good morning, welcome to "news 4 midday." i'm aaron gilchrist in for barbara harrison. we begin with power outages nearly a week after the storm. at this hour, more than 36,000 customers in the d.c. area who still don't have electricity. right now, pepco reports more than 19,000 customers are without power. dominion virginia power is down to about 8,300 customers and bge reporting about 9,200 customers in our area and novec reporting 4 outages and smeco down to 2

outages. the biggest concern for those without power this morning, the dangerous heat out there. we could see three days of 100 degrees or higher. veronica johnson joins us with a look at our first forecast this morning. still unbearably hot out there this morning, veronica. >> here we are just 11:00 a.m., aaron. very few cool spots to be had and you can see a big gap in our advisory map and those counties shaded in orange under a heat advisory until 8:00 p.m. our heat index could be higher than 105 degrees. aaron? >> we'll check back in a couple minutes, thanks, veronica. a utility worker was killed in loudoun county. behind the wheel of a bucket truck and got into an accident on route 7 at blue ridge mountain road. it appears the brakes failed and she slammed into a tractor trailer. a passenger in green's truck was taken to the hospital. part of a group from florida

helping dominion power crews here. ahead of estimates, pepco restored power to customers since last friday's storm, but one woman in montgomery county wondering when she'll get electricity, again. melissa mollet has more on her wait for service. >> frustration is growing by the minute in neighborhoods like this one. power was restored all along north bellgrade here in silver spring yesterday except for two houses. they did not get power back on. this house here and the one just next door. also seven homes down the street that got power back yesterday and lost it, again. could be days before crews can get power to all these houses. lisa paulette owns this hour. she says a tree that fell in her yard brought lines down. her neighbor's power was back

on, still she and her nbaer to the left and others just a few blocks away are in the dark. since friday night, she has been camping out in her living room charging her cell phone in her car and relying on friends. >> i've tried not to bug them constantly. i realize they know we are without power but after this neighborhood was brought up, i started to call like every three or four hours or something like that and each time it's a different update. yesterday at 4:30, they told me that a truck would be here approximately around 6:00 in the evening. that was yesterday. i want pepco to come out and finish the job. >> reporter: the majority of the remaining pepco outages are in this area and in rockville, but also include schools and businesses. pepco said they restored 95% of customers who were left in the dark after friday's storm. right now they're giving paulette and a few neighbors down the block a restoration date of july 8th. that's sunday. for paulette and others like

her, that would mark nine days without power. melissa mollet, news 4. back to you. >> when it comes to restoring power, pepco says number one priority is any live, down wire. second is transition lines that serve thousands and after that substation equipment takes priority followed by main distribution lines that serve thousands. and lines that serve neighborhoods and then lines that serve individual homes or businesses. people should continually call to report outages. that number is right there on your screen. 1-877-pepco-62. we are getting new information about the men killed overnight in the district. two men shot and killed in two separate shootings in the city the violence started last night near new hampshire avenue northwest. and then this morning there was a double shooting in the 600 block of morton street in petworth. tracee wilkins is live in northwest with the latest. tracee? >> a violent and terrible ending

to the fourth of july here in northwest d.c. literally a, just about an hour ago d.c. police wrapped up their investigation here on the scene of the quadruple shooting and now looking for suspects in both of these shootings. this morning, d.c. police were still investigating the quadruple shooting that happened around 8:00 p.m. last night and the 5,000 block of first street and northwest. the entire block was taped off as police searched for evidence. >> we are looking for anything that may lead to us a flight path of suspects and anything that may have been started. so, pretty big crime scene right now. three or four blocks. >> police say a large group of people were gathered on the street watching fireworks when someone opened fire on the group. >> from what we know, there was individuals on foot who walking down the street and opened fire on a group of another individual that was up against the apartments. >> reporter: two adult males and two juvenile miles were shot. one of the adult males have

died. this morning, detectives went to each store inside of a nearby shopping center looking for possible security cameras that may have taped the shooting. >> obviously, a lot of people out here, so, there's probably somebody who saw something. >> reporter: then a few hours later at 2:30 in the morning in the 600 block of north morton street northwest, two more adult males were shot. one was shot in the face and another was shot in the back. the victim who was shot in the back died from his injuries. police have identified him as 35-year-old julius barnett arlington of northwest. now, two of the people who are left living after this quadruple shooting are now in stable condition and another one is in critical condition. now, police are offering $25,000 reward and both of these cases for information that can help lead to an arrest. in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. >> tracee, thank you. today we expect to see which police officers shot a man to

