and now, from washington's leading news station, this is news 4 today. >> it just started blowing, the rain started coming down. and it looked like a tornado. >> severe weather sweeps through leaving the d.c. region with a major weekend cleanup project. >> and convicted pedophile jerry sandusky this morning reaction at the courthouse ju moments after that verdict came down. >> plus a big time weekend traffic alert. how to avoid the road work and gridlock that will come along with it. thank you for joining us early on this saturday. i'm angie goff. >> i'm richard jordan. thank you for joining us for this saturday, june 23rd.

thousands in our area are waking up in the dark after strong storms knocked out power. at one point close to 50,000 people were without power. >> pepco reporting that 41,000. bge and dominion power are reporting around 100 outages each. >> we have scorcher of days, then severe storms to top it off. >> it was crazy yesterday. >> i know. >> that was three days in a row 95 or higher. we made 97 yesterday before the storms really started to roar in. not a drop at my place downtown last night and only a trace at national airport. meanwhile, only a couple of minutes away driving time, it was guns blazing for mother nature yesterday afternoon and to evening. but your saturday morning getses off to the opposite start. nice and quiet outside this morning. that's the way we like it for our weekend.

the heat that you suffered with all week long, it's not completely gone but the real teeth of it has been taken out. that's welcome news. temperatures right now, 74 in washington, 75 bayside and annapolis. look at all the 60s on the map farther west. 67 in fairfax, 66 leesburg and 61 martinsberg. not much left showing up on doppler this morning. a couple of showers off shore. but driving down to the beaches, look for a possibility of a quick shower. nowhere near as hot. about a ten-degree improvement. highs today only in the upper 80s. might flirt with or touch 90 for a brief time but vast major toif day will be spent in the 80s today. >> that will feel nice. >> i'll agree with that 100%. the severe weather forced hundreds from their homes in prince george's county.

this morning there's significant damage at the kennilworth tower apartment. it blew the roofs off some buildings and damaged several apartments. people from 15 apartments were impacted and had to move out. there's a shelter at the elementary for those who may not have anywhere else to go. only one report of an injury and it is minor. a major cleanup for many around the region. high winds knocked down trees left and right in and around d.c. news 4's jackie bensen has more on the summer's first storm. >> reporter: the storm blew through fast and furious. these images were taken in riverdale, maryland. torrential rains, lightning and hail. as the storm raced towards northeast washington, it gathered speed and power. a tree more than three feet in diameter crushed this home in the 3800 block of south dakota

avenue. >> first the winds came up really strong, and all of a sudden it just started blowing, the rain started coming down. and it looked like a tornado, yes. and i was in my family room. and i heard this thing snap and it fell like, yeah, it was awful. it was awful. it just -- you went to the basement at that point. >> the tree tore right through the sturdy brick home. the heavy damage trapped a man, the sole occupant. numerous downed power lines meant large parts of northeast washington, particularly the woodbridge area, were plun nled into darkness. jackie bensen, news 4 today. >> the storm may be long over but people should be very careful when heading out today. traffic lights might be out tonight. traffic was backed up for blocks

as police direct cars through four-way stops. guilty. that was the verdict on 45 of the 48 counts against jerry sandusky. just hours ago the former penn state assistant football coach was booked into the centre county correctional facility where he'll likely spend the rest of his life. it only took the jury two days of finding him guilty of month ling ten young boys. bryan mooar has more from bellefont, pennsylvania, including reaction from both sides of the case. >> reporter: minutes after being found guilty on 45 of 48 count against him, former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky was taken away in handcuffs. cheers went up outside the courthouse after the verdict was announced. >> jerry indicated he was disappointed by the verdict but obviously he has to live with it. >> reporter: but with the overwhelming number of charges and ten alleged victims, his fate seemed clear long before

