55 degrees, a touch milder than yesterday, but still a little chilly out there. tom is here to tell us more about a forecast. >> is octobery a word? >> you can make up that word. you're the scientist here. >> and we know exactly what you mean. >> that's kind of what it feels like. yesterday was decembery. and right now it's at least feeling more like its month. it's 55 at reagan national. not too bad. but it's near 50 in the nearby suburbs in prince george's county. arlington, fairfax, and montgomery, and these areas in green are all in the 50s. parts of the eastern shore away from the waters as well as schenn shennendoah valley. most locations in the low 40s. we've got a clear sky now. the showers in the midwest may be getting closer to us by the

time we get into the afternoon hours. between now and then, we'll have a nice warm-up. by noontime, the 60s. low 70s by mid afternoon. we could get some thunderstorms late afternoon into early evening. only a slight risk that they would be severe with damaging winds. i'll be back with a hometown forecast in ten minutes. your first four traffic now with danella. good morning. >> we'll start off with the rails. if you're jumping on the rails, they're looking good. no reported delays. looking clear. over to the roadways, still seeing light volume in our area. very light volume. and travel lanes are open. no issues to report. here's a live look at richie marlboro road. you're getting by issue free. breaking news. police are on the scene of a deadly pedestrian accident in the huntington section of fairfax county. this is happening at the intersection of richmond highway. megan mcgrath is there with

more. >> reporter: police were here on the scene for several hours documenting this deadly pedestrian accident. within the last half-hour, though, they wrapped up that investigation, removed the cones and have now left the scene. so all of the lanes on richmond highway are now open. we're not seeing any kind of a traffic impact any longer as a result of this accident. now, it happened a little bit before 2:00 this morning. a pedestrian was on richmond highway near ntington, avenue. that person was struck by a vehicle. the driver stayed on the scene. the pedestrian transported to the hospital but was pronounced dead. in terms of exactly what happened, was the pedestrian trying to cross the road or were they walking along the side of the road, all of that still under information at this point. the driver did remain on the scene, and at this point, all lanes on richmond highway have reopened. in huntington, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you. this morning a woman is fighting for her life after being hit by a truck in college park.

police say that truck was going south when the woman was hit. she was taken to the hospital in critical condition. the driver did stay on the scene. no charges have been filed. and baltimore road, which was closed for about five hours while police gathered evidence, is now back open. police are still searching for the driver responsible for a five-car pile-up in silver spring. chopper 4 above that crash. this is university boulevard near wayne avenue about 9:00 last night. a pedestrian was hit there. she in critical condition in the hospital. weaver told a second person was hurt as well. police are looking for a newer model black pickup truck with possible damage to the front passenger side. new this morning, police are searching for the person who shot a man along bening road in northeast washington. the shooting happened around 12:30 this morning. the victim was taken to the hospital with a life-threatening injury. police are not releasing any other details or a motive in this case. new york city police crediting vigilant law enforcement with stopping a plot to blow up the federal reserve building there.

police worked with the fbi to arrest this man. federal agents started surveillance on him after the 21-year-old met an informant at new york's central park. then yesterday morning, the fbi says he parked a van full of fake explosives outside the bank. little did he know the cell phone detonator he had was also a fake. police say unfortunately this arrest probably won't be the last. >> motivated by al qaeda. we see this threat as being with us for a long time to come. >> he came to the united nations january on a student visa from bangladesh. court documents show he wrote an article to be published bay jihadist website. it mentioned targeting america's economy as a way to destroy the country. now to the race for the white house. president obama and mitt romney will meet again tonight at an event in new york, a fundraising

event for needy kids. the two are also spending time in the key battleground states. president obama heads to new hampshire today, while romney campaigned last night in leesburg. spending on political ads has now topped $800 million. the candidates have spent $807 million on tv and radio ads. the president's campaign has spent nearly 300 million and romney's has spent nearly $140 million. with outside groups, romney's ads outnumber obama's. more than half of the money spent went to florida, ohio, and virginia. we are learning more about president obama's plans for election night. his campaign confirming to our sister station in chicago the president wants to hold his party at mccormick place, the largest convention center in the united states.

