hour near the beltway and branch avenue. they say she was driving a county car when it happened. she got a ticket for an unsafe lane change, about $90. for driving 50 miles an hour over the limit what did she get? a warning. you and me go 50 miles over the limit what do we get? $500 fine, five points against our license. police say the camera in the officer's car shows he was going 105 in pursuit of ms. tolls, but they say his speedometer wasn't calibrated, that he didn't have enough time to pace her and didn't have enough probable cause to write that speeding ticket. they say there was no favoritism involved. >> he don't believe this police officer afforded anyone any special treatment and in fact, we do know he issued a $90 citation to the council member for her unsafe lane change. >> reporter: ms. tolls appeared today at the iverson mall for a crime prevention meeting. there, she just read the

statement she handed out last night. >> i consider violations a very serious matter and i regret -- [ inaudible ] pay the appropriate fine for these moving violations. >> reporter: many of her constituents not happy about this fast-driving incident. >> you talking about going 105 miles per hour in a 55-mile-an-hour zone just to go to a meeting? she's putting herself and the other people in danger. >> her position she should be an example certificate. if you expect regular citizens to abide by the law, she should abide by the law as well. >> reporter: ms. toll said tonight she voluntarily not going to drive any county vehicles until she completes a driver improvement course to ensure her safety and the safety of others. now, this is not her first road encounter with police. coming up at 6:00, the other cases. live in prince georges county,

pat collins, news4. >> thank you, pat. no speeding but a road was shutdown this morning because of flooding from heavy morning rains near the potomac area. the roadway was reopened just about a half hour ago. it has rained throughout the day and keep your oars handy, folk s it ain't over yet. >> the latest from kammerer, when will we see spring-like weather again? >> spring-like weather would include thunderstorms, a few of those, too h you can see where the rain is. in through montgomery county, saw a thunderstorm two, three hours ago, frederick county, maryland, right along 270, seeing that area of moderate to heavy rain, prince georges, calvert county, too, but back to the west, we are talking about that rain making its way in across the area, storm four radar, you can see what i'm talking about here, around the

virginia/west virginia border, a line of very strong thunderstorms making its way in right now. it is going to be making its way in toward the rockingham county area, shenandoah county the next couple of hours and also the north, talking about another line into allegheny county, garrick county, marylander, and portions of mineral and hampshire county, west virginia, right now, a flood warping in affect. not only big-time thunderstorms but big-time rapes, most of us have already picked up an inch of rain and there could be another half an inch to an inch to come. temperature-wise, sitting at 51 out at the airport with the winds calm. those winds will begin to shift out of the southwest and wheel is our numbers rise. look at stanton, virginia, 60 degrees, 58, fredericksburg. most areas will see temperatures rise by five to ten degrees by midnight tonight. they will rise another ten degrees by this time tomorrow afternoon. we will talk about your complete forecast, a bumpy one, have it for you coming up in a minute. now to the severe weather in the midwest, at least nine people are dead after a series

of storms ripped across parts of the midwest overnight there are reports of at least 16 tornado sightings from nebraska and kansas to missouri, illinois and kentucky. taking a look at our super screen now, this is one of the funnel clouds spotted in central kansas. storms tore through the central and eastern part of the state injuring a dozen people. half of the homes were damaged or destroyed in the town of harveyville that town right now has no gas service. another suspected tornado pounded southern missouri, hitting the country music resort city of branson. more than two dozen people were injured there the storm also damaged some of the city's music theaters. in nearby buffalo, missouri, at least one person was killed when another suspected tornado from that same system touched down. now, some of the worst damage was in southern illinois. at least since peopx people inj0

injured after a severe storm pummeled the town of harrisburg. 200 homes were damaged or destroyed with power knocked out to about 12,000 residents. wendy, back to you. >> right. a man is in critical condition after he was struck by a hit and run driver in laurel, maryland. it was this afternoon near route 1 and i-98. police say a white pickup jumped the currb, hit the man on the sidewalk and tossed him 20 feet down an embankment into a parking lot. investigators say the truck kept traveling east on i-98. this he believe video was captured by dashboard camera of a nearby metro bus. police say the victim did not have any i.d. on him. the driver of a suv has been charged with two violations tonight after causing a school bus to crash into a house in silver spring. this happened at the intersection of new hampshire avenue and shipped letter lane this morning. police say the suv cut off the bus. 33 students were on board at the time. no one was hurt. the house was empty at the time. 12 protesters were the

