this will have major impacts for the east coast over the next couple of days. it could have a major impact on our weather as we move on through the weekend. there it is. here's sandy right now making its way through the eastern portion of jamaica. winds still at 80 miles an hour right now. i'll show you the latest advisory just coming out. winds at 80 miles an hour, moving to the north at 14 miles an hour. the pressure 970 millibars. low pressure for a category 1 hurrica hurricane. close to florida, and up the east coast. this track is continuing to move farther to the west, meaning closer to our area. after this, i do expect it to actually move back towards the coast. we're going to talk much more about this, the impact this storm is going to bring, and just how long this is going to stick around. i think this could be a very long duration event for our area, all the way up through new england. >> all right. developing at this hour, the virginia man who's accused of

shooting a security guard at the family research council in august. he is now the first person ever to be charged with committing an act of terrorism in d.c. 28-year-old floyd lee corkins has been indicted under the district's anti-terrorism act passed in 2002. authorities say he shot an unarmed guard at the family research council's office on g street in northwest. corkins has been in custody ever since. his next court appearance is set for friday. firefighters in fairfax county are on the scene putting out hot spots after a huge blaze this afternoon at a home m the 8400 block of sullenberger court in lorton. that caught fire just after 3:00 this afternoon. the roof badly damaged. the residents of the house not home at the time. a woman tonight said she was cornered by two pit bulls. it is the second pit bull attack in the same northeast washington neighborhood in the last month. news4's pat collins is live in that neighborhood and explains how a barbershop owner came to

the rescue. pat? >> reporter: jim, concern tonight about two aggressive stray pit bulls. one attack four blocks that way, another attack two blocks this way. this is d barbershop. it's owned by monty. got all the barbershop stuff, the chair and all that. it's got the bible. and he also has d bat, just in case. and yesterday, demonte stepped up to the plate. it happened yesterday afternoon along 15th street. a woman is out walking her two dogs, when out of nowhere appears not one, but two pit bulls, untagged, unleashed, unlicensed. they surround her and her dogs. she gets scared. she goes into the barbershop. demonte bailey to the rescue. >> the dogs were starting to get very aggressive. i told her to bring her dogs

inside the brauarbershop. >> reporter: did you scare the dogs off? >> with the bat. >> reporter: they started to back up in the alley? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: this man wasn't so lucky. >> he has bite marks from his upper jaw and lower jaw rammed and black and blue bruises about a five-inch area. >> reporter: that's john fenner, he was bitten by two stray pit bulls. same description, same neighborhood. it happened on 11th street northeast, october 12th as he and his wife were walking home. >> they seemed friendly, walked around our legs a couple times. and then one just abruptly turned and bit me. right in the groin area. luckily a few inches away from vital parts. >> reporter: advice from the washington humane society.

if you're attacked by a dog, relax your shoulders, turn your body and face away from the animal. do not make eye contact. they say if you do all this, you'll be seen as nonthreatening, and defuse the dog's aggression. pat collins, news4. a dangerous sign of just how contentious this presidential election is right now. someone torched a political banner that was displayed in someone's front yard. jackie bensen is live with reaction from the homeowner. jackie? >> reporter: wendy, yards here on south king street are a popular spot for campaign signs. the owners say they've had signs stolen before, but they've never haone set on fire. the sign was engulfed in flames when leby stevens saw it and grabbed this picture. now all that's left of the 4 by 8 plastic coated romney banner

is two metal supports. >> the dogs were barking, i came downstairs and looked out the front window and there was a gentleman standing on the front porch, i looked past him to see the sign. and a fireball in my front yard. >> reporter: stevens said when she came outside about 2:00 a.m. monday, her first thought was that the fire had been set deliberately. >> it's one thing to spray paint a sign or slash it and steal it. it's another to set it on fire. that's wrong. >> reporter: leesburg police officers responded and took a report. >> due to the nature of the call, we did turn the case over to the fire marshal's office. >> reporter: although the leesburg incident is the most serious, nearly every jurisdiction in maryland, virginia, and the district has reported vandalism to political signs this year. >> i didn't hear anything. >> reporter: the stevens' neighbor, virginia state senator mark harrington, a democrat, came by to offer support. he said he, too, is looking forward to an especially

