now from washington's leading news station, this is "news4 midday." >> good morning, everyone and welcome to "news4 midday," i'm barbara harrison, it's thursday, april 19, 2012. right now a welcome ceremony is under way for the shuttle at the smithsonian's national air and space museum annex in northern virginia overnight crews lifted the shuttle off the back of the jumbo jet and placed it on the ground at the udvar-hazy center, that's where we find megan mcgrath. >> reporter: look behind me here, you can see the crowd that has assembled to see this historic moment. out there, that is the prototype

shuttle, the "enterprise" it's been on display at the udvar-hazy center for the last nine years. just around the bend, at the gate to this complex, is "discovery," the workhorse of the shuttle fleet. now this of course is the changing of the guard here at the air and space museum's udvar-hazy center, after being on display for nine years, "enterprise" is going to be leaving. bound for a museum in new york. "discovery" will enter the space hangar and become part of the permanent exhibit later on today. now, lots of people very interested in all of the goings-on here, it's an historic moment. the two shuttles are going to approach one another. the "discovery" will be towed nose to nose with the "enterprise." i've got to tell you there's a big contrast between these two shuttles. the "enterprise" was a prototype. it never went up into space. it was used for testing purposes. the "discovery," on the other

hand, went on 39 missions, it has re-entered many times. and as you would imagine, there's a big contrast between of look of these two shuttles. "enterprise" looking all pristine. looking like a museum model. and the "discovery" looking a little charred, a little beaten up. you're looking live now from the podium as the ceremony gets under way. we're expecting "discovery" to move shortly, being towed to this location. where it will come nose to nose with the "enterprise." we've been talking to folks out here, space lovers who have been watching this with great enthusiasm. everyone has kind of a same idea here of the importance of this moment, the changing of the guard. the end of an era. also similar accord has been struck among folks who look at "discovery" and see how it looks. in fact, this was a real working shuttle. again, the workhorse of the fleet. and they just think that that's

amazing to see it so up close. >> i say never replace those tiles. always have those battle scars on there. i think it's a piece of history and it's just cool to see the shuttle after all these years of service, come back intact, no cosmetics. don't spend the money on it. >> this is a very extraordinary day. and i just can't believe this is happening. you know. >> shop-worn, it's seen a lot of use. so it's wonderful. >> reporter: and we are starting to see the discovery, we're going see that discovery being towed in here momentarily. you can see that the crowd is enthusiastic here, just waiting for it to round the bend. it's on the grounds or just at the edge of the grounds to the gate here at the udvar-hazy facility. it's being towed bay small vehicle, it will take a little while to get to this location. but certainly, a lot of folks very eager to see it. and again, to see it nose to

nose with the "enterprise, kwxg"enterprise," there's such a sharp contrast between the two of them. quite a week here for space enthusiast is, on tuesday we saw "discovery" coming in, piggy-back on the 747 at dulles airport. it did a spin-around the washington, d.c. area. people came out of their office buildings, stopped what they were doing. traffic stopped on the bridges. as people waited to see it go overhead. a lot of folks very excited to see that. and of course, this is sort of the end of an era here. we're going to have a changing of the guard. the "enterprise" which has pleased so many visitors here for the last nine years, it will be leaving. the interesting thing here is that this is all happened in a very short period of time. discovery arrived here on tuesday. you've got a live look here at "discovery" moving here. you can see it approaching, coming toward the "enterprise"

here at a slow pace. visitors will be able to take a look at it see the two up close and personal. and later on tonight, right around 6:30, "discovery" will be towed inside the space hangar at the udvar-hazy center to the very spot where the "enterprise" stood for so long. that will not be open to the public at this point and the crews at the museum will be working overtime. getting everything together. because tomorrow morning when the museum opens at 10:00 a.m., discov"discovery" is going to b place on permanent exhibit and folks will be able to take a look. reporting live from the udvar-hazy center, megan mcgrath, news4. megan, we know that the "enterprise" going to be ferried up to new york to a museum there. so new yorkers are getting excited about getting their flyover just as we had here. do you know if it will be on the back of the same 747? >> yes, it will be. they've got this special plane that has been completely gutted

