embryonic stem cells to advance the research. back in china, tiny has already produced offspring, second and third generation and all apparently healthy and identical. >> stay with us everyone, "news4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. a fiery helicopter crash kills four people and closes down a major roadway. >> the federal government steps in after reports that circuits had been malfunctioning since 2007. pay raise. the minimum wage increases today. some say that change will hurt the economy. good morning and welcome back to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison. it's friday, july 24th, 2009. a live look outside at 5:00 in the morning. 70 degrees.

it was foggy out there this morning and hazy. we or wondering after all those storms last night if we'll get more rain today. >> i think we are. the atmosphere a little more unstable than yesterday. so the storms later on today may tckus j aus of r ycd.di fr ryur goetou fridayay s ifray friday?snd fee iy rid,da re. 68 inwashington..ington.in fdy s th e pax river.ve lpcuper and manassas down to61 drs n.67an 61 hagers down 67. forecast for to. day. s gh d humiloupghose c t90 onceo 90 grloeedes. nt we gecente i the mid to wii git wc nt tinoi p a which poin startoi srt ubto b to bubbl u apend create those e s.toowdethanrmrsun ouelr umbrhalas ready to go toumda y.th lree f aempomyn o y. drive home from work caught

thouwit their umbrella, not looking that happy about it, standing on a side in a downpour going, why didn't i listen to him. >> never fun. chuck, thank you. ashley linder with another look at the roadways. >> a lot of people were caught yesterday on the rush home in that rain as well. so it caused some big problems. prepare yourself. as you can see, springfield doing just fine right now. the headlights coming at you are continuing toward 395 where it is wide open as you make your way to and across the 14th. down 270 this morning, southbound lanes are wide open. everything is pretty quiet right now. overnight road construction that was right at route 80 in urbana is a thing of the past. all lanes are wide open for you. joe and eun, back to you. as we've been reporting a big stretch of interstate 70 remains closed this morning because of breaking news, the fiery helicopter crash in washington county, maryland, that killed all four people on board.

>> the chopper went down about 10:30 at mile marker 38. the helicopter was flying low, trying to land along the road. the was a flash of light as the helicopter slammed into a power line. it burst into flames before crashing to the grounds. >> the helicopter was completely involved in flames. at that point there was fuel spread from the helicopter that covered the interstate and so forth. initially, the fire departments were confronted with a heavy volume of fire from the helicopter itself. >> authorities haven't released the victim's identities. but the helicopter is registered to march stop aviatn in wilmington, delaware. a major development into the investigation into the deadly metro crash. the ntsp said a circuit had been malfunctioning for the past year and a half. it's supposed to prevent collisions. there had been problems since the piece of equipment was

replaced in 2007. five days before the crash, a similar piece of equipment was replaced in that same stretch of track. metro says the circuit was flickering but says the system never gave out completely. >> we have not found any failures. we're going through the wreckage to ensure there were no failures during that period of time. if we find that there were any cases where we failed to detect a train, you will hear this from us. >> investigators have not said what caused last month's crash yet. federal lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would set standards for all subway systems. among the mandates would be installing black box recorders like the ones on aircraft. starting today many americans are getting a boost in pay. the federal minimum wage is going up 70 cents an hour. >> the wage hike with affect 4.5 million americans but could also affect theost of many things

you buy. leanne gregg reports. >> reporter: lisa richards and her family own this ice cream and burger shop in indianapolis. too small to be required to pay the 70 cents an hour more for minimum wage, but she expects an impact. >> so you have a 14, 15, 16-year-old girl or young man that it's their first time job walking in the door and that's what their expectations are. >> reporter: higher wages affect more than payroll. >> when your payroll goes up, it's all relative. unemployment goes up, payroll taxes go up, insurance, everything. >> reporter: for the owner of this pizza restaurant in lake charles, louisiana, the worry is over raising prices in a recession. >> we can't absorb that type of wage increase for us. soe have to take other means. we have to raise our menu prices which is tub lick is very resistant to that. unfortunately, we have to do

that. >> reporter: mcnee state's dr. mitchell adrian. >> you either reduce the number of hours they work, reducing the number of employees or raising prices to cover the additional cost. >> speaking for experience, i don't feel sympathy for the employers. the employees make the business. this friday is a real good day for me. >> reporter: more money in the pocket for workers with customers possibly left with a bier bill. leanne gregg, nbc news. beginning today in virginia and maryland, the minimum wage will increase to $7.25. in the district it will be higher, increases to $8.25. there's very encouraging news about the housing market. sales of existing homes rose for the third month of a row in june. that hasn't happened since 2004 during the housing boom. sales rose 3.6% to the highest level since last october. the median sales price rose $7,000 from may and the number of foreclosures on the market

shrank. experts say this may be a sign the housing market has finally tirnd a corner. congress will not meet president obama's deadline on health care reform. senate majority leader harry reid delivered the word yesterday. the president wanted congress to act before the august recess. mr. obama says he's okay with the delay as long as the work does continue. the president told a crowd in ohio that he hopes congress will act before the end of this calendar year. 5:07. 68 degrees. coming up, we'll have the latest on the breaking news we've been following. the crash of a helicopter on interstate 70 near hagerstown. chuck bell is back to let us know if we can expect anymore stormy weather. why president obama took notice of a major league @ eidas

bargain t. bargain blt. ass frho ccolate friday. anmpcol vigi giving,000oupo cns5000,0oupons ry friday for good snickers, milky way,twixtwix,,r oee thr oe musketeers. >> visit realchocolate.com and enter your e-mail address and register for a chance to win. let's go to chuck bell to find out about our forecast today. chuck? >> thanks, joe and eun.

beautiful weather on the way for most of the day today. we do have a risk of showers and thunderstorms bringing much-needed rainfall back to the area. this is the last two days combined because i wanted to include the heavy rain the day before yesterday down at pax river naval air station. yesterday over 1/2 inch of rain in downtown washington. nearly an inch and a half in western fairfax, loudoun county, frederick county more than two inches of rain yesterday. finally needed showers moving back in. temperatures to get you started are mostly in the mid to upper 60s around town. highs this afternoon, mid to upper 80s with a pretty good chance of thunderstorms by later on today. as we get into the weekend, tomorrow, of course, mostly sunny, hot and humid on your saturday. don't forget your sunscreen if you're making plans to go outside and enjoy your saturday. more sun and more heat tomorrow. more needed showers coming up for today. four-day forecast coming up in just a bit. now back dn the studio. >> thanks, chuck. >> let's check in with ashley

linder to see how the roadways are shaping up. any problems out there? >> i have good news for you. i-70, the accident that occurred near the frederick-washington county line, the activity has been moved to the shoulder so both lanes are open. it would be your best interest to stick with route 40 if you're headed that way. this is the capital beltway around college park. the inner loop drivers which are headed away from us, continuing down towards the bw parkway are doing just fine. let's travel along 66 in the eastbound direction, volume very light right now. no big issues for you. eun and joe, back to you. >> thanks very much, ashley. our time is 5:12. 68 degrees. we continue to follow the breaking news this morning, the helicopter crash that had shut down for a while a major interstate in maryland. we're hearing the lanes of the highway are open. the latest on michael vick's future. there are rorts this morning he's already met with nfl commissioner robert goodell.

