pound safe. the 5-month-old baby was carjacked from his home. the suspect remains on the loose at this hour. good morning. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. tuesday, march 13, 2012. we will have more on the carjacking in just a moment. first, breaking news in montgomery county. police are on the scene of a deadly shooting in kensington. this happened near the busy intersection of connecticut and knowles avenues. let's get to news4's chris gordon who is at the scene. tell us what's happening. >> reporter: behind me there's a victim in the street southbound connecticut avenue. they have covered the area with

a black screen. the police chief is on the scene. montgomery county major crimes units are investigating. they are looking for and talking to witnesses. they are also looking for physical evidence. they say an adult female was shot. and they have a lookout. we will talk about what we know about the possible suspect and the lookout for a minivan but what police say is that at 9:39 they got multiple calls from police reporting a shooting. it appears that the victim and adult female was inside a minivan. there was some kind of an argument or altercation. she, according to witnesses, tried to get out of the minivan and pulled back in and shot and then pushed out of the minivan on to the roadway here on connecticut avenue south. traffic disrupted and backed up in all directions. police chief thomas manger on the scene and gave us an update just moments ago.

>> following up on a number of leads. i do think that at this point everything points to the fact that this was not a random act. so -- my guess is -- and with everything that we know right now, the victim and the suspect were likely known to one another so that this was not a random incident. at this point we are still following up on all the lookout information that we have. >> reporter: as far as the lookout information, they are looking for a green or gray minivan. there have been different accounts from witnesses. they have a license number but are not sure of it because witnesses are giving them variations. it appears to be a tag 47360m6. no confirmation that's a maryland tag. 47360m6. they have cooperation with other jurisdictions as well as the

montgomery county sheriff's department looking for a suspect. they have not confirmed but think that at this point it may be a 45-year-old white male, stocky build with a beard. in a green or gray minivan may be armed with a rifle that has not been confirmed but has been confirmed that the victim who is still in the roadway this -- as this investigation continues, was shot. we are not told where but in the upper body. dead on the scene. and we talked to a witness, the manager here at the sunoco station on connecticut avenue and here is what he said. >> she was dying. she was dying because i didn't go close to her because i was feeling really bad about the situation. this place is known to be -- we had a situation before with the sniper thing. and i didn't really want to go there and see what's going on. >> reporter: were you here when the sniper shooting happened? >> yes, i was here. >> reporter: to see this now ten

years later. >> ten years later and it is so sad. and happening in kensington is very sad. this is supposed to be a peaceful town. >> reporter: it was october 3 p. 2002, when the snipers had a ram pain here throughout montgomery county. the fourth victim that day was here at the shell station vacuuming her minivan. today police have a lookout for either a gray or green minivan, 47360m6 with the possibility of a white male, stocky build, beard. that's the latest from kensington, maryland. >> no identity on the victim at this time? >> reporter: no. they are trying to identify the victim. they have not. >> we will continue to follow the story and come back to you if you have more information to share with us. thank you so much. we also have new details on the breaking news involving a baby carjacked in the district. it happened this morning in the 3800 block of suitland road in

southeast d.c. police found the baby in the abandoned car in capitol heights, maryland. megan mcgrath has been following the breaking development. she joins us now from the family's house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. it all started here at this home that you see behind me on suitland road in southeast washington. fortunately this is a store write with a very happy ending. the 5-month-old taken in the carjacking has been found and he's safe and found and back with his parents at his home here this morning. now any parent can tell you just how hectic things can be strapping in kids and into their car seats, trying to leave in the morning. the 5-month-old boy was in his car seat when a thief jumped in and took off with the white suv. the baby inside. police spanned out searching the neighborhood about a- hour later, the thief no doubt realizing that the heat was on. he bailed out of the suv at rail street in capitol heights. a little over a mile from where the car was stolen. the baby is fine. he's back at home with his parents. as you can imagine, there were

