and 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 tuesday, may 22, 2012. right now, a rm toer top campaign official for mayor vincent gray is in federal court. federal prosecutors charged thomas gore with making illegal campaign donations. and with felony destruction of evidence. news4's tom sherwood reports. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. thomas gore is a long-time ally of mayor vincent gray, he's been involved in all of gray's campaigns. and today, thomas gore is in federal court. gore is expected to plead guilty to charges that he created fake

checks with gray campaign funds, to pay minor candidate suleiman brown to attack then-mayor adrian fenty. and destroyed evidence to obstruct the ongoing federal investigation. that's a felony and he could face up to 20 years in prison. but gore is thought to be cooperating with authorities, and may be providing the first real insight into how vincent gray's 2010 campaign for mayor spent money off the books. now the big question, what does vincent gray know about all of this? so far, he's not talking. barbara? >> thank you, tom. and we'll continue to follow developments from the courthouse throughout the day. and now to the tough morning on the roads. especially i-95 and the dale city area. northbound 95 was shut down just before 8:00 this morning while police investigated an accident involving several vehicles. one person was killed in that accident, it came just hours after two other serious accidents on southbound 95.

in the same area. one of those accidents involved an overturned van, and left one person dead and another critically injured. well let's see how things are moving on the roads right now, let's check in with danella sealock. good morning. >> hi, barb remarks it's been a busy morning on i-95. here's a live look. this earlier this is where the accident was, blocking all northbound lanes but things look better. your travel speed from quantico, looking at 60 mrtiles per hour. let's take a live look at route 50, heading inbound, passing landover road, making your way to new york avenue, not seeing any accidents for you inbound or as well as outbound 50 heading out towards annapolis. travel lanes are open at this time. barbara, back to you. right now, a flood warning is in effect for urban areas and small streams of prince william county until 2:15 this afternoon. and for good reason -- take a look, heavy rain caused major

flooding problems for the morning commute this is high water near the broad run vre station. news4's megan mcgrath spent the morning in bristow with a live report from there. still high water out there, huh, megan? >> reporter: we're still seeing some low-lying roads that are under water here. take a look at this here, we're on piper lane. we just had a tremendous amount of rain in a very short period of time. so any roads that are kind of low, kind of prone to flooding, that's exactly what happened this morning. now you probably have heard time and time again, rescue crews telling people not to try to drive through standing water. well this morning, we saw firsthand why folks should really heed those warnings. standing on piper lane in bristow, we were rather surprised when the driver of this pickup truck drove past us and tried to plow through the floodwaters. are you seeing this? we lost sight of the truck as it rounded the bend, a short time later when emergency crews

arrived on the scene, it became clear what had happened. the truck was swamped. the driver, stuck. rescue crews had to use a boat to fish him out. >> i thought the water would be up to the fender level. but as soon as i got down in there, it just kind of floated away. >> reporter: kelly said he just misjudged the depth. before he knew it, water was gushing inside his truck. >> is your truck trashed? >> it's wet. the log hit the side of it. but you know what, i don't care. you know, they can be fixed. >> and you're doing okay. >> we're doing okay. >> a little wet, a little embarrassed, but we're all right. >> reporter: three to four inches of rain fell in manassas in just a few hours. streams left their banks and low-lying roads flooded making for a messy rush hour. >> i certainly wasn't planning on this, i thought i was running a little late. now i guess i'm running a lot late. while inconvenient to have to turn around and find another route, it was better than the

wet alternative. >> it came about mid door. >> was it in your car? >> yes. in the floorboards. up to the seat. >> reporter: not a good morning. >> not a good morning. >> reporter: and we are expecting some more rain here today. a level three emergency has been declared for the lake jackson dam and they're going to basically be evacuating a few houses that are downstream from there. later as a precaution. we also have the flood warning thaw mentioned for prince william, urban prince william and surrounding areas until 2:15. with the additional rain it's possible we could see more flash flooding. if you come upon a road that is covered with water -- do not try to drive through it. it's risky. you could find yourself among those who got swamped and had to be rescued this morning. report be live in bristow, megan mcgrath, news4. thank you, megan. taking a look outside now, another gloomy start to the day,

