good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. it is monday, june 4, 2012. don't be surprised if you notice changes to metro maps very soon. the transit agency is preparing for one of the most drastic service changes in its history. it could affect tens of thousands of riders daily. news4's tracee wilkins is at the franconia metro station. she has some information that may clear up a little bit of the confusion. >> reporter: it is the most dramatic change metro has attempted in years. the idea behind it is to try ease congestion and alleviate

transfers that customers have to make. over the next few weeks, you are going to hear a lot about it. >> good morning, sir. have a are great day. >> reporter: some say metro is handing out good news this morning. >> adding trains. >> reporter: pokes say rush plus will improve the commute for 110,000 customers on the green, yellow, blue and orange lines. the red line will not be impacted. 21 stations will get more frequent service with six additional trains every hour of rush hour. >> part of this is getting ready for the silver line service which begins in about a we are and a half from now. this is the first step we have to get trains, more trains switched off of the tunnel under from rosslyn. put them on the bridge that goes over the plaza. >> reporter: it is indicated with dashes. one important the orange line that will carry people from largo to vienna and there's one

for the yellow line that will travel from greenbelt to franconia-springfield without transfer. >> people at franconia-springfield, for instance will see yellow line for the first time. >> reporter: less transfers are one benefits. here is an example of another. during peak periods, orange lines customers will get six additional trains per hour. three in each direction. between vienna and largo town center. metro officials predict this will add an estimated 2600 seats per hour. although the blue line will lose some trains. the reaction to whether rush plus is a good thing depends on who you talk to. >> they say it will help most people. lit not help me any. i go on the blue line, get off of farrugut west. i will have to wait a few more minutes for a train. now i hear they are increasing fares. to increase fares and wait longer, you know, doesn't work out too well for me. >> i used to commute to the pentagon every day. all the yellow trains come back this way in the afternoon are half full and blue lines are completely packed.

maybe it will help alleviate some of the congestion and make the system a little more efficient. >> reporter: the metro teams will be circulating to other metro stations and passing out maps like this one. they also are going to have ads running to try to help people understand what's coming their way in june. later this evening, loudoun county residents will give county leaders a piece of their mind when it comes to the dulles rail project. the county board of supervisors will hold a meeting about phase two of the silver line which is slated to run dulles and through loudoun county. opponents fear the county will raise taxes to pay for construction. more than 100 people have already signed up to speak. the board of supervisors has until july fourth to remain onboard with this project. right now, teams from the national weather service are surveying the storm damage we had over the weekend. so far nine confirmed tornadoes down in maryland friday causing millions of dollars in damage.

three twisters came down in montgomery county, two touched down in carroll county, one in prince george's county, and one in anne arundel county. two strongest twisters touched in howard county. ef-1 tornadoes with winds of at least 86 miles per hour. taking a look wrought side now, sun is out. it is a beautiful day out there. chillier than it was last year around this time. >> we are going to have a cooler-than-average this week. temperatures ruined the region were down into the 50s starting off this morning. past 11:00, it is at 73 at reagan national. and it hits -- hit the low to mid 70s across southern maryland, much of virginia, and the lower eastern shore. to the north of washington, though, still just in the mid 60s right along the pennsylvania border. and out into west virginia, parts of northern shenandoah valley. it is in the low 70s and upper 60s. right now upper 60s in montgomery county and in the low 07s, arlington, fairfax, prince

george's counties. and right near the chesapeake bay. now as we look at what has been happening the last 12 hours, some of the overnight sprinkles and between now and then we had clouds rolling in from the north. we have a big deep area of low pressure sitting over new england. we are on the southern side of that. and we are just going to be get something clouds rolling through from time to time from that system during the rest of the afternoon. slight chance of an isolated shower. perhaps thundershower popping up otherwise. partly sunny, mild and breezy afternoon with temperatures holding steady in the 70s throughout much of the region. winds out of the northwest gusting to 25 miles an hour. look at the rest of the week, look at the weekend, too, in a few minutes. >> thank you, tom. heads-up for people in fairfax county. starting today police will ticket people that don't use the cross walk at gallows road, dunn loring metro. megan mcgrath has details of this. >> reporter: it has become a dangerous situation. two pedestrians have been struck