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helicopter crashed onto interstate 70 near hagerstown and burst into flames late last night, killing all four people on board. no vehicles on the highway were hit. i-70 in both directions was closed for most of the night but just reopened a few minutes ago. maryland senator barbara mccull ski has introduced a bill for subway trains to carry black box recorders in response to the deadly crash last month. today the federal minimum wage goes up by 70 cents. the increase will be seen in 30 states including virginia and maryland. in the district it goes up to $8.25 an hour. search warrants confirm that michael jackson's doctor is now the target of a manslaughter investigation into his death. authorities raided dr. conrad murray's clinic on wednesday. they seized a weight loss drug, a muscle relaxant and a controlled substance registration. they also seized t hard drives

and notices from the irs. authorities are looking at records from a practitioner who treated jackson. cherilyn lee says she refused to obtain diprivan while working for him. authorities had to seal the records because they were protected by law. >> basically they were coming to pick up the hard copy. i could have faxed it and none of it would have happened. >> a powerful anesthetic was found inside his home. ben roethlisberger says sexual assault allegations against him are reckless and false. >> saturday was the first that i learned of her accusations. her false and vicious allegations are an attack on my family and on me. i would never, ever force myself on a woman. >> a civil lawsuit accuses roethlisberger of sexually assaulting a casino hose tis in lake tahoe.

the suit also accuses hotel officials of working with roethlisberger to cover up the alleged assault. michael vick may be getting a second chance. sources say that commissioner roger goodell is talking with vick about returning to football. espn reports that goodell will let the former atlanta falcons quarterback attend training camp if he signs with a team. he could be suspended for the first four games of the 2009 season. he just finished serving a 23 drk month sentence for federal dogfighting charges. he is under a three-year suspended sentence for a state dogfighting conviction. the president makes congratulatory call to pitcher mark buerhle of the chicago white sox after his perfect game yesterday. it was only the 18th perfect game ever in major league history. >> what a feat. the nationals have troue in the rain. here is dan hellie with this morning's sports minute.

>> good morning everybody. your sports minute starts with the nationals. last night the guys taking on the cardinals in a makeup game. there were two rain delays in this one. all it did was delay the inevitable. the cardinals beat the nationals 4-1. and there was history in the windy city yesterday. the white sox taking on the tampa bay rays. chicago let mark buerhle throw the 18th perfect game in history. he got big time center fielder from dewayne wise who made an incredible catch at the wall to save the home run and keep the perfect game intact. the white sox beat the rays 5-0 thanks to buerhle's big day in golf, the senior british open. fred funk birdieing five of his last eight holes. funk is in first at six under par. in wnba elaine la beard had four steals in the game. the mystics win it 75-64, 8-7

heading into the all star break. the wizards signed fabricio humberto. during the 2007 and 2008 season. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great friday. in news4 your health this morning, a new stomach surgery is helping gastric bypass patients lose the weight they may have gained without the complications. >> 2001 i weighed 310 pounds. >> al freed dough wilkerson lost 162 pounds after surgery. she maintained that weight for more than six years. last year she noticed her body starting to change. >> i start my weight start creeping up in increments, 10 pounds here and 10 pounds there. it was aft the death of my husband. after a lot of emotional stress, i started picking up some bad habits and i started watching my clothes fit tighter.

i was thinking, oh, my gosh. >> she gained nearly 40 pounds despite having a surgery that made her stomach the size of a person's thumb. doctors say that's common for patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery. >> a certain percentage of patients that will over the next three or four years just continue to start gaining weight because they've lost the restriction. >> howard university hospital surgeon dr. terrance full man says if patients don't fully change their lifestyle and eat too much, either their stomach will start to expand or the connection between the stomach and intestines will stretch. when patients lose those surgical restrictions, it will cause them to gain weight, even if they eat less. the only fix is another surgery. >> with the conventional or the old way of doing it, we'd have to make an incision. you have increased chance of bleeding, you have increased chance of complications. >> reporter: but now doctors are using a minimally invasive procedure to help patients like him wilkerson, stomach fix,

helping patients avoid these complication sgls we don't have to operate io previous operated areas, so we're not dealing with scar tissue, not dealing with staple lines, not dealing with areas that potentially could either bleed or could not heal well and potentially leak. >> doctors insert this long tube down the throat into the stomach. using tools attached to the tube, they're able to tighten the stomach area, fixing the part that's stretched too much. it's been two weeks since al freda underwent the procedure. she says she's already lost ten pounds. she's had a sore throat and gas pain after the surgery, but she felt better within faw days. >> starting to lose again, it gives you that hope again. it gives you that spirit of, like, okay, i can do this. i can conquer this weight loss demon. >> amazing story.

our time is 5:21. 68 degrees. time for traffic and weather on the ones right now. let's check in with meteorologist chuck bell in storm center 4 with the forecast. >> good morning once again. happy friday everybody. the weekend is nearly here. you can almost taste it. outside righ now on the regional doppler, you can see a couple of showers down towards tidewater regions. generally dry conditions across the washington area right now. that won't last long. a pretty good chance for showers and thunderstorms later this afternoon. current temperature 68 in town, 70 in annapolis, 66 in frederick, maryland. 63 in martinsburg and winchester and front royal. 61 in manassas this morning. today's high 87, a 60% chance of thunderstorms today. you'd be wise to have the umbrellas close at hand. planity of sunshine, hot and dry for tomorrow with saturday's high near 92. sunday another risk of thunderstorms, primarily late afternoon and evening time frame. most of sunday i think will be a decent outdoor day. another chance of an afternoon shower on monday with a high near 87.

then standard summertime weather returns as we get into the middle parts of next week. highs near 90 and lows in the 70s. ashley linder, how is the friday morning commute? >> if you're trying to get out of dodge right now, a great time to do so. the people on the roadways are doing just fine. this is the capital beltway at route 50. inner loop will be headed towards us. elsewhere around town is pretty quiet. the earlier issuen i-70 has been mildly resolved. the roadway itself has been reopened. as you make your way near the frederick, washington county line. if you're taking route 40 which a lot of people are, we've got that bogged down with bailout traffic already at this early hour. joe and eun, back to you. >> time is 5:23. 68 degrees. in space astronauts are getting ready for another space walk. we'll look at what is on the agenda for today. a big honor for the commonwealth of virginia. we'll take a look at why the state is being called the best for businesses. here is your liz on the

money money saving tip of the day. college students need to know as much about money as their parents. here are a couple of tips. learn the art of the cheap date. take advantage of mother nature. go for a cup of coffee instead a meal. use city search to track down inexpensive activities and attend campus çx

astronauts on the space shuttle "endeavour" are getting ready for another space walk today. the crew will finish swapping out the batteries that power the international space station. they began the job yesterday but had to cut the space walk short because of a problem with one of the astronaut's space suits. this is the fourth of five space walks scheduled for the mission. "endeavor" is supposed to return to earth on july 31st. the founder of cirque du soleil has booked a trip to space, shelling out a report $35 million to cash a re on the russian spacecraft. he says he'll be like a kid in a candy store and plans to experiment with soozero gravity space. the he was a former stilt walker and fire either. go all the way to space to keep your interest going. after eating fire, what else are

you going to do. >> coming up in the next half hour of "news4 today," we'll have the latest on the helicopter crash near h hagerstown. the fiery crash killed four and is still affecting traffic. a t-shirt advocating gay rights may have prompted vandals. we

investigators will try to figure out ifeavy rain and low

visibility played a part in last night's deadly helicopter crash near hagerstown. mayors, state legislate tours arrested in an investigation involving stolen organs, laundered money and thousands in bribes. last night's storm sends a bethesda golfer to the hospital. good morning to you. welcome to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs on this friday, 24th day of july. >> i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison. a live look outside at 5:31. 68 degrees. it was foggy this morning. lots of clouds overhead. do we have some storms last night. >> chuck, going to have any relief today? >> we are going to have another chance for thunderstorms across the area for today, eun and joe. good morning everybody. off to a fairly nice start on our friday morning.

