online viewing and believes youtube is partially to blame for her son's pain. >> i don't understand how youtube can be out there and not have some kind of restrictions. >> that was kendra astrike reporting. investigators say the other teen involved told them that he set the fire to impress a girl, but his mother says that's not true. no charges have been filed. >> stay with us now. "news 4 today" continues right now at 5:00. no a man convicted of targeting elder women who he tied up and burglarized their homes will be sentenced today. >> fighting tosurvive. a dog has endured more surgery as it battles to survive. there are doubts those who are responsible for its condition

will ever be found. >> a judge accused. new information about a judge accused of deflating someone's tire because of where the car was parked. >> well, good morning and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. it's the 13th day of august 2009. let's take a look outside, see what kind of day we have in the making. still dark out there, but we are expecting the sun to rise. it should be there, if we can see it, what, in about a couple hours, tom? >> hour and 20 minutes sunrise. >> tom is here now to tell us what's behind that darkness. >> actually, it's cleared out a little bit so beginning to see a little predawn glow there. sunrise about an hour and 20 minutes ay. mthis no more precipitation.th no more precipitation. unerovthtghhode thundershowers. 7's 73 in washington, near0 in0 7 in the suburbs and the rural areas farther wt0 th aor nnd in the 60s. dew points in the upper 60snear ne 70 70around inwash gton. a little bit drier west and north of us. overnight we had the last of the showers and thundershowers move to the northeast.wa for today, morning suhine, a

lofe cwsudldui bing this afternoon, maybe a passing sternoon thundershower, h inhe mid-80s and rather humid. for tonight, skins/raefens game, ereth bay me a thundershower early in the game but overall partly cloudy.e temperatures should be in the s hthugro heuggame. rather humid. remainturday ansusaidid, aytu, ay rd and sunday, partly cloudy each day with highs in the 80s, maybe near 90 by sunday afternoon, jaws slighthance of an afternoon thundershower friday, saturday and sunday. here's a look into next week. looks like we'll sta y mostly dry monday and tutsday bllti s rather humid. just a slight chance of afternoon thundershowers. e en maybeat areha gofer ce nc some and thundersh erow thundershowers by mid-week next week with highs in the 80s. that's the way it looks on this thursday morning. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. >> great. thank you, tom. >> let's go to jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network. jerry, any early, early problems? >> no, no. everything is pretty quiet so far. good morning. we'll head on over and take a live look here along interstate 66, haymarket, dark camera in manassas all the way to the capital beltway.

no early issues. had some overnight road work 66 westbound between vienna and fair oaks. that is in the process of wrapping up. northeast commuters finding a decent trip so far this morning. new york avenue and kenilworth avenue doing okay. coming off the b-w parkway and route 50. i-95etween washington and baltimore off to a quiet start. barbara and joe, back to you. >> okay. thank you, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. >> a man convicted in a series of violent home invasions and ndc.ardyl ml wanil b ceseseenntd in court this enmor. jose garcia was convicted of four counts of robbery after breaking into the homes of four disht women. in each case he hog tied and bound the women inside their homes. the final victim of bethesda was severely beaten and died from her injuries. gr garcia was convicted of first degree murder in that case. he could face life in prison without parole. a 12-year-old boy is clinging to life after a serious crash that left him in uinsi d.gsre i siblings injured. >> it happened lastnig i>>ht

germantown at id idoa rofgeiddod drive. and t drive. and tt' tsha a n an intersonec eenirsgh ne hboavec ing about for some time. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us from that intersection with more. good morning, megan. >> good morning. >> reporter: good morning. neighbors say this intersection has been a problem for a long time, and that they've been asking for a stoplight. yesterday, we had a very serious accident here and a 12-year-old boy is fighting for his life. now, this accident happened just a little bit before 4:00 yesterday afternoon. a voex wag ann pass sat with four people inside was stopped in the northbound lane of ridge road. they were trying to make a left onto morning star drive when a ford pickup truck slammed into the back of the sedan. 12-year-old joseph opeakoon was sitting in the back seat of the passat. the driver and two other passengers are listed in serious condition. two of the other injured are relatives, relatives of t boy

who is most seriously injured. now, the driver of the pickup truck was not hurt. he did stay on the scene. ridge road is a very heavily traveled road. gets very, very busy during the rush hour period. and oftentimes people, according to residents who live in the area, are not watching the speed limit. they travel very fast down this road. residents who live in this neighborhood say for a very long time they have been asking for a traffic light here but that they just haven't been able to get one. we still have a stop sign at this intersection. they say there have been a lot of accidents here and they are asking for a traffic light. we're going to have more coming up in the next half hour. back to you all. >> thanks, megan. >> megan, thanks very much. a dog that captured the sympathy of our area has endured more surgery, but -- as it battles to survive, there are doubts that those responsible for its condition will ever be found. news 4's jackie bensen has the story. >> she has been through a lot. >> reporter: bandaged and groggy from surgery needed to clean a

deep gash over her right eye, trouper looks just awful, but she is a survivor. last friday, washington humane society officer eve russell pulled the 2 1-year-old pit bull out of a dumpster in the 4200 block of 9th street southeast. the severely wounded dog has been tightly duct taped into a trash bag. she survived by chewing a hole and sticking her head out. officer russell is now trying to find the person who discarded trouper like a bag of garbage, likely the result of illegal dogfighting. >> it'sretty -- it's pretty difficult without any help from somebody who might know, you know? right now we're just kind of hoping that we're going to get some more information from the community. >> reporter: investigators believe dogfighting has declined in the district since a law was passed to make it a felony even to be a spectator, but the shadowy activity continues with participants discarding dead and wounded dogs after they fail to win a fight.

even with a reward that now stands at $4,000, finding the person who hurt trouper will be extremely difficult, but chris schindler of the humane society of the united states says all it takes is one person with a conscience. >> we want somebody to come forward so that this person can be charged with this crime because they're going to do something else. these types of crimes are directly connected with, you know, other acts of violence towards humans. >> a judge stands accused of deflating a woman's tire outside a courthouse. the woman says a security guard told her tt charles county circuit court charles nalley took the air out of her tire on monday because she was parked in his restricted spot. the incident outside the county courthouse was allegedly caught on cell phone video, although that video has yet to surface. the la plata police department confirms they're investigating a case of vandalism but won't confirm who they are investigating. >> well, the long journey that is the nfl season tonight begins

for the washington redskins. they're heading up to the road to baltimore for their first preseason game. the starters are not expected to be on the field for long. tonight is about the young players and the veterans fighting for jobs. it will also be the first time this new-look redskins defense will face live competition. the biggest free agent, albert haynesworth, will not play, we're told, but brian orakpo will get on the field in his very first p gol wll g aet first look at the 2009 version of the redskins right heren nbc 4 tonight. ntu inet a 7:30 to watch gh nitot's game and then sticknhen postgame coverage. >> our time is eight minutes after 5:00, the temperature right now 73 degrees in washington. we'll take a look at what the federal reserve said about the economy, plus new data due out today. >> a look at what the former vice president plans to say in a new tell-all book. stay with us. t' medium fries anm

drinre f foren w wuyouch purase the new anounder phi t p rnd coupon on our a ou con on sibs vit nbcwashington.com and search bargain blast. >> our time is just a little past 5:11, time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> we're going to talk to tom kierein who's up in storm center 4 about our weather for this thursday. good morning. >> hi, barbara and joe. a clearing sky after overnight thundershowers that have sincen dissipated. in its wake, begun to clear out a little bit. temperatures in the low and mid-70s around the metro area. 73 in washington. near the bay, low and mid-70s. 60s around the blue ridge, shenandoah valley and out of the mountains. those showers we had overnight have headed to the north and east. for the rest of the day becoming partly cloudy after a sunny morning, highs reaching mid-80s. a pachance of a passing afterno thundershower.