death in montgomery county. police say when the men didn't follow commands to drop his weapon, two officers opened fire. the man was taken to the hospital where he died from his injuries. both officers are on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. right now, deputies are looking for a missing auburn teenager who is in need of medication. take a look at the photo here. this is 17-year-old maurkice. he has not been seen since monday. he is believed to be in the area of the ashburn village shopping center. if you think you have seen him or have any idea where he might be, please call the loudoun county sheriff's office. d.c. police want to talk to a man possibly named jason about a sexual assault in georgetown. police released a picture of the man they're looking for. this person of interest is 5'9" and had on a brown t-shirt with the words fight club on it. a woman was attacked in m. street. detectives have not said if this

man, possibly named jason, could have been a witness or was involved in the attack. if you have any information, call d.c. police. today in sanford, florida, a judge expected to decide if george zimmerman will be released on bond. the judge revoked zimmerman's bond when they accused him and his wife hiding money on a website they created for his defense. zimmerman had scalp wounds, black eyes and a broken nose from his encounter with trayvon martin. he faces second degree murder charges and zimmerman claims he killed martin in self-defense. your time right now is 11:08. coming up this morning, three children are dead after a boat accident. the boat they were riding in was capsized while they were watching fireworks. we'll tell you what police think happened. why the white house was so quick to respond to mitt romney's interview on the ruling romney'[ male announcer ] ruling are you paying more

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the body of former palestinian president yasser arafat is going to be exhumed. a swiss lab found an isotope on belongings the leader used in his final days.

arafat died in 2004 from a brain hemorrhage just weeks after he fell violently ill. new today, nato trucks carrying supplies from pakistan that crossed into afghanistan for the first time in seven months. pakistan lifted its block aid after the u.s. apologized for an air strike that killed 24 pakistani soldiers in november. the incident severely damaged relations between the u.s. and pakistan. officials say 133 trucks with nato cargo will leave for kabul. wikileaks plan to public embarrassing syrian e-mails. much of the material is from official accounts related to interactions between syria and western companies. the activist group anonymous hacked into e-mails. decision 2012 heating up this week over an issue that was a hot topic last week. mitt romney voicing his opinion about president obama's health care law. he's speaking publicly about the mandate portion and his stance is a change of course for the

romney campaign. here's nbc's ron mott. >> happy fourth to you. >> reporter: on the fourth of july, mitt romney set off some political fireworks over the federal health care law and a word that gets many people fired up. tax. >> the highest court in the land. they said it was a tax, didn't they? >> reporter: an apparent 180 degree pivot from the campaign's position just 48 hours before in which eric hirschstrom explained the mandate on msnbc. >> disagrees with the court ruling that the mandate is a tax. >> it's a tax. >> reporter: but in an interview that aired on cbs, romney did not directly answer the question, saying, instead -- >> now the supreme court has spoken and why i agree with the decent, that's taken over by the fact that the majority of the courts said it is a tax and it is a tax. >> reporter: as such, he went on to attack president obama for

violating his plan not to raise taxes on middle class americans. for its part, the turn about was seized on by the obama campaign responding in a statement that "romney threw his top aide under the bus. adding that romney has contradicted himself on a massachusetts mandate many times in the past." meantime, the president prepared to watch the capital's fireworks display from the white house south lawn. >> it's supposed to be hot. it's the fourth of july. >> reporter: earlier he attended a swearing in ceremony for newly naturalized american citizens. >> we're lifting the shadow of deportation from deserving young people who are brought to this country as children. that's why we still need a dream act. >> i need people that represent the best of america. >> reporter: romney addresses his dreams of a different sort in a new web video called "the best of america." >> these americans are quiet heroes. they raise strong families. and they dream big dreams.

