raids in d.c. and in northern virginia today. federal prosecutors tell us tonight that the staggering sum may be the largest case of procurement fraud in our nation's history. jane watrel joins us with details on this startling story. jane? >> it is amazing. until the arrests early today, prosecutors alleged that the four defendants live high to hog by role ex watches and home renovations until someone blew the whistle. federal agents raid the woodbridge home of michael alexander and now under arrest along with three others in a $20 million government bribery and kickback scheme. called the largest and most brazen act of its kind in u.s. history. >> this scheme is staggering in scope. and i think that it surprised all of us. i think it took tremendous teamwork to get to the depths of this and our investigation continues. >> reporter: the complex scam began four years ago and centers

around an alaska native corporation called eyak in this complex in dulles. according to a federal indictment, alexander and kerry khan of alexandria, both employees of the u.s. army corps of engineers helped follow more than 45 million to an unidentified company to a no-bid contract. using false invoices, the feds alleged that they helped themselves to $20 million along with two others. harold babb wholeyed with his family in the sterling home and lee kahn who helped his father run the fraudulent company out of his home in alexandria. >> willingness to engage in this behavior and greed they displayed can only be described as appalling and have apparently been willing to deprive the department of defense of badly needed funds and violate the integrity of the contracting process and public's trust in them and it appears they were fully prepared to line their pockets even further. >> a 26 year employee of the u.s. army corps of engineers, michael alexander was arrested at his office northwest g

street. more than 100 agents raided seven other locations and arresting the remaining three at their holmes. while seizing luxury vehicles, flat screen tvs and discovering millions in bank accounts. according to the indictment kerry kahn and his son were promised more than $18 million. michael alexander was promised to be paid more than $1 million. $700,000 was promised or paid to harold babb. federal regulators promised to find out how this massive fraud went undetect. >> we will tirelessly. >> among the charges they face are conspiracy to commit fraud and wire fraud and money laundering and if convicted they could spend anywhere from 25 to 40 years behind prison. prosecutors say that the

foursome were allegedly planning another scheme to defraud the government offing a $780 million contract. back to you. >> huge sums. jane watrel. thank you so much. now we have a breaking news story out of new york city where divers are searching the east river for the victim of a helicopter crash. it happened just before 3:30 this afternoon. the tourist chopper was taking off from a heliport on the east side of manhattan when something went wrong and it went down. it sank to the bottom of the river just minutes later. there were five people aboard including the pilot, four were pulled from the water, and they were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. expert witness took the stand today in the carmela dela rosa murder trial. at question whether she knew right from wrong when she threw her 2-year-old granddaughter off of a sky walk at tysons corner last november. dela rosa pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. julie carey is live outside the course at this hour ands that

latest on this case. julie? >> reporter: the last week and a half we heard carmela dela rosa's friends and families, doctors and psychologists, treat her and talk about her deteriorating mental condition last year. it was up to the defense team's expert psychologist to tie it together and reveal whether or not he thought she was legally insane at the time of the crime. carmela dela rosa couldn't distinguish between right and wrong when she threw her 2-year-old granddaughter off after tysons walkway last november 29. that's the conclusion of michael hendricks, clinical psychologist who evaluated dela rosa for the defense. that's also one of the definitions of insanity under virginia law. hendricks diagnosed dela rosa with major depressive disorder with sigh kotdic features and says her deteriorating mental health including two suicide attempts in the month before the incident left her to experience a type of psychosis that night. hendricks says she believed her

family was isolating her, secretly communicating with special eye gestures. hendricks says she became hyper-focused on her son-in-law, james, who she long blamed for getting her daughter pregnant out of wedlock. she was getting more and more focused on her anger towards james and began thinking about angela and as looking more like james and saw hurting her as a way of getting back at him. hendricks said he was surprised when he asked dela rosa what she intended to happen to angela and replied she hadn't intended to hurt her at all. in cross-examination, prosecutor ray moreau suggested hendricks changed his diagnosis since he wrote his original report. delusions were never mentioned in the report. when hendricks agreed moreau asked you are not saying she had an delusions on november 29? hendricks replied no over-delusions. no had a plus nations? no. other forensic experts say that proving insanity is often an uphill battle. >> most cases are not