inside. its sole mission is to transport the shuttles around. that mission, too, is coming to an end. once the shuttles are taken to their final locations at various museums, that plane will be decommissioned, if you will. it will no longer be needed. all of the shuttles will be in permanent homes at the museums. so kind of a saddened to an era. for the pilots as well, if you can imagine, how much fun it must be to fly the plane with a shuttle on your back. >> i can imagine. thank you so much megan. it looks like a big party out there for sure. and it's a beautiful day for the welcome ceremony for the shuttle. storm center 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first forecast now. >> you saw there was megan was, there's a little bit of sunshine breaking out. we've had some morning fog, but that's lifted. here's a live view from our sky watcher camera over downtown washington. breaks in the cloud. you can pan the camera now into arlington. you can see there's a few breaks in the clouds there as well. some blue showing through.

and now panning into fairfax county, these are the high-rises of along massachusetts avenue in the foreground. and american university. now we're looking off toward loudoun county, way off on the horizon, and montgomery county there on the right. and there is the high rises there of friendship heights, you can see some nice breaks in the cloud cover. as we take a look at the temperatures around at this hour. under these cloudy breaks, we are warming up after a chilly start. we were down into the upper 40s by around 8:00, 9:00 this morning. it did begin to warm up into the 50s. now reagan national is at 62. out there near the udvar-hazy center. temperatures there in the upper 50s right now. and it's going to continue to climb to around 70 by later this afternoon. i'll have details on that big changes for the weekend. could be stormy. parts of the weekend, we'll detail that coming up and look at next week as well, barbara? >> tom, thank you. let's check in with danella to see how things are moving on the roads around here. good morning. >> good morning, barbara, if

you're taking the rails, track work again today. slowing you down on both the orange and blue lines, you're going to see delays on both lines in both directions. to the roads no, i-66 heading eastbound towards the beltway at gallows, left lane blocked because of road work. saw it yesterday around this time. it's going on again today. your travel speed is about 37 miles per hour, a 16-minute drive to get from fairfax county parkway to the capital beltway. and over to beltway actually, here's a live look at the beltway in montgomery county. no issue there is, cameras on the fritz, but outer loop as well as the inner loop, you're clear in montgomery county. back to you. >> thank you so much, danella, see you again shortly. right now police in the district are investigating a homicide in northeast washington. the victim was found beaten to death early this morning just off of oates street near bladensberg road. news4's tracee wilkins is on the scene with more. >> reporter: d.c. police say they were called to this neighborhood for the report of a

man found unconscious, when they arrived what they found was a man beaten to death in this alley. and are now searching for any information they can find to help close this case. when people who knew the victim heard about what happened overnight, they rushed to the scene. police say a 36-year-old man was beaten to death in an alley on 16th street near the corner of oates street and trinidad. this man who did not want to be identified said he knew the victim. >> he had a troubled life. and i mean, you know, it's the way things go around here. >> d.c. police say they were called to the neighborhood just before midnight for the report of an unconscious man. when they arrived, they found the victim suffering from what police called blunt-force trauma, including reported injuries to his head. he was pronounced dead at the hospital. just a few years ago, the trinidad neighborhood experienced a crime wave so extreme that the chief of police

set up a controversial i.d. check-point for people to enter the community. now there's new development. and new residents moving in who were shocked to hear about a man found dead on their streets. >> it has us all on pins and needles, thinking about moving to a new neighborhood. especially when you think they're building new buildings and doing so many different things in the neighborhood, it's supposed to be better. and then you come to find out, oh, someone dies across the street. >> reporter: d.c. police are asking anyone with information that can help to solve this case to give them a call. in northeast, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. a church day care center in the district is shut down this morning, over accusations of child abuse. it happened earlier this month in the zion baptist church in eastland gardens. police say a witness saw a man standing over a 3-year-old sleeping on a cot, the witness says the man was exposing himself and the boy's pants had been pulled down. no one reported the incident until three days later.