temperatures outside have cooled into the upper 50s in a few lucky spots like culpepper, virginia, manassas at 61. burke and falls church and fairfax city all in the mid 60s this morning. damascus and lay tonsville in the low to mid 60s. upper 60s here in town. 70 by the beautiful chesapeake bay. a little bit of sunshine now will destabilize things later this afternoon. as a result we will face the threat once again of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. the atmosphere is a little more unstable today than it was yesterday. what storms do fire up this afternoon could be a little bit stronger than yesterday. be very weather aware. keep an eye to the sky. remember the old rule of thumb. the minute you hear thunder, it is time to go indoors, don't go outdoors until 30 minutes after the last rumble. another check of the weekend forecast. beach and boating weather coming up in a few more minutes. back down to you guys. >> let's check in with ashley linder to see if there are any problems on the roadways.

ashley, good morning. >> things are actually in pretty good shape right now. the issue we're dealing with on i-70 is affecting traffic. not directly. the lanes itself are open on i-70. route 40 have slow with bailout traffic. it would still be in your best interest to stick with 40 as an alternative. the beltway in new hampshire, the outer loob is cruising by making its way toward silver spring. if y're taking a trip, let's see, along 66, we're in pretty good shape there, no big issues to speak of. volume is light at this hour. joe and eun, back to you. >> ashley, thanks very much. as we have been reporting the travel lanes of interstate 70 have reopened after a helicopter crash that killed four people in washington county, maryland. >> the chopper went down around 10:30 near the frederick county line. witnesses say the helicopter slammed into a power line before bursting into flames. megan mcgrath joins us with the latest. good morning, megan.

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>> thanks, megan. we're learning more about the prosecution's case against the d.c. mother accused of killing her four children. two witnesses testified in the trial of bonita jacks after u.s. marshals found the decomposing daughters of her four daughters in her southeast d.c. home. a forensic anthropologist testified that jack's teenage daughter was stabbed three times in the stomach. he said the younger daughters were probably strangled. also an insect expert testified that based on t bugs found in jack's home, the girls were dead at least two months, perhaps even longer. the wife of a former prince george's county police corporal convicted of killing a furniture delivery man wants a new trial for her husband. keith washington is serving 45 years for killing furniture delivery man brandon clark and wounding his co-worker. the shooting happened at washington's home in january 2007.

his wife says new evidence that surfaced during a cil trial cast doubt on the credibility of the shooting survivor, robert white. >> he admits himself that much of his testimony in the criminal trial, statements that he made in the criminal trial were not true. i and my daughter are both downstairs. my husband is upstairs with him. he sees one of the men coming out of my daughter's bedroom and asks them t leave the house. they did not. instead, they attacked him. >> prince george's county lead prosecutor says a retired judge -- a retired judge rather reviewed washington's case and concluded a new trial was not appropriate. a t-shirt advocating gay rights may have prompted vandals to smash out a store window in silver spring. this happened at the american apparel store on colesville road. the t-shirt bears the words "legalize gay and repeal prop 8 now" referring to the california measure banning same-sex

marriage. a spokesperson says they've also received threatening phone calls from people upset over the company's support of gay marriage. >> it's not right. it's not right. if someone chooses to put that in their shop, their choice. >> i think it's horrible in this day and age. that shouldn't happen. >> it's not fair to them, you know. they're supporting gay, whatever. they should be able to do that. >> montgomery county police say they're investigating the vandalism and will determine whether this was a hate crime. 5:38, 68 degrees. last night's storm turned dangerous quickly. we'll take a look at some of the problems it caused. >> and why virginia is for businessitay w.h us it w h us.

heres da toy's news4to s4 llrou sme summer photos photos. o1200in f1200 f tbcinwa n.cgtshndomon go to nbcwashington.com and search bargain blast for more information. 5:41 is your time now. that means time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> here is chuck bell in for tom kierein this morning. >> good friday morning everybody. the sun is up already out there. doing its thing. beautiful day on the way. actually i misspoke, the sun does not come um until 6:02. it looks like the sun is up because our skies have brightened so much. temperatures in the mid 60s in

the western suburbs, 68 in downtown washington. here is your forecast for your friday. partly sunny. warm and humid today. thunderstorms likely again this ternoon. much like they were yesterday. high temperaturesid to upper 80s. indeed a very warm one coming up. tomorrow, sunny, hot and humid. ties tomorrow into the low 90s in many spots. saturday is looking dry because friday may be on the stormy side. how about the roads, ashley? >> as we travel around town, this is 95 out of springfield, doing just fine. we do actually have an accident. but for this camera shot, 95 headed northbound after 7100 newington, left lane blocked. we are starting to pick up the pace as you continue toward 395. 81 headed northbound, there was a shrew of tractor trailer accidents over the evening hours. so what's happening right now is northbound traffic is diverted at woodstock and get back onto 81 after there are a handful of wrecks on this roadway. use some caution and follow police direction. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks very much.

our time right now is 5:42. 68 degrees. coming up -- i'm tracee wilkins, the ntsb is still looking into the cause of last month's crash on metro. meanwhile they're finding more problems. we'll have a live report. plus the police officer criticized by president obama for arresting a black harvard professor says he will not apologize. the latest on the breing news b

it is now 5:45, i-70 near hagerstown is reopened after last night's helicopter crash that filled four people. police reopened the highway just after 5:00 this morning. today the federal minimum wage will increase by 70 cents. the increase will be seen in 30 states including virginia and

maryland. in the district the minimum wage goes up to $8.25 an hour. only the 18th time it happened in major league history. a perfect game. mark buerhle of the chicago white sox didn't allow a hit or walk in a 5-0 victory over the rays. president obama called the pitcher last night to congratulate him. this morning new details in the investigation of last night's deadly metrorail crash. the ntsb says the signaling system has been malfunctioning since late 2007. that problem may have led to the metro crash that killed nine people. news4 tracee wilkins joins us with details. tracee, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the ntsb is continuing their investigation. they have not figured out the cause of last month's accident. in the meantime they're finding more problems. more problems are being detected on metro. one month after the accident that killed nine people on the red line. investigators with the national

transportation safety board are continuing to focus on the circuit that senses trains on the tracks, stops them and runs them in automatic mode mtd. investigators are report a malfunction. now they found another bond replaced in 2007 also had what they're calling power fluctuations or anomalies over an 18-month period. officials say the problem was not so bad that the circuit couldn't detect trains. >> we have not found any failures. we're going through the wreckage to ensure there were no failures during that period of time. if we find that there were any cases where we failed to detect the train, you will hear this from us. >> reporter: the ntsb has asked metro to produce records for the past 18 months to see if the fluctuations were missed by operators.

