right now, many people waking up without water. and baghdad violence. as many as 75 people are dead because of bombings today. and hurricane bill, the category 4 storm rumbles across the atlantic ocean. good morning to you, and welcome to "news4 midday."

i am joe krebs. barbara harrison is on assignment today, on this wednesday, the 19th day of august, 2009. new at midday a. water main break is causing problems for people trying to get around alexandria. it has left more than a couple buildings, including condos, without water. >> reporter: this water main blew early this morning, and a gush of water ran down alexandria street. this is nothing like what we saw earlier this morning. they are doing work. they opened up the pipe again. we are seeing water flowing down the street once again. crews are on the scene. they have located all of the gas lines and other utilities in the area. they also located the pipe that was affected and figured out exactly where the break was. they will begin to dig up the pipe here shortly, and then they will get to work repairing the road.

while they do their work, hundreds of people are without water, including folks at a nearby hotel. >> we are going to walmart to get some gallon bottles of water. >> not exactly the kind of vacation experience they were looking for. this family visiting from port smith, virginia, woke up to find no water. >> could not take a shower. >> not too good, but we are going to the zoo, and hopefully it will be back on when we get back. >> reporter: the pipe is right out in front of the washington suites hotel. it has left 300 guests high and dry. >> no water at all. bathroom, no nothing, no water, period. >> reporter: officials say it could be eight to 12 hours before the water comes back on. >> i am going to west virginia

tonight. we're getting out of here. just for the weekend. >> reporter: south reynolds street has been closed in both directions. the gush of water from the pipe cracked the pavement and undermined the asphalt. >> we are not sure how much water as undermined the roadway. as a precaution, we closed the road completely off. >> reporter: i am joined by mr. barney from american water. how long will it take to repair? when can people expect the water back on? >> initially we said eight hours. right now we identified the general location of the break. once we do that, we are looking at, maybe six hours, and maybe 5:00, 6:00. and that's with the main break being repaired and the street being repaired. >> reporter: we have a number of buildings without water, right? >> yeah, the hotel behind us and

the apartment and couple restaurants, and the restaurants will not be serving food. they understand what is going on. hopefully this will be the low impact, it will be what is done right here and we will get moving after that. >> there you hear it, joe, hopefully a couple more hours to repair the pipe and get people up and running. we will keep an eye on it, and of course we will do that. >> thank you very much,two peopr > two people are in the sk trby conioutve aan ed 4treh 1etst .th e in4t 1h street. the incidents unw ider investigation. the injuries are not life threatening. metro trains will continue to run slower than normal. the agency continues to run every train manually. the shift came after the crash in which nine people were

killed. metro maghner, jo , kato says they will not run like that again until everything is fixed. new today, aree branch comes crashing down onn apartment building in prince george's county. take a look at this picture. it happened on southern avenue and boulevard heights. the utilities had to be shut off. there are no reports of any injuries. now to the strengthening of hurricane bill. it's now a category 4 storm with sustained winds of over 130 miles per hour. this is the first hurricane of the season. bill is projected to miss the islands, and residents there are being told to monitor its progress. people are cleaning up from

a round of rough weather. one roof was ripped off a department store. and it scattered debris and shopping carts throughout the area. several people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. looking outside rht now, no break certainly ithe heat and humidity in this august here in washington. let's get our first forecast from veronica johnston. >> we could see the same thing today. we start off here in college park, maryland, the humidity getting close to 90. already up to 88. lexington park, maryland, down south, steamy, and humid outside. leesburg, virginia, louden county, 83 degrees with 73% humidity throughout the area.

