it's going to be one soggy saturday. we'll tell you if we're going to stay dry for the rest of the weekend. how metro is stepping up to the plate to make sure fans get to where they are going. good morning. it's saturday, august 22, 2009. we needed the rain and boy did we get it. severe storms. the downpour happened in

wheaton, maryland. it did not let up. caught some people off guard. th oo ldke intimidating. teg uordoluts aboy this a pho.ot it looks like the middle of the night, but was taken just after 7:00. we have a chance for more showers and thunderstorms today. some could be severe. not expecting widespread storms. good morning, everybody. 73 degrees in washington. 72 in fairfax county. montgomery village 73 degrees. martinsburg, 69. rainfall amounts typical of thunderstorms. some places downtown a little less than half inch of rain. the airport over an inch of rain. sometimes you can get a lot of rain in a short period of time. as a result there's a flash

flood out in the blue ridge. it goes until midnight tonight. keep your umbrellas happy. we'll have more chances for rain later on. there's sprinkles in montgomery keocounty, more for later today. a crackdown by police in the district. last night, they went in an area known for prostitution. it's been declared a prostitution free zone. despite the clean up efforts, some say nothing is going to change. craig has the story. >> reporter: walking these streets around 5th and q for three years. [ inaudible ] >> reporter: starting midnight friday, d.c. police launched a program aimed at that. they declared the work zone

prostitution free. >> the goal is to disrupt prostitution in the area. d.c. policeave more authority than usual to go after people for solicitation. >> they don't necessarily have to be caught in the act of prostitution. if they are con gaited, officers can say you can't be in this zone. >> do the signs deter you at all? >> me, personally, no. it's not going to change because you put a sign up. in a worse case scenario, you move down. >> reporter: they are right in the middle of the prostitution free zone. andy owns it. he noticed the signs today. >> maybe prostitutes need vacation, too. >> reporter: street walking does not hurt his business. he's as confident as kia, the

signs accomplish anything. >> it's a photo-op for the cameras to say we're doing something. >> reporter: he wishes it would address the abuse, poverty and drug addiction. until then, the signs remain. at least for nine more days. >> we'll take the signs down and they are free to congregate, again. mnelvi was craig ke> rttad g aoo keta goo a look. officers believe thisan mob a cn rto cash checking stor d into the store, w displayed adg hanun and got h moed during the during the .exgean exno one was hurt . e same manernt e aed bank in fairfax county. he walked up to the counter and started writing a note, but

fled. anyone with information is to call police. charles county circuit court judge admits he deflated the tire of a car near the courthouse. he got a traffic citation. the owner of the car kept parking in a restricted place. last week, he resigned from his position. he serves as an associate judge in charles county. accused of giving false testimony against someone she arrested. she told the court she found a driver behind the wheel of the car before he was taken in custody. a surveillance camera shows it man in the backseat of the car when hoffman arrived on the scene. f convicted, she faces up to ten years for perjury.

police found bodies of julie and wallace fay in their home thursday night. they died from gunshot wounds. they are calling it a murder-suicide. they were interviewed about their situation last week. >> they were distraught. they were getting their items together, packing boxes, but you could tell the last thing they wanted to do was leave their home of more than 13 years. >>heo was s stressed out. she didn't know what she was .oing to do >> he retired from the army. he worked at costco. a maryland man is in serious condition after the plane he was co-piloting crashed in new jersey. the 42-year-old is from laurel. he was co-piloting a small plane early yesterday morning. investigators say the other pilot was trying to abort the

landing. they are not sure why. they walked away from the crash. metro rider beware. it's going to be a busy night. three sporting events are taking event at the same time. they all play during the 7:00 hour. a lot of extra riders on the blue, orange and green lines. they say they are ready for it. >> they are going to have extra trains ready after the sporting events. they will be available on the green line for the baseball game, orange for the soccer game and blue for the football game. >> passengers on the red line should add an extra half hour to their commute. no red line trains will pass through the ft. tauton station. watch the redskins first home

game season against the steelers on nbc 4. we'll be live at fedex field with preand post game coverage. it' te for your sports in a minute. nationals officially introduced their $15 million man. the team held a welcome ceremony at the park. a few hundred fans showed up. it was quite a show. it included fireworks and a promising show. milwaukee's prince fielder hit their home one. the gnats lost fr games straight. brett favre made his debut. fans seemed to welcome him wit open arms. he received a standing ovation.