very tense and frightening moments for this family as police searched for the stolen suv. relatives are just overjoyed that the little boy is back home. >> most frightening thing i ever experienced. probably not compared to what my sister and brother-in-law experienced. we bless god for the safe return of the baby and, you know, again, the grace of god, we have our nephew, my sister has her son back. and, you know, again, it is just -- if god has not shown his favor on us this could have had a different result. we are thankful for the metropolitan police and prince county george police and, you know, going to go home and enjoy our nephew now. >> reporter: police dogs have been searching the area over in capitol heights on rail street trying to get a lead on the suspect who bailed out of the car and then ran away. left the scene. no arrests have been made as of yet. reporting live in southeast, megan mcgrath, news4. >> thank you, megan. taking a look outside right now. we have a warm day ahead. another one. here is meteorologist tom

kierein. any rain coming, tom? >> maybe by late this afternoon but right now we have a beautiful blue sky with wright sunshine. that was not the story overnight. and -- this morning, when we had clouds rolling through, and some rain but now it has been replaced by shine. there are a few clouds now coming through the shenandoah valley and into western maryland. but those are not associated with any rain yet. however, there is a front farther to the north and west drifting through later this afternoon. and right now it is in the upper 60s to near 70 degrees already throughout most of virginia and in maryland and the district of columbia we are in the mid 60s. right near the chesapeake bay, low to mid 60s there. out of the mountains of western maryland and much of west virginia, near 70 degree there as well. so for the rest of the afternoon, we will see a few clouds coming in but by late afternoon and perhaps early evening is when we have a possibility of perhaps quick thundershower coming through. i don't anticipate any severe weather. but the big story will be the

warmth. climbing into the upper 70s by mid afternoon. we will look at changes on the way important the rest of the week and the weekend. that will be in ten minutes. >> come on in here and see new a minute. we are going to check on the midday practice. let's go to danella sealock. good morning to you. >> good morning, barbara. well, we are still seeing significant delays in the kensington area while police are continuing their investigation. right now connecticut avenue is closed. this is between knowles avenue. right after you pass this area, you will see maef dheavy delays. it is jammed. avoid the area altogether. you may want to jump on georgia avenue instead of connecticut avenue. again, avoid the area. over to the rails, if you are taking the orange line, metro has scheduled track work happening right now. so you are going to see some delays in both directions. other lines look line. danella. today a montgomery county middle

school teacher once accused of having sex with with a 16-year-old student plans to ask for his job back today. prosecutors dropped charges against 47-year-old scott speier because of the wording of a maryland law. it states that if a student is above the age of consent, charges can only be pressed if the teacher is a full-time employee at the school the student attends. speier taught at the middle school and coached part time at richard montgomery county high school. his attorney says speier will meet with the school board today about possibly getting reinstated to both positions. and today a judge will sentence a serial arsonist for setting a number of fires, including one that injured a number of d.c. firefighters. maurice dews pleaded guilty admitting to starting the fire that injured four firefighters in northeast washington. the roof of a vacant home collapsed on them. he also pleaded guilty to setting four other fires in the past lee years. under the plea agreement he

faces 25 years behind bars. the civil trial stemming from the mass shooting on the virginia tech campus could go to the jury today. the state rested its case today. 32 people were killed during the massacre in april of 2007. the families of two of the victims filed the wrongful death lawsuit against the school and they say university officials botched the response to the shootings. they are each seeking $100,000. it is 11:10. how plane ended up nose first off atlanta's runway. and the new fallout in afghanistan after a u.s. marine allegedly shot and killed 16 civilians.

tests on this plane at the airport in atlanta apparently did not go off without a hitch. two delta maintenance workers were testing the engines earlier this morning when the brakes failed. the plane rolled down the taxi way and halfway on to an embankment. no one was hurt. the incident did not interfere with morning flights and emergency crews are now working to move that damaged plane. and we have new developments out of afghanistan this morning. police say that one soldier is dead after militants opened fire on an afghan government delegation attending a memorial service this morning. aaron gilchrist is following this story for us. tell us what happened and is