occupy d.c. group were arrested this morning outside the monsanto building here in northwest d.c. the protesters were trying to block entrances to the building at 13th and i streets and defied police orders to move. about 50 people took part in this demonstration. ten were arrested for blocking a building. two were arrested for crossing a police line. the 17-year-old who is accused of opening fire inside his high school cafeteria in ohio on monday told authorities that he stole that gun from his uncle. tj lane is accused of killing three students at chardon high. police say he picked the victims at random. parents of one of the victims, danny parentser talked to the "today" show. >> it doesn't happen here it doesn't happen to me. it did. i don't know how and i don't think we could get through it without the families and the community.

>> rape was in court yesterday for a procedural hearing. he appeared to be fighting back tears. he was overheard saying he was sorer for the crime. students will be returning to the high school on friday. it has been almost four years since the u.s. supreme court threw out the disstrict's strict handgun ban, but the city is still trying to remove administrative restrictions that critics say make it too tough to register handguns in the home. as tom sherwood reports now, if the city doesn't improve the process it could face new legal actions. >> reporter: in june 2008, the supreme court threw out the city's strict handgun ban that had been in place since 1977, staying violated the u.s. constitution's second amendment right to keep and bear arms. despite the clear high court ruling, the district still enacted a series of administrative steps restricting how a handgun could be licensed, what training an owner had to do and when or where guns had to be

tested and reregistered. >> the district has one of the most draconian set of restrictions for owning a gun of any place in the country. >> reporter: at a hearing wednesday on the city's police department, judiciary chairman phil mendelssohn said the council would soon vote on several changes to make handgun registration more simple for the owners. >> we realize that there are some glitches in the law that we ought to fix to just make it a little bit easier for individuals who wish to possess firearms legally. >> reporter: among other changes, the bill would make it easier to get ownership training, eliminates routine vision tests, cuts down on reregistrations and eliminates restrictions on types of ammunition and other restrictions. mendelssohn and chief kathy len near says changes in the law would make it easier to administer. 1500 handguns have been rebel gist nerd the city of 600,000 resident. officials feared the crime rate would once without the ban but they say it hasn't. >> i don't think it is going to

impact enforcement at all. i think there are reasonable changes that are being made. this is what people have been saying it is so difficult. >> an important purpose of registration is to separate law-abiding people from -- with the criminal element so those who rebel gister are not the ones we should fear committing crime. >> reporter: several lawyers say the district has to ease gun ownership requirements or it will face new lawsuits or congressional action. jim? >> thank you, tom. today, the top air force general says the partial remains of 9/11 victims were disposed in a landfill based on pentagon guidelines. the air force chief of staff told reporters the dover air force base mortuary acted on instructions from the pentagon personnel chief. yesterday, a report revealed that partial remains from the pentagon and shanksville, pennsylvania, crash were disposed of. pentagon officials say they will brief families of 9/11 victims in the weeks to come. news4 at four is just

now the latest on the republican presidential race, mitt romney hoping last night's victories in michigan and arizona will give him the momentum to score big next week on super tuesday >> we had a much better night in michigan than maybe was first reported a we actually won half the congressional districts and so we are going to walk out of michigan with 15 delegates and he is going to walk out of michigan with 15 delegates. >> do you want someone who spent his career in washington? >> newt gingrich conceding nothing. he is campaigning in his home state of georgia now and poll there is show him with a large lead. in the delegate count so far, romney is about 80 delegates ahead of santorum, but there are more than 400 delegates up for grabs next week. virginia still doesn't have a state budget. today, the senate democrats rejected the spending plan that was approved by republicans. the legislation would keep

virginia operating through the middle of the year 2014. it is the last day for lawmakers to act on the budget plans of the other chamber. republican lieutenant governor bill boiling says -- does not have the authority to break a tie on budget issues. if virginia lawmakers cannot agree on a budget by the end of june, the state government could shut down. a 14-year-old girl died after drinking two of those energy drinks in 24 hours. new warnings tonight about the dangers of drinking buzzed-up beverages. get ready to see more ads on facebook. the social media's plan to help out its ipo. plus, there's a controversial sign up now in a virginia metro stop insulting the president.