m if any anomalies are found, they're investigated. >> for all the money we spend on metro, they should be doing their job. everything should be running smoothly. why should they wait for accidents to happen. >> reporter: capitol hill is getting involved, introducing legislation to toughen inspections on subway systems. >> part of it is having vehicles that can we stand crashes. some of it is the black box, so we know what happens in the event of a collision. >> reporter: the way metro is set up right now, these anomalies are found after the fact when they do the research. but the good news is the metro officials are saying they think they have found a vendor that can help them come up with a realtime system that can actually monitor these kinds of mistakes as the trains are opinion rath. that's what the ntsb has asked metro to do. i'm tracee wilkins, live atta coma station. back to you in the studio. >> thanks, tracee. transportation officials in the district say drivers will

notice a change in the traffic pattern, it will affect outbound traffic from the city into arlington. work crews will adjust the construction barriers and restripe the roadway to create a separate lane for traffic turning onto route 123. currently traffic turning on to 123 heading on to gleeb road share a single lane. these changes are part of the on going chain bdge project that began last month. an investigation into black market kidneys and counterfeit hand bags led to a sweeping corruption probe in new jersey. 40 people were arrested yesterday including three mayors, two state lawmakers and several rabbis. federal prosecutors say the investigation initially focused on a moneyaundering network that operated between the u.s. and industrial. one of the suspects trafficked in black market human kidneys. >> the list of people we arrested sounds like a roster of a meeting for community leader they weren't meeting in a board room this morning. they were in the fbi booking

room. >> the arrested include public officials from four counties. the fbi says many officials are on tape taking cash payoffs from an fbi-cooperating witness who posed as a developer. the white police sergeant criticized by president obama for arresting a black harvard professor says he did nothing wrong. henry lewis gates junior was arrested after someone reported someone may be breaking into the scholar's home. james crowley is a police academy experts on racial profiling. president obama criticized the incident when asked about it at this week's news conference. >> i think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. number two, that the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> if he had so said at the beginning of the press conference, he didn't know all the facts. he certainly doesn't based on

those comments. >> the president stood by his comments yesterday afternoon. cambridge's police chief said he is creating an independent panel now to review the entire incident. a golf instructor is recovering after he was injured during a lightning strike at congressional country club in bethesda. it happened yesterday afternoon as storms swept through parts of our area. witnesses say the man was heading indoors to escape a storm when the lightning hit. he was not directly struck and was conscious and breathing when he was taken to the hospital. our time right now is 5:51. time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> meteorologist chuck bell is here, he's got the forecast for us. i would imagine when there's lightning you want to head indoors right away. >> the minute you hear thunder, that is time. >> he was doing the right thing. at least he was heading indoors. any time you hear thunder, it is time to seek safe shelter. no doubt about it. and you should stay indoors until 30 minutes after you hear the last rumble. that's the best rule of thumb. stay inside 30 minutes after the thunder has ended.

outside, a beautiful friday morning in washington. looks like summer, feels like summer outside. temperatures are mid 60s in most of our suburbs to near 70 near the chesapeake bay. current temperatures 68 degrees here in town. 64 at dulles airport. yesterday we picked up just about 1/2 inch of rain in downtown washington. we now have 82/100 of an inch for the entire month of july. still tied in first place for the driest july on record, tied with 1872 for the driest july on record. more rain in other locations yesterday. an inch and a half in western fairfax county. more than two inches in frederick, maryland. so where these thunderstorms landed, you picked up an awful lot of rain. here is a check of doppler right now, no rain around the area. we're off to a dry start on our friday morning. little broader view. there are thunderstorms going down through tidewater regions of virginia and light sprinkles

across the west virginia mountains. these sprinkles are associated with an upper level impulse coming our way. it will generate more thunderstorms later this afternoon. today we'll have a wider coverage and a little stronger punch to the storms. be weather aware as you make your plans to go out and enjoy your friday afternoon. the main storm is headed into portions of eastern new england, pulling away. a weather boundary dragging down in our area. a steamy start and a stormy finish to our friday afternoon. just like yesterday, we will have a chance for frequent lightning and gusty winds inside of these individual thunderstorms. there they go to about 8:00, 9:00 this evening, fade out overnight tonight. most of tomorrow looks sunny, hot and dry with highs up into the low 90s. our next better chance for thunderstorms shows up as we get into late sunday afternoon and sunday evening. keep that in mind. tomorrow will be the better outdoor weather day. for today, partly sunny. warm and humid. thunderstorms likely this afternoon. highs mid to upper 80s. again, any of those storms could

reach severe limits. stay weather aware. highs today 87, tomorrow's high 92. not much of a chance for rain tomorrow. that is welco news. 50% chance of late afternoon thunderstorms on sunday. most of your sunday morning things will be dry. another outse achelceant a passing shers as we get into monday. next week,ypalicce julyhe atwer. chance most days, but incha n c come on thursday. if you're headed outo cac k s, i beaches, i know some people are hinking about going to thedayn th ist eri f iyn the summertime. highs in the 80s this weekend, maybe a chance of a shower at the beaches on sday a well. i think on the whole, a good beach weekend. but don't forget your sunscreen. uv index is very high this time of year. you'll burn. >> thank you, chuck. >> rain at the beach on sunday and all next week. >> terrible. >> just going to be miserable. >> i wouldn't even go. >> i can bring sunshine wherever i go. there you go. >> ain't that the truth. >> let's go to ashley linder at

the news4 traffic network. i'll keep the good times rolling. we've got good news on the roadways. things in pretty good shape right now. this is a look at springfield. those headlights starting to the get a little bit -- there's a lot of them northbound continuing towards 395. still working the accident 95 northbound after newington. that's been moved to the right shoulder. no longer affecting the travel portion of the roadway. here we go. they just moved my camera. but that is the issue that's going on at georgia headed southbound at pliers mill. that one is pretty tight there. eun and joe, back to you. >> thanks, ashley. now to the money crisis and a look at how foreign markets are doing today. asian stock markets climbed today as economic data in company earnings reinforced confidence that a recovery from the global recession is under way. japan's nikkei stock average was up 134 points. the dow gained nearly 194 points to close at 9069, the first close above 9,000 since january

the 6th, and the highest close since november 5th. a week of upbeat earnings reports and forecasts from companies that include intel and caterpillar helped to push the stocks higher as well as home sales number. cnbc is out with its list of top states. virginia grabbed the top honors for the second time in three years. the quality of workforce, cost of doing business and support for innovation. c nfrnlt cnbc also cited virginia's reasonable tax rates. despite the recession, virginia has at tracted $6.5 billion in investment and created more than 30,000 news jobs. new fo drsob for you this morning. looking for the best nurs s seoklofog ane dbestthurses and health care profs.siuralon ou y'rifeal interested go to nbcwashington.com and search jobs 4 you. if you plan to catch a movie this weekend, reviewers are suggesting there's something for almost everyone.

opposites attract in "the ugly truth." katherine heigl plays a morning tv producer holding out for that perfect guy. anyone by gerard butler, the new host she's forced to work with. "the ugly truth" is rated r. a couple coping with the tragic lops of their unborn child decide to adopt in the thriller called "orphan." is beth thurman plays esther. almost as soon as they welcome her into her home, things don't go so well. "orphan" is rated r. quit spinning child. any time you see a spinning child, you know there's trouble. mix mission impossible and alvin and the chip monks and you get a new disney pick called "g force," ginny pigs trained as a covert espionage team. you can catch it in 3d in many theaters. it's rated pg. >> silly. stim ahead, breaking news, a

hell k helicopter crashes along a major maryland interstate killing everyone on board. we're talkg about the threg (bell ringing) woo-hoo!!!! woo-hoo!!!! woo-hoo!!!! woo-hoo!!!! kobak. mr. miller (announcer) everyone's heading to arby's

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breaking news, a helicopter crashes and bursts into flames, shutting down a major maryland interstate for much of the overnight period. we're live on the scene with details on how this is still affecting morning traffic. >> changing course. there's major recommendations following the deadly metro crash along the red line. what federal investigators are now calling for along the rails. payday. many americans are getting a raise. how much the minimum wage is going up and why not everyone is happy about the hike. good morning and welcome back to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> good morning. i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today. friday, july 24th, 2009.