this connected in any way with the shootings by or allegedly by an american soldier? >> barbara, it appears this could be part of the retaliation the taliban promised it would take for the deaths of those 16 afghan civilians and afghan soldier on a security detail was killed today, two other people were wounded. this delegation was in the middle of a memorial service at one of the villages where an american soldier is accused of killing nine children and seven adults early sunday morning. two of president karzai's brothers and other senior officials were in that group. the authorities say the gunfire also wounded another afghan soldier and a military prosecutor. one of the president's brothers says the delegation now is safe and headed back to kandahar city. at the same time 2,000 students gathered for protest in gentlela jalalabad in which an american soldier walked into homes in two villages and opened fire before returning to the base and turning himself in. protesters were screaming death to america and burned a cross

and u.s. flags are. we are also learning a little bit more about the accused soldier here. military says that the shooter is a 38-year-old married father of two. he's also a trained sniper and stationed at joint base in washington state and sources also say that army records show that he was having problems at home before he left for afghanistan. that soldier's family has been moved on to the base important their own protection. barbara, back to you. >> there was some word maybe he suffered some sort of traumatic brain injury not long ago. >> right. when he served one of three tours, i believe it was in iraq apparently he was riding in a vehicle that somehow overturned and he suffered a severe brain injury as a result of that incident. >> i'm sure we will have more on this coming forward and you will bring it to us if you hear more news. people in virginia line the streets to pay tribute to a local marine killed in a helicopter crash. marine corps captain michael quinn died when two military helicopters crashed in arizona late last month.

the 28-year-old was training for a mission tonistan last night his body arrived at reagan national airport before being brought to his hometown of purcellville. friends and family lined the sidewalks for a moving procession. quinn's father talked about his son exclusively with news4. >> he died doing what he wanted to do. he was training hard for a very difficult mission that we asked these marines in our service to do, our country's bidding. >> captain quinn was engaged to be married. the family will hold a funeral service next week before he's laid to rest at arlington national cemetery. today is the showdown in the south. right now voters are casting their ballots in the mississippi and alabama primaries. both are considered key conservative states in the gop race for president. polls show newt gingrich and mitt romney neck and neck. gingrich needs to win the south to keep his campaign live. mitt romney is trying to hold on to his front-runner status. rick santorum is also looking

for a win with his edge with the evangelicals. delegates are also up for grabs today in hawaii and in america samoa. both which will hold caucuses today. perhaps for the first time ever a state visit includes madness, march madness, that is. president obama and british prime minister david cameron will attend the first game of the ncaa tournament tonight. mississippi valley state is playing western kentucky during the first four matchup in dayton, ohio. they will also take part in an interview at halftime with sport caster clark kellogg. it is part of cameron's official visit to the u.s. that sounds like a fun evening. >> yeah, march mad must and the weather, too. >> yeah. >> as we have had this mild pattern continuing right now temperatures are jumping. look around the region. we are well into the 60s to near 70 degrees already across much of west virginia, virginia, and maryland. reagan national bit of a breeze off the cooler waters of the

potomac. one of the cool spots actually. elsewhere it is in the 60s to near 70. and in fairfax,al ton, montgomery, prince george's counties, bit of a breeze off the bay p it is in the 60s there. high this afternoon with perhaps a few scattered thundershowers, should be reaching the upper 70s. all around the region from the mountains all the way to the atlantic beaches. so quite a mild pattern. certainly well above the average for this time of year. 20 to 25 degrees above the average. going forward over the next 48 hours, maybe have a passing shower or thundershower this afternoon. a clearing sky tonight and then during the day wednesday, we will have plenty of sunshine and an even warmer day tomorrow and then as we get into thursday another day with plenty of sunshine and mild temperatures. so as we take a look at what's happening for the rest of the afternoon, we will have partly cloudy skies by mid to late afternoon but temperatures before then well into the 70s and winds out of the southwest around 5 to 15. this evening, sunset at 7:14. sky will be clearing. and it will be turning cool by