rancorous election year. >> i hope we can work to coming together as a nation, and mend fences and heal some wounds and work harder toward coming together. >> reporter: back live now in leesburg. you can see there's a new sign in place. we're going to tell you the interesting story of how it came to be here coming up on news4 at 6:00. jackie bensen, news4. to the mad dash across the country, the candidates are trying not to waste a single moment of what they have left. romney in the states most critical to his bed. bid. his stops include ohio. >> there's not much time left. >> clint eastwood aiming to give romney a boost. eastwood said the president's second term would be a re-run of

the first and the country can't afford that. the commercial is running in seven states, including virginia. eastwood's improvised monologue with an empty chair, you'll recall back at the republican national convention, made some news. this ad is scripted. this is the busiest day of president obama's re-election bid. heill be taking advantage of the different time zones to campaign virtually around the clock. he left the white house about 8:00 this morning. he'll be covering 5300 miles with stops in iowa, colorado, nevada and california. he'll spend the night in florida. the president's visit to california will include a stop at nbc studios in burbank for a taping of the "tonight show" with jay leno. the program airs tonight right after news4 at 11:00. new ballot problems just a day after the news4 iteam exposed missing pages in absentee ballots in maryland. now we're getting word tonight many voters received multiple copies of their absentee ballots leaving some people to wonder about voter fraud.

tisha thompson is here to tell you what to look out for. >> if you see something strange when you try to vote, right away, we started hearing from viewers who told us they've received multiple absentee ballots in the mail. the same day this man sent in his absentee ballot, he got another one in the mail. >> i don't think i should have two ballots. because it sounds like the old admonishment, i shouldn't vote more than once. i didn't really know what to do. >> reporter: we immediately got on the phone with the marand board of elections who says it discovered some of the bar codes used by the post office to route ballots to the right address might be wrong. worried ballots wouldot arrive in time or not get there at all, they decided to send out

duplicate ballots to be safe. maryland said each ballot comes with a separate page you have to sign. on that page is another bar code. it lets the state know who the ballot was issued to. election officials say that prevents voter fraud and will make sure people cannot vote twice. we're going to tell you what you should do if you receive more than one ballotnd what the state plans to do if people did vote twice tonight on news4 at 6:00. meanwhile, the news4 iteam is on voter patrol. if you see something that bothers you during this election season, e-mail us at tips@news4iteam.com, or call us at 202-885-4444. tisha thompson, news4 iteam. a once rundown public housing project near nats park in d.c. is now a unique mix of affordable housing and homes worth up to $1 million. tom sherwood takes us there.

>> reporter: 37-year-old chanel was holding her ribbon cutting scissors tight. and the former ambulance driver couldn't stop smiling. ten years ago she was moved out of this public housing at 3rd and l street near capitol hill. and was promised ten years ago new housing when it was built. >> i thought i was never coming back. we moved to richmond. but there were no jobs there. so we moved back. into my mother's basement. i know she is about the happiest woman right now. we have our own spot. >> reporter: a spot ten years later now called capitol quarter, a mix of 323 town homes andapartments, 50% market rate and selling for $600,000 to $1 million. the public housing segment is up to three bedrooms, are sprinkled among the houses. chanel lives in one with her two children and husband tyrone. >> you can't tell whose income

is what. they're not walking around with their wallets exposed. >> it does say to people that this isn't just about tearing down downings, this is about building lives. >> reporter: capitol quarter is part of the massive makeover of the southeast, including the soon to open ice skating rink. >> y'all are going to see me in my ice skates, twirling around. >> reporter: the new 23-acre development also includes new homes for several hundred senior citizens. wendy, get your ice skates. >> sounds good. that's a beautiful area there now. sweetener used in diet sodas now linked to several cans erlgs. the health alert straight ahead. a bus driver's shortage is affecting when students show up for school. a preacher says same-sex marriage is worthy of death. this is chris gordon.

my exclusive interview with pastor robert anderson, ahead on news4.

ike leggett: gaming generated one hundred and eighty... million dollars for maryland schools. 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.