it will be a big contrast from 2008 when nearly a quarter of a million people gathered in grant park for president obama's rally and celebration. sources with the mccormick center in chicago say that a contract is likely but has not been locked down. you may have to wait until after election day to find out if you'll be paying more in taxes next year. the white house says president obama will veto republican legislation blocking tax hikes and spending cuts at the end of the year. if the president is re-elected, he could have the power to dictate the terms of the deal to reduce the debt. if he loses, he could let bush era tax cuts expire before mitt romney takes office. democrats want those tax cuts extended for americans earning less than $250,000. republicans want the tax cuts extended for all americans. constitution avenue may look more like "sesame street" next month. more than 1,000 puppeteers and pbs supporters plan on marc.

ing -- marching on the national mall. it is in response to mitt romney's infamous big bird comment during the first presidential debate. he wants to cut funding for public broadcasting. i know you're a big fan of "sesame street." >> two guys out west who came together to put this all together. they've got a facebook peyton manning, a twitter account, and hundreds of thousands of followers on those pages. so we could see a big crowd out there on the mall. >> not so much "sesame street." you're more of a muppets fan. wanted to clear that up. >> fozzy bear. let's check in at the live desk now. >> good morning. a letter signed by fidel castro has just been published by a cuban government run newspaper. this is the first by the 86-year-old former president to be made public since july. the letter is dated wednesday and comes after rumors that castro's health has worsened. he hasn't been seen in public since march.

the vitamin that could help you keep cancer at bay. >> also ahead, dramatic new video out of syria as rebels continue to fight back against the syrian government. plus, putting on a show. the bright fire ball seen streaking across the night sky overnight. things could get a little ugly this afternoon. ug[ female announcer ] as you're making your decision...

maybe you're wondering what to believe about mitt romney. well, when it comes to protecting your access to birth control... and the basic women's health care services planned parenthood provides... one thing we must remember, is this: i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] he'll cut it off. cut us off. planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that. [ female announcer ] women need to know the real mitt romney. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

welcome back. new from overnight, check out this meteor shower above california. people living in the area reported hearing a loud boom and seeing bright lights. astronomers captured these bright fire balls streaking across the night sky. they say the fire balls are part of an ongoing meteor shower that will reach its peek this weekend. cool show. you don't have to pay anything. >> we have a quick correction about the national christmas tree lighting. earlier we said you can enter to win tickets to that event starting today. it actually does not start until next thursday, october 25th. >> we'll remind you of that when we get to it next thursday. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. tom kierein with the forecast now. >> good morning. off to a clear start. hometown forecast. it will be in the upper 40s under a clear sky. by noontime, the upper 60s and

partly cloudy. a rapid warm-up this morning in the low 70s by mid afternoon, could get some thunderstorms between 6:00 and perhaps as late as 10:00 p.m. some of those storms, they could be severe with damaging winds. a look at friday and into next week. your seven-day outlook is in ten minutes. danella with a look at traffic now. good morning. >> let's take a closer look at i-66 earlier this morning, as you made your way i-66 westbound to the beltway, that was shut down, but now looks like all that construction has cleared. no issues as you make your way from haymarket. i'll give you a live look as you drive past 123, you can see very light volume getting by issue-free. outside the beltway as well as inside the beltway, i-66, accident-free, volume still really light. i'm back in ten. back over to you. we're learning new information about who may be responsible for a deadly

terrorist strike in libya. also ahead, a virginia maryland schools are number one in america because we invest in them. but we can do even more. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million dollars at casinos in other states. question 7 keeps that maryland money in maryland

through expansion of gaming in maryland. it will mean hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools. as governor, i can promise you, that money will go to education. that's the law and that's what we'll do. vote for question seven. the middle class, who move our country forward. work hard. raise families. and keep america strong. but mitt romney's budget plan will hurt the middle class. raising taxes on the average family by up to $2000 dollars. while giving a tax break of $250,000 dollars to multi-millionaires.

doesn't mitt romney understand, we can't rebuild america...by tearing down the middle class. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. and balanced the budget every year. and tim kaine and i both cut our own pay as governors, to lead by example. mark warner and i reached across party lines to get things done. we were a great team in richmond and we'll be a great team in washington. i'm tim kaine and i approve this message

