she's the youngest member of team usa and now the 15-year-old from bethesda is one step closer to the gold. close call -- >> taxi down the runway to runway 22. >> -- after a close call over at reagan national airport. and a local woman arrested twice for riding around town on a scooter. the news 4 iteam looks at the laws in the district. i'm wendy rooeger. three planes were flying far too near each other right above our region. but tonight, the faa says passengers were never in real

danger. this incident happened tuesday at reagan national airport. that's where we find chris gordon live with the latest on this story. chris? >> reporter: the three planes were never on a collision course to hit head on according to transportation secretary ray lahood, traffic controllers had to redirect planes because of bad weather south of the airport. one u.s. airways commuter flight approaching from rosalind for a landing came close to the flight path of two commuter flights that had taken off heading toward rosalind. >> there was a loss of separation. it shouldn't have happened. but because of a well-trained controller, at dca tower who immediately recognized the situation and worked to fix it.

>> george novak explains what happened. >> we had two aircraft that had taken off in this direction at the same time we had aircraft to land in a similar direction. and because of a miscommunication among the air traffic controller, these aircraft were essentially to be in the same place at the same time, but it was caught well before anything happened or a any -- a serious incident occurred. >> audio recordings of the communications between the inbound pilot and the controller shows some confusion. >> what happened? >> 3329 standby, we're trying to figure this out. standby. >> all right. we really don't have enough fuel for this. we've got to get on the ground here pretty quick. >> the national air traffic controllers association released a statement saying safety is natca's top priority. we will participate in any investigation that looks into improving the system. today many of the passengers boarding flights at reagan national airport had heard the news about tuesday's near miss.

>> i'm not a great flier anyhow, but i'm better off today now they'll be a little more on top of things, hopefully. >> we heard from passengers who had landed. >> i heard about it this morning but didn't give a second thought about it. >> reporter: and your flight today was -- >> it was fine, yeah. well, the husband wanted for questioning in the death of his wife was found dead in a creek along center street. he was wanted after a dead ll lt and run. an autopsy is underway to see exactly how he died. just days after a jewelry store owner was murdered, tonight arlington police arrest a suspect. more on that arrest. >> reporter: wendy, sources tell news 4 that the suspect has been employed as a construction worker, which could explain the neon safety vest that is central to this case. the arrest of 52-year-old james

sylvester caroline of the district comes five days after tommy wong was found dead in his capital jewelers store in arlington. mr. wong was 52 years old. the arrest comes three days after this chilling security camera video was aired. ken stein provided it to news 4 after he realized the televised image of the safety vest wearing suspect in mr. wong's murder looked a lot like a man caught on camera robbing his store in the district last month. >> i felt bad he had to go through that. and it is sad. it's a sad case that a guy did lose his life over somebody stealing a little bit of jewelry. >> flowers and candles remain from a vigil held in front of capital jewelers wednesday night as tommy wong's son desmond prepares for the funeral, he wanted to express gratitude for ken stein coming forward to help. >> i appreciate him releasing the video and having the bravery and courage to help my family do

this and giving the police and everything they needed to capture this person. i cannot begin to show my appreciation for that. thank you from me and my family. >> reporter: right now james caroline is charged only with a probation violation, but he is expected to face murder charges in the death of tommy wong. reporting live in arlington, jackie benson, news 4. an arrest today in a pipe bomb attack near virginia tech's campus. in connection with a blast early yesterday morning in blacksburg. a homemade bomb damaged an suv that police believe was the target. no one was hurt, the investigation led police to the home of one of wilson's family members in roanoke where they found bomb-making materials. detectives had not made any links between explosives and the explosion on the virginia tech campus. some people in one d.c. neighborhood are still without power tonight after a large tree came crashing down this morning

taking out power lines with it. this tree landed on two cars on edmund street. police shut down the road while crews cleared the debris and got started on the power lines. pepco says crews are still on the scene right now. no estimate on when all the power will be restored in the area. >> and parts of our area saw some rain this afternoon. others saw plenty of sunshine as the heat has returned. let's get the latest from doug. >> yeah, the ones of us did see rain, very heavy rain in northwestern portions all because o the bay breeze as it made its way across the region. temperature out there right now, 90 degrees at the airport, winds out of the northeast sitting at 8 miles per hour right now. dew point is 67. so it's on the high side. but not all that bad. take a look at the current heat index around the region. 100 in frederick, 93 in washington, 97 and fredericksburg, a heat index of 98. very warm and humid afternoon across our region.

