good morning, everyone. welcome to news 4 midday, i'm barbia harrison. it's wednesday, june 27th, 2012. pepco is laying its plan. announcement comes just days after thousands of customers lost power during friday's strong storms and this storm season is just getting started. tracee wilkins is at pepco rockville service station and has more for us. >> this storm season is expected to be an average storm season. we all know what our average storm seasons can look like here in the washington area and folks with pepco the american red

cross and other emergency services want to make sure that you're prepared. it's the sound of d.c.'s storm season. trees down, homes damaged and power out. many pepco customers have grown tired of daze extending into weeks without electricity. >> every storm is different and every storm can have a different impact on the system. >> reporter: pepco emergency preparedness director karen bacon says the power company is working to have better restoration times no matter what mother nature may bring. >> starting last year in response to some criticism on our storm preparedness and response, pepco underwent a significant emergency restoration improvement process. >> reporter: that means better training for employees, more drills and preventative maintenance on blue sky days and a commitment to serving customers on every level. >> the processes did exist and there are no significantly new

processes. it's simply that our employees and our management are all much more awar of the plans and processes and participate extensively in our drills. >> reporter: while pepco is preparing, emergency management agencies and the red cross says it's important that you and your family do the same. they want you to have an emergency kit full of items you'll need in case you are without resources and, they suggest a well-rehearsed plan. >> literally a, write it down and talk to each other about it so that each member of the family knows what they will do in times of emergencies. >> reporter: just like friday's microburst taught us, there's no telling what could come our way. so everyone needs to be prepared. the truth is, you never know when things may get back to normal. >> like to say, you wouldn't be out for a week or week and a half, but it depends on the damage to the system. >> reporter: when you're prep e preparing your emergency kit, it's important to remember that you don't want to rely on television or cable because if

that goes out, what do you do next? battery operated radios or ones that crank, doesn't matter the name brand, also be sure you have extra batteries and that they're working. reporting in rockville, i'm tracee wilkins. we have breaking news in colorado. a fast-moving fire is threatening thousands of homes outed is of colorado springs. overnight it doubled in size. the waldo canyon fire engulfed more than 24,000 square miles and 24,000 people forced from their homes and already fears that whole developments may be destroyed. those leaving town say it's hard to stay ahead of the blaze. >> packed up two houses, my sister's house and our house and we just escaped with our children and our animals and thought we could stop here at another place and now we're moving on, again. >> on top of battling the flames, firefighters are also battling record heat. temperatures have been above 100 for five straight days. they're supposed to climbi into

the 90s, again, with no rain in sight. taking a look outside here in the washington area, beautiful out there. tom, what are you thinking? what is the rest of this day going to look like? >> dry, very low humidity and, as a result, we have a fire danger here, too. we have winds gusting around 20 to 25 miles per hour and pretty dry throughout much of the region here all throughout the spring. so, definitely, no outdoor fires or anything. we do have an enhanced fire danger here today. there's the view from space and live view from the latest satellite pictures showing a clear sky just about everywhere and those areas in the orange are climbing into the 80s. the areas in yellow are in the 70s and areas in green are still in the 50s in a few locations out in the mountains this morning. it got down into the low 40s, again. but, locally, we bottomed out around the metro area to near 60. right now reagan national up to 82, a hotter day than yesterday and still, though, low humidity.

we'll have the low humidity with us through the afternoon and breezes of generally up to 10 to 20 but gusting to 25 miles per hour and peaking in the upper 80s mid-afternoon and back down to mid-80s by late afternoon. i'll be back in ten minutes. a look at a big heat wave still looking to come our way here in the next couple of days. details on that in a few minutes, barbara. >> all right, tom, thank you. let's head out to the roads and see how things are moving at this hour. here's danella sealock with our first look at traffic. >> a couple accidents to look out for. traveling northbound have a crash there and i am seeing delays as you make your way northbound, as well. now, let's head over this time to the outer loop of the beltway in montgomery county and have a crash and this is at new hampshire avenue. good news is, it's in the shoulder lane. the right shoulder lane. travel lanes are open and no major delays in this area and let's head over to the 14th street bridge. bridge work slows you down again today and taking up the right