successful. only about 25% that are of defendants have a successful verdict of insanity. many respects it is an uphill battle. >> reporter: coming up on "news4 at 6:00," i will tell you how the expert witness interprets carmela dela rosa's videotaped confession in which she flatly describes throwing angela off the walkway. >> thanks, julie. turning now to the weather and if you liked today you are going to love tomorrow. >> yummy, yummy. today we got our first healthy dose of sunshine in a long time. doug kammerer is in the storm center with an update. >> you will love tomorrow. you are going to love thursday. you are going to love friday, saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday. that might be all we have. but that's a week, guys, of great weather that's coming in to the area. after a very prolonged period of wet, gloomy and cool temperatures. out there right now 68 current temperature. winds out of the west-northwest

at 14 miles per hour. with gusts upwards of 23 miles an hour so a little gusty as far as those winds are concerned. little cooler to the north and west. we are talking about 63 in gaithersburg. 61 in winchester. culpeper coming in now at 66 degrees. we are going to see a nice night tonight. there's nothing on the radar to talk about. that's some very good news. we are going to continue to see clear skies on that radar. showing just a few clouds moving on in here. we will see clearing skies and as we make our way through the rest of tonight and here we go. overnight tonight into tomorrow morning. about 60 degrees. 9:00, 58. 11:00, waking up to rather cool 512. most areas will be in the 40s so you will probably need that jacket as you step out once again. you won't need it for long. temperatures will warm up. i will show you how warm we get tomorrow and what the rest of the week looks like coming up in the full forecast. >> high winds forced workers to stop their inspections of the washington monument this afternoon. take a look. engineers have been repelling down the monument since last week to check for more earthquake damage.

the national parks service says today they were able to finish checking out the south and east walls before it got just too windy today. they plan to wrap up the entire monument survey tomorrow weather permitting and sounds like it will be a good one. a new ethics controversy in the district government today. how much does it cost to cut city grass? some d.c. council members are now investigating why one firm was given grass cutting contract. twice as expensive as a competitor. who is doing a good job. tom sherwood is here now with more on this story. tom? >> you know grass cutting is a small part of government but this contract mess could be a big problem. the d.c. government has dozens of acres of grassy fields and rec centers that must be cut. a disputed $2 million contract to do that is now raising serious ethical questions about who gets paid what and why. in the long lead editorial in the "washington post" tuesday, the paper questioned one of the

mayor's office had higher marks. while allowing a smaller and more expensive company to keep working. mary chase says she is worried about the handling of the city money while gray's administration and would discuss it friday. >> there are a lot of allegations you a round so what i wanted to do is just hold a hearing to find out what the facts are and to clear the air. >> reporter: at i shall rue two companies. the lorenz company cut grass at $60 an acre. even though the public works department praised the firm and sought to renew its contract, the mayor's office moved to end it. meanwhile a smaller company, community bridge incorporated, responsible for two of eight wards, charged about $120 an acre. twice as much. and continued working. community bridge has a small office on upper 14th street. when news4 stopped by mid morning, there was no indication of anyone there. council member chase says one complaint is community may not qualify as a truly local d.c.

based company. council member harry thomas who had strongly backed community bridge earlier this year did not speak at the council session tuesday. warner session who represents community bridge declined comment on the dispute. the mauer's office by the criticism told "the post" ending the cheaper lorenz contract was a misunderstanding and both companies would be continued until thes what to do next. the council also wants to see internal documents from the mayor's office. documents might explain why this grass cutting got so much high level attention. pat, back to you. >> tom sherwood, thanks, tom. it is the homecoming she dreamed about and fought for. amanda knox is expected to arrive in her hometown of seattle within the hour. one day after being freed from that italian prison. knox and her family began the journey earlier today when they board ad flight from rome to london. she was clearly overjoyed. knox was freed from prison 24 hours ago.

