alarm. with the activation and people yelling "fire," everyone was able to escape. >> oh, my gosh. kevin: remarkably everyone escaped without injury. this nearby seventh day adventist church helping all 74 tenants now without a home. >> the internet went out. a few seconds later, or a few minutes later alarm goes off. then i was, when i stepped out of the corridors the hallways was covered with smoke. kevin: we are back live. chain link fence set up around the large apartment building. the officials tell us the damage is estimated $1.5 million. go now to the stormwatch7's weather center where meteorologist steve rudin has a closer look at how charged this thund

steve: yeah, kevin. the atmosphere was pumped and primed last night. even though we did not have a severe thunderstorm warning for hagerstown last night at 8:00, look at the lightning strike between 7:00 and 9:00 around 1,600 strikes. 60 of those were cloud-to-ground, the most dangerous kind. around the apartment complex you can see how close the lightning strikes were. that building over here, this is one that burned out. let's talk about what is going on for tonight as we move to the everything hours. looking good around here. a good mix of the sun and cloud. lower humidity levels. in the 80's and falling in the 70's. we're tracking harvey for you. it will be a not tent storm with a lot of rain. you will -- potent storm with a lot of rain. you will be amazed by the totals in texas. jonathan: police are releasing a new video of a man they are trying to fin

about a murder that happened in lanham where a man was found shot to death on palmar turn and police are looking for the killer. if you recognize the guy in the video, the police would like to hear from you. alison: a home burglarized twice and both times it was caught on camera. d.c. police are sharing this home surveillance video you see here. this captures that moment that the man breaks in. he rummages through the home in the 400 block of wood crest drive in southeast. he even left with the massive tv back in july. then just a couple of weeks ago that same house hit again. d.c. police say both burglaries happened in the middle of the afternoon. they are not ruling out that it could be the very same man in both videos. alison: we are fighting back against crime. go to wjla.com to the crime map and see the i'ms reported in your neighborhood. jonathan: you see a lot of moving trucks in the video in front of the

complex. but the deadline to clear out of the dilapidated apartment building has come and gone. residents apter allowed near -- aren't allowed near it. frustration has turned to fury today. brad bell? brad: you see the plywood between me and the camera. a lot going on now. the fence going up around the building. the people are not allowed in it. even as the fence is going up and plywood going up. there are people in the building. at some point this afternoon they are going door to door to see who is still here. as the noon deadline approached the crew began to install the perimeter fence. another team started to put up plywood. long time resident denews richards the meaning -- denise richards the meaning is clear. >> y

it's just time to go. the elevator went out after the earthquake and hasn't been fixed sense. brad: she says the condos used to be nice but the board and the management community mismanaged the community to hopeless disrepair and utility debt. the fire code violation that forced the evacuation are the last straw. community activists bruce branch says it is a human tragedy. >> i wouldn't let my dog live in there. this is home for the people who cannot afford the market price rent. brad: the condo owner said he worked hard to keep the unit in good condition but now he is losing the investment and has to find a place to live. >> i can't afford a mortgage, and pay rent. a lot of the residents don't want to go. the fire officials will get in the building to find out

if they have to be removed at some point we're told that will happen. the crews are here to board up windows. we are told at 7:00 tonight they are shutting down the parking lot to cause it a safety hazard. nobody in and nobody out. this is shaping up to be tense end to the situation. jonathan: developing from the navy more fallout after a string of disaster at sea. the admiral in charge at the services base in japan relieved from duty. branch says it was due to lolls of confidence to vice admiral joseph aucoin. no longer in charge. he was weeks from retirement. four navy warships crashed in asia in the past six months. monday was the uss john s. mccain collided with oil tanker in singapore. ten sailors were

hillary clinton's book "what happened" chronicling the 2016 election from her point of view is due out in september. but we are getting a preview of what to expect. clip of the former secretary of state reading an excerpt from the book ran on a cable network this morning in which she described the second presidential debate that was the town hall. she said, "my skin crawled" as he shadowed her on the stage. she had to keep herself from yelling at him to stop following her on the stage. >> we have to close down the government we'll build that wall. alison: the government threatening to shut down the government at the rally. the huge crowds in there loved it. outside there were protesters and arrests. the question should the federal government shut down over a border wall. that is the abc7 instapoll

the results show up instantly on the screen. and scott thuman is reporting that a shutdown is, in fact, possible. scott: october 2013. the government some say at a low point. shutdown because congress couldn't pass a budget. now the threat of another. >> obstructionist democrats would like us not to do it. but if we have to close down the government we are building that wall. scott: president trump is adamant about a wall and aware it's partially what landed him the job. >> this is important enough to the president he would try to push the people in the party and congress as far as possible to the brink to maybe beyond it.

