that left a soldier dead in london. coming up, what police knew about the men and their possible connection with terror groups. good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. thursday, may 23, 2013. we have new information on the brutal killing of a soldier in london. news4's melissa mollet is at the live december. >> that's right. we are getting more information & security has been increased across london. now here is what we know at this point. investigators now saying that both suspects were part of previous investigations porpoise terror sxlings know they are they are accused of hacking off the off-duty soldier while horrified bystanders watched in south london yesterday. probably see thing video. this morning, police have been searching several locations to try to determine whether they were part of a wider terror plot in that area. david cameron held a meeting earlier today. after the attack as you saw there, bloody hands and knives

and boasted about the crime. also warned of more violence in london. the family of the victim asked that the soldier's identity not be released. we know the suspects were both shot in the legs. no word yet on their conditions. today president obama will talk about his administration's use of drones to fight terrorism. it is part of a pivotal speech he will deliver on counterterrorism. the white house acknowledged for the first time yesterday that four american citizens have been killed in drone strikes overseas since 2009. alaki was one of those four. amnesty international says the drone strikes violate international law. right now police are investigating a school bus accident in southeast d.c. the crash happened just before 9:00 this morning along ridge road. police say four people were on the bus, two adults taken to the

hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. today the tornado damaged town of moore, oklahoma, says good-bye to one of the storm's youngest victims. today e first funeral will be held for 9-year-old antonio ndalaria. she was one of seven children that died when the tornado struck in oklahoma. president obama will travel to moore to see the damage for himself on sunday. police there say that everyone reported missing after monday might's massive tornado has now been accounted for. today was supposed to be a day of celebration for the students in moore. it is the last day of school there. and instead it will be a solemn gathering. cameras yesterday got a first glimpse inside of what is left of plaza towers elementary. it is barely recognizable as the school all students in moore have not been in school since the tornado but they will return

today for open houses with teachers and parents. those from plaza towers will go to a i did elementary school about a mile away. you can help the recovery effort in oklahoma. we are teaming up with the red cross today to hold a phone drive. lines will be open until 7:00 tonight. if you would like to make a donation call us at 202-858-4949. the mum, again, 202-885-4949. and turning to the weather now. cloudy but warm start to this day. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first forecast. >> yeah. the air is still thick with humidity. good morning. keeping an eye out for the development of severe storms perhaps later this afternoon. right now don't have anything severe showing up. don't have any thunderstorms at all. over the last couple of hours looking at the high resolution satellite and radar image, areas offite sprinkle in our eastern suburbs and farther north and west of washington.

breaks in the clouds and sunshine. southern maryland, parts of the eastern shore. and as well as the northern shenandoah valley in the mountains getting sunshine breaking up. and temperatures are now climbing into the upper 70s. not going warm up much more. probably going to hold steady in the upper 70s to near 80 degrees as we get into the afternoon hours. right now storm team 4 radar showing much of the rain that's north and west of vaunsing off to the north and east for now. there is a big area under a severe weather risk this area in yellow and includes everywhere from the chesapeake bay to the mountains. northern virginia, district, much of maryland and 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. this is the zone we may get some damaging winds. it is also a threat of maybe some localized flooding and brief heavy rain could pick up a couple of inches in a short amount of time this afternoon. maybe some hail. a look at the memorial day weekend, too coming up in a few minutes. back to you. it is called the education unity breakfast. but unity is not how many describe the situation in prince

george's county in the public school system will. just weeks after controversial reform was passed giving county executive baker more control of the system. some this morning believe things wouldn't go so smoothly. news4's megan mcgrath has more. >> let us keep in mind those minds, those hearts, and those innocent eyes of the young chirp who are relying on us to lead them to the great must that is inside each of them. please hear our prayer. amen. >> amen. >> it began with a prayer for dialogue and cooperation in the interest of the children. these have been tough times for the prince george's county school system. the so-called takeover by the county executive has strained relationships, created tension and led to resignations. this morning came the call for unity and as the major players sat down for breakfast.