we're only going to be on the warmer side as we head through the day tomorrow. here's the way the storms have been, you can see a lot of storms in portions of southern maryland. once again, prince georges county hit pretty hard, eastern portions of that county and 301 and route 50. and a few other showers to talk about. we'll mention those, plus we've got a brand new tropical storm. and this one could affect some of your plans over the next week or so. we'll talk about that coming up in a minute. >> all right. baltimore gas and electric is warning its customers that their bill may be higher than expected this month. the company says that's due in part to the extremely high temperatures in june and july. bge says in the summer air-conditioning accounts for half of your energy use. and because of the extreme heat over the last two months, some customers may see their bills double. to presidential politics now and the fight for battleground virginia.

tonight prom president obama visits loudon county. julie? >> reporter: it sure is. you can see the stage is set across the street there behind those buses for tonight's rally. you know, mitt romney came to loudon county in june. now his focus tonight, he'll try to convince them he will be the champion for the middle class. toting umbrellas and bottles of water barak obama supporters lined up. >> just simple. >> in his latest campaign, he's hitting the battleground states and hitting republican challenger mitt romney hard, in a new ad that challenges his tax plan would hurt the middle class. the president stopped off in florida before heading to loudon county. >> we do not need more tax cuts

for folks who have done very, very well. we need more tax cuts for working americans. we need tax cuts for families who are trying to raise your children. >> while mitt romney was in colorado, his campaign bus rolled into leesburg, top figures blasted the president's economic record. >> mitt romney is a turn around artist. this country desperately needs a turn around right now. and i think across the board tax cuts are going to be a way to fuel that forward. >> but those headed to the president's rally contend his leadership saved the economy from a worse fate. here's what leesburg mayor had to say. >> the president, i think, will never get the credit he deserves. i think his policies averted a major second great depression. and we ended up with a recess n recession, which hasn't been a great thing to live through. but a depression would have been far worse. >> reporter: coming up on news 4 at 6:00, a closer look at why

loudon county is so important to both of these presidential candidates. and i'll tell you when mitt romney might be visiting the commonwealth. >> right now romney's campaigning in another battleground state, colorado. he's promising if elected, he'll create 12 million jobs during his first term. this is romney's first day back on the campaign trail after his overseas trip. the president won colorado four years ago, however, it's expected to be a tight race in the fall. poor performances cost almost 100 d.c. teachers their jobs. the district fired 98 teachers who had low scores on the so-called impact test. under that impact program, teachers are observed in the classroom five times a year and then they're graded on their abilities. the fired teachers were either ranked ineffective this year or minimally effective over the last two years. on the other hand, some 1,000 teachers in the district, about 1/4 of the entire d.c. teaching staff rated highly effective and

that makes them eligible for bonuses of up to $25,000. middle school sports programs in fauquier county are under new management. the youth football league will be managing. and the warrenton youth sports club will run the basketball and volleyball programs for the middle school. the soccer club will be operating the middle school soccer league and the girl softball association will run the girls' softball league next spring. the agreement allows the clubs -- it's a lot going on out there. allowing them to use school facilities and school mascots. from that league to the olympics. the u.s. and youngest olympian on the u.s. team is a swimmer from our area. her name is katie ladeki. a household name to some here and quickly gaining new fans,

especially after the finals today in the 800-meter freestyle. took the lead early and never looked back. her race tomorrow will determine if she gets a medal. richard jordan is here with a look at how the home team is cheering her on. >> a lot of people in bethesda know she's one to watch. her friends and neighbors say she will not disappoint. >> a bethesda team now america's swimming sweetheart. 15-year-old katie ladecky heading to the olympic finals in the free style. but her path started at a local pool. ladecky is well known at the pa palisades swim club. those who watched her swim as a kid still can't believe how far she's come. >> and then i just became completely infatuated with her and her rise to stardom and the way that she was really kept under the radar by her coach. didn't want to overexpose her.