it's time to get going. to have the energy to turn a "to do" list into a memory.

to put more giddy-up in our get-along. to keep stepping up even in overtime. it's time to start gellin' with dr. scholl's... ... and mix a little more hop in our hip hop. thanks to the energizing support and cushioning of dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles, your feet will feel so good... ... you'll want to get up and go. >> at the same time, studies are showing that reports of adverse reactions from the these drinks have also increased. dore doreen gentzler joins us with more. >> energy drinks have a range of caffeine from a modest 50 milligrams per serving, less than a cup of coffee, to more than 500 milligrams in a can but

not all of these drinks list the amount of caffeine on the label. now one maryland mother is calling for more regulation after her 14-year-old daughter died from caffeine toxicity. >> she was beautiful. inside and out. she would go out of her way to make anybody smile. >> reporter: as wendy stands beside her daughter's grave, there are no tears, just anger. >> could be somebody else's daughter, somebody else's son. >> reporter: crossland is talking about energy drinks, the kind you find crowding convenience store shelves these days, promising to give users more buzz, strength and intensity. her 14-year-old daughter, anise, died after drinking two 24-ounce energy drinks in 24 hours. there was an autopsy and her  cause of death was listed as cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity. well, she did a common pre-existing heart condition, her mother says she was never given any caffeine restrictions.

why do you think these drinks are so popular with the kids? >> it's the cool thing. they have the bright colors. the cartoon characters. >> reporter: according to the american academy of pediatrics, between 30 to 50% of teens are drinking energy drink. of the more than 5,000 caffeine overdoses reported in 2007, almost half occurred in those younger than age 19. >> it was horrible. no other parent should have to go through that. >> reporter: right now the laws are complicated, the food and drug administration monitors the safety of each ingredient in energy drink bus they don't limit the amount of caffeine in them. manufacturers required to list caffeine as an added ingredient but they don't have to list how much they are adding. to complicate things further, the drinks are listed as dietary supplements and those don't fall under fda jurisdiction at all. >> having coffee and staying

awake is one thing but drinking multiple cans of highly caffeinated beverages without knowing how much caffeine you're actually consuming is a dangerous activity. >> reporter: university of maryland scientist amelia area has been studying caffeine effects. she says the fda needs to take a tougher stance on these products, especially when it comes to kids. >> because they are smaller, they can't hand al larger amount of a psychoactive substance. >> reporter: in a statement, the food and drug administration says the fda is assessing the amount of caffeine that people in the u.s. take in from all sources. the challenge will be to ensure the conditions are used for caffeine in new products like energy drinks are as safe for those as traditional caffeinated products like coffee, side dash and avenue. the american beverage association says they are taking steps to keep people better informed about caffeine. they have adopted voluntary guidelines for manufacturers. these include clearer labeling and more restrictive policies on

marketing to children. >> i really wasn't aware of, you know, how much caffeine was in those and i still am not sure and i believe that's why the fda should be regulating these. >> one thing we have heard a lot when talking to people about this story, a lot of these energy drinks have similar amounts of caffeine to what you find in those popular coffee house drinks. and like energy drink, caffeine levels in those are not labeled. wendy, jim, i think the difference is coffee drink you drink slowly and if it -- if it gets cold, you're likely to leave it behind. one of these energy drinks, they can come in a big can with a pop top, you might drink the whole thing in one sitting. >> frightening. >> that's lot. >> thanks, doreen. >> sure. we might be seeing more ads from much bigger companies on facebook now. this afternoon, facebook is meeting with large brand marketers up in new york to discuss new ways to sell their products. the idea is for the social

