in connection with the robbery and murder of a man in charles county, maryland. >> new video of the man who opened fire the at a health club on tuesday night killing three women. fairfax county firefighters find several dozens snakes inside a home today when they respond to a call. the u.s. senate this afternoon voted to confirm sonja sotomayor as the first hispanic justice of the u.s. supreme court. she is now poised to become that first latina to ever hold that position. i'm jim handly. >> i'm wendy rieger. jim and doreen are off this evening. tomorrow with a deadline, the senate is racing to complete other action, as well. >> reporter: good evening. up here on the hill today, the outcome of the sotomayor confirmation balloting was not in doubt, but this was still dramatic in the senate. the final vote looked like history in the making. senators standing to say yes or no. >> the yays are 68 and the nays

are 31. >> reporter: confirmed as a supreme court justice sonja sotomayor 57, raised poor in new york, parents from puerto rico, a brilliant student, a prosecutor, a federal judge for 17 years. nominated by presidentobama, sotomayor will be the first has panic to sit o the supreme court. every democrat heaped on praise. >> 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, while not always the decisions i would render, are not outsid the legal mainstream. >> reporter: many are worried sotomayor has a liberal bias. >> we need judges who uphold the rights of all, not just some. >> i am very, very concerned about this nomination.

i feel badly have to vote negatively. >> reporter: after his nominee, one confirmation, president obama at the white house. >> this is a wonderful day for judge sotomayor and her family, but i think it's a wonderful day for americans. >> 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 helping to put life back in our economy, helping to save and create jobs and get our automobile sector moving forward again. >> reporter: moving the whole nation forward is what sonja sotomayor's backers say her confirmation accomplished today. sotomayor spent the day in new york almost privately in her federal judge chambers. she is still a judge, not a justice yet until she gets sworn in saturday. that will be televised and that will be another first. >> steve handelsman, thanks. virginia democratic crede is

hoping the biggest star can give his run for gernor in virginia a boost. president obama will be holding a fund-raiser for deeds. is there a poll showing him trailing bob mcdonald by eight points, 43% to 51%. virginia used to be a reliably republican state but went to mr. obama in last year's elections. this race could be seen as a referendum on the white house and democratic congress. a 14-year-old and 18-year-old have been arrested in connection with the robbery in charles m in charles , nepeo hnepen o lane july lan july 28th. authteitans iell us the victim was walking home whenas hs we w by the teens.ck darcy spencer is live with more. >> reporter: he was walking home. he was here in front of his own home wn he was murdered. police say the killers were looking for money to buy drugs.

>> they stabbed him. he made it over to where the paint is on the driveway and collapsed there. >> reporter: jim mcconnell describes where a neighbor collapsed on the street after being stabbed to death. the victim jeremiah gutierrez was walking home from his job in waldorf wh h. cetaliatouedck ann t es nce announced theofrrt two suspects in the murder, an 18-year-old and 14-yea>>old. once is me.on i ess it can hpen anywhere. >> reporter: police say 14-year-old trejon harvey and bening man thomas murdered the man july 28th. the victim was just steps from his house when he was stabbed in the chest during a robbery. >> i think it's sad myself personally because wall turf has been known to be relatively family-oriented, you know? to hear something like that is not all that good. >> reporter: gutierrez's brother was targeted in the robbery and

was able to bite one of the suspects benjamin thomas. that helped link thomas to the murder. >> one of the suspects had a large bite mark on the back of his arm. >> reporter:tidhap tel hou y identify the person being there? t >> i helped>>n i the case,ye .ah >> reporter: police charged four additional suspects a week before the stabbing for armed robbery. a number of workers lived here and were being targeted because suspects believed they were carrying cash. >> they wanted money and targeted people who were vulnerable and wanted to use the money possibly to purchase drugs. >> reporter: the victim in this case was from el salvador. he was working at that local restaurant to send money back home to a wife and child. the suspects are being held without bond. darcy spencer, news4. >> thank you. we continue to learn more about the 48-year-old man who srst iont ao surban pittsbu sig a shooting

