right now on news4 midday, ba to school. montgomery students are in class this morning in bigger numbers and facing a big school wide goal. >> it was just red all over. all you could see was black mountain and red flames. deadly wildfires threaten as many as 1,200 homes in california. and the final day of august

feels like fallout there right now. news4 midday begins right now. i am joe krebs. and this is the final day of august, 2009. >> kids are not even listening now because they are sitting in class. instead, it's time to hit the books. >> yes, students in montgomery county are having their first day of school right now. and we are joined with more on great expectations forhis year. >> hi, tracee, good morning. >> reporter: yes, this is a green school. a big day for students and parents here. folks that don't even live in the area know the name

montgomery county schools for the work they have done and for their accomplishments, especially other educators who paid attention to how this school turned around. and this is a goal to have for the upcoming school year. the seniors are marching in to a new year where the expectations for one of the nation's leading school systems are about to get a lot higher. >> mobility should not be a excuse, and race should not be a excuse. >> the leadership has moved the ever-growing and changing montgomery county schoolteacher into the top 3 percentile schools in the nation. they are surpassing their white counterparts. >> it's an accurate reflection of what our employees are doing.

you don't let race or economics become an excuse. >> the superintendent says his new aim to have every graduate college ready. >> as parents we want to see them college ready also. that's a great goal. >> i think that's excellent. i think that's a wonderful goal. i definitely want my son in college. i have one daughter already in college. it's a wonderful goal. >> and the idea of going to college, you say it frightened you to think about it? >> well, not frightens me, but leaves me nervous. >> reporter: a the sophomore here, english is his second language. he is among latinos and the 60% of minorities in the montgomery county school system. >> we found out we could get them college ready regardless of the back grounds and regardless of some of the impacting

circumstances. >> reporter: would you consider college? would you think about it? >> yeah. yeah. i think -- i think it's good for college to get ahead, and like, to -- >> reporter: the superintendent says the college preparation begins as early as pre-k. we talked to parents, and they said they agree and look fward to their kids being put on a college track as early as elementary school. back to you in the studio. >> thank you, tracee. >> scary moments in silver spring after a school bus collided with the car. it happened early this morning. no students were on the bus at the time and there are no reports of any injuries. the accident did force authorities to close part of randolph for a while. well it's the second week of school in prince georges county. administrators there have been

working around the clark to straighten out problems that plagued more than 1,200 students. the students have been without schedules because of a computer glitch. the superintendent says there is no excuse for the problems. >> the time is 11:04. a pleasant day outside. we are edging more towards fall. >> yeah, let's get a first forecast for "news4 midday." >> it's feeling like october more than august. it has been in the low and mid-60s all morning long. cloudiness in washington. south and east, we have had passing showers in southern maryland, the northern neck of virginia as well as the eastern shore. there is an area of rain just about to come up towards the western part of the northwestern neck. this one probably passed south of fredericksburg. and then after that, things should clear out there, but further to the west and north,

no precipitation. the sun broke out across northern montgomery county and 15 miles west of washington. the sun broke out and temperatures are in the upper 60s. under the clouds, still in the mid-60s. 66 in washington now, and eastern shore in the upper 60s. they had a few passing showers there. it has been a cool morning out of the mountains. it was down in the 40s in many locations. and over the last six hours, we have seen the showers moving southeast and northwest. and we have a chance of a few showers south and east of washington for the afternoon. temperatures will be cooler there. where the sun breaks out, it should make it in the mid-70s by mid-afternoon. a peek at the weekend will be coming up in a few minutes. something else is brewing in the tropics. we'll talk about that too. barbara and joe? >> thank you, tom. now to a developing story out of northern california. firefighters are dealing with tragedy this morning all while trying to hold back a massive fire. two firefighters were killed in

fighting the blaze. thousands much structures are in danger. >> reporter: i should point out we are in southern california, and this is one of the first communities that was steam rolled by the station fire. this is the scene block after block. it pales in comparison to the grief of firefighters. the station fire is a monster. allowing more than 42,000 acres with a burn zone edixpng g day by day in every direction. >> the fire is moving very quickly, and our firefighters are letting the fire come to them. >> most of the fire has destroyed uninhabited scrub land. fire officials report 18 properties destroyed, and nbc news discovered thirty five flattened homes in this neighborhood alone. these are some of the first pictures of a community

