the senate confirmed sotomayor to the u.s. supreme court. >> her nomination passed by a vote of 68-31, making her the first hispanic justice to serve on the high court. steve handelsman joins us live with the latest. >> reporter: thanks. good afternoon. the outcome of this sotomayor confirmation vote was not in doubt, but this was still dramatic in the u.s. senate. >> mr. gregg, aye. >> reporter: the final vote looked like history in the making. senator stint to say yay or nay. raised poor in new york, parents from puerto rico, brilliant student, prosecutor and federal judge for 17 years. nominated by president obama, sotomayor will be the first hispanic to sit on the supreme court. every democrat heaped on praise.

>> judge sotomayor is clearly a moderate. she is highly qualified. she is extremely intelligent, and she represents the american ideal that at the end of the day race and ethnicity and class aren't supposed to predetermine anything. >> reporter: nine republicans voted yes. >> judge sotomayor's decisions are not outside the legal mainstream. >> reporter: most republicans worried sotomayor has a liberal bias. >> we need judges who uphold the rights of all, not just involvement. >> i am very, very concerned about this nomination. i feel badly i have to vote negatively. >> reporter: up for continuation today is the cash for clunkers program. so popular it's burned through $1 billion, $2 billion more is requested. >> this program is helpingo put life back in our economy, helping to save and create jobs and really get our automobile sector moving forward again.

>> reporter: but moving the whole nation forward is what sonja sotomayor's backers' say her confirmation accomplished today. president obama, not surprisingly, came out of the white house a few minutes ago to say he was applauding this history-making confirmation. sotomayor will be sworn in on saturday at the supreme court. it will be televised and pat and jim, that will be another first. >> steve handelsman, thank you. a south florida newly wed has been arrested for hiring an undercover officer to kill her husband. she gave the officer posing as a hitman $12,000 and a gun and offered $3,000 when he killed her judge. the judge ordered her on house arrest. she is facing a charge for

solicitation of first degree murder. first his chilling blog. now we have video of the man wha health club. or edeiv f woueiv others.menou he then turned the gun on himself. brian moar has the latest. >> reporter: the pennsylvania fitness center gunman is getting the attention he yearned for while living. >> my objective is to learn to be real and emotional. >> reporter: he posted videos on youtube that opened a window onto a sad life. >> couch and chair, they match. the women will really be impressed. >> reporter: in another website discovered by wpxi, the man who calls himself "crazy george" aloued to himself and problems finding love. a web page is devoted to his dead cat snippers. it also shows he bought gun

parts and ammunition from the same online gun store used by the shooters in the virginia tech and northern illinois shooting rampages. julia gazman survived the shootings. she saw sadini and his own life. >> he sat down and was messing around with something, either putting the gun down. i thought he was just getting his stuff together. then i found out he was getting another gun. >> reporter: on this day, this small community isn't focusing on the loner. it's paying tribute to the lives he cut short. 49-year-old betsy began none, a radiologist, and a single mom. his website contained additional information that is password protected, unseen by

authorities, but it could be important as they continue their investigation. bridgeville, pennsylvania, brian moar, nbc news. a hacker attacked a popular social networking service this morning and to one was able to tweet a thing about it. twitter experienced an outage about 9:00 a.m. because of a denial of service attack in which hackers overwhelm a website servers' with request. the status blog reported that the site is backed up, but advised the users might experience longer load time, slowness and time-outs until the service returns to 100%. facebook seemed to experience problems and was investigating. battling fires can be dangerous enough, but fairfax county firefighters faced an unexpected battle at the scene of a fire today. snakes. there were about 30 in a house that caught fire in the 5700 block of shropshire court.

a teenager reportedly kept the snakes in his bedroom. they aren't poisonous or illegal. he used them to teach people how to care for snakes. only six survived the fire. investigators don't know what started it. it's going to be a long month on metro's blue and yellow lines. >> also, a new pool to cool you off in the summer in the district. >> here are some of the stories making headlines in our area today. a house fire in prince georges county kept firefighters busy. it happened around 6:30 of standish drive in hyattsville. no one was home. >> a warning for metro riders. be prepared for major delays this month. people who use the blue and yellow lines should add 45 minutes to their weekend and late-evening trips because metro will be sharing would be one track through pentagon city as