by cars in this area in just the last five months. so police are cracking down. what's happening here is that we have a large-scale construction zone right here on prosperity avenue. you can see the large crane behind me. what that has caused is they have taken away the sidewalk along the road right around the do dunn loring metro station. what pedestrians are doing they are either walking along the road where the sidewalk used to be up along the construction fence or crossing the street, very busy street, in the middle. not using the cross walk. so police are cracking down. for last week they were writing tickets and out here telling people about the rules. trying to instruct them to go down to the corner to where the light is and to use the proper cross walk. well, starting today, no more warnings. they are writing tickets. what they are saying is they are not trying to inconvenience the pedestrians. they say really this is matter of safety. >> they are walking on the other

side of the street where there is not sidewalk in the travel lane. they are crossing mid block, running in between cars. all sorts of things very unsafe. >> making it very inconvenient for the people that use the metro that work at some of the buildings over here. i just asked a police officer whether or not it will put a ross walk in here, having to -- walk all that great distance. >> reporter: and in talking to police, they say that there is no plan to change the cross walk configuration to add any additional cross walks. pedestrians will just have to get used to it. a ticket can be as much as $250. this construction project is expected to last another four years. reporting live near the dunn loring metro station, megan mcgrath, news4. a look at the traffic. here's danella sealock. good morning. >> good morning. if you are traveling on i-66 eastbound at nutley, two things to look out for. first you have an accident just in the shoulder lane here. you can see we have flatbed on the scene looking to get those

cars out of the roadway. but the other thing to watch is the road work. taking away the left lane. this is at nutley. now, also if you are crossing over the 14th street bridge, road work is happening here again today. it is on the right side of the road here. you can see. just stick to the left and traffic is very light at this time. so if you are able to make your away across. american legion bridge, no problems here on the inner loop or the outer loop. back over to you. >> thanks, danella. jury selection sunday way for the man accused of killing a father and son during an armed robbery two years ago. the shooting happened inside of the alita wholesale market along 5th street and northeast in june of 2010. police say that christian taylor shot and killed 59-year-old ming chen and his son. opening statements are expected to begin tomorrow. 11:08 is the time. coming up, why sarah jessica parker is inviting you and president obama to her house for dinner. plus the pl

plus, venus will cross the path of the sun tomorrow. what you will be able to see. i was paying too much with cable. paying so much, you want better quality. for the amount of money that i am paying, my cable company should take care of me. [ male announcer ] stop paying for second best. get verizon fios tv, internet and phone for just $99.99 a month, guaranteed for two years with no annual contract required. first time we saw tv on fios was amazing.

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new this morning, the vietnamese government will open lee new sites to help search for american soldiers' remains from the war. the defense secretary leon pan ate says there are nearly 1300 cases of missing american soldiers. and about 600 of those remains

could be recovered. the announcement came as panetta and his vietnamese counterpart exchanged artifacts collected during the war. a horrifying and tragic event, that's how fire officials describe the deadly crash of an air tanker battling a wildfire in utah. both crew members aboard of the plane died when it went down yesterday afternoon in utah's hamblin valley. they were fighting a 5,000-acre wildfire. investigators haven't said what caused that crash. rescue crews are still on the scene of a horrific plane crash in nigeria that killed all 153 people onboard and at least ten people on the ground. the plane crashed in the largest city of nigeria p, lagos. the pilot contacted the airport tower and reported engine trouble. nigeria's president says the country will observe lee days of mourning to honor the victims. mitt romney will try to

close a sizable fund-raising gap in washington state. the presumptive republican presidential nominee is holding a fund-raiser tonight in seattle. romney raised less an third of money president obama has raised in washington state. president obama will campaign today with former president bill clinton. the two will hold fund-raisers in new york city and include a gala at the waldorf astoria hotel and reception on broadway being called broadway for barack. several celebrities are expected to attend that fund-raiser. >> okay, the guy who ended the war in iraq the guy that says you should be able to marry anyone you want and the guy who created 4 million new jobs, that guy, president obama, and michelle, are coming to my house for dinner on june 14. and i want you to be there, too. >> this obama ad debuted last night during the mtv movie awards. the commercial actress sarah jessica parker encourages obama supporters to enter a contest for a chance to win a seat at