completely wiped out. >> it's like a war zone. >> reporter: with an estimate 10,000 homes still threatened by the fast-moving blaze, at least 2,000 people have evacuated from the los angeles area. >> if it's just a little ember that thrifts over and falls down, then this might help. >> reporter: chip will not leave help. he was supposed to evacuate saturday. >> if it's wind driven, i am out of here. >> reporter: for now that's one of the few pieces of good news. the notorious santa ana winds are not kicking up, but if they do it could turn on a dime. with the fire's parameter stretching over miles, firefighters can do little to slow its spread. crews on foot and in the air coinue to lose ground every hour. homes are not the only concern. emergency communications and television towers are surrounded by the blaze.

now the fire's toll is measured in lives. >> please, prayers for that family. prayers for the two brothers that we lost. >> two firefighters killed in a blaze that continues to expand and shows no sign of slowing down. >> as firefighters cope with the loss, many residents will return to scenes like this. complete devastation. others in the days to come will wait, worry and wonder what is left of their homes. this fire is only 5% contained, and we are now told that more than 80,000 acres have burned. joe? >> sounds horrific. thank you very much. knnew at midday, a water ma break. the water has been leaking for two weeks and still has not been fixed. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. not a great morning for folks

that live in northeast washington on kennedy street. the work crews behind me are trying to repair an 8-inch water main that bursts early this morning. when it blew, it created a large sinkhole in the middle of kennedy street and took out water service in the area. residents that live in the area wonder if it had to come to this. sherman hughs scrambles to fill buckets with water. he figured it was just a matter of time before he and his neighbors had no water. >> right now, no water at all. prior to them cutting the water off, i was able to fill a couple buckets for flushing purposes. and also for washing purposes. >> reporter: the problem is a water main break. a sinkhole marks the trole spot. the flowing water under minds the pavement and sent sand and

gravel floating down the street. buddy lee's car was parked by one of the areas, and a neighbor called him so he could move it in time. >> i came out and the car was cu gushing up under the car, and i could see the water gushing out of both holes, and i was able to anst t my car and drive it away. >> reporter: no repairs were made a couple weeks ago when water was reported, and homeowners are asking why. >> you would think something is going wrong, especially when it's pushing out arnd. sand covered the whole street. this morning it just finally broke through. >> reporter: wasa is taking a look at their complaint records to see what kinds of complaints were filed or the time line on-line complaints about this.

obviously, wasa has had a lot of issues with an aging infrastructure. this pipe is eight inches, but we don't know how old it is or why it bursts. back to you barbara and joe. the time is 11:11, and time to check on the midday traffic. >> good morning, jerry. we will take a trip over 95 where construction crews are back again today. losing the right lane, you see a couple construction zones there. as you travel north from lorden up to knewington, not a big backup. that's good news. southbound side moving along pretty well. no concerns there. elsewhere, let's take a look here at the wilson bridge moving along pretty well both directions. right now, 270 between the capital beltway and germantown, no hangups, and travel lanes are open. president obama is back in washington. coming up, we will take a look at where the president's fight for a health care reform bill

stands. plus the popular tourists spot in mexico could be hit by a powerful hurricane in the next few days. and a look at how people in our area continue to pay tribute to senator

looks look fans will have a new leader. the congress returns to work in a little over a week, and the top priority will be health care reform. without the great negotiator senator ted kennedy, democrats

will have to figure out whether they can get republicans onboard. tracy pots has the latest from capitol hill. >> reporter: ted kennedy in the middle of trying to craft a deal on health care, and now democrats need a new leader. >> the president has to decide in a sense. >> reporter: analysts say with congress deeply divided. >> we are looking at congress that has never been more polarized. >> reporter: president obama must set a clear course. >> he has to weigh in and carry the ball. >> he failed to articulate a strong message about what he wants in the final bill. >> reporter: what republicans want is to start over. >> they said they need to scrap the flawed bills and take the time to develop the real solutions that the american people want and need. >> reporter: is a government-run insurance option one of the solutions? congress is divided. they are all worried about the

