my child barely weighed 100 pounds, shot in her temple with an ak-47. >> a mother's grief. her daughter, one of four teenagers, killed in tuesday's mass shooting in the district. deadline day. if you haven't mailed back your 2010 census form, you better get it in right away. and new signs the zoo's female giant panda may be pregnant. "news 4 midday" begins right now. good morning, everyone, and welcome to "news 4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. it's the first day of april,

2010. in the news at this hour, investigators are still piecing together evidence that led to one of the worst shootings in d.c. history. nine people were hit by bullets in a drive-by shooting in southeast washington on tuesday night. four of them died, all teenagers. now police say they were all gathered outside after the funeral of another murder victim. right now, police have three suspects in custody. one man is suspected in both tuesday night's murders and the murder of the man whose funeral was held last night. one other suspect is still believed to be at large. it's yet another tragedy in the district, another act of violence in a deadly cycle that is claiming the lives of the young. tracee wilkins joins us live from southeast washington where the pain is still very fresh. good morning, tasey. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. absolutely. because of the number of people who were shot and killed on that corner, it's almost as if everyone in this community has some kind of connection to someone who was killed on this corner the other night. take a look here. you can see that they have a memorial set up here, a vigil

held just last night. people have been coming by this morning as well, signing cards, leaving mementos. this is a place that has now been set up in honor of the nine people who were shot and the four who were killed. 18-year-old devon's mother heard the shot that killed her son tuesday night. >> i was right there on the scene where my son was laying. >> she lost her 16-year-old daughter rochelle jones to the gunfire. she's confused and frustrated. >> my child barely weighed 100 pounds, shot in her temple with an ak-47. throat, neck wide open, bullets all in her body. it's senseless. >> reporter: one of the shooting viims who survived also was at the vigil last night, a 14-year-old who says he was sitting on the corner with his friends remembering their friends whose funeral they had just attended. 20-year-old jordan howe killed a week earlier. one of the suspects in his

shooting was taken into custody in connection with tuesday's shooting. but he was released when prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence to hold him. last night, during the vigil, d.c. police chief patrick lanier addressed the issue. >> we don't always agree with the u.s. attorney's office. sometimes we have a difference of opinion, and my goal is to stop more people from being injured, and when we submit an arrest warrant, the district attorney's office has to make a decision. do we always agree? no. >> reporter: jordan howe's dad came to the scene of the mass shooting last night and said the kids aren't the oy ones at fault, but also local politicians who aren't connected to the communities they represent, including his councilman, who showed up during our interview. >> i'm not shaking your hand. i'm not shaking your hand. >> i understand. >> i'm not shaking -- you are definitely that. >> reporter: during a vigil turned press conference last night, many other residents agreed as some booed local leaders. >> boo! >> reporter: there are a lot of

emotions running high last night, and that's what the mayor said this morning on connecting. he said after the vigil he and others met with some of the folks who were in this crowd and from what i understand they're having a second meeting this morning according to a community activist, telling me they're working to sort out options for things like jobs and other options for these teenagers and to try to deal with some of the social ills in this community. i'm tracee wilkins live this morning in southeast. barbara, back to you in the studio. >> thanks, tracee. stay with news 4 throughout the day for continuing coverage of this mass shooting. you can check out our website, too, nbcwashington.com, for the latest information. take a look outside. the mayor presented his 2011 budget to the city council this morning. they face a $555 million budget gap and that means there could be major cuts on the horizon. news 4's megan mcgrath has more

on that. >> we will work hard with each and every one of you to try and adjust the budget. >> reporter: mayor adrian fenty briefed the council on the budget this morning. there are deep cuts, hundreds of millions worth, and there will be layoffs. speaking on news 4 this morning, he said hundreds of government workers will be affected. >> there are some things that will be cut within the budget. they absolutely have to be. there probably will be in excess of 500 to 600 positions that will be eliminated in the government. that's just the types of tough decisions you have to make, not just in an economy but when you're running a government the size of the d.c. government and that's what i was elected to do. >> reporter: under the budget, local spending will go down 2.8%, and some social programs will be scaled back. district workers may also see pay freezes. but fenty says the district will continue to provide quality services to its citizens. >> all right.