the fund-raiser. you will have to make a donation, though, to enter. he won't get his endorsement but president obama is getting credit for virginia's economic recovery from its republican governor, bob mcdonnell. >> only thing i can say is he had a -- nearly trillion dollars in stimulus. that was one-time spending. did it help us in the short term with health care and education spending? sure. does it help us no n the long term to really cut the unemployment rate? i would say no. >> mcdonnell told cnn the stimulus program did some good for virginia. mcdonnell says this country would benefit more from a republican agenda. he did not talk about speculation he could be mitt romney's running mate. and we have a beautiful day out there right now. i don't know if it is going to last. we are hoping it will, tom. good morning again. >> good morning. well, think about this week, we are in june but really feeling more like early may as we have had a cool weather pattern take

shape over the weekend. and the wake of those big storms we had on friday. and this is going to be sort of a locked-in pattern throughout much of the week ahead. cooler than average temperatures here for early june. take a look at the sky now. we have some of those puffy fair weather happy cumulus clouds floating over the monument now. that's a live view from our city cram. there is the washington monument and you see how green everything is in the wake of the rain. we certainly have been needing the rain as we have been running a deficit for 2012. right now reagan national is at 73. it is comfortably dry. we have a wind coming in out of the northwest gusting around 20 to 25 miles an hour. here's what's happening over the last 24 hours or so. we have seen a big circulation of the atmosphere sitting up over new england from the southern side of this, you can see cloud cover here in pennsylvania. crossing the border, coming into maryland, around washington. farther south, there's more sun in virginia and into west virginia. close-up view showing overnight we had a pew passing showers coming on through.

exiting the region now. with this disturbance to our north we have just a slight chance of an isolated thundershower later this afternoon. otherwise we had will have a delightful june day. as we take a look at temperatures now, just past 11:00 now, into the low to mid 70s in washington, much of southern maryland, northern neck, eastern shore, and across most of virginia and into west virginia, it is in the mid to upper 70s. charlotte i will have at 79. while it is generally in the mid to upper 60s across northern shenandoah valley. panhandle of western maryland and into west virginia, we have it generally in the cool mid 60s. it is going to stay there throughout the rest of the day. all this area of green moving through. these are the zones of the potential of light showers coming in from time to time. that would be during the afternoon and evening. but again, there's just a very small chance of that happening. and then overnight tonight we will be partly cloudy and by dawn tomorrow, here is the time frame around 4:00, 5:00 in the morning. might have a passing shower in the morning. again, during the afternoon tomorrow, there is just a small chance of a passing light rain shower coming through.

so for the rest of the afternoon, just a few clouds coming in from time to time. we will have our temperatures climbing into the low to mid 70s around washington. it should stay cool to our north near the pennsylvania border. only in the 60s throughout the day as well as in the mountains. then slight chance of a shower northwest winds around 10 to 25 miles an hour. and then overnight tonight, through the evening hours, just a few clouds coming through. again, just a small chance of a shower. sunset at 8:30. we will have the big, bright full moon playing peekaboo with the clouds tonight. low 70s around sunset and 60s by midnight. northeast winds 15. tomorrow another cool morning. we will be down into the mid 50s tomorrow morning. during the day tuesday, more clouds than today. even cooler. highs 70 around the afternoon. then on wednesday morning, another cool morning in the 50s. afternoon highs climbing to the mid 70s and little greater chance of an isolateded shower or passing thundershower. and then on thursday, looks like likelihood of afternoon and