the decision was announced. >> a serial child predator who committed horrific acts upon his victims causing lifelong and life changing consequences for all of them has been held accountable for his crimes. >> reporter: the jury asked two intriguing questions, focusing on separate alleged incidents in the penn state locker room. a jan it are testified a co-worker who is now mentally incapacitated told him he saw sandusky abusing a child in the shower. the jury asked to review the testimony of former grad student mike mcqueary and a mcqueary family friend. mcqueary is the only third party incident to tell the jury he saw an incident. though it was just a glimpse hes was adamant he saw jerry sandusky molesting an underaged

boy. he faces a maximum of 400 years behind bars. bryan mooar, bell font, pennsylvania. >> penn state released a statement saying, quote, the legal process has spoken and we have tremendous respect for the men who came forward to tell their stories publicly. no verdict can undo the pain and suffering caused by mr. sandusky, but we do hope this judgment helps the victims and their families along their path to healing. >> a memorial will be held today for a popular business owner killed at her store in d.c. jun lin was found murdered inside grace's deli. people who knew lin held a vinlle for her last week. a viewing today from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. the family is planning a private funeral. in lieu of flowers they're asking that contributions be made to victim assistance in the

d.c. area. mayor gray will travel to beijing, shanghai and shuzu. he will meet with business part nrs and real estate developer. members of the team will travel with him. a traffic alert for drivers this weekend. construction is going on right now near the wilson bridge. crews closed the through lane of the outer loop in alexandria. all will have to use one local lane. to avoid this mess take 395 to the southeast-southwest freeway or the beltway at the mixing bowl. all lanes should reopen for your monday morning commute. >> you might want to avoid it for the time being. >> time t time is 6:08. why governor mcdonnell is threatening to clean house. >> plus changes at the top of

prince jornl's public schools. >> the caps settle i

this morning, new this morning, the superintendent for prince george's county could soon be switching jobs. dr. william hite has been named a finalist for the school district superintendent opening. he's been in charge of prince george's county schools for 3 1/2 year. he released a statement saying while i have not sought out other opportunities i have been approached on numerous occasions and have turned them down. however, my wife and i believe this is an opportunity we must explore. governor mcdonnell issued a stern warning to the virginia board of visitors saying if they don't make a zis on ousted

president sullivan next week he'll ask all of them to resign. in a letter to the board mcdonnell wrote, let me be absolutely clear. i want final action by the board on tuesday. if you fail to do so, i will ask for the resignation of the entire board on wednesday. i expect you to make a clear, detailed and unified statement on the future leadership of the university. a warning for parents this morning about keeping your kids safe on the internet. a charles county teenager was robbed at gunpoint after meeting someone on facebook. it happened last month in waldorf. police say 19-year-old jalen picket wrote a post saying he wanted to trade his pair of nikes for a different pair. the victim, a 14-year-old responded and agreed to meet with picket, but when the boy arrived with another friend, picket and the others robbed him at gunpoint. surf and turf shop lifters.

this surveil envideo shows three people stealing steaks and seafood on monday. the trio likely brought their own bags, loaded up the items and headed for the door. if getting caught on camera wasn't enough, one of these crooks drew attention with an interesting disguise. >> there were two female, two black females described as heavy set and there was one male dressed out in drag, totally dressed in drag. >> maybe economically they can't afford it, but i don't know. >> they went for some good stuff, don't you think? >> yeah, steak and seafood. was it filet mignon? >> no word on that. the thieves haven't been caught yet. they were last seen headed towards the georgetown south area. >> interesting. >> i couldn't make out who was the driver. >> i saw the woman from giant running after them in the back. hopefully they'll find them. coming up, celebrating the

summer games. test out your olympic spirit at an event in d.c. today. it takes guts to do this. rappel down the side of a building in arlington. did the rain push that sticky hot weather out of here?