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.

new study out tonight finds a big link between artificial sweetener as per tame and cancer. it's big news sis as per tame is found in thousands of products. >> the study is flawed say experts. erica edwards explains a hospital now behind this study is backing down. >> reporter: its safety well documented, a new study linking as par tame to cancer created a buzz. the lead study author from big ham and women's hospital in boston explained her findings in an interview with nbc's robert bizel. >> we found lymphomas. >> reporter: the study fell flat without outside experts. >> the study itself is not done well. the findings are not reliable. >> reporter: aspartame is find in diet sodas and thousands of other products. the genesis for this new study was an earlier one in rats fed

aspartame. it linked it to leukemia. the current study combined data from two large observational studies of humans. a release to the media called out aspartame, the association was found also with regular soda. >> does this include aspartame is dangerous? >> no, it doesn't. >> reporter: they released a statement calling it weak after a further review. >> we are in the position of promoting public health. so when we put out bad science, we're actually harming the publ public's understanding of what they need to know. >> reporter: aspartame has been in diet soda since the '80s and approved in 1996. the food and drug administration said its approval was based on more than 100 studies. a statement from the fda reads, although this study raises issues that need to be further investigated, fda finds no

reason to alter its previous conclusion about the safety of aspartame. erica edwards, nbc news. doug joins us now. he has our attention. four or five days out from sandy. >> one thing we want to make sure everybody knows right now, we're still four or five days out. there's still a lot of uncertainty here. the models are coming into better agreement, we've been talking about this storm for the last three or four days, that this will have an impact on the east coast and maybe a major impact even here in the d.c. metro area and portions of our region. but what's happening outside today, we've seen a fantastic, glorious afternoon, almost summer-like. as a matter of fact, we have tied a record today. the record high, 84 degrees. that's where we were just an hour or two ago. right now we're sitting at 82 degrees under partly cloudy skies. winds out of the north about 6 miles an hour. as far as the temperatures around the reason, very warm. it is going to continue to be a very nice, very pleasant, a very warm evening. 81 in culpepper, 82 in

fredericksburg, 69 and east wind coming off the chesapeake there. a big difference here, 13-degree difference between washington and annapolis. we're not going to see any rain for the next couple of days. at least not until the day on sunday. that's when we'll start to see the first little inklings that we'll see with sandy. you can see the eye moving right over jamaica right now, the eastern portion of jamaica. they're getting hammered with very high winds and heavy rain. the storm making its way back into the open waters. the latest advisory as of 5:00 had winds of 80 miles an hour, moving to the north at 14 miles an hour. pressure of 970 millibars, that's a very low pressure for a category 1 storm. make it across cuba as a hurricane, but as it makes its way back into the atlantic, should become a tropical storm again. and very close to miami, it will stay offshore of miami, but they're still going to see

tropical storm force winds. watches and warnings now, including the miami, ft. lauderdale, to the west palm beach areas. makes a turn farther to the left and looks like back out to sea. that's still what the national hurricane center is saying. but this track has become farther to the west. notice where the track lies now. the area back here to the west does now touch the coastline, and after this, after monday, and during the day monday, this is expected to come back towards the coastline. i want to show you what our impacts will be here as it makes its way up the coast. this will be on sunday afternoon. saturday should not be too many problems. sunday we'll start to see a low impact from wind and rain. i think we'll be seeing some rain as early as sunday morning, which will affect the marine corps marathon. the wind big-time impact down toward the south and east. as the hurricane then makes its way back towards the cot. very heavy rain and wind. even along the i-95 corridor on

monday. monday right now looking like the worst day. once again, this will bring strong winds, coastal flooding, definite here. also heavy rain and strong winds. we're going to be watching this very closely. could have numerous power outages all across the east coast. this could be a very strong storm. still a lot of uncertainty here. you want to stay right here with storm team 4. here's what we're looking at. fine tomorrow. no problem on friday. saturday looking good. the rain moves in on sunday. so does the cooler weather. and the wind sunday, monday, tuesday, all having to watch out for what's left of sandy. again, we're going to be watching it very closely. we want to make sure, download our app on your iphone, droid, it will give you any of the latest warnings and updates. >> thank you, doug. still ahead at 5:00, the police who led police on a wild chase through our town heads to court. deer keep causing big problems for drivers in our region.