any rain coming down right now? let's ask tom kierein. tom? >> no, thankfully. but it really came down hard between midnight and 3:00 a.m. here is a look at the radar going back in time over the last 12 12 hours. let's begin here, the start of the radar loop. there you see all the area in the orange and yellow, it was a very slow-moving area of heavy rain. then it just dissipated. after it went on by, it left in this area, three to as much as five inches of rain. and in a fairly concentrated area, mostly in prince william county. mostly to the west and to the south of manassas. and that is the zone that got all of that really heavy rain. we had multiple roads closed. and as megan mentioned, we still have perhaps some high water throughout much of prince william county, at least into the afternoon hours. right now, don't have any rain falling around the region. things have settled down. temperatures are beginning to climb a little bit. it's up around 70 degrees now, we'll have it maybe climbing into the upper 70s, briefly by

mid afternoon with perhaps a few breaks in the clouds before then. but we could get some thunder and lightning and some isolated downpours that would begin perhaps by mid to late afternoon. some of them could produce enough rain to cause flooding like we saw predawn this morning. we'll have highs reaching the 70s. these could happen anywhere in the region. we've got this stalled front in place, i'll show you what's going to be trending for the rest of the week. we'll look at the memorial day weekend as well in a few minutes. barbara? >> tom, thank you. this morning, taxes are officially on the rise in maryland. a short time ago, governor martin o'malley signed tax increases passed during a special session into law. they will hit individuals making more than $100,000 and couples making more than $150,000. a bill shifting the cost of teacher pensions to counties was also signed. both measures help to close a budget gap that could have reached $1 billion over the next decade. lawmakers may not get much of a break before they have to be back in annapolis. legislative leaders have

proposed a special session on expanded gambling. a work group is being assembled to discuss approving a sixth casino and adding table games in the state. the group will meet starting june 1st. if a propose a bill, the general assembly could be called back as early as july 9th. new today, d.c. police are looking for the gunman responsible for a deadly shooting in southeast washington. officers were called to stevens road around 1:15 a.m. for reports of a shooting. that's when police say they found a man shot in the head. he died at the scene. and new from overnight, a high-speed chase ends in a crash in d.c. this one started in fairfax county, it went into maryland, and ended up at the intersection of southern avenue and 57th place in southeast washington. police tell us there is a warrant out in prince william county for the arrest of the person who was behind the wheel. the driver's name has not yet been released. our time, eight minutes after 11:00. coming up on midday, one year

later, we check in on the town that is still recovering from one of the country's deadliest tornadoes. another step for mankind, the historic launch that is taking space travel in a different direction. and we're firing up the grill with ideas for your memorial day weekend cookout. [ 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.

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a stroller brigade is taking over capitol hill. hundreds of mothers are hold agriculturally in support of the safe chemicals act. the bill calls for regulations on toxic chemicals. organizers say among other things, toxins found in plastic baby bottles and for maldonado dehi formaldehyde in carpet should be banned. one year ago today, one of the deadliest tornados in u.s. history struck joplin, missouri, 161 people were killed, 900 others injured and 700 homes were destroyed. president obama was among those in joplin to observe the anniversary. nbc's gina kim reports. >> the president of the united states of america, barack obama. speaking to thousands gathered for the job lynn high school graduation, president obama said it was the people of joplin who deserved applause. >> as i look out at this class. and across this city, what's

clear is that you're the source of inspiration today. >> it was shortly after the same graduation ceremony last year, that an ef-5-strength tornado tore through joplin, taking 161 lives and shredding nearly 10,000 homes and buildings. surveillance cameras captured joplin high school getting ripped apart. one year later, the school is still a pile of rubble. while students study at a converted department store nearby. >> we can choose to carry on. we can choose to make a difference in the world. >> with $2.8 billion in damage, joplin's is the costliest single tornado in u.s. history. fourth-generation resident jeannie george said her community will never be the same. but it's made her appreciate what she still has. >> i'm thankful for every day. i feel so blessed. every thing we've gone through has taught us things, made us appreciate life even more.

