paid excellent time after leaving the kennedy space center in florida. and the weather couldn't have been better. so "discovery" flew a few more victory laps than anticipated. >> we had a good tail wind. we had about 30, 40 knots of tame wend studded wind. >> reporter: for henry taylor it is one of hundreds of flights he made before. >> all in a day's work for you. >> it is kind of what we do. >> reporter: "discovery" is the most flown spacecraft in history with 39 trips in 27 years. would miles out from the terminal at dulles, 50 winners of a metropolitan washington airport authority contest looked on as history unfolded. what was going through your body when you were watching it go over you? >> trying to get it center medical the shot. >> i wouldn't miss it for the world. magnificent sight to see. >> reporter: it now sits on a landing pad. the initial deplaning possible less begin later this evening. however, crews won't beginning to actually take "discovery" off of the 747 until wednesday night, 8:00 p.m.

they will work until 8:00 a.m. using the two cranes i'm told the wind factor may be an issue. they can't really take the "discovery" shuttle off of the 747 unless winds are at ten knot or below. >> this is a wow day. >> reporter: secretary of transportation ray lahood praised the new addition to the smithsonian. meanwhile, nasa says that it is not the end of an era and that its best days are still ahead. >> vehicles with names like o'ryan, dragon, dream chaser are being built today all across the country that will continue to expand on the space shuttle's many accomplishments. >> reporter: and we want to remind thank you smithsonian will be closed tomorrow in an effort to get "discovery" ready for its big debut thursday. they have to make space for "discovery." that means that shuttle enterprise will exit. coming up tonight at 6:00, we will talk more about where "enterprise" is going and when. we are live tonight at the

dulles international airport. i'm erika gonzalez. back to you. "discovery" is the oldest surviving shuttle in nasa's flight with a lot of history. the shuttle traveled 148 million miles and orbited the earth more than 158 times. it was the one to make first flights following "the challenger" and "columbia" tragedies. jane watrel live on the national mall. another shuttle washing spot. hi, jane. >> reporter: hey, barbara. it was spectacular down here on the national mall. we are not talking about pyre works. that pig write backed shuttle made a couple of loop around the national mall and it seemed like every single building emptied out and including the u.s. capitol for the once in a lifetime sight. in the shadow of the u.s. capitol, the space shuttle "discovery" took a victory lap around the national mall with an appreciative crowd drinking it all in. >> really proud. and it is -- you know, brings

tears to my eye. >> wonderful. to be there and see that. it is wonderful, yes. >> reporter: thousands turned out in the heart of washington for "discovery's" final flyover. a veteran of nasa's 30-year program. >> two, one. >> reporter: it first launched in 1984. as the first of three retired space shuttles to be put on display by a museum. the crowd couldn't get enough. >> phenomenon nam. i have never seen a shuttle close before. "enterprise." actually see one in flight on top of a 747, pretty cool. >> reporter: after leaving florida this morning "discovery" arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule. as it made its final salute, many came in to the air and space museum to wacht land at dulles airport. applauding as it touched down. to be on public display. an important part of space history. >> it was the spacecraft in which the first african-american

was a pilot, fred gregory. the first space shuttle in which a woman was the pilot, eileen collins. it delivered some of our most famous scientific payloads, including the hubble space telescope. >> reporter: the air and space curator also tells us that the shuttle will be open to the general public on friday. not only for visitors but important researchers as well. reporting live on capitol hill, i'm jane watrel, news4. >> we are following a developing story tonight in montgomery county. where a massive barn fire has been smouldering for hours this afternoon. this is in poolesville. take a look off of whites ferry road. it began sometime around 1:00. when firefighters began putting water on the blaze this t straw and hay inside the barney rupted. no one was injured. it is not clear yet what sparked the fire. nearly 100 metro buses are being pulled off of the road now after two fires broke out in

less than a week. cell phone video captured this scene in virginia and then this morning, another fire broke out in maryland. news4's chris gordon is live with more on the cause for concern now. chris? >> reporter: safety is metro's biggest concern, jim. metro doesn't know what caused two of its buses to burn in less than a week. buses that are the same model, buses that have been in service on the roads of the district of maryland and virginia since they were acquired and in the year 2000. this video from chopper 4 shows the metro bus that caught fire this morning on route 50 near bowie. it was being operated by a metro mechanic who was testing the bus at the time the fire broke out. there were no passengers onboard and no injuries. today's bus fire is the second in a week. last thursday night the same model bus and o'ryan 6 caught fire on route 66 in fairfax. near the vienna metro station.

