right now, a couple is found dead in their home after worried neighbors call police. those neighbors say the couple was being ae vektd from their home. and time is running out for the cash for clunkers program. days are just left to take advantage of the plan. hurricane bill, it's a dangerous storm now but expected to weaken over the next couple days. news4 midday starts right now. good morning, everybody. welcome to "news4 midday." i am barbara harrison, and joe krebs is on assignment. it's friday, august 21st, 2009. we begin with the story in

prince william coty, virginia, a couple dead after what is called a murder suicide. news4's tracee wilkins joins us live. >> reporter: at this point police are not releasing names of the couple pending the next of kin being notified. what we understand from neighbors is that the wife here is retired from the military, and her husband worked at costco in fredricks. they were planning to move out of the home before they were evict evicted. all the packing and moving stopped. >> it was around 8:00 last night when i thought something was not right. >> abigail called police after not seeing her neighbors for two days. >> i went over there to at the point them on tuesday of this week to help her pack, i packed her pantry and everything.

>> reporter: but after the moving in and out and the packing of boxes cam to an abrupt stop. >> nothing, and the dogs came to the door barking. thursday, nothing yesterday all day. >> reporter: the home is the scene of an apparent murder sure side. they both appeared to have died of gunshot wounds. >> it's sad. everything haened. it brought them down once they took the house from them. >> reporter: abigail said they told her they refinanced the home, and then they were surprised the house had been sold and they had to get out. >> ty had half the house packed up and it was too much on her, too much stress that brought her down. it's just really sad. >> reporter: while records show this house was bought early in the summer, we have no

confirmation of what was going on with this family financial situation. we are waiting for the authorities to release the names officially of the couple. back to you in the studio. >> thank you, tracy. no word on the identity of a pedestrian struck and killed in centerville. it was near singleton's way. the driver was injured in the accident was expected to be okay. new this midday, a farewell for robert novak. he was 78 years old. today's private funeral is being held at a church in northwest washington. and a convicted mass murder welcomed by a cheering crowd. look at this.

when he arrived home in libya, this is what he saw. he is the only man ever convicted for bloeg up pan am flight 103 in 1978. most of the people died were americans. he has terminal cancer, and the court said he was sentenced by a higher power. president obama has pressed libya to put the prisoner under some sort of house arrest, and his lawyer said today he did not think it would happen. the convicted terrorists served just eight years of his life sentence. democratic creigh deeds is looking to get a summer jolt. he is delivering a speech, and expected to layout the them.

he also plands to release his first television ad of the fall campaign after the speech. recent polls put mcdonnell ahead in the race. and there is a huge storm here with a well-formed eye, and has bermuda in its cross hairs. and bill and hillary clinton just arrived there for a getaway this week. talk about weather. we have rain, perhaps, heading in our direction. tom kierein is tracking the storm, hurricane bill, and looking at how it could affect us. >> good morning, barbara. first and foremost, we started off with the warmest muggiest morning of the summer so far. this morning temperatures soared. we hit the upper 80s already. radar shows us getting passing showers and the panhandle of west virginia, and those are

passing west of washington moving up northeast heading up into pnsylvania at this hour. and our temperatures have really soared. we are in the upper 80s. 88 in washington. they had rain around winchester, and martinsburg, it's still near 80 degrees. more sunshine south and east, and on the eastern shore they have sweltering humidity. it's more humid there than here. and then we have seen this batch of rain heading off to the northeanorth and east. and then the sun and humidity in place, we have a chance for strong storms between 3:00 and 7:00 throughout the entire yellow zone, including most of virginia and practically all of maryland, and the eastern shore and parts of west virginia pm damaging winds possible this afternoon, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. otherwise, a partly sunny and steamy afternoon. the latest hit bill, how close

will it come to our atlantic beaches and what will happen there? that will all come up in just a few minutes. barbara? >> we will see you in a few minutes, tom. thank you. jerry edwards has the latest on the traffic. >> the rush hour wound out a little earl, but we do have heavy traffic developing. friday, midday, and folks are getting out of town. 95 southbound leaving the capital beltway picks up only the slow again to and beyond the occoquan river. and then the east bay bridge moving along well. no significant delays. 270 southbound just past route 109 ports debris dumped in the roadway. and we will take a look at the 14th street bridge if you are headed into town for noontime here, it's looking good at this hour. barbara, back to you. >> that's good. thank you, jerry.

