welcome to "news4 this week." >> hi, everyone. i'm veronica johnson. we're going to show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this week. among them, no hands, no problem. new technology can parallel park a car by itself. we'll see how well it works and how affordable it is. and it's a little provocative, a little artistic and all about fitness. what women are saying about this sexy workout class. plus, a marine's best friend. the incredible lengths one dog went to to stay with its master in a war zone. first, a mother in labor, a father stuck in traffic, and big brother in panic mode. news4's erica has the story of

one family forced to deliver their baby on the side of the beltway. >> 7 pounds, 6 ounces, he let out a good cry. it's the way he made his grand debut that could make his story one for the box office. >> i trusted him with, you know, not just my life, with our son. >> stacy ann was already 39 weeks and scheduled to be induced, but baby aaron had other plans. >> she felt intense contractions. >> they got in the car and started driving. >> the only way to stop the pain is if i get him out. >> forcing dad to call for help. >> prince george's county 911 emergency center. >> i'm on the beltway heading northbound to the hospital. my wife's water broke. >> there on the side of 495, it happened. >> he's breathing. >> gently wipe off his mouth and nose. >> okay.

>> and cry hdry him off with a towel. you want to tie the shoe lace around the umbilical cord. >> big brother was able to help dad, too. minutes later the family was transported by ambulance to holy cross in silver spring. >> they're there now, sir? >> yeah, they're here. >> you did a great job. congratulations. >> the family jokes what's his nickname going to be, shotgun, 95, or shoe string? at holy cross, erica gonzalez, news4. >> or maybe none of those. well, seeing someone give birth on the road is always a surprise. but how about seeing a moving car with no one behind the wheel. that's actually now another step closer to reality in the district. council members held a hearing on legislation that would grant license for self-driving cars to travel the streets of d.c. one of google's automated prototypes took a test drive around the city earlier this year. so far, we've got california, and nevada, and florida that all

have laws that allow driverless vehicles. the obama administration also launched an initiative to test the safety of these futuristic cars. well, believe it or not, we're already well into the age where cars can park themselves. liz crenshaw behind the wheel of a new vehicle with that technology to see just how well it works in those tricky parallel spots. >> would you buy a car that could park itself? >> i would. >> it kind of freaks me out that you don't have full control of the car. >> a car that parks itself. you'd expect it to be expensive. it's been offered as an option on some luxury cars. but today that luxury has gone mainstream. car manufacturers like toyota and ford now offer the self-parking options at an affordable price. >> ford decided we have all the technology on the vehicle. let's make this something that's available to all consumers. >> richard is a spokesperson for ford, put me behind the wheel of a 2013 ford escape.

first, the system detects an available parallel parking space. >> okay. hands off the wheel. just reverse. >> off the steering wheel. puts the car in reverse. >> you got it. and now brake and gas only. >> i'm brake, i'm gas, it's driving. >> exactly. have faith here. >> all right. >> let it just do the hard work for you. >> oh, my goodness. >> just hang on tight. >> okay. oh, whoa, whoa. >> the brake. as eget close to the vehicle behind you, you do need to brake. >> okay. >> and now shift back to drive. there you go. and it will say pull forward slowly. and voila. >> i'm in. >> that's it. congratulations. >> active park assist uses an ultrasonic based sensing system. sensors on the front and rear of the car plus electric power assisted steering. the option is available in six ford vehicles ranging from about

$24,000 for a focus to about $32,000 for the escape we drove up to a little more than $43,000 for the explorer. parking hands-free does get people's attention. >> i couldn't believe it. the car just comes right in without touching the curb. >> i was quite impressed. i think i would benefit from such a mechanism like that, because i have trouble parking. >> i think that was awesome. >> we parked the ford escape on a neighborhood street in northwest d.c. it made it around this wide truck. >> right there. that's when you need to stop. and there you go. >> done. finished. it even parks on the left side of the street. >> this is a really tight space. >> this is really tight. >> you're finished. >> wow. nice job. we parked it downtown. and we parked it in georgetown on m street. we're using the brake.