80s to near 90 by sunday. a small chance of a passing afternoon thundershowers. now let's check traffic. jerry, good morning. how's it looking? >> good morning, everyone. on 270 we're doing okay, all the way down through rockville. however, authorities were checking 270 southbound at the ramp to route 28 for an accident, so heads-up for that. the main lanes appear to be moving along very nicely. elsewhere out at the wilson bridge, no hang-ups. southeast corridors, 295 from the beltway to the 11th street bridge are doing okay. pennsylvania avenue to the sousa, south capitol street to the douglas bridge, light volume of traffic so far. >> thanks a lot. still ahead, analysts and investors are encouraged by the economic recovery. >> plus a look at who will and won't play today for the redskins first preseason game.

updating our top stories. a serious crash injures three siblings, all under the age of 17. a 12-year-old is now in critical condition. the crash happened in germantown last night at the intersection of ridge road and morning star drive, an intersection neighbors say is known to be dangerous. a pit bull found seriously injured in the trash dumpster in southeast has undergone another surgery. now police are hoping to find out who abused the dog and left her for dead. officers believe it was likely the result of illegal doht and jose garcia-perlera will benc steened today for breaking into the homes of four differen d the women inside their

homes. the final victim, mary havenstein of bethesda, was severely beaten and died from her injuries. garcia-perlera was convicted of first degree murder in that case. he could face life in prison without parole. >> all eyes are on wall street this morning after some relatively upbeat news. yesterday, the federal reserve said it saw signs that the economy is stabilizing. brooke hart now joins us live from capitol hill this morning. good morning, brooke. >> reporter: good morning to you. stabilizing but still fragile and we expect to see proof of that last part in foreclosure numbers out today for the month of july. still, the recession appears to be ending. it was the fed's first sunny assessment in more than a year. economic activity is leveling out, it said, as it left low interest rates alone. >> look, it's early days, but i think that things are improving in and the fed's going to stay the course. >> reporter: is the great recession over? president obama this week took credit for halting the slide.

>> we provided assistance that has saved the jobs of tens of thousands of workers who provided essential services, like teachers and police officers. >> reporter: the president and the fed said warning signs remain. job cuts continue, 1,800 ahead of them at health care giant kaiser. that's a result of layoffs elsewhere that have left fewer people on kaiser's roles. the jobless rate is expected to fuel record foreclosures in july. that number's out today. >> the combination of, again, the residual effect of bad mortgage practices and now the unemployment spike is contributing to record high levels. >> reporter: also out today, retail sales figures, how much americans are buying in tough times. >> with the recession going on, you have to really be tight on your budget. >> reporter: many areas are offering tax-free shopping days to spur sales. macy's reports its outlook's improving. less luck for las vegas. the number of visitors there has

fallen for 13 straight months. fewer people these days in a gambling mood. and some worry it's washington giving out easy money, that bailouts and still no new rules for financial markets have only rewarded wall street since the financial crisis began. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. joe and barbara, back to you. >> thanks very much. >> thank you, brooke. the remains of a navy pilot shot down in iraq in 1991 finally return home today. earlier this morning, the military announced that it had located a burial site for captain michaelbottel speicher. heiereech bad cielaif bssd as missing in ontiac. his plane was shot down on the first night of the first gulf war. speicher's remains are being flown to his hometown of .acksonvililleidflora, where he floride hea, h h will be permanently buried. a city is also planng public service at the eterss memorial wall there to honor speicher. >> vice president dick cheney is preparing to write his memoir. according to "the washington post," it will be a tell-all. the post reports that cheney believes that president george

w. bush stopped listeningo him during their second term together. cheney has been quoted in the past as saying that the, "statute of limitations has expired on many of his secrets." the book is eected to be released sometime in 2011. is in six months the eyes of the world will be on vancouver, canada. that city is hosting the 21st olympic winter games. just as the athletes have tirelessly trained, vancouver has been getting ready for years. all the venues are now complete, including the crown jewel, the richmond oval. the athletes village is ready for the 2,000 competitors who will call it home for a while. also finished on time, a new subway system to shuttle people from the airport to the city. the city admits paying for all this has been a challenge, but say that they just had to get it done, and they did. >> redskins fans, the wait is over. tonight marks the first preseason game of the year, and you can see it right here. >> dan hellie has more in your

sports minute. >> good morning, everybody. your sports minute starts with the redskins. tonight the young guys get a chance to impress the coaches in preseason game number one. it's the redskins and the ravens in baltimore at 7:30. the game right here on nbc 4. we'll have live pregame coverage and postgame coverage right after the game. meanwhile, in baseball, the nationals couldn't muster a lot of offense against the atlanta braves last night. adam laroche hit two solo home runs and the braves dowd the nationals 6-2. the nats have now last two in a row after that great eight-game winning streak. wizards brass now thinks they have the final piece to the puzzle in place for a deep playoff run. yesterday, oberto introduced the newest member of the team. the former spur will wear number 21. in soccer, team usa just can't win on mexican soil.

the united states down in mexico for world cup qualifying, and although they started strong, they couldn't snap their south of the border funk. the u.s. falls to mexico 2-1. they are now 0-23-1 in mexico, date back to 1937. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great thursday. >> all right. let's take a look at what kind of thursday it will be as far as the weather goes. here's meteorologist tom kierein. he is up in storm center 4. tom? >> hi. we had some nocturnal thundershowers that have sce temperates.edur erndaround the region o i arlow0nto the low 70s. montgomery,s.70n m arlington, fairfax,ri nt whehe i ttesies. n thehefa the west in the 60s. utsorn maryland, around baut eastehorn sow rey, l easbarn shore low 70s. mid-60s out in the mouns.tain unwethtahors awendhoho srs have moved to the north and east, are tending to dissipate. as the day progresses we'll have nunshine this morning a a thonhe few clouds building this afternoon, may produce a passing rsder.ho highs in the mid-80s.

il wstay rather humid, too. il n early a deunthrsisweunthr evening and may interrupt ttht skins and ravens. ot herwise, patly cloudy for the t.onhtig tomorrow, saturday and sunday,h cloudy, rather humid, highs by 90 by sunday. a small chance of an isolated thundershower each days we on masday and tuesday. a greater chance by mid-week next week. now, jerry, how's the thursday traffic? >> tom, we're doing pretty well so far. good morning, everyone. we'll take a live look here south of town, the approach to the woodrow wilson bridge has come out of objection onhill by way of the inner loop. everything's moving along nicely. the outer loop also welcomes all right. coming in from the eastern shore this morning on route 50, only 16 minutes at the moment from 5301 headed toward the bay bridge. over the bay bridge and through the woods to grandma's house. or annapolis, 13 minutes. 7 minutes from bowie to the beltway on route 50. barbara and joe, back to you.

>> thank you, jerry. >> all right. grandma, what big teeth you have. >> 5:24 is our time right now. it's 73 degrees in washington. coming up on "news 4 today," we're going to show you where a bear decided to take a break and cool off. >> in grandma's bed there. plus, where crews discovered a chemical agent from the world war i era. >> and here's your liz "on the money," money-saving tip of the day. >> what's the best way to lower your home insurance costs? "money" magazine says raise your deductible. it can save you $400 a year. get home insurance quotes every two years and check your c.l.u.e., the comprehensive loss underwriting exchange report, to check for m

good morning and welcome back. a group of hotel workers from our area won a power ball lottery prize. a pool of 27 employees at the washington hilton played power ball last week. turns out that they matched all but one number and won $10,000. after taxes, that is a cool $259 apiece. when the woman who organized the pool told her co-workers about the big win, at first they didn't believe it. >> i thought initially that she

was maybe just fibbing a little bit to get a little excitement. >> many of the hilton 27 are donating their winnings to a nonprofit group called tourism cares. the group provides scholarships and helps preserve historic sites around the world. >> many people like to take a dip in the pool when it gets hot. apparently bears like to do that, too, like this one in california. on wednesday, he scaled fences, hopped over walls and wandered into someone's back yard, but he only spent a minute swimming before exploring more of the human habitat. bear sightings are common in sandemas. there have been ro other recent reports of swimming bears. >> time now 5:28. still ahead on "news 4 today," why some people are joining forces now to try to get metro's general manager fired. >> an action taken against the dogs involved in this week's deadly mauling in leesburg. stay with us.