...because we'll work together to restore fiscal responsibility, grow our economy and create jobs. [ male announcer ] tim kaine. bringing people together to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. at the live desk, a landslide in northern peru has killed at least 11 people and swept away dozens of homes. the town's mayor says five children are among the desmd mud and rocks crashed into the village. right now at least ten people are still missing. rebels in syria say this amateur video shows a syrian military helicopter being shot down. today say they shot the chopper yesterd yesterday. syria's government isn't confirming the rebels' claim and nbc cannot authenticate the video. thousands of people have been killed since the uprising against syrian president bashar

al assad that began 19 most ago. it appears al qaeda may not have been last month's deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. "the new york times" is reporting that libyan authorities say a leader of a different militant islamist group is to blame here. they accuse ahmed kattalah of orchestrating that attack. he is a leader in a group called ansar-alshari'a. they say it disputes president obama's claims that killing osama bin laden has crippled the group. the al qaeda mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks is expected to be back in the courtroom today. khalid sheikh mohammed has been in court today. he showed up yesterday in a camouflage vest and accused the u.s. government of kill millions of people. the judge says this was the first time and last time mohamed

would be allowed to make personal comments. he and four other men are charged with terrorism and murder. they could receive the death penalty if convicted. new developments in the meningitis outbreak. three more people have died. that raises the death toll to 19. the latest deaths are reported in florida and tennessee. two people have died if virginia and one in maryland. this morning, at least 247 people in 15 states are sick. the outbreak is linked to a steroids shot for back pain. federal officials are investigating the massachusetts pharmacy that made the steroid. the food and drug administration says other drugs from the pharmacy may also be tainted. an 80-year-old virginia man who says he contracted fungal meningitis from a tainted steroid injection is now suing the massachusetts pharmacy at the center of this nationwide outbreak. he is suing the new england contracting center for $5 million. he received the injection last month to ease his chronic back pain and became "deathly ill."

he was hospitalized but has since left the hospital. george mcgovern's daughter says the former senator is nearing the end. his family says the 90-year-old is no longer responsive in hospice care. mcgovern represented south dakota in the senate from 1963 until 1981. he lost to richard nixon in a landslide in the 1972 presidential election. recently, he turned his attention to ending world hunger. results of a new study suggest a daily multi-vitamin may help cut cancer risk in older men. researchers at brigham and women's hospital in boston followed nearly 15,000 men over the age of 50 for a decade. each took a daily dose of sent rum silver. scientists saw cancer risks drop by 8%. a high school hockey coach whose name appeared on a list of men accused of paying fitness instructors for sex is stepping down after 14 years. his resignation is the first

known job loss associated with the scandal in kennebunk, maine. police say alexis wright ran that operation out of her zumba studio. she's accused of videotaping the encounters with more than 150 men. earlier this week, the first 21 names of alleged clients was released. the next batch of names expected to be made public next friday. this morning, investigators will return to the scene of a massive grain elevator fire in washington state. it broke out tuesday evening, destroying the silo and the contents inside. total damage for the fire is estimated at half a million dollars, including 120,000 for damaged grain. no one was hurt. the fire i not considered suspicious. today is your chance to make sure you know what to do in an earthquake. it's the first ever great southeast shakeout. thousands of people from maryland to georgia will take part in an earthquake drill at 10:18 this morning. rescuers say three things could save your life when an earthquake strikes. drop, cover, and hold on.

first, drop to the ground. then you take cover under a sturdy table or desk while protecting your head and neck. hold on until the shaking actually stops. also today, we find out how low the temperature might drop this winter and how much snow we might get as well. the national oceanic and atmospheric association announcing its winter predictions today. federal meteorologists will also talk about how this year's winter weather might affect the ongoing drought across much of the country. yankees and tigers fans hope their teams will finally get to play ball today. rain postponed game four in detroit last night. weather also played a factor in the national league championship series yesterday. cardinal fans had to sit through a three and a half-hour rain delay in the seventh inning. the cards eventually beat the giants 3-1. i can't even think about the cardinals or look at them without anying about the nats. and our gut wrenching loss. >> we're not even thinking about that. >> it's hard.