>> reporter: the ad was released on the heels of a new "vanity fair" article scrutinizing his wealth, estimating as high as $250 million and how much of that fortune will sit in tax shelters overseas. >> that was ron mott reporting. when it comes to the search for a vice presidential running mate mitt romney's wife says he may pick a woman. he would not comment on the status of his search. oyster bay, new york, three children between 8 and 12 years old were killed after a yacht capsized off long island. the group was watching fireworks when the yacht flipped. the coast guard and people in other boats pulled 24 people from the water there. apparently not all the passengers were wearing life jackets. police say weather may have played a role or the wake from another boat may have caused that yacht to capsize. well, mother nature threatened, but did not wash out a dazzling display on the

national mall. thunderstorms holding off long enough for a capital fourth concert and fireworks to go off without a hitch last night. hundreds of thousands packed the mall for the annual show which, despite the heat, held a little extra meaning for some this year. >> it's great to get out here after four days of no electricity and less stress and get out here and decompress and celebrate the nation's birthday. you couldn't have a better way to do this. this is a great way to sit down and decompress. put it all behind you. >> reporter: with temperatures, it fell more than 100 degrees. emergency crews said there were issues with heat stroke and dehydration, otherwise they considered the celebration a big success. if you thought yesterday was a scorcher, we're just in an ugly place these days, veronica. this heat wave that won't go away. >> i know it's supposed to be hot, fourth of july. you heard our president say that. well, this one has been going on

for a while. this heat wave. so far seven days that are 95 degrees or higher and a graphic here for you to take a look at. by sunday we could be looking at 95 degrees or higher and ten in a row in 2007 and 22 in a row in 20 2002. so, with that 11, that would put us in second place for the longest stretch. yes, you are in a rush to get there. we want to get this over with. 93 degrees is the current temperature. here we are before noontime. 94 in d.c. and 89 degrees in laplatte and 95 in culpeper. take a look, currently in the mid and upper 90s throughout the area from d.c. and 95 mt. airy and up to the north, even. 95 in leesburg. temperatures just slightly lower in this area. marti martinsburg and winchester. we'll continue with that heat advisory up until 8:00 p.m.

your cooler locations from the blue ridge to the allegheny mountains and, of course, the beach a bit cooler today, too. hitting a high of 90 degrees. heat index, again, 98. 99 in raleigh and 96 in little rock and 96 degrees in minneapolis, minnesota. there's the bubble and it will start shrinking, but, for us, first we have to see a spike before we start looking at cooler conditions. so many a states yesterday had a sizzling fourth of july with record temperatures back to the north and west. by sunday, again, that heat will start coming down across areas of the north across area of the midwest and ohio valley and next week, as early as monday, we're talking about highs in the mid to upper 80s. it will be back to near average with that heat getting squashed down to the south and east. as far as storms, of course, we had some this morning. 68-mile-per-hour wind gusts and

quantico and we're seeing more storms here popping in areas of northwest virginia. later today around 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, even though storm 4 radar is quiet right now. we might see an isolated thunderstorm or two. here's our future weather, 7:00 p.m. and best chance still up to the north, but isolated storms could provide some more isolated strong winds for the area and certainly some frequent lightning. forecast for today, extremely high heat and i know that it sounds like a broken record, but you saw the case rerd, there were a number of folks who fell ill to the heat. not hydrating enough. 96 to 100 degrees is going to be oppressive. if you're outside, even if you don't feel thirsty, drink some water and drink it often. 88 to 93. still hot with, again, the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm. there will be a few clouds around the area. 75 to 79 degrees for tomorrow morning. we'll be mostly clear. warm and muggy and sun's up

tomorrow at 5: 50. let's take a look now at your four-day forecast because it is going to show temperatures spiking up. for tomorrow, 99 degrees for a high temperature. we're looking at sunshine, in fact, for friday. 102 on saturday. the record, aaron, on saturday, is 102. i think there's the possibility that we could get up to 103 degrees on saturday. of course, it was last friday that we hit 104. we know we're in this pattern and we can certainly do that. upper 90s for sunday right now. sunday a 40% chance of shower and storms and there is a possibility, an early possibility now that those storms on sunday could be strong, maybe severe before we see that pattern change and yet the much-needed relief of cooler temperatures and lower humidity. 85 degrees not just for one or two days but most of next week we'll be much cooler and loving the way it feels. >> that gives us something to look forward to. still ahead on news 4 midday, the fireworks mishap that had a whole lot of people

asking, what just happened? plus, babies born addicted to prescription drugs. why this is a growing problem and what is being done about it. first, though, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. [ 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,