a look outside right now at 6:00 in the morning. 68 degrees. beautiful sky as the sun starts to come up. >> that's right. 6:02 is sunrise this morning. moments away literally. >> you can see t tinge of ck goodoo. ngissu e.nrki off to a fairlykium id ht.arum everybodwhnto y oswa o g t ety and get their morningog in, g jorooog in, goodth worerea f .tth a little on the d th 71 in ann. eg d i64esreon mner nt degrees in montgeregou cy, .. county.tyco.n re fcafoorstto day, pyartl mynn su my,oid to uppers.id y ye'dance of thunderstorms foru b would say you'd be better off to have your umbrella than to not have your umbrella. >> now to ashley linder to take a look at the roadways. things are pretty manageable. this is the dulles toll road and 28 running along the bottom o side of your screen. volume is pretty light.

you can't see it because it's under my name. i promise it's looking fine. let's take a trip down the 66 corridor. nothing going on. pretty quiet right now. volume at a manageable pace. inside the beltway the pace is just fine. we have traffic signals dark at the following intersection, new york avenue at florida northeast, they've set up temporary stop signs there. route 4 in marlboro pike, they're flashing. use some caution there. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks very much, ashley. some people in our area are cleaning up from yesterday's dangerous weather. in virginia it caused flooding on route 110 near the pentagon. high water in the tunnel under scott circle. in maryland a golfer is recovering after being injured during a lightning strike at congressional country club in bethesda. back to the breaking news we've been covering all morning long. a civilian helicopter crashes on a highway killing everyone on board. this morning investigators are trying to determine what caused that helicopter to go down.

>> the crash happened west of washington county, frederick county near hagerstown yesterday. it went down in the eastbound lanes of interstate 70 and burst into flames. troopers had to shut down the highway in both directions but reopened them lace than an hour ago. news4's megan mcgrath is live near i-70. >> it was a little before 5:30 this morning when they reopened the interstate, i-70 in both directions that had been closed all night long as part of the crash investigation here. we're told by police that this was afour-seater helicopter, a civilian aircraft, not a medevac, not a military helicopter involved if this crash. there were four people on board at the time. all four died. it happened at about 10:25 last night. the trop per got into trouble around mile marker 37, east of hagerstown near smithsburg, maryland, got tangled into power lines that run along the roadway and crashed at the edge of the

center median on the eastbound side of i-70 near the fast lane. the helicopters burst into flames on impact. >> at that point the helicopter was completely involved in flames. at that point there was some fuel spread from the helicopter that occurred -- that covered the interstate and so forth. initially, the fire departments were confronted with a heavy volume of fire from the helicopter itself. >> reporter: no information at this point on where the helicopter was coming from, where it was going or who the four people on board were. we're hoping to learn that later on this morning. there was also heavy rain and fog in the area at the time that may have been a factor as well. back to you all. >> megan mcgrath reporting live. thanks. a major development into the investigation into the deadly metro crash. the ntsb says a nearby track circuit had been malfunctioning for a past year and a half. the system is supposed to prevent collisions by detecting the presence of trains on the track. investigators say there had been problems since a piece of

equipment was replaced in 2007. five days before the crash, a similar piece of equipment was replaced in that same stretch of track. metro says the circuit wasayske never gave out completely. >> we've not found any failures. we're going through the wreckage to ensure there were no failures during that period of time. if we find that there were any cases where we failed to detect a train, you will hear this from us. investigators haven't said what caused last month's crash. lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would set standards for l subway systems. among the mandates, installing black box recorders like the ones on airplanes. to the money crisis now. a big rally on wall street yesterday. could the market's slow rise be offering a glimmer of hope for an up turn? >> the dow jones industrial average is expected to open today at its highest level since november. the dow gained nearly 190 points yesterday to close at 9,079.

this is the first close above 9,000 since january 6th and the highest close since november of last year. brooke hart is following all this and what it means from c capitol hill. good morning, brook. >> reporter: good morning. specifically what it means for the health care debate raging on capitol hill. the president will meet with top democrats as they confirmed there will not be a vote in august. republicans see that delay as a win for an economic rebound. republicans are sayinghat the economy and health care are separate issues which is directly contradicting what the president has been saying. he did last night at a fund-raiser in chicago. >> reporter: the news drove the dow over the 9,000 mark for the first time since january. home sales are up for a third straight month. a string of earnings reports came in strong, even ford out did expectations. is it a sign of a turn-around. >> i'mrom chicago.

i don't break. >> reporter: president obama last night sounded bullish. but he said a full recovery and health care reform go hand in hand. >> we have to lay a new foundation that will allow the united states of america to thrive and compete in a global economy. it means finally controlling the health care costs that are driving this nation into deb >> the senate's top republican says nonsense. >> and the assumption that doing health care is going to help the economy which the president has been selling is utter nonsense. it's a whole separate issue. >> reporter: negotiators in the senate claim progress in winning over skeptical democrats. west virginia's rockefeller, for one, is against the insurance co-op idea that could win gop votes. >> it is the most honest, really down-in-the-trenches trading of views that we've had. >> reporter: senate leaders now

say no vote in august. that was the president's deadline. >> that's okay. i just won't people to keep on working. >> reporter: critics know timing affects the bill. >> postponing the health care legislation likely means a mover limited program and a program that less changes that status quo. >> reporter: not the big health care change president obama says families, businesses and the nation's economy need. today the obama economic team, geithner, bernanke and bear testify. that's one initiative along with climate change that is on hold while lawmakers sort out where the health care debate will lead. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks very much. today space shuttle "endeavour" ventures out for another space walk. the crew will swap out the last four batteries that provide power to the station station. they'll install a camera on japan's $1 billion space station lab.

"endeavor" creigh is scheduled to return to the kennedy space center on july 31st. big news surrounding former nfl star michael vick and whether or not he'll be able to return to professional football. the person now the starth of a manslaughter investigation in the death of pop star michael jackson. >> what's behind the federal investigation involving politicians, rabbis and body .

good friday morning. i'm news4 meteorologist chuck bell. beautiful friday under way. sun kaems up a few minutes ago inur eastern sky. good looking day to be on the outside today, especially first thing this morning before the afternoon showers and thunderstorms bubble up once again. 68 in washington, 66 in frederick, maryland, 65 in gaithersburg this morning. 64 degrees in front royal, virginia. there's your forecast today. pretty good chance of thunderstorms later this afternoon. in fact, a 60% chance. more lely than not you'll get wet today. tomorrow we get the payoff pitch, sunny, hot and humid. tomorrow's high 92. be ready for a hot one. back down to the news. >> let's check in with ashley lipider to get an idea how it's looking on the roadways. good morning. >> good morning. things off to a relatively quiet start. let's take a look at the capital beltway here at new hampshire avenue, outer loop traffic doing its thing just fine making its way toward silver spring, not a lot of volume to deal with.

indian head highway southbound after barry road, accident on the left side. activity on the right side northbound, a lot of debris in the roadway. use caution through that stretch. joe and eun, back to you. >> ashley, thanks a lot. time is 6:13, 68 degrees, mayors, rabbis, body parts and money laundering, the federal investigation you may find hard to believe. many americans are going to get a raise. at 6:15, how much minimum wage es going up and why not everyon is hpy about the hike.ñññc

our time right now is 6:15. updating the top stories in the "news4 today." interstate 70 is reopened after a deadly helicopter crash. four people were killed when a civilian chopper went down. authorities say the chopper hit power lines and caught fire in the air before crash together the ground. investigators say a track circuit has been malfunctioning for a year and a half before that deadly metro crash. they say the problems surfaced after a piece of equipment was replaced back in 2007. metro says there were blips in the circuit, but that the system never completely failed. sarah palin is entering her final hours as governor of alaska.