cost. there is no consensus about what kennedy would do. >> he would know a number of those things cannot be done. >> reporter: president obama still has a few days to figure out how he will approach this. he is back in washington but still on vacation. the first family has another trip planned for the upcoming labor day weekend. this time they hope to get away to camp david. hurricane is barrelling towards the pacific coast. it could hit the baja, california coast. tourists are backing beaches and bars there. not a bad way to spend a day

there. >> yeah, that's not a bad place to spend a day. that was cabo, mexico. here, it has been feeling more like october than august. i feel like i should be raking leaves or something. this is then e ofaugust, but certainly has been a cool morning this morning. take a look at the sky and how it has been behaving over the last couple hours. we could squeeze two hours down to 30 seconds. can you see the clouds rolling across washington and coming up from the south, as we have a stalled front south and east of washington that has been producing light rain throughout the morning. here we just had the clouds from that system actually bghten a bit about an hour ago and had some sun break out. we still have clouds lingering. there is the live view showing quite a bit of cloudiness over washington at this hour. now the view from the city camera showing the gray sky over

the potomac river. a little bit of sun trying to come through. right now at reagan national, a cool 66 degrees. we are finishing august with 2 1/2 inches of rain, an inch below average. it was 2 1/2 degrees warmer throughout the month of onthaug 2009. let's look at the radar now. there has been a few showers passing through southern maryland. and there is another batch of some rain now just about to pass north of richmond. this one is going to be passing right near fredericksburg, and move right up into southern maryland perhaps in an hour and a half or so. elsewhere, further west to the north we have sunshine breaking out and the temperatures this morning are down in the mid-50s. these are the morning lows. 64 in washington. and this is probably going to be the cooling day since early june. right now where the sun broke out, fredricks is nice and bright and near 70.

elsewhere we are near the 60s and arou the network, silver spring, they had a morning low of 61. look at the monthly rain. 4 1/2 inches there. and reagan bottomed out in the 40s this morning. and the eastern shore in the upper 60s where they had some of the rain passing through. other areas of rain around the outer banks. meanwhile out on the tropics, here is what is going on. florida, and cuba, and haiti, and this is a developing depression. we will keep an eye on this slowing tracking off to the west and may bring rain to the virgin islands over the next day or so and could become tropical storm erica. now, we have cool air and a stalled front south and east with a weak low riding along that giving the chance of rain to the areas south and east of us. and then we will have our sky clearing out tonight and during the day tomorrow.

and it looks like bright and sunny, and will be cooler than average. we will stay dry through the end of the week. for the rest of the afternoon, sunny west and noh, and cloudy .st tdan t be down tonight we will into the 60s for the evening under a clear sky. by dawn in the 50s, a then feeling likeeat leptember or early october. tomorrow, and again on wednesday and thursday, highs reaching upper 70s, and sunshine. it shod stay dry, ,frayid saturday and sunday, and a bit itwa werh nighsrea w 80 degrees. that's the way it looks now. are you ready to rake leaves? >> i have a few on my lawn. >> yeah, some of the weaker drier ones are coming down. >> no, i am not ready to rake. >> yeah, we have to go to the beach first. >> we have labor day coming up. >> yeah. let's go to jerry edwards now and see what the traffic looks like. >> i can't rake leaves.

i just can't do it. capital beltway, construction signs up but no active work going on at the moment. very uneven pavement as the repaving process continues particularly in the overnight hours. not so much in the daytime, which is a relief for you folks heading out. right now we are doing fine. right now at the bay bridge, emergency work going on. and there is also some debris in the roadway eastbound 50. it took a while to get that cleared out. and closer, northeast, we are in fair shape on the major roadways at this hour. barbara and joe, back to you. >> you are not one of those guys that paved your front yard are you? >> no, no, no. >> i saw that somebody had done that. >> no, not me. >> not a great idea. still ahead on "news4

midday," a warning for local university students. plus joe jackson sits down for an interview in what would have been his son's birthday. what he has to say about the investigation into his son's death. a new assignment for one of president bush's twin daughters. first a l akatwht is hot on nbcwashington.com.wh

you are watching "news4 midday." >> the "today" show has a new corresndent white house experience she has to boot. jenna bush will be a reporter on the "today" show, she will report on education especially. she works as a teacher in baltimore and has written two