>> if this is true, you know, this destroys the church, the day care. so i just pray that it didn't happen. >> about 65 children attend the day care. police say the man they are looking for likely has ties to the facility. a fairfax county priest once responsible for protecting children from abuse is off the job, accused of abusing a teenaged boy years ago. the allegations against reverend terry spekt date back to the late 1990s. he was a priest at the st. mary of sorrows church in fairfax. he led the child protection services for the arlington diocese. he also worked at a catholic high school, paul vi and the holy spirit church in annandale. the arlington diocese says it's fully cooperating with police. our time right now is 11 minutes after 11:00. the latest on the secret service sex scandal and why some are saying that congress has no

reason to get involved in this. and the possible motive for the murder of a mother and the kidnapping of her 3-day-old baby. plus, our live coverage of the welcome ceremony for the space shuttle "discovery" at the udvar-hazy center continues as we see "discovery" and "enterprise" are now nose to nose. what makes the sleep number store different? the sleep number bed. with the sleep number bed, it's not about soft or firm. it's about support where you find it most comfortable. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. this is your body there. you can see a little more pressure in the shoulders and in the hips. now you can feel what happens as we raise your sleep number setting

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♪ ♪ today is the 17th anniversary of the oklahoma city bombing. officials, family and friends held a 168-second moment of silence for the victims who died at the murral federal building building in downtown oklahoma city. and today is the national day of

service and remembrance for victims and survivors of terrorism. a presidential proclamation calls for flags to fly at half staff and encourages all americans to observe the day with acts of community service. three secret service agents are without a job this morning, amid a growing prostitution scandal. two of the men are supervisors, one was allowed to retire, another was fired with cause, and the third agent quit. 11 agents and at least 10 service members are accused of bringing 20 women to their hotel in colombia. but this morning, there's confusion over how many women are actually involved and there are now allegations of drug use. a congressional hearing, however, seems unlikely because investigators have not found anything compromising in the hotel rooms, like guns, equipment or presidential schedules. the woman accused of shooting and killing a mother and kidnapping her newborn baby in texas is in court today. police arrested verna mcclain and charged her with capital murder in the death of 28-year-old kayla schuchardt.

they say the 30-year-old confessed to the crime. police say she waited outside the pediatrician's office in a houston suburb. and randomly selected a woman with a newborn baby. investigators say mccain recently miscarried and needed a baby to pass off as her own so her fiance wouldn't know the truth. mcclain is a licensed vocational nurse and a mother of three. police found the baby unharmed with mcclain's sister. police reunited him with his family. well, simply staying active could help ward off alzheimer's, we're learning. researchers at rush university say even people in their 80s may be able to lower their risk of alzheimer's by moving around more each day. and we're not talking about a brisk workout, either. we're talking about cooking, washing dishes or cleaning, that kind of thing can help reduce your risk, apparently, scientists studied seniors for four years and found the least-active seniors were more than twice as likely to develop alzheimer's compared to those more active.

well storm center 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here to talk about our weather outthere. rainy yesterday, but nice out there today. >> we had a little light fog around washington this morning. and some denser fog in some of the suburbs of rule areas. but that's now dissipated. we have some clouds now. and after we got through the evening hours, we had the rain taper off and end. take a look at the rainfall totals we had from yesterday. this was a wondrous thing for allergy sufferers, they are rejoicing, because the rainfall did indeed wash a lot of the pollen out of the air that's been making so many allergy sufferers miserable the last few days. so things have improved a lot and the visibility is quite good. look at the beautiful shot of the jefferson memorial, lit up by the sunlight on this thursday morning, right now, 62, partly cloudy at reagan national with a very light northeasterly breeze. and there's the view from space, all the area in green, that was the rain we got. and it did sweep on through, moving off over the eastern shore and pulling away.