evening showers and thundershowers but i don't think it will be severe weather. still on the cooler than average side, 50s in the morning and afternoon highs upper 70s. then towards the weekend, friday, saturday, sunday, looking delightful. just in time for the weekend. warming up. sunshine each day. highs in the low and mid 80s. that's the way it looks. >> actually, it is wonderful out there today. i love the temperature. nice. >> nice and dry. >> thank you, tom. we are going to check on the midday traffic. here's danella again. any problems we should know about if we are heading out. >> if you are taking metro, getting on the red line, we are seeing single tracking because of scheduled track work. you will see delays. single tracking takes place between twin brooks and shady grove metro stations. delays in both directions. over to the roadways, good news on i-66. as you make your way eastbound on nutley. had a crash in the shoulder lane. it is gone. the road work is still slowing you down and taking way the left lane as you approach nutley. travel speed taking you about 14

minutes as you drive 44 miles per hour. back over to you, barbara. >> thanks. 11:18 is the time now. coming up on "news4 midday," we will sit down with the author of the book "rabbit's foot." why the novel is being called motivational. celebrating the queen. this weekend's big party and a look ahead to today's big event. first, sheer a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. [ male announcer ] are you paying more

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as father's day approaches, it is a good time to remember how important the relationship is with your father. the book "rabbit's foot a gift from my father" does just that. the author, the former general manager of wrc, joins us to explain and good morning. welcome back. >> good morning. >> you see a lot of familiar faces here. >> yes. some things don't change. a lot of things do but some things don't change. >> you changed because you changed your role. you are an author and getting ready to turn this into a movie as well. a lot of things going on. tell us about this book, though.

it is called "a gift from my father." how do you see the families changed? how does this relate to families today? >> did you know, it is -- part of why i did it. we have gone through some really tough years together. the -- economy, the wars. so many issues. and i just felt, number one, it is corny but people needed something to feel good about. and as it pertains to families, i think that's the solution. i think it is -- we have all these problems. back to basics, back to what matters, a time with the people that you love. and i think the people that were in the generations ahead of us that went through the recession the depression, they realized when they lost everything else, they still had the people they cared about. and that was a big part of doing this. >> have families changed? has the role of the father changed, do you think, in the years that have passed? >> no doubt. look, we all walk around and we are guilty of having our i-phones and connected and we are constantly going. we don't turn it off.

we immediate to sort of just appreciate the moments when we are with the people that we love, yeah. no question. we are all moving faster and under a lot of pressure and sometimes have to just stop and say wait a second. let's get a grip. >> this is fiction, you say. >> yes. >> there are things in here that sound pretty real. how much of this is based on your relationship with your father and things that actually happened? >> it is not an autobiography. it is a fantasy. quite a fantasy. but there's no question that the main character was inspired to me by my dad. and there are some few scenes in there that actually happened in his life. >> there is a picture of you and your dad. you look remarkably like your father. it is amazing. he was in the war. >> yeah, that was him getting ready to go off in world war ii. that's me probably about 10 years old the age of the character in the book. it half follows this young man when he was 10-year-old. then it follows him when he's in his mid 30s here in washington,

d.c. >> there are some scenes that take place during the war. >> yes. >> are those -- real, based on something you know about? >> you know, it is -- it is a -- it is a part of what i know about. when i was a kid, we would take all of our family vacations visiting my father's war buddies. that's what we would do. and -- one time we went to wisconsin and i was a little kid playing in the backyard. ladies were in the house. my dad, after a few cocktails, wanted to introduce me to the man that shot him in the war. and this was, i guess, you know, friendly fire. and so it is true. and i -- i captured that in the book. and in a fictional light. >> realistic pieces in the book. that's why they come across so real, because i guess they are based on -- redskins are in this book. >> yes, the -- adult portion is set in 1983 in washington. great year for redskins fans. beating the dolphins in the super bowl.

so, yes, there's a lot of redskins stuff. it is all historically accurate. >> and -- now, tell us about your connection with the u.s. and how it will be involved with the book. >> it actually goes back to when i was -- my early years here, 1991. we started operation home front with the uso at wrc. and there's such a change now where they used to focus on young, typically single servicemen. so many men and women returning home from the war zone are now trying to go back into a normal family life. really difficult to go from war zone to family life and so what we are doing with the uso, coming up to father's day. and people will be buying this for father's day. and so for every copy that's sold we are going to be donating a signed copy to the uso for their use with the wounded warriors and others. >> fantastic. it is so great to see you again. >> great to see. >> did you great to have you back at wrc. good luck with this. we will be waiting for the movie to come out. >> thank you.

that would be nice. thanks, barbara. it is now 11:26. coming up in the next half hour, what's next for george zimmerman now that he is back in a florida jail cell? will a judge release him on bail again? rare sight in the sky you may be able to see tomorrow. will temperatures stay below average over this next week? tom kierein will be back. stay with us.

