good morning, chb. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. it is thursday, march 8, twegt. we have breaking news off the top for a second day in a row. a d.c. public school has received a suspicious letter. the school in southwest washington is the latest school to receive such letter. it is on the 400 block of i street. megan mcgrath is live from there. megan, what's the situation out there now? >> reporter: well, barbara, we have a big police press pence. hazmat crew just emerged from the school. i will step out of the way so you can take a live look for yourself here.

they have the street in front of the school completely cordoned off here and people wearing special gear went inside and they were inside for about 1520, minutes and they just emerged from the front door of the school. we are told that the students who did arrive this morning are sheltering in place but that no one is being let inside or outside. the school received a suspicious letter this morning. a letter with a suspicious white powder. we are also just learning that there is another suspicious letter being checked out by authorities hering in the district at 12th street. that location is a restaurant. now yesterday there was a similar letter with white powder that turned up in oyster adams elementary school. since monday, three d.c. businesses have received letters. now, yesterday the fbi sent out this internal memo outlining what's been going on here. since 2007, there have been 360 of these suspicious letters. they have been sent to various locations around the country and including locations, including schools here in the district of

columbia. now the envelopes have been post marked with dallas, texas, inside. there have been letters that say al qaeda, fbi, and then a suspicious white powder. also back in may of 2011, 20 letters were sent to schools in october of 2010. similar letters turned up in d.c. as well. now amdan elementary students, those that had not yet reported to school this morning, if they were running late, they were opportunitied away at the door and told to go home. we talked to some parents and said all of this is disturbing. >> i don't understand why would you target children? it is bad enough targeting anyone but children of all people. >> kind of scary for me because all the people were inside of our building. >> reporter: did you want to go to school? >> yeah. to see my friends. >> reporter: and so an ongoing situation here at this school. we are told that the students are sheltering in place. those running a little bit late,

they have since bon home. they are not being allowed inside. investigators still here on the scene and we are waiting to learn more about the specifics of this particular letter and whether or not it was actually opened by personnel here at the school or whether they realized what they had before they got that far, before they opened it. we are hoping to learn those details later on this morning. i should also mention that that other suspicious letter we are just hearing about at 12th and h streets we learned that letter was post marked from texas as well. obviously an ongoing investigation. we will update you as soon as we get more information. reporting live in southwest, megan mcgrath. >> narrator: >> we will continue to follow this story and look for more information from you later if it comes in. thor is is much on for two drivers who police say raced down a montgomery county road and caused an accident which killed a woman. that victim lost control of her car on randolph road and flipped over on to a sidewalk. news4's tracee wilkins spoke to her husband and joins us now

with more. >> reporter: jorge martinez says god will be the judge of the drivers, montgomery county police are still looking for. he then goes on to say that the only thing he can wish important and ask for is for them to cooperate with the authorities. just before 4:00 p.m. yesterday, a violent three-car collision took the life of his wife. it happened in the 800 block of randolph road near the intersection of timberview court in montgomery county. montgomery county police believe two vehicles, silver car, and a green and white mini cooper, may have been racing when the accident happened. the impact of the crash caused her nissan to flip over. she was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. neither silver car nor the mini cooper remained at the scene leaving her husband with more

questions than answers. he says his desire as for the other drivers to cooperate she leaves behind three children. police are still looking for the two drivers responsible for this crash. in montgomery county, tracee wilkins, news4. a longtime radio icon in our region died. brian stroble was walking his dog when a car struck and killed him. it happened yesterday afternoon in the kings wood subdivision of spotsylvania county. he retired from wfls in 2007. he worked at the station in fredericksburg for 30 years. since 2008, he worked for a public relations firm. he leaves behind a wife and two sons. later today we expect to learn more details about what happened and whether the driver will face any charges. also new from overnight, a car slams into a utility pole.