it prepares for major track work. that maintenance will happen over labor day weekend. an entire rail switch will be replaced at the pentagon city metro station. delays will start on sunday and continue for weekends and nights in august. >> the new wilson aquatic center was unveiled today weeks before d.c. students head back to school. the new center includes a competition pool, wellness pool and whirlpool. it will be available to the ward 3 community and other d.c. residents and serve as the competition pool for woodrow wilson high. this project is just one of the many pool rehab projects that have been taking place in the district in the past 18 months about $1 billion has been spent on schools alone. firefighters in northern california are trying to control a massive wildfire. the blaze raging near bernie, california, grew twice as large

overnight expanding from about 3,000 to 6,000 acres. right now it's only about 10% contained. is fire is one of more than 200 started by lightning strikes last weekend. so far, nearly 23,000 acres in the area have burned. back at home, sweater weather in august. kind of hard to believe, isn't it? we did cool off a bit and it got wet overnight. veronica johnson has our weather. >> an umbrella morning for us and a long sleeved summer day for most of us. we've got clearing skies across the area let's look at radar. most of the rain today east and southeast. vienna, salisbury, heavier showers there as well as down to chris field area.

southern areas through west moreland is what's left of the showers. you can see the clearing skies on this visible satellite loop here. ste of thclouds racing through. we are going to have a mostly clear night coming up. temperature 77 degrees. d.c. 82 degrees. frederick 81, 81 dulles. 81 manassas. cool side today. clearing skies and temperatures will drop to abo 73. 72 right about 9:00. then down f about 70 around midnight. sunset today at 8:14. some rapid clearing taking place overnight. we've got a fantastic friday coming up tomorrow. temperature's not bad. humidity is going to be great. we are still looking at that extended forecast, possibility of a heat wave. we'll talk more about that in a few minutes. >> thanks, veronica. >> stay right there we are just getting started here on news4 at 4:00, back to school buys without the sales taxes.

some states are cutting back. local shoppers are in luck. >> some banks are charging a new fee for using your credit card. and the competition is fierce and the instruments are invisible. the air guitar cheeps.

gearing up for back to school days? here is a money-saving opportunity. tomorrow, virginia kicks off its annual tax-free shopping weekend. meaning you don't have to pay 5%th e the 5% tax on s lan s . oplot vclothing. ,ea vnigia is the

on plalyce youe a belyobl t do . d. cean cdan its tax-free holiday saying it needshe tds or f e thior theam es ororstonas a tores across the nation a banking on tax-free weekends to attract shoppers. michelle franzen has more. >> reporter: back to school shopping is an annual tradition for most ar rimen households. in a recession, outfitting kids and teens with all they need to survive the school year has become a challenge for parents. >> especially everything. >> reporter: this year shoppers will get the extra bonus of a tax-free weekend. with spending expected to be down 8%, it gives a chance to boost sales. >> we see on the retail side our research shows uptick in tales as high as 40%. >> legislators say they can't afford to give up the revenue and repealed the tax-free weekend.

other states like mississippi are participating for the first time. counting on foot traffic and deep discounts to make up the difference. >> tons of savings and people in and out looking to save. >> reporter: the tax-free holiday began more than a decade ago in new york. the state no longer participates. this year the state repealed new york city's exemption for clothing and shoes costing $100 and more. it's giving neighboring states to cash in. new jersey doesn't participate in the tax-free weekend, but the state offers a sales tax break on clothing year-round, a savings big enough, especially at back to school time to draw customers from out of state. >> it's a big difference, especially with the recession going on. >> reporter: at jersey garden outlet mall, they say the tax break adds up. >> a whole other item or outfit. >> reporter: savvy shoppers doing their homework and saving when and where they can. michelle franzen, news4.ri we'll have more on the virginia tax-free holiy,

including which items are exempt coming up on news4 at 5:00. several domestic car makers didn't fare in the latest round of low-speed crash tests and tests conducted by the insurance institute for highway safety. the bumpers on gm chevy malibu remained in the poor category. some foreign car makers, however, did marginally better. the 2009 honda accord and hyundai sonata and mazda 6 performed better than the 2007 models. if you think you are saving money by not using your credit cards as much, some credit card companies are piling on inactivity fees to boost their income. fifth third bank, for example, is charging a $19 fee to borrowers who haven't used their account in a year. some credit card companies are piling on fees for purchases made outside the country. discover is charging a 2% fee

for purchases made abroad. it's best to check with your credit card company to find out what new fees you may be responsible for. ♪ 25cities, one winner and an invisible guitar. tomorrow performers from across the nation will compete in the usair guitar finals here in washington. we take a look at this wild and crazy competition that grows by leaps and bounds. >> reporter: it's one of the most anticipated music tours of the summer. the pageantry. groupies. adoring fans. there's one thing missing. the instrument. >> are we ready to rock?