it would only take a couple of senators to up-end the plan. >> two or three to stop anything going forward there. there is always a handful of republicans who are not going to go along with either immigration restrictions or any of a border wall or any of the other ideas. scott: especially costly ones while they are trying to find the funs to make the tax cuts possible. it could be a party nightmare for them. chuck schumer warns the president is pursuing against the wishes of members from both parties and if continued he will be headed toward a government shutdown which nobody will like and which won't accomplish anything. if there is a legitimate shutdown standoff, it could be soon. september is often a month of reckoning on the hill. when the budgets, debt limits and other tough fiscal decisions have to be sorted out. on capitol hill, scott thuman, abc7

jonathan: coming up at "abc7 news at 4:00", a former spy wants to buy twitter and block the president. alison: her crowd funding goals ahead. plus a "7 on your side" consumer alert today. amazon is one step closer to taking over whole foods. one obstacle that remains. jonathan: plus a story we all thought was fake is actually real. espn pulling this guy robert lee from u.v.a. football games. he's an announcer. the decision has gone viral along with the social media reaction. we'll share it with you coming up. >> this is an epidemic. powerball fever. i'm stephen tschida. i will update you on the rush to ge

alison: $700 million is breath-taking amount of money. jonathan: can you imagine? alison: no. jonathan: that is ridiculous. that is the jackpot for the powerball drawing. someone will take it home or it becomes $1 billion. stephen tschida in northwest. we know the odds are stacked against us. but some, most who play are fant sizing about a chance of winning including you. stephen: we all fant size about the beauty of winning this massive jackpot. let me tell you, the people are pouring in here throughout the day. this is where they are heading around the corner to get that powerball ticket. it's a steady flow throughout the d.

the tickets. we caught up with a lady and we talk to her about how much money she was spending. what she planned to do with the money if she won the jackpot. >> i'm going to buy $50 worth. stephen: that is a lot of money. >> that's all right. but if i hit, it will be more. stephen: we talked what she would do if she were to win. a lot of people buying houses or cars. that's part of the fun. but most people most likely overwhelmingly are not going to win but they like to think about what they do if they did win. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. alison: moving on. valerie wilson the former undercover agent has taken to twitter to try to buy twitter. he her goal is

media platform and block out president trump. she even set up a gofundme page with $1 billion go. so far, $12,000 is donated. her identity as c.i.a. operative was leaked by a former george w. bush administration official in 2003. jonathan: a little more to go. alison: little bit. jonathan: there is a new sunday tradition in dallas that is scaring the folks living close by. a small group of people are holding unusual car shows at a local shopping center and taking it a step too far. >> if you are being raped, robbed or murders our job is get there and prevent that. >> when the bullets go up in the air, they can come back down. no telling who they will hit. jonathan: it's not just cars. they are firing guns in the air. bullet goes up and they come down and they kill. the locals are fed up with this. the police department want to stop this. but they say with the current staff levels they say it is a low priority call.

jonathan: it shooting is a low priority? really? okay. the incident caught on video took place on private property. the dallas police are in contact with the property management agent how to secure the parking lot. alison: google and wal-mart are working together to take on amazon. the tech and the retail giants will allow the shoppers to order from wal-mart through a google assistant. basically a direct challenge to voice ordering through amazon elexa. the google express shoppers buy from wal-mart with a simple voice command. jonathan: in the meantime, amazon is a step closer to buying up whole foods. today they voted to allow the sale to go through. now it's up to federal regulators to sign off on the theory $14 billion -- the nearly $14 billion deal. alison: there are several carvings that are never visible up close like this. this is part of the restoration project. following the damaging earthq