heads up if you plan to ride metro rail this weekend. there will be no red line seice through the fort totten station. crews are fixing track circuits. they will run shuttle buses. tomorrow there will be a shuttle that takes passengers from tacoma to union station. and they will find delays on the blue, orange and yellow lines as well. an early morning fire goes through a town house in silver springs. the flames broke out just before 5:00. the fire started on the deck before spreading to the rest of the house. three firefighters suffered minor injuries, but nobody living in the area was hurt. two families have also been displaced by this fire. firefighters still have not figured out what sparked the fire. a manhunt is under way for a reality tv contestant now charged with a gruesome murder of his ex-wife. this morning we are learning shocking new details about what

happened. investigators say ryan jenkins murdered his wife. her body was found stuffed in a suitcase and thrown inside a trash can. her fingers and teeth had been removed. jenkins was a contestant on two mtv reality shows. according to "people" magazines, the company decided to pull both shows from the air. this morning the world health organization is urging people to ramp up the preparations for swine flu. plus, a follow-up to a story that we told you about yesterday. now the diner is fighting back. the redskins play the defending champ tomorrow, and pittsburgh ising a key k

who won afghanistan's presidential election yesterday? it all depends on which candidate you ask. the current president says he is the winner, but his chief rival also claimed victory. millions of afghans cast their ballots despite threats from the taliban. and the low turnout could hurt the chance of re-election. the first official results are not expected until tomorrow at the earliest. the world health organization is urging nations to speed um preparations for the swine flu because they say there will likely be an explosion of the flu soon. many people will be living in very close quarters on college campuses, and we tell you what students need to know as they

head back to school. >> reporter: the center for disease control is urging college suspend classes this fall should a significant number of students come down with the h1n1 virus. planning for a pandemic has been a hallmark for colleges all over the country, like american university. but there are less visible preparations that have already been made at nau. >> thinking about, if there was an outbreak, how we could continue our courses with distance education, so we surveyed the faculty and are running a whole series of training courses to prepare for that as well. >> reporter: at the university of north carolina linea, they are asking students to bring thermometers to class and not to go to class or the dining hall if they should become sick.

>> for the roommate to maybe bunk wh some friends and to be out of the room. >> but among the unc student body, there seems to be slightly less concern. >> i guess i will have to worry about it if i get it. >> now, it's expected that the swine u vaccine will be ready to be administered sometime this october. back to you. ? just a few days students will head back to the classroom, and before that parents want to make sure theirtudents have all the shots they need. and the department of health opened up several vaccination ic clins. one will be held on georgia cl rom fm 9 9:00 a.m. l:00un:0 7 pti.m. and four cni wlile b open on saturday from 8:00 a.m. until p4:00.m. taking a look at sports this

midday, it doesn't look like the redskins will get a shot at big ben. ben limped off the field. n is not play4: to playo i xt oue e yns gamaiagt btot ae ur t out to be a the or the ki. re akieyooor lng f a win in cahwau iht right here on4,4, t. an exciting day for the nationals' fans. they are introducinghe number one overall pick signed by the team this week. he will be introduced at 20 today. at an effort to welcome the man, they eth offering1 $ $ tickets for tonight's game against the brewers. there are 1,000 of them availabl go to the box office at the park at noon to pick up one of them. they may have a rain delay for the game tonight, for the

nationals and beauers, and then the redskins and steelers, they may have rain as well. we have the sun cooking things ig and a front ng from the pp ahiac from the dwt. es t.dw hurricane bill will pse ttho east. iesnt tierf interesting weather goin here is a live here is a livance of o ocean city beach, couesy of the kite ilon ft t oree bwa onoard ilk ea tyn occi see quite a few people on theeach boynj egin are at ocs tomorrneowtefe afn. rn , we have tshieb w cam uhip on our wee,bsite,it ca uyon eeat s wch can you see watch ay mngecti be affecting ocean city by logging on nbcwashington.com, and thank you very much. there is the live view of our sky over washington. american university in the foreground. and it's partly sunny and it's