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some nba teams will look a

little different next season after blockbuster trading. suns traded steve nash to the lakers last night. he signed a three-year deal worth more than $25 million. in exchange, the suns will get four future draft picks, including two first round picks. nash led the season last year in assists. fireworks ruteen lasts 15, 30 minutes maybe. a july fourth celebration that was much, much shorter. san diego officials say a technical difficulty caused all the fireworks to go off at once at the big bay boom. they're still trying to figure out exactly what happened there. those explosions lasted all of about 15 seconds. nobody got hurt. more than 5,000 people were expecting to enjoy that firework show. well, it doesn't look pretty, but it is one of the biggest fourth of july traditions in the country and this morning there are some new

top dogs in coney island. joey jaws chestnut won his sixth straight nathan's hot dog eating contest. tied his own records of 68 hot dogs and then alexandria native sonya black widow thomas. she broke her on record of 45 hot dogs in just ten minutes and they both appeared on the "today" show and talked about how they prepare and recover from this event. >> my girlfriend cook up 75 hot dogs and i'll practice. i try to eat it and get it down and do a little bit more next time. before the big contest, i'll fast for three days and eat nothing and be absolutely empty and make sure i am loose and stretched. >> how do you get your body back to normal? >> you have to watch your diet and then try to get more exercise. and, really, the best thing is you have to watch.

you cannot eat a lot of food. >> the prize for stuffing their faces. $10,000 each and these two, i think they travel the world doing this. i think he won like an asparagus eating contest a little while ago. hey, if you can make a living out of it, why not? coming up in the next half hour the captain of the cruise ship that sank off of the coast of italy is off of house arrest. what that means for criminal charges against him. get ready, three straight days of 100 degree weather. veronica johnson is back with when we will be done with the heat wave and some impressive ice work. the big job after last week's storm when we come back. [ male announcer ] are you paying more

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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.

a week after the storm and 98% of the power lost last friday has been restored. right now pepco reporting about 19,000 customers without power across the area. virginia dominion power says 8,000 customers are without power this morning. bge reporting 10,000 customers don't have electricity and novec reporting 20 outages at this hour and smeco is reporting

about 7. a community is coming together to help a 38-year-old woman who suffered a severe injury from the storm. a tree crashed down on her as she road her motorcycle in northwest d.c. the impact severed her spinal cord and broke five ribs and one of her shoulders. doctors say she's paralyzed from the waist down. her father is touched that friends set up a donation campaign to help pay her medical expenses. >> every time i see these help that i'm receiving, we're receiving, my wife and i constantly from support from everybody find out about the tragedy on my daughter. and i, i don't know how to react to her. >> catalina's father says her first year of recovery could cost more than a $250,000. she is an avid motorcyclist and works as a mentor with children.

it's hard to make ice in this hot weather but the capitals staff trying to do just that. look at this time lapse video that shows the cetler ice plex crew starting to remake the ice surface. the ice completely melted over the weekend after the boston complex lost power in friday's storm. this process of rebuilding that ice surface takes a few days but they're making good progress, it looks like. here's a look at the amazing photographs from space. nasa released a stunning before and after image. now, the before picture shows lights all over the eastern seaboard and the after picture here, well, this shows the huge outage from richmond to d.c. to baltimore. the national polar orbiting partnership satellite. pretty impressive images there. let's check in with veronica johnson with the latest on our forecast. >> we're going to be watching ourselves today, if we're spending any time outdoors for a

long period of time doing anything like exercising or really a just hanging out at the park. we have some sunshine out there right now but it's going to be blazing later this afternoon. we're at risk, again, for any heat-related illnesses. chantilly, virginia, and 90 degrees and college park is at 92 and lexington park, maryland, currently at 92 degrees and, of course, when you factor in the humidity, you can pretty much add about three, four, maybe even five degrees to that, depending on where you are. down to the south, the heat index values are a little higher. on satellite and radar, it's quiet right now. clouds gathering across areas of northern west virginia and i think more clouds later today with the possibility of an isolated storm or two. just like last night and the night before that, it could bring high winds to the storm and frequent lightning. high temperature today maxing out at 94. actually maxing out at 100 degrees later today. as far as tonight goes, 9:00,

11:00 p.m., temperatures will still be quite high at 92 by 9:00 p.m. and plenty warm after a very hot and oppressive day, 86 at 11:00 p.m. and instead of starting to tomorrow in the 70s where it would be nice and comfortable, we'll be starting the upper 70s to around 80 degrees. we'll take another look at the seven-day forecast coming right up. back to you. >> thank you, veronica. we're following a developing story a in italy right now. the captain of the wrecked cruise liner was released from house arrest. fran ches co is accused of causing that accident on january 13th. 30 people died and 2 are still missing and presumed dead. he can leave his house, but he cannot leave his hometown. a trial date has not been set. a change in weather conditions will now help firefighters gain control of a wildfire in colorado. the waldo canyon fire destroyed