and so she was like a little secret weapon we had all along. >> proudly claiming she's a stone ridge girl. the school has posters prepared for a watch party friday and t-shirts printed up to support the soft-spoken sophomore. >> she's such an unassuming student and person, many of us who met her for the first time in the last two years had no idea of her potential and where she's going because she's an ordinary kid who can do extraordinary things. >> ladecky's mom can hardly imagine what's next. >> i guess she would walk around the arena with it and she would certainly have an opportunity to show all of her friends if they wanted to see it. >> the local girl on the world stage is leaving her mark. >> stone ridge is expecting

nearly 200 ladecky fans to gather for their watch party tomorrow and see if their friend and classmate wins a medal. and news 4's dan hellie spoke with ladecky today after that qualifying race. it's about 90 minutes from now on news 4 at 6:00. >> thanks, richard. she's a star early on. one of the big stories coming out of the games today. >> in day six of action, u.s. athletes added with the potential of more to come during prime time tonight. to keep us on top of all of the action, nbc bill rogers live in london once again. hey, bill. >> good evening. gold medals in high-profile sports get all the headlines. but tonight a lower profile event is casting a golden glow. great britain awoke to see the tower bridge bathed in olympic gold celebrating the nation's first gold medals of the games yesterday.

but early today, the american gold rush continued. >> america versus great britain -- >> reporter: at excel arena, more olympic gold as kayla harrison won the first ever american gold medal in judo. brought to tears as she heard her national anthem. >> i pictured it every night for the last four years and feels real. >> at the same hall, vladimir putin who has written a book on judo cheered his nation and the gold medal performance. ann romney was cheering her horse in early rounds. at the lord's cricket ground, loric came up short in her request for a medal, but the woman who shot jennifer lawrence to shoot provided one of the day's most memorable image, an arrow that hit the camera in the center of the bull's eye. a disappointing day, but an

olympic moment. >> swimming, gymnastics, and volleyball on nbc tonight. here's the regulation volleyball they use, 270 grams, give or take ten grams. and also these eight panels designed to make the ball more aerodynamic. now the beach volleyball is a little softer, but it has the same dimension. united states taking on brazil tonight in volleyball. brazil ranked number one in the world. that's the latest from the olympic games, i'm phil rogers, news 4 live in london. >> thank you, phil. >> at 8:00, catch another exciting night of olympic competition, watch team usa's gabby douglas go for the gold all around. michael phelps versus lochte round two. and in women's beach volleyball, oh, yeah, they're trying to defend their crown. that starts at 8:00 tonight

right here on nbc. i know where you and everybody else will be watching. >> doug joins us now. good day to float in the pool. >> yeah, but bad day to tweet out or facebook me the results of the olympics that have already happened. i don't want to know. you're doing the same thing. you don't want to know either, do you? >> no. >> we'll have that for you tonight in prime time. what we have right now, pretty good day out there if you like it hot and thunderstorms in your area. most of us have been on the dry side today as we look outside right now, we've got a few clouds. just a few clouds as we make our way out and about. current temperature sitting at 90 degrees, right now the dew point of 67, and winds out of the northeast now at about 8 miles an hour. we are seeing a few showers and a few thunderstorms out there. that brought our temperatures down. we were at 94, dropped to 86, and now with the sunshine, we're right back to 90. 94 in fredericksburg, and 91 in

leesburg, heat index in the mid-90s across the region. along the chesapeake bay breeze, sends in a little bit of a breeze and that helps to produce some of these showers and storms. so prince georges county really saw a big number of storms over toward the laurel area. very heavy rain there. right now, though, that's just about it. just about all gone. maybe an isolated shower or two, but that's all we're going to see. behind this, look at all the clear skies. we're going to clear out very nicely tonight. and i think we have pretty good day for tomorrow as far as sunshine is concerned, but it is going to be on the hot side. now, something else to be watching, the tropics. they've been a little quiet the last couple of weeks, but now we've got a new tropical storm. this is tropical storm ernesto. pressure at 1006 millibars. but it's moving at a good clip at 22 miles per hour. it'll go through the caribbean, very close to jamaica at 65-mile-an-hour winds, that's the national hurricane center forecast and then become a