after an appeals court in italy overturned her murder conviction in the death of her british room plate. prosecutors, meanwhile, vow to appeal the decision to the italy's highest court. major development in the 2012 race. chris christie announced today he's thought it over and he has affirmed his decision not to enter the republican race for president. >> in the end what i always felt was the right decision remains the right decision today. now is not my time. so new jersey, whether you like it or not, you are stuck with me. >> governor christie did not rule out a run for the presidency in 2016. several republicans urged him to enter the race to revive what they considered to be a lackluster field of contenders. when we come right back on "news4 at 5:00" tonight, unfa unfairly ticketed. speed cameras that took pictures of cars that didn't deserve

citations. >> the conrad murray manslaughter trial continues today. the doctor's girlfriends were called to the stand. one had surprising testimony to offer about how she says the doctor got such large quantities of propofol. a consumer warning. customers paying for safety inspections for their hot water heaters that never happened. liz crenshaw has the story of hundreds lure flood a false sense of security while their families are put at risk. >> you are watching "news4 at 5:00." we are just getting started.

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at&t. an investigation into hot water heaters installed in montgomery county led to great safety concerns. >> county inspectors tell us more than a thousand new gas heaters were not inspected after installation. consumer reporter liz crenshaw is here now with the latest on this story. liz? >> gas supply installation is tricky business and must be done right because faulty installation could result in deadly consequences. that's why in most jurisdictions permits and inspections are required to make sure homeowners are safe. the results of an investigation released today reveals at least

in montgomery county with hundreds of hot water heaters that safety inspection was not done. >> i'm thinking i don't know -- >> reporter: karen of silver spring, maryland, bought her gas water heater from sears. the department store contracted with a plumber to install it. >> we thought everything was fine. >> reporter: but two years later when she was having a gas fireplace installed, a different plumber told her her gas water heater was installed wrong. >> i'm not a plumber. i was totally clueless. >> reporter: clueless not just on how a water heater should be installed but she also paid sears for a permit that apparently was never filed. which means her gas water heater was never inspected for safety. she was not alone. >> this is really serious stuff. >> reporter: eric friedman, director of montgomery county's office of consumer protection, and the washington suburban sanitary commission or wussc conducted a joint investigation into gas water heater

installations. they asked five big box retailers, sears, home depot, lowe's, hh gregg and best buy to provide a list of all gas heat water installations they sold in montgomery county during a portion of 2010 and 2011. the investigation found more than two-thirds of the gas water heaters sold had not been properly inspected. even though many consumers paid $50 or more for the permits. >> safety inspection and it is there to protect the consumers and their holmes. >> these installations need to be done by the licensed plumber, gas fitter. and they have to be inspected by wssc. >> licensed plumber or gas fitter is required to schedule an inspection with wssc within five business days after the installation. >> improper installation can mean high levels of carbon monoxide and in some cases perhaps explosion. >> reporter: as in this explosion in may, where a

montgomery county home blew up after a tenant tried replace a gas clothes dryer on his zone we are not here to say gotcha. we are here to correct the situation and get the holmes inspected and make sure in the future all the work sin respected when it is done. >> reporter: she had her own plumber come back and fix her gas water heater. >> it is done. it is proper. it has been inspected. >> reporter: >> we contacted the big box retailers. home depot says it is working diligently with the county and customers to get the inspections completed. lowe's tells us it has no reports of any of its contractors installations being done incorrectly but it is working with authorities to encourage plumbers to schedule the inspections and says one cause for the lack of inspection could be scheduling conflicts between inspectors and homeowners. sears has not been available for comment yet tonight. we will have more on this as it comes available. if you had a hot water heater installed and did not havein