including this tornado. >> reporter: gina kim, nbc news, joplin, missouri. an investigation into the secret service prostitution scandal reveals another government agency could be involved. the justice department is looking into possible misconduct by two or more drug enforcement administration agents in colombia. federal officials say this case is not related to the secret service incident where prostitutes were brought in to a hotel. the d.e.a. has offices in colombia. two dozen secret service agents and military personnel were implicated in last month's scandal. ten months after she went into hiding, casey anthony has been found and served. all this time it turns out she was in florida. the 26-year-old will now have to return to an orlando courtroom to testify in an ongoing defamation case, anthony was charged with and later acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, caylee in 2008.

the new claim stems from an initial claim that anthony claimed that the girl was kidnapped by a fiction tigk tig character, zanida gonzales. who does exist. right around down, it's come down between midnight and 3:00 a.m. in washington, enough rain to cause significant flooding, multiple roads closed. multiple rescues as well. people getting stranded. driving into high water. we repeat it over and over again -- if you come up on high water, you don't know how deep it can be. all it takes is about a foot or so of water to just float your car away or destroy your vehicle. and that did happen this morning. well, things have settled down since then. we've got a gray sky over the capital. there is the live view from our hd city camera. there have been a few thin

breaks in the clouds. a little sun is trying to break through. reagan national is at 70 degrees, a light breeze coming in out of the east right now. i want to live next to bruce dodd. because this is his garden along his driveway in arlington, he shares all of the vegetables from his garden with his neighbors what beautiful garden. we've had a little deficit in rainfall. his garden is looking great. and if you have interesting weather or nature photos, send it to our facebook page or send it to weather@nbcwashington.com. around the region, the areas in yellow are into the 70s, through central, north central and southern virginia. north there have under the clouds, we're in the 60s to around 70, north of the district. and out in the mountains in the mid 60s. we'll stay to the 60s to near 70. you can see sunshine breaking out across parts of northern virginia and the western part of the northern neck. here in the lower part of the

eastern shore. still all cloudy around the metro area. it may break up a little bit. a little sun ought to come out. when that happens, we'll see it jump into the upper 70s. here we were this morning. with the heavy rain through prince william county it dissipated, but left three to five inches in this one zone here. in prince william county. there's manassas right there there's fredfredericksburg. this is the area that got the worst flooding. it's still flooding. we still have many roads are still closed with high water there. but it's going to continue to recede as we get into the afternoon hours. here looking forward, going forward over the next several hours. the moving color of green is a zone of more rain. it looks like we could get some heavier downpours into this afternoon and tonight. then it should begin to break up after midnight. by 4:30, 5:00 tomorrow morning, we'll have few low clouds around. maybe a little sun breaking out. look again, another flare-up of showers and maybe heavy downpours tomorrow afternoon. on into tomorrow evening.

then, most of it should be done. how much rain will we get over the next 36 hours? well these areas in blue, these are the zones that could have the heavier rains. it looks like it could be near washington. fairfax county, and parts of montgomery, the district. they could get an inch to two inches. the areas in green, a half-inch to an inch of rain. so it's going to be in pockets. not necessarily widespread. but we could have some isolated flooding for today, tonight and into tomorrow. and maybe some thunder and lightning, too, along with the isolated downpours into the 70s this afternoon. and then overnight tonight, sun sets at 8:20, we could have more flooding. and this evening, it's especially dangerous. at night you don't know how deep the water is. so watch out for that this evening. down to near 70 by midnight. by dawn tomorrow, the 60s, tomorrow, another day like today. thursday, a much smaller chance of any rain. on friday, only a slight chance and it will feel like summer for the memorial day weekend. great for your getaway. going to the beaches, it will be