livingston road and oxon hill is open again now. it was closed overnight because of that crash. it brought down some power lines there and pepco crews responded and put those back up. police say that no one was seriously hurt in that incident. and we have been watching the roads. danella sealock is joining us now with a look at how things are looking on the roads right now in our area. >> good morning. well, barbara, if you are taking the metro, metro has scheduled track work. you are seeing delays on the green and blue lines. expect del nays both directions. to beltway we have a crash here. i-95 on the inner loop actually, outer loop, just past richie marlboro road, the only right lane gets by the accident here. and you can see you are jammed. especially as you make where to pennsylvania avenue. and on eastbound i-66, the ramp to nutley, northbound nutley street, had an accident involving an overturned vehicle on the right shoulder lane as well as on the left so that you can make it but you have to use caution. barbara, over to you. >> all right. thank you very much, danella.

turning to our weather. look at that day out there. that's a live picture. spring is here. at least right outer loop. hope we are not going to be sucker punched with more snow or bad weather coming our way, tom. >> what? what did you say? pa perish the thought. let us savor what we have. it is feeling like a day in early may rather than early march. 67 at reagan national. we are well into the 60s across west virginia and virginia and maryland and eastern shore. and it is already near 70 in fredericksburg. 69 there. hagerstown, 64. so not much of a variety in temperatures. latest wind gusts, though. winds blustery. we had gusts last hour that have been up to 30 to occasionally 35 miles an hour. and they are going to increase a bit as we get into the afternoon hours this southwesterly flow out ahead of eight combed front. that is bringing some rain now. some light to moderate rain in

those areas in orange and yellow. left of your screen, that's some moderate rain now moving through kentucky and up into southern ohio. and that is moving off to the east out ahead of that we will have sunshine and for the rest of the afternoon, increasing clouds and we will have a gustin wind around 40 miles an hour perhaps from time to time as temperatures climb into the low 70s over the next couple of hours. then, yes, much cooler weather coming in. no snow. details on that. a look at the weekend onlying up. >> thank you for that. new from overnight, firefighters responded to a call at the fbi building in northwest. a small fire started there around 1:positive. we are told it started in a trash can and one of the upper floors of the building where we are waiting to hear what caused it. firefighters say the sprinklers turned on and put it out. no one was hurt. one person is in the hospital after a fire sparks at a maryland nursing home. the fire happened at the senior living center in glen burnie. firefighters say the victim has

been his -- in his 50s or 60s has life-threatening burns. the cause of the fire is under investigation this morning. meanwhile, four firefighters responding to the fire are also in the hospital and after they were in a crash on their way to that fire. all four are expected to be okay. this morning we are working to learn more about a deadly shooting in montgomery county. here's what we know so far. three men were inside a house on superior street in aspen hill yesterday afternoon. one person was shot and killed in that house. a roommate that lived in the house stayed there but the second man that was there took off. the detectives found him and took both men in for questioning. so far no charges have beenfied. testimony is under way in the civil trial involving the 2007 virginia tech shootings. yesterday a virginia tech administrator defended the school not alerting students about two shootings that happened a couple of hours before 30 other people were shot

and killed on campus. he told jurors the university didn't want to create a panic after the first shooting. police originally thought it involved a boyfriend and girlfriend and that no other students were at risk. our time now is 11:09. what you immediate to know about the massive solar flare hitting earth this morning. plus, why the future of the virginia state fair is in doubt.

newt gingrich is counting on the south to help keep his white house hopes alive. his campaign is focusing on mississippi and alabama which holds their primaries next tuesday. gingrich is also looking ahead to louisiana later this month and texas after that. the former house speaker won just a single state on super tuesday. and it was his home state of georgia. meanwhile, rick santorum is hoping next week's primaries are gingrich's last stand. former senator is telling supporters in mississippi help me beat newt and the republican contest becomes a two-man race. santorum and gingrich are tying or trying to win over a conservative voters ahead of the mississippi primary. earlier this week santorum's camp suggested gingrich drop out of the race so conservatives could rally behind one candidate. gingrich says he's staying in the race. toned-down version of the controversial ultrasound bill is

now law. virginia governor mcdonnell signed the bill requiring women to have an abdominal ultrasound before getting an abortion. the bill originally called for a more invasive type of ultrasound. abortion providers across the state must comply by this july. as of right now, virginia state fair is canceled. the group that runs the event is bankrupt. it is now up to a court to decide what happens next. the state fair is a 160-year-old tradition in virginia. it most recently took place at a park near kings dominion. tom kierein is with us again and has news of more springlike temperatures, i hope, tom. >> yes. actually more like may than march. as i was saying later today in fact, already temperatures are surging into the 60s and as a strong gusty southwe in some of that milder weather. take a look at the live view from our city camera. there is the washington monument