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we begin this half hour with would breaking news stories. police arrested an adult film star wanted for murder following a worldwide manhunt. the man was arrested at an internet cafe in berlin, germany. the 29-year-old is wanted in montreal. police there say he killed a man he was dating, videotaped the attack and maeld the body parts to the headquarters of canada's conservative and liberal political parties. police say he left montreal last

week and spent ats least one night in paris. we are following breaking news out of the district now, too. police say a woman was stabbed to death this morning in southeast washington. it happened around 9:30 this morning in the 3400 block of 13th place. police are looking for another woman in connection with this case. the defense team for george zimmerman plans to appeal a ruling that sent their client back to jail. a judge revoked the bond in the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. nbc's jay gray has more on this case from sanford, florida. >> reporter: for the first time in six weeks, george zimmerman will wake up in the seminole county jail this morning. 28-year-old accused of second-degree murder in the death of trayvon martin. turned himself in on sunday. two days after judge lester revoked his bond. >> based on misrepresentation that the court relied upon. >> reporter: prosecutors accused zimmerman and his wife of hiding information during his initial bond hearing about money raised for his defense through a

website. >> i don't know what the words to use other than it is a blatant lie. >> the soern says the omission was a mistake, not a lie. >> if that's their intent why didn't they go the first day that it was discussed and why did he forward tall money i asked him to forward? >> reporter: mistake or lie the martin's family attorney says it strikes to the core of zimmerman's claim he acted in self-defense the night the florida teenager was killed. >> credibility is the issue, then we think it is the most important ruling so far in this entire case. >> certainly is a credibility question that now needs to be rehabilitated by running away. what they were thinking when they did what they did p that's what happened. >> reporter: explanation defense hopes to pass offer judge lester in the next few days. judge lester said he will schedule a new hearing to allow zimmerman to explain himself. zimmerman's lawyer plans to file a motion today and hope it can happen sometime this week. jay gray, nbc news, sanford,

florida. >> witnesses in the sex abuse case against jerry sandusky will not be allowed to hide their identity when the trial starts. jury selection begins tomorrow. the judge ruled alleged victims cannot testify under pseudonyms during the trial. he is accused of molesting ten boys over a 15-year period. the former penn state assistant coach pleaded not guilty. legal experts say the case will depend heavily on the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses due to little evidence in this case. police are investigating the death of five people burned beyond recognition in a charred suv in the arizona desert. the sheriff believes the murders may be spillover from drugs. the sheriff says it is rare to see this kind of crime so close to the phoenix area. so far no arrests have been made in this case. new leaks from the vatican

show the pope's butler is not the only one that has stolen confidential information. italian newspaper says it has new secret documents showing that the butler is a scapegoat and others have access to secret correspondence as well. he was arrested a week and a half ago charged with stealing correspondence. the new findings pope benedict's personal secretary could also have access to confidential files. police are expected to question the butler sometime this week. the space shuttle "enterprise" is headed to its new home. barge ferried across the hudson river to new jersey yesterday. tomorrow lit finish the journey to manhattan. there is a crane that -- that will be lifting it to the intrepid air and space museum which is a modified aircraft carrier. the shuttle will sit on the massive flight deck alongside dozens of restored military war jets. you may remember enterprise sat at a museum near dulles airport until "discovery" replaced it in april.