>> whether you are for what we did or you are against it, we are all tied to it now. >> reporter: hb 1107, as it is called, takes effect june 1. while the bill was opposed by many on the school board, chair regina jacobs says it is time to move forward. >> it is going to be difficult just because that's the mate of the way things play out. however, not so difficult that we shouldn't focus on the children. and so, again, it is going to require the adults to think about what's most for going forward and i just hope that the adults are adult enough to do that. >> this morning's breakfast didn't last very long and there were just a few formal remarks. the idea was to get all of the parties and n the same room and an for first step. >> i think that hopefully there is some unity. people are going to put aside the tensions and aggravation and what happened at the end of session we are going to have bumps. but i know with the -- with all the resources we have in the

county and number of bright people we have here we can make it work. >> reporter: while there is optimism there is understanding of the task ahead. this sort of change is difficult and there is a lot of work to be done this summer. in prince george's county, megan mcgrath, news4. on top of the organizational reform there, another big issue for the school system is the early departure of interim superintendent alvin crawley. while earlier this week baker asked alvin to extend his contract. megan mcgrath also asked him this morning if there has been any progress on getting him to stay. >> one of the discussions we are having is with dr. crawley staying, i hope that happens. you know. i look forward to talking to him. i know he has been in discussions with a number of people on the fifth floor. so -- we will see. >> if no deal is worked out the resignation is effective next wednesday. he was once considered the most prominent swim coach in the area.

this afternoon he will be sentenced for sexually abusing a student. rick curl pleaded guilty in february to abusing a student 30 years ago. he started abusing her at the age of 13. and it continued for five years. she and her family initially received a settlement broke her silence last year. curl face 15s years in prison. his northern virginia swim club is one of the most successful swimming clubs in the country. it produced dozens of olympic swimmers, including 15-year-old 2012 gold medalist katie ledecki. right now a spotsylvania school employee is facing charges for allegedly having a consensual relationship with a 17-year-old cortland high school student. police say that keith pendleton dated the girl for six months. the 35-year-old was a teacher's assistant and an assistant coach as well of the football and track teams. pendleton no longer works for the school district. back to live desk now with melissa mollet.

>> good morning. this is just in to the newsroom. getting information that lee prince william county schools are on lockdown now. lake ridge middle school, this is a precaution sort of situation. armed robbery happened down the street at a check in the cash on killingham square. the suspect went in and displayed a handgun. they don't know whether he pled by foot or car. later today, boy scout leaders from around the country will vote on whether it will allow openly gay scouts? the organization. more 147b 00 scout leaders are at a national meeting outside dallas. the secret ballot vote today does not include ending a ban on gay scout leaders. demonstrators on both sides have lined the outside of the meeting. boy scouts president wayne perry wrote an opinion piece for the "usa today" newspaper, calling the change the right decision. and right now, we are

getting a better idea of what the president will outline in a speech this afternoon on national security. coming up, we will talk to nbc 'deputy political director about the timing of this speech. plus, you can help the recovery effort in oklahoma. we are teaming up with the red cross right now to take your calls. if you would like to make a donation call us right now at 202-885-4949. we will have more on

west point staffer has been relieved of his duties and is now face charges for allegedly spying on female cadets. the military says sergeant first class michael mcclen dan placed hidden cameras in the showers and locker rooms. he was a decorated combat veteran of the fwhar iraq. he also received the bronze

star. today a bipartisan coalition of senators will introduce legislation to combat sexual assaults in the military. >> this epidemic is a crisis. it is for that we have as many people involved in fixing this problem and in bring thing to an end. and ensuring that the policy of no tolerance becomes the culture of no tolerance in the military. >> the name of the bill is the be safe act. among its provisions, my service member convicted by court-martial of rape or sexual assault will receive a dishonorable discharge from the service and in addition to any other punishment. the bill also eliminates the five-year statute of limb takes on sexual assault cases. right now the controversial keystone oil pipeline bill is on its way to the senate. house republicans pushed it lou

late last night. the pipeline would carry oil from canada to the gulf coast. supporters say lit create jobs and lower energy costs. opponents worry about the impact it will have on the environment. well, as we have reported, president obama will give a speech to the natural defense. she expected to talk about drone strikes and guantanamo bay. deputy political editor dominico joins us now with more on what we can expect today. this speech comes a day after we had news that four americans in total it seems have been killed in u.s. drone strikes outside the country. why was it released today? >> well, we know the president is making this big speech today and you can assume that they were releasing some of this information to now set policy in place where the president can say what are the for amteres of drug use. they did want to talk about drone use very much. didn't want to acknowledge the

program official ly. beekts the president to set par am teshs of what he will be doing on drone news there have never been any denials before now that drones had been used to take out people overseas. >> i mean, they don't talk about it. mine, that's -- it is kind of -- it is one of those open secrets, i guess, you know, you can call it. you know, we know that americans broadly support the use of drones. 6412 in february of this year and "wall street journal" poll showed 64% of americans, almost would-thirds, supporting the use of drones overseas. >> does that surprise you? >> it doesn't really because after ten years of war, i think that this is a country they don't want boots on the ground. we talked about syria and what some republicans in congress like john mccain who would want the united states to be more involved. if you look at polling on that americans, you know, really don't want the united states especially boots the ground to be involved. >> this keeps us from sending in troops. send the troops over. what do you think the president