it's tough. not such a tough start to the morning weather-wise. tom kierein is here with a look at our forecast. >> starting off with a chill in the air this morning as we take a look at temperatures. yeah, not quite as cold as yesterday. it is feeling more like a typical october morning. we are in the mid to upper 40s throughout much of virginia and maryland and into west virginia. many of those locations there are still generally in the 40s. right now at reagan national, 55, a bit milder. here's the view from space. this is what's been happening over the last several hours. mostly clear here now. you see the clouds on the increase in the ohio valley, that swath of color, just some scattered showers. no severe weather associated with that. but as it does move on in, here's the four-day forecast. by late this afternoon, perhaps 6:00 p.m. to as late as 10:00 p.m., we might get some isolated thunderstorms. only a slight risk that any of those storms would produce any damaging winds. and before that, a mild afternoon into the low 70s.

and perhaps some lingering showers after midnight and into the morning commute on friday. friday afternoon, temperatures around 70 to 75. and during the weekend, great weather for outdoor activities. 40s in the mornings. afternoon highs, mid 60s both saturday and sunday with sunshine. then, back to work and school. monday, tuesday, wednesday, pleasant pattern and a bit milder during the afternoons, and cool mornings. i'll be back in ten minutes. here now with your first 4 traffic is danella. good morning. >> i'm here also with a couple of accidents to look out for. if you're traveling 15 north, route 15 north in haymarket, trying to get on to i-66, the ramp is shut down because of a crash in that area. over to i-270 in maryland, as you make your way northbound, another accident, this one is between germantown road and father hurley boulevard. i'm checking cameras at middlebrook, but just look out in case the accident is blocking

one of your lanes. connecting to the beltway, no issues. in fact, from the dulles toll road, your travel lanes are open and no accidents to report at this time. soon, telemarketers will face fines for calling 911. the federal communications commission approved the creation of a do not call list for all 911 call centers. violators could face a $100,000 fine for each call or text made to a call center on that list. according to the fcc, thousands of unwanted robo calls are made to 911 centers every day. a 13-year-old new jersey boy is in big trouble with the law for stealing and crashing a car. police say he got distracted after seeing his mother driving toward him from the opposite direction of the street. the boy crashed the car into a tree. he was taken to the hospital with a broken nose and hip injury. he is charged with reckless driving and operating without a license. >> that's pretty scary stuff.

>> when you see your mother coming the wrong way when you're doing something wrong, be scared. >> yeah, every single time. even if you're in a car. stop. former rapper flava flav is in trouble with the law again. he was arrested for threatening to attack his fiancee's son with a knife. this is his mug shot you see here. the threat apparently stemmed from an argument at a home near las vegas. police have said no one was actually attacked or injured in this incident. flava flav, whose real name is william jonathan drayton jr. is charged with assault with a deadly weapon. the wizards lost again last night, falling to the toronto raptors. the team is now 1-4 this preseason. the next game is saturday in milwaukee. the wizards open the regular season october 30th in cleveland. there's a guy in north dakota who recently managed to sell a gallon of barbecue sauce

that expired in december of 1992 and he sold it for $10,000. the former owner of several mcdonald's franchises recently put this jug up for sale. that's the sauce used on mcjordan burgers, which sold for a limited time in the '90s anded a been named after michael jordan. thinking the sauce may be valuable one day, he saved it and he plans to split the profits with his daughter. >> interesting. >> genius. >> you never know. do you remember the mcjordan burger? >> no, not at all. not even a little bit. >> maybe it wasn't in our area. >> if you're smart enough to hold on to it and somebody is dumb enough to believe that's what it came from, nice work. >> if you're a huge michael jordan fan -- there are many of you out there, you might want to save something like that. coming up, what we learned overnight about a terrorist plot targeting new york city. >> two hikers talk about the

days they were lost in the wilderness. tom kierein t

and now, from washington's leading news station, this is news4 today.