350 homes. light rain and calmer winds, as well as higher humidity are helping firefighters here. they hope to have this fully contained by sunday. emergency officials canceled fourth of july fireworks in that region to prevent sparking another major wildfire. two separate swimming accidents have left three children dead. a 10-year-old tennessee boy was elect electrocuted while he was swimming and an 11-year-old boy is in critical condition and the boys swimming between house boats when they were shocked. in all, six people were taken to the hospital. investigators are trying to figure out what caused the electrocution. a brother and sister also died of electrocution as they swam in a lake in missouri. the 13-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother were near a dock on the lake of the orzarks. the dock has outlets but not ground fault protected. the electricity possibly came

from a boat lift or a pump used to power a water slide. well, saving a life is apparently not good enough to save the job of a life guard. to mas lopez was watching haulendale beach in miami on monday when people were screaming about a swimmer that was drowning. he ran to help in the effort but he left the zone that he was hired to patrol. he was fired almost immediately. recently two other life guards said they were fired for the same reason. there are four additional life guards who decided they had to resign because of this policy. >> i was prepared for it. it wasn't too much of an upset because i had my morales in tact. >> to watch someone drown. that's someone's life. we're life guards. >> the life guard company says it's reviewing the rule. the man who had to be rescued was taken to the hospital and he's doing fine. a popular d.c. promoter died. gary richards had gotten out of his car yesterday morning near the green belt road exit to

switch seats with the passenger when another car hit them. the driver of that car stayed on the scene. richards was a local representative for the celebrity endorsed brand vodka. it can soon get easier to commute from spotsylania. train officials are working out details on building a new station and platform. vre hopes to start operating by december of next year. there is a new epidemic in america, babies born addicted to prescription pain killers their mothers abuse while preg independent. very little doctors and nurses can do to comfort these babies as they slowly wean them off the drugs. "rock center's" kate snow reports. >> reporter: this baby isn't tired or hungry, she's in pain because her baby craves a drug. her mother was addicted to prescription pain killers and now this tiny baby is going

through withdrawal. so, what can you do to make her feel better? >> she gets a pacifier, she's bundled and she's swaddled and then we also give her morphine every three hours. she is on morphine. >> reporter: they treat the withdrawal by giving the baby morphine because it is a lot like the drug her mother was taken. it calms her down like any addict getting a fix. >> she's still addicted to a drug right now? she's addicted to morphine at the moment. she's three and a half weeks old. >> reporter: an epidemic of babies born to prescription pain killers and it's only getting worse. would you call this a health care crisis for our system as a whole? >> yes. >> reporter: when a pregnant woman is addicted -- >> the baby gets high just like she is. >> reporter: caitlin is in treatment now, but she was still abusing prescription pain killers when she became pregnant. we met her just weeks after

giving birth to her daughter. >> i didn't mean to get pregnant because i was a drug addict i didn't want to get pregnant and possibly hurt my baby. >> reporter: but she did hurt her baby. she was born addicted to opiates and was going through withdrawal while we were there. >> i know it's all my fault. i am the one that did that to her. it really hurts. >> that was kate snow reporting. you can see the rest of her report on tonight's "rock center" at 10:00 right here on nbc 4. a louisiana woman is being called a miracle mother after doctors delivered her baby while she was unconscious. amber scott suffered a blood clot on her brain when she went into labor back in may. she was nine months pregnant. her husband called 911 and emergency crews rushed her to the hospital. doctors delivered her baby girl by c-section and then removed part of amber's skull to relieve

the blood clot. her husband says she's making progress and she even fed her newborn with a bottle for the first time this past weekend. >> it's bitter sweet, of course, you're happy, i'm happy that i'm a dad now, but, of course, i want to be with amber at all times, too. it's bitter sweet. the last nine months, her whole life, it was actually revolved making sure everything is prepared for adeline. so, it is sad, but we try to include amber in everything that we can. we always, we always tell her the daily activities that we did that day. so, we do our best to keep her informed, but it is, it is sad. >> doctors expect amber, whose birthday is today, to continue with physical therapy for the next month sorre or so. if you skipped breakfast today chances are you'll crave carbs at your next meal. more than 100 college students and half of them fasted for 18