again, no passengers onboard. no injuries. pictures were taken by a passing motorist on a cell phone. and by a traffic camera. >> you made the decision to take all 94 of these model buses off of the road until the investigation is concluded. >> do they pose a danger to riders? >> reporter: well, i mean, two fires in a five-day period is certainly not normal. and so until we understand the root cause of this pulling ought of them from service. >> reporter: metro has 1492 bus necessary all. by taking 94 out of service, metro is reducing its available fleet by about 6%. causing some concern you among passengers how that will affect service. and especially during rush hours. >> do you have a lot of people riding the bus, and they come every 20 minutes. now probably have to wait 45 to an hour. >> reporter: metro says the buses will be sidelined for as long as it takes to determine what caused the fires and how to

fix the problem. >> first i have heard of it. it sounds serious. i would be concerned about that and we need to know more about it to make an informed decision. i have to catch the bus here. >> reporter: normally metro says that it hopes to operate normal rush hour service this evening and then to gauge the longer-term impact of taking 94 buses out of service and as it goes along. in northwest washington, i'm chris gordon, news4. >> incredible rescue this morning of a trapped worker in a large piece of machinery and a mulch plant in laurel, maryland. the man had both legs caught in the machine and was able to move. a group of surgeons and nurses and other medical staff were called in to the scene and sedated the victim until the machine was dismantled and he was eventually freed. he is suffering now from critical injuries to his legs but is expected to survive this ordeal. new developments in the sex scandal involving the secret service and members of the

military in colombia. today congress learned at least 20 foreign women were involved. secret service director mark sullivan briefed lawmakers today. he said the agents and military officers brought the women to their hotel and some of them admitted they were prostitutes. the hotel is less than a mile from where president obama stayed during his weekend visit to colombia. congress is concerned whether those women posed a security threat because the agents had hard copies of the president's schedule. news now from the campaign trail. today president obama tackled a key threat to his re-election bid. high gas prices. he called for a crackdown on oil markets and urged congress to take new steps to curb market manipulation. >> we can't afford a situation where speculators artificially manipulate markets by creating the perception of a shortage and driving prices higher. only to flip the oil for a quick profit. >> republicans are blaming the president's energy policies for high gas prices. they called today's effort a

political gimmick. meanwhile house speaker john boehner endorsed mitt romney today. boehner says that he has withheld any endorsement until now because he wanted the republican nomination contest to play out without his influence. >> it is clear now that mitt romney is going to be our nominee. i think that mitt romney has a set of economic policies that can put americans back to work and frankly, contrast sharply with the failed economic policies of president obama. >> speaker boehner is the final member of the house gop leadership to announce support for romney. >> turning now to the weather. relief could be on the way for allergy sufferers. >> bring it. meteorologist veronica johnson is in the storm center tracking chance force rain now. >> yes, we are talking about some rain around the area. but a lot of folks are going to say who took the warmth away? yesterday felt like july. today is like march. and we are going to keep going back in the calendar. it is going to be a little on

the cool side tomorrow. 74 is our temperature now. take a look. we have clouds out there currently throughout the area. the wind has been gusty. 22 miles per hour gusts out the there currently. 70 degrees to the north in frederick, maryland. 74 degrees, adams morgan, takoma park and montgomery county at 7 on. happening on to 78 degrees in stafford, virginia. there is the rain on radar. how soon will it get to us? i have it coming up in just a couple much minutes. >> thank you. when we come right back on "news4 at 5:00" tonight, we have a whole lot more to come. don't mess with this capitol hill grandmother. tonight the unusual weapon she used to scare off a would didn't shall robber. bourbon street in d.c., details behind the controversial plan to cash in on the district's party scene. news4 i team takes a look at deal sis centers from death deal [ male announcer ]eath this was how my day began.