side of the bridge as you make your way across the 14th street bridge. traveling on 395, not too bad as far as your travel speed. 45 miles per hour and little slow and it will take you 15 minutes to get from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. barbara, back over to you. >> thank you. we'll see you again, shortly. this morning, three people are behind bars accused of stabbing a teenager near the howard theater. the 16-year-old boy was stabbed along seventh street northwest around 8:30 last night. at last check, he was in serious condition. we're still waiting to hear from police about the motive behind this attack. after 28 hours of standoff a in falls church, virginia, that standoff is finally over. they used a taser on the suspect shortly before 9:00 last night. the man was covered in gasoline. police and the s.w.a.t team were called to the house on hillwood avenue monday afternoon. after officers responded to a domestic dispute. the man had two family members inside with him, but police got them out safely.

and today lawmakers on capitol hill will review a plan to free student loan rates for another year. the senate already approved that deal and the house will review the prlan today. without a resolution, rates could double to 6.8%. students will save money with the lower rate, of course, but it will cost the government $6 billion. republicans and democrats have been at odds over how to pay for that. well, the university of virginia ousted president is back on the job this morning. the school's board of visitors voted to reinstate theresa sullivan. the decision came a few weeks after the board forced uva's first female president to resign. that led to protests. the board of visitors voted to reinstate sullivan and that was a uninanimous vote and that should help the university to move forward. >> the unity of the board and this community is very important and will help us make progress and probably to make it faster than we could have any other way.

>> governor bob mcdonald threatened to fire the board of visitors, if it doesn't resolve this controversy this week. he calls sullivan's reinstatement a unifying and healing event for the university. hollywood is mourning the loss of one of its most accomplished filmmakers. nora ephron died of leukemia. >> who is this? >> dr. marsha yieldstone of network america and you are on the air. >> you called the radio station? >> ephron wrote and directed more than a dozen movies, including "sleepless in seattle" and "when harry met sally" she was also an author. her book "heartburn" was inspired by her failed marriage to carl bernstein. nora ephron was 71 years old. eight minutes after 11:00 is our time right now. coming up on "news 4 midday" -- >> coming up, details on traffic and parking as golf lovers from all over the place head to

congressional this morning for the at&t national. that story straight ahead. and count down to the olympics. we check out team usa in the water. stay with us, we'll be right back.

one of golf's premier tournaments is about to tee off in our area. tiger woods, at&t national returns to congressional country club this week after a two-year hiatus. and the golf star is bringing some of the sports biggest names along with him. news 4 melissa mollet joins us from congressional with a preview of what's happening out there. have you caught a glimpse of the tiger yet, melissa? >> not quite yet. i think he's hiding from me. any tournament out here at congressional is about tiger, traffic and heat. today, actually, traffic not so bad so far, but it could get

pretty darn hot out here. keshon walden has been looking forward to this. he has a big smile on his face. >> i think this is a nice day to play. >> reporter: he hopes to spend the day following his favorite golfer, hoping tiger can take the title here, just like he did in 2009. >> trying to swing a club. >> like tiger? >> reporter: you think he can teach you a thing or two? >> yes. >> reporter: in the end, 200,000 people are expected to attend the tournament, but by mid-morning wednesday, traffic was still light, only a few spectators were parking at the rock spring lot trickling across this lawn on to a line of buses. since there will be no on-site parking or dropoffs at congressional, they have to take free shuttles leaving from this lot or a shuttle from the montgomery county fairgrounds. rock springs is sold out for friday, as is the vip lot across from congressional for thursday

and friday. dave hodges got to the rock spring lot early. >> it was piece of cake. saw the sign, knew where it was, parking is very convenient. >> reporter: of course, we've seen it in the past and will likely see it, again. those who live nearby selling spots. a beautiful day, but still a little too early for a crazy crowd or a terrible traffic. inside, there are a lot of extra water stations for a few tournament days that could hit the mid-90s. >> i wear the hat so i don't get any sun stroke and dress as comfortably as i can. he is hoping today is the day. his son picks up a few pointers from the pros. are you excited for your son? >> most definitely. tiger woods and phil mickelson and all those great guys. a great start to his future, hopefully. >> reporter: you want to cash in on him? >> oh, man. if i can, i will. >> reporter: now, the opening ceremony started just a little bit ago at 11:00 this morning