a look at a new report just released today. in sports, looks like your average high school football play. but it was something special for this wide receiver. he was trying to break the mold. dan will be here with his story. tonight at 6:00, new claims of an arrest linked to the murder of an american ambass

this is a story that is not what you would think. >> it is a little bit of a surprise. there have been a lot of female kickers that have played high school football lately. but this is not a female kicker. t.c. williams, no stranger to making headlines. they are still doing it. if a movie was created based on this story, it wouldn't be called remember the titans, instead it might be princess in the pigskin. zachary has more. >> reporter: denzel washington made tc williams high school a household name. >> if we don't come together,

right now, on this hallowed ground, we, too, will be destroyed. >> reporter: the movie told the story of how the football team helped bring both the school and the community through a racist period. more than 40 years later, tc williams high school is still changing the game. >> 2012, we've got girls out here, blacks out here, whites out here, hispanic kids out here, we have the whole gamut. >> reporter: she was like any other student. but she isn't your average junior in high school. a heartthrob is channing tatum, she loves shopping and getting her nails done with her girls, and she's a wide receiver on the football field. >> i love to shop. i go get my nails done and come out to practice and tell the coach, hey, look at my nails. i wear skirts and dresses to school. but i also used to hang out with my teammates after school.

and i also hang out with girls. so it's just kind of a balance for me. >> you wouldn't know she's a football player. she wears skirts, and everything else. on the field, she's totally different. she's a football player. she's locked in. >> reporter: tiffany is one of three girls on the team. but in year four she's the best. it hasn't been easy, but her hard work and perseverance has earned tiffany the love and respect of her teammates. >> all this season we've been speaking about family. that's how we feel, whether you're a girl or a guy. we're family. >> reporter: after hours and hours of off-season workouts and earning her keep in the weight room, tiffany finally earned the playing time she was hoping to get. >> i was very happy when the coach said, tiffany, you're joining in the game. he's like, we're going to throw you a screen pass. i was like, oh, seriously, coach? i was like finally there.

>> reporter: she made football history. when she's not on the field, she's on the estling and rugby team. >> i get girls all the time saying, i'll play next year. i say come on out. you do want to feel like -- people to feel like they can become a part of our program. the reality is, most of them can't. >> it's definitely like something that i'm happy i'm a part of. like it's helping, like, coming out here every day, and inspiring people, it's just like a good feeling. getting to play football is even better. >> reporter: zachary keach, news4. >> tiffany does the rest of the things the guys are doing from workouts and lifting weights. she's a very much part of this tc williams team. since the guys spend part of their time during practice talking about girls, tiffany's girlfriends are trying to get the inside scoop from her. >> who's popular on campus. >> both sides.

>> very cool. also good for her health and well-being to get that kind of exercise. >> yeah. >> great story. coming up next at 5:30, cracking down on teens drinking and driving this halloween weekend. the busiest roads in d.c. that are bringing in big bucks dishing out speed camera ticket

as governor, i cut five billion dollars in spending 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.

breaking news now. derrick ward live in montgomery county after a serious accident involving a bicyclist and a school bus. derrick, what have you learned? >> reporter: again, this happened about 2:30 this afternoon. you can see accident reconstruction teams are still here. they begun the meticulous work of trying to determine exactly what happened. we want to show you some scenes earlier this afternoon. it was about 2:30 when this bus was traveling on darnstown road. it got to the intersection of berryville road when it struck a cyclist. that cyclist was knocked a bit down the road.

the bike came to rest near a utility pole. he was taken to the hospital in serious condition. we don't know much more about his condition at this time. there were students on the bus. they were from poolsville high school. students were not injured. they sent another bus to take them off. we talked to a gentleman who lives at the scene here, and he talked about the dangerous situation that's existed for quite a while at this intersection. >> it's been terrible. like i told the guy, several years ago, i was in the driveway and a guy came up on the inside the electric pole and hit me and knocked me down out there by the mailbox. >> reporter: this sa long winding road, a good road surface, but very unforgiving. not much shoulder, if any at all. we don't know if that contributed to the accident here yet, as we say, the scene remains under investigation. we are live in montgomery county, derrick ward, news4. in the upcoming election, marylanders will decide whether to legalize same-sex marriage in

the state. a pastor in baltimore county is taking heat for saying same-sex marriage is worthy of death. chris gordon reports from randallstown, maryland. >> reporter: he made a statement, at a meeting of the group of same-sex marriage. he quoted romans 1 in the bible. >> listen to the last verse. knowing the righteous judgment of god that those who practice such things are deserving of death. not only do the same, watch this, but those who also approve of those who practice these things. if we don't vote against it, $p)e worthy of death. >> reporter: marylanders for marriage equality which urges a yes vote on question 6 to legalize same-sex marriage feels opponents have gone too far.