>> reporter: every summer usair guitar pulls competition from across the country. the championships are held in finland. the competition is broken down into two rounds. in the first round, each competitor performs a song of their own choosing. the to be five advance to where the competitors will perform to the same song chosen by random by usair guitars. top four wins advance to the finals. >> technical merit, how much does it look like what these people are mimicking looks like the music we are hearing? there is stage presence. how much does their outfit and gregariousness and use their environment and the audience reacting to that. then there is the quality called airness. we do olympic figure skating like 4.0.

>> the band comes on stage for one last perfoance of the night. finals will be held in washington, d.c., august 27th. that looks like a lot of fun. the air guitarce rr tola pigow tomorrow night at 8:00 at the 930 club in northwest. n more on the event coming up on news4 at 5:00 during the "weekend scene" segment. >> a tennis racket makes a good prop for that. >> you know that. >> i do. doesn't make a sound. let's get the latest on the rush hour ride home. >> good afternoon. let's get a look at the capital beltway. here will be the worst of it. inner loop not too bad today except in this stretch. pretty much from 270 headed into the sun set will be heavy. no major accidents to report. you have slow traffic before this around the river road area and continuing through silver springs. elsewhere let's take a trip into

springfield. not a whole lot going on on the 95 corridor. very quiet as you make your way southbound. the pace does start to slow as you make your way from newington and through the new bridge area. it looks good quantico down to fredricksburg. fish story p, a about the one that didn't get away. the big one was pulled in during a local tournament. plus they walk and talk. dolls are getting more and more life-like. what a new doll can do. the final closing numbers from wall street. dow closing down 25 points. the nasdaq down 20. the s&p is down six points. it is the first finish below 1,000 since friday.is

the annualar m teynil open com open competition in ocean city nd uiser way. te e okbr a crlot ute broke a 20-year maryland record yesterda ta a look. zoom out. he snagged a be lue marlinthat

1,262unpo.pot it took paris morha t n t hrhree hours to reel the fishee in. that fish isthor woreor than, gegethis, worth morenha t $500,000. an h cowis a fh b he worth that much? >> i keep sginay? that's crazy. ouan y c feed a whole town th withathing. >> that's a real fish story. meanwhile, you've got some stormy weather in other parts of the world. >> right. it's been quiet for our tropics. the atlantic season doing nada. in taiwan they have sea warnings up and land warnings. they are preparing for mid strength typhoon expected to make a landfall tonight and early friday morning. they had heavy rain for the morning commute there. this will be their most severe storm of the year so far. it's expecting gusts up to 107

miles per hour. it is typhoon morkat coming their way. it was umbrella weather for the early part of the day. long-sleeved weather. it's been cool, temperature 77 degrees. dew point at 62 degrees. winds are calm andt we picked up .12 inch of rain. the temperature at nbc 4, 79 degrees. was a light wind. let's put it on for you there 79 degrees. the temperature just 70 degrees. st. mary's, maryland. more rain down to the south just over an inch. 1.02 inches of rain. take a look far anded by. rainfall was only .01 inch. some locations got more, especially south and east of the area. especially charlottesville. charlottesville, virginia, picked up close to two inches of rain. on the radar right now, all is

quiet. what's left moving away from st. mary." the northern neck seeing showers around wes moreland area. avalon area and moving away. hayes beach soon drying up. this is all moving away. just light shower activity for us, we are going to start drying out. northwesterly winds coming in. clearing skies overnight. we'll be mostly clear and sunshine to start the day tomorrow. the low pressure system continues moving away. 77 the temperature here. 82 in raleigh. my mom is loving that cooler weather. sticky down there. drying out with less humidity. it will be a delightful summer day tomorrow. sunshine, temperatures in the mid and upper 80s and low humidity across the area. saturday some of that humidity will start building back. clouds through the day saturday. there it is in the morning. call it a partly sunny day. i wouldn't be surprised on saturday if there is maybe a sprinkle or two around the area

maybe a light shower near the bay is in a heat wave with that heat pushing out of the southern plains moving this way starting sunday. looks like a heat wave sunday to tuesday. we'll look at the seven-day forecast in a few. tomorrow morning cool. enjoy it. sun up tomorrow at 6:15. upper 80s across the area with delightful conditions expected. uv index at 7. air quality green, but with steamy, stifling conditions expected by the weekend. seven-day forecast in a few. >> thanks, ver on contact. still to come, new details and pictures are coming out regarding the american hikers who strayed into iran. >> why did they do it? one of the women involved in an attack on a three-timing married man speaks out on the assault.

