washinon area for the first time. hello, everybody. welcome to news 4 at 4. i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat lawson muse. health departments in maryland, virginia and the district spent the day gettingeady to disburse the swine flu vaccine. in montgomery county, there will be a clinic at the county's department of health office in silver spring. it will be first come, first serve and will only be available to people who can get the nasal spray form of the vaccine. that includes healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49 who have not gotten the seasonal flu vaccine in spray form in the last 28 days. >> in prince george's county, school aged children will be the first one to receive the vaccine. students at dodge park elementary in landover will get it tomorrow morning. county officials tell us there will be more chin, at each school as more vaccine becomes available. meanwhile it was back to school today after that swine flu scare in laurel. st. vin ent pallotti high school re-opened today, a day after it >> five students were diagnosed

with swine flu, but about 20% of the student body was feeling sick. news 4's kimberly suiters reports. >> reporter: thursday morning, alaina made her triumphant return to pallotti high school, announcing to the principal she's cured after being sick -- really sick -- for five days. >> i got swine flu. it was really intense like i just went home and, you know, i had the headache, the fever and the body aches and the chills. it was awful. i went to my doctor the next morning. and she's like, sweetheart, do you feel like you want to die? i said, yeah. she's like, you have it. >> reporter: at minimum, alaina was one of five student was a confirmed swine flu case, but 100 of the school's 500 kids were out this week. alaina noticed the absences a week ago. >> i would go in and like half my dallas would be missing. i was like, where is everybody? >> reporter: the principal who greeted students at the dr the

morning after the closure said he didn't want to risk having half the student body and faculty out so he closed the school wednesday for a deep cleaning. >> we just went over all the tight spaces a little more thoroughly than they do at night, spend more time in areas where kids congregate most, in the cafeteria, in the gym, down in the locker rooms, just really hit those spaces with di disinfecta disinfectant. >> reporter: the archdiocese and the health department both let the principal know they believe he overstepped his bounds in closing the school on wednesday. but we couldn't find anyone here at the school who disagreed with the principal's decision. >> i thought it was a good decision to close. >> reporter: why? >> a lot of kids sick and my daughter was one of them. >> i think it was a good thing because they could clean out the school and get everything clean so we can come back to a fresh school. >> reporter: the day off meant alaina could catch up on loads of schoolwork and wait 48 hours until she was fever-free. >> when i heard they were closing the school, i was like, this is like the beginning of a horror movie. they close the school and

everyone gets sick and it's so creepy. it was so weird. this is the first time it's ever happened. >> reporter: hopefully it's the last but it may not be as schools in our area weather the swine flu season. in laurel, i'm kimberly suiters, news 4. >> now that the h1n1 vaccines are being disbursed a lot of people still have a lot of questions about who should be getting them. so far, most health departments and hospitals have gotten the flu mist version of the vaccine. that one is inhaled through the nose and it uses a live virus. manufacturers will be shipping the injectable form of the vaccine in the next week or so. that version uses an inactive virus. both types of vaccine should prevent the swine flu, but for some people, the mist may not be safe. because the inhaled mist uses a live virus, it's not safe for some people in high-risk groups. health officials are telling us that only healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49 should get this vaccine. pregnant women should wait for the shot form to arrive.

>> now to a developing story from the district at this hour. students and teachers are beginning to gather in freedom plaza right now to protest the teacher layoffs announced last week. they're starting to arrive right now. citing budget cuts, d.c. school officials laid off nearly 400 employees, including more than 200 teachers back on friday. students began protesting earlier this week and the teachers union has filed a lawsuit to contest the layoffs. today school chancellor michelle rhee defended them, saying she had to wait until the beginning of the school year because the budget numbers weren't done until september. we'll have much more coming up in a live report. today a big break in a four-year-old cold case. police tell us they have made an arrest in the murder of a 17-year-old girl. 25-year-old mcdonnell abraham is charged today in the shooting death of stacy seton. seton was found shot in the head in a wooded area in bowie back in 2005.