her resignation takes effect on sunday. palin decited mounting legal bills and mounting ethics instigations for why she's stepping down. in this tough economy and the day in and day out of bad news, it's encouraging to report something positive. today many americans are getting a pay boost because the minimum wage went up. some economists say it could make the recession worst. leanne gregg is following what's happening today. >> lisa richards and her family own this ice cream and burger shop in indianapolis. too small to be required to pay the 70 cents an hour more more minimum wage, but she expects an impact. >> you have a 14, 15, 16-year-old girl or young man that it's their first time job walking in the door, that's what their expectations are. >> reporter: higher wages affect more than payroll. >> when your payroll goes up, it's all relative. unemployment goes up, payroll taxes go up, insurance goes up.

everything. >> reporter: for the owner of this pizza restaurant in lake charles, louisiana, the worry is over raising prices in a recession. >> we can't absorb that type of wage increase for us. so we have to take other means. we have to raise our menu prices which you know the public is very resistant to that. unfortunately we have to do that. >> reporter: mcknee state university dean of business, dr. mitchell adrian. >> you have to come to the conclusion of either reducing the number of hours they work, reducing the number of employees or raising the prices to cover the additional cost. >> speaking from the experience, no, i don't feel sympathy for the employers. employees make the business. >> reporter: employees say it's about time. >> this friday is a real good day for me. >> reporter: more money in the pocket for workers with customers possibly left with a bigger bill. leanne gregg, nbc news. here is a look at the minimum wages in our area. in virginia and maryland the minimum wage becomes $7.25.

in the district it will increase to $8.25. joe? new jersey's governor calls it corruption on an outrageous scale. more than 40 people arrested in a major bust including public officials and religious leaders. three mayors were among those arrested, so were two state lawmakers and several rabbis. federal prosecutors say the investigation initially focused on a money laundering network that operated between the united states and industrial. one of the suspects trafficked in black market human kidneys. >> list of people we arrested sounds like it should be the roster for a meeting of community leaders, but sadly they weren't meeting in a board room this morning. they were in the fbi booking room. >> the arrested include public officials from four counties. the fbi says many officials are on tape taking cash pay from an fbi cooperating witness who posed1é as a developer. friends an colleagues of the police sergeant accused of

racial profiling in the arrest of a harvard professor are speaking out on his half. they say sergeant james crowley is being unfairly characterized as a racist. he's an expert on racial profiling. he arrested professor henry gates junior last week after a neighbor report a suspected break-in at the scholar's home. the sergeant says gates provoked him. gates is demanding an apology and says he may sue the cambridge police department. police purg steelers quarterback ben roethlisberger says the sexual allegations against him are false. >> saturday is the first i learned of her accusations. her false and vicious allegations are an attack on my family and on me. i would never, ever force myself on a woman. >> a civil lawsuit accuses roethlisberger of sexually assaulting a casino hostess in lake tahoe.

the suit also accuses hotel officials of working with roethlisberger of trying to cover up the alleged assault. >> suspended nfl quarterback michael vick wants to get back in the 'em ga. sources say the former atlanta falcons star is talking with the nfl. espn is reporting nfl commissioner goodell may let him attend training camp. he could be suspended for the first four games of the 2009 season. vick finished serving a sentence on dogfighting charges. he will remain on probation for three years and is under a three-year suspended sentence for a state dogfighting commission. the president made a congratulatory phone call to pitcher mike buerhle after he pitched a perfect game. this is only the 18th perfect game in major league history. >> very cool. the nationals have trouble in the rain. here is dan hellie with this morning's sports minute. >> good morning everybody. your sports minute starts with the nationals. last night the guys taking on the cardinals in a makeup game.

there were two rain delays in this one. all it did was delay the inevitable. the cardinals beat the nationals 4-1. and there was history in the windy city yesterday. the white sox taking on the tampa bay rays. chicago lefty mark buerhle threw the 18th perfect game in big league history. he got big time center fielder om dewayne wise whmade an incredible catch at the wall to save the home run and keep the perfect game intact. the white sox beat the rays 5-0 thanks to buerhle's big day. in golf, the senior british open. takoma park native fred funk birdied five of his last eight holes. funk is in first at six under par. in wnba alana beard had four steals in the game. the mystics win it 75-64, 8-7 heading into the all-star break. the wizards signed fabricio oberto.

he started 11 games f the spurs last year and 64 for san antonio during the 2007 and 2008 season. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great friday. time again for traffic and weather right now. >> let's check in with meteorologist chuck bell in storm center 4 with our forecast. good morning, chuck. beautiful day outside. off to a steamy start in the washington area, typical for july in washington. the the sun is up in our eastern sky. plenty of cloud cover out there to dim it out just a little bit. here is a check of doppler. you can see just a few lonely sprinkles in the west virgin mountains. that's indicative of what's coming our way for later this afternoon. be weather aware as you make your friday afternoon plans. temperatures in the 60s to get us started except alongside the bay. here is the forecast as we go through the weekend. today, 87 for a hichlt but 60% chance of thunderstorms later this afternoon. some of them coupled very well reach severe limits. keep a weather aye to the sky.

92 and dry for saturday. 90 with a chance of a late afternoon and evening thunderstorm on sunday. monday another chance for a passing shower. as we get into the middle part of next week, highs near 90. lows in the low 70s. at least another passing shower thunderstorm chance as we get into the middle of next week. looks like a good weekend, eun and joe. >> thanks very much. >> let's check in with ashley linder to get an update on the roadways. any problems right now? >> things are in pretty good shape. heading out of the district, connecticut avenue northbound at woodley road, a tree down in the roadway. this is right by the zoo. the right lane is blocked there. we have traffic signals dark all over the place, 9th and m, not working correctly there. the ishl you is going on as you make your way traveling on new york avenue as florida. springfield pretty quiet, 95 corridor and 395 also in good shape. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks very much, ashley. 6:23, 68 degrees. a local university is getting involved in finding a vaccine for the swine flu.

more questions surrounding the death investigation of michael jackson as the high profile figure becomes the target of manslaughter charges. jon gosselin and his dating life following his public breaku gó

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maybe it should called jon and kate plus hate. i don't know. the soon-to-be divorced star is making headlines. seem jon gosselin may have a new girl friend, this time tabloid reporter kate major. she told "star" magazine she went to do a story on jon and ended up falling for him. is news to jon's 23-year-old girlfriend hailly glass man. she knew jon and major were hanging out in the hamptons together. she didn't realize the trip may have turned rontic. awe. this morning we're learning new details in the investigation into michael jackson's death. search warrants confirm the case has now turned into a manslaughter investigation targeting the pop star's doctor. authorities raided dr. conrad murray's clinic on wednesday. they seized a weight loss drug, a muscle relaxant and a controlled substance registration. they also seized two hard drives and notices from the irs. the corer is waiting on a

toxicology report to determine how jackson died. a powerful anesthetic was found inside his home. 6:27, 68 degrees. what meteorologist is saying about another threat of severe weather. live on the scene of breaking news after a helicopter crashes along a major maryland interstate. the new recommendations for ñçgñññw>>>>ñ>ñ>>ú

breaking news. a helicopter cshes and bursts into flames shutting down a major maryland interstate highway overnight. we're live on the scene with details and how this is still affecting traffic this morning. a new direction. there's major recommendations following that deadly metro crash along the red line. what federal investigators are now calling for along the rails. good morning and welcome

back to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison. we'll take a live look outside right now at 6:30, 68 degrees. sun is up in the sky. beautiful out there. still a little muggy i can imagine. it was foggy and sticky this morning. >> looks like another summer day on the way. >> absolutely right. looks like summer, feels like summer. a lot of people love this time of year for this very reason. they swear that the humidity is good for their skin. >> i think it is not good for the hair. no . ood for the hair good for the hair. rennru a rs tpeni ralngun rssonal running t ihu oue, d wree go, 6inwagtshonin, a axre desifuteaul re deseg alitrp ri rve p riveravtaal nti s ionnut beaulif st. mary's county. ulll per per down to 57 degrees. martinsburg, the panhandle of v niwestemirgi ta,peratures around the 60egree mark.