right there on the first tee. so, lots of fun inside. lots of excitement inside. if you're going to come out and you have a ticket, you do want to check ahead and make sure you have a parking spot. you can do that by going to our website, nbcwashington.com. live in bethesda, maryland, back to you, barbara. >> the only people not excited are the people who live around the area dealing with that traffic. >> reporter: including our live truck on the side of the road. >> stay off the grass i'm kidding. right now one of the best swimmers. yes, the best swimmers in american history is playing second fiddle at the u.s. olympic trials. ryan lochte beat michael phelps for the second time in as many nights, barely touching the wall. first in the heat of the 200-meter freestyle semi-finals and they face off in the finals of that race tonight, lochte beat phelps on monday, but the two will face off, again, in

that race in london. you can watch the trials all week on the nbc sports network and right here on nbc 4. well, you know, if the swimmers are back in the pool, it's a sure sign that the olympics are not too far behind. earlier this morning, the olympic rings were unveiled, hanging from the tower london bridge. they'll stay there through the games, which are exactly one month away. and stay with news 4 and nbc for your, all of your olympic coverage. begins with the opening ceremony in london on july 27th. also, logon to nbcolympics.com and nbcwashington.com as team usa goes for the gold. we're offering tom the gold if he'll keep this weather around for a little bit longer. so beautiful right now. >> it is going to be hotter today than yesterday, but we'll take this wonderful, low humidity. the only down side, we have an enhanced fire danger everything has been dry and winds beginning to pick up a little bit, as a result, the fire danger is getting higher,

but we'll have increasing humidity as we do get into the weekend. and that will decrease some of the fire danger. around the region now, though, plenty of sunshine and there's a live view from our nbc 4 hdc camera. there is the washington monument under a gorgeous blue sky with bright sunshine pouring down. reagan nationlial at 82 degrees and look at humidity, only 31%. the wind out of the north at around 15 and occasionally to 20 miles per hour. have you ever been to a science fair? well, this science fair student, sammy poppel won an ams science award for her science fair project, which did a comparison of all the local stations and their weather forecast accuracy and, guess who came in first? nbc 4's weather department came in first in her science fair project and we are very, very honored to have her visit us yesterday. samantha poppel is a student at

the godard montessori school. she is going into fifth grade this fall. congratulations to samantha for winning that american meteor logical society science award. well, here as we look at the view from space. we've got a big area of high pressure. it's over the ohio valley, slowly drifting east. giving us this clear sky. it's going to be with us here through the rest of the afternoon. temperatures right around the metro area now and near 80 degrees in prince george's county and up towards montgomery county in the mid to upper 70s. much of arlington and fairfax county in the upper 70s to near 80 degrees. wider view showing other temperatures around the bay, generally near 80, as well. cool morning on the eastern show and only low to mid-40s and on the beaches and as well as rural areas and down into the low and mid-50s this morning and now into the upper 70s near 80 there. this morning, it was down again in the 40s in many locations in west virginia and western maryland, but now with that strong june sun, it is rapidly warming up into the 70s there.

so, for the rest of the afternoon, lots of sun, low humidity, winds out of the northwest, 10 to 20 and occasionally to 25 miles per hour. highs hotter than yesterday and upper 80s by perhaps 3:00, 4:00 and by 6:00 or 7:00 back down to low 80s and a beautiful evening coming up under a clear sky. low humidity and mild temperatures near 80 around sunset at 8:37 and then by midnight down near 70. by dawn tomorrow, another cool start. not very humid, again. but hotter temperatures. lots of sun climbing into the low 90s by thursday afternoon. then, here comes the big heat and high humidity and that is moving in thursday night and will be in place here on friday, saturday and sunday. highs reaching near 100 degrees each afternoon with sweltering humidity. morning lows in the steamy 70s and only a small chance of an isolated storm during the afternoons. should cool down a bit, though. first part of next week. that is the way it looks. barbara? >> looks okay, right now.