metro problems. all the recent problems with metro have some people calling on the general manager to step down. hotel deal. d.c.'s mayor announces a new deal for a major new hotel in the city. >> and free care. people around the country are taking advantage of free health care, something -- sometimes waiting in line for days.

well, good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. and i'm barbara harrison on this 13th day of august 2009. let's take a look outside, see what it's looking like now. still about the same as it was about a half hour ago, still dark. we're waiting for the sun to rise. tom tells us we've had in clearing out there, which i guess we'll see when the sun comes up. tom, good morning. >> hi. yeah, seeing the predawn glow. sunrise is at 6:20. we did have some overnight thundershowers. those have dissipated. in their wake, it's cleared out. temperatures now low to mid-70s in washington and near the bay. near 70 in montgomery, fairfax, prince george's county and arlington counties. from foggy bottom to clinton, merrifield and gaithersburg, the sky has begun to clear out. off to a clear start throughout much of the region. lots of sunshine this morning. by noontime we'll be in the 80s. mid-80s this afternoon and a 40% chance of a passing afternoon thundershower. for tonight's skins game should be partly cloudy, a slight chance of a thundershower early in the game. by game time in the upper 70s.

pretty good weather for tonight's game. friday, saturday and sunday, partly cloudy and humid, highs in the 80s maybe near 90 on sunday. a small chance of afternoon thundershowers. a look at next week in ten minutes. >> thank you, tom. out to the roads now with jerry. >> good morning. we're doing okay so far. checking out i-270 through clarksburg with no early worries. do have reports of an accident on middlebrook road east of 270. police should be on the scene dealing with that so be careful. between 355 and 270 on middle breek road. elsewhere, things moving along well route 50 at the bay bridge. wilson bridge is okay. 66 and the dulles toll road both moving without incident. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> jerry, thanks very much. certainly been a very rough summer for metro. a deadly collision, a repairman killed and revelations that a train operator left a station with too many cars while apparently using drugs. >> now an online petition is calling for metro's general manager to resign.

kimberly suiters joins us live in our studio with me now. good morning. >> good morning, barbara. the onli petition calls on the wmata board of directors to remove metro general manager john catoe. it has fewer than 100 signatures at this hour but its dakoeur mem some serious alga s.on s.e petition states in the wake tofhe horrificunnd, h ascron 9, crasoned re linh meo'seds r lins me laco armyinlaar cglletha t current managements unable to safely administerilra mroetil so ems.sy the petition notes a failure t . ta es blish and maintain a culture .ffety as the public face ofo, trmetr tys the rpoitnsoibil ty operate a safls aln sto sherlds.s. finally, it claims heas hleasaid to be airthcndfo ag ransparent about the curre state of the system. for mr. catoe's part when asked about remaining at his post, he has repeatedly said he wants to focus on finding the cause of the accident on june 22nd, implementing change and

continuing to earn the confidence of metro riders. catoe was named the nation's 2009 top public transportation manager by the american public transportation association for making outstanding contributions to the public transportion industry. the metro board of directors has indicated they are confident in li t lead. now, some of the people who signed the online petition calling for catoe's removal touched on their lack of trust of the general manager and the system in general. in their additional comments, which you can do online, one woman wrote she's disgusted that there are no answers two months after the major june crash. another says catoe and a couple levels below him absolutely must go. now, as is the risk with online petitions, some people don't take them very seriously, and they sign their names, such as "i am nuts, hulk hogan and alcoholic." others are using the petition as a sounding board, urging metro

to expand the dulles airport, complaining about a perceived lack of diversity in the metro workforce and expressing general frustration. one man writes he's so fed up with all the delays on the orange line he's now driving his car. joe and barbara, back to you. >> okay. thanks very much, kimberly. >> thanks. >> the dogs that attacked and killed a young man in leesburg have been euthanized now. loudoun county animal control says the two pit bulls were put to sleep at the request of their owner owner, the victim's older brother. officials say a bite to the neck likely kild.dle crartedelaney. he was found on monday. ce s delaney may have trd toce help a small dog that os being attacked when the pit bulls turned on him. here in the district, crews discovered a chemical agent from the world war i era. the army corps of engineers discovered an open flask of mustard gas in a spring vall ehhoigigorhbod.or corps has been searching for

munitions near a.u. safety procedures will be reviewed before the excavation continues. >> a judge stands accused of deflating a woman's tire outside a courthouse. the woman says a security guard told her that charles county circuit courtudge robert nalley took the air out of her tire monday because she was parked in a restricted spot, his spot. the incident outside the courthouse was allegedly caught on a cell phone video, although that video has yet to surface. the la plata police department confirms they're investigang a whirheoy' tdalism but theym nf confirm who they're investigating. in southeast washington, hundreds turned out for a vigil for 21-year-old charles august tuesday williams was gunned down. his friends called him gus and they joined a nonviolence group rallies in his memory. they say williams was in a job training program and was trying to turn his life around. >> well, it's been 13 years since alexandria resident

shaquita bell was murdered and the search for her remains continues. bell's parents spent yesterday digging in an area on old fort road. her self-confessed killer, michael dickerson, claims to have buriied bell's body there. with mixed emotions her stepfather said he's more hopeful about the prospects of finding something. >> when they find her, it's going to be pretty sad to see them pulling her up out of the ground and all, but the closure and the grave site to go to, put flowers will be joy. it will be joy. >> this was the third time such a large search effort has been coordinated to search the area for bell's body. >> it's official. plans to build a marriott hol across the -- from the washington convention center have now been approved. d.c. mayor adrian fenty signed off on the deal last night. the 14-story building will be built at 9th street and massachusetts avenue northwest. construction of the 1,100 room

hotel is expected to begin in october. city officials hope the new ortel will draw moreheiss it v an d conferences to washington. day,ree' w connecting you with mayor nty. he'll join us live here in the studio this morning at 6:45. coming up on "news 4 today," the latest town hall meeting on health care reform in our area. why people turned out by the hundreds. >> and a fish comes flying out of the sky, leaving a nasty crack in a woman's windshield. stay with us.

good morning. at this hour the sky's cleared out a bit after overnight thundershowers. temperatures in the low to mid-70s around the metro area. highs today in the mid-80s. maybe a passing afternoon thundershower. partly cloudy and rather humid. highs in the 80s friday and saturday, near 90 on sunday. a small chance of an isolated afternoon thundershower those days. as well as monday and tuesday. then on wednesday, maybe some

passing thundershowers. i'll be back in ten minutes with an expanded report. we'll take a look at the tropics. that will be coming up at 5:51. jerry, how's the traffic? >> doing pretty well. good morning, everyone. let's check out heading into town this morning. so far, so good. kenilworth avenue, this right at the maryland district line at eastern avenue, doing just fine. so good news there headed toward northeast. also route 50 looks good. headed for downtown, a few brake lights but not bad. 395 to and across the inbound lanes of the 14th street bridge right now lanes are open. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you. 5:43, 73 degrees here in washington. still ahead on "news 4 toda" another emotional debate about health care. >> senator ben cardin battles to have his voice heard above a