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but, it turns out all i was missing was miracle-gro potting mix. it's got what a plant needs. even plant food that feeds them for up to 6 months. you get bigger, more beautiful plants. guaranteed. who's got two green thumbs thanks to miracle-gro? uh, this gal. boom! everyone grows with miracle-gro. life or death decision that can be as simple as a short drive down the street. >> the news4 i-team has information on how well dialysis centers do at keeping their patients alive. why one local company says it is

not getting a fair shake. more on the investigation. >> reporter: nbc teamed up wh a nonprofit to give you information you have probably never seen before. dialysis centers and their death rates compared side by side. what we found will have you taking a close look at who you choose in your time of need for dialysis patients these tubes are a lifeline. the machines clean their blood because their kidneys are damaged or failing. news4 i-team investigation has found where you go to get treatment can be a decision between life or death. >> there are many units that are very close to each other. operated to different -- slightly different standards. and i think that the challenge, obviously is to have the patient grill the physician and say hey, which one might i be better suited? >> reporter: for years the federal government kept statistics on infection rates, expected emergency room visits, and how often people die while

receiving dialysis. but you have probably never seen them until now. the i-team found out of 160 facilities in our area 16% did worse than expected by the practical government. when it came to keeping people alive last year. one-third had higher than average infection rates. >> infection is important because you have to consider that the dialysis therapy, which is in a way a form of washing your blood clean from impurities. requires us to pump blood out of your body and then pump it back into your body. so if your blood gets infected during the course of this process, it can obviously be potentially fatal. you can certainly get very sick. >> reporter: dialysis centers say that the numbers don't tell the whole story. the government records show advanced dialysis center potomac had 153% more deaths than the federal government's expected death rate. that's the highest in our area. 78% of patients died over a

three-year period. that's more than three times the state average. a local company with four branches in our area all of the advanced dialysis care facilities were labeled with higher than expected death rates by the federal government. the owners say that there is a reason for these high numbers. they tell the i-team they are providing care for the sickest of the sick. elderly patients from hospitals and nursing homes. the company says that the federal statistics are very skewed. because it is hard to compare nursing homes centers with other types of dialysis clinics. >> what i would say is find a doctor that you have faith in and who -- can be lonest with you and discuss with them the relevant numbers and issues in terms of what form of dialysis therapy they would prefer. >> reporter: because for dialysis patients and their families, decidesing where to go could be the ultimate decision of a lifetime. we made it easy for you to find dialysis care in your

neighborhood. go to our website, nbcwashington.com. which will take you to this link. all you have to do is type in your address. we put in arlington, virginia. that will then take you to this page. there you get a list of all of the dialysis facilities in your neighborhood. if you click on any of them, you can get the nitty-gritty details about each facility. including mortality rates and infection rates and emergency room visits. it is all there. it could soon a lot easier to find out if your teenager is suffering from clinical depression. scientists say a new blood test can diagnose that condition. right now depression is diagnosed based a teen's description of symptoms. the new screening works similar to blood tests for diabetes. panel of 11 genetic markers are examined. test results still need to be confirmed in larger trials, though. if approved doctors believe the tests could speed up treatment for teenagers. >> great day for looking up and catching a glimpse and a

picture. you are -- people should know you are a semi professional photographer. you don't want too much sun on a day like today. >> clouds really help to block the sun at times. get the -- you know, lens flare out there. lot of folks snapping pro, semi pro. chuck bell, take look at the photos from earlier today. the world's most traveled spacecraft. were. shuttle "discovery." take a look at that by the monument. this is something right that you will remember for a long time, long time. downtown area, here is one from around route 28. folks were driving around. looking up. and hopefully there weren't any accidents because of that. but boy, oh, boy, folks just really love this today. gushing and grinning as they snapped away. and i said it. good day for it, too. right? the clouds out there, partly sunny. earlier today, now we have more clouds that moved in.