fix d 86 degrees again the concern the temperature. a few storms off to the west, but still afternoon and evening storms on tap as we get up to 90 degrees today. we will talk about how many more days of the high heat and storms in the forecast, and of course i willet you updated with the latest track on bill as it moves close to bermuda in the next couple days. joe? >> thank you. let's get a look at the midday traffic, and here is jerry edwards. >> let's take a live look and see how we are doing as midday gets under way here. i-95 northbound, main lanes in the hovs look at that, roadwork and construction. doesn't matter of the interstate you are on, you will have slow traffic. it's time to use route 1 instead. no issues to report either way right now on the beltway between

the american legion bridge and the i-95 interchange. i-270, so far so good. >> maybe a good time to stay put as an alternate. >> there you go. happening today overseas, gun fire and explo on through the through the capital of afghanistan on the eve of the presidential election there. several armed men also took over a bank in kabul getting into a shoot-out with police outside. the violence is an ominous sign ahead of tomorrow's presidentl election. insurgency are threatening voters warning them not to head to the polls. meanwhile, at least 75 people are dead after a series of bombs ripped through baghdad. at least 310 are wounded. government buildings are among the targets, including a car bomb near the foreign ministry close to the fortified green zone. that attack killed at least 59 people and wounded 250.

authorities expect the death toll to rise. the blast follow a string of attacks in iraq that claimed hundreds of lives this month and also raised concerns that iraqi security forces may not be able to keep order as american troops pull out. a missouri man is on his way home after spending threeonths detained in myanmar. he was sentenced for seven years for swimming to the home of nobel prize winner chi. chi is still in detention because of the unso listlicited visit. across the country millions of americans are seeing their credit card rates soar. companies are trying to beat tomorrow's deadline. they will crack down on rate hikes for consumers.

and tracee wilkins is joining us with details. >> it's like we have good things coming our way, and possible bad things happening beforehand. and there may not be much that nsumers can do about it. if you have been paying close attention to the credit card bills and checking statements and rates, well companies are raising ratsz and late fees. starting tomorrow, the company's must give credit card holders 45 days notice instead of 15 before raising interest rates. companies will have to send out bills 21 days in advance instead of 14. and that should result in fewer late fees. and some consurs and money experts we talked to say it's a change long overdo. >> they are trying to cheat people while they still can. >> they are trying, you know, and i am trying to be a smart consumer and buy what i can

afford. they try to get people where they want to spend more than they have. >> it's below 7. right now it's more than 15. so you know, i am trying to negotiate with them. if it works out, it works out. if not, i will have to cancel. >> they are not supposed to give credit card to people that cannot afford it. they start giving all these credit cards, and now this is causing problems. >> it could get worse before it gets better, joe. more rate height restrictions will be implemented in february. important information today for businesses getting ready for a swine flu outbreak. new federal guidelines will be announced later today. coming up, we will tell you why the homeland department is getting involved in that. and robert novak is being remembered as a dedicated reporter and a washington original. and survivor winner richard hatch is arrested after giving

an interview on the "today" show. we will show what you an ip.s.int looks likst wit stayith us.

welcome back. what should businesses do to combat a potential swine flu outbreak. they are dealing with a say narrow schools may have to deal with as well. brooke hart has the latest. >> reporter: the swine flu followed students back to school. >>t's scary, i think. really scary. >> reporter: despite efforts to clean the ischool, at least on confirmed case of the h1n1 virus. many of the staff reporting fever and vomiting and sore

throat. >> you can't have school with that many people out. it's not a good thing. there is something definitely going around. >> reporter: expecting more cases like this at schools and work places like this, the obama administration advises employers on how to prepare for it. >> everybody is holding their breath about the timing of it. >> reporter: doses of the vaccine are expected to be ready by october. the start of mass vaccinations plans. >> we will encourage to start people thinking about where they will get their vaccine, and additional doses will come after that. >> reporter: aside from shots, people can protect themselves. >> make sure you ride your kids, soap and water under the sink singing happy birthday as many times as they can during the day. >> reporter: still, federal

officials suggest schools should not close unless many students become sick. they hope to avoid some of the jumpiness this spring at the first sign of infection. and columnist robert novak passed away early yesterday morning, a little over a year after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. he hosted "cross fire" on cnn. he will be remembered as a dedicated reporter and washington original. >> i think he leaves a lot of friends in this city. he was authentic and one-of-a-kin he was a fine columnist and reporter in the last 50 years. >> i think bob was a tremendous lost to washington, the journalism community. >> robert novak was 78 years