hours and the other group ate regularly. those who didn't eat put more starchy foods on their plate rather than fruits, vegetables and proteins. starches are a quicker source of energy, but they do tend to be packed in high-calorie foods. still ahead on "news 4 midday" a look at the creative ways the minor league teams are attracting fans. plus, see who masterminded the h

tens of thousands of americans may lose their int internet service on monday unless they do a quick check of their computers for malware. the virus could have taken over their computers more than a year ago. the fbi set up a special website. users whose compeeruters are affected will not be able to go online. renting an apartment just got a little more expensive. the latest survey from reis.com found rent jumped more than $1,000 and fewer vacancies available in the second quarter of this year. the second cheapest places to live are rhode island and tennessee. the most expensive city is

tennessee with rent at $2,900. we have some breaking news right now out of sanford, florida, a judge has granted bond a second time to the neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman charged with killing trayvon martin. the judge revoked zimmerman's bond last month when prosecutors accused him and his wife of hiding money on a website they created for his defense. he faces second degree murder charges in the death of 17-year-old trayvon martin, that happened back in february. zimmerman claimed that he killed martin in self-defense if we get more details on exactly what this new bond is, we'll bring it to you this morning, as well. the number of applications unemployment aid dropped to the lowest level in six weeks. we want to check in with kayla and she's live with that and the rest of the business headlines. hey, kayla. >> markets coming off the holiday into the red from the services sector. we also have banks in the uk,

denmark and china lowering interest rates, all signals that improvement in a global economy isn't coming in the near term. but right now major u.s. markets are mixed. the dow down just about 30 points and the s&p losing five points and the tech heavy nasdaq up by about 1.5 points. the employment picture in the u.s. could be improving. the labor department saying weekless jobless claims dropped to 374,000 the biggest one-week drop of people seeking unemployment benefits since april and adp said private employers added 176,000 jobs in june, that's widely beating economists expectations. shoppers did pull back on their spending in june. target, costco and macy's all below wall street expectations. on the potential spending during the heavy back to school season, always a bright spot for retail. apaal could be gearing up to launch a smaller version of the ipad in the fall.

apple's partsmaker in asia are preparing to produce a smaller screen. months after the launch of google's newest tablet which hits the shelves in july. katie holmes father may bebehind the divorce of his daughter and tom cruise. after six years of marriage, holmes filed for divorce from cruise last friday seeking -- talking about technology coming to the rescue. a jack russell terrier back home with his owner and it's all thanks to twitter. patch ran away from a home in ireland and managed to get on a train somehow when railroad workers found him onboard they took a picture of the dog, put it on twitter, some 500 retweets later, the dog's owner said she saw the picture and called the rail company and the dog had traveled about an hour away from

home before he was found and got taken back to where he belonged. good for him. our wednesday's child this week is an avid reader who wants to be a veterinarian some day. got a real treat this week. barbara harrison introduces us to sir. >> on the recent visit to the national zoo, sir wanted to head straight for the small mammal exhibit. our first stop was the golden lion tamarins and while fascinating to watch, sir, who wants to be a veterinarian some day really wanted to find his favorite animal of all. so, when we saw a zookeeper -- i think he has a question for you. >> do you guys have hedge hogs? >> well -- >> hedge hogs are sir's favorite. >> protect themselves from predat predators. >> it turns out that zookeeper rebecca just had something to show us.

>> i've never been to this part of the zoo. >> most people don't get to go behind the scenes like this. sir is special because it was his birthday the day before and because he's shown so much courage over the years working hard in school, despite some of the many changes kids have to go through as foster children. >> he's a vivacious, intelligent, smart, young man who has a beautiful genuine smile. >> hedge hog. >> wow. >> he's so small. >> isn't she small? would you like to pet her back? what does she feel like to you? >> soft, like fur. >> where do you learn all these things about animals? >> i read books. >> she had a birthday present for sir. >> oh, wow, look at that. >> thank you. >> a picture and painting done by the hedge hog.

the best present would be loving parent for an 11-year-old with a lot of promise. barbara harrison, news 4, for wednesday's child. >> now, if you have room in your home and your heart for sir, you can call our adoption hotline. the number is on your screen there. 1-88-to-adopt-me. you can logon to our home page at nbcwashington.com. well, parents may want to keep a close watch on your child's ears the next time you take them for a swim. doctors say this is the peak time for swimmer's ear. a common infection caused by bacteria. swimmer's ear could lead to a painful redness and swelling. swimmers ear is more common in people who produce more than average ear wax or who have narrow erica nals like children. >> it can also cause complete blockage of the ear canal. it can swell shut. >> the condition can be treated

with over the-counter vineg vinegar-based medicaons. coming up, take me out to the ball game. the options are numerous in our area. plus, meadierologist [ male announcer ] are you paying more