inspected you may want to contact the county. >> that would be me. >> we will make a phone call. >> can you call them for me and say this is liz because you did a lot more stuff than i did, i'm sure. >> you call. >> kammerer who? this is liz crenshaw. i will be right over. >> we will get the number for you. >> she's not going to call for me. >> have you the number to some really nice sunny weather. >> i do. >> yes. >> i do. it is going to be great out there over the next couple of days. perfect to make phone calls for very good friends. a lot of shine and finally seeing that sunshine after a lot of cloud cover. really over the past not just past couple of days but over the past couple of months we have been talking about that cloud cover. all the way back towards the end of august. 68 degrees current temperature out there right now. wind out of the north-northwest at 14 miles per hour. and winds gusting over 20 miles an hour in much of the region. it will be a fairly cool evening. already down to 61 in cumberland and 61 in winchester. 64 degrees in gaithersburg and

right now la plata, 67 degrees. you may need the jacket this evening as the sun goes down and temperatures start to dip down. it is not going to be alt that bad. as a matter of fact, it is going to be nice. doppler radar all dry. we are not going to see anything on the radar for next couple of days. we will stay dry. area of low pressure that persisted pesky area of low pressure has been off the coast during the day today. it continues to move off towards the east but it is still able to provide us with cloud cover. you can see those clouds coming on through here. today will be the last day we see anything in the way of cloud cover. i think really the next week or so we will be mostly sunny, if not completely sunny, and that's very good news. still breezy this evening with that sunshine out there. tomorrow we will stay on the breezy side. it will warm up, though, during the day tomorrow with temperatures into the low to mid 70s in most locations. here comes our area of high pressure. it is actually, though, going shift to the north. that will shift our wind out of the north and northeast. so that may cool us down a little bit for thursday. lit not mean a lot.

nice and mild. temperatures a little bit below average. but, plenty of sunshine. high of 70 thursday and it is pretty nice. friday, high pressure moves off to the east. and behind it we see even more sunshine and friday is looking like a fantastic day. few clouds this evening. breezy and cool. nice, 62 to 65 degrees. as we move through the night tonight into tomorrow morning you will most likely need the jacket. 45 in some of the cooler suburbs to 52 in the city. breezy and cool conditions under mostly clear skies. tomorrow afternoon, mostly sunny and breezy and nice and warm. high of 71 to 75 degrees. winds out of the northwest at about 15 to 20 miles per hour. over the next couple of days, it gets even better. winds calm down and the sunshine is out. thursday, friday, and saturday, warming up each day. 72 friday. 74 on saturday. and as i mentioned earlier goes through the weekend. >> did you say that earlier. we can hear that over and over again. >> i know. right. >> i will call an inspector for you.

>> thanks, pat. >> still ahead on "news4 at 5:00," apple's newest creation revealed today. it is not the iphone 5. it is the 4s. we will break down its bells and whistles. maryland man who got a surprise phone call this morning to tell him that he is the recipient of one of america's highest honors. >> reminder tonight, don't miss out on the fandemonium. all you have to do is like nbc washington on facebook for a chance to win great prizes. we have another great prize you can win. nook color e-reader from barnes & noble. we will announce the winner tonight at

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investigators are trying to figure out how a driver crash ad bmw into a pool in phoenix, arizona, yesterday. the car smashed through a carport and landed in a backyard pool. it also hit a natural gas line along the way. that line was secured and the car was pulled out amazingly the driver was not injured. this is a monumental day for a scientist from our area. dr. adam reese from johns hopkins won the know bell prize in physics. the nobel committee announced early this morning reese is

being honored for his groundbreaking research in the expansion of the universe. when he got to work his colleagues at johns hopkins greeted him with a bottle of champagne. >> the phone rang. it was swedish sounding people. i knew it wasn't ikea calling. they told me it was -- from the nobel prize committee and congratulated me for winning. >> wow. swedish sounding people. they haven't dialed my number of late. the award is the result of dr. reese's discovery that the universe is not expanding at a steady pace as researchers previously believed. rather, he says the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate. reese says that he never expected to win a nobel prize. >> quite an honor. national cathedral will be open to the public next month. it has been closed since the earthquake, august 23 because of damage caused by the quake. today officials announced it is going to reopen november 12.