if you're flying today, you might want to double-check to make sure your flight is still planning to take off. last night's storms along with a fire at nurnl airport could cause big problems. a fire broke out at atlantic city airport yesterday afternoon and affected automatic air traffic controls. jetblue said it had to delay or cancel 66 flights and delays at new york's three major airports ranged from 80 minute to two

hours. >> boy, did we need it. those were three miserable days. last week i was sitting here and said, it may not be 100 but real close. how about 99 degrees here on thursday last week. misery does not necessarily love company. three days in a row where everybody was unhappy. but things have started to improve quite a bit. that round of storms, that was the leading edge of some nicer air that we get to deal with for today and tomorrow. shower chances not completely zero all weekend, but they're close to that. outside on your saturday morning, what a beautiful way to get your saturday started. lots of blue. couldn't even see the blue in the skies because of the poor air quality in place. that's been changed as well as cooler drier air starts to move on in. beautiful sunrise picture for you this morning. current temperature still on the mild side at 74 degrees. our dew points remain in the

mid and upper 60s for now. these dew point numbers, they'll be back down into the upper 50s and low 60s so that north and northwesterly breeze puts cool are and drier air in play. you'll notice and appreciate the change. 60s north of i-95 and low 70s to the south and east of the intersta interstate. temperatures will climb into the warm to almost hot range but compared to yesterday, and it won't be bad at all. highs today flirting with 90 degrees for a time. here's storm 4 radar, no drops to concern yourself with. if you're driving to the beaches, there will be a chance of showers. flying out to the middle of the country, showers and storms flying into st. louis could have some troubles and trouble may, in fact, be brewing down here in the gulf of mexico. may very lick lie that we have a named tropical system in the gulf of mexico before the

weekend is out. if you have vacation plans down to the gulf, be ready to make some changes this coming week. for us, not a lot of big news other than the cool changes that are filtering in. plenty of sunshine around here for today. shower chances today closer to the beach. a cooler start, then tomorrow a trough of low pressure might wring out one or two showers. but most of us will have to wait until monday before we see a chance for showers with another cool front. so today mostly sunny, cooler and less humid than yesterday. but it's still going to be a hot summer day, no doubt. highs today up near 90 degrees. tomorrow mostly sunny and any little chance of rain should be i-80 westbound. going down to the ocean. 71 degrees, the search out at the buoy, the inlet. i was personally in the waves this week, temperatures in the surf were in the low to mid-70s.

great swimming and splashing weather. don't forget your spf. in the low 90s but compared to 97 or 98, that's not too bad. what a break from summer misery we have coming our way. tuesday, wednesday, cooler than average with sunshine in summertime. love that. >> love it. you didn't get too much of a tan. >> 30 block start to finish every morning, every night. >> all right. thank you, chuck. now to a place where they're loving the heat right now. miami. they're getting ready to celebrate. the city will throw a championship parade for the heat. >> you're loving this story rchl the heat won their championship thursday night defeating the oklahoma city thunder. i can't say their name any more. who are they? it ends with an additional private celebration inside the american airline arena for season ticket holders. i bet there's heat hangover all over miami. nobody went to work yesterday, they're still celebrating, now

this parade monday. >> the thunder just a distant memory. >> i can barely remember them. >> to your dismay because i know you were rooting for them. the capitals are busy making a big trade. >> round two of the battle of the beltways. >> good morning, everybody. your sports in a minute starts with the nationals. mark reynolds takes jordan zimmerman to left field and that's gonzo. nats on the board here in. roger bernadina grounds to third, thrown out at first, but reynolds tries to get ian desmond at third and the throw goes wild. in comes ian, the game tied at one. bottom five. o's take the lead for good. hardy strokes it to left field. jason hamill allowed just five

hits while striking out ten. thecody eakin to dallas. golf frederick jacobsen at the leaders championship, he shot a 65 thursday, a 66. he leads the tournament by a stroke. in germany, the bmw international open. from 215 yards out, two birdies in a row and what's better than a birdie on a par 3 sh how about a hole in one? he won a car. a $76,000 six series bmw. marshall five stroke off the lead in cologne germany but he'll be driving this weekend in style. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great weekend.