5:46 is our time. updating the top store this the news for today, investors are encouraged by the federal board's confidence in the cotry. more economic indicators are out today, including foreclosures numbers and retail sales. in jacksonville, florida, one of the first casualties of the first gulf war comes home. of captain scott speicher arrives at the naval air station there. speicher's remains will be available for final respects until the next morning. and the redskins return to the field. game one of the preseason is tonight for the home team. they're playing in baltimore. you can watch all the action, of course, right here on nbc 4, and then, after the game, stay tuned for live postgame coverage. >> the heated debate over health care reform rages on. most recently it took center stage at hagerstown community college. more than 400 constituents -- >> your government has lost the faith and trust of the american

people. >> again, more than 400 constituents packed the auditorium yesterday, wanting to question maryland senator ben cardin. another 500 were left waiting outside. many chanted for cardin to just say no to a government-run health insurance option. cardin said the government has the responsibility to provide affordable health care for all without adding to the national debt. his explanations, though, came with plenty of interruptions. >> we -- we are -- we are trying in this bill -- part of this bill -- >> why don't you take the -- >> to make sure we use health information technology more -- more effectively. >> cardin said unruly behavior is better suited for demonstrations than town hall meetings but he pised the community involvement in the health care debate >> today begins another day of a free health fair that is attracting thousands of people

in the los angeles area. free health clinics are helping thousands of uninsured and underinsured patients. leanne gregg has more. >> reporter: evening elwood, california, hundreds camped out and lines were long with people hoping for the chance to see a doctor. >> there's a lot of people in need. >> reporter: more than 8,000 uninsured or underinsured people are expected to receive free health care during this eight-day clinic operated by volunteer professionals. the l.a. forum has been transformed into a mobile hospital. >> the people that are coming to these events are simply those that don't have access or cannot afford the care they need. >> reporter: in cleveland, ohio, last month, patients swarmed this free clinic, also staffed by volunteers. >> they're all coming together with one common goal, to help the people that need it. >> reporter: people like gene sander who has no health insurance. >> i'm like half paralyzed. i got pain that shoots down into my fingers, my wrist, my whole arm. >> reporter: so many came they had to set up extra exam rooms

in a gymnasium. this clinic in sarasota, florida, gives patients health care at a discount. demand for services is up 10 to 15% from last year, and they're fully booked through the middle of next month. >> just to be kwing we have 100 people on the wait list. >> reporter: as the president and congress battle over health care reform, communities are taking the lead to help provide for those in need. leanne gregg, nbc news. >> nasa says it's all set to aunch the space shuttle "discovery" this month and a virginia man will be on board. nasa tells us astronaut patrick. forester of springfield, virg, inwill b flyininginn the shuttle's next mission to the international spas station. this will be his third journey in space. the launch is scheduled for august 25th at the kennedy space center in florida. >> one ohio woman was left with a nasty crack in her windshields came raining down from the sky. yes, that's a fish. leanne niles was on vacation near lake erie in ohio when she saw an eagle flying overhead

carrying a fish in its claws. she described it as a beautiful sight at first, but it soon turned into a bit of a daytime nightmare. >> then i realized that something was wiggling, in its claws. i looked again, and next thing i know, i'm saying, oh, my god. down comes the eagle's lunch. >> a new windshield is going t cost niles about $250. she says she's just grateful that she didn't get hurt and probably that the eagle didn't come looking for the fish. wouldn't want that thing flying around the inside of your car. >> can you imagine? wonder why he lost it. they're usually pretty good about -- >> probably short nails. had been chewing on his nails. >> biting his nails. >> yeah, biting his nails. they they will you not to do that. >> what kind of day are we going to have? >> some overnight thundershowers that may have kept you awake a bit, especially to our east. had a heavy downpour in annapolis a couple hours ago but that's dissipated. now looking to the east, to a

partly cloudy to mostly cloudy start now. actually cleared out a little bit about an hour ago but the clouds have moved back in. now 73 in washington. that's a live picture from our city camera. and as we look at radar, no precipitation now around the ft of those overnight thundershowers. temperatures near 70 in arlington and fairfax, montgomery, prince george's counties. near the bay weather watchers reporting temperatures in the low to mid-70s there. charles, calvert counties in the low 70s. farther to our west now in how often did you know county, low 70s to mid-60s. weather watchers around the blue ridge, shenandoah valley reporting mid-60s. that's where the dew points are so a little patchy fog forming there as well as where they had the thundershowers to our east. the dew points there near 70. dew point in washington is at 68. on the eastern shore now temperatures in the low 70s, out in the mountains a pleasant morning in the mid-60s. overnight we had those thundershowers now dissipating

heading off to the north and east. it's cleared on a bit although we still have a few low clouds lingering. traveling today? there may be some thundershowers in parts of southern california, utah, arizona, new mexico, as well as into south texas. in florida and up and down the atlantic seaboard. and maybe a little rain in the pacific northwest and the northern rockies. meanwhile, way out here in the eastern atlantic we have still a weak tropical depression. it has not yet turned into a tropical storm. here's washington so it's really way far away from us. this is still tropical depression number two. winds around 30 miles an hour with gusts to 40. it's still over 3,000 miles east/southeast of ocean city, continuing on a westerly track here for the next couple of days. and then taurng bit to the north as it gets -- we get into the weekend and the first part of next week. may become a weak tropical storm later on today or tomorrow and remain that way all the way into the first part of next week. for us, we've got this stalled front just to our south and

east. that's what's been triggering these showers and thundershowers the last couple of days. doesn't appear -- it doesn't want to move today anyway. a weak area of low pressure along the front will begin to drag it farther to the east and allow a little bit of a clearing to move in. high pressure moves in from the midwest. going forward over the next 36 hours where you see colors is where we could get showers and thundershowers. a small chance this afternoon. just a very slight chance on friday and again on saturday. otherwise, partly cloudy. for the rest of this day, some sunshine this morning a partly cloudy this afternoon. be in the mid-80s by early afternoon and hold there through mid-afternoon. about a 40% chance of a passing thundershor. wenrise 6:20. sunset at 058:. then tonight for the s gnse am in baltimore, temperatures sh ld be in the upper 70s. by game time. there's a slight chance of an isolated thundershower then. through the rest of the evening, partly cloudy. maybe patchy fog around tomorrow morning. friday, saturday, ndsu,su partly cloudy each day. just small chance of an isolated afternoon

thundershower. 80s friday and saturday, near 90 sunday, ma eayb ma ae passing thundershower as we get into mid-week next week. that is the way it looks. >> okay. tom, we'll see you again in a few minutes. >> let's go to jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network. any problems? >> yeah, we do have one problem up in germantown. this is the one we told you about earlier this morning. a little blurry but i will explain. this is middlebrook road. this is i-270. westboun middlebrook road headed toward 270 coming from route 355 closed because of wires down in the roadway. folks headed over toward 270 from 355 on middlebrook road just being turned around, sent the other way. eastbound right now looks like it is open, but authorities going to be out there for a while. this is the turn that would take knew montgomery college. go down to 124, up to 118 to access the exit for 270. elsewhere, take a look, see how things are progressing. top side of the capital beltway, college park to silver spring

incident-free. southeast to northeast corridor so far, so good. barbara and joe, back to you. >> all right, jerry, thanks very much. >> thank you, jerry. good news for frugal shoppers. the recession has area grocery stores fighting for your dollars. that means they're cutting prices. safeway is the latest to slash the cost of thousands of items, including staples like paper prodts and coffee. safeway is the second largest grocer in the washington area. it says some of the price cuts are as high as 25%. >> i'm a big coupon user when i can. when the prices go down, you notice -- you eat better, and you strch your dollar. >> i'm worried about everything. the economy is a little stressed. people get stressed out. so, you know, every little bit helps. i mean, you know, even folks who had dough, i'm sure they're pinching a few pennies these days, too. >> giant food made a similar move, cutting prices about three years ago. whole foods has also reduced prices on some items. >> well, to the money crisis now and a look at how foreign

markets are doing. asian stocks rose on good news from the u.s. the fed says the american economy is showing signs of leveling out now. japan's nikkei index edged up slightly, rising less than 1%. hong kong's market climbed more than 2% today. taking a look at wall street right now where the dow futures are pointing to a positive opening today. yesterday, the dow gained 120 points to close at 9361. and the nasdaq gained 28 points, closing at 1998. >> news 4's always looking for jobs for you.si pnc banks hirink ban tellers .t ser albranes a high ve sd ha school deixeed s, mons oth sf etail experience andoo gfd communication skills. obn u in afi tk lo t jhoseob postings on our website. siast nbcwt hington.com and search jobs 4 you. >> coming up at 6:00 a.m. on "news 4 today," why a terrorist bomber convicted of bringing