and behind it, a few clouds, a deck of clouds, western maryland. panhandle of west virginia, down into the shenandoah valley. closer to washington, south and east, quite a bit of sunshine right now. and the cloud cover that has been lingering this morning, is still hanging around washington. but a lot of sun over southern maryland, northern neck and off to our west and north, the cloud deck will gradually drift over us the next hour or two. and a lot of sun after that. right now temperatures in the 50s to around 60 degrees, it will continue to climb another 10 degrees for a high this afternoon. going forward over the next 48 hours, we'll have the sunshine this afternoon and a clear evening, and by dawn on friday, off to a clear start. and then during the day on friday, may have a few clouds developing during the afternoon. as we get into saturday, is when we've got a chance for more rain moving in. all this area in color is a zone of potential rain. this area of yellow. a zone of potential strong thunderstorms moving in late saturday afternoon from the north and west. sweeping on through, some of the

storms could be severe with damaging winds and hail. maybe lingering showers on saturday night and into sunday. so for the rest of the day, mostly sunny, mild, temperatures climbing up to around 70. tonight under a clear sky, we'll be down into the 50s by midnight. and a light southerly breeze. by dawn tomorrow, a chilly start, down into the 40s starting off friday morning. partly cloudy friday afternoon. into the mid 70s tomorrow. and then we'll have that cloudiness around on saturday, there's a small chance of a shower in the morning. but a greater chance of some afternoon showers and again some strong thunderstorms perhaps saturday afternoon into early evening. some of which could produce some severe weather. we'll keep you posted on that. highs near 70 on saturday and cooler weather moving in for sunday. might have some lingering showers, looks like a smaller chance of rain on sunday, but still quite cloudy. highs into upper 50s, low to mid 60s. cool weather moves in first part of next week as sun returns back to work and school. highs near 60 monday and tuesday. that's the way it looks. >> it will feel like spring,

huh? >> yeah. >> thank you, tom. out to the roads we go, hey, danella. >> hi, barb remarks showing clear roads along i-270, a live look at father hurley boulevard, sobound, no issues northbound, hardly any volume. heading to virginia, northbound at the occoquan, your volume very light here as well. no issues as you make your way to the beltway, traveling at 62 miles per hour, just 11-minute drive to get from the occoquan to the beltway. crossing over the 14th street bridge, heading into the city, nice and clear. no delays. in fact traveling on 395 northbound, great driving. 56 miles per hour, a 12-minute drive to get from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. back to you. >> 21 minutes after 11:00 now, still ahead, the direct of an award-winning short film premiering in the district. a story of pirates in somalia, told from the perspective of the pirates. plus toning your arms for summer, steve hayes puts us through his workout.

in january the sundance film festival a awarded a prize to

the 17-minute film "fishing without nets." the film's director joins us this morning with more on the making of this short film. good morning and welcome home. you're a washington-area guy. >> yes, arlington, virginia. >> tell us, in fact let's take a look at the trailer and see a little of the film. >> okay, tell us how did you decide you wanted it make a movie about these pirates? >> yeah. basically back in 2008 i got really obsessed with the somali pirates after reading this, these "new york times" articles that were chronicling the whole,

the whole epidemic, if you will. and just got obsessed with who are these guys and why are they doing this. >> we were covering those stories. pretty regularly at one point. but you decided you wanted to tell it from the pirate's point of view. why? >> i think first and foremost, to me it was the most interesting angle. it was the angle that i felt that nobody was really able to document in a nonfictional way. and so therefore, as a fictional piece, i thought this would be a just a world that nobody had gone into and seen. and experienced. and so -- >> do you portray them in a robin hood kind of way? robbing from the rich to give to the people that needed it? >> no, i wouldn't, i feel like somali piracy is a much more complicated issue than just robin hoods fighting back against the western powers. but really, more, you know, a product, guys who are a product of their environment and who

have nothing and see an opportunity. and seize it. >> do you build up any characters among the pirates, so you feel like you know them and why they're doing what they're doing? >> i think the hope was to find a character and create a character who was, who was, who you could empathize with and empathize with their struggle. and show how difficult it would be to end up in that position. but not to in any way, you know, make him look like a good guy. >> a hero for doing the right thing. >> i understand it was just too dangerous to try to film it in somalia or in that area. where did you film it? >> we filmed it in mombasa, kenya, and while we were there, a ship was captured by somali pirates just ten, 15 miles off the shore. so it's a very real issue even, even outside of somalia in nearby kenya. >> it sounds like an exciting