>> well, we really think it was very inappropriate for the maryland marriage alliance to hold a panel where they used the words worthy of death. >> reporter: i asked pastor anderson if he would talk to us on camera, without hesitation he invited us up here to church in randallstown, maryland. >> that's not my words. that's from romans, chapter 1, that was written by the apostle paul himself. >> reporter: you made the conclusion anybody voting for this, question 6 may be worthy of death. >> well, worthy of death in that they are promoting the lifestyle and they are promoting what same-sex marriage is all about. and that is what we're standing against. >> reporter: pastor anderson hosted this meeting of clergy who all oppose question 6, and are preaching against it between now and election day. in randallstown, maryland, chris gordon, news4. >> the maryland marriage alliance, no on question 6 campaign, just released a statement saying any attempt to

imply his reading of scripture to harm gays and lesbians is false. a quote from that campaign. prosecutors charge add 27-year-old woman accused of trying to drive into a security officer at the walter reed national military medical center in bethesda yesterday, a judge ordered angela held without bond until a psychiatric evaluation can take place. police tell us she grew up at least 90 miles an hour on interstate 66 until she crashed her car near a construction zone. security officers say she was chewing on a bar of soap while driving. a bond hearing is scheduled for next wednesday. halloween is just a week away now. a safety group in fairfax county wants to make sure teens have some fun, without using alcohol to celebrate. the unified prevention coalition shared tips today for parents to make sure their children don't

drink this halloween. >> talk to your children, have a plan, set expectations for them, and hold them to that. set a curfew. don't just leave it open-ended. make sure they come home at a certain time. secure any alcohol in your home. >> the group emphasizes that it's illegal for parents to host parties in their homes with underage drinking. they say even if adults are supervising, it's still a very bad idea. straight ahead tonight, how a bus driver shortage is causing real problems for students and parents in prince george's county. how cops track down a 17-year-old in the murder of a 10-year-old girl. president obama: there's just no quit in america... and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the...

last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

our "wednesday's child" today has had to move around more than most people do in a lifetime. she's been moved around since she was 5 years old. >> now she's 17 and she needs the love and commitment of a family more than ever. barbara harrison takes us to meet ramada.

♪ >> reporter: 17-year-old ramada just wants the love of a family, a mom, a dad, something that's eluded her for most of her life. >> ramada was actually born in nigeria. her mother broth her to the usa when she was 5 years old, and returned back to nigeria and left her with family members, and just never really had a stable placement. >> reporter: she loves to sing. and was excited to have a special lesson here at the international school of music, with voice teacher megan mccall and guitarist casey smith. what do you think you'd like to do with your singing? >> i don't know. >> reporter: she's really hoping to become a doctor some day. >> i took biology last year. >> how did you do in those courses? >> i did good. my favorite subject.

>> reporter: right now she says she feels she needs a family. >> i would like to be adopted, just to be with a new family, just to be loved, just to have somebody to go back to. >> reporter: ten months ago she gave birth to a baby girl, someone to love her, she says. she's determined to be a devoted mom. barbara harrison, news4, for "wednesday's child." >> if you have room in your home or your heart for ramada, call our adoption headline, or go to our website nbcwashington.com. a sweet voice there. >> yes, she does. what are the odds you'll drive right into a deer? they're a lot higher than you might think. why tom cruise is so furious that he has filed a $50 million lawsuit.

i'll show you what's happening outside right now. a beautiful shot. take a look at that. some beautiful color outside. but this beautiful picture, not going to last. take a look at what's heading our way. this is hurricane sandy. how is it going to impact us and what are the probabilities when i come back. [ minto ] you know, 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. we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs.

we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin, and it just made me sick. [ male announcer ] priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising.

if you've been caught on that speed camera on i-295 in the districts, you are not alone. three of the city's five busiest speed cameras are located on that stretch of road. together they issued more than 200,000 tickets during this fiscal year. raking in more than $20 million for the district of columbia. well, we see them everywhere, vehicle collisions are now on the rise with deer. today state farm released its annual report listing which parts of the country are worse for deer collisions. news4's adam tuss is here with a look at how our region ranks. >> jim, it seems like it doesn't matter which road you're on nowadays, the deer are everywhere around here. and the danger of hitting one, or one hitting you is very real. after visiting a body shop here in the area today, we found out just how serious the issue can become.