a woman is seriously hurt after being hit by a truck in college park. a young man from bangladesh behind bars accused of trying to blow up the federal reserve building in new york. people in d.c., maryland, and virginia will test their earthquake preparations as part of the first ever great southeast shakeout. we'll have much more on those stories throughout the morning. but first, good morning to you. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. a live look at the washington monument this morning. 55 degrees here in the district. another cool but not chilly start to the morning. tom kierein has your forecast. >> beautiful start to the day. don't have any weather problems, traveling off to work and school this morning, other than maybe a little bit of fog in some of the rural areas. right now looking at temperatures -- all those areas in light blue are in the 40s. don't have any 30s around what we did yesterday morning. little areas in green, that's where it's in the 50s. right around the beltway, it's generally in the low 50s. in the district of columbia, throe mid 50s as well as

southern maryland. it's dipped into the 40s, much of the rest of virginia and into western maryland and eastern west virginia. a few showers in the midwest down to the tennessee valley, getting closer to us. low 70s by mid afternoon. could get some thunderstorms, 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. i'm back in ten minutes. a look at your first 4 traffic now with danella. good morning. >> good morning. still checking on the situation in haymark. if you're traveling northbound 15, the ramp to 66 still shut down. the crash here involves two vehicles, reportedly no injury. hopefully that ramp is expected to be open in about 15 minutes. over to i-270 northbound. looking good traveling

northbound and southbound, accident-free. no major delays just yet. no issues to report. over to you. 5:32 now. federal prosecutors say one man's plot to blow up the federal reserve building in the middle of manhattan never put the public in danger. this morning, 21-year-old quazi nafis is in jail. yesterday he parked a van full of fake explosives outside the bank and tried to set it off with what he thought was a detonator. the fbi says it was monitoring him the entire time. agents started surveillance in july when nafis met an informant in new york central park. news rattled the people who worked nearby. >> i'm just glad that they caught him. if it failed this time, there was always a chance he could do it again. >> i work in the building next to the treasury. >> it's unsettling. >> it is unsettling. because otherwise, i wouldn't

have known, have heard anything. >> nafis came to the u.s. in january on a student visa from bangladesh. he first targeted the new york stocks exchange, but decided last month to go after the bank instead. virginia voters have one last chance to hear their u.s. senate candidates square off. george allen and tim kaine have their final debate. both men hope to replace democrat jim webb, who is not running for re-election. the former governor, george allen, is hoping virginia's current governor can give him a campaign boost, if you will. bob mcdonnell will join allen on the campaign trail next week. both will visit northern virginia on tuesday and hampton roads on thursday. this will be the first time mcdonnell has campaigned for allen since june. the governor has hosted fundraisers for the senate candidate since then. >> president obama and mitt romney are focusing on the battleground states in the final 18 days before the election. today the president heads to new hampshire and tomorrow he'll be

in northern virginia, holding a rally at george mason university. the president brought up romney's binder of women comments from tuesday's debate. romneyed a been referring to finding women to fill cabinet positions as governor in massachusetts. >> see, we don't have to order up some binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women to learn and teach and thrive. >> tomorrow's appearance at george mason will be the president's second in just two weeks. mitt romney also spending time in virginia after the debate. he spoke to a crowd of more than 8,000 in leesburg. romney also referred to key moments from tuesday night, criticizing the president's energy policy. he also focused on the issue of defense. >> unlike cutting the military, as this president would do by a trillion dollars, i will instead maintain our military strength because america's military must be second to none and so strong, no one would ever test us.

>> both romney and president obama will speak in new york tonight at the alfred e. smith dinner, a fundraising event for needy children. the two will meet up again monday night for their third and final debate. two virginia hikers are back at home with their families after a trip that left them lost in the wilderness for nearly a week. neil peckens and jason hizer got lost in glacier national park in montana. they were rescued after surviving six days in the elements. the men say they used a blanket and put out an sos using burned logs to rescuers could find them. the doctors say that their ordeal strengthened their friendship. >> we never got in any arguments. we never got irritated. we just kind of used our heads and thought through things. there are a lot of people out there that would take that situation a lot differently. so i think we learned that we were with the right guy. >> the guys say that they were more worried about their families back at home. they each lost about 15 pounds,

but other than that, they're fine. >> wow. talk about being prepared. >> maybe i should go hiking. 15 pounds. >> oh, stop it, aaron. >> i like his redskins t-shirt, too. still to come, how some quick thinking pepco workers helped save the life of a maryland toddler. plus, too much to handle. this impact this intense amusement park ride had on one grown man. >> a pleasant morning as you get >> a[ minto ] you know,s you get those ads saying mitt romney would ban all abortions and contraception seemed a bit extreme. so i looked into it. turns out, romney doesn't oppose contraception at all. in fact, he thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother's life. this issue's important to me, but i'm more concerned about the debt our children will be left with. i voted for president obama last time, but we just can't afford four more years. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