down pan am flight 103 which killed more than 200 people may soon be out ofnb

where are we now? the federal reserve says the economy is getting stronger and decided to leave a key interest rate unchanged, but what exactly does that mean for the economy and your money? >> derailed. the new petition circulating this morning to fire metro general manager john catoe. good morning and thanks for staying with us this morning on "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. it's thursday, august 13th, 2009. taking a look outside, looks like with we've got some clouds out there. tom says we have had some clearing since last night's rain. we're going to talk to him right now because he's sitting right here ready toell you what to expect today. good morning. >> did clear a bit after the

hunde loid c bs the clouds bidding back up asude prunoa wch sserihich i atse 6:20 this rnmoinmo radar not shong any more showers or thundershowers after we had thoseocturnrnhu ternd and lightning storms coming er ugh. brie age, just had som heavy downpours. ere's the forecast for today. hetos. mid-80s. tshift aonnoer this afternoon g showinabout a ow40% chance of thdewersunrsho. an cook atan graphics 22 and show you the forecast there. that will not appear. there it is. ovgherninit overnight tonight for thens s s ood ravens in baltimo, lks like it will be in t egby am0s 7 by game time. just a small chance of a passing thundershower. and then by this time tomorrow morning may have some patchy fog around, near 70. lyrtoupacl dy, clfriday, saturd and ndsuaylyonsu a a small chan of afternoon thundershowers. if you like summertime, that's the way it looks. >> it's still summertime out there, but as you y, we start to see the -- >> daylight hours are getting shorter. >> thank you, tom.

>> we'll see if it looks like rush hour time. let's go to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. >> good morning. yeah, rush hour starting to pick up in volume. reminder, up in germantown, middlebrook road is closed to traffic just east of i-270. this is 270. this is eastbound middle brook. here's westbound, montgomery college right about over there. some wires down in the roadway. crews are out trying to restring the wires right now, but you cannot get to 270 from middlebrook road at this hour so go south to montgomery village, north to 118 if you need to get on 270. just turning the vehicles around. out at the wilson bridge we're okay. 95 from dumfries all the way up looking good. 66, haymarket in, no early issues to report. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> jerry, thanks. >> a 12-year-old boy is fighting for his life after a serious crash that left him and twowo sibliggs nhtn i ltig n inanwn a t a ntersection ofnidge rd roa and morning star no e.gh n tbodr ei nelrsbol tell t in tirs

intersection has plagued the area for some time. news 4's megancgrath joins us from the intersection with more on the story. megan? >> reporter: well, that's right, barbara. people who live in this area say that this is just a terrible intersection. it's very, very busy. it has a stop sign, not a traffic light, and they say there are all kinds of accidents that occur here. this is ridge road behind me here. there are lots of neighborhoods located off the street. here at the intersection with morning star drive, there is no turn lane for people who are traveling northbound on ridge road. there was a very serious accident here yesterday. a car with four young people inside, they were trying to make a left hand turn when they were rear-ended by a pickup truck. the volkswagen passat was stopped on ridge road when police say a ford truck slammed into the back of the car. the driver of the passat and two passengers were taken to the hospital in serious condition. a fourth person, 12-year-old joseph opiekun, a passenger in

the back seat, was critically injured and is fighting for his life at children's hospital. >> it's sad, very sad. crying. the driver was crying. >> reporter: residents say the intersection of ridge road and morning star drive has long been a problem despite petitions and pleas for a traffic light, there is still just a stop sign. >> near misses every time. you really take your life into your hands when you try to get out of the driveway, try to turn in. >> this is the third serious accident since we've -- nine years i've lived here, this corner. and each time we've written letters. >> reporter: the driver of the truck, robert colehoff, was not injured. he did remain on the scene. no word yet on injuries. back to you, barbara. >> okay. thank you very much, megan. >> the ntsb is changing its tune about when metro reported a close call on the tracks. it happened in march at the potomac avenue station. metro says the train safety system failed and an operator had to use an emergency brake to avoid running into another train. the ntsb initially said it

didn't learn about the incident until last week while it was investigating the deadly crash that happened in june. however, investigators now say metro told them about the close call right after the deadly collision in june. >> well, finally some good news about the economy. the federal reserve announced that it's seeing signs the economy's stabilizing. that has many wondering if the recession is finally over. brooke hart has more from capitol hill. >> reporter: it was the fed's first sunny assessment in more than a year. economic activity is leveling out, it said, as it left low interest rates alone. >> look, it's early days, but i think that things are improving and the fed's going to stay the course. >> reporter: is the great recession over? president obama this week took credit for halting the slide. >> we provided assistance that has saved the jobs of tens of thousands of workers who provided essential services, like teachers and police officers. >> reporter: the president and the fed said warning signs remain. job cuts continue, 1,800 ahead of them at health care giant

kaiser. that's a response to so many layoffs elsewhere that have left fewer people on kaiser's roles. the jobless rate is expected to fuel record foreclosures in july. that number's out today. >> the combination of, again, the residual effect of bad mortgage practices and now the unemployment spike is contributing to record high levels. >> reporter: also out today, retail sales figures, how much americans are buying in tough times. >> with the recession going on, you have to really be tight on your budget. >> reporter: many areas are offering tax-free shopping days to spur sales. macy's reports its outlook's improving. less luck for las vegas. the number of visitors there has fallen for 13 straight months. fewer people these days in a gambling mood. and some worry it's washington giving out easy money, that bailouts and still no new rules for financial markets have only rewarded wall street since the financial crisis began.

in washington, brooke hart, nbc news. >> stock markets also shot higher today after the u.s. federal reserve's promising news. every major market in asia experienced gains after tumbling the day before. >> well, plans to build a marriott hotel across from the washington convention center have finally been approved. d.c. mayor adrian fenty signed off on the deal last night. the 14-story building will be built at 9th street and massachusetts avenue northwest. construction of the 1,100-room hotel is expected to begin in october. this effort is a public/private partnership. district officials hope the new hotel will draw more visitors n will join u f for connecting th r. l ma 'lweask him'lrfotahe s startrt and whether the district is making a push to bring the redskins back to play in d.c. >> the fate of popular local fruit stand -- fruit stand now lies in the hands of a judge

today. why a terrorist bomber convicted f pann pan tamligh103 may soon be let . of pris a oond>>t k lth.. eyskins michael vick .jeaeyrs does the nfl's online store know sowe

here is today's news 4oue oa w hot somou free food atom cd d'onms?al t ge mcdonald's? yoharche tngew ahi angus thirduw pous aouu ntnnri p arioupon website. website. visit nbcwashingtchinargastarl. >> 6:11 the time now. let's take a look at our forecast. tom? >> well, we're just about ten minutes away from sunrise. good morning on this thursday morning. temperature 73 in washington. mostlycloudy, but it's mostly clear farther to the west where temperatures are in the mid-60s.

near 70 in arlington, montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties. mid-70s near the bay. a few clouds building again this afternoon, maybe producing a few passing thundershowers with highs in the mid-80s. still rather humid, remaining humid into the weekend. partly cloudy friday, saturday and sunday. highs in the 80s friday and saturday, near 90 sunday. a small chance of an isolated afternoon thundershower each day as well as monday and tuesday. maybe a greater chance on wednesday. now the traffic. jerry, how are we doing on this thursday morning? >> doing pretty well. good morning, everyone. head south, check out the capital beltway to the lane split over there at van dorn street. so far the outer loop from springfield to telegraph road to the wilson bridgeooking good. the inner loop no worries. that is very good news. elsewhere, doing okay along i-270 from i-70 down toward the split. middlebrook road east of 270, westbound lanes are closed because of wires down in the roadway. and on the beltway from springfield on up toward 66 to tysons corner, american legion bridge, all is well. barbara and joe, back to you.