>> yeah. >> reporter: this morning's budget befing was the first time mayor fenty and council chair vincent gray have been in the same room together since gray announced he would challenge fenty in november. the encounter was very cordial. today, april 1st, was the deadline for the mayor to submit his budget. he will testify before the council on april the 12th. in the district, megan mcgrath, news 4. despite a huge budget shortfall, the mayor says his 2011 budget is balanced. now we'll take a look outside at this beautiful day we have, still on the chilly side, though, 63 degrees. we're waiting for a warm afternoon. let's ask chuck bell if we're going to get it. good morning. >> chilly, barbara. you think it feels chilly outside? come on. >> from what you tell me it's going to be later today, it is on the chilly side. fair enough, but 63 currently, already one degree above an average high temperature for this time of t year, and temperatures are going to be way above average by later on this afternoon. here's a live look down by the tidal basin.

look at the lucky few folks that got some of the paddleboats today. they could probably charge you double on a day like today with those cherry trees out there. it will be a spectacular day to enjoy the weather. temperatures continuing to climb. 59 at reagan national, 63 in northwest washington, 64 degrees down the road in richmond. elkins, west virginia, up to 48 degrees at this point in time. satellite picture over the last couple hours just some mid and high level clouds drifting overhead, but otherwise warm breezes are going to be coming in from the west and the northwest this afternoon, so temperatures will continue to soar. plenty of sunshine, delightful today, a little bit cooler for you folks that live right up alongside the chesapeake bay from annapolisouthbound to st. mary's city and back around places like port tobacco, just a little cooler right up alongside the water, barbara. but wait till you see the seven-day forecast. a guaranteed warm-up that will make you think we've gone straight from easter to memorial day. >> i like it. okay. thanks a lot. >> all right.

>> let's check in with jerry to see if there are any problems on the roadways this midday. jerry? hi, barbara. lots of roadwork and lots of significant delays. it is a parking lot. left side of your screen, 95 southbound, delays begin in springfield and it is jammed most of the way down to woodbridge, construction taking away the right side of the roadway combined with more than a few folks sneaking out for a long holiday weekend. northbound, though, in pretty good shape, southbound taking a hard hit. route 1 southbound might be a better bet at this hour. see how we're doing elsewhere. 270, despite the roadwork, left lane below montgomery village moving nicely. northbound to frederick moves along fine. we'll keep you updated. thanks, jerry. today is deadline day for the 2010 census. about 134 million questionnaires were mailed or hand-delivered nationwide just a few weeks ago. you you probably have yours. so far only 50% of households have returned their census forms. news 4's elaine reyes joins us

with more on that. good morning. good morning, barbara. as we speak, census director robert groves is leading a rally at freedom plaza downtown to encourage people to fill it out. earlier this morning he paid a visit to ben's chili bowl on u street to answer questions about it. every ten years the federal government tries to get an accurate count of just how many people are in the united states. those who don't return their census by today will receive a second questionnaire. if that doesn't get mailed back, uncounted families will get a visit from an enumerator. they're federal employees who go door to door trying to get an accurate count. so far states in the central and upper midwest like nebraska and south dakota are leading the way in returning the forms. but response rates in the southeast and parts of alaska are well below the national average. >> about 73% of the households last decade filled out the form and mailed it back. we think we can do better this

decade because we've made it a simplyprocess. >> the white house released this photo of president obama filling out his census form. he answered questions about the first lady and daughters sasha and malia, then dropped it off in the mail yesterday. barbara, back to you. of course we want to mention that one of america's fastest-growing population is making a big push. 86% of latinos had either turned in their census or planned to and of course this is all considered vital because the information is used to determine congressional representation a the distribution of billions in federal funding among other things. >> all right, elaine. thank you very much for that report. hopefully folks will get their census forms mailed today. >> i did mine yesterday. >> did you? got to do mine today. thank you. new at midday, could another baby panda be on the way? the nationaloo is waiting to see if may shan is pregnant.

she could have a false pregnancy, common in giant pandas. it could be another month and a halfefore they know for sure. she and her mate are on loan from china through the end of this year only. their only cub was sent to china earlier this year. our time 11:11. it's holy thursday at the vatican. coming up, how the pope is dealing with accusations he played a role in covering up sex abuse scandals while continuing traditional easter services today. plus, more miles on less fuel. the obama administration's laying out tough new gas mileage standards. we'll have details of that. and what's behind the feud between, will, will cool j and sarah are you making it easier for bacteria