s s.as th this inth nhtn i rasve ohr twheet was over thr were dead.ee rewedead. se d.sghrehe nito tthere is newma gthnun whoe ethmaunn who later took his own life. brian moar with that report. >> reporter: in death, the pennsylvania fitness gunman is getting more attention. >> my objective is learn to be real and emotional. >> reporter: his videos on youtube opened a window to a sad life. >> couch and chair, they watch. >> reporter: in another website discovered by a pittsburgh tv station, the man who calls himself "crazy george," alludes devoted to his findingun love.g dead cap snippers. atthn iouncovered receipts that show sodini bought gun parts and ammunition from the same online gun store used by the shooters in the virginia

tech and northern illinois university shooting rampages. julia gazman survived the shootings. she saw sodini end his own life. >> he sat down in between the desk and he was messing around with something. he was putting the gun down. i thought he was just getting his stuff together. i don't know why. then i found out he was getting another gun. then i saw him shoot himself. >> 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 gannon, 37-year-old jody billingsley, a physical therapist and 46-year-old heidi overmier, a single mom. lives ended in a violent flash remembered today by those who loved them. as sodini's website contained additional information that is password protected, but it could be important as they continue their investigation. bridgeville, pennsylvania, brian

moar, nbc news. a vigil is scheduled for this evening in pittsburgh in memory of those three women killed in that shooting. u.s. officials are still trying to secure the release of three americans detained in iran. the u.s. has no diplomatic ties with iran so swiss officials are handling the negotiations now. two men and a woman have been held since last week. kurdish police say they came upon the.n.s u citizens in foreign iraq friday. it's believed the americans went hiking near the border the next day and accidentally strayed into iran. most analysts believe iran will eventually release the americans, but it may take weeks of delicate negotiations. foreman president bill clinton has briefed a member of the national security council about his trip to north korea to secure the freedom of two journalists there. during mr. clinton's trip, he met with north korea's leader. mr. clinton gave his first debriefing ones visit last night to the nfc and will meet with president obama at some point to

talk about the trip. mr. clinton is refusing to release any of the specific the. >> i am totally committed to letting the white house say whatever they want to say about this. there can only be one president at the time. i was asked to do a job. i was honored to do it. >> reporter: mr. clinton added he does not want to say anything that might tip the balance in any decisions that need to be made. secretary of state hillary rodham clinton is in africa. today she honored the victims of the attacks on the u.s. embassies in tanzania. those attacks killed 219 people. >> i appreciate greatly the commitment of the kenyan government to partner with us other nations and the people around the world against the continuing threat of trichlt.

>> secretary clinton added the u.s. is committed to peace to anyone who denounces violence. started out on the wet side today. the heat is on the way for the weekend, folks. storm .s icethe storm center. >> we ar breaking out into sunshine. we'll be seeing sunny and really comfortable conditions tomorrow. look at how much rain has fallen today. this is parts of maryland and down into southern virginia, about an inch of rain. right now on doppler there is nothing much going on. boy, we have some hot weather coming our way as we go into the weekend, we'll be seeing clearing overnight. then temperatures after one fantastic friday will soar into the 90s. the mid 90s. i'll tell but that when i join you in a few minutes. we are just getting started. tonight t post office could be

shutting down branches and cutting weekend deliveries to save money. it was a crash that killed four children and three adults in an instant. tonight, there is new information about the mother behind the wheel. a cyber attack that had twitter shut down for part of the day. >> we'll explain how this ram got stuck on a wire 20 feet above the ground. he's okay. >> wow. how do you top that? what have you got for us? >> how about an unbelievable comeback by the nationals this afternoon? out here at training camp, jason campbell waiting on the return of devin thomas. as always, jim zorn ving a lot of fun.

the postal service is strapped for cash. now it's taking drastic measures, maybe even clo sseome post oic nesnd aond delivery on saturday. re ouraa are on the b.ickoplo nine in the district. in ry fla,ndrou offices are on thlist. in bethesda, heightville and silver springs. tracie potts.