we are going to check in with tom kierein now for the latest on the forecast. tom we had clouds rolling in. this is all associated with a big area of low pressure to our north. remember the last 12 hours we have seen those coming down from pennsylvania. moving over the metro area. not producing any rain right now. but there is a slight chance of an isolated shower popping up later this afternoon. right now temperatures in the comfort zone. 73 now at reagan national. it hit the 70s across much of virginia and maryland. still in the 60s farther to our west and north and west of the metro area. and for the next several days, cooler than average temperatures through thursday. and afternoon highs today, 70s. another cool night tonight and we will be down into the 50s by dawn tomorrow. and again, just a small chance of a passing shower tonight and again on tuesday, tomorrow's highs into the low 70s. mid 70s wednesday. and greater chance of a shower and then a -- slightly -- likelihood of afternoon and evening thundershowers. saturday and sunday sunshine back and temperatures will be heating up.

now tomorrow evening, hopefully we won't have clouds around for the transit of venus. now this is an image of venus that was taken just a few days ago by one of the telescopes at the u.s. naval observatory. convenient us is a planet that's about the same size as the earth. and it has the surface temperature of 860 degrees fahrenheit. not a nice place to be. but convenient us is going to be putting on quite a show beginning tomorrow. very rare event. joining me now is a astronomer geoff chester. geoff is a guru, all about planets and galaxies, the universe. has a vast knowledge about all of that. i want to ask you about were is this an important event? describe what we are going to be seeing tomorrow. >> well what we are going to be see sing not exactly what one might think of as a visual spectacular like you get with a total solar eclipse or something like that. it is an incredibly rare event. probably the rarest predictable event that we have in the solar

system. what will happen is that tomorrow, starting at about 6:04 p.m. in washington, lasting through sunset, we will see the disc of the planet venus cross or transit the face of the sun. now, the reason that this is interesting is that the first one of these was predicted biohannes kepler in the year 1631. he didn't live to see it. the first one that was actually observed was in 1639 by two astronomers in england. since then, since 1639 transit, this will only be the fifth time this event has ever been observed. first telescope and that's 1610, thereabouts. this is a very rare event. only the sixth time. >> this will be the sixth time since the first one was observed in 1639. now, these events were used historically in 1761, 1769.

and 1874 and 1882 as means to measure the distance between the earth and sun. they can actually measure it from different points on the earth's surface. then use geometry to figure out how far away venus and the sun were. now, we know now with much better techniques exactly what those distances are. the interesting thing about this particular transit is from a scientific point of view. there are -- they are going to be using the hubble space telescope to look at sunlight reflected off the moon to see if there is a drop in the overall amount of sunlight and they can use that to calibrate searches for transiting planets of other stars. way out of the solar system. there's still scientific value in making this kind of observation. >> so to get our space shuttle awareness here right now, how far away is convenient from us the earth and from -- between

venus and the sun? what are those distances? >> convenient us will pass directly between the earth and this is when 2s closest to the sun. orbiting the sun on an interorbit. it and mercury are the only would plan that's can pass across the face of the sun as seen from the earth. distance at the time that venus is closest to us will be on the order of something like 24 million miles or something like that. it is still pretty far away. what folks will see is a small dot that will slowly edge its way on to the sun's disc as we start at 6:04 p.m. by 6:22 the dot should be fully on the disc. as we go towards sunset it will move further across the disc. now the further west you go, the better opportunity you have to see more of the transit. the only people in the u.s. that are going to actually see the whole thing will be in alaska and hawaii. >> okay. okay. well, that's fascinating, geoff. thank you so much. i'm going try to work on making sure that we don't have any clouds around to our -- obscure

our view. never dleektly at the sun. there are several events going on around town where you can look safely at this event. and we will keep you posted on that, too. thanks so much, geoff chester. and that's it from here. barbara? >> tom, thank you. air & space museum is hosting a viewing party. admission is pre. it starts at 6:00. reminder, don't look at the sun directly without proper eye protection. the sun rays can damage the eyes. let's take a look at our midday traffic now. danella sealock standing by. what's it looking like on the roads? >> if you are taking the beltway it looks really good. here is a live look at the beltway in montgomery county. passing colesville road, inner loop and outer loop are very clear. headlights towards us. that's the outer loop of the beltway. driving at about 56 miles per hour. ten minutes from i-95 to i-270. also in virginia, same thing. no issues on the inner loop or outer loop in this area.