investigators say a personal dispute was the motive in the murder. stacy seton's mother spoke out about the arrest today. pat collins will have much more on that part of the story coming up right here at 5:00. metro's red line is finally back up and running. >> and on capitol hill, lawmakers become readers for a day. here's a look at some other stories making headlines in our area. a freight train hit and killed a man in prince george's county. it happened around 1:00 this afternoon near rhode island avenue and krit tendon street in hyattsville. no word yet on the man's identity but authorities believe he was about 30 years old. it's not clear how he ended up in the train's path. the prosecution is present its case against mark ka seo, the maryland father charged with drowning his children in a bathtub. police say he admitted to the murders in march of last year after his children were discovered dead in baltimore. at the time, he and his wife were in the midst of a custody

battle. cass ee oh's lawyers argue he's not criminally responsible for the killings. >> metro's red line is running at full speed again this afternoon for the first time since june's deadly crash. that accident killed nine people and injured dozens more. metro's decision to resume normal operations comes despite the fact that there has been no official finding of the cause of that crash. lawmakers up on capitol hill today met with preschoolers to raise awareness for early childhood literacy. they partnered with the jump start campaign, trying to break the world record for the most people reading the same book in a day. that book was "the very hungry caterpilla" they hope that by the end of the day more than 1 million children will have heard this story. >> taliban militants are claiming responsibility for a car bomb attack that killed 17 people in afghanistan's capital this morning. the explosion was near the indian embassy in kabul.

officials say the bomb had been planted in a stolen afghan army vehicle. the blast leveled buildings on that street, leaving at least 76 people injured. this is the second major attack in kabul in less than a month as the war in afghanistan stretches into its ninth year. another series of earthquakes in the south pacific prompted some tsunami warnings that were quickly canceled today. still, that sent residents on the islands of samoa and vanuatu scrambling for higher ground. there were four quakes, all between 7 and 7.8 in magnitude on the richter scale. there were no immediate reports of any major damage or injuries. >> back on the home front now. we had a spectacular weather day out there. bob, we warmed up a bit, didn't we? >> we did indeed. hi, jim. still having it outside, as a matter of fact. still some time to get out outside and enjoy beautiful blue skins, high, thin clouds. once again another dry day. look at the monthly rainfall in

within chencheste winchester. early this morning, temperatures are into the 40s in a lot of areas. look at the morning low temperature out at winchester. made it into 46 degrees. right here in washington we've still yet to see a morning low below 50. 52, but baltimore 45 and folks into southern maryland, clinton was down into the 40s. right now 67 degrees as you can see, and our winds are beginning to turn into the south now so that's been bringing back milder air. and what a difference from yesterday when we had that howling wind on us. winds have settled down also around new york. there is a bit of storminess and i'll show you where it is. but the moisture -- you can see those clouds heading more to our north. once again i think we're really going to be missing anything in the way of significant rain. a cool evening, that's ahead. clouds primarily to our north for you folks especially across the mason-dixon line up into northern parts of maryland and pennsylvania. but for us, still a dry pattern although there may be a few

raindrops by the time we get around to saturday. i'll explain that and also the weekend foliage map for your travel plans. join new a few minute zbls got that big three-day weekendor some out there. thank you, bob. >> colorful leaves. when news 4 at 4 continues, the not so friendly skies. bad news for frequent flyers. airline delays are going from bad to worse. >> plus, the latest on the letterman extortion case and why women's rights groups are now speaking out against the "late show" host. >> the pursuit of great hair. the comedian is talking to brian williams about the issue after the break.