>> reporter: many of us are e-mailing so mail carriers are delivering fewer letters and the postal service is losing money. >> post office has to adjust to it or they will go the way of the horse and buggy. >> reporter: even after raising prices, getting rid of mail boxes and cutting work hours, eliminating thousands of jobs and soliciting new businesses online. >> give flat-rate boxes a try. they won't make a $5.5 billio y retiree health payment. >> somebody will pay and that will be the u.s. taxpayer. >> eliminating regular deliver on saturdays and closing nearly 700 postal facilities. >> i won't have a place to come at lunchtime to drop off my mail. very inconvenient. >> we want to keep as many open as we possibly can, but we cannot just sell stamps in those outlets.

>> reporter: one senator says all those changes amounts to 1% less than operating costs. union workers are at odds whether to reduce that massive insurance payment. >> the requirement for the postal service to prefund the massive 75-year liability over a ten-year period is not possible. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. the senate is looking to reduce that insurance payment, but there is widespread disagreement how much can be cut. it was a down day on wall street today. the dow dropping 25 points to close at 9,256. nasdaq losing 20 points. the s&p is down six points, its first finish below1,000 since friday. fuelling today's losses, continuing jobless claims rose to 6.3 million. first-time jobless claims dropped by 38,000.

disappointing sales numbers from major retailers raised concerns about consumer confidence. the family of a new york woman who killed herself and several others in a wrong-way crash insist she did not have a drinking problem. police say 36-year-old diane schuler downed the equivalent of ten shots of vodka and smoked pot within an hour before the crash last month. schuler drove her minivan the rong way and sned into an hesuv, killed schuler, her 2-year-old daughter, three nieces and three men in the suv. her husband said his wife was not a drinker and diabetes and other health problems were to blame for that crash. a major search and rescue operation is under way near the pacific island nation near tonga after a ferry overturned and sank. 23 people are missing tonight. th is a photo of the ferry

callsed princess ashika. the 56 survivors were pulled out of the pacif oftce aeran it rolled over and sankn ier rough waters. new zealand ships and australian airplanes are taking part in this operation. when we come back, firefighters finding more than 30 snakes inside a home when they went to respond to a fire. prince william county police discussed the tasting of two people at a christening party. >> bob is back with a

k

take a good look at this, folks. german tourists in norway took in a sight that wasn't in their guidebook. a ram that got stuck 20 feet in the air. the ram was grazing with his friends. got one of his horns caught in a wire fence. he slid down a mountain and went airborne. the tourists used a fishing pole to pull the wire to the ground and unhook the ram's horn from the wire. the ram was so still they thought they were too late, but then the ram opened his eyes and jumped up and ran away. no thank you, no nothing. >> he was probably embarrassed. he's probably thinking, i hope the other rams aren't watching me. >> the other ram says is that you? d heaid, no, ram.

sorry. i couldn't resist. >> outside today we had clouds. we had light rain showers for some of the wildflowers that are out. there's a lonesome dandelion still out there. high temperature today,deot t 79 made it to 79 degrees. right now outside our temperature is down to 77 degrees. we are getting breaks in those clouds. dew point is 62. southeasterly wind at seven miles per hour. first time since early july our temperature didn't get to 80 degrees. because of that cloud and that little area of low pressure, look at the temperatures to our west. still not bad. the big thing we'll have noticed tomorrow is the dry air, really low humidity is coming in on us. there is that little area of low pressure scurrying off the coast. that will be it pretty much. there is lingering rains not too far away out to the south and southeast and out toward ocean

city. there you can see that batch of rain that has continueded to move off. that's about it now as we go through the remainder of the night. behind it, look how cool it is. western maryland, there will be many spots in the low to mid 50s. oakland, maryland, dew point 46 degrees. ocean city on the other hand has had now almost 1/2 inch of rain. 75 degrees. you are heading out for the beaches this upcoming weekend, i think it will be great weather. let me show you taiwan. taiwan is getting ready for a very, very nasty storm. the atlantic is quiet. there is felicia that small hurricane. look at this one. that's a massive cyclone which is heading into china now. this is on the heels of another one that moved into southern china over the last couple of days.