movie to see and what we saw looks like the real deal. so we'll look forward to seeing it this weekend. you can see it at the mu seseum 6:30. >> doors open at 6:30, the show will begin at 7:30 and hopefully this year we'll be shooting the feature-length movie of this movie which will come out next year. >> welcome back to arlington. coming up, serious problems at a local church. a pastor is fired, his congregation fired up. why this fight may just be getting started. plus it could be a very wet weekend, tom kierein looks ahead to that and there's some ruffled feathers in one maryland

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right now on "news4 midday," a welcome ceremony for space shuttle "discovery" is under way at the smithsonian's national

air and space museum annex in virginia thousands are expected to visit the udvar-hazy center to get an up-close look at the shuttle after it flew over the washington area. the museum is hosting a four-day festival to showcase "discovery." check this out, crews towed "discovery" and enter are pry"e together where they are nose to nose. "discovery" will replace "enterprise" at the museum and crews will move "enterprise" to new york to a museum there. we're going to check now on our weather, let's go to tom kierein. tom? >> beautiful day for the events going on out there at the udvar-hazy center. welcoming "discovery's" final resting place, there at the museum. a wonderful day for the outdoor activities there. as we look around outside our window at news4, we've got a few puffy clouds popping you up. the view from our sky watcher camera overlooking the area

north of washington to montgomery county and looking down on the tops the clouds, we have a few clouds drifting in from the north and west. they will be drifting through the next couple of hours, to be replaced by plenty of sunshine the rest of the afternoon. right now temperatures are climbing to the low 60s around the metro area. southern maryland, northern neck, eastern shore, west and north we're in the mid and upper 60s, it should peak around 70 mid afternoon. under a clear sky tonight, temperatures getting chilly. by dawn friday, down to the upper 40s. tomorrow increasing clouds, afternoon highs into the mid 70s. then a cloudy day on saturday. might get a morning shower, greater chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms, some of which could be severe, with damaging winds and hail. late saturday afternoon, early saturday evening. and sunday, cloudy and cooler. highings reaching maybe the low 60s to mid 60s and a smaller chance of a shower. a cool start the next week, when the sun comes back monday and tuesday, barb remarks that's the way it looks right now.

we're going to check on the midday traffic again with danella sealock. >> traveling on i-66 eastbound at gallows, still have my eye on the road work there, taking away the left lane. you're seeing some delays, look at nutley, bumper to bumper, very slow as you make your way toward the beltway. driving at 34 miles per hour, about an 18-minute drive to get from fairfax county parkway to the capital beltway. and over to route 50, a live look right now at 50 at landover road. no issues eastbound on the right of the screen. or westbound on the left of the screen. you're clear as you make your way to new york avenue, no issues to report at this time. barbara, back over to you. a church congregation has vowed to stand by its pastor. who was fired in the midst of a financial dispute. pastor joel peebles has been leading the jericho city of praise in landover, one of the region's largest churches. his mother, apostle betty peebles founded that church. since her death, joel peebles has been in a legal battle with the church's board, over who

controls the church and its money. instead of bible study, people rallied in front of the church. pastor joel peebles said this is a trying time, but it will help make his faith stronger. >> the eyes of the world are looking at us right now. some people are looking to see are we going to be angry, are we going to be difficult. are we going to give people a hard time? we're going to be a beacon like to show the world, when you go through a difficult season, you come out of the season stronger. >> hallelujah! >> and you come out with victory. >> the board said it needed to let peebles go to protect the church and move forward. celebrities and fans alike are remembering dick clark. his work set the stage for many of the shows that we watch on television today. the entertainment legend died yesterday morning at a los angeles hospital, the 82-year-old suffered a massive heart attack. clark's career started in radio as a teen. he later became host of