damage to the build sing proving very costly. officials say some of the repairs could take up to ten years to complete. and could cost more than $25 million when it is all said and done. when we come right back on "news4 at 5:00" tonight, speed camera mistakes. if you get a ticket in the mail, take a second look. there's a good chance that there is a mistake and you may not have to pay. new evidence in the michael jackson trial that could prove that the pop singer did not give himself the lethal dose of propofol. >> i want to you meet puppies that survive ad near-death experience at the king george dump. six others weren't so lucky. six others weren't so lucky. i'm pat coll

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federal authorities arrested four people today including two u.s. army corps of engineer employees. investigators say that they pocketed $20 million in kickbacks. eight separate sites in northern virginia and d.c. were raided. amanda knox is expected to arrive back home in seattle later tonight. this is video of knox and her family boarding a plane out of europe earlier today. just yesterday an italian appeals court overturned her murder conviction in the death of her roommate four years ago and released her from prison.

four people were injured, one killed when a tourist helicopter crashed into the east river this afternoon in new york. the chop earn went down just after taking off from a manhattan heliport around 3:30 this afternoon. four people including the pilot were rescued. divers found the body of a fifth passenger, a woman from england, inside the sunken helicopter. let's fast forward to the weather. doug. >> right now we are looking at some sunshine and cloud cover across the area. much nicer day today than we have seen over the past couple of days as our area of low pressure moved out. we looked from our tower cam across american university to the southwest. where we are looking at the shine and cloud cover. out there at the airport right now, we are seeing nice conditions. temperatures 68 degrees. windy side. breezy. upwards of 20, 21 miles per hour with winds out of the north-northwest at 14 sustained. we are going to see a nice night tonight but it will be cool and you will need the jacket one more time. then you may able to put it away

for a while. >> that's more like it. back to that breaking news we brought you at the top of the hour. a pedestrian has been killed along i-395 at glebe road. part of the interstate is shut down. news4's jackie bensen joins us live from the scene with the latest. what a horrible time for it to happen. >> reporter: it is. of course, you know, what's being investigated right now is what was this pedestrian doing? what was the person doing walking on the interstate? we don't know that. it appears the person, we don't know fit was a man or woman, was on the shoulder when struck. in the last few minutes, two lanes of northbound i-395 have been reopened. down to only one lane. two are now open. i can tell you it is causing a major traffic impact southbound on i-395 because people are rubber necking and see the police lights and looking over there and seeing what's going on and as they finish wrapping up their scene and their investigation, things are moving a bit faster on southbound 395.

but it is still very, very congested. virginia state police are on the scene. crime scene investigators are over there. and they are taking pictures and measuring distances. at this point we can't tell why this person was on 395. we don't see any vehicle associated with them and not sure if it is someone that had a breakdown or got out and decided to walk. all those questions hopefully will be answered when we get a chance to talk to virginia state police. back to you. >> jackie bensen live on the scene at 395 for us. thank you. new fuel in fight against speed cameras. glitch caused one in prince george's county to spark tickets during a time when it should have been activated. the camera, that is. chris gordon reports the fallout may extendwhelm beyond the particular camera. >> this speed camera is located along high bridge road in bowie near an elementary school. by law it operates monday through friday, 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. drivers exceeding the speed limit get a citation in the

mail. and a $40 fine. one motorist got a citation dated sunday, september 25 and complained to police. >> on this particular sunday, sunday, september 25, there were 18 citations issued incorrectly. we then reviewed all of them and got in touch with each of the individual drivers and one of them had already paid. they will be reimbursed. the rest have their tickets wai waived. >> reporter: the police did the right thing by forgiving the citations issued by this camera on that sunday. but aaa says the incident indicates there may be a bigger problem with speed cams. >> there are serious questions, numerous questionable tickets in the county. many ticketed motorists have gone to court to prove their case. those cases have been thrown out. >> reporter: police say that this was an isolated incident with only this one speed camera improperly programmed by the vendor to operate that sunday.