>> all right, jerry, thanks very much. >> thank you. 12 minutes after 6:00 the time right now. the dangerous discovery in one local neighborhood. traces of mustard gas are found. the new petition circulating thisst

a serious crash injur three siblings, all under the age of 17. a 12-year-old is now in critical condition. that crash happened in germantown last night at the intersection of ridge road and morning star drive, an intersection neighbors say is known to be dangerous. later today, consumers are waiting before breathing a sigh of relief with july foreclosure

and retail sales numbers being released. the federal reserve is cautiously saying the worst of the recession may be over. new information about a close call on metro back in march. the train safety system failed and an operator had to use an emergency brake to avoid running into the back of another train at the potomac avenue station on the orange line. the ntsb initially said it did not learn about the incident until last week, but now the investigators say they were told about that close call right after the deadly collision that lled nine people back in june. >> it's a deadly collision. a repairman killed, a train operator on drugs making a dangerous mistake. it's been a rough summer for metro and some riders are fed up. they're calling for change, starting with the system's gm. news 4's kimberly suiters has more on a new petition demanding that john catoe step down. >> barbara, the online petition calls on the wmata board of directors to remove metro general manager john catoe.

it has fewer tha 100 signatures at this hour, but it does keusio the petition states in the wake he horrificun20 ,09, 2009, as hh on metro's redas ht be become alarmingly clear t thathe current management is unleo safely ateoin min thero metrail mand metrobus tipee emst ntion the petition notes es n blnt man aaiai establish and maintain a culture af syafet and, as the public em ostlstoalcan s aysme the f erfeou fsystemsyalls on catoe's shoulders.st sfinall ctlase im himdha failedt inhc agnddfoomhcg nd transparent about the current state of the system. for mr. catoe's part when asked about remaining at his post, he has repeatedly said he wants to focus on finding the cause of the june accident, implementing changes that are recommended and continuing to earn the confidence of metro riders. catoe was named the nation's 2009 top public transportation manager by the american public transportation association for making outstandin contributions

to the public transportation n industry. the metro board of directors has indicated they are confident in catoe's ability to lead. some of the people who signed this online petition are calling for catoe's removal. they touched on their lack of trust of the general manager and the system. in their additional comments, which you can do here online, one woman wrote here that she is disgusted that there are no answers two months after the june crash. another says that catoe and a couple levels below him simply must go. as is the risk with these online petitions, some people don't take it so seriously, signing their names such as "i am nuts, hulk hogan and alcoholic q." others are using the petition as a sounding board, urging metro expansion to dulles airport, complaining about a perceived lack of diversity in the metro workforce and expressing general frustration. one man writes he's so fed up with delays he's now driving his

car. back to you. >> thank you. >> thank you, kimberly. the man currently behind bars for the 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103 could soon be released from prison. a libyan man was convicted of bling up the plane. 270 people died. the convicted bomber received a life sentence, but the bbc is reporting he will be released next week on what's known as compassionate grounds. they say he has terminal cancer and will be sent home to libya.a ho s wcotteh justice who would set him free says no decision has been made. and here in the district, the search for decades-old chemical weapons is on hold. the army corps of engineers found a flask containing traces of mustard gas in a spring valley nrheighboood. it had been bghied burdehin eherican university's campus. du worngarld i, sciensts edntpe wit w chemical tapons the man in ce the man in charge says theha yssahe t army corps needs to regroup and review safety procedures before continuing to search. >> well, the redskins have said

no to michael vick but don't tell that to the folksho run the nfl shop.com. k'quacrbars last name tacac bfhe o aked ey jersth o jersey on thatte. yere sesi. was he jersey was a pa or page foronar l a landry youth reica jersey. it dispeared from the siteew ou outlets vick, meanilwhe, vick, meanwhile, is still looking for a team after his recent release from federal prison. well, the real redskins will be taking on the ravens tonight and the team's first preseason game. dan hellie now has a preview in your sports minute. >> good morning, everybody. your sports minute starts with the redskins. tonight the young guys get a chance to impress the coaches in preseason game number one. it's the redskins and the ravens in baltimore at 7:30. the game right here on nbc 4. we'll have live pregame coverage and postgame coverage right after the game. meanwhile, in baseball, the nationals couldn't muster a lot

of offense against the atlanta braves last night. adam laroche hit two solo home runs and the braves downed the nationals 6-2. the nats have now lost two in a row after that great eight-game winning streak. wizards brass now thinks they have the final piece to the puzzle in placfor a deep playoff run. yesterday, fabricio oberto introduced as the newest member of the team. the former spur will wear number 21. in soccer, team usa just can't win on mexican soil. the united states down in mexico for world cup qualifying, and although they started strong, they couldn't snap their south of the border funk. the u.s. falls to mexico 2-1. they are now 0-23-1 in mexico, dating back to 1937. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great thursday. >> our time is 6:21. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> let's go to meteorologist tom

kierein. he's in storm center 4. tom? >> barbara and joe, a few clouds over washington and points east. we're in the low 70s around the region now except farther to our west where it's cleared out, they're in the 60s. here's the forecast for tonight's skins game in baltimore. 7:30, upper 70s under a partly cloudy sky. there's just a small chance of a passing thundershower, perhaps early in the game. otherwise, partly cloudy. now here's the forecast for the next few days. we'll have a chance of an afternoon thundershower today, highs reaching the mid-80s and rather humid. remaining rather humid friday, saturday and sunday. partly cloudy each day. afternoon highs tomorrow mid-80s, upper 80s on saturday. sunday, highs near 90. highs near 90 again monday and tuesday and remaining rather humid into next week. maybe some afternoon thundershowers as we get into wednesday. there's only a small chance of afternoon thundershowers on monday and again on tuesday. i'll be back in ten minutes with another update at 6:31. now let's check traffic for this thursday.

jerry, how's it looking? >> doing pretty well. check out frederick. good morning to you folks along i-70 just east of and west of 270. traffic eastbound headed on over toward 97 or beyond moving along nicely, as is westbound. there's one accident on the shoulder of 270 southbound of route 80 that is drawing a little attention. elsewhere let you know things are moving relatively well so far along 66 between the two 29 interchanges. just 10 minutes from centreville headed to the beltway, 17 minutes and inside the beltway we're looking good, 17 minutes to the roosevelt bridge. joe, back to u. >> well, thank you very much, jerry. another rowdy town hall meeting about health care. this time it was in maryland and senator ben cardin was in the middle of the heated debate. and what a group of power ball winners in d.c. are doing with their winnings.

i thought initially that she was maybe just fibbing a little bit to get a little excitement. >> fibbing. my goodness, no. a pool of 27 hotel workers from the washington hilton won a power ball lottery prize. they matched all but one number and won a total of, well, $10,000. after taxes, that's $259 apiece. many of the winners are donating their prizes to charity. >> the fate of a popular fruit stand in bethesda goes before a judge today. the stand has been serving customers on river road for the past decade, but now maryland officials call it a safety hazard and say farm stands are not allowed in a state right of way. the owner of the fruit stand wants a hearing on the matter. today a judge will decide if that will happen. >> it's still there as of today.