some signs of life for our struggling economy. with positive indators on the jobless front and with retail sales, the number of newly laid off workers filing first time claims for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level since early january. it's a sign that layoffs are easing up a bit. retail sales are also seeing some improvement. last month, retailers averaged the first gains since july of last year, which is fueling hopes for the upcoming holiday shopping season. stocks up onñi wall street today. the dow gained 61 points. the nasdaq closed up 13 points and the new york stock exchange closed 75 points higher. if you're looking for a break on buying a new appliance, you're in çóluck. tomorrow virginia starts its sales tax holiday. for three days only, appliances the government considers energy star and water sense will be

sold tax-free. this deal only applies to appliances bought for noncommercial use and they have to cost $2,500 or less. appliances include shwashers, washing machines, refrigerators, ceiling fans, toilets and sinks. you can find a complete list of qualified appliances at dmme.virginia.gov. >> now to the latest on the david letterman. nbc news has now learnedñi that letterman's former assistant and reportedly former lover has beed placed on paid leave of absence. sources say with a you will the media scrutiny it would be impossible important her to go back to work at this time. peter alexander has the latest. >> welcome to the show. >> reporter: for david letterman, another scandal-free edition of "the late show" wednesday night. >> new york yankees in the playoffs earlier tonight. boy, does that sound like fun. 50,000 people packed together

during a swine flu epidemic. >> reporter: nbc news has learned stephanie birkitt, one of letterman's assistants and reportedly his past lover has been placed on a paid leave of absence by letterman's production company. the 34-year-old birkitt who first joined the late show as an intern is reportedly at the center of a tangled love triangle. birkitt is the former girlfriend of suspended cbs news provider joe halderman, the man accused of trying to ex tort $2 million from letterman to try to keep the comedian's affairs secret. >> contained in the package was stuff to prove that i do terrible things. >> reporter: a week after letterman revealed he was the victim of an alleged blackmail plot and acknowledged having sex with women on his staff, the late night host is facing new attacks. the national organization for women sharply criticized letterman, accusing him of creating a toxic environment in the workplace. and urging cbs to take action immediately, even though no women have come forward to complain.

meanwhile, the explosion of media attention has raised new questions about whether the prosecution of letterman's accused extortionist could make things even more difficult for the comedian. >> people say there is no such thing as bad publicity. this is an example of bad publicity. this is something where not only is joe halderman having his worst nightmare come true, but for david letterman, for his family, for his show, there is no upside to this. none whatsoever. >> reporter: still, celebrity crisis management experts say letterman had to go to the authorities. >> it's conceivable that when letterman was approach, they thought they were dealing with a loose canon, and if you are dealing with someone who's going to go to the media anyway, you go to the authorities. >> okay. let's look at the news. first of all, bill clinton said -- >> reporter: while letterman may be pulling his punches on former targets. >> let me ask you a question. do you think it's too soon to be hitting on mrs. eliot spitzer?

>> reporter: some of the politicians who have been the source of letterman's best material are now offering their support. >> good news for south carolina governor mark sanford because e he -- >> reporter: from governor sanford, both my thoughts and my prayers are with him. >> hmm. that was peter alexander reporting. worldwide pants says while stephanie birkitt is on paid administration leave, she is not banned from the studio. >> still to come this afternoon, embattled governor sford in the spotlight again, this time for what happened during a traffic stop. and harry connick jr. talks about the guest appearance that put him in an awkward position. we'll show you what happened there.

he created a washington institution more than 50 years ago. today the city is mourning the loss of the founder of ben's chili bowl. ben ali died last night after a long illness. his u street restaurant opened back in 1958 and is famous for its half smoke and its high profile clientele. celebrities like ella

fitzgerald, bill cosby a favorite, even president barack obama have all come through the doors to eat there. ben ali was 82 years old. we'll have much more on his life cosurháonight at 5:00.ñr >> harry connick jr. wanq apology after his guest appearance on an australian talent show, where one group performed in black face. the show aired last night on austral australia's channel 9 network. a groupf doctors calling themselves the jackson jive painted their faces black and wore wigs. they called it a tribute to michael jackson. connick jr. called it offensive and said he wouldn't have participated had he known that was going to happen. >> i wanted to make sure -- those guys that did that sketch, i'm sure, are fantastic, intelligent guys. but as an american, i had to say what i felt, you know. that's not disparaging anybody else. >> the show's host apologized and called the act disgusting. the head of the jackson jive