in the 80s. chance of a shower on sunday. i'll be back in a few minutes with another update. we check in with the traffic again. we said the rain caused problems this morning, danella, how is it looking now? >> with the metro, the rain, not seeing any problems on the roadways. but on the rails, i'm seeing a delay on the red line. an earlier signal malfunction at twinbrook metro station. you're seeing delays to shady grove and also canal road, is closed between arizona avenue and reservoir road. police have it shut down right now and they're redirecting you on to arizona avenue in that area. and crossing over the brimg bridge, left lane is blocked due to road work in that area, on the 14th street bridge. 11:19 now. still ahead on "news4 midday" -- forget the burgers and hot dogs. we're cooking up new ideas for your holiday weekend barbeque. plus a dramatic arrest caught on tape. the only problem -- it was the wrong guy. why the man is still facing charges this morning.

but first, a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

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if you're planning on grilling over the memorial day weekend, consider setting the burgers ashid. chef todd gray from equinox joins us with something different. are you ready for the holiday? >> we're ready. >> it smells good up here already. you say that vegetables on the grill are a great idea, is that right? >> i think it's a wonderful day for memorial day. vegetables on the grill are a great idea any time of the year. >> you're thinking instead of burgers, something like delicious wild salmon, king salmon? >> it's spring, wild salmon season. corn season in the south a great time to do a little barbequed salmon with sweet corn. >> let me run through the recipe quickly. you need four medium ears of fresh sweet corn. a half-cup of thinly sliced shallots, canola oil. salmon fill lay. a cup of roasted red bell peppers. fresh basil leaves, lemon

vinaigrette, one cup barbeque sauce. you wouldn't want to put barbeque on just any fish. >> salmon has a more pronounced flavor. whitefish might be too delicate. we think the wild salmon is perfect for it. >> i want to show awe little bit about corn in general. this sort of corn on the cob, which is so important, when the corn is on the cob we get all the flavor. attached to the cob, the milk of the cob. we get the sweetness and fresh flavor, we peel back the corn. >> have you grilled this already? >> not yet. but i brought some i did grill. two different ways of grilling. one, peeled, and then put on the grill, a great wi to eat and you sprinkle a little sea salt and olive oil. >> before grilling or after grilling? >> a little bit after is nice. >> this one has been done, in the husk, obviously. so it's charred, there's not as much carmel decision on the corn. it's a little more tender, maybe more appropriate for a little

something sauteed for a salad, okay? >> so i'll show you, when we grill it, we're going to take it and cut it off of the cob, so it comes off nicely here. i've done little salad i've already prepared. we kind of break these kernels up so we have a grilled corn that we'll put inside of this little salad. i've got a little premade just for speeding things up this afternoon. we'll put a little bit inside. there's the corn side. that's the same recipe that you just read with the basil and the canola oil and lemon juice and shallots. >> it all goes into there. i'm serving it with the barbequed salmon. you might want to serve it on memorial day for a side dish would be nice. heck, it would be nice with burgers or steaks right off the grill. >> that is your vinaigrette. >> it's been tossed inside. >> okay. >> so maybe for a little presentation we might, i kind of brought this pan, something that might look good for searching family style to friends out in

the back yard. even inside, if we do get a little bit of rain. which we're not sure right now. i brought a little grilled asparagus, which might be nice. >> you grill that on the grill as well? >> simple preparation, salt, pepper, olive oil. my three favorite ingredients. >> pop it rice on the grill. >> kind of nice to use jump would asparagus on the grill. >> how many minutes would you leave the asparagus on. >> four or five minutes, until just tender. we might take a few of these barbequed salmon fillets. i thought this might be a nice idea for us for memorial day weekend or even sometime during the summer when the salmon is running and when we've got lots of sweet corn. we're using southern corn, but the sweet corn season should start sometime in the next month or so. >> that looks spectacular. >> we thought it would be nice to show people an idea of what they could do for the weekend. be nice, wild salmon, sweet corn, it is that time. so we'll eat with the season. >> you say if you can't get out