eight pieces with the old testaments prophets were removed from the building. a couple of those from the top of the historic building 15 stories up. jonathan: wow! this it was moment that the earthquake hit six years ago to the day. we had stationary cameras but they were rocking ash. the epicenter located in virginia but felt as far north as canada. alison: harvey is churning in the gulf of mexico. it could strength on the a tropical storm. texas bracing for historic and what could be dire rain totals for that part of the country. jonathan: harvey doesn't strike me as a menacing name. normally wi

takes on a menacing tone. steve: the rain projection totals i'm about to show you, impressive. we are talking 15 to 20 inches if not more. jonathan: that is mensing. steve: a lot of rain. alison: call it whatever you want. steve: the rains will pick up. the skies are going to clear. humidity levels will drop and we are looking at the sunshine. we move through the rest of the evening hours so outdoor plans go for it. barbecues. going for a jog or taking it easy. it looks fantastic out there. 82 at dulles. 84 in manassas. 77 degrees in fredericksburg. in the mid-60's in western maryland, garrett county. stormwatch7's satellite and radar. it's try right now. however, a few showers continue to hang on to southern maryland around leonard-up to -- leonardtown area. slide to the gulf of mexico where harvey continues to

this will become quite the storm. not necessarily with the strong winds. but with a lot of rain. winds upward of 70 miles per hour. as early as 7:00 in the morning on friday. not a whole lot of time for the folks around the texas coast to prepare for this. they are used to it. when you look at the rain totals you say how do you get used to rain totals like this. houston looking at upward of 15 inches of rain. look at bay city, texas. computer models put it around 20 to 23 inches by the time this storm finally lifts on out of here. the skies will gradually clear here and stays comfortable out there. good night for the a.c. to get a rest.

tomorrow will be great. 64 in bethesda. 62 in fairfax. middleburg in the upper 50's but not for long. it will rebound with the highs of 80 degrees. going to delmarva beaches? 78 on friday. mid-70's saturday and sunday. notice what is missing. no rain to speak of. get out there and enjoy it. the ten-day outlook closer to home around 77 saturday and sunday in the district. upper 70's moving to monday of next week. added clouds by mid-week. temperatures to the upper 70's to 70's. tomorrow with a high of 80. we'll take it. jonathan: coming up next at abc7 news, meet robert lee. not the confederate general. he's been dead for a long, long time. this is the espn broadcaster that is pulled from the u.v.a. football games. that decision that some thought was fake n

coming up next. all across the region back to class and back on the bus. more folks are on the road. coming up tonight, what you need to watch out for as the students head back to scho

if you'd have told me three years ago... that we'd be downloading in seconds, what used to take... minutes. that guests would compliment our wifi. that we could video conference... and do it like that. (snaps) if you'd have told me that i could afford... a gig-speed. a gig-speed network. it's like 20 times faster than what most people have. i'd of said... i'd of said you're dreaming. dreaming! definitely dreaming. then again, dreaming is how i got this far. now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. ♪ it's twith the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides to keep you effortlessly comfortable. and snoring... does your bed do that? the new 360 smart bed is part of our biggest sale of the year where all beds are on sale. and right now save 50% on the labor day limited edition bed. plus free home delivery.

>> this has a lot of people talking. espn facing backlash af

football game in charlottesville because of his name. jonathan: the announcer's name is robert lee. not robert e. lee. robert lee. asian american who was switched to a different game. he was an announcer. lynnhill is joining us -- lindsey is joining us. why did this happen? lindsey: according to espn there were behind the scenes talking about it. according to reports the network claims it was making the decision with robert lee and they both agreed it would be best so lee wouldn't become the butt of online jokes but now that is what has happened. look at this tweet. this says espn claims this was about meme but instead they created a category five meme hurricane. small move. even calls them idiots. pitting a picture of robert lee side-by-side. one bern jokes i can rarely tell them apart. and a photo, ro

announcing a confederate versus union games. but others are lashing out at espn saying i hope he sues espn and ends up owning them. some think there is more to the story. one man says it's silly and a shame for robert lee but they were trying to avoid memes and jokes. what is the big deal with that? a lot of opinions about this today. back to you. jonathan: looking to avoid it. didn't work out. thanks. look up to the phone for a second and look out. that is the plea as thousands of children are heading back to school. the roads are packed with the kids. the safety campaign that is launching today. that is coming up next. >> a pure bred puppy on sale for half the price. i'm nathan baca. enough scam going around and "7 on your side" has the alert. alison: coming up new at 5:00, months after instituting a new digital way for residents to get the neighborhood parking passes, montgomery county is reversing course. find out why and what you will do now when i join you here at 5:00.