group says they didn't mean to offend anyone. >> south carolina's governor was pulled over for speeding earlier this week. mark sanford, already embroiled in that scandal, was on his way to the event when a car he was riding in was pulled over. a south carolina state trooper clocked his vehicle as doing 85 in a 65-mile-an-hour zone. the trooper, shown on dash cam video here, shook the governor's hand and allowed sanford and his driver to leave without issuing a citation. now that the story has been made public, however, we're sold sanford's driver will receive a ticket, like the rest of us would have, right, bob? >> that's only fair. only fair. >> all right. >> how about this, hmm? are you ready? >> south carolina or here, that's way away. >> this is out in montana. this is aroundñi bozeman, monta. they're happy to have thexd fir snow. it's october. these things happen out in the rocky mountains. our temperature ñiaroundçó here the other hand, and it's still snowing out there, about two to

three inches of snow. many of the high spots have seen someñi snow-skiers. our temperature outside right now -- there we are. we made it. 69 degrees. dew point, 41. southerly wind at 6 miles an hour. here's what's happening around the east. look at the temperature outside now. we are at 69 degrees right herg in washington. 60s to our north. 59 degrees up aroundñi buffalo. chicago's xd51 degrees. in the lastñiñiñi 24 hours, tha storm that brought all the winds has moved on out. here's the next wave in the atmosphere and onceagain, this storminess moving to our west so we'll be really on the frin ngs of it. earlier, miami, 92 degrees, a record high temperature. look at the areas that are having flood watches while we've been very dry. flood watches and flood warnings are out now for a wide area. flash flood warnings from southeastern kansas, southwestern missouri, into central missouri. overnight tonight there's going to be more of the same.

nothing around us but look at the area of rain out there stretching all the way into st. louis. moderate rain, even some thunderstorms mid-october thunderstorms through parts of central missouri and that train of moisture continues on up into illinois. all of it -- a lot of it moving to our north. look at missouri. over seven inches of the month. we've had less than .1 of an inch, over 5 inches the last 24 hours. winchester. 66 degrees. here's what's going on. overnight tonight in our future cast there's the area of storminess. you can watch and see yet another in a series of storms moving to our north. we'll get a bit of moisture coming in tomorrow night. then saturday morning there could be a few passing light showers, but then another area of high pressure, i think, pushes in enough to give us a fair amount of sunshine for the weekend. and this weekend, some great color, near peak to just about peak through the poconos, up into the adirondacks and all the way into parts of new england where temperatures tomorrow will

be in the 70s. we will be in the 80s. overnight tonight, partly cloudy skies. temperatures later on tonight will be dipping not as low as they did last night with a southerly wind. temperatures will be 52 to 58 degrees when you get up tomorrow morning. and then with a southerly wind and some clouds, but most of the clouds well to our north, our temperatures will soar tomorrow. i think we'll be up to near 80 degrees with a touch almost -- not quite indian summer yet, but quite warm tomorrow. back to you. >> thanks, bob. >> thank you, bob. >> well, it's only october but a lot of retailers are trying to inject a little holiday cheer into the slumping economy with discounts for early shoppers. walmart is offering nearly 100 toys for just $10 each. >> target is slashing prices on toys by 50%. big ticket items are also on sale, like amazon's e-reader kindle for about 300 bucks. the nintendo wii for $200, the first-ever price cut for that gaming system. >> i tnk you're probably going

to see consumer shopping a little bit earlier this year. the idea is to get the consumer in more frequently and to spend more money per visit. >> analysts are expecting a drop from holiday sales last year so more stores are keeping less inventory in stock. that means hot items may be on the shelves -- if you wait -- they may not be on the shelves if you wait too long. maybe you should shop early if you're going to shop. >> free lipstick with this news 4 bargain blast. get a free moisture shine lipstick from newt utrogena. >> go to lucky lookout.com. click on special offers. the first 1,000 people to sign up will get their free lipstick. >> when we come right back on news 4 at 4, pink products seem to be everywhere, but do all of their sales really benefit breast cancer research? why experts say you should think before you pink. >> also, the dark side of your debit card. it may lower your debt but there are some pitfalls that you need to avoid.