they won, 17-13. maybe you have taken advantage or tired of hearing about it. if you are going to take part in the cash for clunkers, this is the last week to turn in your carnd get the rebate. they are expecting a flurry of activity. >> we need to do this now and we did. >> george decided he had to put the medal to the medal to get the cash for clunkers. he added to the hundreds of clunkers in gaithersburg and got a new car. >> i was driving along and i heard the president made an address last night saying the program was going to end monday. i called my wife at 7:00 in the morning and said we need to go. >> customers been calling trying to get the last of the money, find out what's left in

inventory. >> they expect a rush for last minute clunker trade ins adding to the mounds of paperwork workers need to finish. he's confident the government will make good on the claims. >> the government is going to come through on this. it would be terrible if dealerships played by the rules and didn't get their money. >> reporter: almost 900 customers at this dealership alone took part. it's given this retailer and many others a big boost. critics call it a waste of taxpayer money, george believes it's not just helping his botto line, it's helping the economy. >> i think it's stimulated the economy. i'm not sure it's going to continue, that would be impossible. it's giving it a shot in the arm. >> that was michael flynn

reporting. cash for clunkers ends monday night at 8:00. michael jackson, when he family now says he'll be buried. how officers managed to regain control. family members of those killed. awhhendenre war tey

the only man convicted in the bombing of pan am flight 103 is a free man. some of the families of crash victims are outraged. he received a hero's welcome upon his return this week. he was released because 's dying of prostate cancer. a frightening scene in kentucky. you can see the flames from a distance after as many as 1200

inmates starting rioting and breaking windows. tear gas had little effect. they are working to calm the inmates. no injuries are reported. 1200 inmates and staff are reported for. the murder of a model in california. police are searching for her ex-husband who is charged with his death. the reality tv program he was on is pulled from the air. he killed his ex-wife model jasmine fiore. she was found stuffed in a suitcase and in a trash can. several episodes of "megan wants a millionaire" has been cancelled. he's fled to canada. changes for michael jackson's burial. it won't happen on his birthday.

it will take place five days later on september it will be at forest lawn cemetery in glen dale. the family is going to have a private ceremony. jackson would have turned 51 on august 29. upext on news 4 today, the sports forecast. >> we're going to have to have the umbrellas. not a

hurricane bill is barrelling toward the u.s. the storm slammed into bermuda as a cegory 2 hurricane. bill may not be as potentially devastating as feared a couple

days ago, experts say now is a good time to prepare for future hurricanes. >> this is a good exercise. thinking through, what would you do if the storm was going to me your way, it's the time to think about it. this is the time people would be asked to take action if it was pointed at you. >> it's eected to pass through martha's vineyard where the president and the first family are headed for vacation. route one at village drive is down to one lane because of flooding. we had a lot of rain overnight. >> it was nice. a round of thunderstorms first thing this morning around 3:30 this morning. a couple rumbles downtown washington. more thunderstorms in the forecast through the rest of your saturday. as you make your weekend plans, tomorrow will be the better of the outdoor days, but there's a chance for a shower tomorrow.

outside, a beautiful morning under way. sunrise just about ready to occur. it's a few minutes away. look at the beautiful thunder head there. it's moving away from the washington area, over the eastern shore. temperatures are in the low 70s across most of the area. we are going to have breaks of sunshine from time to time. temperatures in the low 70s now across downtown washington. mid-70s. 75 in annapolis. a muggy start. 66 in culpeper. winchester, virginia up at 69 first thing this morning. there's the thunderstorm over the eastern shore of maryland, heading away from the washington area. back in its wake, not much in the way of heavy rainfall. a couple sprinkles right along i-95. no major severe weather threat

first thing this morning. we are under the gun for a chance of severe weather later this afternoon. we have a chance for thunderstorms later on today. there's bill right there off the east coast of the united states. turning away. it's going to miss the united states. it will come close enough to bring high waves and wind in eastern new england. here is the forecast track of it now. it's 640 miles off to the southeast of washington. here is cape cod here. the storm will get relatively close to it. tropical force storm winds will be possible. along the eastern sea board in the united states, from washington to the outer banks high surf is the problem for the rest of the weekend. if you are going to the beach, don't get in the water. strong risk of rip currents and waves. unless you are a professional surfer, they are tough waves to deal with. there goes bill off the eastern