to the grill because it's raining, you can do it inside on your indoor grill. >> those little things are handy. these little george forman grills work great. if for some reason the weather is not permitting, it gives us a little char flavor. brush the barbeque sauce on, make your salad and it eats wonderfully. >> thank you so much. >> we'll be serving this at equinox? >> darn right, signature dish, happy holidays. >> thanks for coming. it is now 11:27. coming up, a fair for sale. the deal that could save an annual tradition. and where area police are cracking down today. and tom is back to tell us and tom is back to tell us if another soaker is on the way.

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and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios 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 june 2nd. 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.

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right now on "news4 midday." a former top campaign official for mayor vincent gray is in federal court. thomas gore is expected to plead guilty to charges that he created fake checks with campaign funds. those funds were then used to pay minor candidate, suleiman brown to attack then-mayor adrian fenty and is also accused of destroying evidence in the federal investigation. today marks a year since one of the deadliest tornados in u.s. history struck, the joplin, missouri twister killed 161 people and is considereded the costliest. it destroyed 10,000 homes and buildings and caused nearly $3 billion in damage. and an auction today could jump-start planning for a virginia state fair late they are summer. organizers called off the event in december when their company filed for bankruptcy, state fair of virginia defaulted on nearly

$80 million in loans. fairgrounds near kings dominion will be auctioned off. court documents show a lender worked out a bankruptcy deal with the state fair organizers. a judge will review that agreement tomorrow. d.c. councilmember marion berry is recovering in las vegas at a hospital there. barry told news4's tom sherwood he developed a blood clot in his leg while he was waiting for a flight to nevada. he's there to attend a convention with mayor vincent gray and other councilmembers. barry tweeted he is doing better, but isn't sure when the hospital is going to release him. a new concern over bus stop locations in fairfax county after a car hit a 16-year-old who was trying to run for a bus. tiffany javeed tells news4 her dad dropped her off at the bus stop. she missed the bus and made a split-second decision to cross six lanes of heavy traffic

during the rain yesterday morning to try to catch it. a car hit her. leaving her with a sprained ankle, a sore back and a few scratches. her father saw everything. she doesn't remember anything. >> i mean, i didn't know, like i got hit like until after. like when i was on the ground i figured oh, i guess i didn't see it. and, yeah, they said i flew up in the air. >> she flew into the air and fall. then -- >> a spokesman for fairfax county public schools tells news4 they decided to move the bus stops into the developments after complaints from parents. but those stops are only for elementary school students in the morning. not for the high school students. a new york man faces charges after police mistakenly arrested him. take a look at had dramatic video showing the d.c. police arresting 42-year-old craig

wilson at the capital hill and hyatt regency hotel. police determined they had arrested the wrong man. police said they had to use force when they arrested him on saturday. because wilson was resisting arrest. he now faces charges for assault. wilson was in town for a national people's action conference. wilson tells news4 he was roughed up. >> you can look at me and you can see that there was excessive force used at minimum and there was some misconduct at minimum and it shouldn't happen. >> wilson led protesters on a march against police brutality yesterday. the u.s. attorney is reviewing the assault charges. nd the d.c. police department is looking into the excessive force allegations. there could be a problem with a mural painted to honor the late godfather of go-go. an artist painted an image of chuck brown on the side of the sweet mango cafe at new hampshire and georgia avenues in northwest washington.

now washington city paper photographer, darrell montgomery is saying it's a copyright violation, because the mural is based on his 1992 photograph. brown died last week after battling pneumonia. police in stafford county are investigating a bizarre home invasion. investigators tell us two masked men broke into the home in the wide water village neighborhood yesterday morning. the burglars demanded a man and woman and their 10-month-old baby strip naked. the men then forced the family to take them around the house to collect valuables like cash, computers and jewelry. before the suspects took off, they tied the family up in the garage. the family was able to free themselves and call 911. neighbors say they can't believe this happened in their community. >> i don't understand how it could happen. it seems like it's a crime that's a bit more than petty. and quite frankly, i'm a little alarmed. very alarmed, very alarmed.