and impressed the boss. maybe, it's time to be your own. transform your career with strayer university's mba program today. let's get it, america. jonathan: "7 on your side" with a consumer alert. virginia attorney general says there is a rise in scams for the purebred puppies. michelle: sc

up websites claiming to sell puppies that don't exist. "7 on your side" nathan baca talked to the attorney general and shows us what we need to know before we buy a puppy. as pet owners ourselves, you know all it takes is the puppy dog eyes to break you in. nathan: it's hart-breaking to think about this. there are two websites highlighted and we are told a growing number of spans. there are red flags to spot. we will show you. treasure yorkies and marvel chihuahua are scams says attorney general mark herring. >> you send in money and the puppy never existed at all. nathan: his office is getting growing number of the complaints about these websites and others claiming to sell the purebred puppies. there are warning signs to spot. >> if it's a purebred and the cost is a lot less than other sites it should

concerns. methods like money gram or if the site insists on communicating only by e-mail. these are all warning signs. >> another warning sign, look where the websites are registered. see the dot "m.l." on the address bar? they are registered out of the african country of mali. nowhere near the virginia address the website claims. they have this advice for people looking to buy the purebred puppies. >> a legitimate breeder will have a list of people who want dogs and have a home for the dog before there is a breeding that takes place. >> if you spot one of the scams the virginia attorney general wants to hear from you. we have contact info on the website. wjla.com. initial michelle: thank you. do you have a story you want our abc7 on your side team to investigate? give us a call or send an e-mail to tips@wjla.com. turn now to the weather. boy, much cooler

yesterday. steve: it feels nicer. it's not as sticky or humid. temperatures are 85 in the reagan national airport. look at the maryland, the mountains. 66 degrees. that's like september. we have showers and nothing to impact the immediate metro area. driving and the capital beltway, home or school, camp. done with for the summer. a few showers across southern maryland. drum point looking at wet weather. prince frederick. leonardtown. beginning to clear up. the clouds will stick around for you for at least another couple of hours or so. here are the wakeup temperatures early tomorrow morning. it's almost thursday. looking at the temperatures around 67 degrees in the district. it's cooler west. ashburn and manassas. you will wake up to the upper 50's and lower 60's. for the day tomorrow. sunglasses and up is screen.

we are going to keep the trend going in the upcoming weekend. a look at the beach forecast in a few minutes. michelle? michelle: thank you. a man accused of crimes on the national mall is in trouble again. boustique first arrested july 31 after he attacked a woman near the kennedy center. now we dills covered the 26-year-old arrested a third time. police say he had a map on him of the boundaries he was ordered to stay away from. >> there are families and friends and kids that don't need to see it. >> the judge ordered him to stay behind bars. >> the safety of the metro riders is in the hand of local officials. >> they are creating a metro safety commission. they took over the a

ago. once employees are hired and settled the f.t.a. will hand off responsibilities. michelle: blind spot detectors are working. those are the vehicles that have a notification system in the side mirrors. some help you stay in lane. the features reduce crashes by more than 20%. jonathan: talk about the warning system. after labor days the maryland schools will be in session. there will be children out walking on the bus stop. >> carmen and her daughter are getting back to the

back-to-school routine. including walking to school every day. >> this is worry. is there tonight she is joining the school officials and the police to urge drivers to pay attention. as they haze out to the sidewalk and the bus stop. >> slow down with the safety of the students. it's important. >> local maryland students head back to class after labor day as the traffic starts to puck up. the first -- starts to pick up. the first day is september 6. 50,000 kids will be talking, biking or riding in a car to class. for drivers who fail to stop behind this in october the fee goes way up. >> it's $125. the ticket w

