. . a wild 24 hours for amanda knox. she is a few hours from returning home and receiving a warm welcome in seattle. good afternoon. i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm jim handly. more on that in was just bit. we begin with breaking news out of new york city unfolding right now. a commercial private helicopter has crashed into the east river. these are live pictures. >> the pile scott three other people were pulled from the water shortly after it went down. the authorities are searching for one other person but the helicopter is completely submerged. once again, the chopper went down in new york city's east river. it was taking off from a heliport when it crashed. live pictures from the scene at this hour. >> we have seen at least seven rescue boats in the water there. again, the east river around manhattan will continue to bring you updates as they come into news4 here again, live pictures. to amanda knox's homecoming today. she and her family left europe today on a direct flit for

seattle, washington. they are expected to arrive in washington state in just about an hour from now. >> her homecoming comes a day after the dramatic reversal of her murder conviction in italy that freed her from prison there. >> reporter: adman knox, exonerated of murder in a successful appeal in italy, now nearing a return home. in rome, ushered by security by her first flight the transition begins for the now 24-year-old dubbed angel face by italian media. spending nearly 1,000 days behind bars, knox has been shielded by the notoriety of her case, impact expected to be immense. but it is her first step closer to home. her first step on a journey to a new forever changed life. knox planned for this day, today. she also planned for the alternative. a life behind bars. as noted in a journal she kept,

journalist nathanial rich of "rolling stone" interviewed knox's close friend, madison paxton. >> one of the most poignant and disturbing pages from the journal was a list, two lists, side by side, of her life goals and if she were to stay in prison and her goals if she were to be released. >> reporter: london's heathrow airport, helping transport the knox family to one lone british airways flight, a flight knox has dreamed of but for four long years could never count on. knox captured in a single photograph as she leaves for the final leg back to american soil with heavy emotional and financial burdens in tow. >> i don't even look how deep the hole, financial hole, is. i can't. >> reporter: financial pitfalls and emotional scars. they remain. for the knox family, for amanda knox herself, it is one step at a time and that first step here

this evening at the tarmac at seatac. >> meanwhile, prosecutors back italy have announced that they will appeal yesterday's decision to italy's highest court. jury selection got under way in the trial of a man accused of trying to blow up a plane on christmas '09 in his underwear. abulmutallab called the u.s. a cancer. he also claimed that radical islamic cleric al alawki was still alive. he pleaded guilty to eight charges including conspiracy to commit terrorism. he could face life in prison. it is a no-go. new jersey governor chrissisty sa -- chris christie will not run for the nomination of president. outpouring of public and private appeals caused the governor to

reconsider his initial decision not to run. now he says he's thought it over but he doesn't feel the time is right. steve handelsman has the story. >> reporter: chris christie said he decided last night to stick to his decision and not run for president. >> so, new jersey, whether you like it or not you are stuck with me. >> reporter: loyalty to his state the governor said, finishing his first term that mattered most. >> for me, the answer was never anything but no. >> reporter: but republican donors begged christie to reconsider. so he says that he got a green light from his wife and kids and did look into running in iowa and new hampshire. >> listened to so many people. and considered whether this was something that i needed to take on. in the end, pit have always felt was the right decision, remains the right decision today. now is not my time. >> reporter: it is mitt romney's time. the moderate is alone now at the top of the gop field. rick perry suffered a

spectacular fall losing half of his support. kaine, spectacular rise. in today's "washington post"/abc news poll, romney's at 25%. perry and kaicain at 16%. >> herman cain has been a successful businessman. he is a straight talker. >> rick perry is not finished. >> the republican race pauses here. everybody re-evaluates and perry has an opportunity to relaunch. >> reporter: now that chris christie's reconsidered and is out for sure. but not forever. christie did not rule out a race for the white house next time in 2016. i'm steve handelsman, news4, capitol hill. windy conditions suspended the ongoing washington monument inspections for today. engineers were back on the

monument this morning. more damage caused by the august earthquake. it was to blustery for the climbers to continue their work safely. inspections of the east and south walls of the monument were completed today and hope to wrap up the entire monument inspection tomorrow. weather permitting. something everybody saw today we haven't in a while and that's sunshine and lots of blue skies out there. >> how sweet it is. meteorologist doug kammerer is in the storm center with the forecast. let's hear it for the high-pressure system. >> this system will settle on in here and it is going to stay parked over our area for a week. we are going to see some fantastic weather over the next couple of days. and really it is going to get a lot better before it gets worse. 68 degrees out there right now. we are looking at a lot of shine. also and cloud cover. we still have that upper-level low pressure area that's just off to our north and east. we are still seeing some clouds because of that. winds out of the northwest right now about 12 miles per hour. dew point currently at 51