books. she will split her time between her teaching job and new on-air assignment. and the boys of chula vista, california, have won the little league world series over a team from taiwan. they came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the crown. this is the fifth consecutive world league series for a united states team. congratulations to them. >> absolutely. coming up in the next half hour of "news4 midday," we will have the latest on the man accused of kidnapping a girl and holing her captive for 18 years. police want to know if there are other victims. plus how a group of stranded boaters survived on crackers and chewing gum. >> the swine flu, who needs the vaccine and who should not get it. and tie komreinrebe b wk

here is a look at some of the stories we are following right now at 11:31. students are back in class. first day of school. 2,000 more students than last year. president obama is back in washington. he and the rest of his first family return from martha's vineyard yesterday. the president did not take off the wle week. he announced tuesday that he wanted ben bernanke to serve another term, and he delivered a eulogy at senator kennedy's funeral. two firefighters were killed while fighting a wildfire in the los angeles area. they died when their vehicle rolled down a mountainside. the governor is warning residents to get out. 18 homes have been destroyed at least, and 12,000 homes are in the path of the flames right now.

after lining the streets of washington for his funeral, people are now lining up to walk past the grave site of senator edward kennedy. >> flowers and heartfelt condolences filled the cemetery this weekend as people came to pay their respect. >> reporter: after-hours of his burial, the public had its first chance to visit the grave site of senator ted kennedy. people waited sometimes more than half an hour in the heat to see the simple marker and white cross. many took photos as a lasting remembrance of a man they admired. virginia morelock felt a close connection to kennedy a appreciated his commitment to public service. >> i think that i have a lot of hope for the ideals that he bestowed in the kids. >> mark thompson brought his

kids to see ted kennedy and the final resting place of his brothers, all within just a few hundred feet of each other. >> his life made a difference in other lives. that's what counts. when you show love and concern for your fellow man. more than anything, more than wealth and material possessions. >> there was no doubt we would be here the first day it opened. >> reporter: and this lady thought it was important for her kids to be there and pay respect to the man known as the lion. >> yeah, a generation that has to go forward. they have to understand that lesson. >> reporter: michael flynn, news4. that was michael flynn reporting. to read more about the life and legacy of senator kennedy, visit our website, nbcwashington.com. we are getting a closer look

at the backyard compound where authorities say a man kept a girl for 18 years. investigators are also searching the property next door. they want to know if garrido is connected to a string of unsolved murders from the 1990s. and a eighth person died after a georgia attack in a mobile home. police say they don't know whether the killer is still on the loose at not. one person is still hospitalized. police have not said how the victims were wounded but have arrested a family member who lived in the home and called 911 to report the attack. he is charged with tampering with evidence. he is not being called a saw spec in the murders. this is the first day of classes for students,eyth bg rei inrnarey wthrengne warned d wtho

the srclooasm.sr more than a dozens robberierobb. some involve large groups of people attacking people in the streets. some of the victims have been gw students. >> people in the second district who are in charge, and they have assured me they will step up patrols and certainly have more undercover officers in the neighborhood. >> what i think about is like in the movies, and it's not real life, even though it is, if that makes sense. i guess it eye opening. >> police are reminding students to always travel in pairs or groups, specially at night. let's look at weather. >> tom is in storm center 4. >> it's a tale of two different weather patterns going on. we are in between the two.

and it's sunny in washington but cloudy to the east where they have showers this morning. they continue where you see the blue and green. this is rain falling across southern delaware. and another batch here is now just passing north of richmond. it looks like that may move to the south of fredericksburg and head to the eastern shore in a couple hours or so elsewhere no precipitation around. temperatures are now in the upper 60s and low 70s. we are in the mid-70s around washington and on the eastern shore, mid and upper 60s. for most of the region it will stay dry. south and east we have a chance of a few showers. highs in the l and mid-70s. tonight clear. another chilly start tomorrow morning down in the low and mid-50s. feeling autumn like here in the next several days. a final check on midday

traffic now. >> before he leaves, let's say good morning once again to jerry edwards. >> good morning to you. good morning, everybody. a fender-bender does not appear to be a serious accident but it was in the road, ramp 95. there is a police offir there and i suspect there is a tow truck en route. and the traffic extends all the way from the occoquan river so the backup has grown a bit. and then 395 northbound to the 14th street bridge also looking good. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. michael jackson's father is speaking out for the first time since the pop star's death was ruled a homicide. in an exclusive interview, joe jackson said he thinks there are several people involved in michael's death and they all