under a partly cloudy sky now and there's quite a chop on the river. few white caps on the river. winds coming in out of the southwest and getting pretty blustery right now reagan national, 67. and they just had a wind gust there to 28 miles an hour. and the humidity is up a little bit. so it is -- feeling like a spring day. look at the contrasts in temperature. all these areas in blue and all these areas in green. the areas in blue are generally only in the 30s. and the areas in green are in the 50s and 60s. yes, this is abfront and along this front we have some rain that is beginning to form and come our way. but out ahead of that it is well into the signatures. all across west virginia and up into pennsylvania. all of maryland and delaware, virginia, the district, and well into the mid and upper 60s. and closer to home, in fairfax county now the mid 60s to a little bit -- low to mid 60s in montgomery county. mid and upper 60s now in prince george's county and arlington and the district. much of southern maryland, northern neck and across central

virginia now in the upper 60s and farther west, shenandoah valley now low to mid 60s. out of the mountains now, low and mid 60s. upper 60s in a few locations there. latest wind gusts, they have been around 25 to 30 miles an hour. ing and reagan national just had a gust of 20 as i mentioned. andrews air force base, camp springs, they are at 30-mile-an-hour gusts there. there has been a gund to 30 miles an hour. gaithersburg, too, fredericksburg. wind gusts actually may increase as we get into the afternoon hours. look at the highs. expecting for today. it will likely hit the low 70s across most of virginia and much of maryland except right near the bay waters and maybe a bit cooler there. much of western maryland into west virginia in the upper 60s or so. it is not going to probably warm up too much more because clouds are beginning to close in there. out ahead of that, some nice breaks in the clouds and little bit of sunshine breaking out. going forward over the next 48 hours, this area in color, this is a zone of potential rain and will be moving in by later this evening and by midnight just

some light rain. coming through. there may be briefly heavier downpours south and east of washington of after midnight until dawn. by 6:00 friday morning, we will begin to see the sky clear out and we will get plenty of sunshine by mid morning and a sunny afternoon on friday and we will have some chillier weather moving in friday night under a clear sky and by dawn on saturday, it is going to feel like winter again. temperatures down near the freezing mark. starting out saturday morning under a leer sky. for the rest of this afternoon, here is how things are looking. we have l have clouds on the increase and have a gusty wind to nearly 40 miles an hour as temperatures hit the low 70s. then overnight tonight those winds will diminish but will likely have rain. sunset at 6:09. occasional showers coming through. drop from the 60s at sunset to the low 50s by midnight. and then starting off friday morning, as we begin to clear out, temperatures should be down into the mid to upper 40s. and then during the -- perhaps latter part of the morning, noontime, it may get back up to

around 60 and then it will get colder. down to 40 midnight. dawn saturday, 30 degrees. saturday, sunny, highs only near 50. and then on sunday, bit warmer. shortest weekend of the year. we turn our clocks ahead one hour to day slooiftinlight savi. that's the way it looks is daylight savings time starting earlier this year? >> no, no. it is usual right ruined this time. >> all right. i'm ready for it. get the light at the end of the day. >> right. >> let's check on the midday traffic. danella sealock joins us. >> still watching the accident traveling eastbound i-66, taking the ramp to northbound nutley street. the accident is on the right shoulder lane as well as your left shoulder lane. you are able to get by but please use caution. as you you make your commute. taking the beltway, still seeing the crash. this is outer loop of the beltway. past richie marlboro road. close as you get to central avenue. and you are jammed. i will give you a live look now

at pennsylvania avenue. actually it is clearing up was just bit. this is good news. maybe the accident on out of the roadway. i'm back in a cull of minutes and i will let you know. back over to you. >> 11:18. still ahead on "news4 midday" why your smartphone should be password protected. it keeps you in shape and teacheses you self-defense, too. steve hayes tries out tie kwan dough. lets you know

tie kwan dough -- tie kwan dough can improve your health lou physical exercise and conditioning. the latest class visit bid our fitness expert steve sxhas joins us to tell us about the benefits. good morning. >> good morning. >> who do you have with you? >> mass t master from the black belts martial arts academy. >> great to have you with us. you took the class. what do you think so far? >> barbara, off the chain. oh, wow. incredible. oh, yes. >> real strenuous class? >> starts off from the beginning. >> five, six, seven. >> you see he's such a great instructor. he had me -- that's the warmup. that's basically the warmup.