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it looks like the army doctor accused of opening fire at ft. hood is going from the hospital to jail. a lawyer for major nidal hasan says doctors at brook army medical center in san antonio gave him a discharge physical last night. there's no official word on whether hasan is being moved, however. he's charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. he was shot by civilian police, leaving him paralyzed. pope benedict xvi held his weekly address in st. peter's square, and once again he made no direct mention of the clergy sex abuse scandal. three men who filed a lawsuit in kentucky are trying to force the pope to answer questions under

oath about priests who molested children in kentucky. the associated press reports that vatican lawyers argue that the pope has immunity as head of state. meanwhile, the ap has obtained a letter that indicates the vatican was aware of clergy abuse in the united states nearly 50 years ago. the letter is dated 1963 and is addressed to then pope, pope paul vi. it recommends removing pedophile priests from active ministries. today the oma administration is announcing new rules requiring carmakers to build more fuel-efficient vehicles will become final. the president says it will save oil, clean air, and make driving cheaper. nbc's brooke hart has details. >> reporter: the new rules will be phased in by 2016, requiring cars and trucks on america's roads to get 35 1/2 miles a gallon. that's a nearly 50% increase. president obama looked at today's announcement. >> those new standards will be finalized, which will reduce our dependence on oil while helping folks spend a little less at the

pump. my administration is upholding its end of the deal. >> reporter: the deal would put carmakers on board with rules they can count on. >> there is going to be one clear national roadmap that's going to apply to all 50 states. >> reporter: environmentalists stunned by the president's drilling news are cheering this. >> i think we'll see probably 20% less green house gas emissions from vehicles. >> reporter: vehicles like nissan's electric leaf, gm's super efficient volt, ford's direct-injection turbo-charged technology all in the pipeline and set to save oil. the president says almost 2 million barrels. >> that's like taking 68 million cars off the road for an entire year. >> reporter: it will save drivers in gas money but cost them an extra thousand or so when they buy a car. >> we're asking consumers to step up with us and buy some of these fuel-efficient technologies. it'll save them money ultimately and it'll help reduce our

dependence on foreign oil. >> reporter: from government and industry, a coordinated pitch. as for gas savings, the government estimates these new mileage rules will save drivers about $3,000 over the life of the car. in washington, brooke hart, nbc news. the first lady is enjoying our spring weather here in washington and getting her hands a little dirty while doing it. local students helped mrs. obama plant vegetables in the white house garden yesterday afternn. they added bock choi, white cauliflower and artichokes. the students will come back and tend the garden as the vegetables grow throughout the spring. it's part of the first lady's effort to promote healthy eating habits. let's find out if she's going to have a good day to go out in her garden today. chuck bell, sunny now. >> barbara, as a good mom i know you've always encouraged your kids to eat vegetables. >> and myself, as well. everybody. >> here was one of the tricks because i didn't like cauliflower but i didn't mind

broccoli so much. my mom told me cauliflower was white broccoli. >> and you believed it, right? >> i was 6 years old. you tell your mom she's a liar when you're 6 and that's trouble. >> moms have a lot of ways to get kids to eat vegetaes. little trees is what our broccoli was called. >> anything to get them down the kids, right? >> absolutely. outside, great day for planting or i guess it's a little too early in the season for harvesting, but a good day for plantingnd sitting outside and saying, oh, man, what a great way to say hello april, out there. no april fools in this forecast. 62 degrees at national airport right now, the dew point 44 so the air is still relatively dry. a very light breeze out of the south at only 4 miles per hour. and i put this factoid in here, our warmest record on record. april of 1981, our average for the month was 62.1. the seven-day forecast, if you add it up, our highs and lows and average the first seven days of april, we'll be at 65 degrees

for an average high temperature for the first seven days of this month. that would put us in first place, probably the warmest first week of april on record coming up. 62 downtown, 57 degrees right now at andrews air force base in prince george's county. 54 in annapolis. you folks right alongside the bay and the tidal potomac today may have to struggle a little bit to get into the upper 60s to near 70. once you get away from the water out across the virginia piedmont, suburban maryland, frederick and hagerstown, everybody should be well up into the 70s by later on this afternoon. temperatures up and down the eastern seaboard still a little cooler up to the north. caribou, 42, boston, 52, but raleigh, north carolina, already at 71 degrees. satellite review here, over the last 12 hours we had a generally clear night last night, and now just a few midlevel clouds drifting on by. these are on the front end of a large ridge of high pressure coming our way. the warm air is definitely moving in. center of this high pressure is down to our south and west for