>> you are in maryland. 107 pedestrians killed. another 3300 injured. more than 500 of those involved in crashes were 15 or younger. >> in hyattsville, maryland, brianne carter, abc7 news. >> still ahead at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- three easy ways to extend the battery life on your phone. we will help you get through an entire day without changing our surf offing and app habits. >> fairfax county fire crews picked up the different tools. to give the kids in fairfax county a fresh start to a new school year. i'm amy aubert. i have the sto

jonathan: days before heading to school, they are gearing up for the big day. >> the first responders volunteer their time to mark a fresh start on the first day. >> giving back. for the kids, this is all about a fresh start. >> this makes them feel good about going to school. >> firefighter with the fairfax county fire and the rescue department picked up the different tools on wednesday. >> i put a smile on the face. that makes me appreciate what i'm doing even

>> he is giving free haircut to start the school year off right. >> i know what it means to do the children's hair for you. one less thing you have to worry about. >> it saves a lot of money that people don't have. this is wonderful. >> the kids pack the gum spring community center waiting their turn and having some fun. they gave out backpack to kids filled with school supplies. >> giving back is what it's all about. amy: in alexandria, amy aubert, abc7 news. jonathan: they have skills. good haircuts. >> they look great. don't forget to share the first day of school pictures. snap it on your phone and upload them to burst.com/wjla. watch abc7 news. we might put some on the air

we will definitely post them there. we get great pictures every year. michelle: absolutely. keep them coming. next on abc7 -- >> you are all right. you just carry on there. >> how cute is that? keep calm and carry on. the toddler take over of a british health segment. you don't want to miss this. jonathan: bring your baby to work day. plus a "7 on your side" consumer alert. three easy ways to make sure that your phone makes it through the entire day without running out of battery juice. it won't affect your daily use. no kidding. michelle: here is eileen with a first look at the back-to-school wakeup with "good morning washington." >> thanks, guys. tomorrow on "good morning washington" -- >> it's back to school for loudoun county and with 3,000 new students we are there live as they all get ready for class. >> plus, before the end-of-summer roadtrip check out the must-have travel gadgets for a smooth traffic free get away. >> and stay with us for traffic and weather every ten minutes on 4:25 a.m.

morning washington." th

countless ailments. countless hours. and guess what? you can handle it all. be a leader in your field with a bsn from strayer university. a nursing program created by and for nurses. let's get it, nurses.

someone else on frederick street. the victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. shooter and the victim knew each other. jonathan: two new arrests in connection with last week's stabbing in finland. two people were killed. six others wounded when a guy with a knife went on a complete rampage. police say they believe that the men taken in for preparing to commit a crime with terrorist intent. military personnel were out in south korea as the entire nation is taking part in the civilian evacuation drills. this is a test. the scenarios range from a bomb attack on a subway to a chemical released underground. south korea does the type of drills annually but with the recent tensions with north korea, today's drill held much more importance.

institute and the reports from the state run media arm claim he is ordering more solid fuel rocket engines and the war head tips. yesterday trump said the counterpart is starting to "respect" the u.s. this happens to all of us at some point in the week. the cell phone starts running out of juice. consumer reporter john matarese with the simple ways to ensure the phone makes it through the day so you won't waste your money. john: this happens to all of us. you run around all day sending messages and opening apps and long before you are home you get a low battery warning. we have secrets to keep it running hours longer. don't just dismiss the alert. go to low power mode or the battery saver you will disable the updates and the

and help last 20% last longer. even before you get the warning, the life hacker suggests disabling wi-fi and blue tooth. to prevent the phone getting to 20%. location services constantly run g.p.s. to find the location. those are still on while the phone is low you will say doesn't it stink? turn off fetch and location services the phone is down to 20%. never ignore a low battery warning on your phone. take action so you don't waist your money. john matarese, abc7 news. larry: i'm larry smith at the "live desk." the dangerous dash kids ar

this summer. plus meet a role model inspiring a hole neighborhood. powerball may be up to $750 million but unexpected inheritance is leaving two in the unexpected lap of luxury. see the purr-fect setup for yourself at 5:00. michelle: how far would you trust your tinder date? police in new jersey say a family dog was stolen. a woman was house sitting and invited over a man she matched with on the dating app. that is the dog. the date brought over another man and the dog vanished. so did a laptop and the amazon package as well. jonathan: you just met him and jonathan: you just met him and you let them come to the house? michelle: i wouldn't trust him with my dog. that's like my child. part of the family. jonathan: chaos

british newscast. michelle: the anchor could not control his guests who were behaving like children. >> they are right at the front of my desk. the delicious iris who will do whatever she chooses to do. >> you are all right. carry on. you stay right where you are. announced retirement from international football. michelle: you just knew this was going to go this way, right? the veteran journalist with us'ed to be interviewing the family about milk allergies but no one including the kids' mom could keep things together. jonathan: you know when you watch this, no one can pay attention to anything except for what the adorable little girl is doing. she did climb up on the desk. got up on the desk. there you go. good climber. so which is better? remember this one from march? live interview and they clothesline him. then his wife -- that is the best.