degrees. as we look at the temperatures, 66 degrees currently in leesburg. looking at 68 in culpeper. 70 in fredericksburg and patuxent river. warm spot at 71. as far as the temperatures go this evening, don't expect rain out there but we are going to see those temperatures cool down. you can see on doppler radar we are all dry and we are going to stay that way right on through the weekend and into early next week. you can still see that circulation around the area of low pressure that's just now to the east of new york city. still dropping in cloud cover but we will lose those clouds tonight and we are talking about rather nice evening but it is going to cool off fairly quickly. to about 63 at 7:00. down to 58 degrees by 11:00. don't put away the jacket just yet. you may need it tonight and again tomorrow morning. but then -- again, i will tell you then. what happens later. >> what? >> that's what we have to do. >> thanks, doug. heavy rains overnight caused major flooding in the boston area.

thunderstorms dumped more than five inches of rain in some neighborhoods. that forced a number of schools to close. it also caused several roads and highways to be closed. creating a nightmare for the morning commute. >> a maryland professor has got an awful lot to celebrate today after winning the nobel prize in physics. news4's megan mcgrath talked to the johns hopkins university professor in baltimore where the bubbly was flowing. >> a huge on honor for a professor and researchers at johns hopkins university in baltimore. dr. adam reese has been awarded the nobel prize for physics. he is sharing that honor with two other scientists. >> whoo! >> reporter: this morning he came to the johns cop cousins cam us and greeted by colleagues with a bottle of sham pain and celebrated in his off. dr. reese is being honored for his groundbreaking research into the expansion of the universe. specifically the discovery that

the universe is not expanding at a steady state as previously believed but is actually expanding at an accelerated rate. something that was not expected, unexpected discovery here, with this research. dr. reese received the phone call early this morning and says he was quite surprised. >> the phone rang. it was swedish sounding people. and i knew it wasn't ikea calling. they told me it was -- they were from the nobel prize committee and congratulated me for winning. i would never expect an award like this. >> why is in that? >> discoveries are things you read about, black and white pictures in the back of textbooks. doesn't seem like things that people you know actually make or that they are still available to be made today. i think it is exciting for science. >> has been doing great work a lot of years. this is a well-deserved honor. we are thrilled to have him just down the hall and to be able to work with him.

it is a great honor. >> reporter: dr. reese will be formally awarded his nobel prize at a sawyer moan in stockholm in december. from baltimore, megan mcgrath, news4. >> local woman is moving from the ritz-carlton to the white house. angela reid has been hired as the new chief usher. responsible for overseeing the operations and activities within the executive residence and on the executive residence grounds. she's the first woman to serve in that role and reid has 25 years of hotel and management ex-zpeerns and currently the general manager at the ritz-carlton at pentagon city. congratulations to her. >> sounds like a good gig. an a-list hollywood couple calls it quits. >> fallout the day after espn pulled hank williams jr.'s opening song on monday night football after controversial comments about the president. jason wu designed michelle obama's inaugural gown.

where you can shop and afford his designs. >> madonna is headed for the big game on nbc.

♪ are you ready for some football ♪ for the first time in 20 years, that was missing from the beginning of monday night football last night. espn booted hank williams jr. from singing his famous football anthem because of remarks he made on a morning news show. the country music star was talking politics and he was being critical of the president playing golf with the house majority leader. williams said that's like hitler playing golf with netanyahu. today williams issued a new apology saying, quote, i have always been passionate about politics and sports and this time it got the best or worst of me. i'm very softy if it offended anyone. listen up. you will soon be able to dress like the first lady on a budget. the man behind michelle obama's 2009 inaugural gown is creating

lux for less designs. jason wu for target and online starting in february shoppers can stock up on women's wear and purses. he will join the ranks of zack posen, aaron featherston and other high-end designers creating limited edition lines for the popular store. the new season of "the office" with a very expectant pan and her onscreen husband getting ready for their second child. jenna fisher really was pregnant, very at that. she gave birth september 24 to her first child. boy named westin lee. both said to be doing great. fisher's husband and a screen writing, lee kirk. >> after five months leonardo dicaprio and blake lively called it quits. according to "us" magazine, "us weekly," reps for both parted ways but intend to remain friends. they were spotted together in may during the cannes film festival. i d