each county can choose the vendor that operates its speed cameras but this mistake may prompt maryland state lawmakers to consider streamlining the regulations that govern speed cameras. kelly ross owns a day nursery and right across from the speed camera in question. >> i think it helps to keep our area safer and take our kids to the park sometimes. it is nice to know this is -- people are driving much slower. people used to go really fast on this road. >> reporter: chris gordon, news4. >> prince george's county police say they tested all cameras and are confident they are accurate. day six of the conrad murray trial in los angeles. just a few minutes ago, court adjourned for the day. today jurors heard about the person am life of the doctor charged in the death of michael jackson. three of conrad murray's ex-girlfriends were called to the stand. prosecutors are trying to establish that murray's mind was elsewhere while he was treating

jackson. and his lifestyle made him desperate for the $150,000 a month job. >> 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. >> alvarez is the mother of one of murray's children and followed on the stand by the pharmacist who sold murray the drug blamed for jackson's death. apple unveiled its newer, faster version of the popular iphone today. the new model is called iphone 4s. the processor is seven times faster than the last iphone. the new version can be used to make calls in most countries around the world. there is an upgraded camera and there are enhanced graphics for gaming. the phone is also equipped with a voice activated personal

assistant that allows you to set up app hands-free. >> definitely the most ambitious version of this we have seen in a consumer device ever and at the same time, it may be a little too out there for a lot of people to use. especially happy just clicking on stuff with their fingers. >> apple's stock fell 5% after the unveiling of the new iphone. many people in the tech world were disappointed that the new version was not the iphone 5. the iphone 4s will be available october 14. >> starts at $199 all the way up to $399. may be time for an upgrade. >> think so? >> i like this voice activation thing. that sounds like a cool feature. >> sounds really cool. coming up on "news4 at 5:00," america's main streets. three area avenues that made the list of the best in the country. >> the unusual theft ring that is leaving huge holes in the

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in celebration of the hispanic heritage month nbc 4 and telemundo and d.c. are sponsoring a contest. why is hispanic month important? today we announce the winners. news4's doreen against sler joining us live from the celebration taking place in studio a next door. hi, doreen. >> reporter: hi, pat and jim.

we are right next door to you. 13th year news4 and telemundo in washington teamed up to present -- sponsor the hispanic heritages akon test. i hope our young speakers will forgive us for talking over them. this is nicole, the general manager. tell me about this contest and why students are asked to write about the freedom. >> we asked the students in the community to write about why the month is so important. it is a wonderful way to celebrate not only hispanic heritage month but details of the culture. having a voice and tell us their story about their family. >> reporter: we have a studio full of students and some proud families. tell me about 2 -- what they write about. what -- what they have. >> they talk about personal things that mean a lot to them. and are la teen and so culture, their food and news music they like. they stand above the rest and

take this to celebrate with their families, what was instilled in them. >> they talk about leadership and just what this -- this is a nice opportunity for them to showcase some of the talents. >> it is. it is nice to see they have that voice here and position for the future running for office or lineup position. it is good. you have some talented students. >> who are the students? this there are ten students here accepting awards tonight? who are they? >> they come from all over the area. different schools and so basically it is folks watching telemundo in their house and see the essay contest and nbc and their parents and students that just write in and say we want to be a part of this. representation from the metro area. that's very nice. >> all right. it is a good contest and we are glad telemundo and news4 are partnering together. we will see you again for this next year. thanks. that's what's going on over here in the studio next door to you

guys. we are awfully proud of them. back to you. still to come tonight on "news4 at 5:00," horrific case of animal cruelty. puppies dumped and left for dead at a virginia landfill. meet the woman who gave some of them a new start. >> up next, dan has the when i had questions about high fructose corn syrup, i started looking for answers from experts. what i discovered was that whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference. sugar is sugar. [ female announcer ] learn more at cornsugar.com.

investigators in fredericksburg are trying to figure out who is stealing the city's manhole covers.