midnight and just past sunset, 70. may have a lingering shower or thundershower right around sunset. after that it will begin to clear out and actually may have a few breaks in the clouds allowing us to see that wonderful venus and jupiter conjunction that will be in the sky tonight. around 9:00, 10:00. and -- as we look at the next few days, yes, this mild pattern continues. it will be near 50 tomorrow morning. and near 80 on wednesday afternoon. and then on thursday morning, temperatures down near 50. thursday afternoon, temperatures climbing to near 80 degrees again. again way above average for march, more like may. then on friday, cloudy and cooler and maybe some passing rain showers. highs in the low 70s. then over the weekend, does look like we will have some sunshine back. beginning to dry up. highs on saturday into the mid 70s. sunday should be a bit cooler. highs mid 60s as well as on monday. last week i traveled to fairfax county's hutchinson elementary school in herndon, virginia. talked to these students about weather. we had a terrific time.

lot of fun. this is a big elementary school to have -- they have over 800 students in this elementary school. most of them are english second language. they do an outstanding job and want to thank a teacher -- anna, on the far right, for the invitation to the hutchinson elementary school. fair packs county in herndon, virginia. lot of fun. >> aspiring meteorologists out there? >> oh yeah. i get them all interested in it. who knows. you know. we will have a few coming out of that class. >> great. thanks a lot, tom. let's check on the midday traffic. here is danella. >> good morning. still keeping an eye on the situation in kensington, maryland. police are still investigating and i'm urging you to avoid the area so they may do their work. connecticut avenue is still closed at knowles avenue. a lot of volume along connecticut avenue. avoid it altogether. jump on georgia avenue and checking things out there. traffic is flowing much better on georgia avenue. now over to a live look.

you can see now bumper to bumper. they are force ed off. >> 11:20 is the time. still ahead on "news4 midday," an early bug season. yuck. how to protect skin from the itchy season coming. the fun musical opening tonight at the warner theater. we will sit down with one of the stars.

> ♪ camelot >> winner of the wife tony award for best musical, monty python's

spamalot opens tonight at the warner theater. one of the stars mike pal barry joins thus morning with a closer look at what audiences can expect. good morning. >> good morning. >> i hear wonderful things about the show and how funny it is. i have never seen. >> it yeah. they say it is one of the funniest shows ever write wren. it is based on the monty python film "holy grail." it is basically the story of king arthur and when he first becomes king. so we spend the first act, him rounding up his knights and gets his quest for the holy grail. in the second act, it is the shenanigans of him trying to find that. >> camelot story but -- >> yeah. >> -- with laughter. >> oh, hilarious. >> tell us about your role. you play patsy. >> yes. it is a running joke in the show. none of the knights actually have horses that they ride. they all have a little guys that follow them behind them with two coconut shells and make the sound of the horse behind them. so i'm king arthur and carry all

his stuff. always behind him. whenever we go anywhere, it is cute. they have this nice little friendship whenever arthur's lost turns and there i am. >> are you a fan of monty python? >> huge monty python fan. get thing job was kind after dream come true. >> those who have not seen or heard anything about this how does it stand up to his other funny stuff? >> oh, mine, very much. it is very true to the monty python style and eric, one of the original pythons, wrote the musical. so it is very much a -- if you are a python fan you would not be disappoint. >> who did you bring with you? >> we have our little friend. most terrifying part of the show. our killer rabbit. >> i see those teeth. >> yes. he -- yes. one of the most hilarious moments. >> one of the characters in the show? >> he. >> what does he do? >> it is when we are looking for clues to find the grail. he guards this cave to get the clue in. so we have to use the holy hand grenade to attack him. >> are you his alter ego? >> no, i'm not. he doesn't attack me.

i cowher behind. >> we are so glad you came to tell us about it. i know everybody will line up to see it. we all could use some laughs these days. thank you so much for coming. >> thank you. >> i want to say "spamalot" is the s at the warner theater through sunday. people can get more information by going to -- let me see. warnertheater.com. thanks so much for coming and look forward to seeing you on the stage, michael barry. >> thanks. >> thanks a lot. and it is 11:27 and coming up in the next- hour of "news4 midday" we will have the latest on two breaking news stories we are following. deadly shooting on connecticut avenue and kensington. the search for the person who carjacked a vehicle with a baby inside. more red light cameras are being planned right now in arlington. where they are going to be installed. plus, whether you want to see it or avoid it, the elephants are coming to town tonight. warmup continues. tom kierein has been an update tom kierei[ clanking ]n update