she is known for her role on "gossip girls." the split may be a shock to some friends who thought for sure this pair would soon be engaged. imagine a marriage contract with an escape clause. the best way to take an insult if you want to take it and should madonna be the halftime entertainment at this year's super bowl? >> i don't know about that but a lot of people are weighing in. those are the things people are talking about today. death do us part seems like a little too long for some people in one place and they are getting an out clause here. >> in mexico city, then want to make it so that you have an out. almost like your driver's license where you have to renew after a certain period of time. when divorce rates are up 40% 50%, not only in the united states but mexico and specifically mexico city, would you be down for an out in your marriage license? that means after two years, you sit back down at a table and you re-evaluate. should we be married or move on?

>> like your driver's license. >> exactly. but you don't have go to the dmv and wait in a painfully long line. is your out will be -- negotiated? before get married have you in two years if we get divorced, i get the house and this car and custody of the dog. >> pick things out. >> already taken care of to make it's easier and make the split more amicable. >> some commitment. interesting. very little. are yoga pants appropriate for teens to wear to school? folks in ohio say no way. >> there are some schools in ohio that want to ban yoga pants. specifically from high schools. some younger women are wearing yoga pants because they are comfortable. >> they are. >> i love them. they make my butt look great, too. i will show you pictures later on. should young adults be wearing yoga pants to school? they are more revealing than regular pants. what about jeggings? those are up for grabs? also banned from workplaces on

casual fridays. >> there are a lot of schools that should be banned from school. >> we will make you a full list and show thank you pictures of my butt. >> that's what we have to see, that's next tuesday. >> yeah, yeah. >> i will charges you for that one. $2.99 a minute. >> to the science part. we are talking about something -- very interesting here that you guys are talking about this morning. how to take an insult with the best way is actually what lying down? >> laying down. scientists have talked about human brain. your brain actually changes when you are horizontal versus vertical. it deals with your complex of wanting to fight. someone came up to you and insulted your mother, or your cousin or yourself, like the tie which i happen to like a lot, your brain is much less likely to want to make an action towards them, physical action if you are laying down. you your brain is more likely to want to reproduce if you are laying down.

>> you are relaxed. >> if you are going to insult someone, sit down, just relax, for one second. >> take this. >> lay it on you. all right. you are getting a lot of reaction to madonna performing at halftime at the super bowl. >> it was kind of announced. no one is commenting on it. the nfl isn't. madonna is not. we didn't want to kanoodle on the show. are you excited or not? what do you think most people listening in washington, d.c., said? >> if they are football fancy probably would have said no. i don't know. >> 56% of hot 99.5 liesenerlist were excited. >> they were hoping for more hip like black eyed peas. >> hopefully she will do it in yoga pants. >> we will see you in yours. >> you bet you. >> that's a promise. you heard it here.

thank you. coming up next on four four, put away those long sleeves. doug is back with the warmup forecast next. >> more girlfriends and investigators play a role today in conrad murray's trial. >> apple finally unveils its new phone. we will tell you the differences in why there's

have we been waiting for this. >> for how long? a month. >> bring it on. >> i know. everybody has been waiting for this. it does look like we may just see the nicest stretch of nice weather maybe in the last month and a half to two months. how about that? i'm just throwing it out there. out there today, we did see a few clouds out there. we have some of those clouds right now. still as a result of the upper level low. we have seen a lot more sunshine than we have seen over the past couple of weeks. i will tell you what. a nice day. 68 degrees. stillwell below the average high temperature of 73 degrees. still not all that bad. winds out of the northwest at 12 miles an hour. those winds have been gusty upwards of 20 and 25 miles an hour through the day. that's why they had to come off of the washington monument early sxwrer there may be similar