all right, thank you, tom. and we're going to check on the mid-day traffic. danella, how is it looking on the roads right now. >> we're tracking travel speeds in our area especially on the dulles toll road eastbound. now, traveling on the beltway, looks nice from the dulles toll road to the interchange you're at 58 miles per hour. as you make your way on i-66 and fairfax county to the parkway eastbound travel speeds are at 52 miles per hour. how about a live look 66 inside of the beltway. as you make your way past glebe, no issues to report in this area. in fact, from the beltway to glebe, just seven minutes to make that commute. barbara, back over to you. >> thank you, we'll see you, again, shortly. 11:20 is the time now. what you need to know when picking the perfect pillow. it could help you get a good night's sleep. plus, hiring our heroes. where veterans and their spouses can go for a job, a job fair that's coming up tomorrow. but, first, here's a look at

what's hot on nbcwashington.com. [ male announcer ] are you paying more

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plus, the best tv picture quality. tired of cable's inflated bills? get fios for just $99.99 a month for a year with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and get $200 back, plus a two-year price guarantee. call 1.866.685.fios. that's 1.866.685.3467. fios. a network ahead. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. help is here for military vetvens and their spouses who are looking for work. tomorrow a job fair called hiring our heroes.

joining us is ross from hiring our heros and also with us, frank o'brien who is looking for work and i understand you just came back from afghanistan. is that right? >> yes, ma'am. >> when did you come back? >> i came back this winter and now looking for three months in the d.c. area. >> first, tell us about the program that happens tomorrow, right? >> sure, that's exactly right. tomorrow at nationals park from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. we have about 60 employers who are going to be there and the u.s. chamber of commerce launched hiring our heroes and working with recruit military and so many others to put on job fairs for veterans and their spouses around the country. >> you served in afghanistan, as well. >> yes. >> ross, when did you come back? >> i came back in 2004. i have been back for a little while now. >> did you find the same problem when you returned that veterans are finding now, not being able to find jobs? >> i think the challenge is the same. that veterans learn such amazing skills when we're in the military about being great employees and work in teams and be leaders and should translate

to the private sector, sometimes we need a help making that translation. >> have you been out there trying to find a job and not be able to? >> it's a really tough environment right now, it's actually what we call a buyer's market and the unemployment rate for our brothers in arms under 35 is 30%. there are over 30,000 veterans just in this metropolitan area alone that are looking for jobs. >> what kind of job are you looking for? due you have a specific job you want? >> to all the hiring managers, i am a public relations professional looking for a communications job in the d.c. area. >> that's what you did in the service. >> i was a journalist for the arm ay reporting the good news in a challenging environment. >> maybe talk loud enough and somebody will hear you. >> what kind of jobs are you off aering to these veterans who will show up tomorrow? >> it's a great question. we have financial firms like capital one and celcomes like verizon and car dealership like

gm and folks who come down and be ready to interview and be dressed in a suit and bring resumes. >> this is video from last year's conference and a lot of people got involved and they were there and what percentage of people that showed snup. >> the percentage has changed and we have gotten connected almost 10,000 men and women to these events since we started last month at the chamber. >> are there similar programs going on across the country? >> that's exactly right. one in quantico, virginia, august 13th. we are doing more and more of these events and working with the government and military and getting on more bases and installations. if you missed this one, go to uschamber.com and, again, quantico, virginia, right on the marine base coming up in august. >> sharing with your buddies, your friends who comrades in arms, are people frustrated? are they upset about what's going on? do they feel like they came back and expected to work in camp?

>> i don't think they're so much frustrated as they're eager to do the job. we're asking you for the opportunity to take look at our resume for ten seconds. if we don't meet the requirements, that's fine. pitch ourselves and just take a look. >> so, you really want to make sure that they all get an opportunity. >> absolutely. that's what this is all about. >> let me, once again, tell folks where they can go. hiring our heroes national park. it happens tomorrow from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00. you must show your military i.d., preregister online and spouses are invited, too, because they're looking for jobs, as well. >> that's right, for the whole military community. veterans, military spouses and if you don't have an act aive military i.d. any more, prove of your military status is great. >> you don't have to be a veteran of one of the wars -- >> all generations, members of the guard like frank, the whole military community is invited. >> we thank you so much ross cohen and also frank o'brien. thanks for sharing this with us.