temperatures cooled to the 60s north. woodstock, virginia, 64 degrees. 70 at fairfax. 57 degrees at andrews air force base. during the overnight we will cool down to the mid 60s. most locations it will be cool as those clouds leave briefly out of the area. and the rain starts to push this way. it is not going to exactly be moving in tonight. but by early tomorrow morning, more of this rain will be on the east side of the mountains and we will have a better chance to see a few showers around here. there is more storms down to the south. and it is stormy conditions that we could be dealing with this weekend. there is front down to the south. here we are wednesday afternoon. right along the front, the best chance. for southern maryland, for the northern neck, i think the best chance to see and maybe a tenth to quarter of an inch of rain out of the system which the rain will be probably end early thursday. then we are mild again for thursday. but cooling only to -- cooling down to the 60s tomorrow. 59 to 67 degrees for your evening. sunset at 7:47.

as far as tomorrow morning, you are going need the jacket. 46 to 52. first rain shower is probably start showing up around 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. that's going to be light rain showers for the afternoon and again mainly south and mainly west of the area. so for fredericksburg, culpeper, areas around charlottesville, better chance of showers for tomorrow afternoon. your high is 58 to 63 degrees. the wind will be light out of the northeast. and 44, 70 for thursday. but back to a lot of sunshine. 76 for friday. and 75 degrees expected on saturday. we will take a look coming up in a couple of minutes at our spring outlook on rain and on temperatures. how dry will it be? will it stay dry? i will tell you. >> look forward to it. thanks, veronica. up next, it is a -- fight for citizen ship with a twist. why modern medicine is keeping a woman from bringing her twin daughters into the u.s. >> i feel like i have aged 100

years. i have such a hole in my heart that will never be healed. >> a mother opens up today about her son's death and hopes of saving other families from the pain she has had to endure. first lady michelle obama shows off her prom picture. why she says she wouldn't let her own daughters walk out of

good news for baseball fans tonight in virginia. a site fine lynn found for a new potomac nationals baseball stadium. location is reportedly on the i-95 corridor in prince william counst county. core stay stewart is expected to make an announcement in the coming days. the team has been scouting locations along i-95 and i-66. for nearly a year. >> and now to the nats. they are off to a hot start. and natalie is live as they prepare to take on the astros tonight. hey, dan. >> game two of a four-game set with the astros tonight. hot start to say the least. they are 8-3. that's the third best record in the major leagues. they still lead the division and it is not just the starting pitching. which is the best in major league baseball. it is the bats, too that have really come to life lately. adam was leading the team. hitting .333.

we talked about last year. you didn't get to finish the season because had you to have surgery. and this year's numbers through 11 games almost matched last year's total. that's kind of crazy. >> little embarrassing is what it is. i saidility a million times, frustrating year all the way around. to play 40 games or whatever it was, and -- not really feel right physically and coming into a new city, new teammates, it was -- that was stuff. looking back it was mice to get that surgery over with. and -- missed a lot of ball. had to sit around and watch a lot of games. but now it is worth it. >> this year, you have always been known as a great fielder and a very good hitter. but uncharacteristic fast start for you. is that fair to say? >> yes. very fair. history proves that for whatever reason, first couple of months have been a struggle over my career. so every year i have ignored it and act like it hasn't been there. and -- this year it's finally working. it took nine years to figure it

out. better late than never. >> you got hit thing going and baby johnson said -- i think it was last week this might be the best defensive infield he has ever coached. what are your thoughts on that? >> i'm sure he coach ad lot of good teams. this is one of the best i have ever been a part of as far as the total package on the infield. they have gotten so much better than from when they first came up. coming into this year, being more comfortable. obviously them over will doing what he does. and, you know, i'm over at first. trying to save some errors when i can. save some runs. front end field and -- i think you talked to the starting pitching. they probably appreciate it more than anybody. the bull pen. you know, they are throwing strikes and pounding the zone. not afraid of, you know, the pitch to contact and get balls hit on the ground. we have guys that can eat them up. >> adam laroche, two home runs, 12 rbi this year. he ranks fourth in all of major