problems tomorrow in regards to the wind. right now 63 in martinsburg. still cool temperatures out there. 64 in gathers sxwurg 61 back towards cumberland, maryland. 70 in charlottesville. patuxent river coming in at 71 degrees. very nice afternoon. only going to get better from here. this is something we have not seen in a long time. a dry doppler radar and actually i don't think we are going to see much on the doppler. really for the next week or so. that's very good news. you can still see that spin in the atmosphere moving off of the coast. here it is here to the south and east of new york city. moving down to the south and east and behind it a few clouds moving on in. as we lose the daytime heating as we lose the sunshine, those clouds will give way to mostly clear skies. we will see a nice night. rather breezy today with the partly cloudy to mostly sunny sky. tomorrow nice and warm air starts to move in as the area of high pressure moves even closer to our area. still breezy tomorrow. i think temperatures will get into the 70s for just about

everybody. on thursday, houwever, high pressure moves to the north and see a wind shift out of the north, too. that will bring out the temperatures back down just a little bit. i still think we will make it to 70 degrees thursday. and i still think that we will see plenty of this guy. plenty of sunshine during the day thursday and that sunshine, think, will last through the day on friday. we will get even warmer on friday and this weekend is just going to be spectacular. great weather moving on in. few clouds this evening. rather breezy. cool but nice. 62 to 65 degrees. northwest winds at 10 to 20 miles per hour. you will still need the jacket this evening. you will definitely need that jacket tomorrow morning. especially if you are getting up and walking out the door early. mostly clear skies tomorrow morning. breezy and cool. 45 and some of the cooler suburbs to 52 in the city. mostly sunny tomorrow afternoon. breezy, nice and warm. 71 to 75. not a bad day out there at all. and it just gets better. 70 on thursday. 72 on friday.

74 saturday. sunday looking great with a high of 77 degrees. i think that we stay dry. that's the first time in a long time all 7 days are dry. how about that? >> i will need to water my mums? >> i don't think -- pat, i think the mum are so wet right now. i think we are good. >> for a year. >> never need watering again. >> no. >> coming up on "news4 at 4:00," a bear causes chaos inside of a home and attacks the entire family. the father talks about how he survived. >> plus it is not the iphone 5. it is the iphone 4s. we will talk to a wash want post reporter to figure out what the new iphone can do.

welcome back at 4:30. i'm jim hand. >> i i'm pat lawson muse. here is what's happening in the news at this hour. >> governor chris christie came out today to put all of the rumors to rest. he says he will not, he will not, run for the republican nomination for the white house. christie says the time is not right. and he's not ready to walk out on the promise he made new

jersey when he was elected just two years ago. inspects of the washington monument were suspended again this afternoon due to high winds. engineers were able to finish their surveys of the east and south walls before it got too windy and plan to finish the entire inspection tomorrow if the weather continues. stocks made a late day rally today after finance ministers announced new plans to help the debt crisis in europe. the dow gained 153 points to close at 10,808. the nasdaq shot up 69 points. for a nearly 3% gain and the s&p finished the day 24 points higher gain 2g.25%. apple today unveiled its newest iphone. but there are mixed renews uh-oh. let's get the details on this. latest model is not an iphone 5 but called iphone 4s. joining us now is "washington post" reporter haley. why is there so much hype surrounding today's big

announcement? >> you know, people love the iphone. i think they were hoping it has been over a year since apple released the last model of the phone and were hoping for a big upgrade. >> what's the big difference between iphone 4 and iphone 4s? >> well, a couple of differences. 4s has a better camera, 8 mega-pixel and very fast camera. it also has a faster chip processor in it. and it has this voice integration and navigation feature. you can ask your phone to send a text message for you and ask it for directions and will speak back to you. >> that's what -- this is the thing i think is so cool. does it speak back in your voice? it chooses the words back immediately? you don't have to wait? >> well, you know, you can say can you give me directions to, you know, the washington monument and it should be able to tell you directions back to the washington monument. >> it is like a friend. company, too. you have a passenger seat. when can people start ordering

and pre-order thing new phone? >> they can start pre-ordering the phone on october 7 and it will go on sale october 14. >> can we get back to speed for a moment? you mentioned it is faster. it has a better camera and better processor. when you talk about fast are we talking 5g speed? >> no. lit not run on 4g network. it will, you know, not on lt or on ymax. just 3g speeds. >> people should know, i mean, if you have verizon or sprint you can -- you can get it. it is not -- at&t. it is everybody, is that right? >> it is verizon, at&t and sprint, yes. >> aside from the voice activation, are there any other cool features? >> well, i mean, it will run on both gsm and cd networks which means lit pretty much on any network in the world. one phone. that's cool. >> haley, thanks so much. we have a sneak peek of what's