abs, quads, hips, everything. whole body is work. >> wow. that looks like it is. let's see. you say it is martial arts class but is it also good for physical toning? >> absolutely. what we usually do is -- physical movement. we start them off with our class about 45-minute segments. first 15 minutes of just warmups. as just saw, throwing lie punches. basic techniques. we start enhancing it to more of an enhanced drill of keeping the pads as they are doing now. kicking the pads. pad work in march hal arts is very important. it makes understand the distance of you throwing your -- your technique. >> we have always thought of this as being for -- self-defense. >> rye. >> people take the classes for that. would somebody want to sign up for this if they want to lose weight or get in shape? >> sure. everything we do -- actually works on your core, on your -- you physically move a lot.

>> yes. it is incredible. i'm telling you, in that -- 35 minutes i was working out, it felt like i had been out to the track running sprints for 35 minutes. >> what parts of your body are affected? >> legs, arms, abs, core, shoulders, whole body because you are constantly balancing yourself and using the whole core to work out. good exam silver medal when i'm hitting the bag, i'm using abs and core. you can see me sucking wind after i have done that. >> yes, i can see that. >> let me ask you this. who signs up for these classes? lots of people take their children. but what about adults? even older people. >> we do. we have students from age 3 1/2 years old to 60-year-olds. it is for everybody. i have a lot of adult students that come in there not knowing what they are getting into at first. once they start trying it out wow, i'm getting a good workout. lot of stress relief when you punch the pads and kicking the pads. it is a great workout for everybody. >> generally when they come they think they are coming for self-defense classes. >> generally they do. with martial arts, besides self

defense, we teach the mental aspect of and it teaching discipline and respect. >> do you teach -- our young man here some discipline. >> that was the which i was so -- impressed with. when i walked in, the respect that everyone has, they bow. incredible discipline for everyone in there. i was impressed. >> what's the reason for that? >> the bow is to show the respect for each other. even for your opponent. when you are -- when we are -- about to spar with somebody. we bow to them to show them that we have respect for each other as a human being. everybody should have respect with each other. for each other. >> how do you rate this n. >> at the top. >> give us a demonstration. >> why. >> one of the moves i was showing mr. hayes was -- defense technique. more of a different martial arts. we do -- an adult level. we -- mix the martial arts up a little bit. we have a move where somebody --

back. >> from the back bare hug. >> i have a bare hug on him. i'm strong. >> we can see your muscles. >> watch this. >> simple step to the side. and -- as i'm stepping to the side, bring my other leg around him and from here -- >> wow. >> yes. >> and not 205 pounds. >> how much do you weigh? >> 150. >> you got him in a lock. i can tell you that. >> i had a firm grip on him, too. >> not only is physically demanding to be able to do that but you can protect yourself as well. >> nutrition tip. >> march is national nutrition month. i want everyone to go to the hayes way, we will show thank you good nutrition for you for this whole month. >> all right. thanks so much, steve. thank you. nice to have you with us. it is now 11:26. coming up in the next half hour of "news4 midday" the award being given to metro this morning. plus, shocked and end departmentic. words being used this morning by

the surgeon general. what teen problem she is talking about. what's next after today's 70-degree weather. tom kierein will be along to tell what you to expect. will it be rain?