certainly very steamy. here is a view now from the city camera, overlooking washington. we have clouds now beginning to fill up our sky ove capitol hill. and it's 88 degrees right now in washington at the atlantic beaches on saturday, dangerous surf, likely building up to 10-foot wves at the beach. stay out of the water on saturday. let's take a look at radar now. no precipitation here. a few passing showers, though. panhandle of west virginia this morning. those are heading up to pennsylvania at this hour. it's a steamy, hot day under way. we are in the mid and upper 80s now from the shenandoah valley, and in montgomery, arlington counties in the upper 80s now. look at the dew points in the upper 70s. and then it's more humid than here in the area here. and temperatures there at the beach is now right in the upper 80s and out in the mountains

it's near 70 degrees. over the last six hours, we have been watching a few storms heading up into pennsylvania in the southwest. and then we have strong storms possible this afternoon, 3:00 to 7:00, and includes frankly all of maryland and the district of columbia and up in pennsylvania. we could have isolated storms up in this zone producing damaging winds. and here is the latest with hurricane bill. it still has quite a bit of structure to it, although the eye filled in overnight. now it has opened back up again. look at all of this confection. these are all heavy thunderstos, especially on the northern side of it. here are the latest statistics. winds moving northwest at 16 right now and continuing. it looks like it will pass. the winds will brush by the b bermuda. and it's east of ocean city on

saturday, and that's when we will have the strongest waves. here is a wider view showing you where the track will go from here. hurricane bill at a category 3 now. and the peak gusts are up at 140. it could brush by cape cod, and martha's vineyard, and very close. it could be near hurricane force winds. nantucket, and martha's vineyard and the cape cod of massachusetts as it scoots by there on sunday. this may trigger strong storms this afternoon. some could produce damaging winds, and highs reaching the low 90s. overnight tonight, temperatures hovering around. here is the bay forecast. a stoyay on saturday. sunday, improving, and at the beaches as well. watch out for the dangerous

surf, and a better dn s oydaun at the beaches. saturday, definitely stay out of the water. lower humidityin m igovnto next das in highs in the d-80s. it should be much more comfortable as well through wednesday. that's how it looks this morning. some showers could continue tonight. highs will be in the low 80s tomorrow. >> well, have a good weekend. >> you, too, and stay safe. >> thank you, tom. let's check on traffic now and see what is going on out there on the roads. hopefully will be quiet at this time. jerry? >> for the most part it is. let's head out and we will let you know w have a problem near pennsylvania avenue in southeast. apparently a tree came down, and it's on top of a car are the reports. and that's between alabama and pennsylvania avenue, and it may be closed. wilson bridge, no worries. we are loaded up big time 95 from the beltway headed down through springfield. back to you.

>> thank you, jerry. 11:21 is the time right now. 88 degrees here in the nation's capital. and an airline passenger gets violent and then naked. we will tell you what went down on the southwest flight. plus, emergency crews called to a local football practice. the heat too much for some players. and then try your hu l ate ry huge lottery jackpot. we will tellou yt w yhaou snd to win. a lkt what is hot on nbcwashington.com.

new information about the lesbian couple that staged a kiss in protest at a local diner. they filed a discrimination complaint with the state of maryland. this couple claims they were kicked out of the tasty diner in

silver spring recently because they were holding each other. management at the restaurant says that's not entirely true. they released surveillance video from the night. you can see e couple engaged in a long embrace, and managers say that's not all. >> they had their bodies pressed and rubbed up against one another. at one point, one of their faces goes down and the other girl's breast, and we found that to be inappropriate. >> the general manager of the diner says he is willing to meet with the women to talk about what happened and put the entire conflict to rest. well, if you are feeling lucky today, today is the day to roll the dice tonight. megamillions jackpot, $207 million. you can play in maryland and virginia, and in case you are wondering how lucky you would have to be to win, the odds of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 176 million. coming up in the next half