"american bandstand," that show crossed color barriers to showcase talented musicians. in 1972 clark created "new year's rockin' eve" he hosted it every year until his stroke in 2004. ryan seacrest considered clark a role model for his own career. he praised clark after hosting "american idol" last night. >> he taught me how to do television. i studied him as a kid. and i had the fortunate opportunity to work with him for several years on "new year's eve." so i'm sad and i'm grateful for what he's given all of us and certainly what he's given me. >> meanwhile, redskins owner, dan snyder was chairman of dick clark productions. snyder said in a statement, he was just as personable and warm in person as he was on television. he was in every sense of the word, a giant. dick clark will be sorely missed. and moving on now to our

fitness segment of the week. the perfect workout for any spring or summer day using resistance bands. steve hayes is here to show us a little bit how to use them. and good morning. i challenged you to show us how to get our arms in shape for these sleeveless dresses. >> yes, barbara, this is called band the excuses. shows you how to work out with a band. and remember, you can take these anywhere you go. >> a lot of people do that. >> let me show you a warm-up. this one you go down to the floor. remember, with the bands, you want to make sure you put this under your foot here and tighten up the band. let me show you this one. bring it up to your shoulders and you bring your legs up. and you ease them down. what it takes the pressure off the back and it works the hamstrings and quads and loosens you up, gives you a great stretch. >> now we're going to look at the triceps. >> yes. tricep again.

take the band, everyone, make sure the band is tight, lean your body at a 90-degree angle and pull back. it's a two-count up and a two-count back. do ten on each arm. >> that looks easy, but you keep the tension tight. >> keep the tension tight. >> the tighter the tension. >> the more definition you get in the arm. >> now we're going it ache a look at another exercise this one for the arms and the chest you say? >> this one, this one, as a matter of fact this is called my four in one. this is an excellent exercise here. you go from the bicep to the stock am, and you push it up, working triceps and shoulders. >> keep the band tight under the foot, just like that. >> the tighter it is, the more tension you have -- >> curl and push up. >> is that a good one for women as well? >> awesome for women. easy, user-friendly and it works. >> how many repetitions of that? >> three sets, ten repetitions on each arm. my favorite, three and ten. >> the next exercise works four

different muscles. >> this one, the next one i'm going to show you is for the chest and the arms. this one you take and you pull it out and you bring it in. here you're working the chest and as you pull it back, you're working shoulders, and the triceps all in one. so three exercises you can do in 15 minutes, is that right? >> i have more than that. but the whole workout, ban the excuses, you get the whole workout in 19 minutes. >> wellness tip? >> this is earth day, so everyone, take your time and keep the earth clean by recycling, and stay healthy. if you stay healthy, you're going to make the earth healthy. >> next week we're going do do hula hoops? >> yes. >> we look forward to seeing you next week, then. it's now 11:39 and still ahead on "news4 midday." how you can be part of washington theater week. plus today would be a perfect day to take in some of our

area's most beautiful gardens, we tell you where to find them.

> . [ peacock calls ] >> a flock of peacocks is ruffling feathers in quiet neighborhood in hartford county, maryland. they can be loud and annoying during breeding season. lisa mcnair has eight pet peacocks, she said they were once caged, but someone complained to the count about that now the birds are loose to roam the neighborhood. one neighbor is not happy and did not want to be identified. she said it's tough to get any sleep. >> and at first it was pretty. it was really unique and i took pictures. but i get up at 5:00 a.m., so it's not pretty any more. >> people stay out of my business, my birds would be penned. but they didn't. so zoning came and said, release the birds. >> hartford county allows five peacocks on each property. but it does not allow owners to

cage them because houses in the neighborhood are so close to each other and the peacocks were screaming to get out of the cages, apparently. the number of people seeking unemployment benefits dipped last week but remained higher than it has been in recent weeks. let's check in with cnbc's bertha coombs for more of the business headlines. >> i'm still sorting through the fact that you all have peacocks. >> i know, we should have them here on our lawn. >> unbelievable. they have them around the corner from me at st. john the divine here in new york city. they're quite beautiful. but they are around the corner. so not so loud. >> you don't have to hear them screeching. >> stocks are kind of flat. investors are sifting through a ton of economic data this morning. leading economic indicators showed that there's strength in the economy going forward. but manufacturing today coming out of the mid-atlantic was weak and the weekly unemployment claims which came in higher than expected at 385,000.