>> cue the music. 23 days from the start of the 2012 olympics. before london today marks a special occasion ahead of the summer games. today is known as olympic day. people are celebrating the day around the world in more than 160 countries. it commemorates the birth of the modern olympic games. it is an international effort to promote fitness, well-being as well as fair play, respect and sportsmanship. a group is celebrating today, the 2012 skate of the union, a roller skating event at rfk stadium. it gets rolling with a 5-k and 10-k run, then the skateboard sprint, the d.c. roller girls. >> the summer olympics in london won't be the only place to see athletes reach new heights. virginia raised thousands of dollars for an event alongside the hilton in crystal city. 50 people participated in the

two-day challenge, each strapped on a harness and rappelled from the roof of the hotel down 15 stories, that's 250 feet down to the ground. the money raised goes to special olympic athletes who will compete in state competitions year round. >> the challenge four minutes, maybe five minutes. the challenge of our special athletes, their parents, their challenge lasts a lifetime. your four-minute challenge is not a lot when compared to theirs. >> who rappelled raised at least $1,000. that's enough to cover annual expenses for two theets. >> i don't know if i could do that. that's scary. >> all those windows along the building. so they were rappelling just along the column, which is pretty narrow. >> they had to stay focused. >> but everyone was keeping safe. >> they raised some money. a look at the damage left behind from last night's storms.

>> what came careening right at children playing in a pool that almost cost them their life. >> metro riders the train station closing much earlier than normal tonight. the construction project that will tie up traffic all weekend long. our cloud is not soft and fluffy.

our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet.

good morning. welcome to news 4 today. i'm richard jordan. >> i'm angie goff. it is saturday, june 23rd, 2012. severe storms that rattled our area means thousands wake up without power this morning. at one point close to 50,000 are without power. >> pepco is reporting 21 thises this still out of power. most of those in prince george's county and the district. both have 10,000 customers

without electricity. bge is reporting 100 outages. the kenilworth towers apartment complex sustained significant damage. rescue crews say roofs were blown right off ofbles abuildin. so far there has only been one report of injury and it is minor. many of those power outages were caused by massive trees like this tumbling into power lines. this tree not only hit the lines but toppled on to a house in northeast. this is on lawrence and 16th streets. neighbors say they weren't taking any chances with the summer's first big storm. >> my wife and i were sitting watching tv. we saw the rain coming. first we saw the wind, then we saw the rain. i spent 13 years in kansas. i figured it was time to take a look outside to see if we needed to go downstairs.

we got a little footage and decided not to mess around and go downstairs and be safe. >> neighbors say four women live at the home but only two were there at the time. everyone did get out safely. d.c.'s cave-in task force is on the scene to make sure the house is stable. >> others didn't see a drop of rain. >> hardly a drop. we thought it would rain in downtown. i was at dinner sitting at a sidewalk cafe. thought it was going to rain for certain. nary a drop. meanwhile only had to go three or four miles away and it was a completely different story with the sideways rain and the hail and the crazy wind. really depended where you were last night. good news for your weekend, everybody. even though this picture live from our city camera looks awfully hazy and gunky. i assure you that's the last of the gunk that's blowing out of here. a northwesterly breeze will increase the amount of blueness. that will be a nice change.