>> absolutely. our time right now 11:27. coming up next in our next half hour of "news 4 midday" governor bob mcdonald changes his tone when he is asked considering joining the vice president ticket. getting a good night's sleep, we're having pillow talk coming up. what to look for when you're picking a pillow. get ready, meteorologist tom kierein will

right now, pepco is shining some light on how it plans to keep the lights on this summer during the storm season. the power company says its employees are better prepared for emergencies. it's also performing more preventative maintenance when the weather is nice. many customers and lawmakers criticize pepco last year for its response to widespread outages after the storms. and a fast-moving wildfire in colorado doubled in size overnight. the waldo canyon fire has now engulfed more than 24 square miles around colorado springs. 32,000 people have been forced from their homes and already there are fears that whole communities may have been destroyed. and we're following breaking news out of minneapolis. rescuers there are trying to reach a construction worker trapped beneath a huge slab of concrete. firefighters say the man was working on a foundation of a house in the suburb of edina.

at this point the worker is conscious and stable. doctors have given him pain medication to deal with his injuries and a trauma surgeon is on standby. we now know the name of a local marine killed in afghanistan over the weekend. the defense department says lance corporal nile sears died in afghanistan's helman's province on saturday. he was from arlington, virginia, and based in southern california. he was 23 years old. we're less than five months from election day now and the race for president remains in a dead heat. according to the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll president obama leads mitt romney by three percentage points, that's within the margin of air aer. the president led by 4% a month ago. he's doing well with african-american, female and latino voters and also ahead amu among independents. romney is in the lead among tea

party supporters, men. mitt romney will campaign in virginia. he'll visit an electronic supply company in sterling this afternoon. he spent yesterday in the roanoke area. romney will hold a fund-raiser tonight in the district and supporters will pay $50,000 each to attend that event. and virginia governor bob mcdonald is becoming more cryptic about the possibility that he could become mitt romney's running mate. in the past, mcdonald said he's not act aiively seeking to beco vice president but might consider the position when asked. on speaking on ask the governor, he had a very different answer. >> i'm not discussing the vice presidential vetting process. >> well, this is a different answer you've given in the past. in the past, you categorically said, no. >> there was no vetting going on. there is apparently a vetting process and i'm not going to discuss it. you can address those questions to the romney campaign. >> earlier this year he said he

planned to finish his term as governor. mitt romney is openly vetting florida senator marco rubio at this time. a 21-term veteran of congress will likely be serving his state, once again, come november. representative charlie rangel of new york won a hotly contested primary last night. rangel faced not only the challenge of several competitors, but also a damaged reputation after getting caught up in the epic scandal. the 82-year-old democrat won the primary by five percentage points and expected to have little trouble, though, winning back his seat in november. we'll check now with tom kierein to find out a little bit more about our forecast. do you think we'll see some rain today, tom? >> no, no, it's very dry and enhanced fire danger with conditions being so dry and we have a bit of a breeze coming in out of the north and west, as well. temperatures right now are climbing into the 80s, most of the region, it's 82 at reagan national and it will hit the upper 80s by perhaps

mid-afternoon, thanks to this big area of high pressure that has been pushing in and giving us this clear sky and we'll be clear tonight, too. mostly sunny, again, tomorrow. highs reaching upper 80s and tomorrow still not very humid and afternoon highs into the low 90s and then here comes the humidity moving in on thursday night and it will be in place into friday and the weekend with morning lows in the 70s. and afternoon highs soaring into the mid and upper 90s each day and we also have just a small chance of an isolated shower or thundershower popping up each afternoon friday, saturday and sunday. as we do get into the first part of next week, though, it does look like we'll cool down a bit, highs reaching maybe just near 90 or so on monday and tuesday and should turn a little bit less humid but this is really going to be probably our longest heat wave of the season so far. so, make sure your ac is working. that is the way it looks right now. back in a few minutes with another update.

we'll check on the mid-day traffic, again, here's danella. >> checking out things on i-270. looking really good. no issues to report. live look at shady grove. traveling 270 southbound nice and clear as you make your way past the lane divide and head to the beltway. here's a live look right now. traveling the beltway on the inner loop from i-270 and you're at 55 miles per hour. that drive only taking 11 minutes. thinking about jumping on metro, so far metro is not reporting any delays. barbara, back over to you. >> do you have trouble sleeping or wake up with body aches? it could be your pillow. chiropractor raymond solano shows us how to pick the perfect pillow for a good night's sleep. >> good to see you, again. >> you brought pillows with you and i know how important it is. we all end up using the pillow that we had on our bed without thinking maybe a change could make a difference. >> that's right. extremely important given the fact that we spend a third of