got no hands. and we're -- wow. parked. yes. >> it's amazing. it's always something new coming out every year. >> next time. i'm horrible at parking. >> liz crenshaw, news4. >> okay. one thing to keep in mind if you have the park assist activated, and you want to terminate the self-parging feature, you can always just grab the wheel and take control. that's got to be weird. i've got to talk to liz about that. in alexandria, a marine who served in afghanistan will soon be reunited with a wartime friend. sean delling formed a special bond with a stray dog named bolt. he took the dog in and nursed him back to health and let him sleep in the tent during the winter. but the commander of his base ordered all the dogs to be removed. they were taken miles away, but bolt just couldn't be separated from his owner.

>> apparently ran behind the convoy for roughly ten miles or so. pitch black, 3:00 in the morning. and all of a sudden out of nowhere, bolt just comes running full speed right behind me. it was a good feeling, you know. having your buddy back, an awesome feeling. >> that's love. well, dulling could not take bolt with him when he returned to the states but a fellow marine helped raise $4,000 to reunite the man with his best friend, so they will soon get back together. now, that is cool. well, forget the average office cubicle. when we come back, hey, we've got something to show you. a local firm, it has a barbershop, a candy store, a state of the art gym for its employees. we're going to tell you what it takes to get a job there. plus, the big honor, ellen degeneres got on 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.

what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

you're looking to get more

bang for your buck in higher education? you're in a good place. this year four d.c. schools have been named the list of the best value private colleges. georgetown is in the top 20 nationwide. george washington, american university and catholic university are also in the top 100. the kip'inger's list is based on academic quality and cost. the university of richmond and johns hopkins were the top schools in virginia and maryland. yea! at least something about our area, right? now, if it's a job that you're looking for, though, one high-tech firm is among the fastest growing companies in the area. they've hired hundreds of new employees and plans to hire more. tracee wilkins takes a look at the thriving office in a space that's anything but average. >> so the concept here is, we've taken 100,000 square foot warehouse and we built a town inside of it. >> vokus provides an unusual

work environment. >> as you go by the barbershop here, this is actually a conference room. >> it also has a candy store, a coffee shop and a main hallway better known as main street. that's where you'll find the community college. >> this is where we do a lot of our training. >> but the look of this marketing software firm isn't the only unusual thing. in a sluggish economy, this public company had 15% growth this year, and $170 million in revenue. and it's in prince george's. the county trailing surrounding counties and high-tech firms. according to a 2009 report from the maryland department of planning, montgomery county has 4400 high-tech firms. baltimore 1700. howard county 1600. and prince george's, an estimated 1400. >> it's become a really good location. >> vocus has called prince george's home since 1992 and moved into this 93,000 square foot warehouse in beltsville last year.

>> the reason we started here was, he was halfway between where we both lived. that's what brought us here. but what's kept us here is it's really a great area, provides attraction to a lot of employees. >> there are 700 employees in this building. 100 live in prince george's. the median income here at $70,000. ceo rick rudman says fewer high-tech jobs in the county is actually good for him. >> we get too many other big high-tech companies who want to compete with them, for employees, so for us, it's kind of nice right now being one of the largest, fastest growing tech companies in this area. >> the plans for this year was to hire 500 new employees, 400 of those folks have already been brought in. they're looking for an additional 200 next year. in beltsville, tracee wilkins, news4. >> vocus coming along. she's broken dozens of bones, but she's running more

than two dozen miles. still ahead, meet the woman determined not to let a chronic disease keep her from a marathon finish. plus a [ earnest ] out of the blue one day, 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.