terrible, terrible flooding in south china. now in the island of taiwan, the stock exchange is closed. they are instituting emergency procedures. schools are closed because they are afraid of that cyclone which may get stronger with winds well over 100 miles an hour. could cause severe damage. there it is and moving into overnight tonight into taiwan. across africa, thunderstorms and out in the atlantic, nothing going on around us. overnight tonight for us, high pressure's in on us. heading out to the beaches next week for vacation no worries about tropical weather. we'll have a delightful dry day tomorrow. then the winds turn into the south and southwest. tomorrow morning there will be a lot of 50s around. for this evening, clearing. later on you'll be able to see the full moon and later on in the nightgh ttki hat bright

object is the planet jupiter. tomorrow morning when you get up and head out, one of those rare, refreshing days in august. temperatures could be as low as the high 50s. spots like manassas, winchester, oven into la plata which was so wet today, into the l 60s. delightful tomorrow, 80, 8585 degrees. enjoy one low-humidity y.da humidity comes back on saturday and really back sunday and moay witit temperatures in the ligh stisk r o sf at risk of an isolated thunder shower when we are back in tha steamy pattern. it will continue into tuesday and wednesday. tomorrow morning, a refreshing nice morning. enjoy it. >> excellent. >> thank you, bob. coming up on news4 at 6:00, fire fighters in fairfax responded to a call today only to find dozens of snakes inside a house. >> we'll have information about the upcoming virginia sales tax holiday.

>> the world health organization talked about when they expect to have swine flu vaccine ready. >> and a cyber attack. >> see which redskins quarter takes the worst of it in dodge ball.rmimmeasan herha p tpsheim best game of his career as national go for five in a row. im

we are back now with a look at some of the stories making headlines tonight. the senate confirmed sonja sotomayor to the u.s. supreme court. her nomination passed 68-31, including nine republicans. tomayor will be the nation's first hispanic supreme court justice and will be sworn in saturday morning. a vigil is planned tonight in pittsburgh in memory of the three women killed in tuesday night's shooting at a fitness club. it happened when george sodini opened fire at the l.a. fitness. nine other women were hurt. he turned the gun on himsel on youtube he talks about his rage toward women who ignored

him. a 14-year-old and 18-year-old arrested in connection with the robbery and murder of a man in maryland. authorities say the victim was walking home when he was viciously attacked by these teenagers. coming up, world health officials talking about when they expect to have a swine flu vaccine, an attack on twitter and the upcoming sales tax holiday in virginia. the chief of police in prince william county says a taser was lawfully used when a hispanic man and women were arrested in a private home during a christening party. gene charlie dean called reporters together to clear up what he called inaccuracies in the media account of the arrest. chris gordon has our story. >> reporter: the police tasers were used at this home in manassas, virginia, the evening july 26th. police received a complaint from a neighbor saying there was loud

music and that people were drinking out back and detonating fireworks. police chief charlie dean says his department has conducted an internal investigation. >> of the actions that were taken there were within policy and lawful and reasonable under the circumstances. >> reporter: the home owner 55-year-old edgar rodriguez and 25-year-old lat ifrp sh elias were takesed and arrested a neighbor watched their encounter with police from his backyard along with his brother. >> at that particular time i saw three police officers in blue uniforms screaming. there was a male officer that screamed three times saying, "get down on the ground." all i know right after that, the third time the officer issued that order, i immediately heard the taser. >> i think they could have, you know, done something else rth

there were so many cops. rr:epteorn anenpresting the enrereesprting theyhe tes they e events that took place july 26th. the criminal charges have absolutely no merit. the lawyer calls the conduct excessive and unjustified. chief dean says he sees no parallel between this case with the arrest of two hispanics and a private residence with the cambridge, massachusetts, case of harvard porrossfe henry louis gates, an african-american who wa adrrestery and charged with s disorderly conduct, charges later dropped in an incident in his own home. >> in trying to deescalate, if you will or to get the noise to be abated, in this case they were endeavoring to do that and with resistance. they were cursed. they had to take action to