>> though one was hurt. so far, no arrests have been made. drivers hoping to avoid traffic by hop on the hov lanes better make sure they are following the rules. police in virginia and maryland will be back out in force, cracking down on hov rviolators this afternoon. they'll concentrate on the 95, 395, 66 and dulles toll roads. officers were out this morning. the extra patrols and stops could slow down traffic. police are warning drivers to take extra precaution. we're going to check the midday traffic again now. here's danella. >> good morning, barbara. on the metro red line. had an earlier malfunction, signal problem actually at twinbrook metro station, we did see some delays to shady grove. but it's over now. you're taking metro, no reported delays at this time. now over to canal road, heading inbound, you're going to be forced off at arizona because canal road is closed at reservoir road due to police activity.

please be aware of it if you're thinking of jumping on canal road. i-270, things look good in this area. a live look at shady grove southbound as you head to rockville. through rockville connecting to the beltway no issues there. i'll show you what the beltway looks like, a travel speed, traveling on the beltway from i-270 to i-95, 59 miles per hour. not bad at all. well if you failed to pay a parking ticket in the district, the city may soon find a new way to get your money. the city's tentative budget includes a plan to allow the department of motor vehicles to collect outstanding bills by garnishing tax refunds. officials think they could collect $2.5 million a year doing that. the plan would not affect motorists who aren't d.c. taxpayers. three, two, one, zero -- and launch of the spacex falcon 9 rocket as nasa turns to the private sector to resupply the international space station.

>> and with that, the company's spacex became the first commercial venture to head to the international space station. its rocket, falcon 9 is carrying a capsule called dragon, packed with supplies. until last summer, nasa shuttles handled the supply missions and carried astronauts out to space. spacex hopes to carry crew members by the year 2015. and let's check in with tom kierein for another look at our forecast. tom? >>. [ inaudible ] [ inaudible ] [ inaudible ] >> i think tom needs his microphone. let me tell you a little bit about what's going on outside. if i can see an outside picture. we'll get tom to put that mike on so he can tell you. we've got him now. >> got it now, barbara. right now, as we look at the radar, you can see that area in orange and red, that was what it looked like at 11:00 last night. that was when we had the

heaviest rain falling and the real epicenter of the heaviest rain was right there in prince william county. the red zone. that's where they got three to five inches of rain in just a short amount of time and it quickly dissipated. since then, a lot of clouds, although there are a few breaks in the cloud cover now and temperatures beginning to warm into the 70s where they're getting some sunshine across much of virginia. near 70 near washington and later today, other downpours are possible with some thunder and lightning this afternoon. temperatures into the 70s. and tomorrow, more of the same. a smaller chance on thursday, but then friday, saturday, sunday and monday, it's a small chance of a shower, perhaps on sunday, otherwise, great beach weather, it will feel like summertime into the memorial day weekend. that's the way it looks right now, barbara. back with another update in a few minutes. well, four years ago, general colin powell made headlines when he endorsed barack obama for president. powell is a retired four-star general who has served under three presidents actually.

including secretary of state for george w. bush. but so far, in this campaign season, powell is not yet willing to make an endorsement. he talked about that with matt lauer this morning on the "today show." >> i'm still listening to what the republicans are saying they're going to do to fix the fiscal problems we had, to get the economy moving. i think i owe it to the republican party, i owe that. and i think it's the right way to go about it too often in this country, we simply stick with you know, whatever you said last year is it. even if it doesn't, you know, work out or make sense. i like to listen to everybody, examine everything and of course, make a judgment. >> powell has authored a new book titled "it worked for me." the wisdom and inspiring truths that he's learned on his journey to become such a respected public leader. in news for your health, a federal panel now recommends healthy men should not have a common blood test that screens for prostate cancer. the new recommendation is causing controversy, though. the u.s. preventive services task force says the