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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. he's been playing like an

all-star, but today is your last chance to make a trip to the summer classic a reality for bryce harper. harper trails freis. harper was in third place, but his chances got a little better when chipper jones was pulled from the ballot to replace matt kemp on all the all-star roster. you can vote for him online or by tweeting# brooyce. the nationals are having a pretty great season, but also great minor league options for fans out there in the area. a look at some fan favorites. a lot of options out there. do you feel like the minor league folks are doing more to pull in the fans? >> i do. actually more family friendly almost because they're almost like a county fair. so many fun rides and concessions and they're also cheaper. really inexpensive to take a

family of four where the nats tickets are hard to come by right now. >> let's start with the team that is owned. the big team owned in the area owned by the baseball legends. >> cal ripken jr. owns the iron birds and they're a fannestic team. two things to know and right in howard county right off i-95 and they have fantastic concessions. they're famous for one concession stand that serves deep fried oreos and a funnel cake covered in bacon and maple syrup. you can use the money you saved to buy your funnel cake. another cool thing, they have minor league fields for little kids. little league fields that are modeled after major league stadiums. >> that's a nice addition. let's move to buoy and the bay sox. >> they're a winning team. they have been winning for the past five seasons, but also a lot of fun to go see. they actually do things like the monkey rodeo that we're looking

at here. monkeys riding dogs and they do a lot on the circuit and a lot of fun things like fireworks and this is a team to see, for sure. >> can we skip down and talk about virginia. you've got the potomac nationals and the flying squirrels. >> we have a lot. we can find out about all of them in this weekend's weekend section and a lot of fun teams. >> that's what we like to hear. thank you. southern maryland blue crabs, too. also something to check out. we appreciate that. for more information on the weekend, logon to nbcwashington.com or for the going out guide on washingtonpost.com. all right, let's get a look now at some of the stories we're following on news 4 this afternoon. pat lawson muse with a preview of what's to come. >> coming up on news 4 at 4:00. we'll continue to follow the weather on this alert day. we'll have the latest on the forecast as we deal with another day of dangerous heat. plus, people who wear perfume or after shave may be shutout of government buildings and hospitals. we'll explain why.

it, of course, is no surprise that teens experiment with drugs and alcohol, but today we'll tell you why there's more concern for teens during the summertime. then at 5:00 today, the honey-do list could be for you. we'll explain why men are actually happier when they're doing more housework. what about that, aaron? >> i'm just going to not believe that, pat. i don't think it's possible. >> you can't argue with the results. let's get a final look at the forecast now. here's veronica? >> our temperatures out there, aaron. they're really cranking up very quickly. even at ocean city. take a look at this. 11:44 i captured this image down ocean city. it is packed down there. a lot of folks, that's right, a lot of folks looking for some relief. the temperature, though, i just checked on for ocean city, right now is at 91 degrees. may nudge up to 95 later. the heat index currently at 100 degrees. they're just looking for a little bit of breeze off the water f they can get it.

let's go ahead and talk temperatures around the rest of the area. 88 expected for friday. 94 for saturday and we are going to be looking at the possibility of an isolated storm around here as we get up to 100 and around manassas and 1 00 degrees in cullpeper and freedricsburg around 1 00. isolated storm for the late afternoon hours around 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 p.m. into the evening. tomorrow evening, 80 to 81 degrees and we'll start the day warm and we'll see temperatures top out perhaps around 102 on saturday with strong storms and then cooler, 85 to 89 next week. >> all right. >> looks like most of next week. >> we like that, thank you. before we go, we want to update you on breaking news out of florida. a few moments ago a judge granted george zimmerman bond for a second time. his bail set at $1 million. zimmerman will come up with 10% of that amount to get out of jail, again.

his bond was revoked last month when prosecutors accused him and his wife of hiding $135,000 that they raised on a website created for his defense. you remember he is charged with second degree murder in the death of trayvon martin, that happened back in february and he posted a percentage of the $150,000 bond that originally was set and he claims that he killed martin in self-defense. the latest coming up on news 4 at 4:00. that is "new 4z midday." we appreciate you spending some time with us. i'm back tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m. with "new