resolve the issues. >> reporter: christ gordon, news4. one of the arresting officers is bilingual and explained the noise ordinance to mr. rodriguez in spanish and english. a d.c. family is asking for the public's help trying to find a young mother. 24-year-old tiffany holsey has been missing since july 24th. she has two young children and today is her 5-year-old son's birthday. she was last seen near 37th place in southeast. today her family spent the afternoon searching the forte dupont park. tiffany was known to frequent that park. she cannot think of any reason why she would disappear. the family posted thousands of fliers hoping to hear from anyone with any information. fairfax county police arised a guy suspected in recten string of home burglaries. clifford sewell is charged with watches jewelry and from homes in thexa alendria

.ara h bventfe dreck lsixfi ferent blocks last moh. les stigators tracked himowto s he toc a l stolen items at he was aterres ad july 15thlaryr abularynd larceny chars. police are trying to figure out if he is responsible for other burglaries in the area. fairfax county firefighters responding to a house fire today found more than flames. they found about 30 snakes in the house. eun yang has that story. >> reporter: fire investigators ruled the fire an accident. they say it was caused by an extension cord in an upstairs bedroom. the fire broke out 8:30 this morning in the alexandria section of fairfax county. firefighters made an unusual discovery. 30 snakes, an iguana, liz ward and other reptiles. most died. the largest animal, this boa constrictor which survived.

the mother says her son rescued most of the snakes after they were abandoned by previous ownesers, usually kids. >> they were all well secured, which is why the fire was very near where they were all housed and they couldn't get out. >> reporter: fairfax county animal control officers says they are legal to own. the teen is an eagle scout who uses his pet reptile collection to educate children about responsible pet ownership and respecting nature. >> that's why we do these merit badge classes, education, do nature shows, whatever, to help young people know how to be responsible pet owners or just to appreciate nature. >> reporter: even neighbors called on him to help catch snakes in their yards and release him back to their natural habitat. >> he was doing a good job taking care of them. it was a lot of work. >> reporter: not everyone is thrilled about living near so

many reptiles, poisonous or not. >> i thought he left 11 loose a couple of years ago. i didn't know he's got a lot now. that's scary. >> reporter: one thing neighbors and the family axwree upon is the fairfax county fire department commending firefighters for their quick action and care. damage is estimated at $90,000. in fairfax county, eun yang, news. the red cross is helping the family to find a place to stay tonight. it could be days before they will be back in their homes. >> a new $26 million swimming pool opened in the district today. the long-awaited pool at wilson high school is part of a citywide billion dollar effort to repair or replace rundown school buildings and rec facilities. maier adrian fenty blows the whistle opening the pool today. it replaces a pool shut down in 2002 because of leaks and crumbling walls.

the wilson pool is run byhe t rec department. the billion dollar construction boom is part of the mayor's promise. >> we said we are all committed as a city to stop double talking, making excuses and every other reason why we weren't getting things done. >> the school construction chief told news4 the city is not only building new facilities, but make sure they are taken care of day to day. he said in the past repairs took months or years to make and contributed to rundown conditions. still ahead, a cyber attack on twitter had users upset this morning. >> when the world health organization expects to have a swine flu vaccine ib ready. >> wait unhe

good evening, bob ryan, storm center 4. sunshine beginning to come back and the rain drops are almost all gone. still lingering on the eastern shore. look at culvert county and charles county. you had a good wet today, over 1 1/2 inches of rain. with the tropics still not showing any sign of the first tropical storm, guess what? the outlook has been lowered. here's the outlook from the folks at the tropical prediction center. back in may they were expecting 9 to 14 storms, nowhey t a expecting 7 to 11. if this keeps going, that may be

lowered even more. heading out to the beaches, it will be great sailing weather saturday around the bay. good beach weather with a bit of onshore breeze, ocean waters mid 70s. today the world health organization delivered an updays on the effort to deliver a swine flu vaccine. w.h.o. is warning swine flu will be a serious health threat this fall. the director of vaccine research saysevelopment is on track for distribution in october. vaccine trials will begin in september. >> they will tell us whether we need one or two dose per person. >> doctors say pregnant women should receive the vaccine first. side effects are expected to be minimal and rare. a hacker disrupted service on the twitter site this morning. the site experienced an outage at about 9:00 a.m. because of what is called a denial of