anothee cnchaf o t thunderstorm later this afternn. the atmosphere is a little bit more unstable than yesterday. the storms we fire up today, a little more numerous. i think they'll have a little more of a punch. take yourather awar lightning safety precautions very seriously. when you hear thunder, move for safe cover immediately. stay in door for 30 minutes after your last rumble. >> good advice. let's go to ashley linder and the news4 traffic network. ashley? >> good morning. here we're looking at 95 as you make your waysouthbound. headlights are northbound. we've got volume to speak of just after 7100, an accident on the right shoulder. we have delays on the prince william parkway. hov are slow norton through newington. along the 270 corridor, volume is light. not a problem. joe and eun, back to you. some people yesterday are cleaning up from dangerous weather. in virginia it caused flooding. in d.c., high water in the

tunnel under scott circle. in maryland a golfer is recovering after he was injured in a lightning strike at congressional country club in bethesda. breaking news now. a commercial helicopter crashes on a maryland highway killing everyone on board. this morning investigators are trying to determine exactly what caused that chopper to go down. the crash happened west of the washington county, frederick county line near hagerstown yesterday, last evening at about 10:30. troopers had shut down the highway in both directions, but reopened them earlier this morning. >> news4's megan mcgrath is live along i-70 in hagerstown with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the lanes of i-70 were reopened a little after 5:00 this morning. if you take a look behind me here, you can s the eastbound side of i-70 on that overpass, we see that traffic is running at speed both sides. so both directions on i-70 you

should be just fine this morning. they reopened them a little after 5:00 this morning. we are told by police that this was a four-seater helicopter, a commercial civilian aircraft. it is not a medevac helicopter. police say that there were four people on board at the time of the crash. all four died. this happened at about 10:25 last night. the chopper got into trouble around mile marker 37. that's east of hagerstown near the smithsburg, maryland, area. apparently the chopper got tangled up in power lines, crashed at the edge of the center median on the eastbound side of i-70 near the fast lane. the helicopter then burst into flames. >> at that point the helicopter was completely involved in flames. at that point there was some fuel spread from the helicopter that occurred -- that covered the interstate and so forth. initially, like i say, the fire departments were confronted with a heavy volume of fire from the helicopters itself.

there was heavy rain and fog in the area at the time of the crash, not sure if that played a role in this. no word on where the helicopter left from, where they were going or who the four people on board are. we'll get an update from the ntsb later this morning. >> megan mcgrath, thank you very much. he was convicted of killing a furniture delivery man. the wife of the former corporal wants a new trial. keith washington is serving 45 years in prison for killing furniture delivery man brandon clark and wounding his co-worker. it hapned at washington's home in january of 2007. his wife says new evidence surfaced during a civil trial casts doubt on the credibility of the shooting survivor, robert white. >> he admits himself that much of his testimony in the criminal trial, statements he made in the criminal trial were not true. i and my daughter are both downstairs. my husband is upstairs with them. he sees one of the men coming out of my daughter's bedroom and

asks them to leave the house. they did not. instead they attacked him. >> prince george's county lead's prosecutor says a retired judge reviewed washington's case and concluded a new trial was not appropriate. prosecutors are piecing together the final moments of four girls they say were killed by their mother in d.c. expert witnesses testified yesterday in the banita jacks case. she was arrested after u.s. marshals found the decomposing bod dissolve her four daughters in her home. jacks' teenage daughter was stabbed three times in the stomach. he said the younger daughters were probably strangled. an insect expert testified that based on the bugs found in jacks' home, the girls were dead at least two months, perhaps longer. the president is with top senate democrats after the senate confirms they will not vote on health care next month. the president talked about the

economy last night at a fund-raiser in the chicago. he said full recovery and health care go hand in hand. >> we have to lay a new foundation that will allow the united states of america to thrive and compete in a global economy. it means finally controlling the health care costs that are driving this nation into debt. >> and the assumption that doing health care is going to help the economy which the president has been selling is utter nonsense. it's a whole separate issue. >> today the obama economic team will testify on regulatory reform. that's one initiative along with climate change that is on hold while the lawmakers sort out where the health care debate will lead. new information about the swine flu this morning. it could be back in full force as soon as september when children return to school. but most of the vaccine won't be ready before mid october. tests need to be done before then. at least five clinical trials are being done including one at the university of maryland

school of medicine next month. the governmentlready pchased 195 million doses to distribute as soon as it's ready. next week the cdc is expected to decide who should get that vaccine first. it's now 6:38. 68 degrees. commuter alt. the major traffic pattern change for drivers in the district. why police believe a local business was targeted because of what was being advised. part of our region ranks among the best for businesses to among the best for businesses to ur sve.ind at suntrust, we help you manage your money at home. and make it easy when you're away. and where ever you go, atm fees won't follow. get back to what really matters switch to suntrust checking today suntrust. live solid, bank solid.

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i'm meteorologist chuck bem off to a good start on friday so for. temperatures mid to upper 60s right around town. near 70 by the bay. a few lucky folks down towards culpeper down in the 50s. partly sunny later this afternoon. warm and humid. thunderstorms likely later today. highs will be in the mid to upper 80s. some of the thunderstorms later this afternoon could be severe. we'll keep a weather eye to the sky for that. for tomorrow, saturday, plenty of sunshine. more heat, more humidity, highs tomorrow up in the low 90s. definitely going to feel like summer tomorrow. ashley, how is our friday morning commute coming along? >> we're in pretty good shape. starting to see slow traffic

rear its head. this is 270 southbound past 109. that pace continues down toward the truck scales. then it improves as you make your way down toward the beltway. as you travel along the 95 koor door, not too bad. 95 was slow leaving the prince william parkway where there was an accident on the shoulder. both main and hov are a littl slow as you make your way towards 395. joe and eun, back to you. >>shley, thanks very much. now 6:42. 68 degrees. how the controversial issue of gay marriage made a local business the target of vandals. major recommendations are being made for metro. next ñññññññññññ

welcome back. it has been just over a month nowince the deadliest crash in metro's history. this morning we learned that capitol hill is getting more involved in the investigation. a new bill introduced will set standards for all subway systems

and would mandate black boxes on all trains like those on airplanes. news of the federal bill comes as the ntsb reports that metro train detection circuits in the area of the crash had been malfunctioning since 2007. tracee wilkins joins us live from the takoma park station with more. good morning, tracee. >> reporter: good morning. the ntsb is corporating their investigation as some of the information they're finding as moving along is frightening to hear for passengers. they're hoping to correct the issues and make sure folks are safe. >> reporter: more problems are being detected on metro. one month after the accident that killed nine people on the red line. investigators with the national transportation safety board are continuing to focus on the circuit that senses trains on the tracks, stopts them and runs them in automatic mode. investigators have already reported a bond on the circuit replaced five days before the accident malfunctioning.