hour, this will be the last weekend for cash for clunkers. plus a house party gets busted. the problem, the house did not belong to anybody at the party. it was supposed to be vacant. another anti-wrinkle treatment is getting buzz. we will tell you what this one

right now on news4 midday, a husband and wife were found dead in their home, and police are calling it a murder suicide. neighbors say the couple was about to lose their home. authorities have not released the identity of a pedestrian killed in centerville. it happened this morning near singleton's way. police say a driver was injured in the accident but is expected to be okay. funeral services for robert novak are being held this morning. novak died on tuesday of brain

cancer. the services are being held this morning for the well-known washington columnist in northwest washington. he was 78 years old. and the democratic candidate, creigh deeds is delivering a speech right now. you are looking at a live picture from the revent. he expected to layout the themes of his campaign, and layout the differences between him and mcdonnell. cash for clunkers are becoming to an end. it will end on monday night, less than five weeks after it started. brooke hart has more from capitol hill. >> reporter: car dealers expected heavy traffic in show rooms this weekend, now that word is out, cash for clunkers ends monday. >> i think it's a great program and i hate to see it end. >> reporter: customers had expected to see rebates until

labor day at least. >> it's a great program, and too bad the money is running out. >> reporter: $2 billion added to the program is draining fast. and on the radio, obama called it good news. >> we are slightly victims of success, because this thing happened so quick, so much more demand than anybody expected. >> reporter: and sales are happening faster than reimbursement. >> we are owed $45 million at this point. >> it's a great program, not just exactly the best execution from the government. >> reporter: transportation cretary said he tripled his staff to review dealer's claims. >> they will get their money. we have the money. congress provided the money. they will get their money. >> reporter: the program is credited with 450,000 trade ins, 'cau guzzlers for more efficient

mileage. >> advertising on your station, and it's good for everything. >> reporter: gm plans to rehire more than 1300 workers, and car makers are paying over time to boost production. for president obama a lot is riding on cash for clunkers, and it's seen as a success. and in washington, brooke hart, nbc news. experts say they are not sure if the end of the cash for clunkers will lead to a new rush for ougautos over the weekend, because dealers must file their paperwork in four days. aen fdlriy aky friendly skya nd ieskfr lyy. midway through a flight, aan m sitting next to her exposed ermself and then punched her. man then took off all of his

clothes and began yndli ang fighting with other passengers. the pilot tdneur the plane around and the man was t arrest when they got back to oakland. the man and the woman he punched were taken to the hospital. investigators in charles county are awaiting r theesults of an autopsy of a child. the boy spent t h nisight at hi mother's home, and his mother says he woke up early and she told him to go back to bed and he never woke up again. >> he was healthy and everything. he did not show any signs that anything was wrong with him or anything. >> what do you make of this? >> i don't know. i am lost. lef htimth i pn e left him in care of hiswo t 4 an ages 14 and 11. they are the ones that called for help when he did not wake up. police are investigating a wild house party that took place in a vacant home.

the party took place last weekend in a quiet neighborhood in seven meadows. somebody broke into the house and charged teens, $20 to get in. and they promoted the bash on facebook. and the police came when the rty got loud, and the party goers took off leaving behind a mess. there was more than just alcohol and loud music there. >> it was not just booze, but also drugs. they found a lot of drug paraphernalia in there. >> police say the party organizers returned to the house the next night to take the table they had used for the event. aroup of maryland high school football players are recovering this morning after getting too hot. a dozen teens in stevensville had to be taken to the hospital after they started to feel sick and overheated last evening. and everybody is expected to be okay. authorities say most of the kids just needed some water and a chance to cool off.