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right now on "news4 midday," officers are searching for those responsible important a carjacking of a vehicle with a baby inside. this morning, the baby is now back with his mother. it happened this morning in the

3800 block of suitland road in southeast. police found the baby in the abandoned car in capitol heights, maryland, an hour later. now an update on the breaking news in montgomery county we have been following. police are on the scene of a deadly shooting in kensington. this happening near the busy intersection of connecticut and knolls avenue. right to chris gordon who has been following this and is on the scene. what have you got to tell us now? >> reporter: i have updated information. first of all, you see behind me the black screen by the body. that big tractor trailer, the driver tells me that he swerved to avoid the body. he saw a woman who was pushed out of a vehicle, a minivan, in front of him, on the southbound lane of connecticut and swerved and you see the proximity just avoiding hitting the body. i am also told that people from the urgent care facility fast tracked right in the neighborhood, came immediately and tried to administer cpr but appear it is woman was near

death or dead shortly after. adult woman killed on the southbound lane of connecticut avenue at knowles. police started getting calls at about 9:39 this morning. multiple calls. major crimes division on the scene. talking to witnesses, looking for evidence, and looking for a suspect who police think knew the victim. in other words, this was not random shooting. we hear now from montgomery county police chief manger. >> what the witnesses said the victim was attempting to get out of the car. the suspect pulled her back in, shot her and pushed her out and took off at a high rate of speed. >> reporter: so at this point police have a lookout for a minivan, either green or gray. we are told by an eyewitness who was an older minivan -- chrysler ma made, could be a dodge. police are not confirming. had have gotten a number of license plates but think that it

could be 47360m6. and they believe, without confirming it, they are looking for a 45-year-old male, stocky build, beard, and driving that minivan who was last seen fleeing south on connecticut avenue and disrupting traffic throughout the area. and that he may be armed with a rifle. that's the latest from the scene. chris gordon, news4, back to you, barbara. >> thanks for that report. drivers beware. more red light cameras could be coming to arlington. news4's tracee wilkins has more on the proposal up for consideration. >> reporter: if you thought that arlington was done with deploying red light cameras, you are wrong. the city's decided to add an additional eight cameras to six new intersections. drivers are still boldly running red lights at arlington intersections. almost two years after the deployment of red light cameras. people are still running red lights. even with the cameras there. >> yes, that's what we are seeing so far.

>> reporter: arlington county police are working to add more cameras while numerous intersections were considered. six were chosen. now eight new red light cameras are being proposed for jefferson davis highway and 23rd street south. columbia pike and south glebe road. north glebe road and washington boulevard. columbia pike and george mason drive and four mile run drive and george mason drive. lee highway and george mason drive. while numerous intersections were tested, the proposed cameras are in the final stages of approval and expected to be launched in early summer. the tickets will cost $50 for violation with no points or court costs. arlington county police say that it isn't about the money. it is about pedestrian and driver safety. >> arlington is very proactive with pedestrian traffic safety campaigns. we are recognized nationally for our efforts in this area. this is just another tool for us to enhance our program. >> reporter: drivers we spoke with say that they are not

looking forward to the new cameras. do you think it is a safety thing? it helps deter speed. >> i don't think it does. i think it just generates money. >> i wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of the red light cameras. >> i hate the red light cameras. i hate the speed cameras. i think that they are -- terrible violation. this is like -- what's that book, george orwell 1984? big brother, was that it? yeah. i don't like them. >> reporter: when the new red light cameras are deployed arlington will have red light cameras at ten intersections in the city. according to virginia state law they can have up to 20. so more may be coming soon. in arlington, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >> right now d.c. police are going after a new target to stop street robberies throughout the district. police raided businesses and buy and sell stolen iphones, ipods and ipads and other electronics. police arrested about two dozen people at welfare businesses