now, so as a result this air mass is going to start to push warmer and warmer air into the area, and we have a wonderful trend of increasing temperatures coming our way. here's a look at our futurecast model over the next 48 hours. here's that big center of high pressure sitting over knoxville, tennessee, and over the next 48 hours it's going to migrate toward the north carolina coastline and toward the virginia cape. as it heads out for the western coast of the atlantic, we are going to be in that broad southwesterly wind flow allowing temperatures to really start to climb around here. temperatures could be 15 to 20 degrees above average as we head towards friday and especially saturday. i think saturday will be the warmest day of the week. this next weather system out here bringing rain showers to places like st. louis and chicago during the day on saturday. most of that energy and moisture will be staying well to our north. i think the only impact for us will be a little increase in clouds and a slight drop in the temperatures by sunday/monday time frame. for today, all that sunshine, we'll make it up into the upper 70s today. look at this extended forecast here.

highs tomorrow 80s up and down the eastern seaboard. as we get into saturday, mid-80s for a lot of spots here in and around town. yourhuday forecast, sunny, dligtsfully mild, again, a little bit of a bay breeze will keep temperatures a little lower right up alongside the chesapeake, but for tomorrow more of a southwesterly wind flow means an offshore wind and as a result high temperatures even warmer around here for the next couple of days. barbara, our average high temperature this time of the year only 62, so 83 on saturday. there's some extra clouds on nday with a high of 77. our next even chance of a rain drop shows up on wednesday of next week. but again, all those highs in the 70s. we will have probably, like i said, the warmest first week of april on record here in washington. >> those vegetables coming up early. >> spring forth. >> what did your mom call brussel sprouts? >> she didn't even try to get me to eat those. even she didn't like brussels sprouts a kid so i got the waiver. >> we'll talk to you later about the weather. >> all right. let's check on the traffic with jerry. good morning again. >> hey, barbara.

let's head out and take a look. it is an ugly midday under way for folks trying to head south to i-95 down toward newington and lorton. this construction taking away the right lane, 95 southbound in newington, you'll get it back only to lose the right lane approaching the lorton interchange. as a result, it is bumper to bumper leaving the capital beltway heading to points uth. vdot is in the process of changing over the hov lanes to the configuration. they have not done it yet and as a result that's not going to be much o a relief for you. route 1 is your best bet as an alternate. down along the mall, a lot of folks out and about. we're moving along pretty well. most of the roads along the tidal basin seem to be moving along pretty well. watch out for pedestrians if you plan on heading down there. back to you. >> all right, jerry. thank you. at least one university of maryland basketball player will be making the the journey to the final four this week. eric hayes, a senior on the team, will be competing in the college slam dunk and three-point championships.

haynes takes part in the three-point competition because he's so good at it. the senior ranks fourth of all time in three-point accuracy, three-pointers made at maryland. he is the biggest ever. the competition is tonight at 9:00 p.m. and still ahead on midmy, some popular brand names are involved in april fools' day pranks we'll tell you about them. and hidden dangers for your pets. even sugarless gum could put your four-legged friend at risk. and take time to smell the flowers. get ready for spring. here's what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

actor and rapper ll cool j says his participation in a new fox tv series hosted by sarah palin is bogus. ll cool j tweeted that the network is misrepresenting him by a planned rerun of a two-year-old interview for palin's fox show called "real american stories." in response, fox has dropped the rapper segment from the special. fox says they believed his interview shared the criteria of uplifting stories and wished him the best. country singer toby keith says he was also surprised by his announced appearance on that special. some popular brand names are kidding around for april fools' day today.

google is called topeka today. the city of topeka has been wanting to change its name to google so googlehanged its name in honor of that gesture. starbucks is also having a little fun today. the coffee giant announced there will be two new drink sizes. plenta, 128 ounces and micra, only two ounces. customers can recycled their used plenta cups as a rain hat or lamp shade and their micra as a milk dish for kittens. no word on whether you can actually order those today at starbucks. it's 11:27. in the next half hour of "news 4 midday" -- >> boo! >> a community's painurns to outrage after four young lives are taken in an instant. what the mayor said this morning about being booed. plus a school superintendent is defending his administration's handling of bullying. the prosecutors say contributed

to a 15-year-old girl's suicide. and back on the job. an update on the local ems workers who mistakenly pronounced a patient dead. and an update on how warm we can expect it to be this weekend.