firginia standing in the way of or f for wn being sentenced beating up ryhanna. >> if you think someone is special, eai-m us theirai pictue red that person may beeatu on our newscast.

4:30. i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat lawson muse. breaking news where the senate confirmed sonja sotomayor to the supreme court. sotomayor will be the nation's first hispanic supreme court justice. she will be sworn in saturday morning. a vigil is planned for tonight in pittsburgh in memory of the three women killed in tuesday night's shooting at a fitness club. elizabeth began none, heidi obermayer and jody billingsmeyer were killed by sodini. he then turned the gun on himself. tomorrow virginia kicks off its annual tax-free shopping

weekend. customers don't have to pay that 5% tax on school supplies and scloeting. supplies that cost $20 or less and clothing and foot wr that cost $100 or less qualified. >> in the control room now, the united states is still trying to secure the release of three merican tourists being held in or feganll ially crossing the llrder. abin rnoreage riou tsts were i tstouse wer doranianut atiho authoritiesri edck them up near iraq's kurdish border. richard engel has that story. >> reporter: iran remained silent about where they are being held and how long. kurdish officials are giving new details about exactly when the americans were last seen in northern iraq in kurdistan which is the safest part of iraq. kurdish police saw the three americans, two men and a woman, on friday night. they were camping in the area kurdish police saw them walking by the road and offered them a ride.

the americans said it was a nice night. they wanted to stay walking and wanted to continue camping. >> this place is a tourist area where everyone visited. >> reporter: saturday morning is when the local police chief told us he believes the americans went hiking near the border with iran and got lost and accidentally crossed the border. now most analysts expect that. iranians will eventually release these americans, but that it could take weeks of delicate negotiations, mostly between u.s. allies and iran. richard engel, nbc news, istanbul. laura ling and euna lee, the two americanouts jisal jrnaliso released from north korea have been keeping a low profile since they returned home yesterday. they are providing updates on the internet. ling is providing messages on facebook. the website was set up when the two first were taken into

custody. now the word "freed" appears on its home page. another bizarre twist to that story about a wisconsin man who was allegedly tied down and sexually assaulted by four women, including his estranged wife. that man is now behind bars himself. police arrested him after his wife accused him of child abuse and theft. davis' estranged wife is one of four women investigators say tied him down inside a hotel room and assaulted him. the women claimed davis was roemtically involved with three of them. the fourth was the sister of one of the women. two insist they did nothing wrong. >> only said a couple of sentences to him. >> they gave their heart to him and he broke their hearts. they fell in love with this man. >> reporter: police formally charged davis today. the women are free on bail and scheduled to appear in court later this month.

it will take a little while longer before chris brown is punished for beating up pop star rihanna. a judge delayed sentencing until late they are month because he wants more information from virginia. brown is a native of the tappahanock area they want to make sure the area is able to accommodate the plea days. five years probation, community labor and counseling. a big surprise for deputies at a jail in houston when an obese prisoner admitted he was hiding a gun and ammo between layers of fat. authorities say the 25-year-old prisoner weighs almost 600 pounds. he hid the hand gun and two clips of ammo for more than a day after his arrest on theft charges. deputies searched him, but it wasn't until he was taken to the jail's shower that he admitted he had those items tucked beeen the rolls of tummy fat. still ahead on news4 at