old. the time is 11:17, and veronica joined us to talk about the forecast. >> hot and steamy, and like onsterday and all that steam ant afternoon thunderstorms bubbling. keep the umbrellas handy for today. as far as yesterday went, we had severe storms thrown into the mix, with hail north of us and gusty winds. we could see the same scenario today. let's take a look outside. the clouds, you can see them bubbling up already. the dew point temperature is at 69 degrees. relative humidity at 57%. and it feels like 91 degrees when you factor in the humidity with the warm temperatures. let's look at radar and see what is going on throughout the area. it's quiet as we scan the area. and winchester, too. where could the storms fire today? i think by early afternoon, around 1:00 or so we could see a

few storms making their way. wind chester, and back up into this area. scattered thunderstorms with isolated, possibly strong and severe and gusty winds. 86 degrees in manassas. dew point temperatures close to 70. there is the mark from humid to very humid. again, we are going to have the stickyair, very humid conditions around through friday, until the front passes. 91 degrees, feeling like 96. close to 100. and new orleans to miami, with all the sticky air, claudette's moisture still going northward. and ohio to missouri, that's the front moving eastward. as it does so it will increase the showers for seeing thunderstorms. friday is the day i think we could see more widespread severe weather. ana is gone, but its remanence still moving toward the gulf of

mexico. warm water, where bill, a sizeable storm, with a definable eye, a powerful tomorrow, a category 4, its winds up to 132 miles per hour. and it's moving at 16 miles per hour, and it will take bill closer to bermuda than to the eastern seaboard by late friday and early saturday. for this weekend, at the beaches, coastal areas will see large swells, and some rough surfs. not the best day at the beach for saturday and sunday. that's the story with bill. back at home, scattered thunderstorms, all bubbling up during the afternoon, probably from 2:00, 3:00, until 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. and more widespread storms coming through the area tomorrow. that's the blue you see. showers and storms. your forecast f today, p.m. thunderstorms, and isolated ones could be severe, 88 to 93

degrees. and warmer ction dondiows n south. fredericksburg, here is your forecast. we may be cooling dow a bit. close to 90, still on friday. biicst stuff through the weekend. first part of the weekend, too, we might see aew fic thunderstos before the front moves through. drier, cooler, and much better for the beginning of next week. >> can beat that. thank you, veronica. let's go to jerry edwards and check on the traffic at midday. construction problems and roadwork? >> yeah, absolutely. a couple spots really tough, and not so much in other spots. the beltway, earlier cleaning up litter and debris on the outer loop as you go presumably towas the american legion bridge. all the travel lanes are open, both the outer loop and inner loop. good news there. and then it continues to the wilson bridge. little slower. as you travel through

springfield to alexandria, doing all right. still ahead, a major city dealing with a city of sex offenders. why the offenders picked this spot. what the city is trying to do about it. brett favre, why he i-retired once right now, hs ght nori here is a s iatot h what is hotn o tongm.hico n. ascwtongm.co

good morning, and welcome back. survivor winner, richard hatch, is again, behind bars. police arrested hatch after an

interview with matt lauer yesterday on the "today" show. a person said that he was being arrested because he did an interview. >> he had permission, and he did not know what he was talking about, he would need to speak to his attorney and the bop, and everytng was set to go. >> during the interview, match said he believes the judge in the tax evasion case discriminated against him because he is gay. he accused a prosecutor of misconduct. authorities would not disclose the reason for hatch's arrest. the king of pop will be laid to rest in what would have been his 51st birthday. a family spokesperson said michael jackson will be buried on august 29th, at forest lawn's cemetery in california. it will be laid to rest in the