our lifetime with our heads on our pillows. so, it's extremely important and also the studies show that appropriate pillow will actually help you fall asleep faster and increase the quality of your sleep. >> you say the way you sleep makes a big difference. is that right? >> it does. most of us are side sleepers. you do have tummy sleepers and back sleepers. >> let's take a look at a video you sent us. it shows most of us do not even know. i know i start on my -- there's a back sleeper. there's a person sleeping on their back and coming up we have a person who is sleeping on her side and then, finally, there is the tummy sleeper. i sleep like that a lot. and then i end up on my side sometimes. but side is best and we're showing the spine. >> side is best for the simple fact that it keeps the head in line with the spine. that's the key phrase you want to remember. in line. if you're a slide sleeper, you want to have enough pillow to make up for that gap that makes up from the shoulder over to your head and neck and that's going to support your neck in that neutral position we call it

in line with the rest of your spine. >> so, get in touch with the way you sleep at night. let's have a look at these pillows you've got and maybe you can tell us about selecting a pillow. >> most of us are side sleepers. so, when you sleep on your side, you want a pillow that has appropriate height. and for men, obviously, it's a little bit taller than others. for women, you want something a little bit shorter. but here's the thing about sleeping on your side. >> show how this is different. >> yeah, okay. >> if you look at this pillow here, this is contoured and this is where your shoulder will fall right into place when you're sleeping on your side, but, yet, look at the height here. this is appropriate to keep your head in line with your spine and prevent your head from tilting over, irritating those nerves and muscles in your neck. >> how would i sleep with this pillow? is this for any sleeper? back side -- >> this is mostly a side sleeper. what i tell patients to do, grab the pillow and place it on the side of their shoulder and lean up against -- >> that little space right there. >> they lean up against the wall and see how it feels.

>> okay. >> if it keeps your neck in line with your spine, it's a good pillow. >> if i were lying in bed, it would be -- that's interesting. what is this made of? >> this is made of memory foam, which i think is actually the best material, the best filler, they call it, for a pillow because it is very forgiving and not to mention it does reduce a lot of those pressure points from the neck and takes a lot of the stress away from the neck muscles and the memory foam is very, very popular and little bit on the higher end when it comes to price. >> here are pillow fillings that you told us you can get. i always thought goose down was the best, you can get synthetic filler. >> the goose down is typically softer and, you know, the problem with the goose down pillow is that you oftentimes have to twist it and bend it to find the comfortable position. we don't want to have to wake up in the middle of the night to do it. the synthetic cotton and wool pillows typically on the least expensive side of things and they typically have to be replaced every year. the tempur-pedic typically last

you longer, they are more expensive, but they do last three, sometimes five years. >> are there some real symptoms of bad pillow sleeping? what are they that you hear from your patients? >> we know now that having a bad pillow could create headaches and create neck pain and even bad things such as tingling and numbness in the shoulders and in the arms. you have to be careful when not having enough support at night. >> you hear people coming to you all the time with those kind of complaints. >> all the time and a lot of times after a few treatments and correcting the cause of the problem, which is sometimes the pillow, they miraculously get better. >> you have all these wonderful pillows and makes me want to head back to bed. 11 40k the time now and still ahead on "news 4 midday." when to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in kids. hyperac[ male announcer ] kids. are you paying more

and more and more for cable -- and enjoying it less? upgrade to verizon fios internet, tv and phone for just $99.99 a month, guaranteed for a year with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and get $200 back and a two-year price guarantee. fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet. and now, it's faster than ever. you get speed you can count on... even when everyone at home is online at the same time. plus, the best tv picture quality. tired of cable's inflated bills? get fios for just $99.99 a month for a year with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and get $200 back, plus a two-year price guarantee.

call 1.866.685.fios. that's 1.866.685.3467. fios. a network ahead. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. just in time for summer vacation. a new report out today lists the cleanest beaches in the country. two local beaches made the list, according to the natural

resources defense council. delaware's dewey beach and maryland's ocean city beach made the top 12. five-star rating from the group which looks at factors like water quality. beaches in minnesota, new hampshire and texas are also on that list. some good news for the housing market. let's check in with brian shactman and joins us with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. hey, brian. >> hey, barbara, good morning. remember, we have a stock market rally on our hands. all three major indices are up and up more than 80 points. one major reason, more signs of a housing recovery. that's right, i just said housing recovery. even though mortgage applications were down last week, existing home sales jumped to about 6% in the month of may to the highest level since the spring of 2010. th that, if you remember, when people rushed to beat the tax credit. lennar, the nation's third largest home builder, expected