prostate-specific antigen test can do more harm than good. the panel found the majority of cancers picked up by the test grow so slowly that most merv anyone need treatment. >> it is so sensitive, that in 80% of the case it is indicates a problem when there might not be a problem at all. and a man may have inflammation or infection or a benign tumor or a cancer that's never going to cause problems. and their concern is it's so widely used and wrong so often, that it shouldn't be used at all. >> urologists have called the new recommendations inappropriate and irresponsible. some prostate cancer survivors say that test saved their lives. 11:41 the time. still ahead on "news4 midday." yet another case of the rare flesh-eating bacteria has surfaced. this morning the warning signs you can look for to recognize this dangerous disease.

plus, taking collecting do a different level? the odd presidential item up for auction right now. and causing outrage. and causing outrage. we'll tell y

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you can own a vial of former president ronald reagan's blood. that has his foundation pretty upset. the pfc auctions website, based in the uk said the blood was taken from the late president after an assassination attempt against him in 1981. the website show as vial with the label, with the president's name on it. it also include as letter from the seller who says his late mother worked at the laboratory which tested the blood for george washington university hospital after reagan was shot. at last check, the bid was a little over $9,900 for a vial of president reagan's blood. a hopeful sign for the housing market this morning. let's check in with cnbc's

hampton pierce who joins us with that and more. >> before we talk about the good news on housing, we're going to start with day three of the facebook fallout. pulling the major averages down. good news on housing and from retailers, keeping the major averages in positive territory. the dow up about 55 points, the nasdaq up 15. the s&p up ten. facebook shares keep sliding. down as much as 8% before rebounding. now trading around $32. an 11% decline from its initial public offering price of around $38 on friday. good news about housing is keeping the rest of the market on the rebound. april existing home sales rising 3.4%. to the highest annual rate in nearly two years. and a drop in low-cost foreclosure homes on the market pushed the median home price 10% higher. here are the numbers, 4.6 million home sales, the highest since may of 2010. the median price for a home

jumping to $177,400. the biggest year over year hike in six years. economists say a demand-driven housing recovery is still a long way off. retail giant walmart is reporting a 10.1% jump to $3.74 billion in quarterly profits. despite multiple corruption probes into its mexican subsidiary. the profit surge was triggered by more shoppers returning to american stores in search for low prices, sales dropped $108 billion. barb remarks back to you. thank you, and have a great day. >> likewise. a georgia graduate student fighting a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection is now breathing on her own without the help of a ventilator. 24-year-old amy copeland contracted the infection after being injured in a zipline accident three weeks ago. surgeons first amputated copeland's left leg at the hip

and last week doctors amputated her hands and remaining foot. two cases of flesh-eating infections have been reported in south carolina. early treatment to this deadly infection is critical, we understand, and dr. sheryl burgess joins us with the warning signs and good morning. >> good morning. >> this is scary, for a lot of us, it was the first time-time we had ever heard of anything like this when we heard about the student that had this happen in this ziplining accident. >> it's an unfortunate and sad event. we do see these every now and then. they're not common. but the bacteria that causes it is very common. >> it is? >> it's a group a, beta strep and it's the same type of strep that causes pharyngitis or strep throat. jim hansen of the muppets, he he died suddenly, it was the same type of infection. and we've also seen it -- >> the flesh-eating type? >> it was the same bacteria. and we've also seen it with toxic shock syndrome which we

saw with women during a period of time because of tampon use. so it's common and it's been around for a long time. >> what does it look like? what should people look for? is there some people more susceptible to it than others? >> the issue is how the organism penetrates into the skin. a puncture wound is probably more apt to breed aerobic and an aerobic bacteria. it invades the connective tissues. and it spreads very rapidly. that's what makes this so virulent, this strain. if you get nick on your skin and you develop redness around it and what's specific about these types of infections is they're usually become very painful. if you injure yourself, it may pain for a few minutes or en a day. but after that, unless you bump