sea board. there's lines of constant pressure. for us, another chance for strong to perhaps severe thunderstorms coming up later on today. a chance for showers during the day tomorrow as well. slight risk of whether includes baltimore and up into new io n england. highs in the upper 70s to 80 degrees. watch out for very big waves along the beaches today. ocean city, foot fr foot along the coastline today. seven day forecast time. reig. ithts,ooig r t highs today, mid-80s. 80% chance you will get rained today. a 30% chance of rain for tomorrow. tomorrow is a little bit on the quieter side for weather. not a wash out for the weekend. we're off to dry start now. most of the day will be dry, but watch for showers later this

afternoon and evening. >> thanks. >> you're welcome. keeping in touch is difficult especially for soldiers living a world away. there's a foundation out there to make sure they don't miss out on an experience no matter how big or small. we talk about freedom calls. >> in north carolina, 20-year-old crystal is ready to have her first baby with mom and friend in toe. her husband is missing in action, sort of. until a nurse rolls him in and dis him up. thanks to freedom cals, he'll be nearby yet 6300 miles away, in iraq. >> pretty soon your son will be here. >> an aircraft mechanic had a new work order thursday night. coaching and comforting his wife until hours of pain --

>> your boy is here, dad. >> all right. >> ten pounds, 11 ounces, 20 inches long. >> to have my husband next to me through it was amazing. >> i can't wait to hold him and be together as a family. >> freedom calls hooks up soldiers with their families face to face more than 2,000 times every month. everything from routine conversations to big, life changing events like this. >> we bring events they would otherwise miss because they are on the front line serving our country. >> it's run from the founders small home office in new jersey. using donations for satellite time to keep them in touch with loved ones. >> i used to work on wall street. i got bonuses and promotions. it was satisfying, but this has

been so much more gratifying. >> reporter: a grateful growing family. >> little footprints. >> looking forward to when freedom comes again. back to school preps include more than books and clothes this year. kids in the district need six more vaccinations than last year. today is the day to get it out of the way. wine lovers listen up. who came up with a local ree alternative from guilt free grapes. an entire community of people who share a common goal, getting healthy. stay with us.

a flood watch in effect right now because of relentless

rain. when we expect it to let up. metro preparing for a big d.c. sports night. how they plan to move thousands of fans to three different games. protests planned in new york city over a terrorist release at the leader of libya. good morning and welcome back to ne 4 today. we're drying out this morning. some of you may have cleaning up to do in your yards after powerful storms blew through. video from german town. lightning strikes in the background or distance. scary stuff if you got caught in it. chuck, good morning. >> beautiful picture there. it's a shelf cloud, in case you were wondering.

it's caused when the cold air runs into the warm air. it makes a shell shaped cloud. outside this morning, another beautiful cloud for you to look at. ta is a qume low nimbus cloud there. there you can see e ndrain a thunderstorm on the eastern shore of maryland. it's about 50 or 60 miles to the east of downtown washington. 73 in town now. we have had a third inch of rain in downtown in the last 24 hours. more than an inch and a half for princeton county and fairfax. some places have had quite a bit of rainfall. there's a flood watch tonight. >> thank you, chuck. a warning for anyone planning to take metro today. fans will be crowding in thanks to a triple header.

news 4, tom sherwood has traveling advice. >> reporter: whether it's the redskins at fedex field, d.c. soccer at rfk or the nats game saturday night, there's likely a metro train in your future and are they ready. >> we'll have extra trains available because a lot of people lever at the same time for these. they will be on the green line for the baseball, orange for soccer and blue for the football game. >> reporter: the train crash in june is effecting the train service throughout the system, but especially on the red line. fans using metro should take note. >> we're doing work on the track, there's work on the red line because of the june incident. if you are traveling on the red line, build an extra 30 minutes

into your travel lines. >> traffic can be tough around any sports venue, so they believe metro is theest bet. friday, some fans were already using metro to show up for the friday night game. most saying metro is the way to go. >> do you think metro will be ready? >> it's hard to say. with the way the economy is, a lot of people take it that normally wouldn't. >> three games going on with it being saturday. i don't think they are ready for it. >> you have the cats and wizards. all the sporting events going on at the same time. they usually do a good job providing transportation. >> tom sherwood, news 4, today. you can watch tonight's game -- redskins home game against the pittsburgh steelers. we'll be live at fedex field.