happening next. i'm still like three, four phone behind. >> every generation is better than the last. >> great talking to you. a dutch contractor is close to implementing an ambitious project. he is creating a full-sized replica of noah's arc. johan has been build thing massive wooden vessel on the banks of a small river in the netherlands the past three years now. it is 4450 feet long and three stories high. it is almost the same size of the ark described in the bible. when it is finished huber plans to make eight floating tourist attraction complete with animal replicas as well as a conference center. he's also negotiating with london officials to bring the ark there for the olympic games coming up next summer. who says new york is the singles capital of the nation? according to the census bureau,

d.c. actually takes the singles cake. 60% of d.c. men and more 507b% of d.c. women have never put a ring on it. joining us now is aaron morissey. he's one of the 20, 20 people worth following in our community. first of all, are you surprised by these stats? >> no, i'm not. i think that the trend right now is to really take your time and there's a lot of people in the district that are very career focused. and are very professionally centered. so shall getting married for a lot of people isn't the best option. >> the statistics themselves, do they theoretically mean d.c. should be the best place to pick up a date or mate if you are interested? >> well, you know, i think drawing a correlation between those two may be dangerous. but definitely there is a larger single population here based on

the percentages at least. so there's definitely more opportunities out there than, say, there was in previous years. >> all right. aaron morissey. thank you so much forgiving us your perspective on that. you can join in the discussion, follow us nbc washington on twitter. if you would like to see and hear more voices leading the local conversations, go to nbcwashington.com/the20. we have breaking news right now. a travel alert for drivers. pedestrian was hit and killed on the busy 395 at glebe road section. three lanes have the highway are currently closed. if you have to go that way you may want to find another route home. stay right there. we have a whole lot more to come on "news4 at 4:00" this afternoon. not one but three of dr. conrad murray's mistresses are called to the stand today. the new developments in the trial still to come.

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why did you buy my husband a falcon? thanks for the falcon. i didn't buy anyone a falcon. sure, you did. you saved us a lot of money on auto insurance. i used that money to buy a falcon. ergo, you bought me a falcon. i should've got a falcon. most people who switch to state farm save on average about $480. what they do with it, well, that's their business. oh, that explains a lot, actually. [ chuckles ] [ male announcer ] another reason people switch to state farm. aw, i could've gotten a falcon. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. [ falcon screeches ]

don't miss out on the fandemonium. all you have to do is like nbcwashington.com with a chance to win. congratulations to christina. she won a $100 gift card. >> good for her. today we have another great prize. you can win a milk color e-reader from barnes & noble. we will choose our winner during the 6:00 p.m. newscast tonight and announce the winner tonight at 11:00 on news4. time to check out the daily meal for the day. first up, groupon. if you are looking for a manny pedi there is a deal for you. revo nails and spa in mt. pleasant.

$32 for shellac, manicure and pedicure. so for 600 people have bought into the deal. >> one day and seven hours and 20 minutes and five seconds to go. let's go to the living social deal of the day. one of the deals in d.c. visit president lincoln's cottage. two adults can go for $12 and children $5. they get a guided tour of president lincoln's cottage. more than 1300 people bought this deal and you still have a day to get in on that. that's pretty. >> real good. >> the iphone we were telling everybody about, the price on it starts at $199 up to $399. there you have it. not as much of a deal. i don't think they are going to be hurting for customers. >> i don't think so. when "news4 at 4:00" continues, day six of the trial of michael jackson's doctor includes a former mistress taking the stand. >> tsa gives frequent fliers an

extra perk getting through security. >> tune in to nbc washington, "nonstop foodies." little caramels with a big fan base. a tradition and art. >> later on, a new app for your smartphone that helps you stay connected to your favorite restaurants. it is all tonight. [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same...