service attack. a hacker overwhelms the servers with communication requests. the deluge in requests prevent legitimate traffic from getting through. twitter's statusvelog reported the site is now back on, but has advised users they might experience longer load times, slowness and time-outs until the service returns to 100%. there are reports of problems over on facebook. to keep you updated, i went to the cleaners, filled up the car and about to have an ice cream cone. >> fascinating. we've been waiting all day for that. >> next on news4 at 6:00 -- wait until you hear how much cowboys fans are going to have to shell out for beer and pizza at the team's new stadium. >> what's going on out there, dan? >> dodge ball is going on here in training camp today. the quarterback's taking it in the noggin. plus, stephon heyer and the offensive line getting healthier.

be sure to bring your spirit, your wallet if you are going to a dallas cowboys' home game and sitting in one of their suites. you'll have to fork over 60 bucks for a 20-inch cheese pizza. you and your buddies will probably be thirsty so you'll want something to drink, right? a 12-pack of beer will be another $60. these are prices for the suites only. they can cost up to $500,000 a year.

if you can afford the suite, $120 for pizza and beer may not seem too unreasonable. >> then there's the team, so, you no. dan and lyndsay a att redskins park where our team is ready to kick cowboy butts. >> we hope so they were out this morning. it was a rainy, wet practice. we want to talk about position battles going on. they are very interesting. injuries are still on the front page, especially in the receiving course santana moss. >> he wasn't able to take part in the second part of the day. coaches say don't disclose fully what your injury is. he did say it was hit glute. >> he pulled a butt muscle. >> he's not feeling too good sitting down. santana said it's not anything

to be too serious about. not very comfortable for him. >> from santana's glute to the second-year receivers. devin thomas, malcolm kelly back on the field today. malcolm kelly made it through the first practice. took it easy in the second. devin thomas, however, tweaked his hamstring again on the first play of t-drills. bad news, it's the same hamstring he hurt last year. devin thomas is the guy this team needs to play well of the he is the leading candidate. according to zorn, all the young guys need to learn the difference between injuries and being sore. thomas battled hamstring problems much of last season. timing though, still an issue, which is why the quarter wants to see thomas back sooner rather than later. >> it's very concerning. with billings, there is

continuity with each other. you get a chance to see him at full speed. throwing balls to him. he's learning to get the depth perception of his routs. we need him more on the field to be prepared for the upcoming season. we haven't had a lot of time together the last couple of years. it will be important we can get him back as soon as possible. >> it's tough. one of the tough things you've got to do. you are sore, you've got to know your limits. it's hard. >> so we need to get the receivers back out there is what jason campbell is saying. he wants to work. >> i think part of the reason there is a concern is it's the same leg devin thomas had a problem with last year, not saying anything having to do with it being that significant of an issue. that's why he is being tentative with it. >> they are being very careful

with receivers. the offensive line have been banged up the last few days of practice. they are getting better. guys in the media, take it easy. we'll be okay. randy thomas is getting better. he was on the field today. just watching and hanging out. he should be ready to go full board soon. stephon heyer back on the field. he is expected to be right tackle. he has been singled out having a very good training camp. the skins are counting on heyer to make big strides this year. the trick is to stay healthy for 74. >> just day by day i'm working in, trying to do more. trying to get a feel of what's going on. >> so the offensive line has

been the point of much speculation in terms of how good they are going to be. >> i did not see humpty dumpty out on the field. >> i've got to look at the sacks allowed last year. 38 sacks allowed. >> jason campbell, the fourth most sacked quarterback in the league. however the redskins have a drill to work on that. it's one of the most fun drills to watch during our time here in camp. the guys hate it. it's called dodge ball to work on avoiding pressure in the pocket. let's show you what it looked like today. jim zorn calls it dodge ball. backup quarterback todd collins has become a master at this drill in his second year under the coach, avoiding that attack. zorn has an absolute blast with this. you can see by his reaction.