4:00, a big name in american music rushed to a hospital. what happened at an aerosmith concert last night. an employee gets in trouble for way didn't say to the mayor. i'm eun yang. a regular c

welcome back. veronica johnson here. let's head to sharpsburg, maryland. the wind is out of the west at 6 miles per hour. you folks only picked up 0.01

inch of rain. temperatures generally in the 70s throughout the area we'll be coming down. going to the low 70s by 9:00. there you can see more clearing taking place in western maryland and central pennsylvania right now. 64 in d.c. by tomorrow morning. upper 50s, low 60s north and west. for the day morrow, it's going to be absolutely delightful for a summer day. gorgeous summer day with low humidity in the high 86 degrees. if you want heat, we are going to have the around this weekend. 90 degrees expected on saturday with partly sunny skies, then more humidity on sunday. it's going to be down right oppressive with highs in the mid 90s. some of the hottest air of the summer coming our way with two days back-to-back 95 degrees or higher. there is the chance coming through the weekend into the beginning of next week. we've got another chance of showers and storms about mid

part of next week. >> thanks, veronica. here is the reason to always mind your manners. a woman in florida was suspended from her job because she didn't say hello to the mayor. cassandra moy works for deer field beach outside boca raton. monday she crossed paths with the mayor, but didn't open her mouth. >> i saw her extend her hand out to one of my fellow co-workers. what they say from there, i don't know. >> later moy found out she had been suspended without pay for her disrespectful attitude. she says she doesn't know the mayor d didn't want to interrupt the conversation. the mayor said she never complained about moy and disagrees with the suspension. moy was reinstated two days later, but she'll have to undergo counseling for bad manners. >> there has to be something more to that story. doesn't seem fair. back to school shopping

sends many folks to the electronics store. what is big this year is small. we'll see must-have items. >> and dolls that cry, dolls that eat, sleep and drink and a if you are in the market for

a new computer or smart phone, now may be the best time to buy

one. they no longer have sky-high price tags. they don't have all the extras either. bob hanson has a look at the bargains out there. >> reporter: the computer section of best buy was busy with people checking out the latest laptops. as budgets are shrinking, so are their computers. >> we'll have well-priced laptops to get people into computers for the new school year. >> reporter: computers with a whole new name and price tag. call them the netbooks. >> they are inexpensive, small, light and they do virtually everything that your notebook computer would do. >> reporter: except they don't come with a cd or dvd player. the price tag is often under $500. >> a lot of great deals. >> the one good thing about electronics, the longer you wait, the more you get for your money. >> the speed and processing power, you know, when it comes to the gigahertz and the memory,

two, three, four times faster than i have now. >> reporter: this will be the year of the ebooks, everything from newspapers and text books. back to school seems to always include a new cell phone. >> the smart phone category is the hot area of the wireless phone business. that's the iphone, the palm pre, google from t-mobile, the blackberry is moving more from a business phone into a consumer product. >> that was bob hanson reporting. experts say to be smart when choosing a smart phone. they suggest you consider what's important to you, whether it's a specific keyboard, screen size or memory capability. they say you could wind up with more phone than you need or can afford. a controversial new doll has hit the market in europe. meet bebe glaten the breast-feeding doll. the doll latches on to a flower-shaped nipple attached to

a halter top the girls wear. the doll makes suckling noises. parents are saying the doll isn't appropriate for young girls. right now the only place you can get this doll is spain. very life-like there. >> yes. coming up next on news4, we now know the reason behind paula abdul's big decision to leave "america in. exp coming up. a surprise for firefighters when they arrived at a house fire and discovered more than flames. what's bad for the heart appears to be bad for the mind. the link between high cholesterol and alzheimer's. liz crenshaw shares some tips of the trade for storing fresh

uc when german tourists took in a sight that wasn't in their guide book, a ram was stuck 20 feet in the air where birds usually fly around. the ram was grazing with his female friends when one of his rns got caught on a wire fence. as he struggled to get free he slid down the mountain and went airborne. tourists struggled to rescue the ram.

they usedishing gaps to unhook the ram. they thought they were too late, the ram opened his eyes, gave a look of thanks, jumped up and today's today's ais4ntsbl.as nba .ttsas start ydaouyr h wit are fe couu of a fre -redstof cfehaoaestedt whod about free food from a alcdd'ons? get ae medium friean k an angus wh bou burg. let's get an update on our weather. >> bar dane day tomorrow weatherwise. it couldn't be better for summer. >> that sounds great. >> low humidity. we've got the clearing skies out there right now. should be a good viewing for vup 2ter in the night sky. southeast just around sunset,

jupiter four degrees to the right of the moon. >> clouds are racing out of here. what's left of the showers. maryland's eastern shore. moving away. no more showers for us. 9:00 down to 73 degrees. 5:00 a.m. 64, 66. it will be cool and with low humidity. we'll be starting out rather comfortable tomorrow. a high of 86 degrees. there is a look at your beach and boating forecast. the water temperature is upper 70s to around 80. saturday 87. partly sunny skies. annapolis 89 in cambridge to 92. hotter on sunday. even the beaches getting close to upper 80s on sunday with the south-southwesterly wind at about 5 to 15 miles per hour. water temperatures at 74, 76 degrees. much better than last weekend at the beach. there was all that rain on sunday. delightful for tomorrow.