>> plus, how much is toomuch? a sports stadium sets a cap on how much fans can drink, and that limit might just surprise you. we're coming right back.

welcome back to "news 4 at 4:30" now. i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm jim handly. starting tomorrow, the swine flu vaccine will be able in our area. health officials in the district, maryland and virginia have all received the first doses of the vaccine. this first batch will be the nasal spray form, meaning only healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49 can receive it. >> police have made a break in the four-year-old murder case of a teenage girl in bowie. 25-year-old mcdonald abraham is charged in the shooting death of 17-year-old stacey seaton. she was killed in 2005. investigators now say a personal dispute was the motive in the murder. students, teachers and union leaders are gathering at this hour at freedom plaza in downtown washington to protest recent teacher layoffs in the

d. school system. 400 schoolworkers, including more than 200 teachers, were laid off last week. city officials cite the budget, but students say theuts are disrupting their learning. there have been several protests since the announcement. we'll have a live report from freedom plaza coming up at 5:00. >> october is breast cancer awareness month. many people hope to support breast cancer charities by purchasing products that claim to donate a portion of their profits to the cause. but some consumers wonder if the company is actually making that donation, using pink as a sales ploy. michelle hopkins has more on the story. >> reporter: go shopping these days and you can literally fill up your cart with all kinds of items with a pink ribbon. everything is pink. but how much of what you spend is really going toward breast cancer research? from bounce to batteries, kitty food to kitchen appliances, pink tops on tide, tennis racket,s,

even toilet paper -- >> the whole idea o slapping a pink ribbon on you product is so widespread. >> it's for a great cause. i've bought cosmetics at macy's to home items at bed, bath & beyond. >> reporter: who's profiting off the pink? cancq research groups say buyer beware. >> consumers that are trying to support breast cancer reseah don't want to support joe shh mow's bottom dollar. >> reporter: hard to tell where the money's going. look for a way to contact theçó company. >> hopefully if an organization is putting some pink on their product and claiming to support put a website or phone number on there. >> reporter: chapstick lists it right here on the back. look for websites like think before you buy pink for critical questions to ask so you know how much of what you buy actually going to breast cancer research >> at the endñr of the day, the best way to help cure breast cancer, pay for mammograms, is make a directñixd donation. >> that was michelle hopkins repoing. of course, it's important to

remember that the color pink is a reminder to get checked for breast cancer before it's too late.çó grief and shock in a small new hampshire town after a family was brutallyattacked, allegedly by former boy scouts. 42-year-old nurse and mother kimberly lynn kates died in this home invasion early sunday morning. her 11-year-old daughter is still in intensive care. her throat was allegedly slit in the attack. prosecutors say four local teens made a pact toñi rob and kill. investigators believe they picked their victims at random. kate's co-workers are still in disbelief.çó >> i don't think you would find anybody to say anything bad about her. awesome. awesome. very hard working, bubbly. >> court documents allege the 17-year-old ringleader attacked th family with a xdmachete. he and a second teenager are charged with murder now. none of the teens has entered a plea yet.xd federal investigators say

they've uncovered the largest cyber crime ring in u.s. history. agents have arrested dozens of suspects in three states who were accused of working with people in egypt to steal personal information over the internet, then clean out bank accounts. the investigation called çóñi "operation fish fry" led to 53 arrests. police say the suspects used phony e-mails that looked like they were from real banks to get passwords from unsuspecting >> still ahead on "news 4 at 4 ft. internet addiction. it's such a big problem, especially for teens, that it's considered a mental disorder. plus, comedian chris rock takes on the obsession over gray hair.