right now on "news 4 midday," a community is outraged after four teenagers are killed in a drive-by shooting. last night when the mayor and police arrived near the crime scene in southeast, they were booed. this morning on news 4 today,

the mayor said he understood the outrage of the community but was thankful by how quickly police acted in the case. three people have been arrested, including a 14-year-old. today is the deadline for the 2010 census, and right now census director robert groves is leading a rally at freedom plaza downtown to encourage people to fill out that census form. about 134 million questionnaires were mailed or hand-delivered nationwide a few weeks ago. so far only 50% of households that got them have returned those forms. and the national zoo is on panda watch this morning. her hormone levels are rising. that could mean she's pregnant, but it could also be a false pregnancy. it could take a month and a half before the zoo finds out for sure. in rhode island, the floodwaters are starting to recede, but the worst flooding there in more than a century could persist for several days. interstate 95 remains closed in rhode island because of the flooding. officials are warning drivers to prepare for longer commutes and

detours. they also fear a 200. foot bridge in rhode island may collapse which would damage homes downstream. residents are doing the best they can to survive weeks after major flooding, the water back even higher. >> can't change nay chushgs and we've just got to adapt and do what we have to do to get the job done. >> knocked on the door, gave me an hour, so i just grabbed the birds and left the house as quick as possible. >> down like five feet, and i left and came back and there was, like, a big bomb went off. >> homeland security secretary janet napolitano plans to travel to that state tomorro to assess the damage. and it couldn't be more beautiful in our area. let's take a look outside and see how gorgeous. we'll get outside for the beautiful weather and everybody will get a chance to enjoy some perfect almost too warm by some standards in early april. what a great day it is indeed. temperatures have continued to

climb. earlier this morning we started out with a temperature right at 46 degrees in downtown washington. look live there on the cherry trees all around the tidal basin there. the unofficial count 3,750. although i lost count about halfway around the circle and had to start over. on our graphics, 46 was our start early this morning. 30 degrees in elkins, west virginia, 39 in salisbury, maryland, current temperatures, though, warming up quickly, already in the low and mid-60s around town and even the 70s in our south and west. high pressure in charge, a light west to southwesterly wind flow taking over. as a result, temperatures will continue to soar if the rest of today and a nice little warming trend for easter weekend, as well. sunshine today, delightfully mild. highs today in the upper 60s right up alongside the bay but upper 70s away from the water. into the 80s we will go. our first 80-degree day will probably be tomorrow. first time since last october we have been that warm and we're going to appreciate it, aren't

we? >> 3,960 -- did you just make that up? >> i know they -- originally they planted 3,020, but we've had more since then. the official cou is 3,750. >> all right. okay. >> isle do another count. >> all right. we were thinking you were running around counting them. >> not running. but i counted. >> thank you, chuck. this spring weather is perfect for taking in the cherry blossom trees in full bloom. the trees peaked yesterday, a day earlier than predicted, but there are still plenty of those trees to see out there right now, a lot. the national park service's chief horticulturist says the trees will have 70% of their blossoms out through sunday. highlights this weekend include for the festival the fireworks show on the southwest waterfront. and we'll get a final check of our midday traffic with jerry. >> i wish i had better news for folks planning on heading out, but it is very tough for you midday. right side of your screen, 95

southbound from the capital beltway. it is jammed to the first work zone in newington where you lose the right lane. everybody gets the lanes back and then the right lane is closed again as you approach lorton. very aggravating for folks. the hov lanes are still not configured for southbound flow so, that's not going to offer any relief. route 1 is a much better bet if you're headed south toward the lorton area. let's see how we're doing. there's route 50 on the approach to the bay bridge. left side of your screen is running from sandy point state park, a broken-down vehicle that was cleared and now an accident. heading to the ocean, be warned, already bacd up. >> i know you're heading out to do your run around the cherry blossoms. >> absolutely. >> tidal basin. have a great day. see you in the morning. >> okay. this morning a massachusetts high school superintendent is defending the school's handling of bullying. prosecutors say it contributed to a student's death. 15-year-old phoebe prince committed suicide after suffering months of torment.