hurricane of 80 miles an hour possibly by tuesday, heading right towards cancun. so if you have any trips toward cancun or a cruise in the caribbean, this is one to watch out for. this will not affect us as i think it goes into the open waters of the gulf of mexico. but we'll continue to watch it for you very closely. hot temperatures today. and guess what, hot temperatures tomorrow too. i think we get back into the mid to upper 90s during the day tomorrow. so a very warm day. that heat index could approach 100 degrees. this evening, warm and clear, just a few storms, 83 to about 88 degrees. as we move on through the next couple of days, this is what you can expect. 96 tomorrow, 94 on saturday, 93 on sunday and 90 on monday, about a 30% showers and storms each day and even into next week, we stay at or above the 90-degree mark. tomorrow, 96 degrees and it is on the warm side out there. today is thursday and of course, that means it's time for our

backyard weather. we sent veronica out toward the alexandria area. >> it's going well. i just got cannon balled. so two minutes earlier, you would have seen it right here. that's right i'm in the mt. vernon area of alexandria, virginia. we are with the gardner family today. and joining me right now is shirl gardner. we get so many letters about people why love their area so much. why do you love mt. vernon? >> because to me it's a small town and i love my friends, i love my church. >> here they are. >> i love my job and my community that i work in. and to me, it's like being back home in west virginia in a small town. so that's why. >> and why did you want us to come out and do backyard weather? >> well, because i wanted an opportunity to host you guys here and show you how wonderful mt. vernon is and how friendly we are and i wanted an

opportunity to be with my friends and show off all of the things we have here around mt. vernon. >> show us around your backyard. we know we have the pool here because i just got soaked. and i have great friends. >> have great friends here. and in here -- and we have -- we can -- you can always go to mt. vernon to the mt. vernon estate, but here in our backyard, we're going to have great food. >> let's walk down here because in a couple of minutes, this table you are telling me is going to be filled with food. >> it is. >> right now, though, here. you hold this. >> okay. >> we've got chips. i know you get chips too. but we've got chips, we're going to have dip soon and we're going to have a lot of food on that grill up there. the guys are over here. they've been doing, what? just chilling out. not doing too much work. >> they're resting before they have to work. >> okay. we're going to put the guys -- we're going to make them get busy here. they're going to put stuff on the grill and you've got a secret recipe for pulled pork. >> i do, i have a pulled pork

recipe i have that we're going to be bringing out with three different types of sauces. we have that and potato salad and coleslaw. >> back to you. >> all right, veronica. thanks again. last week it was chuck eating the good food, tonight it's your turn. and if you want us to come out to your backyard, send us a picture of that yard. you've got a month left at weathe weather@nbcwashington.com. >> we were eating the chee-tos out of the vending machine right out of the studio. >> i didn't get that either. >> not your day. hey, still ahead on news 4 at 5:00, a young woman disappeared a few days ago and today a body found wrapped in plastic. a local woman sent to jail twice for riding her scooter around town. the news 4 i team investigates the laws that put the brakes on scooters.

>> he had a promising start before he blew out his knee. now he's ready, healthy, and wants to help the team. and tonight at 6:00, the digital pill. patients are one swallow

redskins training camp continuing out in the heat today. >> and after a torn acl in last year's preseason, one redskin getting to experience a second rookie season. jarvis jenkins' story. >> used to be out here being a north carolina boy. >> yeah, i was used to it. good thing they drafted me. >> i couldn't even talk tooach shanahan without hearing your name out of his mouth last year during training camp and then the injury. how were you able to get mental reps in and get whatever you could out of that rookie year even though you weren't on the field. >> it was kind of hard because i

had to come in -- i was coming in hot, you know, having a good camp, then boom, i hit my first injury ever. adversity always hits people. and it was kind of big on how i bounced back. stayed here, rehab, and stayed with my teammates being a rookie i had to fit in around here. i've learned from the older guys and hit my rehabs twice a day until i got back. it's going to pay off if i stay healthy this year. >> i talked to you during spring otas. you said it was just about getting reps. how are you feeling now? >> i'm feeling pretty good, you know. i'm feeling in my best shape, got a chance to get stronger with my strength coach ray wright, got my conditioning up to where i can be. it could be better, but i'm not really thinking too much when i'm tired, you know, i'm still doing the same thing as when i'm full breathing. it's a good thing i'm in shape now and ready to go. >> do you feel like you have that explosiveness back you had at clemson? >> most definitely. i feel i have even more now