current temperature 60s, storm 4 radar shows all the rain is gone now. showers and stuff off shore, that's part of the old weather front. if you're going down to the ocean, little chance for showers down there. but around town, no complaints, no storms today. at least in and around the metro area. highs today upper 80s to near 90. that's still a ten-degree improvement. a cooler start tomorrow morning. still plenty of sunshine. any real rain chances we have a chance at the beaches today and a little chance for showers in the mountains tomorrow. right in and around the city not much of a threat for the weekend. >> good news. >> thanks, chuck. we're following a developing story out of egypt. foreign political experts say the country is, quote, on the verge of an explosion as protesters demand resultses from the country's presidential election. this was the scene last night in tahrir square. the election ended this week but

both candidates are accusing the other of cheating. the military is trying to sway the election towards hosni mubarak's former minister. but the muslim brotherhood say their candidate won the election fair and square. jerry sandusky is in a pennsylvania correctional facility where he'll most likely spend the rest of his life. a jury found sandusky guilty on 45 of the charges against him. he was accused of molesting ten boys during and after his time as a head coach at penn state. the "today" show will have full coverage of the verdict at the top of the hour. a moroccan man living in alexandria who plotted to blow up the u capitol showed up just blocks from the hill with what he thought was a suicide vest. the bomb was inert supplied by

an undercover fbi aegtd. he planned the attack for months even traveling to west virginia to test explosives. they say they hope to learn how he became a lone wolf sh a home grown terrorist, to prevent more plots. >> four children are recovering this morning after an suv careened off the road an into a front yard in prince george's county. police say the driver of a ford escape was slowing down, trying to make a left turn in jennifer place in riverdale. that's when a toyota tried to pass the ford. the cars collided sending that car into the front of the home where four children were playing in a kiddie pool. >> the car just like took the baby, like the baby was under the car, then he was like bleeding right here and the tire was on his hand, the tire. >> police say the injured children range from 4 to 10 years olds. one child had to be revived on the way to the hospital.

we're told the driver of the toyota will be cited for the crash. a major traffic alert for you this weekend. there's construction on the wilson bridge. all lanes will reopen for monday morning's commute, but as news 4's shomari stone tells us, some drivers are just avoiding the area altogether. >> avoid it, going nowhere near it if i can help it. >> reporter: steve walker will avoid beltway traffic like a virus. >> already bad enough. >> this weekend is a stay away weekend. >> reporter: inner loop traffic will be more congested than normal all because of construction from van doren street to telegraph road. >> stay away if that is your planned route. >> reporter: you can see these three lanes and how the traffic is moving at a snail's pace. it will turn to five lanes in five weeks and make the traffic

run a lot smoother. but for now the wilson bridge is shut down to one lane going north all day saturday and sunday. plus i-95 north traffic will be diverted on to the beltway to avoid tysons and will have to go over the american legion bridge to get to i-95 on the maryland side. this guy's skipping town before it gets bad. >> leaving for the weekend. >> reporter: to ease up traffic saturday and sunday from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. all northbound i-95 traffic will be rerouted on to the inner loop over the american legion bridge. steve walker told me he would go on the beltway in virginia only in an emergency this weekend. >> this is life or death, i ain't going nowhere near it. >> that was news 4's shomari stone reporting. the roads aren't the only place you'll find delays. metro is doing track work on three lines this weekend. the only closure is the orange line where buses will replace trains between east and west

falls church. work started at 10:00 last night. navy yard will also be closed tonight but not for track work. metro transit police will do a security drill at 10:00 p.m. there may also be some street closures in the area because of the drill. the station won't reopen until 7:00 tomorrow morning. time right now 6:38. a major milestone for a virginia medical institution. the celebration that involves a world record attempt. that's next. a historic honor ahead for donald wuerl and the catholic church. from shopping malls to starbucks where you can find love almost anywhere you go. [ male announcer ] it would be easy for u.s. olympian meb keflezighi