mausoleum known for the great artwork. there is no word on the cause of his death, but his doctor has been under a cloud of suspicion. conrad murray gave the pop star an anaesthetic normally used only in hospitals. budget cuts in virginia. tim kaine is expected to announce a new round of cost setting measures today. school nurses are in demand. will that shortage hurt the fight against swine flu this year. plus, packing on the pounds. .ou may want to check thengngkia s yomeetaking. could bld thecause. > relief from the heat. veronica let's us know whetheres there is inyns

here, now let's look at some of the stop stories now at

11:30. the 12 inch main is on south reynolds street. the washington suites hotel is now without water, as long as with some nearby condos. several people were forced from their apartments, and the utilities had to be shut off. there are no repor of any injuries. the obama administration will outline new federal guidelines today aimed at helping businesses handle a potential swine flu outbreak. the announcement will come on the same day health officials from around the world gather in washington for a three-day conference on how to best respond to a possible h1n1 pandemic. today virginia governor, tim kaine, will announce cuts of more than $1 million to the state's budget. legislative leaders expect him to cut the cash-strapped budget

by $1.3 million. it's the first time the economy forced him to scale back appropriations for a two-year budget that runs through next june. virginia lawmakers are gathering in richmond today for a special session. the governor kaine called the session. there is a ruling where scientists are being called to court more often and that's causing a backlog of cases at the laboratories. this morning a prince william county teacher is accused of taking deceinnt liberties with ildren. the man, endr the man, pasott n,er pasoerttr oysppropriatelyoued t b at different times and sent inappropriate textes mges mo t o eoeysbo the prapatinriopone ccttainappr

not occur on school grounds. patterson turned himself in and is being held without bond. a federal judge ruled the county violated the u.s. constitution when it furloughed 5900 workers in an attempt to save $17 million. the ruling could force the county to re-pay the wages. the judge said the county violated the contract cause. and that bands laws that impair the obligation of contracts. they could have used more moderate alternatives to trim the budget. mu> police are looking for a erer. somebody killed owner of sza owner ofza piz mt in northeast. n y d i e is body in the business off rhode island avenue. they identified him as a 44-year-old man that silver spring. the restaurant was locked when they arrived.

they had to force their way in. the pizza mart has been a fixture in the edgewood neighborhood. >> all the time we get pizza there. very nice man. >> an autopsy will determine the cause of his death. when a convicted sex offender served his or her time, where do they go to live? that question caused quite a stir in one southern florida community, where many sex offenders all began moving into the same neighborhood. kerry sanders has that story. >> reporter: the investor buying foreclosed home in the florida neighborhood does not want to ow his face or reveal his name. >> i am a sex offender. >> reporter: what he created with his property is right there on the website, housing for sex offenders.com. average cost per renter -- >> $400 a month, and that includes cable and internet.

>> reporter: statistics show the story. 110 live in this unincorporated ft. lauderdale neighborhood. one convicted of raping a 9-year-old. others had sex with underaged girlfriends. sex offenders argue they served their prison time, and where are they supposed to live. parents see it another way. >> how do i know they can't come over my six-foot fence. it's scary. very scary. >> reporter: of all the spots, why this neighborhood? turns out, this community was unknowingly boxed in. local governments, 150 miles in all directions from here set strict limits. a mandatory buffer of at least 2,400 feet between a convicted

sex offenders home and this playground. now, this residential zone has become a pocket, where newly released sex offenders can legally live. it has become so popular there are up to nine men per house. and some afenders are waiting for a room to rent pitched tents under the bridge here. a government tax force is trying to establish a new law here, but -- >> it's a long, drawn out process. >> even with a new law, the sex offenders cannot be chased out until the lease runs out. that was anticipated. some leases run 25 years. >> some of the people that live in the tent cities are asking for compassion saying they are former sex offenders saying they have served their time. and investigators are trying to figure out what caused a three-alarm fire that destroyed