that are suspected of fencing stolen electronic devices. >> if you are in any way, shape or form involved with the robberies, breaking into cars, breaking into people's hoernlgs steal items p. pass them along, resell them, defense them in any way, shape or form we will find and you arrest you. this is not going to stop. >> every single d.c. resident has the right to walk our neighborhoods in safety and confidence. >> a lee-week operation wrapped up yesterday. the police say they will con their crackdown. as of monday there have been -- there has been a 15% drop in the street crimes in the past 30 days. we are going to check in with tom kierein to bring you up to speed on our forecast. >> we have bright sunshine all around the region now. here is a live view from our sky watcher camera showing the blue sky. overlooking montgomery county. bethesda on the right. all the way -- around the reege front great falls to lorton and upper marlboro, we have the bright sun in the wake of the overnight rain that came on

through and now long gone and off the land seaboard. there are other showers along a we can disturbance, weak front passing through pennsylvania and will be drifting down our way later this afternoon. ahead of that temperatures will climb into the 70s right now we are well into the 60s. some of those areas in yellow you see there in virginia, already hit near 70 degrees as well as eastern west virginia. and later today, upper 70s and a small chance of isolated thundershower late afternoon or early evening. and then tomorrow, sunny and up near 80 degrees. looks like we will repeat that again thursday. friday, could get showers and highs in the low 70s. then we will dry out on the weekend and getting cooler sunday and monday. highs both days in the mid 60s. that's the way it looks right now. barbara? >> thank you, tom. a parade of el fajts will waltz down the ises of d.c. today. half a dozen elephants, clowns and other animals from ringplinging brothers barnum and bailey circus will take part in tonight's parade the it will kick off the latest circus fully

charged. the show is in town thursday through sunday. the elephant parade will begin around 8:00 in garr peeled park. the intersection of virginia and new jersey avenues. lit travel west oyn independenc avenue. it will arrive at verizon center at 9:00 this evening. let's check on the traffic. no elephants out there. any other problems you want to tell us about? >> yes. still seeing significant delays in the kensington area. specifically connecticut avenue, lots of delays along connecticut avenue. closures are at knowles avenue. police are investigating. police avoid the area to allow them to investigate. if you are traveling on connecticut avenue, you can see here intersection shut down. they are diverting traffic. avoid it awl together. on the rails, we have scheduled track work slowing down on both the orange line and the green line. you can expect delays in both directions on both lines. barbara, back over to you. >> thanks, danella. drivers in maryland can soon get a particular felt they light

up with a child in the car. the senate approved a bill. the bill would make it illegal to smoke in a car carrying a child 8 years old or younger. lawmakers are also blocked -- blocked two related amendments. one would have made smoking in a car with a child secondary offense while the other would have prevented the child from riding in a car that someone had smoked in ever. not such sweet news for men that drink soda and other sugary drinks. researchers at harvard found men that drank 12-ounce sugary drinks every day had a 20% increased chance for heart disease. the risk existed even after researchers accounted for other factors like smoking and family history. artificially sweetened drinks were not found to raise the risk. women entrepreneurs are in the spotlight this week. today we meet a woman who leads one of the largest construction companies in the country. she founded rand construction in

our region. pat lawson muse reports. >> this is the hangar at general dynamics. >> reporter: linda rabbit, founder and ceo of rand construction. the area's fifth largest interior construction company founded and owned by a woman. >> we were the first woman-owned general contractor. and i learned it as i did it. >> reporter: she is a former teacher who in 1985 found herself divorced with two children. she took a job with an accounting firm but -- >> i didn't want to become a cpa so i could never get into the corner office. i decided the only way i could really support my two little girls was to learn something else. something i could be in charge of. >> reporter: it was at the height of a local building boom. with few women in the construction business, it was tough. >> we started small and started with things we could understand