right now on "news4 midday" police are investigating would suspicious letters. one delivered to a elementary school in southwest washington and another a business on 12th and h streets north west d.c. this is the second time in two day as east public school received a suspicious letter. hazmat crews at the school cleared the scene just a few minutes ago. right now montgomery county police are looking for two drivers who they say caused a deadly crash while racing. 31-year-old woman died when her car was hit while trying to change lanes on randolph road in colesville yesterday naf yoon. police are looking for a silver car and a green mini cooper

which they think caused the crash. this morning, metro received a top honor for its security on the rail system. the transportation security administration awarded metro the tsa's highest rating, the gold standard. metro transit police chief michael taborn says his agency uses all its resources to create a strong security program. >> we have extensive employee training and emergency preparedness. we partner with tsa as they come into our system as they travel across the country working with transit agencies, being visible, and we employee our security inspections program. and we are thankful to get so much money from the federal government so we can have an enhanced terrorism team. >> metro is one of 17 rail and mass transit agency to ref the award from the tsa. a new report from the surgeon general shows troubling trends for young americans with regard to smoking. the 900-page report shows one in

every four high school seniors smokes. more students are using smokeless tobacco. the report says at least half the smokers are chewing tobacco. the study says one reason might be partly bass tobacco industry spends $10 billion a year in marketing. >> today's report is an important reminder we have a lot more work to do to make tobacco death and disease a part of our past, not future. >> it is time for us to really end the single most preventible cause of death in this nation. as you can we are submitted to saw we can make our next generation tobacco-free. >> despite the numbers there is good news. smoking although still popular among some high school students, the number has dropped from 27.5% in 1994 to 19.5% today. maryland lawmakers are thinking about enacting a new smoking ban. the measure would make it a crime to smoke in a car that has a passenger under the age of 8.

it would be a primary offense meaning police could pull you over for that reason alone. the measure failed last year but it is being discussed in the house this week. the state senate will take up the issue on friday. there is quite a show going on in outer space now. major solar storm hit around 5:00 this morning. so far there haven't been my problems but aaron gilchrist is at the news4 super screen in some way it is storm could affect us throughout this day. >> right now our planet is being bombarded by the largest solar storm in more than five years. you likely won't feel my physical effects from this. but our technology might. this storm is racing towards earth at morning 4 million miles per hour. about 48 hours ago, the sun released a very large solar flare and behind it, a bubble of charged particles. scientists say you won't necessarily see anything extreme from this. but this storm is big enough to cause some electronic and technical problems.

power grids, for example, could be interfered with which could lead to power outages for some folks. gps systems also a concern here. they could be affected causing service outages and even in your car gps. and the particles could cause some communication issues especially for radio and satellite systems. nasa says that it is not necessarily taking any special precautions to protect astronauts from radiation but the airlines are rerouting some flights to and from asia that usually travel over the north pole. that's so the flights don't experience any communications problems while they are in the air. there is one benefit to all of this right now. some amazing sights in the sky. the blast will push the northern lights south so sky watchers will be able to see them as far south as the great lakes. >> beautiful. we are going to check in again with tom kierein for the latest on our forecast. >> a big warmup under way. it is balmy and blustery now. temperatures have hit the mid and upper 60s throughout much of the region.

and it will continue to climb into the low 70s by later this afternoon. then this evening we are getting rain that's now moving into the ohio valley and kentucky. likes like that will be arriving after sunset today and off and on showers tonight ending by dawn on friday and then sun back tomorrow afternoon and turning cooler. we will drop from 60 midday down to 30 by dawn on saturday. sunny saturday. highs only near 50. we spring ahead one hour to daylight savings time on saturday night. sunday partly cloudy. near 60. might get rain first part of next week. last week i traveled to loudoun county and visited the hillsboro elementary school. talked to these students there about all the different types of weather and i want to thank teacher laura robick for the invitation to one of the smallest schools in loudoun county. 80 students for the entire school. i talked to all of them there. that was last week and had great time. hillsboro elementary school, virginia, loudoun county. that's the way it looks now. barbara. >> all right. thank you very much, tom.

prince george's county councilwoman karen tolls says she ready to get back to business. would weeks ago police clocked her going 105 miles per hour on the beltway. she originally get off with just a warning, you will remember. but earlier this week, they fined her $500 and put six points on her license. during a brief news conference yesterday tolls apoll siogized the incident. >> i offer my utmost sincere apologies to the residents. i trust we can now move forward with a very important business of the county and i thank you for your cooperation and support. >> in addition to the fine and the points, prince george's county also took away tolls' county car. she says she plans to take a driving improvement class. let's check on the midday traffic again. let's check in with danella sealock. how is it looking? >> we have a couple of problems. first off, a suspicious letter has h street shut down between