better than expected profits. today is the day that all the banks that help facebook go public can now publish their opinion on the stock. only one of a dozen firms gave it a negative rating. even though, the stock is trading sloitly lower on the day. another tech giant, seemingly trying to take a shot at apple. reports that google is set to unveil its own tablet computer word is that it will be priced to compete more with kindle fire, rather than the ipad. so far, barbara, not many people had any success here and people say that the ipad is becoming the ipod that it is the name like q-tip and kleenex for this tablet genre. >> i guess that's true, kind of like, i won't say it because it might sound like an ad. but a lot of things like that. all right, we'll see what happens with that new one. thanks a lot, brian, have a great day. >> you, too, barbara, thanks. in news 4 your health. a new study found academic

benefits to treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with medicine. the same study also found the earlier that treatment is started the better. dr. joshua weiner joins us with a look at the findings. >> good morning, barbara. >> we talked so much about medication for adhd this new study is saying, how soon should you start it? >> what this study looked at was 300 kids who were in fourth grade and followed them through seventh grade. all these kids had adhd and all of them at some point through the years started taking adhd medication. the study found academic benefits to starting the medication earlier. starting in fourth grade, those kids did better on standardized testing if they started the medication early rather than later, like in fifth or sixth grade. >> if we are going to say started at fourth grade, would first grade be better?

>> the study didn't look at that. as a drrx what do you think? you see signs of adhd in young kids? >> we see signs in young kids. generally my recommendation is to have families not start medications for their kids, until they're in at least second grade. i like to give it a little bit of time. now, there are some kids where the condition is so severe where these kids just cannot function in day care, they're so disruptive at home and causing lots of problems within the family. those are some kids in which you need to start a little bit earlier. >> any chance that the children would grow out of the adhd and we'd miss seeing that if they're on medication? >> so, what you want to do is periodically roughly once a year, try to gradually taper off the medication because kids do outgrow this condition about 50% of the time. so, 50% of kids who have adhd will not be adults with adhd, but 50% will. generally when it's outgrown, it's not outgrown until you're in your late teens or early 20s.

that's when the frontal lobe fully develops and that is the part of the brain that seems to be implicated in adhd. >> what about sports and other things outside of the academic arena. are kids doing better in those fields, too, being on the medication or can that hurt them? >> actually, what i see in my practice is the majority of times kids do better in athle c athletics, as well, because they're more in tune and seeing things they wouldn't see otherwise. they're just not the kids in left field picking roses or picking the grass. they are pilaying the game and more in tune with what's going on. i see a benefit most of the time. >> for a lot of parents, though, it must be difficult to start your fourth grader on medication that you think they will have to stay on for the rest of their school life. >> it's a very difficult decision for a lot of families, but i think that there's a lot of scary stuff that's out in the media talking about how dangerous these medications are. when, in reality, i really a

think these are very safe, generally very well tolerated medications. the medications work so well. to be honest with you, barbara, treating adhd is one of the most rewarding things i do in my practice. almost everybody gets better and almost everybody is thrilled with the treatment. >> what do you think about the doctors who will say, okay, take it during the school year and they take their kids, their patients off of it during the summer months? >> i recommend that for some families, but it depends on what you're treating. if the child doesn't have any problems with oppositional behavior and generally getting well along in their family and the main reason for treatment is for academics, sure, go off the medication over the summer. if your child is oppositional and a lot of family fighting if your child is off medication, i think you need to stay on it over the summer. >> how long do you think they have to stay on it, once they start? >> again, it depends if they outgrow it. periodically you'll try to take them off of it because there is a 50% chance they'll outgrow it in their late teens to early

20s. remember, there are some adults, that is adult adhd these are adults that continue to have symptoms of adhd and continue to need treatment for the rest of their lives. >> is the medication habit forming? do you need it because you've been taking for so long? >> no, people who have been on the medications for a long time, if they stop taking them, they'll go back to their baseline level of disorganization, hard-time focusing and sometimes a little bit of a withdrawal where they kind kind of tired for about a week or so, otherwise, no real habit forming that occurs with these medications. >> very interesting results of that study. we'll see how much younger they'll start giving them. i'm sure you've seen kids 2, 3 years old that could use it. >> at very, very young ages if it's really, really severe only. >> thanks for coming. see you next week. it is 11:50. what you need to make a local picnic in the park. picnic [ male announcer ] are you paying more