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at home...why would he? ♪ woooo! [ male announcer ] citibank mobile check deposit. easier banking. every step of the way. welcome back. today history is being made for local catholics as two former anglican priests are ordained by

the catholic church. father mark lewis and father rick kramer will be ordained by cardinal donald a wuerl this morning. they're some of the most anglican priests in the country to make the transition to catholicism. the process of unifying the churches became a reality in 2009 when pope benedict invited them to join the catholic church while still remaining some of its traditions. a town hall today is dedicated to the issue of affordable housing in the district. the fifth annual citywide tenant town hall. renters will talk with d.c. officials about how to keep more low cost units available for people who need it. the event is at thomas circle northwest from 1:00 to 4:00 this afternoon. today nova is celebrating its 100th birthday. the hospital's hosting a free celebration for everyone. food, games and fun for the

whole family including a world record attempt for the most people wearing surgical masks at once. there's also free parking and giveaways values at up to $500. >> you don't have to be a doctor to wear a mafb. >> no, you don't. >> the "today" show is next. >> lester holt joins us from new york. >> good morning, richard and angie. coming up on saturday morning, what was it like behind closed doors as a pennsylvania jury convicted jerry sandusky on 45 counts of child sex abuse. this morning we'll speak exclusively with one of those jurors. matt lauer's discussion with the mother who lost her family and home on christmas morning. plus money continueses to pour in for the bus monitor who was taunted by students on a school bus. we'll talk about the overwhelming generosity that's now being shown to her.

do you ever wonder if the exercise equipment advertised on late night infomercials really works? the results may surprise you. all when we get started here on "today." >> thank you, lester. i do have the shake weight. >> oh, really? don't use it in public. a little obscene sometimes, right? >> actually it's like anything else. it actually works a little if you focus. >> you may take your workout outside today. >> you can, no doubt about it. the weather is going to be noticeably more cooperative for your outdoor plans. kids, do you know what it is that makes this country great?

the constitution our forefathers wrote? our unified belief in the american dream? yes! those are some of the great things i was thinking of. celebrate america with the tour of america. only at denny's. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] get the mileage card with special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in.

high winds may be to blame for a barn collapse in frederick county, maryland, during yesterday's storms. one person and more than 150 kalgt we cattle were trapped. all were rescued and only one of the cattle was hurt. the person who was trapped was

not physically hurt. an off duty firefighter and strangers are being hailed as heroes for saving a woman trapped in a burning apartment. they saw smoke and made the first call to 911. neighbors had already rushed in to the home to help a woman rescue her handicapped mother. investigators are still looking into what caused that fire. a massive fire in utah has forced 1500 people to evacuate their homes. it started on thursday in northern utah and has already destroyed more than 4,000 acres. authorities are worried the fire will destroy the area's power grid knocking out power to 7,000 homes. target shooters accidentally started the blaze with gunfire. in minnesota, the rain has finally stopped after record rainfall earlier in the week. ten inches of rain fell on wednesday which turned into flash floods. the flooding forced hundreds out of their homes and governor mark

dayton issued a state of emergency. the flood damage could run into the tens of millions of dollars. >> wide weather all across the country. >> whenever you get the extremes. we were under a big dome of high pressure but all around the periphery of that rim, that's where you get severe weather. across parts of minnesota and the deep south as well all because we were cooked underneath that ridge of high pressure. now luckily that ridge of high pressure sliding off the eastern seaboard. in its wake, another ridge of high pressure. but not as sticky. and that's a nice change for your weekend, just in time for your weekend, too. first thing, let's take a look at a bit of a hazy sky outside. you can already tell the brightly lit kennedy center for the performing arts tells you there's an abundant amount of sunshine getting through. a twitter watcher report

announcing a little dense fog first thing this morning up to the panhandle of west virginia. that won't last too much longer. we had a decent amount of sunshine. current temperature is at at 74. that breeze will gradually push the warm summer air mass out and replace it with a much more tolerable air mass. 68 in gaithersburg. still 75 in annapolis. what will you do with your saturday? the battle of the beltways, the nationals are at the orioles at camden yard. first pitch at 7:35 this evening. warm, perfect weather for baseball. hopefully the nats can win that one after the loss yesterday. you can see nothing really to look at on the radar. showers from yesterday are now long off shore. but the system that generated all the severe weather, as you