still looking at a heat wave starting on sunday and running right through tuesday of next week. there is a look at your four-day forecast. kind of gets you caught up. 90 saturday. 95 for sunday. 96 on monday. we'll see poor air quality days coming up, too. enjoy the weekend. >> all right, thanks. the post office considers cutting the number of days we get the mail. >> the prices of one new nfl stadium.

new details about paula abdul's decision to leave "american idol." we now know the decision had to do with dough. fox reportedly offered her a 30% raise to return next season. that wasn't enough. she wanted millions more. "idol's" producers say they are saddened by her departure. her fans threaten to boycott the show. here are stories making news on the web today. aerosmith's front man fell off the stage during a concert. stephen tyler took a tumble

while performing at the sturgis motorcycle rally in south dakota. the 61-year-old hurt his head, neck and shoulders. a concert spokesman says he was talking and he was even joking with doctors as he got into the chopper. west point is the nation's pop college, according to "forbes" magazine. it scored high in a number of areas including graduation rates, salaries of recent graduates. "forbes" works with the center of college affordability and productivity to come up with its annual list. other schools making the top ten are princeton, cal tech and williams college, which is a liberal arts college in massachusetts. would you pay 60 bucks for a pizza? you will if you are sitting in the ste of the dallas cowboys new stadium. a regular 20-inch cheese pizza will set you back $60. it will cost you that much for a 12-pack of beer, too. these prices are for suites at the new cowboy stadium. the suites can cost up to

$500,000 for a year. >> a record-breaking number of visitors toured america's first national park last month. 9,000 travelers, up from 11% last year. we could see a new record forrefor yellow stone. people are taking advantage of the gas prices as well as affordability. the monthly visitation record was set back in july 1995. the postal service is strapped for cash. billions of dollars in the red and it will probably fall short on a big health insurance payment due next month. now the postal service is taking drastic measures, considering closing post offices and canceling delivery on saturday to save cash. tracie potts has that story from capitol hill. >> reporter: many of us are e-mailing now instead of buying stamps. mail carriers a delivering fewer letters to more homes and

the postal service is losing money. >> the postal service has got to adjust to it or they will go the way of the horse and buggies. >> reporter: even after raising prices, getting rid of mail boxes, cutting work hours, eliminating thousands of jobs and soliciting new business online, the agency will end this year $7 billion in the red. and won't make a $5.5 billion retiree heal payment due september 30th. >> somebody is going to pay for it, aren't they? that somebody will be the taxpayer. >> reporter: the post master general is looking at eliminating regular delivery on saturday and closing 700 postal facilities. >> i wouldn't have a place to come at lunchtime to drop off my mail. very inconvenient. >> weant to keep as many of those open as we possibly can, but we cannot just sell stamps in those outlets. >> reporter: one senator says

all those changes amount to less than 1% operating cost. union workers are at odds whether to reduce that massive insurance payment. >> the requirement for the postal service to fund a 70-year liabity over a ten-year period is no longer feasible. >> this is a mean-spirited amendment. >> the senate is looking at reducing that insurance payment, but there is a big disagreement how much to cut because federal regulators, the government, postal inspectors all are using different figures on how much health care costs wil increase over the next few years. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. we have breaking news right now out o montgomery county. police and fire aren o the scene involving a pedestrian. pened river roaditoa and tis i reportedly suffering life-threatening injuries. that does it for news4 at 4:00.

news4 at 5:00 begins right now. tonight on news4 at 5:00, a history-making day as the senate votes to confirm sonja sotomayor as the new justice on the supreme court. firefighters encounter a room full of snakes. >> tricks of the trade keeping food in your fridge fresher, longer. good evening and welcome to news4 at 5:00. i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm wendy a rioeger. aleiontnt robbery ended with a t amo five eiv f w people arrested for er sies of ieerbbs, bberies,ne onc ingdi one nek i lt week in waldorf. the victim was targeted for his money and cell phone. darcy spencer joins us from waldorf. >> reporter: one of