should pay. jeff rautson has the story. >> i cannot believe this happened to him. >> reporter: how are you doing? >> fine. just grieving over my son's loss. he was the greatest all over the world. i am proud of that. >> reporter: we met with joe jackson at the palms in las vegas on saturday, what would have been michael's 51st birthday. there was a tribute concert here celebrating michaels life. when it was over, joe and i discussed his tragic death. >> are you angry? >> no. i am mad. >> about what? >> i am madecause i did not know all this was going on. that's what i am mad about. >> reporter: you did not know michael had a problem with medications? >> i did not know he was taking that type of medications. >> reporter: your son's death was rule add homicide. what do you want now? >> justice to be done. that's what is being done.

>> reporter: does that mean criminal charges? >> i don't know. >> reporter: the l.a. county coroner ruled the cause of death was a powerful anaesthetic, with other anti-anxiety drugs as a contributing factors. his personal physician, dr. conrad murray gave him the medication to help him sleep. >> did you know he needed that drug to go to sleep? >> no, i did not. first time i ever heard of the drug. >> reporter: police say the doctor admitted to them that he gave michael pthe medication th morning he died. that's ruled the reason for his death. >> that tells me there was foul play done. that's what it tells me. and there needs to be an investigation to see what is behind all of this stuff, not just dr. conrad murray. >> reporter: do you want somebody to pay? >> well, somebody should pay,

and not just somebody, but all that is involved. >> reporter: all of the doctors? >> i didn't say doctors. anybody else that is involved. >> reporter: anybody involved should pay? >> that's right. >> reporter: in our interview, joe wanted to focus on michael's legacy as a performer, and at the end of michael's life, it was his three children michael was most proud of. his 79-year-old mother, katherine, has been awarded sole custody. joe doesn't live with them and signed court papers promising i will not be involved in raising the children. >> reporter: how are you kids? >> good. >> reporter: what role do you play in their lives? >> i am their grandfather? >> have you seen them? >> of course. yes. >> reporter: how often do you see the kids? >> well, i will put it like this. i see them just -- well, i see them enough. often enough.

>> joe jackson ended the interview after he was asked about his grandchildren. michael jackson will be laid to rest in a private service in glendale, california. three boaters from texas were missing. the coast guard lunched a massive search and called it off friday without finding them. the next day on saturday, a sports fisherman came upon the missing crew some 180 miles from the coast. it started when one of the fisherman woke up to find his fishing boat filling up with water. >> i was running around trying to get everybody up. we are trying to get the water out as fast as we can. within a minute, five seconds, the boat just tumbled over and capsized right there. >> the fisherman survived eight days of heat by eating crackers and chewing gum and drinking

whatever water they could suck out of the boat's fresh water tank. 11:42 now. 66 degrees here in washington. a big announcement from disney this morning. we will have the business headlines, including early wall street numbers. and for one community, a war over territory. we'll explain. st >>. we'rcoming right back.

welcome back to "news4 midday." in business news, not much great news. asian markets fell sharply overnight. >> we will check in with courtney reagan on trading this morning. she joins us with that and the rest of the day's business headlines. >> stocks are lower. the dow is down greater than 82 points right now. as you mention, it could be

largely due to what we saw in china. banks could cut back on lending, and so that led to asia and europe. and that's also lower. we are the last to open up of the three. and we have several economic reports ahead this week that really -- the markets pay close attention to, including data on manufacturing and productivity, and the minutes from the fed meeting and the monthly jobs report is the big one due out on friday. and then the markets are still on track for their best august in nine years. andan and can make that too happen. walt disney is buying marvel entertainment. the house of mouse will acquire ownership of the characters, including fantastic four and x-men. those movies tend to attract

male viewers. and then there have been concerns the government will not see any return on the bank bailout. however the government could stand to lose money on the bailout. there are still some to come, but so far the profits are looking good. back to you in d.c. well, the industry is in a boil over sinking prices and reduced demand. it's being felt up and down the coastline. nbc's janet shemlian filed this report. >> reporter: it's the picture of tranquillity. accessible only by small plane or a weekly ferry.