and then there are mixed signals on the home front. sales of existing homes fell 2.6% in march. but february sales were revised higher. first quarter sales were the best in five years. a lot of it likely because of the warm weather we saw. and even more encouraging the national association of realtors says distressed sales have fallen and the inventory of homes for sales is also lower. nationally the median prices have edged up 2.5% from a year ago. meantime, strong earnings have investors bidding up ebay. the company seeing active buyers coming back to the site. its ebay payment system pay pal is really growing fast and now the company plans to roll out a new program that will let you use your pay pal account at brick-and-mortar stores. and aaa says the average price of gasoline continues to fall. today it's at $3.89 a gallon. just six cents higher than a year and some analysts say if the trend continues, we could

see the average price fall below year-ago prices in the next couple of weeks. it remains at $4.14 a gallon in washington, d.c. and the same here in new york city. so we're still feeling the pinch. >> thanks so much, have a great day. >> you, too. the 28th annual helen hayes awards kicks off washington's theater week april 23rd tlurks the 29th. linda levy grossman, the president and ceo of theater washington and renowned band leader glen pierce join us to talk about the week of celebration which for one thing includes cocktails and show tunes. want to give us a little taste? >> ♪ ♪ ♪ it's very clear ♪ our love is here to stay ♪ not for a year ♪ but ever and a day ♪ in time the rockies may crumble ♪ ♪ gibralter may tumble

♪ they're only made of clay ♪ but ♪ our love is here to stay >> let me quickly find out a little about what's going on this week. we love that music and folks can go and sing along with glen pierce. linda, tell us about this week. settle well first of all theater week is our first-ever theater week as theater washington. it kicks off on monday april the 23rd, with the 28th helen hayes awards and goes throughout the week. on wednesday, we have show tunes and cocktails 2.0, a remix of our popular sing-along we do every month. on thursday -- >> at the jefferson hotel? >> at napoleons next wednesday. next thursday, we have a conversation with critics, with "washington post" theater critic, peter marx and many of his colleagues about the democratization of opinion and the fact that it really is only the critics' opinion and what they do and why they do it. a really wonderful conversation. on friday, we are helping gary

sloan, a wonderful actor, director, professor, catholic university, to premiere his new book, "in rehearsal." and saturday, we have play time. 15 theaters throughout the area who are going to be offering activities for children, workshops, tours, all sorts of backstage activities. and all week long we're premiering "taking care of our own" a new initiative to help washington-area theater artists with emergency needs. >> unbelievable. and this is the first annual theater week. and the whole thing is to bring attention to the fact that we have a very active theater. and big audience here in washington. you want to grow it, is that right? >> we have an extraordinary theater community in washington, thriving, the second most prolific theater community in the country after new york. 84 theaters, over 800 productions every year. 9900 performances. and over 2.2 million audiences every year. that are attending washington

theater. >> linda levy grossman, thank you so much for coming and glen pearson, we love your music. it's just fantastic and people will be able to hear it. for more information on theater week, people can log on to theaterwashington.org and congratulations, good luck. >> thank you so much. moving on now, in this week's wednesday's child -- we have a young man that we will revisit. it's been about three years since we first introduced you to tony. i caught up with him again the other day at best buy and found out he's developed an interest in electronics. >> these are all touch screen. remember tony? he's 16 now and quite a bit taller than he was the first time we met him. back then, he wanted to grow up to be a dog trainer. he has some new ideas now. >> electronic persons. >> and although he doesn't have a cell phone or ipad, he loves reading the specs for these kinds of electronics and dreaming up new possibilities.