>> three in the last week. we've had deer hits. so fall is the time when you're going to see a lot of cars coming into a body shop, because they've had an interaction with a deer. >> reporter: car after car after car, each with thousands of dollars worth of damage because of deer accidents. and stories can get pretty wild. this car rolling along, when all of a sudden a deer slammed through the rear driver's side window into the car went the deer, the fur and shattered glass left behind. mark is head of spectrum collision center in arlington. he said an accident with these animals doesn't come cheap. >> it won't be less than $1,000 unless you just graze the deer. if you impact the deer with the front of your vehicle, you're looking at thousands of dollars in damage. >> reporter: that's money you want to keep in your pocket. how likely is it you will be involved in a deer accident. a new study by state farm looking at states with the highest collisions, puts virginia at number ten, a 1 in 103 chance of being involved in

an accident. maryland ranks 14th, d.c. 46. the top state on the list, west virginia. spotting a deer along the roads here in d.c. certainly not uncommon. the george washington parkway see lots of deer. state farm says if you do see a deer, swerving out of the way to avoid hitting it could just lead to bigger problems. swerving out of the way of a deer is exactly what caused a major accident on i-95 in stafford county late last night. a car swerving and hitting a tractor-trailer. drivers around here say they're all too familiar with the deer danger. >> i think it's nerve-racking. i actually have a friend that lives out in darnestown, and i can either go macarthur boulevard, wiggly squiggly road, or the beltway. right now i go the beltway. >> we're always looking out for them. >> other drivers tell us they see so many deer around here they consider them pets. and if you see the deer around here, good advice, steer clear

of them when you do see them. reporting live, adam tuss, news4. >> adam, thanks so much. it's just a split second. >> and bam, they're right in front of you. even though there is trouble brewing in the caribbean, we wouldn't know it here because it is delicious here today, doug. >> oh, really, you say it doesn't get any better, and then you get a day like this with record high temperatures. 84 degrees is the record. look at the beautiful color. current temperature 82 degrees out at the airport. winds out of the north at about 6 miles per hour. it is going to be a gorgeous evening. maybe take a dinner outside for once, because you're not going to get that chance too much more. 75 in gaithersburg, 78 in dulles, and fort belvoir. manassas at 69, the wind coming right off of the bay. we've been talking about sandy for the past couple of days now, and it looks like this is going to have a bigger impact on us as we make our way into the weekend. here it is.

sandy's impact on saturday. this storm will still be well to our south. but starting to see the impact down to the carolinas, where they could be dealing with very strong winds and a lot of rain there. on sunday, the storm makes its way to the north. it's going to interact with a trough, with a frontal boundary, a cold front that will move on down from the north. that's going to help to grab sandy off of the coast, even though it's out to sea, and then try to move it back in. if it's able to move the system back in, and retrograde this hurricane, it could become a major coastal storm for us. that means big-time winds, big-time rains. as far as how much wind and rain, too early to tell right now. but it does look like this could have a major impact on our area on sunday night, and into the day on monday. and maybe tuesday. what do you think the chances are here of an impact. about 80% chance of a high impact storm with wind and rain. about 20% chance of a low impact storm, staying farther out to

sea. you can see what our thinking is now, that this is going to be a little bit of a bigger storm. we'll continue to watch it here at nbc 4. saturday and sunday cooler. watching sandy as temperatures cool down. the rain comes down and so does the wind. >> thank you, doug. let's check out which stories are trending online today. >> eva longoria may want to give up dating professional athletes. her latest relationship with mark sanchez is officially over. the actress dumped the quarterback before last week's football game. he lost on the field, too, by the way. the two dated for a few months. longoria is divorced from tony parker. >> after tom cruise filed a $50 million lawsuit against two magazines, lawyers for the actor say life and style and in touch magazines defamed cruise when they reported that he abandoned his 6-year-old daughter suri. according to the suit the magazine's headlines are wrong. cruise said he loves his daughter and would never abandon her. one school in prince

george's county is changing its start schedule because there aren't enough bus drivers. some students have been stranded at the bus stops. tony has more on the impact. >> when they first started school, they left her son far from here. >> reporter: luckily for linda's neighbor, she put his information on an identification card attached to his jacket, which proved to be the only reason he made it to school that day safely. >> thank god she take the baby and bring it to her house. what happened if somebody is taken and never bring him home. >> reporter: a problem prince george's county schools is trying to fix, a shortage of bus drivers causing the county to eliminate certain stops and bus routes. >> what we've had to do is have one driver do multiple runs to a school, so that they can double, as they call it in the district, doubling bus routes. >> reporter: with the consolidated bus routes comes a