our time is now 6:27. one airline's new deal. how you can fly for as much as you want for one flat fee. and what set off a local judge, why he decided to deflate a woman's tire right outside of court. >> one week after they're motional return from north korea, once-captured journalista

dangerous intersection. a violent crash seriously injures three siblings, all under the age of 17. neighbors say this accident highlights a bigger problem in the area. >> a local judge is in trouble with the law. why he's accused of deflating a woman's tire. good morning and welcome ba to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. it's thursday, august 13th, 2009. and tom is here to tell us what kind of weathere're going to have today for this august 13th. >> off and running here we go on this thursday morning. we had some overnight thundershowers. those haip ssdiated. we have a few cloudsssn i ongt. right now on radar tse thundershors d have rifted out to seaasavt of cape may now. and a few showers eastern pennsylvania and up around new england, but elsewhere itas begun to de few low clouds hwee lewow clouds

atter a ies3 7now faarne70n i y 73 in 70 nontgx,y and atratsch w rertintoueps.or ngweather watchers reporti tendluge bn rid ou and tar blue ridge and the shenandoah valley in the mid-60s there. fe ndouou. southern maryland around the northern neck weather re reporting low 70s there. mos in the low 60s out in thert taunthniistand mor ang not as humid as it is here or on the eastersh a and we'll have some sunshine this morning. eng dinurthe afternoon some clouds building and a pachance a passing thundershower. tomoowur,inat sdaandat sunday, maybe near 90 by sunday. small chance of afternoon storms. a look into next week in ten minutes coming up at 6:41. >> hard to believe we're already in mid-august almost. >> it's coming in. >> all right. thank you. >> let's go to jerry edwards, take a look at the roadways at this hour. jerry, what do we have? >> so far, so good out on the interstates. enjoying the dog days of august before things get crazy after labor day. right now doing fine. pretty light volume of traffic

on the capital beltway, all jurisdictions, the outer loop headed for the american legion bridge doing fine. inner loop of the beltway from tysons corner across the bridge to rockville pike and continuing toward the i-95 interchange, no hang-ups whatsoever. elsewhere let you know we're doing okay through southeast. had an accident route 5 at brandywine road. that's just moved over to the shoulder. very minimal delays being reported now. 66 and the toll road doing okay. looks like everything on middlebrook road, the problems we had with the wires down east of 270 has been wrapped up. travel lanes re-opened. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks very much. a 12-year-old boy is in critical condition after a serious accident that left him and hisi. it hpepe ap ldinjud. lasd ntight inerction of r a r ieidsen geer ctio nior star renasideshets tre ld an t relenid there tell us,s pe inth hshaappeapdne at thisd crossing. news 4's megan mcgrath has more. >> reporter: well, people who live in this area say that this is a terrible intersection, that

they've had a number of very serious accidents here in recent years. now, this is ridge road behind me. it's a very, very well-traveled road, very busy. there are a lot of neighborhoods located off of this street, and here at the intersection with morning star drive, there is no turn le for the people who are traveling in the northbound direction. yesterday, there was a very serious accident here. a car with four young people in it, they were trying to make a left hand turn when they were rear-ended by a pickup truck. the voex wag an passat was stopped on ridge road and was trying to make a left hand turn onto morning star drive when police say a ford truck slammed into the back of the car. the driver of the passat and two passengers were taken to the hospital in serious condition. a fourth person, 12-year-old joseph opiekun, a passenger in the back seat, was critically injured and is fighting for his life at children's hospital. >> it's sad, very sad, crying. the driver was crying. >> reporter: residents say the intersection of ridge road and morning star drive has long been

a problem. despite petitions and pleas for a affic light, there is still just a stop sign. >> near misses every time. you really take your life into your hands when you try to get out of the driveway, try to turn in. >> this is the third serious accident since we've -- nine years i've lived right here, this corner. and each time we've written letters. >> reporter: the driver of the pickup, robert colehoff, was not injured. he stayed on the scene. no word on charges. back to you. >> thank you, megan. a man convicted in a series of violent home invasions in d.c. and maryland will bece in n g.ntsedce in court this morning. jose garcia-perlera was convicted on four counts of robbery after breaking into the homes of four different women. in each case, he had hogtied and bound the women inside their homes. the final victim, mary havenstein of bethesda, was severely beaten and died from her injuries. garcia-perlera was convicted of first degree murder in that case. he could face life in prison

without parole. a judge in maryland is accused of deflating a woman's tire outside a courthouse. the woman says a security guard told her that charles county circuit court judge robert nalley took the air out of her tire on monday because she was parked in his restricted spot. the incident outside the courthouse was allegedly caught on cell phone video, although that has yet to surface. the la plata police department confirms they're investigating a se of vandalism but won't confirm who they are investigating. >> well, the health care debate rages on. the shouting matches continue. yesterday, people lined up four hours in advance to have a chance to have their shouting voices heard. >> your government has lost the faith and trust of the american people. >> comments like that dominated senator ben cardin's town hall meeting at hagerstown community college. at time he drew applause from the crowd, such as when he told them he supports a patient's bill of rights but he spent much

of the time trying to speak above the critics who were yelling in opposition. >> we, we are -- we are trying in this bill -- part of this bill -- >> why don't you take the plant? >> -- to make sure we use health information technology more -- more effectively. >> cardin says there have been efforts to mislead the public about what's in the plan. he says that is not helping the debate. >> the american journalist whose returned home from north korea last week sent a special ef message to everyone who supported and prayed for them. laura ling and euna lee spent more than four months in a north korean jail. they were captured and sentenced to 12 years hard labor after crossing the border into the country. last week, former president clinton went to north korea and negotiated their release. in a video posted on current tv's website, the journalists thanked all those who campaigned for their release. >> we are so, so very grateful for l of your love and

support. >> we're so happy to be back with our families. it was tough time in our life. >> lee says in time they will share the details of what happened to them, but for now they just want to spend time with their families. >> one airline's new deal. how you can fly as much as you want for one flat fee. and bargain shoppers find the deal of a lifetime. a 52-inch tv for just $10. but why the store is taking back that deal. >> and with the redskins' first preseason game tonight we'll ask d.c. mayor adrian fenty just how

he here's bargain blast. w ho bargain blast. siw aboutairfo free? p uecgn rtove-m r eails from 'e fondue. sign up at meltingpot.com. >> sign up and then you can do fondue. let's go to tom kierein now and take a look at our forecast. tom? >> we were melting in the heat earlier this week but we got a break from the heat wave. it will stay more reasonable and seasonable here for the next number of days. right now it's 73 in washington. we had some overnight thundershowers. those have dissipated and skies have cleared out for the most part.

still a few clouds around just to our east. near 70 in montgomery, fairfax, prince george's counties. temperatures farther west and north are in the 60s. weather watchers, calvert county down to the northern neck reporting low 70s now. mid-80s for highs today. this afternoon there's a chance of a passing thundershower. then friday, saturday and sunday, partly cloudy. still rather humid, highs in the 80s pri and saturday. near 90 on sunday. as we get into next week, monday and tuesday still rather hot and how many. on wednesday, maybe some thundershowers. i'll show y the forecast for tonight's skins game and we'll look at the tropics in ten minutes. how's the traffic? >> problem in northeast washington at this hour. developing situation. looking at live pictures of new york avenue. new york avenue is closed right now between bladensburg road and the traffic circle of west virginia, montana avenues because of a building fire. everybody's being turned around right now. it does appear some traffic may be getting by the service roadway, but again, inbound and outbound new york avenue between west virginia, montana and bladensburg road close because

of a building fire. you can see some of the fire there. elsewhere let you know things a little hazy through the mid-august muck as you take a look at the wilson bridge, but the good news is traffic is moving along nicely. joe, back to you. >> a lot of haze. thanks very much, jerry. time is now 6:43, 73 degrees. the big screen tv on sale for $10, but there's a big but. >> i can imagine. d.c. mayor adrian fenty is here for "connecting with the mayor." i'm going to ask you about whether the district is ready for the start of school and whether the district is making a push to bring the

our time 6:. we're connecting you with the mayor, as always, at this time every thursday i'm here with d.c. mayor adrian fenty. welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> great to have you. seems like the summer has just flown by. school's opening in just two weeks. >> yes. >> are you ready? >> yeah. it's literally like about 264 hours away. >> is that -- oh, you're counting, hmm? >> yes. >> are you ready? >> no, we are ready, more ready than ever. whether you measure it in textbooks, teachers hired, buildings repaired. the buildings are looking fantastic. >> all of them? >> they're looking fantastic. we're going through every corner now, getting to every last classroom. but the team is just doing a fantastic job. michelle rhee, alanlou, great teachers. it's going to be an exciting school year. >> what's going to be different this year? >> i think what you do is you

raise the bar higher, so on the academic front, we've made gains in test scores. the last two years. that's very promising. still a long way to go. let's keep raising the test scores, challenge the kids more, get them reading tougher books, doing more math, the whole nine yards. the chancellor has a laundry list of things that every school -- it's just amazing and inspiring. go to your d.c. p.s. website to see what's being offered at these schools. >> a lot of cities around the country worried about swine flu. what are you thinking? are you prepared for that? >> i warned you this could be a psa. we need people to take your young kids and get them their immunization. >> that's for the regular flu. we don't have a swine flu vaccine. >> there's all kinds of new vaccines that are being -- that are mandatory in anticipation of all kinds of flu. and unless you get them, you will not be able to enroll in school. we're not at 100% yet, so

please, everybody, go and get tested. as it pertains specifically to swine flu, once someone catches it, we tried to be very cautious last year, make sure that you're not infecting anyone but not, you know, in a knee jerk way close down the schools. those decisions are yet to come. when the fall comes we'll know more. >> we're going to move on to the redskins. kicking off this season with a preseason game against the baltimore ravens tonight. >> that's right. >> are you going? >> i'm going to try and go, yeah. >> our tom sherwood has several report that's the district would like to get the redskins back here. any moves on that front? >> well, the -- when they went out to the fedex field, they signed a pretty long lease, and it's tough to negotiate or break leases. so that will probably be our biggest impediment. but we have let the team know that we are interested. if there is a window of opportunity that presents itself we're going to jump right through it. >>ow soon would that be?