11th street and 12th street northwest. if you are traveling in the district you might just want to jump on g street or take new york avenue as an alternate route. checking on the accident on i-66 the ramp right now from i-66 eastbound to northbound nutley shut down due to the crash there. please avoid. also 66 eastbound. you can see your right lane is -- excuse me, left lane blocked. you make your way to the beltway due to road work as you are traveling front from nutley and approaching the beltway. not seeing any accidents on i-66 east as you continue inside of the beltway but that left lane is going to slow you down. back to you, barbara. >> thanks, danella. a massachusetts father faces criminal charges for trying to disrupt a high school hockey game. the police charged 42-year-old joseph cortis with disturbing the peace by shining a laser pointer into the eyes of one of the goalies. cortes has a daughter on the winthrop high school team that

defeated med way way in the pla. he apologized for his action. the team's opposing goalie says it is not fair and wants to replay that game. >> feel horrible that this is how it happened and i wish, you know, wish i could take it back do i think it is fair? no, of course not. it would have been nice to, you know, play a regular game, just -- play hockey. i guess that wasn't the case this time. >> massachusetts high school officials said winthrop's win over medway will stand. prosecutors are also considering charging cortes with more serious charges including assault and battery. comcast cable is launching new four minority networks. former basketball star magic johnson, music mogul sean p. diddy combs and robert rodriguez were among the celebrities.

they wil lead the new networks, revolt, lray and baby first. all four will roll out in the next year or so. comcast made an agreement with federal regulators to create ten networks featuring primary programming that was part of a deal to acquire nbc universal, our parent company. 11:39 is the time. still ahead what single ladies are say being living in d.c. plus, there's some of our areas most popular attractions. how you can see them and avoid

i was shocked to find out how many couples don't sleep in the same bedroom. but in the sleep number store, we hear it all the time yeah, nine out of ten couples disagree on the firmness they want in a mattress. i sleep on the couch. with our bed, the sleep number setting represents the firmness that you like on your half of the mattress. don't mess with my side because i'm comfortable. i can adjust mine to my liking and she can do the same. go ahead and switch sides so you can feel what the other side feels like. you're on his side. how does that feel? it's hard. i like my side i like my better, too. side better. this is this is too soft. too hard. why don't we switch back to where you were. i am so glad to be back. oh, yeah. you can have comfort and you can be in the same bed. there's no debate or no squabble because you can have it your way and i'll have it mine. so we save a lot of marriages. discover the amazing sleep number bed, only at a sleep number store where during our semi-annual sleep sale, you can save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. sale ends soon. there are 400 sleep number stores nationwide, where queen mattresses start at just $699.

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we have more now on that breaking news we told you about earlier happening here in the district. suspicious letters arriving at schools and businesses. news4's erica gonzales has more for us now. what can you tell us? >> reporter: hey, barbara. good afternoon. we are at the corner of 12th and h street, 1100 block of 12th and h street. when we arrived just after 11:00 this morning, we spoke with the general manage are of this restaurant here on the corner. and the general manager told me

a chef received an envelope. when he opened the envelope, a white powder was somehow dispersed. immediately they called 911 and called police and evacuated the rest and entire restaurant and made phone calls to everybody that had reservations and told them not to come. and they were actually evacuated and sent over to the corner of h and 12 ds street. left side of this building over here, they are sitting over there along that wall waiting to get some type of information from officials. police have blocked off this area. we are told that the -- d.c. fire department is in charge of this investigation. behind this truck behind me, they have some type of a red tarp laid out on the ground. we saw hazmat crews going in a few minutes ago. and with full gear and looked like some type of gas masks as well as some type of oxygen tanks as well. and not being told anything other than the fact this restaurant was evacuated 11:00 this morning, everybody inside told to leave. they are being held on the