good evening. bob ryan, storm center 4. a beautiful sky that we have out there. still a lot of sunshine, although we're losing more than two minutes each and every day. this is some great pictures that we've gotten of the foliage. you can see this is up at about 4,000 feet in bartow, west virginia, that paul sent in. there's a lot of color right there now. so, heading out for the mountains, the high spots really very, very colorful weekend. our current temperatures here 69 degrees. to our north, it's in the 50s. heading to school tomorrow morning, temperatures not as chilly, not as low as they had been. it will still," cool but i think probably in the mid to high 50sa5 here in town. and about the 40s in the suburbs. then tomorrow, because of southerly winds, our temperatures will soar to near 80 ñidegrees. next seven days, here's how things shape up. for saturday, there'sx$$p weak

weather front that will be coming in, but our overall pattern is still a dry e. any showers, i think, would be light. at that, only a 30% chance, primarily in the morning. still some clouds lingering around in the afternoon. sunday a bit cooler but fairly sunny. then some chilly air tuesday and wednesday, next chance for any rain that we could use a bit ofó not untilç?$p!out next thursday. back to you. >> thanks, bob. >> the problem of internet addiction has become so acute it's now considered a mental disorder. experts say onlineçó addiction should be taken seriously because it can hurt work and school performance and family relationships, just likexd othe addictions. it can also have a negative impact on the developing emotional state of adolescents who are most at risk. it's believed that nearly 18% of youngsters are obsessed with the internet, especially boys. the american psychiatric association is now debating whether thexd problem should be

listed in the manual of mental disorders. another study is offering some re-assuring news about cancer and childbirth. it found that when survivors of childhood cancer are able to have children themselves, their babies do not face an increased risk of birth defects. compared to people who never had cancer. this was true for both men and women cancer survivors. however, they were more likely to have premature or low birth weight babies. cancer treatments can compromise fertility. >> chris rock's much talked about film "good hair" opens in theaters tomorrow. it explores the way hairstyles impact the activities, ñi pocketbooks, personal relationships and even self-esteem of african-american women. in today's inside report, nbc's christina brown has a preview and some reaction. >> reporter: comedian chris rock returns to thecreen with his new documentary "good hair." >> just yesterday, my daughters came into the house and said, daddy, howxd come i don't have

good hair? >> reporter: rock tries to get to the root of why so many african-american women spend countless hours. >> you flew from colorado? >> yep. >> to>.#w york? >> reporter: thousands of dollars and take serious risks, all in the pursuit of good hairr we sat down with a group of black women after they watchedñ requested got hair" for a candid the message. >> when i saw "good hair" i thought of allñr those saturdayi spent at the beauty parlor. >> reporter: lock traveled across the country toxd barber shops and beauty salons and diss could have had that for black women, hair is aboutçó much mor than jt style. >> i struggled with, you know, i want to take my wig off and know how am içó going to be received? am i going to be taken seriously? >> some people even said, well, i definitelyñi wouldn't go withy braids because i don't want to be considered tooñi ethnic. >> i remember feeling likexd i d

badçó hair because i went to school withñr mainly white girl me feel like i was the onlyñi black rl simply because i was like a mystery to them. áaqñ hair show inçó atlanta to hair sacrifice in india, rock proves the hair business is big business. what do we have here? >> i can't really tell you that. i would have to kill you.xdñi >> reporter: along the way, shows there are many definitions of beauty. >> if this isxd my natural hair should i alter its natural state to pleaseñr anybody else? >> look at . none of us look alike, but we are all united by the same spirit.xdñr >> that was christina brown reporting. a programming note. tonight on nbc nightly news, brian williamsñi sits down with chris rock to talk about the new film. that's nightly news at 7:00 right here on nbc 4. >> coming up on "news 4 at 4" this afternoon, credit or debit? lot of people are opting for

debit cards to lower their debt, but there are some potential pitfalls. >> and the plan to bomb the moon tomorrow on live tv.