we will need a chance to cool off today. it's hot out there. tom kierein is up in storm center 4 with the latest. >> yeah, have you to respect the heat and high mu humidity. the dew point is sweltering, 78. that's incredibly high humidity. the same conditions yesterday when the football players had their difficulties dealing with the heat. and this is not going to go away here for the next, probably, 36 hours or so. and as we look at radar, we have showers here in the panhandle o west virginia and out in washington county. and it's heading off to the north and east. we are sweltering with the humidity, and we have rain further to the west passing up into pennsylvania now. this entire yellow zone, including virginia and maryland,

and noonew jersey and up into n england, there could be storms producing damaging winds. here is the latest with hurricane bill. it's still a category 3 hurricane. it's approaching bermuda, and may passover buring burma do yo. and then this is the potential of tropical storm force winds near cape cod, martha's vineyard and nantucket, and then it will head out. for us, partly sunny. thunderstorms likely this afternoon some of them with damaging winds. highs reaching low 90s. and then tomorrow, maybe showers in the morning and afternoon thundershowers, and heavy downpours are likely. and then sunday and monday into next week, low humidity moves in and highs in the 80s. that's how it looks at this hour. barbara? >> thank you, tom. ande will get a final

check on the midday traffic right now. jerry edwards has the latest conditions. >> boy, we are getting busy out there right now. 95 southbound delay begin at the capital belt way. don't be surprised if you see backups on the rams to go 395. that's not stop and go, but heavy all the way down to the occoquan. it's friday and summertime, you know the drill. and then over the bay bridge, we are okay. and then westbound there is a broken down vehicle in the roadway. and a few folks headed out. 395 southbound over the 14th street bridge, and no accidents to impede the flow. and michael jackson's children, the godfather claims he could be the father of paris.

>> reporter: you may not know the name, mark lester, but you probably know his work. he was the child actor and starred in the musical "oliver." now more than 40 years later he is grown up and living near london. he is a caik chiropractor and married. he threw himself back in the limelight with this bombshell. >> i believe paris could be my daughter, and i am willing to take a fertility test. here is the back story. mark lester and michael jacks have been close friends since 1980, and in 1996, he said michael made a bizarre request. >> he asked me in a private conversation if i would be willing to donate sperm on his behalf. >> lester claims he did it, donated the sperm at a london clinic.

michael wanted kids but was anxious about sex and nded his help. lester came forward weeks ago. the british tabloids had a field day. >> i assume the one that looks most like me is paris. lester said he did not think twice about it until after michael's death. mark lester is not the only one with a possible paternity question. and the dermatologist says he has a unique interest in his kids, and would not elaborate. and there are women claiming motherhood. >> i am declaring myself as a the soul biological mother as all three jackson children. >> and another woman, billy jean jackson said i am the mother. it's a circus. >> we found out the kids do watch television and do know what is going on, and this

cannot be healthy for them. mark lester's ex-wife says his claims are not credible. he says he cannot be the father because the timing does not add up. and still ahead on "news4 today," the markets respond this morning to good news from ben bernanke. we will take a look at the movies at the theaters this weekend.cluding tew n.

intmptaalorec rl involving dvd players. walmart is ralng alilutbo aut million and a half ofhese brand of dvd players. there are five reports of the product overheating and fire. they were sold in wrealmart between january of 2006 and july of this year. the product can be returned to any walmart for a refund. it has been a good start to friday on wall street. let's check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. she joins us live on that and

the rest of the day's business headlines. >> stocks are rallying to new highs for the year, and that's following decent gains from yesterday. asian markets were mostly lower overnight, and europe is higher as well. an then above $74 a barrel for oil. and that's kind of due to both inventory as well as the dollar. a couple forces. and the july existing home sales rose 7.2%. that's bigger than expected. and the fourth straight monthly gain. the longest streak of gains since 2004. about double what we saw last month for the increase. a home buyer is rushing to take advantage of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. and hopefully some people can take advantage of that. ben bernanke is speaking today.

they are talking about lessons learned from the financial crisis. and he says prospects will return to the economic growth in the near term appear good, and that's the end quote. and then the coffee chain said it would adjust prices, but we did not know how much until now. so if you are an average drinker, okay, a bit of a break, 30 cents cheaper. but otherwise, you could be in trouble. have a good weekend. >> thank you, courtney. a new lesson in the fight against aging. the fda approved a new product that could take a decade off your face. we have details. >> one, two, three. >> just a few needles to the face. several hundred dollars a session. and you have the latest break

through that doesn't freeze time, but it helps you grow some of it back. >> these are very, very deep. that was the oy product that helped me considerably. >> it's a filler similar to desolvable stitches were first made for aids patients that lose facial fat. it makes your body produce more collagen where it's injected, and the results last years and not months. >> these line right here, the ones your makeup sticks in, that's what doctors say the stuff is good for. and hollow cheeks and older skin. >> this is before and after. the doctor did clinical trials for the manufacturer. >> i have seen it last three years. and then the nice thing is at the end of three years, they need one more treatment, not three or four.