now they found another bond replaced in 2007 also had what they're calling power fluctuations or anomalies over an 18-month period. officials say the problem was not so bad that the circuit couldn't detect trains. >> we've not found any failures. we're going through the wreckage to ensure there were no failures during that period of time. if we find that there were any cases where we failed to detect the train, you will hear this from us. >> reporter: the ntsb has asked metro to produce records from the last 18 months to see if fluctuations were missed by operators. in the meantime, metro is stepping up circuit data review from once every 30 days to twice a day. if any anomalies are found they are thoroughly investigated. >> for all the money we spend on me metro, they should be doing their job. everything should be running smoothly. why should they wait for accidents to happen. >> reporter: capitol hill is introducing legislation to toughen regulations on subway

systems. >> part of it is having vehics that can withstand crashes better than the older vehicles. some of it is the black box so we know what happens in the events of a collision. >> reporter: as it stands, these anoma anomalies are found after the fact because how they do it according to the way metro system is set up right now. what the ntsb has suggest ed is they come up with a realtime model to take a look at the issues as the trains are running. metro has found a vendor to make that happen. tracee wilkins. back to you. metro has postponed plans to roll out new buses along the x 2 line. road construction and utility work are the reasons why. the new ultra long buses would operate between lafayette square and the minnesota avenue metro station. it was supposed to be up and running by spring. metro was worried about bad road conditions along buenning road and 8th street.

metro is studying ways to improve bus service along the corridor. drivers on the chain bridge will notice traffic pattern changes next week. it will affect outbound traffic from the district into arlington. work crews will adjust the construction barriers and restripe the roadway on the bridge to create a separate lane for traffic turning onto route 123. currently traffic turning on to 123 and heading on to gleeb road share a single lane. the changes are part of the on going chain bridge project that began last month. we're following a developing story in prince george's county this morning. that's where police are looking for an 8-year-old boy who disappeared from his home in laurel. his name is lamarr anthony jones, last seen around 8:30 last night after taking out the trashl at his home on snowden pond road. he never returned. family members spotted him in the neighborhood, but he ran away into the woods. his family thinks lamar was upset because he had been disciplined earlier that day. he's about four feet tall and 45

pounds, last seen wearing a gray shirt and dark blue shorts. a teacher advocating gay rights may have prompted vandals to smash out a stoor window in silver spring. this happened at the american apparel store on goalsville road. the t-shirt bore the words "legalize gay and repeal prop 8 now" referring to the california measure banning same-sex marriages. a store spokesperson says they'valso received threatening phone calls from people upset over the company's support of gay marriage. >> it's not right. it's not. if someone chooses to put that in their shop, their choe. they're paying for it. >> it's horrible. in this day and age that shouldn't happen. >> it's not fair to them, you know. they're supporting gay, whatever. they should be able to do that. >> montgomery county police say they are investigating the vandalism and will determine whether this was a hate crime. futures are pointg to a positive opening in and the minimum wage is on the rise.

let's check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. good morning. >> futures have definitely improved this morning, a slightly higher on wall street after we saw stocks really soar yesterday. a bigger than expected rise in home sales last month. but tech may feel the hit a bit today because microsoft did report disappointing earnings after the bell including its first ever annual drop in sales windows. outside tech, quarterly profits cut sharply as customers cut credit card spending and delinquent payments rose. europe has ticked higher following positive data out of germany. we'll get a pair of economic reports today on consumer sentiment and home ownership. the dow ultimately rose 188 points to 9,069, the first time it's been above 9,000 since january. the nasdaq added 47 points to 1973. the federal minimum wage goes up today from $6.55 to

$7.25. the third increase in as many years. and the district of columbia which is set one dollar higher than the federal level will go up to $8.25 an hour. the labor department says three to five million americans will be affected by the wage hike. more americans may be viewing niagara falls from the u.s. side. the number of u.s. tourists to canada is at a 37-year low, partly because of the recession, but also because of stricter u.s. passport rules. netflix reported strong quarterly profits as it added more subscribers. it's benefiting from penny pinching consumers who are opting for in-home entertainment in this tough economy. >> courtney reagan, thanks so much. cnbc is out with its list of top states for businesses. virginia took the top spot for the second time in three years,

given top marks for the quality of workforce, cost of doing business and support for innovation. also citing reasonable tax rates. despite the recession since january 2008, virginia has at trackeded $6.5 billion in investment and created more than 30,000 new jobs. speaking of jo.bsbs news4 is always helping to find jobs for you. the d.c. department of human resources is looking for a program manager. this manager will work with department heads with human resources. the salary range is $98,000 to $137,000. if you're interested in learning more, go to nbcwashington.com and search "jobs 4 you." let's get another check on the forecast now. >> we are ready for the weekend. it's friday morning. the sun is already up. people are already starting that friday lean towards the door. i can almost see the weekend from here. outside right now take a check of it. sun is up and a very nice day coming our way. we are going to have to watch out for a chance for afternoon thunderstorms. don't leave home without your

umbrella or you may be sorry later on. right now it's 68 degrees. we had over 1/2 inch of rain yesterday at washington reagan national airport. our july total .82, tied with july of 1872 for the driest july on record. temperatures out there this morning, mostly the mid to upper 60s right around town. near 70 by the way. culpeper gown to 57 degrees right now. rainfall is over two inches of rain in frederick, maryland, inch and a half in prince george's county. only .03 in annapolis. not much rain in our forecast in the near term. there are some sprinkles out across the mountains of west virginia. that's part of an impulse coming our way that will be arriving here just in time to interact with peak daytime heating. as a result we will be firing up thundetorms later this afternoon. more numerous than yesterday and i think a little bit stronger than yesterday as well. keep that in mind. i do think we'll have isolated severe thunderstorm warnings later this afternoon any time

after about 2:00 or 3:00. things will settle down after the sun goes down this evening. in store for a sunny,ry and hot day tomorrow. and then another chance for showers and thunderstorms in the second half of sunday afternoon. for today, partly sunny. warm and humid. thunderstorms on the likely side today. keep that in mind with highs today mid t upper 80s. low 90s tomorrow with plenty of sunshine. another risk of thunderstorms, second half of sunday and into monday. standard summertimeeath a as we get into the middle parts of next week with highs near 90 each and every day. >> sounds like perfecteach weather. >> it does. gee. i wonder who is going to the beach. >> i know who i'm barging in the on. ashley linder, are you going to the beach? >> i wish. goodness, gracious. all right. well, as we take a trip to the roadways, the beltway right here, not too bad. we have some delays to talk about as you travel up the 95 corridor, going to be slow from

the prince william parkway to the cap tom beltway. the pace doesn't really improve. 395, delays from the beltway towards king street. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks, ashley. a commercial helicopter crashed on a maryland highway and killed everyone on board. >> today investigators are trying to determine what caused the chopper to go down. megan joins us with more on the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this chopper encountered problems right around 10:20, 10:25 this morning, went down near the mile 37 marker. that's on i-70. it's near the hagerstown area this morning. this is described as a four-seat helicopter, civilian aircraft. it is not a medevac. they're not exactly sure what happened, what caused the chopper to go down. it actually crashed in the median on i-70, on the eastbound side and then burst into flames. i-70 was closed in both directions all through the night. it reopened at around a little

after 5:00 this morning. traffic is running at speed right now on i-70. everything has reopened. they're still trying to figure out exactly what happened. all four people on board the helicopter were killed. back to you. s thanks very much. megan mcgrath reporting live. >> be sure to stay with news4 on the air and online for the latest developments on this deadly helicopter crash. national zookeepers week. every day we've had a very special morning person. kathy braeder has been an animal keeper at the national zoo for 22 years. every year of her tenure has been spent caring for the zoo's bird house. in this picture she's holding apparently a kiwi bird. they're on rare mammals. >> that's a prairie dog. >> i goohe t tnk zoo like once week. >> that's actually yesterday's

picture. we'll have to do -- maybe on monday we'll show you a picture of kathy brader. if you know someone like her, send a picture to morning perp at nbcwashington.com. apologize to kathy for that. >>kiwi. good looking weather for today. watch out for afternoon thunderstorms. if you're head together the beach, a good week end at ocean city and ro robe both. >> that's news4 today. thanks for starting your day with us. throughout the day stay

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