because i got a chance to learn some tricks and trades that all these older guys taught me. he spent a lot of time in the weight room. and the main thing is having bottom body explosion, and i got a chance to work on my quads stronger. >> that front seven is really the strong suit of this team. a lot rave about what rg3 is bringing to the table. but how good do you feel about taking the field with everyone? >> we've got a lot of talent on the front seven, you know, and i think with us, we can be the heart of this team, produce a good pass rush, and stop the run, and that'll give rg3 the ball more to score points, if we can be productive, we can have a good team. >> maybe if you get help on the offense side of the ball. >> yeah, they're looking good. >> now the red skins' preseason

opener a week from today. comcast sports net joining us live from redskins park right here at 6:00. and straight ahead in our next half hour, a virginia woman shows great strength when her dad gets trapped under a car. >> a couple in prince georges county found dead in their home. neighbors stunned to find out. and a man arrested for and i got the chanceor to start my own business.

i know what it's like to hire people and to make ends meet. from those experiences, i had the chance of running the olympics. the games were in real trouble. there'd been way too much spending. and in massachusetts i found a budget that was badly out of balance. our legislature was 85% democrat. and every one of the four years i was governor, we balanced the budget. i want to use those experiences to help americans have a better future. we believe in our future. we believe in ourselves.

we believe the greatest days of america are ahead. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. a fast forward to the headlines. a near miss tuesday afternoon, a u.s. airways flight trying to land came close to the flight path of two other flights. ray lahood says the planes were never on a head-on collision course and says an air traffic controller saw what happened and quickly worked to fix it. a d.c. man under arrest for a murder of a jewelry shop owner in arlington. police took 52-year-old james caroline in custody today. he's suspected of robbing the capital jewelers store at

gunpoint over the weekend and killing the owner tommy wong. 15-year-old swimmer katie ladecky advanced in the 800-meter freestyle tomorrow. the youngest member of the usa team at the london games. and weather out there right now, still a couple of showers, but not too many, we've got one shower right now into montgomery county right around the orchard area, the rest of us should see dry conditions for the most part, also a few showers south of waldorf, we'll continue to watch those for you and also watching the weekend weather for you. if you're headed down toward the chesapeake or the beaches, that forecast for you coming up in a minute. >> thank you, doug. someone found a woman's body wrapped in a bag near a ft. washington creek last night. today, police are looking into the possibility that the victim is a woman reported missing in d.c. pat collins is live in southeast with surveillance video showing the last time the woman was seen before she disappeared. pat? >> reporter: jim, where is

chavonne phillips? monday she dropped her daughter off at day care and then vanished. is this related to a discovery in prince georges county? we begin our story with her mother. >> what do you think happened here? >> i think it's foul play. >> this is security camera video of phillips when she was last seen. it was monday morning, she was dropping off her 2-year-old daughter at a day care center in northeast. she never picked up her daughter that day. and she's not been heard from since. her mother wants some answers. >> are you worried for her? >> just want her to come home. just bring her home. >> reporter: she is 23 years old. she lives in the benning park apartments in southeast. she was supposed to start a hotel job this week. but she never showed up for that.

her parents say she was devoted to her baby girl denia. she was never to late to pick her up. and when she didn't show monday, everybody got worried. >> if you could make a plea to someone who knows something about this -- >> i'd give them whatever they ask for. bring my daughter home, you can have whatever. >> investigators looking into the possibility that a body found in prince georges county might be linked to this case. this is swan creek down near ft. washington. this is where the discovery was made. it was about 8:30 last night. some people who live around here saw a large athletic bag floating in the creek. they called 911. when police got here, they opened the bag and found the body of a woman inside. so far, the woman in the water has been unidentified.