opposite side of the street. and officials tell us that this is the second time of occurrence of this sort today alone. second type of some type of white envelope or some type of envelope being delivered with a white powder being dispersed. again, we are at the corner of 12th or 11th 8th street. >> the other occurrence was at an elementary school. we have been covering that as well. that's not physically related to the scene where you are now. but it sounds like a very similar incident. the elementary school got a white envelope, too, with white powder in it in southwest d.c. thank you, we will continue to follow this story and bring our viewers more information as it comes in to us. a new report shows d.c. has one of the highest levels of income inequality. the report says that the top 5% of households here in the

district arranged 473,000 annually. on average, the top earners in the u.s. brought home about $292,000 a year. the poorest d.c. households had an average income of $9100 per year. according to the d.c. fiscal policy institute only atlanta and boston had higher levels of income inequality. ♪ i'm a single lady ♪ single lady >> the happiest single ladies are right here in d.c. apparently. according to "glamour" magazine and match.com 86.7% of the women surveyed are happiest with their dating lives in the district. philadelphia took the second spot. almost half of the single women in d.c. believe that either party could pay for the date depending on the situation. more than half said a messy or unclean appearance is a deal breaker. according to the study the worst

city to be single is boston. applications for unemployment aid rose last week. >> you know stocks are rising on optimism surrounding a greek debt p swap deal. deadline just hours away. also the four-week average on u.s. jobless claims remaining near four-year low. that's the good news. bounce once again not just in stocks but also in crude and gold and helping fuel the rebound. it is optimism ruined greece's participation rate in the bond swap deal. two days after the worst one-day session, that's where we are now. all major indices trading in positive territory. another big story we are watching today, day after launching the new ipad, apple, of course, in focus. justice department taking legal aim at apple and five of the nation's biggest book publishers. according to "wall street journal" doj accused the companies of colluding to raise the plis of electronic books and

paper says settlement discussions are taking place with the street is still upbeat after apple's new ipad launch. goldman sachs upping the target to $660 along with raising estimates for the year. lastly forbes is out with the annual billionaires list topping the chart, carlos lynn who is estimated to be worth $69 billion followed by bill gates and warren buffett. notable newcomers to the club including spanx founder. who wants to be part of the billionaire list? an eye out on that. barbara, back to you. >> spanx is making a lot of money. >> i know. >> like us. not yo-- in this week's "wednesday's child," i reintroduce to you rhonda. she is waiting for a loving adoptive family. i took her out for a very special day. here at the aveda institute the world of beauty taught in beautiful surroundings that echo it is emphasis on the

environment. enhancing what's natural. anna took us to meet one of the trainers at the school. >> rhonda, i would like to introduce aliaal czar. >> she offered to give her an idea of some of the things she would learn here if she decides she really wants to become a stylist some day. >> what we want do show you how to determine if your customer wants hair color. >> right now, at 16, rhonda is enjoying high school. and in spite of challenges, she says she's really doing well. >> what kind of grades are you making? >> all as. >> really? >> yeah. >> that means you must be working pretty hard. >> yeah. >> awesome. >> rhonda has been in the foster care system since she was only 2 years old. rhonda has been moved around quite a bit in her 14 years as a foster child. she's now in a group home. >> i don't want to be there. >> what would you like? >> i want to get adopted. >> someone that will have

patience with her and will take their time. even though she's 16, she needs a future. she needs hope. >> if you have room in your home and your heart for rhonda or one of our teenagers waiting for a forever home, please call our special adoption hotline. the number is 1-888-to-adopt-me or log on to our homepage, nbcwashington.com. our time right now is 11:49. coming up, how to avoid the crowds this spring at some of our area's biggest attractions. plus, meteorologist tom kierein will be back with a look ahead to a cooler weekend. >> i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. don't let rising gas prices keep you home this spring and summer. the best vacations to go on right now that any family can afford. >> all the overnight news that may happen in your neighborhood.