inner loop, tail lights from the interchange to the dulles toll road, 57 miles per hour. 14 minutes on the trip and be aware metro has single tracking between twinbrook and shady grove. an 18-year-old security guard injured in a baseball attack at a daycare center has a long road to recovery. jaylin farmer stepped in when michael young walked into the daycare center in april and got upset when he couldn't use the phone. he had a baseball bat and according to police young wrestled it from him and beat farmer with the bat. the young man stole the car keys of one of the other employees and escaped. police later arrested him. the trektor of the daycare center says farmer saved her life. >> if it was not for his heroic actses and bravery i don't think i would have made it home that day. i play over and over in my head

and i cannot tell you how proud i am. >> farmer's family says he took the job to help pay for college. the jaycees are planning an appreciation dinner for him next month. the proceeds will help pay for his medical expenses. family, friends and fans are remembering legendary game show host richard dawson. >> you said -- >> dawson died last night in los angeles. he hosted "family feud" for nine years. dawson's remembered for his kisses and wisecracks on the show. before "feud" he played a prisoner of war on "hogan's heroes." he was 79 years old. our time is 11:42. still ahead on "news4 midday," we will tell you about the recall of a popular coffeemaker after dozens of people were cut and burned. plus, today's big concert featuring music loyalty to celebrate queen elizabeth.

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a bizarre incident of the whole foods market in rockville left some of its customers sick. firefighters say someone set off a can of pepper spray yesterday afternoon. for officials evacuated the store for a short time. crews vented the building thoroughly. some customers were sick but no one needed to go to the hospital. no word on who set that pepper spray off. a welcomed trend across the country. new numbers show prices are easing up at the pumps. according to aaa the average price of gas dropped three cents overnight at the district. a gallon of regular is $3.69 today. in maryland you are paying $3.51 down almost a penny. virginia's average dropped about a half cent but it is still at $3.39. drivers in west virginia are paying about a penny less at $3.64. analysts expect gas prices to keep dropping into the summer. stocks are down this morning. going to check in with hampton

pearson. he joins us live with more on that. he has the rest of the day's business headlines, too. hey, hampton. >> hey, barbara. while on this monday, you know, for whatever reason, we are seeing markets calming down after friday's disappointing jobs report. we do see the dow down 34 points. nasdaq down six. s&p is down five. markets rebounding after the gains of the first five months of this year. in spain and italy, bond yields fell. meaning less chance they might default. here in the u.s., new owners for factory goods fell in april for the third time in four months. commerce department says that orders fell.6% as demand for everything from new cars, machinery, and computers was less than what economists expected. it is the second straight month they declined. elsewhere domestic crude oil futures are slightly higher today. up four cents around $83 per barrel on the new york america

teal exchange. consumers are still winners heading into the driving system. aaa says the national average for regular gas dropped another pen write to $3.58 a gallon. would you let your young child have a facebook account? get ready because it may be coming. "wall street journal" reporting the social networking site is considering allowing children under 13 to logon. the paper says facebook is developing technology for kids to use the site under parental supervision. barbara, back over to you. >> thank you so much. the final touches are being put in place for tonight's star-studded diamond jubilee concert in england. elton john, paul mccartney and stevie wonder will perform at buckingham palace. meredith vieira has a look at the celebration. >> reporter: on the river thames sunday p. 1,000 vessel strong honoring queen elizabeth.

she celebrated 60 years on the throne. by her side members of the royal family. the queen's husband, prince philip, her hundreds band, prince charles, and his wife camilla. prince william and prince harry and william's wife, catherine, duchess of cambridge, was stunning in a red alexandra queen dress. not far behind the boat carrying the middletons, including her younger sister, pipa. the crowds came out in full force. bringing with them their spirit. >> never see it again in my lifetime anything like that, a thousand boats going down the river thames. >> reporter: one of those boats carried dan fogle. part after fleet that created a dra mat wrik and h-- dramatic scene. >> original idea, going back in history. only been done 300 years ago when charles ii had a employee till a. they reinvented it for the modern age.