it starts at 7:30 p.m. nearly a third of the world's population could become affected with the swine flu. it predicts $2 billion people could infected over the years. it's a pandemic and is urging governments to prepare for a swift response. it's killed 1800 people worldwide. students head back to school and they have to get their shots before it begins. kids need six vaccinations. the department of health opened clinics. kelly miller middle school, blue high school, kramerin middle school and coolidge school from 8:00 this morning to 4:00 this afternoon. if you haven't trade in your car for a more fuel efficient one, time is running out if you want in on the rebate. cash for clunkers ends at 8:00

p.m. monday. already, the rebate is almost on empty. dealers are seeing more customers trying to cash in. >> customers calling, trying to get the last of the money, what's left in inventory. >> almost 900 customers at this dealership, alone have taken part in it. it's given this retailer a boost in business. s supporters say it's helping the economy. northern californians are saying thank you to the firefighters who helped save their homes. folks in davenpor california held a cookout for those who helped fight the lockheed fire. no homes were destroyed. all evacuation orders were lifted. the firefighters hard work is the reason they have homes to return to. losing weight is hard work,

as we know. a lot of americans need to do it. most obese people don't know where or how or have the motivation. brittney takes us to louisiana where a community weight program has a 100% success rate. >> reporter: this is home to 37-year-old karla and her family. her heart is in the mission that she participates in as friendship volunteer. last year, a lingering health issue began impacting her service. >> i got to my largest weight ever. i didn't feel like i could do my job, physically, i was starting to have problems. >> reporter: at 271 pounds, she enrolled in the community clinic weight management program. >> for a long time, i knew i needed to do something about my weight. i just didn't know what to do. >> reporter: she was in good

hands with linda jones who had her own weight battle before dropping over 70 pounds. >> our mission is there are no true diets, they are lifestyle changes. we help you make healthy lifestyle choices. >> reporter: unhealthy choices aren't just bad for the person making them, but the economy as well. >> 25% of health care costs are spent treating diseases from being overweight. >> reporter: since the weight program kicked off in february, 100% of the 30 participants are met or exceeded their goals, dropping 790 pounds in total. >> i saw a new me emerging. not just physically, but emotionally. >> i felt tons better. i'm more energetic than before. >> with 73 pounds less to carry

around, she can once again focus on what matters most to her. >> i feel physically fit. >> this could be great news for people watching their weight. you can enjoy a glass of wine without sacrificing your waistline. local ree wine is about to make its way to the u.s. from france. it's only 60 calories per rving, about the same as a carton of sugar free ogurt. there is such a thing. what a great job. not even wine enthusiasts can make a difference. they expect to sell 7 million bottles in the coming years. are you a megamillionaire? we'll give you the numbers for

last night's drawing. bright lights for

what happens in vegas stays in vegas, except when it comes to jobs. the unemployment rate is 13.1%. it's the highest since nevada started tracking it in 1976. economists blame it on the slump ing business. it relies so heavily on consumer spending. it's been a mixed week on the economy. we have the stories that made headlines in the business report. >> as the housing market bottomed out? the white house thinks so. home sales rose 7%. it was the largest increase in ten years of recordkeeping.

it's as mortgage applications rose last week. however, foreclosures are higher. a staggering one in eight u.s. homes with a mortgage are either behind on paymentsr in foreclosure. many new defaults are with traditional fixed rate mortgages. good news on manufacturing in the mid-atlantic turned positive after ten months of contraction. swiss bank accounts are about to get more public. they are goi to hand over 4500 american clients accused of eva evading taxes. the $3 billion cash for clunkers program is going to end monday night. it's after general motors hired back union workers in plants in ohio and ontario to make an

additional 60,000 autos. cnbc is now celebrating its 20th year. no one is waking up a megamillionaire this morning. the jackpotreep cre cep higher, worth 52$252 min.lliola. last night would haveeenstthor w $207 million. there are aume r n of small beo t prhad. twoeople in virginia won part if youlayedye 9-38-44-48-49 and megaball 13. the next drawing is tuesday night. after the break, a party at nationals park and of course, the forecast. >> everybody wants to know if it's going to be a sunny and dry weekend. i don't think so. a complete check of your forecast, coming eak.

usually, police dashcams catch crashes and chases. this is what one officer in iowa saw. his dashcam captured a tornado. it's one of five that touched down in iowa. this narrowly missed the city. one farm was heavily damaged. >> scary stuff. you don't mess with mother nature. lot of thunderstorms around yesterday afternoon. not a lot in the way of true, severe weather. not a lot of trees down. some folks lost a lot of power. we dodged the bullet for big, severe weather yesterday. we have potential for perhaps severe weaer coming our way. as you make your weekend plans, keep a weather eye to the sky. good saturday morning, everybody. sun is out in a few spots.