[ romney ] i'm mitt romney

"and what do you do?" "oh, i sell insurance like no one else." "oh, that's nice." "thank you." now, that's progressive. call or click today. [ screaming ] so we figured this out. if you look at this, just a wild ride on a roller coaster here. this is some youtube video. the guy in the video here actually appears to faint for a second during a slingshot style roller coaster ride with his girlfriend. then he wakes up, puts his hands in the air, and then screams along with his girlfriend, although we hear her mostly in this video. this video has gotten more than 330,000 views on youtube. there you go. he's fainted. wakes up. then he puts his hands up and he's going along for the ride. >> if you're fainting on a roller coaster, is that some sort of indication that you

should not be riding roller coasters anymore, right? >> probably. >> i mean, all that screaming. this is why you'll never find me in line for a roller coaster. >> me and you both. oh, that looks like fun! give me some bumper cars. let's check in with tom kierein now to get a check on the forecast. is it going to be cold like this all day? >> no, actually. feeling like typical october weather. right now around the region, we're generally in the 40s. later, reston hometown forecast will be in the upper 40s. by noontime, a pleasant lunch hour. here is the forecast for everybody else around the region. we'll have a rapid warm-up. between 6:00 p.m., perhaps as late as 10:00 p.m., we could get some thunderstorms sweeping through as a front comes through our region. there's only a slight risk that it would produce any wind

damage. i'm back in ten minutes with a look at friday, the weekend, and into next week as well. >> the situation in haymarket, cannot get on i-66 just yet. ramp still shut down because of the two-vehicle accident in that area. 270 northbound just past germantown road had a crash there. it's now gone. your travel lanes are open. traveling the outer loop of the beltway, at colesville road, a disabled vehicle in the shoulder lane. volume not too bad, but stick to the left and use caution. if you're jumping on the rails, not seeing any reported delays along the metro, the mark, or the vre. back over the you. it is coming up on 5:42. still ahead, paying the price for education. why getting your college degree is proving to be a bigger burden than ever before. >> plus, giving you a chance to >>[ female announcer ] as you're making your decision...

maybe you're wondering what to believe about mitt romney. well, when it comes to protecting your access to birth control... and the basic women's health care services planned parenthood provides... one thing we must remember, is this: i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] he'll cut it off. cut us off. planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that. [ female announcer ] women need to know the real mitt romney. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

imillion dollars for marylanded one hundred schools.ty...omney. question seven will double it. rushern baker: question seven will add table games and... a new casino, generating millions of dollars... every year, without raising taxes. leggett: and audits will ensure the money goes... where it's supposed to. more jobs, and millions for schools. baker: question seven will be good for our kids... our teachers, and our schools. leggett: keep maryland money in maryland. baker: please vote for question seven. leggett: vote for question seven.

at the live desk with break news. we have just learned a pakistani fighter jet has killed ten militants in the northwest part of the country. a senior military official tells nbc news the jets bombarded two hide-outs early this morning. a few days ago, militants attacked a police post and killed seven officers. this is the first time pakistani planes have bombed militant positions there. a mother in prince george's county is praising a pepco crew for saving her son when her house caught on fire. the workers were upgrading electricity at her home. ryan callahan noticed smoke and ran inside. the 19-year-old woke up the 3-year-old boy sleeping upstairs. the other pepco workers ran to alert the homeowner. she was walking her two other children town the property's long driveway to the school bus. firefighters said the quick-thinking of the pepco crew