league baseball in rbi. it will be the nationals and the astros tonight here at the park. we are going to have more coming up at 6:00. >> all right. they are on fire. we will see you then. next on knife five, tonight a burglar picked the wrong house to break into. tonight hear from the grandmother who turned the tables on a would-be thief on capitol hill. >> disturbing case of animal cruelty. now police are hoping a reward will help them track down the person responsible. >> it could be the next big thing from apple. the potential pro

fast forward through the headlines. "discovery" flew around the washington monument, white house and capitol in a high flying salute. it hitch ad ride atop a boeing 747 from cape canaveral. it is now at dulles international before heading to its new home nchlgt 94 metro buss are being taken out of service after two fires erupted in less than a week. the latest one happened this morning on route 50 near bo write. the same model bus and ryan 6 caught fire last thursday on route 66 in fairfax. luckily no one was hurt. an investigation is ongoing. secret service agents and military staff brought at least 20 women to that colombia hotel in the days leading up to president obama's arrival in the country. that's according to secret service director mark sullivan

who briefed capitol hill lawmakers on the scandal today. congress may hold hearings on it. a woman on capitol hill fended off a would-be robber. she says tried to leave with arm loads of her family's belongings. >> pat collins spoke with the victim who used an interesting method to scare off the suspect. pat joins us live with her store write now. >> reporter: barbara, people who live on capitol hill used all sorts of things to ward off robbers. some have alarms, others have big dogs. i know a grandmother who uses a hobbyhorse. >> i held my hobbyhorse up and i said, you aren't going. put the stuff down here now. >> reporter: don't mess with grandma turton. you see, this morning, she used this hobbyhorse to fend off a robber who was trying to steal a bunch of her stuff. >> he grabbed my hair and -- pulled my neck, pulled my head

over. and shouted obscenities at me. and i -- recovered and said now, but the stuff down. and he did it another time. mocked me out of the way. >> reporter: about 15 months ago at this capitol hill home, 37-year-old ashley turton died in a bizarre car fire in the garage. she left behind three young children. 3-year-old girl and 5-year-old twin boys. enter grandma turton. she moves here to take care of the kids. and watch over them she does. today as she's getting them ready to go to school, one of the kids goes downstairs and comes running back up and says grandma, grandma, there's somebody in our house. >> i grabbed their hobbyhorse and i went down to see what was going on. and it was a man with arm loads of our stuff.

>> reporter: with hobbyhorse in hand grandmature ton chase it is robber outside and began shouting police, police. johnny on the spot. capitol police on the scene. they find the robber hiding behind a car. case closed. >> i learn ad big lesson today. you keep the doors locked. no matter what and you are always with your children no matter what. >> reporter: don't mess with grandma turton. police have made the arrest and they identified the suspect as daniel pinckney and say he's 37 years old of month fixed address. live on capitol hill, pat collins, news4. the university of maryland student who threatened to go on a shooting rampage last month was in court today. alexander song ruled competent to stand trial by prince george's county judge. he is accused of posting a threat online and faces several charges including e-mail harassment. false statements to officials and disturbing the peace.

the 19-year-old is over more remains on home detention but allowed to leave for doctors' visits. alexandria police say one cop is one arrested of drug charges. frederick sayles, gabriel sepeda and david fluors were arrested last week. investigators say the suspects were in the process of bringing more than 27 pounds of marijuana into the commonwealth from california. the drugs have an estimated street value of $635,000. the debate over drinking hours inning the district is heating up. ward one councilman graham is holding a public hearing at this hour to discuss mayor gray's proposal to push back the closing time at bars here. and they could get an extra hour to serve alcohol from 2:00 to 3:00 in the morning on weekdays and 3:00 to 4:00 in the morning on weekends. critics worry the late drinking hours will create borbon street atmosphere in neighborhoods along u street and adams morgan. >> speaking from a personal

position, not that of the commission on which i sit, i personally think it is a bad idea. we have a lot of people that are already out drinking at all hours of the night. and i have a lot of constituents that have a hard time sleeping and getting any rest especially on the weekends. >> i think it sounds like something that could be done well if it is done well. so i'm all for it. as long as the streets can still be kept safe. >> the extended hour could generate three $3 million to $5 million a we are in extra revenue. now to a developing store write in richmond tonight. a make or break vote looms over virginia's budget. the house is expected to pass a new deal to extend funding for two years. but it looks like the senate is fighting the measure. democrats are demanding $300 million to the metro silver line at dulles. but republicans say that only 150 million is available this year. democrats hold half of the senate seats. the old budget expires in two months. >> coming up local taxi drivers