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the smithsonian folic life festival is under way on the national mall. several exhibits highlight

diversity and portions of the aids memorial quilt are on display out there tonight. tonight george clinton will headline the opening concert called "bring back the funk" marks the groundbreaking for african-american history and culture. the festival ends on july 8th. well, are you looking for a romantic lunch without having to book a restaurant reservation or spend a lot of money? one local chef has the perfect menu for a picnic in the park, we're told. prepared a sesame crusted salmon on "today" show this morning. >> we're going to put a little salt and pepper on the salmon. >> wild salmon is more expensive. >> the herbs are in season now and the salmon is in season, so, we're just going it put the salmon and do the crust like this because you have that wonderful contrast between the crust and the salmon. i'm going to take a little broth, a little vegetable broth

and pour it about halfway up. we don't want to wash off the sesames. bring that to a boil and put it in a preheated oven just so it's through. all the way through and then we'll take it out and let it cool right in that pan and cover it and refrigerate it. >> and then take it out for the picnic. he's on spring vale road in great falls. that looked delicious. look at some of the stories we'll following for "news 4" this afternoon. >> that salmon looks delicious. hey, barbara, coming up at 4:00, was it an encounter with a paranormal? some people say this video shows a ghost making mischief in a shopping mall. we'll tell you why the store owner says there's no other explanation for what happened. coming up at 5:00, a new workout craze at local gyms is based on "brave." we'll show you how brave people are slimming down at this gym. and we'll have the latest on the

weather on this glorious wednesday. starting on news 4 at 4:00, barbara. >> the bow and arrow pose that they use to try and get fit. >> i guess so. to hit the mark. >> yeah, right. all right, pat, thank you. time now for a check on our forecast, a final check. here's tom. >> great weather to get your outdoor exercise in. beautiful with low humidity in place, but it's not going to last long. we have the heat and the humidity building beginning late tomorrow. right now, 84 at reagan national and it's going to be a hot afternoon and getting into the upper 80s much of the region and mid to late afternoon and still not very humid tonight or much of the day on thursday. we'll have overnight temperatures by midnight perhaps near 70 and beautiful evening coming up and then near 60 by dawn on thursday and still not very humid during the daylight hours on thursday, but it does look like it will get hotter during the afternoon up to the low 90s with lots of sunshine and low humidity in place, again, tomorrow. but then tomorrow night, it is

going to start getting steamy after midnight and especially during the day on friday. you will notice the sweltering humidity and the hotter temperatures. in fact, it may get up near 100 degrees for three days in a row. that includes friday, saturday and sunday each afternoon. so, make sure the ac is working and if you have to be outside in that kind of heat, definitely take frequent breaks, drink plenty of water and try to stay out of the sun. we, it does look like we'll get a break on monday and tuesday and getting less humid and a little less heat around. highs reaching near 90 both monday and tuesday. that is the way it looks, we'll see you tomorrow morning. >> all right, tom, we'll see you. thanks. today is the end of an era for a historic canal boat in the district. georgetown will make its final voyage down the canal tonight at 5:00. it will travel near jefferson street and 31st street northwest to fletcher's cover.

the georgetown has run for 30 years. but the 19th century boat failed recent safety inspections. owners will demolish the boat and haul it away. aww. it had a good run on the river or on the canal. and that's "news 4 midday." we thank you for being with us today and invite you to tune in for more news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. hope you plan to join us for "news 4 midday" tomorrow. have a terrific day. we'll see you in the morning. [ male announcer ] are you paying more

and more and more for cable -- and enjoying it less? upgrade to verizon fios internet, tv and phone for just $99.99 a month, guaranteed for a year with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and get $200 back and a two-year price guarantee. fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet. and now, it's faster than ever. you get speed you can count on... even when everyone at home is online at the same time. plus, the best tv picture quality. tired of cable's inflated bills? get fios for just $99.99 a month for a year with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and get $200 back, plus a two-year price guarantee. call 1.866.685.fios. that's 1.866.685.3467.