temperatures are going to climb to the mid-80s. it will destabilize things and we'll have a chance for showers and thunderstorms. saturday morning is off to a nice and quiet start as we look live from the vantage point to the airport. there's the washington monument out there in the early morning sky. plenty of clouds out there. a few breaks of sunshine from time to time in the mid to late morning hours. now, sunshine nationallid. national airport is in the low 70s now. due points in the low to mid-70s now. be ready for humid weather. tomorrow, the humidity levels will start to come down a bit. that will be welcome news. dew points will be back in the 50s. 73 at national airport. 72 in western fairfax. temperatures upper 60s and low 70s the furser west you go.

70 in martinsburg. here's a check at the doppler. lightning flashes moving to the eastern shore. if you are going to drive to the beach, you're going to run back into the rain. most of it should be off the coastline by noontime today. you'll have opportunity to enjoy the weather at the beaches. don't get in the water today. the waves are going to be big and the rip current is extremely high. swimming is not recommended. sitting on the sand is a good way to spend the afternoon. you can see the outskirts of hurricane bill out here. bill is still fairly strong category 2 storm. it could increase a little bit. it's going to pass between, well it passed over bermuda. by the time it leaves the forecast picture, not going to make direct land fall on the united states.

there are topical storm warnings for cape cod and eastern massachusetts. it's 1 miles east of washington now. winds at 105 miles per hour. there's the forecast track. the outer circle is tropical storm wind. the only real land fall is in the canadian merry time. if you are traveling near nova scotia, watch for that. a mix of clouds and sunshine. could fire up a strong to severe thunderstorm later on. there's a slight risk for severe weather. northbound through philadelphia and new york city. be on the lookout for the chance of severe weather. beach and boating weather today. if you are going along the chesapeake bay, upper 70s. rain and thunderstorms on the likely side. be on the lookout for that. tomorrow, a chance for showers, but nowhere near as high a risk

as today. winds out of the south and southwest. if you are headed to the ocean itself, temperatures upper 70s, hcwa watch out, waves four to eight feetetng the beaches. that serious stuff. the only folk that is should get in the waters are professional surfers. people like me, who like to float. not a good day for floating. another chance for unsettled weather toward the end of next week. today is the rainiest of the weekend. if you are trying to hmm and hau, don't wash the car. >> save it for tomorrow. >> correct. >> thanks. chicago is synonymous with bears. a gator? a small alligator was spotted sunning himself on rock. they captured the gator. no one knows where he came from.

officials think he was a pet that swam through the sewer system into the river. if your dog sits, speaks or rolls over, it's disqualified. the naughtiest dog competition. brett favre

in sports this morning, this might be the best week for the nationals since they arrived in d.c. that capped off with a 20-year-old they hope to be their future ace. they welcomed him with more than a party, with a press conference. a few hundred fans came out to see him. they got a show. fireworks and two video presentations. altian fons will not get a

look at the pitching phenom this year. >> i know they are doing it with my best interest at hand. why rush me up there immediately to where i may not be able to handle the workload. i want to go up when the time is right so i can stay up there for a long time. >> after introducing the future star, they had a rough night on the field. things went badly when the brewers hit a powerful home run. it was not meant to be. the brewers pulled away winning 7-3. the two teams go at it again tonight. you have heard it before and might hear it again, brett is back. brett favre made a debut. the pass went for four yards. that's it. that was the highlight for favre

who didn't play long. he completed one of four passes. they beat the chiefs in favre's debut. >> it felt a little odd. for so many years, being on the other side. i thought it was a welcome reception. i know in the long run, we'll be judged on wins and losses, i'm aware o that. this was a tough place to play, i tell you. it's nice to be on the other side. >> tonight, there's saturday night football for redskin fans. they make a 200 home debut against the defending champions pittsburgh steelers. stay tuned afterward for a live post game report. sometimes pets can be a handful. the five finalist vying for the

naughtiest dog competition. he is a bunch of energy and eats everything. >> cell phones, baby soothers, all the time. anything he can find, shoes, tv remote, anything. >> the winner won't be announced until october. if he wins, he gets free obedience training. is your dog that bad? >> he's not poorly behaved, he just doesn't listen. you know, he just goes on his own. >> thank you. that's news 4 today. we'll be back for a local news update. join us at 9:00. until then, have a great morning. >> see you soon.