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the boys of summer are getting ready for the baseball season. today nationals fans can start buying their tickets. single game tickets went on sale at 10:00 this morning. you can buy them at the box office, online at nationals.com

or call 888-632-nats. the team's home opener is april 12 against the cincinnati reds. ♪ spring in washington always means an influx of tourists. if you have been thinking about checking out some of the sites in our own backyard you may want to think about beating those crowds and starting early. we have tips on where to go and how to get there and we are glad to see you. >> hi. >> you have great ideas for us here. let's talk first about the united states holocaust museum celebrating its 19th year this year. >> that's right. it is still one of the most popular attractions in washington. march through august is their high season and it is hard to get in. i don't know if anyone has ever been turned away from the holocaust museum but it is a real bummer. a way you can get around sit order your tickets online. get timed passes online. if you have visitors coming into town do it before then. choose an early morning spot. make sure they have a long time to hang out and see all the amazing exhibits there.

>> is there a cost for the admission there? >> there's not if you come during the day. if you order your tickets online it is $1 a ticket. it is a small prays to pay to not wait in line. >> okay. let's move on down the mall to the national museum of american history. >> that's right. another one of the great museums. if you have guests coming into town juan to tell them to see the greensboro lunch counter. and also to visit the first lady's gown collection. they have a really cool thing called the numismatic collection. coins from way back. you have to make an appointment to go. a fun thing. not everyone gets to do. >> you can make an appointment ahead of time for that. >> absolutely. it is recommended. >> the spy museum. >> spy museum is a fun museum during the day. all kids. one day a month on the second friday of the month, they have cocktails and they stay open late. 11:00 p.m. a great date night for the older guests you may have in town. fun for families that don't want to deal with the crowds and they

offer automatic kinds of things like cool tours and scavenger hunts through the museum. fun way to see the space. >> lot of interactive exhibitions, too. which is fun. >> that's right. that includes a drink and your ticket is $20. not much more than you pay to go during the day. >> better than a movie. maybe not as cheap as a movie but it is different. maybe that would be a really good date night idea. okay. sounds great. thank you. we want to tell folks for more information they can go to our log -- website. logon to nbcwashington.com. or going out guide on washington dpo -- washingtonpost.com. let me tell you what the news stories are this afternoon. reading the fine print. wait until you hear what one woman found on the label of her boyfriend's pants. it was so sexist it parked outrage.

we will tell you about that. the duchess of cambridge has become a fashion icon. you probably know that by now. and how she is boosting the career of an aspiring designer. then coming up on "news4 at 5:00," a woman is very much alive but her bank doesn't believe that. all the frustration she is now dealing with since the bank says she's dead. well, that will be an interesting story. we will see you tonight at "news4 at 5:00." time now for a final check on your forecast. here is tom kierein. >> good morning. may in march weather. right now around the region, we are pushing 70 degrees. just hit 70. reagan national. and we will be climbing a little bit more in the next couple of hours. hitting the low 70s. look at the winds. these are the latest wind gusts. reagan national had a wind gust of 33 miles per hour. and these winds actually may get a little bit stronger. as we get into the latter part of the afternoon, it may be gusting to 40 miles an hour. the radar and the cloud cover, you can see the clouds closing

into the mountains. that area in color, yellow and orange and green, that's rain and advancing to the east. areas in red, some of the heavier rains now up into pennsylvania. as well as along the ohio river, down into southern kentuckynd that's going to be advancing towards us. weakens as it come our way tonight. just some scattered light showers looks like after sunset until around dawn friday. and then tomorrow, cooler weather moves in. we may get back up to around 60 after we start out in the 40s in the morning. midday maybe near 60. back down to 40 by mid might friday night. then near 30 by dawn saturday. shortest weekend of the year, spring ahead one hour saturday night, rain starting off first part of next week. >> tom, thank you. we have a new hot shot to tell you about. move over, water skiing squirrel. ratatouille, snowboarding opossum is here and looks to be the next big hit the better known for playing dead, he shows real skill on the slopes. take a look at that.

this video is made at liberty ski resort in maryland. it was just posted yesterday. but already becoming a viral hit. look at him go. he's just taking it easy. enjoying the snow. unfortunately for ratatouille, the ski season seems to be over. not a lot of snow. lot of grass out there right now. liberty closed earlier this week. just in time for today's springlike weather. >> our director has a sweater just like that. a little bigger. >> all right. that's "news4 midday." thanks for joining us. we will see you