get down to ocean city, a little chance for showers today. doing any traveling this weekend? out to the midwest delays from chicago to the twin cities to kansas city. all eyes will be down here in the gulf of mexico. trouble is brewing down in the gulf of mexico. we'll have a named tropical storm in the gulf before the weekend is done. vacation plans for next week from new orleans to tampa be on the lookout. we may have to watch out very carefully for a tropical system. around here for the rest of today, the cooler less humid changes will be appreciated today with the sunshine. plenty of sunshine today and for tomorrow. shower chances today are along the coastline and shower chances tomorrow are up west of i-81 up into the high spots north and west of town. everyone's little rain chance is increased for monday as a weather front. this one brings in noticeably cooler air. that arrives at the middle of the week. today a sunny warm to almost hot day but nowhere near as bad as

it's been. more of the same coming up for tomorrow. that's definitely welcome news. driving on down to the beaches, a little chance for a shower down there today. tomorrow looks like the better beach going day. then here is our all-important forecast. same story again tomorrow. shower chances tomorrow mainly from i-81 westbound. look at that cooldown for tuesday, wednesday, thursday, highs low 80s, lows mid-60s. welcome news even though we have a six today. >> your vacation is over. the six is back. i know. we're glad to have you back in the evening, thank you. >> see ya. >> the news 4 storm team spends hours every day studying weather bringing you the forecast. >> that's right. but sometimes we let them outside of the building. doug kammerer headed to ocean city. the must-visit place along the

boardwalk according

prizes, games, funnel cakes and rides and don't forget that beach and that's just across the chesapeake bay bridge. >> i think we got you at fries. >> and elephant ears. >> doug kammerer took a trip down to the boardwalk to see what keeps the crowds coming back. >> they have games, beaches, food. >> something for everyone. that's what you'll find when you take a stroll down the boardwalk at ocean city, maryland. first built in the early 1900s, it's definitely grown and changed over the years but some things have been there since day one. just ask the fifth generation owner of the rides. >> my great-great-grandparents first moved from baltimore and started amusements.

>> reporter: those amusements have become an annual tradition for thousands of families over the years. >> everyone remembers coming here with their parents and grandparent. they're riding some of the same rides. >> reporter: next stop another boardwalk staple, thrasher's french fries. >> been here since 1929 when ocean city was just a small fishing town. here we are 80-some years. just a tradition for ocean city to come and get thrasher's french fry, just salt and vinegar. that's how it's all been. i love it. eat them every day. >> reporter: normally i get something smaller than this, but this will be just fine. then, of course, you have the sun, fun and sand just a few steps away down on ocean city's beautiful beach ps. >> a beautiful day in ocean city. >> reporter: but most say it's the boardwalk that really keeps people coming back year after year. >> we grew up coming down, but

we've been bringing the kids down now for about four year. so we love it. what do you guys love about ocean city? >> the boardwalk. >> reporter: just a few hours away from the d.c. area it's the perfect place for a nice long vacation or a quick little getaway. >> close enough to home but far away enough that we can't be reached. >> we need to take the show down to ocean city. where we can be far away and can't be reached. >> we could anchor with a big thing of thrashy's on the desk. >> let's plan it. work it out. >> talk to the boss. ocean city is gearing up for its celebration. >> free concerts and the fire work. >> this is the last weekend. the arts festival has been going on all week in arlington. right now 11 stories of creativity are set up at 1851

south bell drive in crystal city. the building is set to be demolished later this summer. the 930 club is holding the d.c. regional air guitar competition. here's what you can expect. two rounds. in the first they perform their own song. in the second round you have to perform a surprise song. they're judged on technical merit, stage presence and airness, whatever that is. the winner tonight will compete in the u.s. air guitar finals in august. and all that shredding starting at 8:00 tonight. we know where you'll be. >> hearkening back to "wayne's world." ♪ wayne's world >> you got wayne and garth right here. >> i prefer to be -- what's her name? didn't she do workout videos now. the girl this the show. she's hawaii