now nineteens are charged in connection with her death, and some feel the school administrators should be next. >> and until somebody stands up and admits that there has been failure here, complete failure, we have nowhere to go. >> reporter: outrage is growing in this small massachusetts town. did school administrators ignore repeated complaints of bullying? 15-year-old phoebe prince couldn't take it anymore and killed herself. she was allegedly bullied in the hallways of south hadley high school for months, physically and emotionally. >> what were the bullies doing to her in school? >> called her name, followed her home. smart remarks, dirty looks. >> what would they call her? >> a slut, irish whore. >> reporter: the suspects, nine of her own classmates.

they've all been charged but where were the school's administrators? >> prior to phoebe's death her mother spoke with at least two school staff members about the harassment that phoebe had reported to her. >> charges against the kids. there should be charges against those administrators. >> why? >> because they knew what was going on and they didn't take action. they were in charge. >> reporter: while the d.a. says charges against the school officials are unlikely, some parents are demanding action. >> they should resign or step aside. if they don't, we will be asking for their contracts not to be renewed on may 1st. >> reporter: school officials say they only knew about the bullying a week before phoebe's death in january. but this morning we're getting new details about the kind of pain phoebe endured. friends say the bullies threw things at her, knocked books out of her hands, and sent her threatening text messages, not to mention the torment on twitter and facebook. in school, the bullies were dubbed the mean girls, just like the movie. >> so pathetic. >> but prosecutors say this went far beyond the usual high school

antics. in fact, on the day phoebe committed suicide, friends say there was one final episode as she walked home from school. >> a car with a couple kids in it, chucks a drink out the winner, calls her an irish slut, an irish whore, why don't you go kill yourself, and she did. >> reporter: phoebe hanged herself inside her own home. many say she was targeted after dating this boy, a popular football player at school. now the football player is charged with statutory rape along with another boy and a so-called mean girls are charged with harassment and violating phoebe's civil rights. >> even though she had such pain, she would always tell people to keep their chin high and just keep on walking if they ever had problems. >> reporter: nbc news. >> last night the school superintendent spoke to our sister station in massachusetts. he said the school only knew about the bullying a week before

prince's death and it did take appropriate action at that time, he said. two prince george's county paramedics involved in a mistaken death case will return to work today. the ems workers were assigned to limited contact duty last friday. that's when they were called to a home in glenard on the check on a resident. the paramedics said he was dead. but more than an hour later, a forensics team found he was still alive. that man died in the hospital, though, the next day. the prince george's county medical director is allowing the ems workers to return to duty, but their actions are still being reviewed. a familiar face in prince george's county law enforcement is now entering the race for prince george's county executive. mike jackson has been the sheriff of prince george's county for the last eight years. now he's running for the office being vacated by jack dodson. jackson was surrounded by friends and supporters yesterday as he made his announcement at his alma mater, crossland high school. jackson is a democrat. he'll run against a number of

candidates including former delegate baker. two rottweiler puppies rescued from a house in the district have new homes this morning. one dog was adopted by a firestation in hyattsville. the other will go to a family in suburban maryland. a third puppy who had her leg amputated after someone wrapped a rubber band around that leg, will also be ready for adoption next week. police found the dogs after responding to a domestic call at a home in d.c. a chocolate bar, a bunch of grapes, a pack of gum. to humans, they're snacks but to pets they are poison. nbc's monica robbins tells us about some things in your cabinet that could be putting your four-legged friends at risk. >> reporter: lisa adores her year-old miniature golden doodle, lucy. >> she is my baby. i got her for my birthday last year, so she's very special to me. >> reporter: as a puppy, lucy got into all sorts of things, shoes and socks, but when she it

a gum, sugarless gum, it almost killed her. lisa found a bit of wrapper and realized lucy it a nearly a whole pack. >> googled, is gum bad for dogs? everything that popped up was toxic. >> reporter: it's designed with an ingredient that can cause a dog's tloifr fail and that's what happened to lucy. >> if i had not noticed that wrapper she would have most likely die. >> reporter: many pet owners often forget a dog's system is different from our own. they can't tolerate foods like gum, chocolate, grapes, or raisins. lisa called animal control, who told her how to induce vomiting, then she rushed lucy to the vet where she spent three days. >> it's in sugar, pudding, lots of different sugarless human foods. >> reporter: lucy bounced back after a $1,400 vet bill, but now lisa warns everyone.