rest in san francisco. the back part of the building was destroyed. the part of the hotel where the guests stay was n damaged. a strong storm ripped as through new york bringing down several trees in central park. the fixtures illustrated the lightning over the sky on late tuesday night. this morning they were cleaning up dozens of trees flattened by the powerful storm. so far no injuries have been reported. let's get another look at today's weather. veronica johnson is up in storm center 4. >> let's take a look at the radar. there are a few showers popping up. you can see around winchester and harrisonburg area, and i-81. and when we zoom in around burke and mt. vernon, pasng showers, and same things for cal vurt county, and pawn view acres, and

even through chesapeake beach. we have the possibility of thunderstorms, and a risk of isolated severe thunderstorms later this afternoon. temperature is . we will go up to a high of 90 degrees there. 87 in raleigh. the weather front is west of the area, and that's the front that will make its way eastward increasing the chances of thunderstorms each day thursday and especially on friday. the high today, 90, and more thunderstorms and heat and steam. joe? >> thank you, veronica. let's get a final check on the midday traffic. roadwork problems, jerry has the latest. >> be sure and check your engine coolant before you attempt to drive in any of this, especially with the warm weather. notice the hov lanes. the folks that normally would have use the the hov lanes to go northbound will have to contend

with the additional delays because of the roadwork. tough there. and then heading over towards the american legion bridge towards i-95, looking good. wilson bridge, inner loop and outer loop at this hour, no incidents or accidents to report. it may be hard to believe, but kids will be heading back to school pretty soon. that means it's time to slow down when you are behind the wheel, especially in school zones. don't go faster than 15 miles per hour in school zones in the district. if you are in maryland, keep in mind the speed camera program expands statewide in october. only montgomery county uses the cameras right now i school zones and near schools. students are getting ready to head back to school as we head. schools nationwide are gearing up and getting ready for the potential swine flu out breaks. school nurses are often the first line of defense, but are there enough of them to do the job.

robert brazel has more. >> reporter: for more than 15 years, sheila has been driving between five different schools, for her job as a school nurse in the folsom district in california. the number of students that she cares for keeps increasing. >> my caseload is just under 2,000. >> how many of you washed your hands before you came to school today? >> reporter: now there is a new threat, and school just started, and in this district already a dozen students have confirmed swine flu. most health departments call for the school nurse to keep up with the status in the community, and identify students truly at risk and must be isolated and sent home. if there is no nurse? >> there will be secretaries or other nonmedical people that will have to try their best to handle it.

>> the availability of school nurses will be key. utah has the worse ratio. one verse for every 5,000 students. >> reporter: last spring when the first school hit with the virus -- >> every child deserves to be safe and healthy. >> reporter: the school nurse played a key role in the epidemic getting worse. >> i send home 102 children in the first day, and 80 the second day. you represent the school to the parents. your middle schools on tuesday and friday. >> sheila cnot be everywhere at once. but she faces her enormous challenge with enthusiasm. >> it's busy, and i am tired when i get home. i love this work and wouldn't think of doing anything else.

>> reporter: she knows the odds are she will have a lot of work ahead of her. breaking news about to tell you about, don hulet has died. this news is just being released. we will have more at news4 at 4:00 this afternoon. it's the hope diamond like you have never seen it before. the blue gem is celebrating 50 aryethear smithsonian by are. arbeitiarve we. it will have noseg.inttl that's so the public caneigh in on three possible new settings b voting on line th e hopes i is 45.5 carats.

our time is 11:42. after big gains tuesday, where is the stock market headed today. we will check in with cnbc on mourn trading so far. plus a sor foot

well, after yesterday's big reround, stocks began the day lower today. let's check in with courtney reagan. good morning, courtney. >> stocks are still lower, and the dow is down only about 16 or 17 points or so. that's a modest rebound after what we saw on wall street yesterday. and we are not having any major economic data points or earnings points. it's china is the reason for the