likely prevented a tragedy. >> it was pretty bad. smoke was very thick. going into the kitchen area, you couldn't see anything. >> while we have fire and ems stations in this area, it is a long response time here, and then we're met by a driveway that's rather long and tedious to negotiate. >> firefighters are still trying to figure out exactly how the fire started, but the mother says she may have left the stove on while trying to get the kids off to school. today resource officers in baltimore county will be able to use hand held metal detectors in schools. the county's police chief authorized the use of those devices in high schools and middle schools. all officers have been trained. they are not allowed to conduct random searches, and must have reasonable and explainable suspicion to use those wands. a student at perry hall high school suffered serious injuries during a shooting on the first day of classes this year. lawyers for two prince george's police officers on trial for beating a university of maryland student will

continue to present their defense today. a judge tossed out the most serious charges against officers reginald baker and james harrison. the judge says there is no proof they meant to inflict serious injuries. baker testified he felt threatened when he saw a large male yelling and running at police forces with clenched firsts. >> the judge did dismiss the most serious charge. >> what do you make of it? >> no further comment. we're still in trial. >> the victim suffered a concussion. the officer still face second-degree assault and police misconduct charges. this morning a teen zfr recovering after he was shot in the arm for his nike tim duncan shoes. the shoes are valued at more than $200. police say robbers attacked two teens outside a convenience store in the 2000 block of alabama avenue in southeast washington. the robbers ran away with the shoes. police are now stepping up patrols in the area. d.c. police traying to identify the suspects in a

brazen daylight robbery. they say three masked men robbed the game stop store at jenkins row yesterday afternoon. the suspects had guns and took money and xboxs. they say the three got out of there in less than three minutes. no one was hurt. this morning a fredericksburg, virginia, man is facing charges for allegedly firing a bull sbeet into a neighbor's apartment. alexander ferguson shot a gun into greg gibson's master bedroom yesterday morning. gibson said he didn't even notice it until his 5-year-old son found the bullet hole in the wall. it was lodged into the side of the dresser. police ended up searching ferguson's apartment. >> there were clear totes that came out, you could definitely see all the ammunition sticking straight up in the air. >> police seized four firearms from ferguson's apartment. he was arrested and charged. it is not clear what ferguson was doing when the gun went off.

deputies are trying to learn more about a man hit and killed by an amtrak train. he was on the tracks near mine road. that accident stopped train service headed south during much of the evening rush. no word yet on why the man was on the tracks. today montgomery county planners will vote on traffic recommendations ahead of two major expansions coming to bethesda. the national institutes of health and walter reed hospital plan to add nearly 4,000 employees over the next 20 years. since the county cannot regulate the expansions, it plans to recommend suggestions to federal planners. the hope is to prevent traffic congestion in bethesda. suggestions include encouraging people to walk to work, bike share programs and using mass transit. a canadian based company has the green light to run two marc commuter train lines. a $205 million contract was approved. it will operate the camden and brunswick lines. the university of virginia is raising money to help pay for renovating the skl's rotunda.

it needs $51 million worth of renovations. items on the auction block include a dinner with the university president, men's basketball tickets, vintage wine and ten rare plates. >> i'm sure they'll raise the money. the entire campus is gorgeous, but particularly the rotunda. >> that's a lot of money to raise, though. time for weather and traffic. here's tom. >> watch out for the deer. it's the time of year they get feisty and they're speed dating. >> whatever it takes. >> you've got to be careful. i came across a couple this morning. they're just staring at me, like what are you looking at, buddy? watch out for them. we've got a little patchy fog in some of the rural areas. it's near 50 degrees around much of the metro area. over parts of virginia, have dipped down in the 40s, including prince william county, parts of stafford, spotsylvania

a . farther west, a little bit chillier. in the mid 40s, much of the shenandoah valley. now as we look at what's been happening over the last 12 hours, satellite picture not showing hardly any cloudiness around here, but there are some clouds building in the midwest. this is along a front that's been triggering some showers from michigan all the way down into the gulf coast. this is gradually moving to the east, heading closer to washington by this evening. a chance of damaging wind in this yellow zone includes all of us. 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. now looks like the risk time, perhaps, of some damaging winds. it's a slight risk otherwise. might have some showers coming through. a little thunder and lightning perhaps this evening. 6:00 a.m., chilly, calm. just in the 40s and low to mid 50s. a rapid warm-up will be into the mid and upper 60s. a great lunch hour coming up. we'll have increasing clouds into the afternoon. by 6:00 p.m., that's when we