the covers weigh 7 5 pounds and require a crowbar to extract. they are disappearing so fast that the city can't keep up with replacing them. they suspect the crooks are doing it for the value of the scrap metal. the manhole covers can be worth up to 100 bucks apiece. the reward is being raised tonight for help in solving a disturbing crime in northern virginia. someone dumped a bag of puppies into a landfill last month. pat collins has more on the puppies that made it through the ordeal and more on how the public can help. >> reporter: three little puppies rescued from death's door. found in a trash bag that had been dropped in this dumpster at the king george county landfill. six of their brothers and sisters didn't make it. i mean, the puppies weren't even a day old. >> reporter: that's mike. he was on duty when it happened. he heard some crying noise

coming from the dumpster. he discovered the puppies. >> opened up the bag and there were nine puppies in the water. >> reporter: virginia works for the county and came to the rescue. she had to act fast. >> when i picked them up, they were wet and cold. and my daughter and i just dried them off and put the heater on in the car and sat with them until we could have the police come up and do a report. >> reporter: the story of the ups and this act of animal cruelty, something the people here will not soon forget. >> people who put puppies in plastic bag and landfill, somebody should put them in a plastic bag and put them in the landfill. >> no one has to like dogs or cats. but if you don't like them, don't have them. >> reporter: what kind of person could do something like this? >> a monster. somebody that has no heart.

>> reporter: what happened here was no accident. what happened it was no mistake. what happened here was a crime, a jail time, crime and other animal control officers are out to find the suspect. do you think you can get them? >> we will do our absolute best. >> reporter: i'm pat collins, news4, king george. >> the king georgian malrescue league was originally offering $500 for information that can lead to an arrest. thanks inform private donations the reward is up to $1,200. those interested in donating to the fund or adopting the puppies can visit nbcwashington.com. just search puppies. >> pretty cool last night. how's it looking for tonight, doug? >> i think it is going to be another very cool night out there. you will need the jackets once again as you wake up and walk out the door tomorrow morning. that's going to be about it. that's really the kind of year we are starting to get into it, at least the time of year starting to get into. cool mornings and nice fall

jaffe noon. 68 degrees. winds gusting upwards of 23 miles per hour. so a little bit on the gusty side thisvening. doppler radar high and dry. we will stay dry on through the next couple of days. your overnight forecast down about 52 in the district. most areas into the 40s. about 46 in leesburg. 45 in frederick. back towards hagerstown and 43 degrees. down to the south fredericksburg, temperature there around 51. it is going to be a little chilly when you wake up and step out the door tomorrow morning. and into tomorrow afternoon, we will start to warm up. high temperature tomorrow of about 74 degrees. we will see plenty of sunshine tomorrow. tomorrow really is going to be a fantastic day. plenty of sunshine all the way around. complete forecast, including the extended outlook coming up at 6:00. >> all right. thanks, doug. dan is here and has the best plays from the nfl this week. >> good ones, too. bye week officially upon us. redskins are resting. 3-1 record. best start since 2008. they are just one of the surprising stories in the league this year. perhaps the biggest surprise,

the 4-0 detroit lions and for the second week in a row the lions have a home on our plays of the week. but we start in chicago where history was made. the bears hosting the panthers. chicago kick returner extraordinaire devin hester fields the punt on the 31. how many times have we heard coaches say don't kick the brawl -- ball to hester? this is why. 69 yards to the touchdown. p 11th punt return. 16th overall kick return for a score. both are nfl records. sunday night in baltimore. the ravens defense did the job of their special teams made history. in a dubious way. that's the jets joe mcknight taking a kickoff from seven yards deep and in the end zone and so much for the kickoff moving forward. the return game taking a hit because mcsnooit doing housework from 107 yards out. longest return in jets history. and the longest ever given up by