against it or knock against it again, will you feel any severe pain. it starts to progressively get more painful. that's the key that most people need to look out for. >> and you say that will it be redness or swelling? >> there usually is redness, there can be a redness, you may not see pus, but you could see a cell light is or something like that. the main thing about this is can travel an inch or an inch and a half in a matter of an hour. that's why the amputation a lot of times is necessary. >> if the antibiotics are not able to control the infection. sometimes the bacteria is resistant to the antibiotics, so they have no other choice but to amputate the limbs. it gets to the blood stream and the bacteria goes to all of our

organs so then you start to have total body failure. >> someone like this young woman who has now had one full leg from the hip and her foot. is it in her bloodstream now? >> obviously, it was, she was on a ventilator and finally she's off of that. it's no joke, messing with these type of bacteria when they start invading like that. so immediate, quick treatment, going to the physician, or being admitted to the hospital, going through the emergency room is probably your first entry point in where if you have a wound or something like that, you really need to get it checked out when it becomes painful. or it starts to spread. because most injuries will heal in about 10 to 14 days. >> but that might be too late. >> better get moving to a doctor as soon as you see something that looks like it's getting infected. wow. well it's very -- upsetting and frightening to know.

>> and we have pictures. >> they were too gory to show. >> thank you for sending the pictures, but we thought we would spare our viewers seeing, hearing the importance of this is most important we think. thanks so much dr. burgess. the time right now is 11:51. too hot for her job, why a woman is suing her former employer.

a new york city woman says she was fired for being too hot. now she's going after the company that let her go. lauren odes was hired by a lingerie manufacturer. native intimates. shortly after she began, her supervisor told her the company's owners, orthodox jews were not happy with her attire. she also says she was told that her breasts were too big and she was told to tape them down. after being fired, she contacted gloria allred and filed a discrimination complaint. >> she was told by a supervisor that quote you are just too hot for this office end quote. >> when it escalated to the point of her walking me over to a closet and suggesting that i put on a bright red bath robe and sit at my desk and wear it all day. i felt completely humiliated. >> the company has not commented

on this complaint. let's take a look at stories we're following for news4 this afternoon. cane from hot 99.5 joins us at 5:00 for the hot talk and tonight at 5:00, preventing the recurrence of cancer, the three things survivors can do to fight the disease and live cancer-free. and tonight at 6:00, it was the promise of big bucks, but did the stimulus project complete the job? news4's i-team is following the local money trail at 6:00 p.m. and new today, montgomery county police say they have made an arrest in the murder of a popular local rapper. 29-year-old dennis mcbee has been arrested in the murder of 24-year-old franken amobey. he was killed on december 27th. he was a rapper known by his stage name, frank diggy. police plan to hold a news conference at 1:00 p.m. we'll bring you more information as it becomes available. and time for a final check on the forecast now with tom.

>> we don't have any rain now, but we did predawn. that's the radar at 11:00 last night when it was coming down hard. along with some thunder and lightning in prince william county and in line with lighter amounts stretching into loudoun county and into fredericksburg. by 3:00, 4:00 a.m., it was all gone. now there's a view of the sky, you can see the breaks in the sky, but still a lot of clouds as we approach the noon hour. temperatures are climbing into the low 70s around the metro area. it's 80 in charlottesville. there's a possibility of some heavy downpours, thunder and lightning later today. again perhaps tomorrow. smaller chance thursday and friday, a great weekend coming up for memorial day. thank you, tom. today the military leaders of the future will take on the tough task of scaling a greased monument. freshmen at the naval academy or plebes will attempt to climb the herndon monument this afternoon. the 21-foot obelisk is greased

and the plebes have to form a human pyramid to retrieve a dixey cup hat and replace it with another hat. the tradition is open to the public and will take place at 1:30 this afternoon. if you want to get out there in annapolis and have a look. and that's "news4 midday" for today. we thank you for being with us. and invite you to tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 and we'll be back tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. until then, have a terrific day and we'll see you in the morning. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best.

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