but the family of phillips says police have come by to collect dna samples and dental information. also last night someone broke into phillips' apartment. they say her computer and many other items are missing. was this is a coincidence? or someone trying to retrieve items that might link him to her disappearance? >> reporter: now, if you've seen her, if you know anything about this case, please call the police. live in southeast, pat collins, news 4. there will not be a mistrial in the drew peterson case. the defense argued that improper evidence had tainted the jury, but an illinois judge believes peterson can still get a fair trial. he's accused of killing his third wife in 2004. today a paramedic testified he did not see anything that would keep kathleen savio from falling into the bathtub. peterson is also a suspect in this disappearance of his fourth

wife stacy peterson. he is not charged in that case. neighbors of an elderly maryland couple are saddened this evening. the fixtures of the prince georges county neighborhood are found dead in their home earlier today. police made a discovery after being called to the home in temple hills to check on the couple's welfare. >> reporter: a quiet street in temple hills, neatly tended homes and lawns, one house had certain signs, newspapers and flyers accumulating on the front porch. a car that didn't appear to be moved for a while. an elderly couple called this place home for as long as most neighbors could remember. >> over 50 years. and that couple down there been living over here before now. so it had to be like 60-something years. >> he said when his mother moved to this neighborhood, they had already been there for a while. he says his mother and ida mae

would check on each other from time to time. >> they would check on each other because my mom is sick, as well. >> reporter: ida mae looked after him faithfully. >> she drove and took him around to doctors appointments and everything. >> but it was a relative to check on the welfare of the couple that led to the sad discovery around 9:30. they were found in different parts of the house. when officers arrived, they had to force the way in. it appeared the couple had been dead for some time when they were found. police are not sure if joseph or ida died first, but the street will be lonely without them. >> there were no outward signs of foul play, but they are awaiting autopsy results from the coroner. >> when we come right back tonight on "news 4 at 5:00," this local man lands behind bars. a local woman sent to jail twice for riding her scooter around town. the confusing law in d.c. that pu

police said they had to arrest this guy for something he did in a movie theater in annapolis yesterday. witnesses told police that 25-year-old kyle tanner, this guy walked into a movie, sat down in the front row and began yelling and cursing at the screen. the last time pointing a finger at the audience and simulating that he had a gun. the cops obviously arrested him for that. this happened at the bow tie cinemas on route 2. tanner is charged with disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment. news for your health tonight. if you don't get enough sleep, vaccines might not be as effective. that's the word tonight from a new study published in the journal "sleep." researchers studied adults who

received the hepatitis b vaccine, they kept a diary and the scientists measured how their bodies responded to the shots. people with fewer than six hours of sleep developed antibodies, meaning they were less protected. sleep is critical for the immune system. there is new evidence on the -- that the internet is not substitute for a doctor's advice. researchers at the school of medicine looked at the accuracy of google internet searchers for infant sleep safety. the study discovered 40% of the websites were accurate, 30% not accurate, and others providing information that wasn't relevant. government and organizational websites have the best information while blogs, product reviews, and news websites, oh, my, they were often wrong. >> nice. >> that's a little scary. >> coming up on "news 4 at 5:00" tonight, why a woman's trip to the market on her scooter landed her behind bars.

ryan lochte's mom calls her son a player with the women. the one-night stand comment that has gone viral. that's next. and if you're thinking about heading down towards the beaches, down through ocean city, looking good over the next couple of days, but just how good? i've got that forecast coming up. plus, the latest on what's going

a 64-year-old georgetown woman arrested for riding a scooter. it happened here in the district not once but twice. >> news 4 iteam explains how this happened and why the law that was cited in her arrest has scooters disappearing from city streets. >> reporter: lightweight, trendy, and oh, so easy to use, urban dwellers love their scooters. but district residents called the news 4 iteam saying an old law has been stalled out in the slow lane. >> this is how i dress when i'm on the scooter. >> ann goodman is a 64-year-old mother from georgetown who says everything went wrong when she was pulled over for not wearing a helmet. >> i don't think anybody really enjoys being treated that way, especially right after you're out of church and you're going to get a bottle of milk at the safeway store and you end up in jail. >> reporter: goodman says she was arrested because of d.c.'s