like paint and carpet. things that i had done in my own home. >> reporter: the a partnership soon ended and rabbit went solo. rand grew from a $3 million company then to a quarter of a billion dollar company today with 200 employees. and an award winning portfolio. >> these are different law firms and accounting firms. >> i think that linda rabbit is a classic example of the opportunities for women entrepreneurs here in northern virginia and the greater washington area. >> reporter: this week rabbit and other women's ceos will share their success secrets at a forum sponsored by the fairfax chamber of commerce. >> i wanted to create a company where i would want to work. >> reporter: rabbit offers this advice to aspiring women entrepreneurs. >> don't let other people define you. don't let others tell what you you are capable of. figure it out for yourself. >> pat lawson muse, news4, washington. >> that forum will happen tomorrow morning at 7:30 at the

westin tysons corner. 11:41 the time. still ahead, why one man is suing apple for false advertising. and an early bug season, how to protect skin from the itchy [ female announcer ] with xfinity, you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider. so you can run more devices at the same time. ♪ feel a firework [ female announcer ] and best of all, it keeps getting better. no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪

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how many miles are there in ten kilometers? >> sorry, i didn't find any messages for yesterday. >> what? >> answers like that are part of the reason one man is suing apple for false advertising. he says that apple's commercials are misleading and deceptive about siri and capabilities. he claims siri often either fails to understand what he says or responds with an entirely wrong answer. retail spending rose in february. the best gains in five months.

economic in now with brian shactman. he is joining us right now with that and the rest of the day's business headlines. hi, brian. >> hey, barbara. thank you very much. quickly want to point out president obama stopped talking about the relationship in trade with china. talking strong words about some of their exports of some rare metals that are needed in technology, defense, and clean technology. i just want to point out that he is having strong words. wto involving the world trade organization, and involving stocks at the highest levels of the day. dow is up 110 points. part of that is as barbara pointed out retail sales up 1.1% for february. that's the biggest judgment in five months or so. and so that has the markets as you would off -- off to the races. i want to point volumes are very low. they are down about 50% from the financial crisis levels. and yesterday was the lowest level of the year in terms of trading volume. lot of investors aren't even in market right now even though we continue to slowly go higher and

higher. we have a one-day fed meeting. month news conference out of this and we are not expected to have rate changes but have some details about the new stress tests for the banks and the scenario was which they will be tested. they will be tested under a scenario the stock market went down 15% and unemployment at 13% and house prices dropped 21%. those would be stressful situations for those banks to see how they would do. barbara, as you know, that sort of feels like 2009 anyway. we have been through it before. but that is the criterium. >> thanks, brian. are you loving the springlike weather we are having? well, you can be singing a different tune when the bugs show up earlier. beetles, ans, mosquitoes could reappear over the next few weeks because of the warm weather across the country. that's a lot earlier than we would like to see them. dr. burge cess with us to talk about what to look out for and how to protect yourself. welcome.

you look like you are ready for spring. >> i'm happy today. it will be a nice day. >> the only thing is the bugs they say are coming. mosquitoes, okay, how do we protect ourselves? >> there are preparations that contain anti-bug or insect repellents. they usually contain deet or those type of propellants. last year when we talked about this it was later in the sum. this year it is earlier. people are gearing up and you will see in the stores there is a lot of off containing products, that brand is specific for that company. but there are other anti-pesticide-type preparation. >> are there anything that you can eat or drink ahead of the season so that your body actually doesn't -- or repels the insects? >> you know, not really. there's no scientific data that certain things you can eat. some people see eating garlic or things like that. but really it is more of a repellent that is put on the skin. and the newest preparation is a

container that contains a little fan and anti- -- insect repellent that you can just strap on your belt. and last year i actually had one and i thought that it worked very well. later in the summer we will do another segment with the different products out there to use. that's one that really took off from last year. >> do we have to worry about the west nile virus again this year? do we have to start worrying about it efrl? >> not possibly early but we do. that's one thing that we are noted for in this country is having some mosquitoes that are infected with the west nile virus. in other countries like africa, you see malaria. we don't see that here but west nile we do see all up and down the northeast coast so that is one thing that people need to be aware of. >> we really have to protect ourself against those insects. what about fleas? >> our dogs are outside and cats are outside. definitely you can see fleas coming in early. it is very, very warm outside.