>> everybody seems to know about the chocolate and grapes and raisins and that kind of stuff. not too many people know about gum. >> reporter: monica robbins for nbc news. >> raw potatoes, bread dough and avocados are also toxic to dogs. talk to your vet about any concerns you may have. time is 11:42. still ahead on "news 4 midday," there's no shortage of economic reports due out today. we'll get a check on the marks in a weekly jobless report. take time to smell those roses. we'll get you ready for spring.

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initial claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week. let's check with cnbc's courtney reagan. she joins us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. courtney? good morning, barbara. the second quarter starting off on a positive note, so far the dow up 79 points. as for the first quarter, u.s. markets posted their best performances in more than a decade. it came to an end yesterday. asian and european markets are higher as well. markets slipd yesterday on the disappointing news of the private sector job market, but like you said, barbara, today, initial claims, 439,000 last week, ahead of the monthly jobs report tomorrow though markets

are closed in observance of good friday. the big automakers are reporting their monthly sales today. gm reporting a 37.8 increase for their core brands, so that includes buick, cadillac, chevy and a 15.9% increase that includes their discontinued brands, humer, pontiac, saaband satu saturn. there were hefty incentives toyota used to bring buyers back to show rooms following the embarrassing global recall. only chrysler is forecast to report a sales decline. those numbers trickling in throughout this afternoon. and ceo pay actually fell last year. only the third time that's ppened since 1989. a new report shows pay for top executives at 200 major u.s. companies averaged $6.95 million. that combines salaries, bonuses, long-term incentives and stock options. many companies have slashed ceo bonuses to tie the pay more closely to performance. back to you, rbara. >> okay.

thank you. have a great day. >> thank you. you, too. in today's "wednesday's child," we meet a lovely teenager who has been through a lot in her life. she escaped death in a far-off country, made it to this country, and feels if her luck holds out she'll one day soon have a permanent, loving, adoptive family. >> she came to visit us at news 4 the other day. hi. >> hi. >> i'm barbara. nice to see you. >> thank you. >> you're interested in tv. is that right? >> yes. >> inside the control room, we got a close-up picture of tom kierein read i do do a weathercast. >> one minute. >> we hurried to the storm center. hi. >> hi. welcome. >> this is our meteorologist. and she'd like to watch you do your cut-in. >> good rning. we've had clouds moving in over -- >> she is 14 years old. she came to this country nine years ago as a refugee from sierra leone.

she is now in foster care. >> she's been in foster care for about two years and our goal is to find her an adoptive home. >> she asked to see the news 4 studio, a temporary one -- >> until our new one is built, this is under construction right now. >> and the camera was rolling when she told me a little of her story beginning in war-torn sierra leone where she was lucky to escape the killing. you had quite a traumatic situation as a young child. >> yes. >> do you know what saved your life? >> well, i was brought to a camp. >> she says from there she was able to come to this country, and she says she's working hard in school here. >> my goals. >> and what are your goals? >> to go to college and be a volleyball coach. >> her other goal is to become a lawyer to help kids like herself. >> to help kids to get foster care. >> social worker amy thomas says the goal is to find a permanent

adoptive home for her. >> we're just looking for a loving and nurturi home, really somebody that can give her a stable environment. she really deserves a family. >> adoption is to live with a family, not from place to place, to actually stay with a family and actually do what a family does together, like supporting each other, try to figure out our problems. >> a permanent home would be the perfect end to her story. if you have room in your home and your heart for rimatsu or another child who's waiting, call our special adoption hotline. 1-888-to-adopt-me or logon to our home page at nbcwashington.com.