could have some of the first storms moving toward the metro area from the west and southwest and we'll fall from near 70 mid afternoon back down to the mid 60s by this evening. here is your evening planner. sunset at 6:25. we could have some passing thunderstorms all the way until maybe 10:00. there is a slight risk that they might produce some damaging winds by midnight, just some lingering showers that might linger into the morning commute tomorrow. storm team 4, four-day forecast, some sun back friday afternoon into the mid 70s, and then saturday and sunday, great for all outdoor activities. high school college games on saturday, 40 this is the morning. sunday, chilly morning, near 40. should be warming up as we get back to work and school into next week, each afternoon into the 70s. danella, how is traffic? >> checking the roadways, and if you're traveling d.c. 295, very light volume as you make your way northbound and southbound, your travel lanes are open.

let's head over to 395. if you make the trip here, travel lanes are open, accident-free. no issues as you pass the pentagon. heading towards the 14th street bridge, giving you a live look right now, nice and clear. back in ten minutes, we'll check the rails, as well as the accident in haymarket. we'll see if that's all cleaned up. take a look inside the new operation center for the 495 express toll lanes in northern virginia. transportation officials say they will be able to monitor the roads and change tolls from there. the express lanes will be required to keep a speed of 55 miles per hour. if there's too much congestion, the tolls will increase. you'll need an e-z pass to use those lanes as well. cars with three or more people ride free by using one of these newer tra newer tran respond -- transponders. three council members recently submitted a bill to cap low

level violations at $50. right now you could wind up paying as much as $250 for traveling 11 miles over the speed limit. we have a balanced budget at this stage and we'll have to retain a balanced budget. so when it comes to that, like any other measure, somebody will have to demonstrate how the budget will continue to be balanced. i support what will maximize, optimize traffic safety in the district of columbia. >> even if the bill passes, it could be 2014 before a new fine structure goes into effect. google is getting ready to roll out its latest gadgets, just this time for the busy holiday shopping season. >> reporter: apple isn't the only company to take the wraps off a new device. the mini ipad is expected to be unveiled next week. but google has scheduled an android event in new york city. the press says the playground is open. reports say google will show off

its new nexus phone, which is rumored to be made by lg. the company has also reportedly been prepping a number of phones and tablets, which may be manufactured in conjunction with sony and samsung. and macy's has a new target in sight. the department store chain is launching 13 new brands and expag hoping of attracting more shoppers in the 13 to 30 age group. this includes an exclusive marilyn monroe collection and a men's t-shirt line from fatal clothing, which specializes in tattoo influenced designs. the new lines will be rolled out this fall and next spring. guys, millennials are a highly sought after demo. they're the first generation to grow up with cell phones and the internet and they're accustomed to getting quick access to anything they want. female millennials spend a third more on clothes t s than other

groups. >> there's the target audience. thank you. more american families are spending money on high definition tvs. more than three quarters of american homes now have an hgtv. in 2007, only 11% of americans had an hgtv in their home. the average student loan debt for recent college graduates is up apparently. a new report found the class of 2011 finished school with an average debt of 26,600. that's up 5% from the class before. the unemployment rate for recent grads is 8.8% now, still lower than those without a college degree. the unemployment rate for those with only a high school diploma is 19.1%. >> that's a lot. >> it's a lot of money. it is. it is still fall out there, but some people may want to think about christmas. >> next week, you'll have a chance to win free tickets to the national christmas tree

lighting tickets. the musical performances at thissier's ceremony will be announced next month. you want a ticket, you can enter online next thursday, october 25th at t thenationaltree.org. the lottery will run through monday. it will be held on december 6th at the ellipse. always beautiful to go down there, even if you can't get down for ceremony itself. >> yes. so next thursday. >> next thursday. ahead, the world leader who had an moment, of course, caught on camera. and parents, you may not want to let your children hear ♪

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and earn 75% more than cards earning 1% cash back on almost everything. and now, from washington's leading news station this is news4 today. >> a dangerous night on the roads. this morning, new information about three different incidents involving pedestrians. >> and new information this