take their cars off the road in protest. plus a mother's heartache tonight she speaks out for the first time since her son's death to warn others about the dangers of driving drunk. i'm liz crenshaw. new warning about a walmart text message scam. what you immediate

have you filed your taxes yet? tonight you have some last-minute tips for you for you procrastinators? >> we have a warning about a new gift card scam and a look at the rising cost of attending prom. >> liz crenshaw is here and has details. >> nice to see you. as you probably know midnight tonight is the deadline to have your tax return post marked. if you are still crunching the mums be careful. the irs says that many folks make mistakes tonight and file incorrect returns. there is still help if you haven't filed. the irs will give you more time. six months, in fact to complete your return. but not more time to pay. to get an extension you are going to get a copy of the irs form 4868 which you can find online and at irs.gov. if your tax information hasn't changed much since last year you can use your 2010 tax return to estimate what you owe for this

year. and you will need to include that payment for that estimated amount when you file form 4868. you can file the extension online or print out a copy of the form and mail it in but it all needs to be done by midnight to avoid late filing penalties. once you turned in your extension request you have until october 15 to file your return. take a breath. if sending that tax form to the irs has your wallets empty a new walmart gift card text message may sound enticing. but don't fall for it. we have been hearing from viewers that a new gift card text message is referring people to a website where they can claim a walmart gift card by entering certain personal information. the texts are bogus. the phone write texts have become so prevalent that walmart itself has issued a fraud alert so consumers know it is a scam. walmart tells consumers not to click on the links and texts and that the texts are in no way affiliated with the store. as prom night looming at

your house. if the planning and shopping isn't aggravating enough, it turns out this year families will pay more than ever for their high schoolers to attend prom. a new survey says the average american family with teenagers plans to spend $1,078 for each child going to prom this year. that's up more than 33% over last year. that price includes the dresses, tuxes, limo rentals, tickets, flowers, food, accommodations, after parties. families in the lowest income bracket by the way earning less than $20,000 a year plan to spend $1,200 per child for prom. more than 6% of their annual income. prom is pricey. and getting pricier every minute. >> like a wedding. you don't get a marriage certificate with that, do you? >> put on a dress and somebody got a car. never mind. >> the wrist corsage. >> limos and after parties. it is a new day. >> thank you, liz. speaking of prom, tonight

the first lady showing off her prom pictures. why she says she doesn't want her daughters dressing like she did. >> packing heat in paris. some say it was a joke. the picture can still mean trouble for pippa middleton. >> thanks, barbara. rainfall deficit for the year closing in on five inches. so what's the forecast for the so what's the forecast for the rest of the spring? never in my lifetime

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. breaking news into the newsroom. warren buffett has been diagnosed with stage one prostate cancer. he says the condition is not life threatening. he got the diagnosis last week and plans to undergo a two-month

treatment of radiation. in july. a troubling stud write shows how many teens are getting access to alcohol from their own parents. today a local mother on the other side of the statistic is talking about the drunk driving crash that killed her son. darcy spencer is here with that store write. darcy? >> carrie's son died in a drunk driving hit-and-run crash in montgomery county. in one week she attended funerals for her son and two of his friends who also died in that crash. today she is still struggling to heal. she's sharing her story to help other parents. >> i feel like i have aged 100 years. i have such a hole in my heart that will never be healed. >> reporter: carrie hoover's son was one of three passengers killed in a drunk driving crash one year ago. >> i will never be the same person that i was before i lost my son. >> reporter: hoover remembers coming home after a trip to find

everyone there crying. everyone except her son, john write. she knew something was wrong. >> i started to turn you a round and put my hands over my ears and i ran out the door and started to run away. because i didn't want to hear what they had to tell me. my sons grabbed me and pulled my hands away from my ears and told me that johnny was killed. johnny was dead. >> reporter: hoover appeared at a mothers against drunk driving event at the national press club where experts revealed 26% of underage drinkers are getting their alcohol from parents or other relatives. >> if we could just say one familiar -- save one family from going through the heartache. it just keeps happening over and over and over again. >> reporter: the driver, 20-year-old kevin coffee, pleaded guilty to three counts of vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison.