americans are payingff their credit cards andñr many a switching from credit credit cards to debit cards. >> which do you use? credit or debit more? >> debit. >> i've been switching back for the points more now. listen, consumers may not be

aware that debit cardsñr may no offer the same protections covered by credit card companies. reporter: the pinch oi the recession has changed the way americans pay for purchases. visa says for the first time in the company's history, debit card transactions now top credit cards. >> about over 70% of the transactions in the visa system are actually done on visa debit cards as opposed to credit. over half now of the dollars that are snt on visa cards are actually visa debit cards as well. >> reporter: it is a shift from a charge it to a pay as you go mentality, along with the convenience of not having to carry cash.ñi but i don't like running up the credit card anymore. >> reporter: but experts say many consumers do not know there are huge differences in protection for debit cards versus credit cards. credit card companies are bound by the fairñi credit law. >> for example, if it'sxdññi lo

stolen, someone uses the wrong way, you have to settle a dispute, the law's on your side. with a debit card, you're not backed by any laws, just >> reporter: policies banks set, not the company emblem like mastercard or visa on the card. visa says it works with banks to offer the samñ dispute protections to consumers. but banks have come under fire for the soaring overdraft fees that apply to debitxd transactions, as high as $39 per overdraft. recently, some banks adjusted that policy, allowing customers to opt o of overdraft protection. >> so make sure that you opt out. if you don't opt out, sign up for text or e-mail alerts that come to your phone or e-mail that say your account has dropped to a certain amount so you don't overdraw it, you don't use your debitxd card. comes to big purchases like electronics or holiday gifts, use a credit card and budget to pay the bill off within a month. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york.

>> a proposed bill in congress would require banks to give customers the option of having overdraft protection and getting an alert of any pending overdraft. so they have a chance to, to change their minds and change their card. >> coming right up on "news 4 at 4," the most annoying word in the english language. what is it? take a guess. >> plus, more badñi news for frequent fliers. airlines' on-time records are going from bad to worse. >> no, this isn't a pony. the family pet that looks more likeñi livestock than man's bes friend. wow.

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if you own an iphone yo ll soon be able to use internet services like skype to make calls from your phone. at&t, the exclusive wireless provider for the iphone, says it will now allow iphone owners to use web-calling services on at&t's network. previously, the phone giant only allowed internet calling through wi-fi connections. at&t changed its policy after the fcc began investigating competition and exclusivity deals among wireless service providers. new study out today finds that airline delays are twice as common as they were 20 years ago. and are only expected to get worse. researchers at washington's brookings institute found that 10% of all flights now arrive at least two hours late.

that's up from just 4% back in 1990. also, the average delay isxd nearly an hour long, up from 41 minutes. k also found that new york's metro region was the worst for late flights. airlines have cutlights during the recession so problems could really takexd off as the econom improves. >> but we do expect that once the economy recovers, that air travel will pick back up again and congestioning will return to where it was before, if not worse. >> researchers say much of the problem is due to heavy concentrations of short trips between big cities and an outdated air traffic control system. pat? >> get an update now on our weather.ñ. cf1 o bob ryanñi isxd live pzuár"e wh the leaves are blowing. >> no, he's not. >> no leaves blowing?khr(t&háhp% >> not up here. >> how come my driveway's all dirty? >> well, the winds that we had yesterday outside right now, we've had a beautiful, sunny day. you can see the next area of storminess continuing as so many

storms have moved more to our west. a lot of rain. boy, at the same time, we over the last few months have been rather dry. it's been wet with more flooding of the country. here's the average dates.çó this is about where we are right early to mid-october, some wonderful color in the high elevations of west virginia. spots like the catskills, adirondacks, up massachusetts and the green and white mountains, really some beautiful color for the columbus day ñi weekend. so folks who are heading up there, especially on sunday and monday, i think we're going to be seeing some great weather. overnight tonight, temperatures will be dipping into the high 50s, that's all. tomorrow we'll see our high temperature around 80 degrees. 70s in the mountains. that's where there will be some more cloudiness but i don't think we'll be seeing any showers. a little weak weather frontxd m be seeing some light showers on saturday. after that, partly sunny skies as we head into sunday and monday. a little on the chilly side. back to you. >> all right, bob. so i'm in a time warp then, right?çó

thanks. up next, the most annoying word in america. >> it is what it is. plus, destruck ngs the name of science. tom costello details the ground-breaking lunar experiment set for tomorrow. >> andxd setting limits. the generous caps put on how much drinking goes on at sporting events.