outdated schooler law. you've probably seen plenty of scooters in the city without license plates. goodman says they drive in from maryland and virginia where scooter riders aren't required to register their vehicles. it's different in d.c. which has a confusing law involving conflicting wheel sizes and engine strength. as a result, goodman says all scooters, even this motorized kiddie bike are considered motorcycles. and if you drive a motorcycle, you need a motorcycle license. something goodman didn't have. >> she arrested me because the police keep putting me on this huge harley davidson rolling thunder category, this little thing. >> the rules on what constitutes a scooter is so outdated that nobody qualifies as a scooter in the district. >> he also called the news 4 iteam about his ride. >> it's definitely a scooter although it may be the george jetsons of scooters.

>> daniker says to keep from being stolen, most people park them on the sidewalk so they can chain to something. he sees d.c. and maryland doing it all the time, but he has $300 in parking tickets for doing the same thing. >> according to d.c. law, this is considered a motorcycle. >> because it's illegal for a motorcycle to park on the sidewalk. >> we really do need to update our laws so that we can allow people to use other modes of transportation that are greener and help relieve traffic in the area. >> what we have now, it's whacky. >> reporter: we told the council member about the complaints we've received. >> i had my staff bring me the regulations and it looked a mess. >> reporter: she is the chair of the transportation committee. >> shouldn't be a matter of police officers, you know, measuring the wheel base or something like that. we should have clear categories. >> reporter: she says she hopes to enter a bill before the end of the year that puts scooters

and motorcycles in different categories. until then, both daniker and goodman have put their scooters in storage. >> ann goodman says she's received two dozen tickets for riding her scooter. she took off her license plate hoping to pass as a maryland or virginia driver, it didn't work. the cop hauled her in to jail for a second time. she's now gone to court for both arrests and says the judge threw both cases out. >> wow. >> that's incredible. >> all right. you're seeing a lot more on the street. >> yeah, they are. let's check with doug. good scooter weather out there, huh? >> not bad at all, as a matter of fact, 90 degrees, plenty of sunshine, a good scooter day. heat index right now 93 degrees. a little bit on the warm and humid side. but not all that bad. nothing compared to the middle portions of july. now 93, gaithersburg to the north only at 82, 85 in college park right now and 81 in camp springs. what are we seeing out there? couple of showers and a few

strong thunderstorms, especially into prince georges. those have died out and i do not expect to see a repeat throughout the rest of the evening. most of us, if not all of us are going to stay on the dry side. overnight tonight, 67 in gaithersburg, 67 in manassas, but 77, a very warm night in the city. 69, back toward winchester around 65 degrees. mostly clear skies overnight tonight and a lot of sunshine during the day tomorrow. can't rule out a thunderstorm tomorrow, once again, probably along the sea breeze, not a lot of wind so that sea breeze is able to come in close to the district. watch out for a few isolated showers and storms. 92 in gaithersburg, 96 in washington, and 97 coming up in fredericksburg. the heat index could approach 100 degrees tomorrow. heading down toward the beaches, once again toward ocean city, looking good. 86 on your friday, 87 on saturday, and 88 on sunday. not a bad beach weekend at all. and just a few isolated chances for showers. 96 on your friday, 94 on

saturday, 93 on sunday, and once again, about a 30% chance of a shower or thunderstorm, and i think we stay at or above 90 degrees all the way through the next seven days. yes, it's going to be on the warm side, but no real extreme heat tomorrow, going to be the hottest of those days. today is thursday and we go to somebody's backyard just about every thursday here on nbc 4 during the summer. and right now, veronica is live in mt. vernon. >> reporter: hey, there. i guess i'm going to have to put my plate to rest, it's been my fan for the last couple of minutes. standing out in the sun, it gets a little warm. i'm going to pass the this over to cheryl gardner. thanks for having us out. >> you're most welcome, thank you for coming. >> reporter: last time we promised we would show you the spread out here. take a look at what the gardners have put together for us. we have barbecue, pork barbecue for us, we have coleslaw, we have the potato salad, we have the pasta salad, and we have, of