authorities say that he had been drinking at at least two parties before the crash and fled the scene. >> yes, we are angry. we are angry that he killed my son. and that he ran away and left him to die on the side of the road. >> reporter: although hoover says she talked to her son about the dangers of drinking, she is filled with regret and still wonders what, if anything, she could have done to change what happened. >> i think parents need to keep on top of it is the -- as best they can. and pray for the best. right? >> hoover thought that with the sentencing that the case was closed. but kevin coffee asked for and was granted a sentence reconsideration by a three-judge panel. he is asking that his sentence be reduced. we will have more on that coming up tonight on "news4 at 6:00." the washington humane society tonight is trying to figure out who set a dangerous animal trap in northwest d.c. earlier this month someone found a raccoon wandering around cleveland park with a snap trap

on its leg. self raffle days later the human society tracked it down. officials tell us it had to be put down and warned the situation could have been worse. >> whoever set this did it irresponsibly. first of all these are illegal. second of all any animal, any child, anybody could have gotten caught in this trap. we don't know where it came from, who set it, what they set it for. it wasn't done in a way to keep animals safe. obviously they had the intent to do harm. >> $1,000 cash reward for information in the case. anyone who need ad taxi around alexandria today may have had a hard time finding one. taxi drivers went off duty for three hours to protest alexandria's taxi code. some drivers say they have been mistreated by alexandria's yellow cab company. particularly with an increase in the dispatch fees they have to pay. and union leaders say the city taxi code makes it very difficult for drivers to leave the company. today they met with city council

members and candidates to discuss their problems and yellow cab tells news4 it has been trying to compromise on dispatched fees but union leaders and drivers have not been responsive. to the weather, veronica is here and tells us when the rain will be rolling in. >> little bit of rain for tomorrow morning. emphasis on the little. not everyone is going to get wet and we are only expecting a few light showers around the area. it has been about a month and a half since we have had any decent rain you a round here. and for the year so far, we are closing in on a five-inch rainfall deficit. take a look behind me. noaa's precipitation for april, may and june. their thinking is there will be equal chances of seeing above or below rainfall for much of the eastern half of the nation. the exception, the gulf coast states that will be below average they are thinking. equal chances so that means our average rainfall for this time period running at about nine inches but again, already with a five-inch deficit, not looking too good for us.

same thing with the temperatures. temperatures, let me go a back one page. temperatures expected to be above average for the mid atlantic states and northeast. of course, yesterday we were 9 degrees. feeling like july. we had so much heat already. and we are going to be cooling it down but only for a day. again, those showers will be moving in. here's storm 4 radar showing you light rain on the western side of west virginia. some showers, even a few storms have been making their way through western north carolina and that will be approaching roanoke. the best chance of rain for us will be tomorrow afternoon. albeit even tomorrow morning, there could be a few light showers around the area. 46, the temperature tomorrow morning. up north, mt. erie, 52 in d.c. 52 degrees to start the day in fredericksburg. 49 in culpeper. and annapolis starting out in 55 degrees. so during the overnight we are going to clear out a little bit and clouds will roll back by the morning. those clouds will probably start producing a little bit of rain after sunrise tomorrow. better chance for the afternoon

around 3:00, 4:00, 5:00. 59, the temperature. 60 degrees. that is cool, folks. very cool conditions. so you are going to need the jacket. and, again, the small little umbrella for tomorrow. so maybe a tenth to water of an inch of rain important some of us. mainly down to the south. fredericksburg, culpeper. 70 degrees, warm it up and get sunshine in here for thursday. 76 for friday. 75 degrees for saturday. not only sit looking like we are going to have rain around for saturday and sunday but could be dealing with some storm write weather. might be a chance of severe weather around here. we will keep you updated. >> all right, thank you. pippa middleton is laying low after a controversial photo in paris. that's just one of the stories that is trending today. the british media is agoing after one of her companions appeared to aim a pistol at the tabloid photographers. trailing the car in paris. one of the friends says the pistol was a toy and paparazzi