>> reporter: elsewhere, street parties all around the country. >> celebrating history. and where you are on the day. >> reporter: even prince charles and camilla hit the streets sunday to join in the festivities. one of the queen's favorite events helped kick off the historic weekend. on saturday the top prize went to joseph o'brien who rode a horse named camelot and accepted the winning trophy from the queen herself. a weekend of celebrations for the queen and her father. >> monarchy as an institution stands for is the unity of the country. they wanted to wave their flags to celebrate the past greatness and the future. >> that was meredith vieira reporting. news4 is getting a behind-the-scenes look at the diamond jubilee. our own doug kammerer is in london to cover all the festivities. look for his report starting

tonight on "news4 at 5:00." we are already hearing about doug's adventures across the pond. this morning he tweeted so far so good. welcome to london. then he took a jab at dan hellie saying dan would be fine over there because he's only 5'11". doug tweeted london is expensive, 30 for a bugger and a coke. that is expensive. black & decker is recalling coffeemakers after dozens of people were cut and burned. the handle on the coffeemaker can break off. the recall covers a welfare-cup programmable version. black & decker reports more than 1,200 complaints, including 68 injuries. the cough write makers are sold nationwide from july of 2008 until last month. the customers who own this coffeemaker should stop using it immediately. 11:51. get a look at the new miss usa.

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it is probably only the first of many awards expected for bryce harper. 219-year-old is named rookie of

the month for may. harper hit 271 with four home runs and ten rbis in may. he's the first national to be named rookie of the month in seven years. harper's playing well in june, too. he had a home run and a double in a loss to the braves yesterday. there is a new miss usa this morning. >> miss usa 2012, rhode island! >> rhode island's olivia culpo took home the crown. miss maryland was runner-up. after taking the second spot she congratulated the winner, culpo, and then tweeted the words halle berry. that's a nod to the oscar winning actress' beauty pageant days when berry was the runner-up 25 years ago. an 11-year-old boy in minnesota is going to school today with the best excuse ever

for skipping school. the fifth grader was with the president. tyler sullivan missed school on friday to watch the president speak at a honeywell facility in golden valley. immediately polling the speech, sullivan had a chance to shake hands with the president. when mr. obama realized sullivan skipped school he got a pen and a card with presidential letter head. the note he wrote read -- reads, mr. ackerman, please excuse tyler, he was with me. sullivan framed the note and plans on showing that to his teacher today. i guess that's a pretty good excuse for him not being at school. a look now at some of the stories following on news4 this afternoon. here's pat lawson muse with a preview of things to come. >> hi, barbara. coming up this afternoon on in our four, as you mentioned some big stars will be performing today at the celebration of the queen's jubilee. we will have continuing coverage at 4:00 and special reports from news4's doug kammerer on "news4 at 5:00" and 6:00. barnyard animals on the mend after being attacked.

tonight at 5:00, they are back in front of the public as police increase the amount of ret reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. the latest on that and the weather on this monday. starting on "news4 at 4:00." barbara. >> okay. we have the latest the weather right now. tom kierein joins us. >> after sun this morning, we had clouds building over the last couple of hours moving in. rotating around the base of a big area of low pressure over new england. southern side of that and bringing in clouds from the north and they will be with us off and on into the afternoon. slight chance they would produce a passing shower or rumble of thunder. temperatures are knew in the 60s west and north of washington. and as we approach the noon hour, 74 at reagan national, not going to warm up too much more. maybe up into the mid and upper 70s locally and into virginia. staying in the sits near the pennsylvania border. rather cool june day after 81. it will be cooler than average tomorrow. and again on wednesday. and again on thursday. increasing chance, though, of mainly afternoon or evening

showers and thundershowers on wednesday and thursday. then into the weekend, looking terrific. sunshine back and warming up. not much humidity either. that's the way it looks. have a great afternoon. we will see you tomorrow morning. >> looks like a perfect week, tom. >> yes. >> thank you. that's "news4 midday" for today. we thank you for being with us and invite to you tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and tonight at 11:00. we will be back right here tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. with "news4 midday." hope you will join us for that. until then have a terrific day. we will see new the morning.