network to draw corporations with the promise of precisely targeted ads that reach facebook's 845 million users. now, it comes as the company plans to raise $5 billion for its initial public offering. that ipo is expected to place facebook's value at $75 to $100 billion. where were we at the beginning? >> i have got about -- >> clueless, where we were. >> we are good. >> mm-hmm. >> wow. so we also are now are drenched. >> we are drenched than we needed to be. really needed to see some rain. we have been very, very dry. we are getting it in buckets, as you talk about, continue to see another round move through the rest of the evening. out there right now, you can take a look outside and you can tell, we have seen the rain, we have seen the cloud cover and it stayed cool all day today. most areas to the north staying in the 40s, down to the south, including washington. we have been in the 50s about all afternoon. a very cool rain a little bit earlier. right now, that rain still

coming in, across the area, we have one band that is lifting to the north. coming through the district, through prince georges county, montgomery county, through frederick. now, columbia, maryland, pretty intense reign there moderate, not quite heavy. this is the heavy rain, back toward the west. winchester, back around the charleston area, back around martinsburg, charleston right here. you are going to also see that around your region, watch out there look at hagerstown, seeing very heavy rainfall, right along i-70, even thunder and lightning. right now, lightning associated with this storm, northern portions of frederick county, virginia. that making its way toward martinsburg, should be on your doorstep in about the next 15 minutes or so you can see that line right there getting ever so close to the martinsburg area it is not severe but it will dump some heavy rain. this is a train right here. notice this little train, like train tracks setting up here and that could mean some big-time flooding. we do have flood warnings in effect for that area up toward hampshire county, mineral county

and also up toward allegheny county, portions of maryland and west virginia. look at this rain, this is some major storminess making its way to the east it is starting to fall apart. we will not see the severe weather approach portions of our region but i would not be surprised to see a lot of heavy rain from this and the national weather service has posted a flood watch for areas right around i-81 to the north and west. everybody west of 81 is now under a flood watch. it does not include the d.c. metro area, although i still expect to see a lot of rain this is a massive storm. here is the big storm right up here. this is the parent storm, then you have got pieces of energy falling along t big-time storms down to the south, snow, maybe the biggest snow of the year for parts of new england. six to ten inches of snow, even around the buffalo area, these are the tornados were spotted, two in omaha. this was actually the first tornado ever in the month of february. it took a leap year to do it, but they did see one there numerous tornadoes along that path, we have heard about the devastation amount the destruction from the tornadoes,

they are not quite done just yet. temperatures 51 degrees, winds on the calm side, going to pick up out of the south and west. going to see our numbers come up, 43 in martinsburg, only 41 in winchester, 58 in stanton, warmer numbers will move n i do expect to see warming temperatures as our frontal boundary approaches the area. tomorrow, much warmer. we will see sunshine tomorrow and right now, i think tomorrow's looking like a pretty nice day. but then we have another chance of storms coming in during the day on saturday. tomorrow, a high of 67 degrees. to the north, porks of northern maryland, could be in the upper 50s for you folks but down to the south, washington, we could be near 70. so a big range in temperatures too many. friday, beautiful day 57 degrees, a chance of rain late in the day. we have to add a shower there late in the day. saturday, 70% chance of rain. some of that rain will be on the heavy side on saturday morning. we could see some strong storms on saturday morning, too the temperatures once again in the mid to upper 60s.

so, you talked about spring. officially starts for meteorologists are, march 1st will be tomorrow. coming in a perfect time. >> technically it's today. >> technically today. add a quarter every year, your leap year. >> okay, i'm cop fused. >> all right. i'm a believe, coming up. next, remembering the life of the front man behind the monkees. >> davy jones, i'm so sad. survivors of that italian cruise ship accident told a harrowing story to congress. plus, lind

♪ hey, hey, we're the monkees and people say we monkey around ♪ >> doesn't it take you back? a sad day fans of the 1960s band, the monkees, davy jones died today. he became famous in 1965 at the age of 20. jones was the only british member of a rock group formed expressly for the american tv show. davy jones was 66 years old. he died this morning in florida of an apparent heart attack. >> but they all looked young, forever. always be -- >> it was -- also they were a happy group. weren't doing anything sinister, it was safe for us in fifth grade to be in love with them and watch them. >> that's right. hey, you drive on it every day, but our news4 i team has discovered you might be paying