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your phone is broken? >> no. the twitter. the twitter. >> the one he has been brag being. >> yeah, my phone is awesome. jim is like show me how to twitter on it. >> pictures are incredible. >> i guess we should talk about the weather. >> you can take pictures with that zblood that app is working on my phone. right now it tells me it is sunny. look at that. see, it is right. plenty of shine. cloud cover, too, as a result of the upper level low. pesky upper level low that has not wanted to leave us alone is now providing at least some cloud cover but still sunshine. 68 degrees out there right now. winds out of the northwest at 12 miles per hour. temperaturewise 63 in gaithersburg. little bit on the cool side. 64 in leesburg. not too bad. 71 right now down towards patuxent river. look towards doppler radar, nothing to show you there. we are dry and will stay dry on

through the end of the week. most likely right on through the weekend. we have some great weather and i'm saying from tomorrow all the way through next monday, this is the pattern we have been in. deep trough of low pressure bringing in those very cloudy and rainy conditions. the very cool conditions. sunshine and the warmth has been out to the west where they have seen record high temperatures but here comes sunny and warm across the entire eastern half of the nation. it is going to be fantastic from washington back towards chicago and atlanta. the weather finally getting nice for us. a few clouds this evening, breezy, cool, nice. 62, 65. winds out of the northwest at 10 to 20 miles per hour. you may need the jacket tonight and i definitely think you will need it tomorrow morning to step tout door. mostly clear clear, breezy and cool. about 52 degrees. still a little bit on the breezy side tomorrow. we will see those winds upwards of 20 miles per hour. nice and warm. high temperatures tomorrow, 71 to about 75 degrees. just about everybody into the 70s and there is the next four

days showing we get even better friday, high of 72. saturday, plenty of sunshine and high of 74 degrees. we stay dry right on through the weekend. >> like a rainbow at the end of the storm. >> this rainbow is going to last. >> it will be nice. >> thank you, doug. questions about personal life were raised today in the trial of dr. conrad murray, the physician charged in the death of michael jackson. >> three of murray's ex-girlfriends were called to the stand today. gina kim explains why their testimony is important to the prosecution's case. >> reporter: the prosecution sought to establish while dr. murray was being paid to care for the king of pop, his mind was elsewhere. three of murray's mistresses took the stand. the mother of his extramarital child to whom he had shipments of propofol sent. dancer he met at a jaes club who murray texted the day michael jackson died and a houston waitress with whom murray was talk when he noticed something had gone horribly wrong.

>> i was just talking. the next thing it was like i said hello, hello. i didn't hear anything. that's when i pressed the phone against my ear and i heard mumbling of voices. it sounded like the phone was maybe in his pocket or something. i heard coughing. >> at the time the married doctor was living with nicole alvarez the mother of his child, who signed for murray's drug deliverys and relied on him financially. >> back when your relationship with conrad murray became more serious, certainly before the birth of your son, was conrad murray living at your residence? >> yes. >> was he also providing financial support to you? >> yes. >> reporter: the prosecution may be suggesting that murray may have been desperate to keep his $150,000 a month job with jackson to afford his affairs and extramarital children. his former employees and

patients have also testified that they would regularly have contact with murray during the time he was supposed to be caring for jackson. the defense maintains that jackson was the desperate one and addict who ultimately gave himself the fatal dose of propofol. if convicted of the involuntary manslaughter charge, dr. murray faces up to four years in prison. gina kim, nbc news, los angeles. coming up on "news4 at 4:00," the tsa debuts a new screening process to make it a lot quicker to get through. >> plus, blago needs cash and now his house is on the market. >> we are following the latest developments in a major bribery raid conducted today in d.c. and northern virginia. the fbi tells us the us is 3ek9s accepted tens of millions in kickbacks from government contracts.

>> i'm liz crenshaw. an investigation into the installation of local hot water heaters left safety concernses. concerns. a pass-through security. why some travellers are being [ schreiber ] if you did an internet search in the greater detroit area, you'd see bad news. companies are closing and houses were being foreclosed upon. however when there are negative things going on there is also opportunity. and for people that look for it like dave, they see the opportunity and they say i can make a difference here. there's a constant stream of negative news, about economics, and whatever.

and so it's nice to inject some positive news coming out of ypsilanti. it's motivation to make you want to do something to help out your town. so my friend corin, who is the manager at the ypsilanti food co-op, sent me what she thought was a grant for a solar project. turned out it was a very low interest loan. so it kind of sparked my interest and then i did some searching. i was able to actually find a small $6,000 grant from the state of michigan. but i have never done solar, i didn't know square one about how it was done. we bought panels, we figured out how to do it, and that was our first system. we needed to monitor the power and be able to track how much was coming in and out, and i did find products that would do this for us, but those products could cost thousands of dollars. you know, we didn't have a thousand dollars. we invented a way to read utility meters for essentially free. ♪ my goal is to see a cloud. and i want to see a nice smooth solar graph and then i want it to dip a little bit and know that a cloud just went over the solar panels. my wildest dreams is to have 100 locations in ypsilanti,