>> if you were designing a phone, tell me about the design you would like to have. >> basically what the psp phone, and the, and the blackberry mixed together. >> he does really well in school. gets along with his peers and has a great heart. >> tony has been in the foster care system for a long time now. >> do you know how many times you've moved? >> no. >> you haven't kept count, huh? >> no. >> what's it like to have to move from one house to another? >> it's kind of boring, but it's like, i can handle it, though. >> what's the hardest thing about having to move? >> having do say good-bye. >> he says he's ready to have a family that will be his forever. >> nothing is -- i never, i've never had somebody that cared for me in my life, except for some people. >> but those were social workers. he'd like to have a family. as a surprise for tony, roger accuvara of best buy had a gift for him, a cell phone.

>> thank you, i really appreciate this. perhaps soon tony will be able to phone home. >> if you have room in your home and your heart for tony or another child this you've seen on wednesday's child, please call our special adoption hotline or log on to our website, nbcwashington.com. 11:51 the time now, coming up, some of the area's most beautiful gardens, we'll show you where they are. plus meteorologist tom kierein will be back with another check of the forecast. hi, i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrest. tomorrow morning on "news4 today," an update on the local laum lawmaker who police say has a lead foot. >> and it will be a big day in the case against george zimmerman. there's a new judge presiding over the trial and an important decision to make. that and the news from your

♪ ♪ as the weather gets warmer and earth day approaches, we're touring some of the area's best gardens with the help of lavonnia roman of the "washington post." good to see you.

tell us about this, the most outstanding topiary garden is in our area. this is a great place, you want to look out for some fox topiaries in there. a really fun space. >> its all topiaries throughout the entire garden? >> that's right. there are some garden rooms and a beautiful house to visit. there is an admission to the garden. it's about $13 for adults, but children 12 and younger can get in for $5. >> a little closer to home, a property once ownedpy george washington has a great garden. >> river farm in alexandria is a fantastic garden, partly because it's the home of the american horticultural society. they take good care of this space, beautiful garden. entirely free and it's got the history. it was run by george washington, it's got 200, 350 years of fantastic history in the gardens. >> a lot of things are out right now, even peonies are out early this year. and finally a magical place in

northeast washington, tell us about that. >> if you haven't been to kenilworth gardens, this is the time to go. the best time to go is the summer and because as you said the warm weather has really brought out the water lilys. this is a water lily garden. it was founded by a private person who just wanted to have water lilys from his native maine nearby for him to see and now it's run by the national park service, it's completely free to visit and between may and august is the time to go. you'll see everything from hardy american lilys. and they attract amazing wildlife. >> what a great time to be out. >> earth day is this weekend. it's a great time to visit, tomorrow. >> thank you so much for coming and sharing that with us, those are some great ideas to celebrate earth day. >> thanks, barbara. >> and for more information on your weekend, log on to nbcwashington.com or the going out guide on "washington post".com. and tonight on news4 at

4:00, could robots do your house work? why a jetson's lifestyle might not be that far away. and what a mcdonald's worker is accused of putting in a customer's drink. it landed the employee in jail. and at 5:00, the two things you need to know before signing up for pa home security system. liz crenshaw's report coming up at 5:00. and a last check of the weather. >> we have a gorgeous mid day under way after the morning fog lifted. the few clouds coming through with blue sky, showing a gorgeous view from our sky watcher camera temperatures under the clouds are beginning to climb. that's the view from space. showing just a few clouds drifting through. we will have our temperatures climbing this afternoon to around 70. right now it's in the low to mid 60s around the metro area. tomorrow we'll have warmer air moving in. and then over the weekend, could get some showers, maybe some afternoon thunderstorms, it could be strong on saturday.

maybe some lingering showers sunday. a dry start to early next week. and cooler as well. that's the way it looks. have a good afternoon, see you tomorrow morning. >> thank you, and that's "news4 midday" for today, we thank you for being with us. and invite you to tune in for news at 4ing can:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 and we'll be back tomorrow at 11:00 for [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement. act now and we'll add a special bonus: $250 back. but hurry, this offer ends april 21st. unlike cable, fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet plus the best tv picture quality. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement --

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