much more for roads and bridges for years after they were built, because the government is not paying its bills. >> investigative reporter tisha thompson working on this one. she joins us with a preview. >> a local construction company calls us because he says he hasn't been paid for years. we wonder is that the only one or is the government not paying up? our digging led us to karen salahi with other construction, her department company did the multimillion dollar project on a road in the northeast but unexpected costs pushed the project over budget. seven years after the concrete dried, she says she is still waiting to get paid for some of the outstanding bills. we are talking about millions of dollars in question here. contractors say these money problems are causing some of them to think twice about working in the district, which ends up costing us all. coming up tonight, we get the city's side of the story and we will show you the drastic measures some of these companies are taking to get their money

back. you can see in our full investigation tonight on news4 at 11:00. >> tisha, we will look for you then. thanks. a metro ad causing a fire storm today after it's criticizing the president. a man uses a hammer to rob a gas station. it is not the first weapon that police say he called upon. new details revealed today about the fire that injured seven firefighters in prince georges county. birthday celebrations, weddings, babies being born,

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a fast forward through the headlines. police say prince georges county council member karen tolls was going more than 100 miles an hour on the beltway, but she was not given a ticket. she has a history of driving offense. pat collins with a live report coming up on news4 at 6:00. on to super tuesday you shall the republican presidential campaigns have left michigan. mitt romney celebrating the return of his front-runner status with last night's victories in michigan and arizona. at least nine people are dead after a series of suspected tornadoes swept through the midwest. some of the worst damage in southern illinois in hamsburg where six people were killed, 100 injured. let's fast forward to our weather. >> we are seeing some of the same storm making its way our way, however, for us, a little bit bet for us as far as the severe potential goes, i don't think we will see that the rain out there now, portions of the

area, the rain prompting a flood watch until 3 a.m. in the morning. watch out for that we will continue to see the chance for flooding on through the morning hours, especially west of i-81, as more rain is now making its way in across the area, some of that will be heavy there are thunderstorms, talk about that, where those are going and where the next round of severe weather could be for the rest of the country and for us as well. >> all right. thanks, doug. virginia congressman jim moran wrote to an agency asking hem to remove an ad that he found offensive. jane is live to tell us about this. >> reporter: wendy you can the ad is in a fairly innocuous spot, electronic and very end of a metro platform in clarendon. you wouldn't even notice it unless you are at the end of the platform. nonetheless, it calls attention to a documentary film that is against the obama administration's health care law. it includes the phrase "go to

hell, barack." and it also has incensed virginia congressman jim moran who asked the ad be taken down. he calls it disrespectful and shouldn't be seen in a publicly funded place. he asked for its immediate removal. >> doesn't have adequate guidelines to prevent this, then they need to establish guidelines. in fact, this is a public conveyance. we should not have ads that are totally inappropriate for the public to be seeing, telling the president to go to hell and suggests people get -- get an obamaectomy or something. >> reporter: in a statement from wmata, they said advertising ruled by the courts as public forum protected by the first amendment of the constitution.

we may not decline ads based on their political content. they do not endorse the advertising on the system and the ad does not reflect the position of the authority." we asked how long the ads would stay up, they said they didn't know, that they were sold by a firm called cbs advertising. so, apparently, wmata doesn't control the ads, according to them and protected under the first amendment. much more on this at 6:30, including reactions from metro writers, but so far, people have been rather neutral about the ads. live in clarendon, i'm jane watrel, news4. a blaze that put seven prince georges county firefighters in the hospital was apparently set on purpose. and that is not the only arson case investigators discovered in that very neighborhood. derrick ward is live for us in riverdale with the latest on these developments. derek? >> jim, the two houses behind me with fire damage to one have pretty much the same layout but they share more than a floor

plan. authorities believe they have both been visited by an arsonist or maybe two arsonists. the same two? that is the subject of an investigation that now includes the prince georges county fire department, the police department, the atf and the state attorney's office. for a while, it seemed that the biggest threat to these houses on 57th avenue was the erosion that was eating away at the backyards, but since a fire ravaged this home last friday and a subsequent discovery of an unreported fire inside the one next door, authorities think that the threat has been more insidious than first believed. >> the investigative team has determined that the fire that occurred at 6404 57th avenue in river state result of arson. >> reporter: as for the fire next door, investigators believe there is indeed a connection, but it happened two to three weeks before friday's fire. >> both houses are unoccupied, however, there is evidence that people have been inside of both of them. >> reporter: seven firefighters were injured in friday's fire. one remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition with burns over 50% of his body.