here are some of the top stories on the web today. >> his name is boomer. a 3-year-old newfound land is all the rage online because of his sheer size. take a look. this dog is 7 feet from nose to tail and stands 3 feet tall at the shoulders. he weighs a whopping 180 pounds. as you can see, he has no problem drinking from the kitchen faucet. he lives with a family inned inned in. they s boor is so tall when he wags his tail, everything around him gets knocked around. they're sending his measurements to begin ts to see if he's the world'sallest dog. >> he has markings of a cow there. i could be fooled easily. hey, racing fans are known to enjoy a good tailgate and new restrictions now on drinking at one australian track shouldn't slow them down one bit. authorities posed a cap on the number of beers a fan can drink to one case per day. that's 24 beers, folks.

about 500 officers were on duty today to enforce that cutoff point. there's no word why the officers chose two dozen as a reasonable number of beers. do you know what word or phrase americans find most annoying when used in conversation? it is "whatever." 47% of people surveyed chose that word. it easily beat out the phrase "you know." other annoying contenders were "anyway. it is what it is. this is my least favorite. "at the end of the day." then there's also "whatever." >> nasa is calling it the most exciting mission to the moon in near nearly four decades. tomorrow, nasa will be dive-bombing the lunar surface live on tv. tom costello explains why. >> one small step for man. >> reporter: you'd think that0 years after astronauts first landed there scientists would have the moon pretty well

figured out, but in fact, it's surprising how little we know. so tomorrow morning nasa will come calling once again. >> we are going to whack the moon if a controld experiment to try to really understand what's in the lunar soil. could it contain some of the mo important stuff for human exploration and for science? >> reporter: that stuff is water. nasa's el cross mission follows a unmanned rocket, followed by a satellite, beaming images back to earth. at 7:30 a.m. eastern time, travelinat twice the speed of a bullet, the rocket will slam into a crater on the lunar south pole, sending up a plume of dust, rocks and hopefully ice. four minutes later, the satellite will fly through the plume, collecting data and sending it back to earth before it, too, crashes into the moon. so why didn't nasa do this during the apollo missions in the '60s and '70s? >> we were trying to understand the origins of the moon and, by

extension, the origins of the solar system, but we never thought we were going to find anything like water on the moon at that point in time. >> reporter: only recently did an orbiting probe detect the first signs of ice on the moon, critical since ice can make future permanent moon bases entirely feasible. nbc's jay bar bar ee is at the kennedy space center. >> it would give them oxygen to breathe and hydrogen fuel for their space ships. >> reporter: since the apollo astronauts brought back 900 pounds of moon rocks, technology has made lunar leaps. now nasa is banking on it to unral even more of the moon's 5 billion years of mystery. >> that was nbc's tom costello reporting. again, the rocket mission is set for 7:30 tomorrow morning. nasa is hoping for some spectacular live tv images. that's "news 4 at 4."

news 4 at 5 starts right now. tonight on news 4 at 5, a local legend lost. the man who brought ben's chili bowl to d.c. has died. >> murder for hire. a major break today in a cold case. >> and swine flu confusion. we're going to cut straight to the facts. good afternoon. i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm jim handly. our top story tonight, a live look now at freedom plaza in the district where students and teachers are gathering to protest big layoffs announced last week. citing the budget, d.c. school officials laid off nearly 400 employees, including more than 200 teachers last friday. students protested, saying cuts at the beginning of the school year are a disruption to their learning. news 4's tom sherwood joins us live from freedom plaza with the latest on this. big crowd throughout, tom? >> reporter: gentlemyes, jim, t rally for respect is just