fall. the sha the shang high market dropped. oil prices reversed course and are now headed higher with weekly inventory data showing a drop of 8.4 million barrels in supply. analysts were expecting an increase. the national association of realtors say the market fell to the lowest level in 1 years during the second quarter. investigators believe bernard madoff promised returns of 53% of year. that's led to speculation, some of his customers were aware of the fraud. and information from the special client group came from the chief financial officer that pleaded guilty last week to helping his boss create phoney trading records. sony is cutting the price on

play station 3 by $100. sony is also introducing a slimmer ps 3 model next month for a cool $299. that makes many gamers happy today. >> courtney, thank you and hav a great day. >> do you the same. thank you. almost everybody you know probably takes some type of prescription medication. those medications can be lifesavers, and one of the most frustrating side affects could be weight gain, and some of the most common pills are the worse for your figure. >> reporter: medications for blood pressure causing swelling, and or diabetes medications causing weight gain. lindsay marshal heard plenty of plaintiffs about prescriptions that make them fat. some pple are surprised when they pack on the pounds after starting a commonly prescribed

new prescription. among the most likely to cause weight gain, oral steroids or hormones or oral contraceptives, and anti-depressants are among the worse. don't live with the misery, because there is usually an alternative prescription. >> most of the time there is an alternativ alternative. there is always a good option to speak with your physician and ask them, is there something else that i can take. this is not going to work for me. >> reporter: if you were thinking of taking a die terry supplement to help lose the weight, mixing the two is not a good idea. >> the fda does not monitor all the diatary supplements. there is a risk. >> always let your physician know about every over-the-counter medication you

are taking, even just aspirin. the best way to prevent gaining is to ask doctors questions up front. and our meteorologist is ching to be back with another eck of the forecast. aayreoo alw lsking for people ho make the l day special in e ing urs.y ou f y know somebody like atif, e-mail that persons's story and clicea prk up or v pideo to nbcwashing illwe wl

welcome back to news4 at midday. not all news is a huge surprise. brett favre is still not ready to hang up his claets. the future hall of famer football came out of retirement again to sign with the minnesota vikings. he will pay the packers twice a year.

why is he coming back again? >> i just did not want to look back. i have no idea how i will feel five years from now or a year from now or 10 years from now. but i did not want to say, you know, what if? >> brett favre may be scrambling to get ready for the football season, but other companies are trying to meet demands because of him coming back. ♪ her name is norah. she is a piano playing cat that lives in philadelphia. her videos are a smash hit on the internet. she learned how to pound from

her owner, who is a piano teacher. her owner tells us that she also has written a book, uh-huh, how to live the perfect life and make every day a catnip day. believe it or not. now, let's check what they are working on for news4 at 5:00. do you believe that? >> i think i figured out the piano thing. cats can mimic what others do. my girlfriend's cat learned how to use the bathroom by watching her. and the cat likes the music, and so she sees when she pounds that, it sounds reasonably good. i don't know. as far as the book? i don't know about that. coming up, how about paying for a visit to the doctor's or dentist's office, not with cash

or check, but with something else. maybe child care, clothes or tomatoes from your garden. it's a new trend, bartering for your health care. and then 5:00, gluten free food. you may see signs on products, because there is a growing number of people that need it. tonight a closer look at sill acdisease, why doctors say it's hard to diagnose. that's coming up on the news at 4:00 and 5:00. >> see you then. let's get a final check on today's forecast. here is veronica johnson up in storm 4. >> we will zoom in tighter here. areas of fairfax county and prince george's county, alexandria, showers already. no lightning. we could have some of it coming our way this afternoon.

and then huntingtown area, heading east towards the wilson area. the high today 90 degrees, a hot one, with afternoon thunderstorms. whenou go home from work, you like, mr. rogers, like to change into house slippers. gay is a 40-year-old elephant at a zoo in england. she was suffering from foot abscesses on her front feet. the zoo got a pair of red slippers, i guess ruby slippers made to cushion her feet and keep her comfortable. they cost the same as a different pair of shoes, $825 a pair. looking good there, gay. that's news4 at midday. join us at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00, with all the day's news.

we will see you tomorrow at 4:55 tomorrow morning,