>> arson is not a victimless crime and as shown by evidence of this weekend's event -- >> reporter: it was around 9 p.m. friday evening when fire consumed this house and flames fanned by high winds caused concern that flaming embers could ignite other homes. a car in the driveway, though tagless, led to concerns by firefighters that the home was occupied. it wasn't. those formulating arson charges, a key question is whether the suspected arsonist or arsonists thought it was occupied. >> one of the things we have to look at is whether or not the individuals had any reason to believe that someone would be in the space that always makes a difference in terms of the degree. >> residents of the neighborhood say this house just down the block of the same street burned several years ago with arson determined to be the cause and the culprits apprehended. other residents upon learning of the suspected arson say they are going to be more vigilant. >> we all need to be looking out for each other. >> there is good news regarding that firefighter who remains

hospitalized. kevin o'toole has now been taken off of the res ppirator, breathg on his own. he has weeks of hospitalization and months of recovery ahead and anyone with information about this fire or any others in this neighborhood to contact the police department or the fire department. live in riverdale, derrick ward, news4. >> all right, thank you. a robber targets the same business three names fairfax county and one time, he used a hammer. this is surveillance video from the mobile gas station on richmond highway in alexandria. last moment, a man tried hit the clerk with a hammer before he got away with some cash. detectives believe the same guy is behind two other robberies just days apart. one time, he showed a nave but couldn't get through the locked doors there is a reward leading to his arrest. happy birthday every four years. meet the local babies born today on this leap day, february 29th. i have become more o

oh will you grab us some yoplait? sure. what flavor? mm, one of each. lemon burst, hm, cherry orchard, blackberry harvest... my daughter's grabbing some yoplait. pina colada, orange creme. i can't imagine where she is... strawberry cheesecake. [ grocery store pa ] clean up in aisle eight. found her! [ female announcer ] yoplait original. 25 flavors for you to love. it is so good.

as barbara harrison tells us, with these kids, every birthday it is tougher and tougher to find a home that they want so much. >> all my life, i never had a family that cared for me. i always wanted to be adopted. >> i still need somewhere to be. >> reporter: like many teams in

the foster care system, they have been waiting a long time for a forever family. >> the older they get, the harder it gets to place those children. >> i would like to have a family sweet, nice, you know? >> i really would like to be adopted. >> reporter: sadly, the chances for teens finding adopted families are slim. >> most of the people want the infants, the little bitty kids, the toddlers, which is good and sweet, but our teens are still children as well. >> reporter: some of our teenage wednesday's children were featured when they were very young and they had great dreams then about the families they would like to adopt them. >> they should want to have fun. they should, like, plan all the time, like having laughs. >> reporter: and how is keysean doing now? >> keysean still is looking for that person to provide her with some type of love and stability. >> reporter: james, too, still

waits, while his brother refeaturerefewe fee kwhu -- we featured was adopted. michelle continues to wait, her twich twin was adopted but she wasn't. >> to see your twin in a stable home but not you, that hurts. she is still aching. >> reporter: they all just want a forever home. barbara harrison, news4, for wednesday's child. >> and if you have room in your home and your heart for one of our teenagers waiting and hoping for a forever home, please call our special adoption hot line, that number, 1-88-to-adopt-me. born on leap year? we will meet the people celebrating their big birthday tonight. plus training for the

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for the past several years, the actress lindsay lohan has made headlines for substance abuse issue, theft accusations, parole violation and lost acting gigs. now, she is trying to stage a comeback. lohan is in the big apple this week for rehearsal for her upcoming hosting role on "saturday night live." she told matt lawer in an exclusive interview she is cheap, she is sober and she says that the nightclub scene has lost its appeal. >> that's not my thing anymore. i went -- i went out actually a few months ago with a friend. i was so uncomfortable, not because i felt tempted but just because it was the same thing it always was before and it just wasn't fun for me.