jason campbell, it looked like, caught on quickly. he said even he gets sick of doing this drill over and over. the guy that got smacked around a bit was number 5 brennan. he's got one of the best personalities on the team. he got beamed, smacked in the face. i asked him after this drill, tell me about what seemed to look like a rough outing out there for you. did i see you get beamed in the face? >> yes, you did. >> tell me about that. >> i didn't know whose turn it was. i looked at jason and looked at todd. jason threw it. got it right in the face. i'll get it back tomorrow. >> is that fun for you guys? >> zorn seems to love it. i guess it brings fun to practice it's tiring. of course, he could do that drill on the other side of the

field. he puts us smack in front of the fans. >> you are saying it's a little guilty pleasure? >> yeah. i think he enjoys it too much. >> we'll get him one day. the ice tub is right over there. >> what's going to happen tomorrow? >> the slip-and-slide. after that juice boxes. >> juice boxes. half orange slices they used to have after soccer games. the guys learn from that drill. they did enjoy it last year when he introduced it. zorn said, i don't care. it teaches them something. >> it's fun to watch jim zorn in action today. very fun to watch the nationals in action today. for the first time all season -- no, they did not sign stephen strasberg they did it in style. they fell behind 6-0 t the marlins. they rallied to score nine

straight runs to win 12-8 and sweep the fish in this series. we pick it up bottom of the fifth inning. ryan zimmerman getting big with a two-run home run. zimmerman 4 for 4 in the game, a double shy of the cycle. fast forward now to the seventh inning. the nationals down 8-7. alijia dukes at the plate. this is a solo home run which ties the game. eighth inning now. nationals rally. it's a tie game. ronny belliard at the plate. he grounds one up the middle and he gets through. cristian guzman scores from second base. the game-winning run comes in. nationals g on to beat the marlins 12-8. before the game they shipped infielder anderson hernandez to the mets for a minor leaguer. the nationals win five in a row the first time this season.

good for them. they are playing very well. i see what you are trying to do, by the way. clean hair spray here. we'll get rid of the bugs and head for cover. >> there are a lot of products going on out there okay, you two. >> thanks a lot. when we come back, we are going to have information on virginia's upcoming sales tax holiday. >> and we'll talk about bears caught on tape when they were hanging out.

virginia kicks off its annual tax-free shopping weekend tomorrow. you won't have to pay the 5% tax on school splice and clothing. in our area virginia is the only place you can do the tax-free shopping now. d.c. canceled its holiday saying it needs the money. maryland did the same thing. stores are banking on these tax-free weekends to help attract shoppers during this tough economy. while some states canceled their tax holidays, others are offering sales tax relief for the first time. michelle franzen takes a look. >> back to school shopping is an annual tradition for most american house holds. in a recession, this has become a challenge for parents. >> with the recession and

everything. >> reporter: this year shoppers in 15 states will get the extra bonus of a tax-free weekend. with back to school spending projected to be down 8%, that gives retailers a chance to boost sales. >> we see on the retail side our research shows an uptick in sales in expected stores sometimes as high as 40%. >> reporter: legislators in several states say they can't afford to give up the revenue and repeal 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 looking to save. >> reporter: the tax-free holiday began more than a decade ago in new york, but the state no longer participates. this year the state repealed new york city's exemption for clothing and shoes costing $110 and more. it's giving neighboring states a chance to cash in. new jersey doesn't participate in the tax-free weekend but the state offers a sales tax break

onlothing 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. >> shoppers say the tax break adds up. >> it's a lot. a whole other item or out fit if you are a good shopper. >> reporter: savvy shoppers do their homework and saving where and when they can. michelle franzen, news4. >> family in colorado springs loves the view from their back deckhen they can get to it. sometimes they have to stay inside because there is another family that enjoys the deck. three little bears are making a habit of coming to visit. the cubs make a lot of mischief breaking planters and trying to get into the bird feeder, too. they've been to this house at least three times since the spring. the last visit lasted about an hour. the family stays inside because the cubs don't come