>> as soon as humanly possible. >> so any time now. news 4 has learned that a company that owns the madison square garden is looking for a venue in the district. do you know anything about that? >> that could have come out of our vegas shopping center meetings that we had so many. i'm not sure that the name of that particular company, but we really are trying to actively market the district of columbia and it's paying off. >> we'll be waiting to hear about that. >> great. >> our last question from a pers who wroro te. ver the past few weeks, ts person writes, i've noticed an inordinate amount of garbage being left on the sidewalks a streets in the penn quarter neighborhood, she says, as she goes to the gym. even more disturbing, she says there have been a number of ra. she sees them out there. do you know anything about that? >> well, things have gotten really -- have really improved in the penn quarter area. i need to get this person's e-mail. i talked to my ward 2 people. they say they rarely get a complaint but maybe there's something happening that we

haven't connected with. i'll get this person's e-mail, follow up. >> let's focus on this, see if you can find those rats out there and get rid of them. >> take the cameras out and show is doing in the neighborhood. >> very important.r comment or conngue y oncerrn address, send fen at ress, sen o t fen at the@nbcwashington.com. we may use the question on the air when the mayor joins us again next week. thank you for having me. >> thank you, joe. >> thanks, mr. mayor. some are wondering whether the recession is coming to an end with the federal reserve's latest moves. cnbc's courtney reagan now joins us live with today's business headlines. good morning, courtney. >> reporter: good morning. things are looking up this morning. futures are higher following yesterday's nice rally in the wake of the fed decision and the rally that started even before we got the details. as expected, the fed did leave interest rates at historically low levels and says they'll stay low for the foreseeable future. the fed also says the economy is, "leveling off," and inflation should stay under

control. good news. asian markets rose overnight and europe is higher overnight. and news that germany was come out of recession. retail is in focus todays the government reports the july sales numbers which should be boosted by the cash for clunkers sales. the dow rising 120 points. the nasdaq gaining 28 points to 199. toyota reportedly plans to launch a new hybrid as early as 2011. that's cheaper and more fuel efficient than the prius. the car will be builtsi ung key parts from toyota's subcompact yaris model. it will be sold in japan, the u.s. and europe and priced at a cool 15, $00. jetblue puts a new spin on all you can eat with all you can fly. the low cost carrier is selling a monthly pass, giving customers unlimited flights. the all you can jet pass runs $599. it will get you access to any available seat on jetblue nights

from september 8th to october 8th but you must sign up by august 21st. in the d.c. area, jetblue flies from dulles and is adding service at bwi next month. so possibly good news all around for the frequent fliers. >> but you also must have nothing else to do for those 30 days. >> exactly. hopefully you can travel for 30 days straight. >> then be crazy when you're finished. thank you very much. >> reporter: thank you. >> well, it truly would have been the best buy, a big screen tv for $10. on its website, best buy mistakenly listed the p of this 52-inch tv at $9.99. the actual price, $1,800. word spread quickly and people snatched up the tvs, but wed sai there was a big but -- on its website, best buy has some legal stipulations just in case hemething like this happens. sc y nti t will not be honoring that incorrect price. >> but some people did get them

at that price? >> apparently not. says they're not honoring the price. >> i thought they snapped them up. >> i guess they thought they snapped them up. >> okay. what about the weather for today? >> well, we had some overnight thunderstorms, you may have heard some rumbling and wondered if it was meteorological or gastronom cal. it was meteorological, well, depending what you had for dinner. there is our sky over the potomac now. we have a few clouds and at this hour, it's a little bit steamy. we have our temperatures right down into the comfort zone, and on the eastern horizon, it's cleared out a little bit. there is the view of our sunrise. sun came up at 6:20. and as we look at radar, no precipitation around at this hour. the radar shows that all those evening thundershowers that we had have dissipated. and as we then go forward and look at the temperatures, the temperatures now are in l t inhe s 70 the immediate suburbs. 60s farther to our west and north. these are the dew points. they're in the mid and upper 60s

now so that is rather humid. over the last several hours we've seen the showers and thundershowers dissipating eastern shore in the low 70s. stly clear out of the mountains now. it's in the low 60s there. these showers and thundershowers coming from weak area of low pressure that's formed along this stalled front just to our south and east. beginning to clear out to the west of us. traveling today, could have some storms out in the deserts of the southwest, the gulf coast and south texas and up and down the atlantic seaboard. those are the only areas we might have some flight delays. way out here in the atlantic, this is still a tropical depression number two. it's quite weak. here's the eastern seaboard. continuing on a westerly track. may begin a weak tropical storm over the next couple of days. r s odusfoftay toner ahsigno er anoft onngd-80s. ftthnooner hundersevffr aayteche t g in ect the a sk ds rave.ns game time temperature sd in t u. just a small chance of an isolated thundershower perhaps early in the game. otherwise, partly cloudy, maybe a little patchy fog around tomorrow morning, near .70. during the day on friday, pary

o f oreeheam s sam t on saturday d er othra humid. a small chance of afternoon thundershowers, as well as on sunday, highs near 90 sunday, monday, tuesday. mid-week next week maybe some thundershowers. that's the way it looks. >> thank you very much. let's go to jerry edwards now. >> good morning. dealing with breaking traffic news in northeast washington at this hour. fire department is working on a building fire at this hour and as a result, new york avenue closed to traffic both directions, we're told, at last report between bladensburg road and west virginia, montana avenues. if you will be traveling new york avenue, probably find it blocked off. rhode island avenue certainly is a viable alternative. elsewhere, let you know things are picking up in volume, slowing down just a bit here along 395 as you head up from the pentagon to and across the 14th street bridge. no incidents to report. right now headed for downtown by way of the 14th and on the potomac bridges for that matter we're moving along well. back to you. >> thanks, jerry.

well, today's news 4 morning person is said to be a great th manassas. finny,ee sn finny, st r s erugth ieerwn o of waledicms p called whimsical he her ot onebuswnss t iern always sr psha ttoishrlw as sts r ang her every morning after to laugh and smileo matteowr busy they may be. well, if you know someone like chris, e-mail that person's story, along with r,eacl close-up picture or even a video to morningperson@nbcwashington.com. >> well, you've heard the phrase raining cats and dogs. well, for one ohio woman it started raining fish. the woman was driving along the road when she saw a beautiful eagle flying overhead. she describes what happened next. >> and then i realized that something was wiggling in its claws. i looked again, and next thing i know, i'm saying, oh, my god.

and down comes the eaglsid lunch. >> yep, the fish fell out of the sky and broke her windshield. it's going to cost her $250 to replace it. she says she's just grateful that she didn't get hurt. >> we are, too. >> got her dinner. >> that's "news 4 today." thanks for starting your day with us. >> have a great day. we hope you'll be back for "news 4 midday." see you in the morning. have a great day. >> bye.