i've become more of a home body and i like that. >> matt, a homebody? did she say homebody? more of that tomorrow on "today" and watch lohan host "snl" this saturday. what a homebody. >> while she is home, she might want to dye her hair another color that one is not working on her. today is leap day, phen 29th. >> news4's erika gonzalez shows us the many reasons people are celebrating today. >> reporter: it is the celebration of life at hospitals around the area and bouncing baby boys seem to be a trend. just after midnight, 7 pound 8 ounce william grayson shaw made hi bay d.a. i by at southern maryland hospital center. >> we were hoping for the 28th so it wouldn't be so complicated. >> reporter: a little more than an hour later, cole longfellow entered the world and mom, lee, says the once every four year day couldn't be more perfect for

a birthday. >> we didn't really do anything ordinary any ways so he is a good thing. >> reporter: a few hours after that, and a week overdue, this mom and dad welcomed son juan lucas to their lives at shady grove adventist hospital, all 7 pounds and 4 ounces of him. >> she was having contractions earlier in the day, went to the doctor after and then we just took a walk around the mall. i think that's what really triggered it. >> reporter: but who wants just one birthday every four years? wash-fm's maureen mcclaine does. >> thanks so much for listening this leap year day it is maureen mcclaine and yes, today is my tenth birthday and i want to wish all of my fellow leap links happy birthday, too. >> when february 29th rolls around, she says she does it up big. ♪ happy birthday to you >> oh, my gosh.

>> reporter: at d.c. superior court, a different new beginning. >> we are gathers here today. >> reporter: couples tying the knot. >> i now pronounce you legally married. >> reporter: kiss this calendar date good-bye, that is until another four years for now. for those of you asking, maybe you don't remember the science classes, like why do we need a leap year anyways, why do we need 366 days year every four years instead of 365? it is to keep our calendar in alignment with the earth's revolution about the sun. i had to think about that one for a zmichblter are thank one. wendy, jim, back to you. >> wither glad we are back in alignment. important so that we are -- got the kinks out. >> thought doug knew all that kind of stuff. >> 365 1/4 days, how long one year is, if you didn't know t you probably know it is range out there, too.

coming down pretty hard in portions of west virginia. district in the metro area, not too bad this is t. this is the area i-81, toward sandy hook, martensburg, blue month area, virginia, winchester seei seeing fairly heavy rain. culpepper seeing moderate to heavy rain, around that region, continue to see this rain moving on in across the area. you could see a lot more to come back toward the west. the strongest storms dying out as they make their way over the mountains in toward virginia. so that's the good news here. we have the potential for a lot of rain. a flood watch is up for all areas right along and west of i-81, includes the blue ridge and points to the west. watch out there we could see pretty good flood nothing that area, seen well over an inch in most location, temperatures overnight tonight, may rise up until midnight and then fall by

tomorrow morning. these are the temperatures you will wake up to, 53, washington, 53 gaithersburg, 52, leesburg, 52, culpepper around fredericksburg. tomorrow, we will see very warm conditions, especially to the south. talking about 70 in culpepper, near 68, maybe 70 for you folks in fredericksburg, 67 for the district, up toward the north, frederick, 61, hagerstown, martinsburg, maybe only 56 degrees for you, you maybe in the upper 50s, some areas close to 70 degrees, going to be a little bit of a wide range there as far as those temperatures go the next couple of days, here we go 57 on friday, a fantastic day day on friday, i do expect rain late in the day on friday, wait for that and that rain will ling near saturday morning where we could see another very strong cold front move through. that one could have thunderstorms associated with it, too talk about that one during the 6:00 hour and what comes next. >> thank you, doug. all right, what do you got? >> olympics, can you believe that we are creeping up on the games? >> london.