it's time to check the weekend scene with "the washington post." hey, livania. we're look eight head to spring in washington and april. a lot of sports to take in. is that right? >> absolutely. it stars this weekend. it's a great time to see the d.c. united. they're kicking off their home-opener at rfk stadium this saturday. what they're doing new this season is bringing in washington-area musicians to play at each home game. the first is a big game, it's the d.c. rapper gaining a lot of

buzz lately. >> and baseball coming on monday. >> baseball starts april 5th and of course the cats are attracting a lot of people to the verizon center. >> incredible. i saw my first hockey game, the caps hockey game, the other night. it was packed. >> they're really popular. >> april showers bring may flowers. what's coming up? >> hopefully we won't have any april showers but we'll definitely have mayflowers. the national cathedral always has its flower march on may. may 7th and 8th there will be the flower mark. lots of flowers. you can buy them and take them home and you can also bring your kids. there are lots of activities including performances. there's a vintage carousel that you can ride and admission is always free, which makes it so nice. >> i like to remind people their arrival, landon school, has a march, too, for flowers the exact same weekend. you probably didn't know that. >> i didn't. >> bethesda, same weekend as the

cathedral. >> you can double up. >> absolutely. june, we head inside to a unique show at the kennedy center. tell us about that. >> the kennedy center has been turning into sort of a hollywood on the potomac lately. they've been bringing in lots of big stars. this summer it's lawrence fish burn, the actor, who will be playing thurgood marshall in the play "thurgood." this is a great opportunity. of course thurgood marshall is a local, was a marylander and went to howard. this is great for d.c. on so many levels. this is a show that premiered on broadway a couple years ago and did really well there. we're excited, june 1st through 20th. >> so exciting. mary poppins also coming there. that's june at the kennedy center. a lot to plan for. >> absolutely. good idea to put those things on your calendar now. >> livania ramunassen of "the washington post."

for more ideas for your weekend, logon to the "around town" section of nbcwashington.com or the going out guide on washingtonpost.com. we're working on several new stories this afternoon for news 4 at 4:00 and news 4 at 5:00. what's considered junk lying around your house may not be junk to someone else. you'll have some everyday items around your home that are worth some cash. news 4 tonight at 4:00. then at 5:00, profiting on money know-how. take the liz quiz to see if your mind is financially fit. those stories and all the day's news coming up starting on news 4 at 4:00 p.m. let's get a final check on today's forecast. chuck bell is in the storm center for us now. chuck? thanks, barbara. beautiful weather in store for us and our friends across the northeast, new york, rhode island, massachusetts, finally a little break in the action coming down. providence, rhode island, finished up the month of march

with 16.3 inches of rain. 16.3 inches just in the month of march. i went back and even though you can't really compare our weather to theirs all the time, the wettest month we've ever had here in washington, 17.5 inches of rain. that was in september of 1934. to give you an idea of how incredible that amount of rainfall is especially across parts of new england. outside around here today, just simply beautiful. there's a look from our skywatcher camera, perched high up in our tower in northwest washington. looking down to the south, the potomac river winding away in the distance there. our city camera view has reagan national airport, a nice day to sit outside by the end of the point and watch the planes come and go right over your head. 62 degrees, that's the temperature at national airport. but you get away from the water and temperatures are warming up quickly now. culpepper at 68, manassas, 63, falls church 64 degrees. 65 in bethesda and rockville.

66 in frederick, maryland. even all the way out into the mountains of west virginia. martinsburg, charlestown all into the low 60s at this point in time. it will be a great day to the outside today. plenty of sunshine, delightfully mild. there is a bay breeze coming into effect so folks if you're going to go out towards annapolis and do a little sailing today, a little chillier alongside the bay. tomorrow, those winds are more southwesterly and everybody gets into the warming action. highs tomorrow running 15 to 20 degrees warmer than average for the second day of april. as we go on into the weekend, it's going to stay nice around here. good friday, good indeed. sunshine and 81 degrees. saturday, mostly sunny and 83. even the the easter bunny going to have to watch out, barbara. some of those eggs might start to melt in all that warm weather. >> have to wear sunglasses, huh? >> look cool, though. >> you'll look cool. thanks a lot. there are a lot of 7-year-olds who like to color, but most of them are not ballut

beluga whales. a young whale is the star of ocean world in eastern china. his handlers hold up a piece of paper and he paints with a brush in his mouth. the whale's coach says they gave it a brush to see what would happen and within a week they said he could paint. look at that. visitors can also buy one of the unique paintings as a souvenir to take home. well, that's "news 4 midday" for today. we're glad you've been with us. we iite you to tune into the daily connection at 2:00. then we have news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, and tonight at 11:00. isle be here tomorrow morning at 11:00 for "news 4 midday."