this year's marine corps marathon attracted nearly 30,000 runners from around the world. and we have the story of one who's beating the odds. she has a chronic disease that could cause her bones to break during this simplest of tasks. but as doreen gentzler shows us, this local athlete is not letting her condition keep her from her goals. >> she wants to run a race. you have to be 5. i broke my first bone that was documented when i was about 10 months old trying to teach myself how to walk. >> since then, 39-year-old jacqueline has broken 50 more. 50 bones. the result of falls, mishaps or

even simple everyday tasks. >> my lungs are half as thick as they're supposed to be. it's harder for me to heal when i get a cut. i bruise easier. i have gotten scoliosis because of that. so i had osteoarthritis. i'm in pain. >> it's not because she's accident-prone or clumsy, she has something called osteogenesis imperfecta, a chronic disease that causes brittle bones. so why is she running and training for the marine corps marathon? well, she's running for her life. or rather, to prove that oi patients can have some control over their lives. >> you have to get over that fear of, do i want to live my life in fear or just live my life. >> while exercise can be intimidating for a lot of oi patients, jacqueline said it's important to keep bones helalth

and strong and exercise is a good way to do that. she said running is easier for her because with two children, it's easy to fit in her schedule. >> if i can do that, and show people, just to have a disability. >> she has to be careful when she runs. she keeps a slow pace and avoids training if it's raining out. but she says no matter how her final time turns out, just to complete the marine corps marathon will be her biggest achievement of all. >> it's always been something i've wanted to do since i was a kid. i always thought it was such a big deal, a big accomplishment, only the best of the best could do something like that. and how cool would that be to say, you know, oh, my gosh, i ran a marathon once in my life. >> doreen gentzler, news4. >> and news4 will be, of course, rooting her on. in other news4 for your health, brookly and brussels

sprouts might be the secret to fighting breast cancer. researchers say a compound derived from vegetables has been successful in fighting triple negative breast cancer. the triple negative type accounts for about 20% of all breast cancers, and is one of the most aggressive. experts say the veggie compound is less toxic than current treatments. they hope it can be made available in pill form soon for daily use. you might call it a workout with a little sex appeal. a new exercise called lava-licious is a burlesque dance class that lets women tone and shape their bodies. angie goff got a chance to check it out and she asked, what's your workout. >> it's a deep workout. with a sultry twist. a taboo bar class called the lava-licious. >> we've taken the ballet bar and made it into a pole.

in a sense. and ladies can get a really incredible workout while feeling good about their bodies. >> lauren price is the co-founder of lava bar. she created a wild bar workout that tones your core and gluts. for new mom mindy gir, it helps your self-esteem, too. >> you're trying to be sexy at least for an hour. >> it's a workout that lets the women here let loose, and the walls around them gives way to another escape. >> it gives them a chance to let their minds sink into what's going on on the walls, instead of being intimidated by the challenges going on in the class. >> every month a new local artist is featured, an outlet for women sweating the day away by sculpting, toning, and trying really hard to do all the right moves. >> it was difficult. i said, i don't think i could do that.

it's always hard. it burns. but it's a great workout. and that's why it's a great workout. >> the biggest benefit perhaps is a bonding in a fun booty-shaking bachelorette kind of way. >> a chance for girls to take a class and laugh together, enjoy their bodies, and feel sexy. >> in arlington, angie goff, news4. >> i think angie said it best, in a bachelorette sort of way, right? lava-licious, classes cost $24. we'll check out the star-studded celebration to honor ellen degeneres

anncr: which do you believe? what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade.

planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. she makes people laugh every day. and here in d.c., a star-studded group helped honor ellen degeneres are the nation's top prize for comedy. she's this year's recipient for

mark twain's prize for humor. ellen got her start as a comedy club emcee, and now of course on nbc 4. >> i just do what i do. i don't do it for any other reason than making people happy. >> she's so important in every level of comedy. but every level of humanity, too. she's done so much for so many people. >> i admire her on so many levels, on her personal life and how she's conducted herself, and what she's done in changing the world. and plus she's so funny. >> just makes a guest feel warm. i have more fun. >> bill cosby and tina fey are among the 15 others honored with the twain prize in the years past. she certainly makes us laugh here on nbc 4.

that's all for new"news4 th week"

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.