you can make somebody's face look ten years younger. >> husband and wife both took part in the trials, andven five years older, they look better. >> this part tends to droop a little. and if you can help it, just like if you put on powder to cover something or blush to give yourself a little bit of color, i think that's the same thing. it's just to make yourself look better. >> the downside, expensive. you get one treatment a month at around $800, and after three you start to see your old friend collagen comin back. >> we are friends, and they say what are you doing? you look -- >> here is a big caution, though. if you don't go to a doctor that knows what they are doing, you can be big, hard lumps that can only be removed with surgery. >> i had a patient treated by another doctor, and she came in and had huge bumps all under her eyes that you could see, and they were hard as a rock.

>> not pretty. done right, the newest thing to put back a few of those passing years. the time is 11:48. coming up, meteorologist, tom kierein, will be back with another check of the forecast. we areoongki for people that makenghe t day special in the g earnurmog horl if you know somebody like that, close-up picture o video to nbcwashington.com, and we may tell their story or.thaie ai

if you are somebody that grabs a paper to see what time the moviesre playing, you may soon be out of luck. the top two chains have begun to reduce or eliminating the small-type listings showing the start times for movies. individual theaters must typically pay newspapers to

print that information. and many are using internet sights which often are free and they make their money by selling seats. and then "inglorious basterds" opens tonight. brad pitt stars. it's rated r. and then something completely different, "post grad" is a look at life after college of an inspiring editor. she faces problems many real-life grads are facing. and they realize the life she planned may not be the one she is destined to live. post grad is rated pg-13. and "shorts," a mysterious rainbow rock falls from the sky. things get change.

and "short" is rated pg. busy friday afternoon. at 4:00 and 5:00, coming up, discount stores held their own, keeping their core shoppers, and also luring in new ones. and when it's all about finding the best bargains, will shoppers ever pay full price again. and then imagine wearing an outfit for one month straight. find out how she did it. it's a lesson all ladies can learn from. hot off the grill. we are preparing grilled lamb with the chef from heart and soul restaurant. join us as we begin at 4:00, rain or shine. i am wanting that have been wanting to try the restaurant? >> no, i haven't.

>> i want to cck it out. have a great d.weekenie >> thank you. tom? look at the le view from the city cam paw. there is the haze there. there is the cruise ship going up the potomac at this hour in through the thick, summer haze. our warmest weather of the morning so far. and then out here, north of frederick county, they are heading off to the northeast. and there is a little thundershower perhaps trying to get go in madison county. that may drift up towards the suburbs over the next hour or so. and the temperatures, it's warm and muggy. and getting into the hot range. upper 80s at this hour. as we look at what has been happening over the last six hours, more sun further et than west so far. in the yellow zone, strong

storms possible. we could get isolated storms producing damaging winds during that time. hurricane bill is still category 3 hurricane, and that's still major hurricane. and it's 350 miles south of bermuda. we could have waves five to six feet at the beaches. and then some real life-threatening rip currents. you want to stay out of the water if you can. hurricane bill's winds are at 115, and gusts of 138. and here is the latest track taking it west of burma dau. on the rest of the afternoon, for today, we will have highs reaching low 90s, and partly sunny can thunderstorms likely. and then on saturday, after perhaps a few overnight showers tonight, we may have more

showers, perhaps brief heavy downpours, maybe over an inch of rain tomorrow, and tn dry weather moves in on sunday. have a good weekend. and this driver was on his route in connecticut, when he spotted this guy on the side of the road. somebody left the puppy tied to a gutter. the driver untied the little guy, and brought it to a shelter. they are nursing him back to health and plan to put the little one up for adoption when he is better. that's "news4 midday." thank you for being with us. we invite you to turn in at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, and 11. monday morning, join us. we start at 4:55 a.m. have a terrific weekend. we'll see you on monday.