course, it would not be a backyard picnic, i think, unless you have the watermelon and, of course, all the chips that you want. okay, you're going to put together a plate for me. or how about i put together my own plate? in the meantime, you tell us why it is you love having people in your backyard. >> oh, i love having people in my backyard just because i like to entertain and i like to have fun. i like to have people come over and it's really fun for us here to do that and to have all of my friends over. >> okay. you've got don up there, your husband, on the grill. and he's going to be giving us bratwursts in a couple of minutes. christine and cindy, tell us why you love coming over to don and shirl's house. >> well, they make us feel very welcome and she definitely has the gift of hospitality. my kids love to come and eat here. >> we've been friends for about ten years and had many backyard

barbecues and there's hospitality when you come over. >> as we turn around, it sure doesn't hurt when you have a pool like this. we're going to have more from the grill coming up at 6:00. >> that's what i'm talking about, if you want us to come to your backyard, e-mail us at nbcwashington.com, send pictures to weather -- >> you can see. >> let's go back to it. watch -- >> we don't have time for that? >> prime time. >> thank you, doug. here's a look at top trending stories today. >> a family rivalry for mark zuckerberg. this happened after facebook lost a bidding war with google to purchase a social media start-up. to make matters worse, wildfire interactive specializes in facebook ads. michael jackson's three kids are once again in the custody of their grandmother. today a judge returned guardianship to katherine jackson after she'd been reported missing and turned up with family.

the judge said the investigator found katherine had been doing a great job caring for the children and they clearly love her. also gave temporary co-guardianship to the children's cousin t.j. they say t.j. and katherine have worked closely together since michael's death. well, the mother of ryan lochte is revealing a bit much about his life on the "today" show this morning. she explained that lochte only has time for one-night stands. he's just too busy for a relationship. he's got his intense training and his intense swimming schedule taking up all of his time. there's no -- there's no room for love in there. lochte is 27 years old and one of the darlings of this year's games. he's facing michael phelps in prime time tonight. >> we thought it was commitment issues, but not show much. she said it like it was. >> whatever works for you. just ahead on "news 4 at 5:00," a real lifesaver, a virginia woman manages to lift up a car to save a relative.

coming up at 6:00 tonight, there was a warning about that mass murderer in colorado before the attack. there's a new strain of the swine flu that has emerged. we'll tell you about that. and the young swimmer from bethesda making

woman from virginia is being hailed a hero tonight for saving her father's life after a car fell on him. >> she single handedly lifted that car off him and it weighed a ton and a half. this story of heroism. >> reporter: they were moments in time still a blur to this family. a frightful reminder of what could have been. >> as i go to open the garage door, i hear a primal scream like dial 911. >> that scream was 22-year-old lauren discovering her father crushed under a car. >> there was no tire, and he was -- and his body was angled

this way. >> seconds later, she did what most would consider unthinkable. she moved a car weighing 1 1/2 tons off her father's body. >> lifted up right here and just kind of -- i kind of threw it and shoved my body into it as hard as i could and i came back and dragged him out and started cpr. it flashed like, oh, my god, i'm going to lose my dad. his eyes were open, he wasn't responding. >> she is a former basketball player and trained as a life guard. >> i knew i had to get his heartbeating again. >> and in that moment, she was the only person keeping her daddy alive. >> kind of talking to him like, don't, you can't leave me. you have to stay with me. keep breathing. >> two days later, this is alec kornaki still in the icu and getting the chance to thank his little girl. >> i told him what happened and the tears came to his eyes and he said thank you for saving my life and she just smiled her

blue-eyed smile and that was it. >> seeing him movie and breathing and i was just watching his chest rise and that's when i lost it. i started crying and couldn't -- i couldn't handle it. >> amazing. >> and that was sara blume reporting. the president visits the battleground state of virginia. a big night at the olympics in london, an american swimming showdown in virginia's flying squirrel going for the gold. there was a scare at reagan national airport, but now there's word that three jets near d.c. were never on a collision course at all. a man locked up because of what police say he did in a maryland movie theater that sent people running. good evening, i'm jim vance. >> and i'm doreen gentzler, we begin with presidential politics and the fight for a handful of battleground states that could determine this election. today was mitt romney's first day on the campaign trail after an overseas trip. the presumptive republican nominee headed to colorado.