>> yeah. >> l. >> they are five moments away are the summer olympics. and training is well under way. trevor price introduces us to two olympic hopefuls in our own backyard who are doing whatever it takes to earn a spot on the olympic rowing team and hopefully, take moment gold. >> reporter: london, england, host of the 2012 summer olympic games, every nation will be sending their best, training to be the best begins here. commitment, a commitment like the predawn workouts that the members of the u.s. rowing team take on every morning, because when you are an olympian, the word commitment gets taken to a whole new level. >> is always a challenge to stay committed to what you are doing and not because you are mentally weak or because you're not good, but this is really hard what we do there are times when it's very enjoyable and it's fun, but it's -- it's serious, like sometimes it can feel like it is

life and death and that is a scary thing. so, i'm just constantly having -- like knowing i have a purpose and when it's difficult having something to fall back on whether it is your teammates, your friends, your coach or your family. >> the harder part of the commitment is a lifestyle choice it is a big lifestyle to like, basically meet your best friend in college and be like not going to go to your wedding, not going to be around when you have your baby, i will for sure be rogue and i will be missing that because it wouldn't be wise for me to fly someone on the weekend, party up with my friends. >> there you go, beautiful. >> reporter: the head coach who traipse the local olympic hopefuls knows his current group of others are have the commitment needed to succeed at this year's olympics. however that doesn't mean he is done looking. >> all these kids that dedicated themselves understand what it is to be an athlete and compete, rowing opens an opportunity for them and that often happens their freshman year in school

when they realize -- >> in college. >> in college. correct. happens their first year in school realize hey, maybe i'm not going to be the star this d-1 football team, i can go out and grab an oar and go the to the olympics. >> reporter: the real fulfillment for these athletes would be what is to come. >> i want to be the best in my country and the world what i do is very rewarding. and it is -- you can't buy a gold medal at the olympics. you can put a lot of money behind it, as some countries do and that helps, but at the end of the day, you can't buy that medal. >> reporter: at the end of the day when the boats are pulled from the water, the commitment lives on, a commitment that says even during an interview, you check your heart rate. >> 97. >> reporter: because 6 a.m. will be here before you know it. i'm trevor price, news4 sports. >> oh, i hope they do well. >> beautiful. >> looking at that sunrise and

that picture makes me want to go rowing about 6 a.m. for 10 or 15 minutes. the early shots in the middle, oh, that's crazy, that does take a lot of dedication. >> really do. >> they have got it. >> yeah. got to do it. >> thank you, dan.

that deadly cruise ship disaster off the coast of italy was in the spotlight on capitol hill today, lawmakers holding a hearing to quiz both survivors and members of the cruise ship industry. >> as brian mooar reports now, they hope to determine if enough is being done to protect passengers sailing from u.s. port. >> reporter: the wreck of the "costa concordia" off the italian coast in january turned a dream cruise into a nightmarish struggle for survival. >> currently in the black, our technicians are working to resolve the situation. >> reporter: bewilleded cruise members and terrified passengers were literally and figuratively in the same boat. >> with he saw the crew members amongst us running around panicked, frustrated and clueless. >> reporter: this couple told their harrowing survival story to washington lawmakers investigating cruise line safety. >> when we went onto this

cruise, we trusted the crew members and the captain that they know what they are doing. nobody deserves to die on their vacation. >> reporter: the "costa concordia" is registered in italy and being investigated by italian authorities with american help but the u.s. cruise industry says it immediately adopted new rules. >> safety is this industry's number one priority. >> reporter: that includes passenger safety drills before the ships even leave the ports. >> would you feel comfortable taking your family on a cruise out of a u.s. port? >> i would. and i say that because we do have the most rigorous examination program in the world. >> reporter: but many ships aren't held to such exacting standards. a fire and an electrical fire early monday on the "costa concordia's" sister ship, the costa allegra, is a reminder of the high stakes on the high seas. one lawmaker pointed out that laws dating back almost 100 years sharply limit what the cruise industry has to pay in damages after a disaster.

on capitol hill, brian mooar, news4. >> and that is it for news4 at 5:00. >> stay right there news4 at 6:00 starts right now. a prince georges council member clocked at 100 on the beltway, we learned this is not her first serious traffic offense. a fight over free speech on metro, the ad about president obama sparking controversy. i'm jim vance. >> i'm darlene gentzler. we begin with the violent weather that swept across the midwest. at least ten people are dead, thousands of others are picking up the pieces from at least 17 reported tornadoes. much of the damage con accept traited in small towns in