it's off the coast of maine, and seemingly a lifetime away. it's smaller than new york central park, a couple gravel roads and fewer than 50 residents. no gas stations or restaurant or service. in the waters just off the island, an andance of the region's bread and butter, lobster. >> with the industry struggling, a clash over tradition and territory. there was a dispute over who can fish here and it caused one man to shoot another. >> this is my office. how can you beat it? >> reporter: this man is a tenth generation lobberman. he is asking maine for an extraordinary step to declare lobstering around the i lupd only for those who live on it. >> people might look and say you are trying to keep competition

out? >> yeah, it's not competition that we are worried about. it's the people that will not put anything back. >> lobster tracks can be anywhere in state water. with more entering here, they fear for the future. >> we have to have the territory around the island for the lobsters. that's the life blood of the communit >> reporter: depending on a fragile livelihood, a legacy on the line. >> i don't want to think that my son is the last one in my family that can make a living out here. >> a war at sea putting lobstermen in a boil. >> you are not a big lobster eater, huh? >> well, i am getting bigger all the time. the more i eat the bigger i get. >> i love them. it's 11:50, and the temperature right now is 68 degrees in washington. meteorologist tom kierein will be bac wnoit c ahther check on

the forecast. >> we ar l foong akior people that make the dpe scith in se early-morning hours. i if you know somebody like that t story and a clear close-up picture or video to

you are watchingnews4 midday. >> the president of columbia has the swine flu. a presidential spokesman says he has the h1n1 virus. they are contacting leaders that attended a recent summit with the president. he began to feel symptoms under friday. none of his family members or close associates have shown symptoms of the disease. he is now the second south american president to come down with the swine flu. costa rica's president was the first, but fully recovered. health officials in this

country are bracing for a potential swine flu outbreak. they are being told to prepare for the worse. pregnant women make up most of the deaths. and we discussed why expectant mothers should take precautions. >> there is a very efficient virus. it's skipping from person to person. the concern is that young mothers who may not have a natural immunity to it, and their babies will not have a natural immunity to it are prime targets. that's why the cdc is saying, no matter your trimester, get your shot as soon as it's available. >> vaccines should be able not until october. and doctors suggest pregnant women get flu shots that will be available this week. let's find out what is in the works for this afternoon. >> yes, kimberly joins us with a preview. coming up this afternoon on news4, as students head back to college, one of the biggest challenges is outside the

assroom. we will have tips on how to avoid the dreaded freshman 15. who is on the chopping block for the redskins? and players battle for a spot on the team. find out who may be in and who may be out. for these stories and all the day's news join us for news4 beginning at 4:00. joe and barbara? >> freshman 15? >> too much pizza. >> i am still carrying it. >> no, you are not. >> i remember when i first went home for thanksgiving, my parents were like, wow, what did she do? we will check on today's forecast. a good morning to get exercise, as we take a look eig outside. we have partly sunny skies here now, and clouds south and east of us are producing rain. as we look at the radar, areas of rain are continuing to move across the southern parts of the eastern shore and northern neck and right now near richmond.

those are heading off to the north and east. and we will climb into the low and mid-70s later on this afternoon as the clouds begin to clear out. we will have a clear evening coming up. highs are reaching low to mid-70s. clearing out tonight. 50s by dawn tomorrow. during the day on tuesday, mostly sunny and afternoon highs in the 70s. more of the same on wednesday and thursday. low humidity in place all the way through the end of the week, including friday. the weekend is looking pleasant with not much humidity around. lots of sunshine, and afternoon highs near 80 degrees, and low morning 60s. in sports, playing dirty is frowned upon, of course. but not here. this is the mud olympics in germany. 400 athletes competed. thousands of fans came to watch them play knee deep in mud.

some things are unconventional, like boot throwing and fish tennis -- i am not sure i want to know what that is. it races must nises money for a cause, and it all goes to charity. >> that doesn't look like fun to you? >> it does, indeed. thank you for being with us. we invite you to tune in at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00, and then 11:00. >> we will be back tomorrow at 4:55 a.m., and we hope you join us then. until then we hope you have a wonderful day. >> we'll see you in the morning. >> bye.