knew it and nevertheless, some brits say that it is not the sort of behavior they expect from prince william's sister-in-law. could it the next big thing from apple? rumor mill has been swirling after a chinese blog said the company was working on a new ipad mini. the device would be smaller than the ipad but bigger than an iphone and cost between $250 and $300. there are reports the device could be out as early as this fall despite all the buzz, though, apple is not commenting. the first lady michelle obama has something in common with most of us. she regrets her prom picture. michelle obama's picture from the past was revealed on the ellen degeneres show. they were honoring teen girls of military parents with new prom dresses. when her own dress was shown, mrs. obama appeared horrified at the long slit up the side. she said she doesn't want malia or sasha wearing a dress like that. the first lady made no mention of that man. who is that man in the photo? >> he did not go on to become

president of the united states. we do know that. >> who saw the man? we were all busy looking at the slit. who noticed him? >> true. >> like window dressing over there on the side. >> lot of dress. >> what do you have coming up at 6:00? >> we are working to get new information in a developing story that's going on in prince george's county. somebody there made a gruesome discovery near the banks of the national harbor. more on the police investigation into the body found in the potomac. also ahead at 6:00, kinder gartder in was acting newspaper school the police came in and handcuffed a 6-year-old. we will tell you why police say that this is standards procedure. nasa is showing off another kind of spectacular display. wait until you see this. those stories and more coming up in a few minutes on "news4 at 6:00." >> get the shades ready. star power. thanks. next, twin girls conceived th

families are created in many different ways these days. some say the laws aren't keeping up with the science. >> nbc's martin fletcher reports on one american mother who says the issue has placed her in a

situation that's both frustrating and humiliating. >> amazing. they are like perfect. >> reporter: like any mom, she adores her children. >> i wonder what i did to get such an amazing gift. >> reporter: what she did was in vitro fertilization in israel using donor sperm and donor eggs to have a baby. her n her case, twins. now 2 1/2 years old. she went to the u.s. embassy in israel to register her daughters as americans. and that's when joy turned to anger. >> i was embarrassed, humiliated, horrified, ashamed. >> reporter: through a glass partition over a loudspeaker in a crowded room, the embassy official asked her a single mother, how she conceived the children. >> that's an outrageous question. >> reporter: that was just the beginning. after more private questions asked in a public place, she fled in tears. she says that her children's requests for u.s. citizenship was denied. why?

because there's no proof that either of the donors of the sperm or the egg is american. everything is anonymous, secrecy guaranteed. >> they are my kids. i carried them for nine months but they can't be american. >> reporter: you can have a child that is a child without a country. they are not going to be u.s. citizenship because there is no biological connection. the laws of that foreign country may say we don't recognize this child as our citizen either. the law needs to address this. >> reporter: if they were adopted there would be no problem but in vitro babies. >> u.s. policy is not keeping up with the technology. that's what tissue is. >> reporter: there is a way for the girls to become american. living in america for six months and do all the paperwork there. the family lives in israel. and what she thinks should be an automatic right, the children born to an american mother are american, well, it is harder for

in vitro babies born outside of the united states. martin fletcher, nbc news. >> official prosecutors the state department tell nbc they are sympathetic to the family situation but they are following the law. now at 6:00, the "discovery" makes a dramatic appearance in the skies over washington. space shuttle "discovery" lifted off from the kennedy space center for the final time today. riding on the back of a jumbo jet. >> people across our area got a once in a lifetime sky show as the shuttle circled our region. >> sharp flight ended with a smooth landing. picture perfect moment at dulles airport. it was one thing everybody was talking about today. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> doreen gentzler. what everyone is asking. did you see it? erika was there for the action and joins us from dulles airport. hey, erika. >> reporter: hi, doreen. well, take a look behind me. of course i saw it. i got the best view. i don't think you could get a better looking shot than the one that is