all on solar ypsi, all being tracked in real time and ypsilanti would be the place to come for solar information. when i started, i was searching and i was looking in ten or twelve difference places, and so now we have a website where information has already been collated so someone can search on solar, find this site and hopefully have all the information they need. it's just amazing that you see people in far off remote villages in like mongolia, you know? they're looking for solar power, for some information, it's there for them to find. it has happened, you know. it is so cool. ♪ getting through airport security is about to get easier for some select travelers. it is all thanks to a new program known as pre-check. under the program tsa agents will assess passengers who

volunteer more information about themselves before the flight. those passengers would then be sent to security lanes for expedited screening. pilot program will take place in airports at atlanta, detroit, and dulles, ft. worth and miami. a house with political history is up for sale in illinois. it is not the home of abe lincoln or president obama. it is the home of former governor rod blagojevich. the house is 3800 square feet and listed for $1.7 million. the blagojevich family plans to use the proceeds to pay their legal fees. blagojevich was supposed to be is he tensed thursday for his conviction of corruption charges for the hearing have been postponed. still ahead on "news4 at 4:00," it is a nightmare for any family. a bear breaks into a home and attacks an entire family. the father talks about this horrifying encounter. and for all your news be sure to follow news4 online.

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here is something you don't see every day. a pennsylvania man came face to

face with a black bear inside of his home. >> it is a frightening story. rich moyer was in the middle of his morning routine when the bear ran into his house. he explains how moyer survived the ordeal. >> couldn't tell which way the bear came. >> reporter: by the time rich moyer could make out in the pitch black the black bear barrelling towards the open door, it was too late to stop it. >> bear got me. i'm down on the floor. >> reporter: in his living room, face to face with an agitated animal moyer let his instinct take over and wrestled with the beast. the commotion woke up his wife angela who also then tried to fight the bear. but in this struggle she landed on the porch and the bear on top of her. >> i guess the male instinct, you have to protect your family. >> reporter: moyer says he dove headfirst to rip the bear off of his wife. >> i'm outside with the bear and just hear the bear chomp on the back of your head. pulling your hair out of the

back of your head, pulling. it is unbelievable. i really thought that this was it. >> reporter: after he struggled the bear simply had enough. looked back at the couple for ten seconds and disappeared into the woods. >> if interest didn't stop i might be a box now. >> reporter: more than 70 stitches and stay nls the back of his head. doctors said it opened like a can. >> puncture wound there. >> reporter: 20 bite marks in his hands, arms and shoulders. his wife is recovering from similar wounds. >> i'm going tone joy life better. and be happier after this than i have been through this and am going live. >> reporter: moyer built his house on dozens of acres of wooded land. before the attack he was an avid hunter and outdoorsman but now he is thinking of moving. he might give up his hobbies for good. >> chance it won't happen again.

chances are. i don't want to take that chance. >> wow. can you imagine? >> move, move into a high-rise in a city. >> the couple's 10-year-old son was home when the bear attacked. he was upstairs and was not injured. the pennsylvania state game commission says bear encounters like this one are extremely sxrar the bear was probably just trying to protect her cubs. that does it for "news4 at 4:00." >> "news4 at 5:00" starts right now. an fbi raid takes down what authorities are calling one of the most brazen bribery schemes in u.s. history. eight separate sites in northern virginia and the district were raided today. four people were arrested and investigators say they pocketed $20 million in kickbacks. >> home ward bound. despite some delays, amanda knox is scheduled to arrive in washington state within the hour. ready to return to a lifestyle

that she abruptly left four years ago. speed cameras ride writing extra tickets. more than a dozen drivers got a fine in the mail they shouldn't have to pay. hello, everybody. welcome to "news4 at 5:00" tonight. >> we begin this evening with breaking news. arlington, virginia, police are on the scene of a deadly accident involving a pedestrian. it happened on northbound i-395 at glebe road. virginia state police and arlington police were on the scene. officials say at this time at least three lanes have northbound i-395 traffic are shut down. news4 crew is on the way to the scene. we will have a live update coming up later in the newscast. to our top story. big story tonight, a bribery scheme that allegedly involved more than $20 million. $20 million in illicit payments and landed four people behind bars including two u.s. army corps of engineers employees. the arres