tri trickle-down effect. >> we saw thousands of students arriving late every day. we have other strategies that we're going to be implementing here in the very near future. >> reporter: but for now, there have been some changes, specifically at glen arden elementary school. she's shortened lunch and recess to offset the students who arrive late on the county buses. >> as we are recruiting those drivers going through the interview process, we have 16 on the road already. and we will have 100 new drivers on the road by december 21st. >> reporter: the director of transportation says that glen arden elementary school was the only school to amend its school day due to the kids getting to school late. but he said they're working on a plan they could change some schedules at other schools in the future. news4. one mother is leading a crusade to get a later start time at montgomery county high school. 5,000 people have signed the online petition so far. she wants class to start at 8:15 or even later so students can get some sleep.

county high schools now have an in-time of 7:25. she said a later time would mean students are more alert in class. she says she plans to formally present this petition to the school board next month. >> snoozing at the class desk. how police track down a suspect in the murder of a young girl out in colorado. and we have this iteam investigation coming up in minutes tonight at 6:00. you open your mailbox and pull out not one, two, three, four absentee ballots. why you may be seeing double. anncr: seven-hundred-thousand jobs. that's what the plan george allen supports... would cost our economy. newspapers called it "economically destructive." like allen's votes to give tax breaks to companies...

that ship jobs overseas, his economic plan would... help big corporations, devastating the middle class. allen even voted against tax breaks for small businesses. virginia can't afford to go back to george allen. the democratic senatorial campaign committee... is responsible for the content of this advertising. and this is maryland. teacher: this is west virginia, pennsylvania, delaware. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million gaming at casinos in these other states. question seven will build a new casino and bring table games to baltimore... generating hundreds of millions for schools. and that money has to go to education. it's the law. so vote for question seven. so we can stop spending all that money here, and keep maryland money in classrooms like mine.

today police in colorado arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a 10-year-old girl. >> jessica ridgeway vanished on her way to school earlier this month. police found her dismembered body in a nearby field. nbc's chris clackum reports.

>> today i believe that we have taken a significant step towards justice for jessica. >> reporter: words of family and community have been waiting to hear. after more than two weeks of searching, an arrest has been made in the murder case of 10-year-old jessica ridgeway. police arrested a 17-year-old male early wednesday morning on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping. nbc news is not identifying the suspect because he's a juvenile. jessica ridgeway disappeared while walking to school the morning of october 5th. hundreds of law enforcement and local volunteers searched around the clock for more than a week to find the missing 10-year-old. her remains were later discovered in a wooded area just a few miles from her home. >> we notified the ridgeway family this morning of this arrest. we hope and pray that this arrest gives them some measure of closure in dealing with this horrible tragedy and loss that they have suffered. >> reporter: since jessica's

abduction, there's been an outpouring of support from the denver suburb of westminster that she called home. first with a candlelight vigil in hopes of finding her alive, then a memorial while they mourn her death. >> we hope also that knowing that an arrest has been made in this case, can cause our community to rest a little easier and maybe feel a little safer. >> reporter: a community now safer, but the pain of the crime will continue. chris clackum, nbc news. now at 6:00, we are tracking hurricane sandy. video that's just come in shows the impact on jamaica right now. the storm is headed to the east coast. there's an arrest linked to the attack that killed an american ambassador. but the u.s. is not ready to weigh in yet. a campaign blitz through swing states is under way tonight. it could make a difference in a very tight presidential race. good evening.

i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler, the news4 iteam on voter patrol with a new ballot problem that you should be on the lookout for. thousands of duplicate absentee ballots sent to voters. many of you contacted our iteam. tisha thompson is here with the details. >> we asked you to tell us when ul see voting problems right away, we had multiple viewers from montgomery and prince george's counties tell us they've received more than one absentee ballot in the mail, leading to lots of worries and lots of questions. del called the iteam when the same day he sent off his completed maryland absentee ballot he got another one in the mail. >> i don't think people should have more than one ballot. >> reporter: he said they looked nearly identical. they all had their pages, except the second ballot arrived with this pink of paper. >> this absentee ballot is being reissued to you due to a postal coding error in the first