we will start to see those little creatures. they jump up and bite you and land back on the ground. they can stay in carpet and can stay on our animals. for the most part they do not stay on the body. >> what kind of -- what do we get from them? flea bites? >> they look like mosquito bites. they can itch. mosquito bites itch and release of histamine in the system, in your skin in that area. topical cortisone cream is very helpful. getting some type of anti-pesticide type of preparation to, you know, clean the house out and clean the carpet. and definitely treat your pets this summer. there are new preparations that are out that contain heart worm, flea medicine and other ticks and things like that that you can get from your veterinarian. >> how about spiders? will we see those earlier, too? >> yes. we are roaming around outside and cleaning our yards and we are doing everything very early

and you are disturbing the spiders. the spiders don't attack humans. they don't eat humans but when they are cornered they may defend themselves. that's when we see spider bites. and a lot of them present themselves in the emergency room because people think they have an infection. but in true sense of the word, it is more inflammation and they need to be treated with steroids versus anti-buy on theics. that -- antibiotics. that's something you need to be aware of. >> don't want to stay inside. these critters out there. >> it is getting warm very early. >> just protect yourself. thank you, dr. burgess. thanks for come. >> you're welcome. time now is 11:51. coming up, big-time stars. you probably never even heard of them. they are going to be performing right here in washington at the cherry blossom festival. tom kierein will be back with when we can hit 80 degrees. >> hi. i'm eun yang. tomorrow morning on "news4 today," a big bash planned at that time white house.

don't call eight state dinner. the field, the results of the southern primaries, which candidate sees momentum? all the overnight news and weather and traffic on the 1s. we get you 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.

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♪ that's one of the largest pop groups in the world and they are coming to washington, d.c., to perform at the cherry blossom festival. akb 48 and they are from japan. to put their pop star status in perspective they earned $200 million in sales last year. taylor swift earn eed $35 milli. the group will perform two shows at the lincoln theater on march 27. first lady michelle obama will lead the u.s. olympic delegation when it goes for gold this sumner london. summer olympics. the white house announced first lady willing lead the u.s. delegation to the 2012 opening ceremony. today mrs. obama will host a mini olympic competition with physical activities for d.c. area children and american university. the competition is part of her let's move initiative promoting

fitness and healthy eating. britain's first will join her for that event. an 85-year-old north dakota woman may the most popular food krit nick the world this morning. it is thanks to her beaming review of her neighborhood olive garden. maryland haggerty says the opening of the chain restaurant was a big deal in her small town of grand forks. the review has since gone viral. many have poked fun at her earnest assessment of a dining spot that we often take for granted. this morning, maryland hit back at the critics and she didn't pull any punches. >> sounds like a dirty word. sounds like you are talking bad. i have different ideas what we want to do with our time, don't we? like i would rather be playing bridge or watching a basketball game than doing that. >> blogging. >> yeah, blogging. >> foodies around the country are coming to her defense, including the critic of all

critics anthony bourdain. plain talking lady. a check in now on the stories we will be following this afternoon. surprise turn of events of the "desperate housewives" trial in los angeles where one of the former cast members is suing the show's creator. she says her character was cut from the show after she complained of her treatment. a voice mail message turned the case upside down. at 5:00, homeless hotspots. a controversial concept to pay homeless people to serve as roving wi-fi providers met with strong criticism. the plan's backers say the benefits go beyond money. we have time now for a final check on our forecast. here is tom. >> gorgeous blue sky now. we have bright sunshine pouring down on washington, live view from our sky watcher camera. and we are warming up. clouds exited this morning after we got overnight rain. and we do have a line of some showers up in pennsylvania that may drift down our way. right now approaching the noon hour, temperatures are around 70

degrees. we will hit the upper 70s this afternoon and small chance of an isolated shower or thundershower. then warmer tomorrow and thursday. up near 80 degrees with sunshine. then clouds around friday and maybe some passing showers and cooler. dry out in time for the weekend. enjoy this may and march weather. >> sure is nice. thank you, tom. that's "news4 midday" for today. we thank you for being with us and invite to you tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 11:00. we will be back tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. with "news4 midday." plan to join us for that. we hope you will have a great day. enjoy the beautiful