flying in. or the desk one? michelle: i go for the second one. jonathan: the kid in the roller thing, that is the best. when he comes flying in. whatever that is. the face lights up. that is my dad. michelle: the mother skating in. >> it's cooler today than yesterday. we will keep the trend going. >> people are still enjoying themselves at rehoboth beach. a few clouds out there. it will stay dry moving through the evening hours. talk about the beach forecast this weekend. ocean city, rehoboth beach

saturday and sunday. a lot of sunshine. perfect weekend. maybe you can leave early tomorrow or friday. it's 82 at dulles international airport. 78 in fredericksburg. hanging on to the 58 degrees at reagan national airport. if you are watching us in st. mary's county and you have outdoor dining plans for this evening, you might want to bring things inside. hour-by-hour forecast. 1:00 will be 79 degrees. the highs should be 80. the average for this time of the year stands at 86 degrees. a bit below average for what we normally see toward the end of august. ten-day loot if i can for stormwatch7. the next best chance for showers here and a limited chance is wednesday next week.

lower to middle 60s downtown. a great night to open up windows and let the fresh air in. >> thank you. coming up next at abc7 news -- the man behind the aces of the nationals pitching staff. mike maddux will let them explain why he is showing up to the ballpark this christmas every

jonathan: it's been a great season so far. nationals are loaded with the all-stars and leading them is coach mike maddux. what is it like to take after a crew that racked up award after award? robert burton introduces us to the coach of the week. robert: mike maddux can't complain. >> every day is christmas morning. robert: why wouldn't it be? he coaches some of the best arms in baseball, gio gonzalez, stephen strasburg and 2016 cy young winner max scherzer. do you lay in bed and say this is surreal? i can't believe this? >> when i'm laying in bed i ain't thinking of them, that is for sure. >> it's fun to show up coming to work expecting to win. that is what separates them from a lot of players.

>> you have teammates behind you. the accountability factor, you are a pitcher and when you look at the box score the next day, the win and the loss next to a pitcher's name. >> any one of the guys that you see yourself in? >> a little something in all of us, you know? we tend to cross over. that is where you connect with them. we find some common line. some common denominator that brings us closer. when you do develop relationships, make it a partnership instead of a coach/player, a partnership. we are in this thing together, i think the guys really appreciate that. i know i do. with coach of the week, i'm robert burton. larry: right now, suspicions are confirmed about a devastating fire. the cause and why nothing could have prevented it. too lenient, an accident victim family expresses outrage of a driver's sentencing. part of the argument. abc7 news reports. >> plus a dangerous place to cross. why a community has been forced to take safety

into his own hands. >> from abc7 news, this is a breaking news alert. >> that breaking news tonight out of charlottesville now where hours after statues of two confederate generals were covered with black tarp, someone has tried to cut down one of those tarps. this is covering the robert e. lee statue. and a statue of stonewall jackson was also covered earlier today. charlottesville city council voted earlier this week to cover those statues. following the violence two weeks ago. >> in the last few hours investigators confirming that lightning was to blame for the massive fire that swept through the hagerstown apartment complex last night. no one was hurt. kevin lewis is live with the new information as tenants struggle to find other places to stay. >> larry, as if the raging flames weren't bad enough,

they were further hampered by the fire hydrants that were dry. a chain link fence wraps around the apartment building. beatrice lives next door. she grabbed her purse and beloved maltese and drove a few miles away in the chrysler minivan. >> my fear it was coming here. come to the house. that is huge. >> this map provided by earth networks showing nearly 1,600 lightning strikes last evening in and around hagerstown. five bolts in the eye shot of the apartment complex. >> oh, my gosh. >> the officials confirming one bolt struck the building's roof, setting