baltimore. cincinnati, bengals upset the bills. andy daulton's pass deflected and picked off by scott who returns it 43 yards for a touchdown. now this was a very strange play. watch this ball carefully here. ricochets off the receiver's knee. his leg. and then johnnie on the spot is scott. he's there, picks it up and takes it to the house. still the bills no longer undefeated. losing in cincinnati. in san diego, street combination of philip rivers and vincent jackson did some damage against the dolphins. rivers with the heads-up play by jackson. gets up and scores. 55-yard touchdown as the chargers beat miami. it does seem like we are showing these guys every week. lions receiver calvin johnson, aka mega-tron. no problem. what a grab. prior to the game, cowboys defensive coordinator rob ryan said mega-tron was not enough to

break into the cowboys starting lineup. rob ryan not the sharpest tool in the shed for sure. the play of the week going on here. michael vick and eagles, escapism. are you serious? michael vick finds hey bore and the touchdown pass. take another look at the houdini pass for vick. he's like jello. you can't get this guy to slip it through your fingers. what a play by michael vick. but the eagles still lose somehow. they are 1-3. last place in the nfc east p. against who is next on the horizon for the philadelphia eagles. your washington redskins after the bye week and i think skins fans are starting to salivate already. they are 1-3. >> 3-1. >> feels good for a change. >> it does. >> thanks, dan. coming up tonight on "news4

at 6:00," no means no. new jersey governor chris christie says he's not running for president in 2012. why, -- why? he says it is not the right time. what some passengers have to give up to go through checkpoints with their shoes and jackets on. plus the country singer fires back after making some controversial comments about the president. is he changing his tune? we will have those stories. a lot more coming up on "news4 at 6:00." >> after this short break, three area streets rank among the best in america. coming up. we asked the residents what makes them just so special. >> for all your news, follow news4 online.

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a former national a kooifrs employee pleaded guilty to stealing and selling recordings donated to the archives. leslie worked for the a kooifrs for 40 years. most recently the college park location federal prosecutors say he admitted stealing at least 955 audio recordings between 2001 and 2010 and selling some of them online. the items were seized from his

rockville home last october and they are worth an estimated $30,000 and they include a 1937 sound recording of baseball legend babe ruth on a hunting trip. he faces ten years in prison when he is sentenced. three area streets are among the ten best in all of america. that's according to the american planning association. >> u street in northwest washington, king in old town, alexandria, davis street in culpeper made the list. so what makes them so special? news4's elaine reyes hit the streets to find out from the folks who walk those streets every day. >> king street has been a great street for a very long time. before most of the people were even born who are here now, it was great street. >> if you mix rich history, bustling commerce and a nice view of the potomac, you will land on king street in old town, alexandria. it has been named one of the best streets in america. just look around and be surrounded by colonial and

federal style build things that withstood the test of time. >> king street trolley, we now have holiday lights, we have outdoor dining. that's been extremely popular on king street. we have a lot of new restaurants that people love. and i hear the obamas were at one of them last night or the night before. >> very unique piece of history that -- hardly ever find anywhere else in the united states. >> a little further south, culpeper, virginia, davis street also made the list. it is a tourist destination with a lot of shops and restaurants. the american planning commission comes out with a distinction every year. cities go through an application process. u street in the district also made the plis because of its culture and history. >> when i tell people that everywhere i go, u street is the street to live on, it has the night life, day life, it has the farmers' market up here on saturday morning. which is great. my dogs love it.

>> reporter: in northwest washington, elaine reyes, news4. >> they are fantastic streets. >> if your dog likes the street that's good, too. >> that's a sure sign it is a good street. >> and that's it for "news4 at 5:00." >> stay right there. "news4 at 6:00" starts right now. main did a knox is heading home. one day after her murder conviction was overturned. in italy this case isn't closed yet. >> fbi raids today on several local holmes and businesses. they uncovered what the agency calls one of the most brazen bribery schemes in the history of our country. we will tell you how a $20 million scheme came apart. >> left for dead. we will tell you what is being done to help the puppies who were dumped in a virginia landfill. >> good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. the answer is still no. governor chris christie said today he considered running for president in 2012. g