will say? >> i think he will talk about how they will scale back in some of these efforts. you know. and i think that that's an -- an for acknowledgement, i suppose, when you have had people like rand paul and others come out and talk about this. >> quickly, the question about guantanamo bay. expected to talk about that today. i know she wanted to close and it think he will say that again today? >> i think he will try to push for guantanamo bay to be closed. problem is congress still and whether or not members of correct me if i am wrong going to want some of these suspects in their own districts. whether or not they can try some of these folks with some of the evidence at how it was obtained. >> he also may talk about securing diplomatic facilities around the world. >> clearly reference to benghazi. and the fact that there wasn't enough security leading up in the -- to for americans being killed. i think that that is a reason for this and we have seen the white house try to clean up some of the messes of the past week with the three controversy we have been talking about. >> thank you, as always.

good to see you. for more for the rest of the political team check out first read on nbcwashington.com. ever since monday's devastating tornado in oklahoma, people in the town of moore have needed basic necessities that are in very short supply. news4 and the american red cross are teaming up to help those that lost so much in that storm. chuck bell joins with us more on how you can help the victims of this devastating tornado. chuck. >> hi shall barbara. good morning to you. good morning, everybody. the number you need to know is 202-885-4949. that's our mum to be dialed right here into the phone bank. we have red cross volunteers. 90-plus percent of all the people that work for the red cross are volunteers. one of the best organizations out will and more than 90 cents of every dollar donated goes to relief efforts. that's also an for thing to keep in mind. we have tom sherwood over here. one of our celebrity phone answerers and maggie, beth and

joy. all joining us here today. you look at the folks on the ground in oklahoma out there. we already raised more than a thousand dollars here today. had a very sweet lady, suzanne barry called me up and said she would donate $100 just to say hi to me. i talked to her and got her donation and thanked her very much. thank you. 202-885-4949. 202 area code. we will be here all day answering phones. if you want to make a pledge and talk to me or my of our other folks out here specifically, happy to do had a. happy to make that happen. and it is just such an for effort because they literally immediate everything from baby wipes, cribs, to formula, gloves and boots. we will be here all day for helping to raise money. 202-885-4949. we will be back in a few minutes. >> chuck, as we have been hearing all along it is better to donate money than things like baby wipe and cribs because they can put the money to good use. >> that's right. >> thank you.

11:20. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us now with a look at our forecast. >> there is a gray sky over washington now. we had a little bit of sunshine coming through. few breaks in the cloud cover. unlike yesterday, when it was july in may. this is what it looked like around much of our region. this photo taken by one of my co-workers. ryan sprouse. this was yesterday afternoon when the temperatures were in the mid 80s. davidsonville, anne arundel county. post your pictures to weather@nbcwashington.com. this was later in the day when we had thundershowers popping up. you can follow me on facebook and twitter and post your photos like one of my twitter followers did this morning. this is a rainbow from candace. this is right here dulles airport. candace took this picture about 8:00 this morning. beautiful rainbow showed up there. there is the sky over washington. now we have 76 at reagan national. humidity is high. light southerly breeze. storm team 4 radar showing a few

showers far north and west of us. nothing severe popping up yet. but between 3:00 and 8:00 p.m., anywhere in this yellow zone there is the potential for severe storms. northern virginia, east virginia, the threat mainly could be some very heavy rain with hail. may cause localized flooding. also, a smaller risk of damaging winds later today. right now temperatures are in the mid and upper 70s. not going to warm up much more. should have afternoon highs peaking in the upper 70s to 80 degrees. 90% chance of showers and thundershowers. that will be later this afternoon sxoo and into perhaps this evening. some of the thundershowers may still get going into the evening. this is as of around 12:30, 1:00. not too much farther ahead here. about another hour. we have a line of showers and little bit of thunder coming through. but then it is this during the afternoon hours between partly cloudy 3:00, 5:00. others popping up around much of our region here and into early evening between 6:00 and 10:00.

few lingering showers as we get into friday morning. big change blows in during the day on friday. much cooler weather moves in. keep up with the weather if you are not near your tv. download and it search nbc on the app store or google play. big change comes in tomorrow and saturday with highs only inning the 60s. gusty wind tomorrow, too. small chance of a shower. blustery winds on saturday. chilly mornings in the 40s. and afternoon highs near 70. saturday, sunday, lighter wind with highs low 70s. great on memorial day. partly cloudy and highs mid 70s. still a chilly morning but milder tuesday and wednesday. >> all right, tom. we will see you shortly. still ahead, why some d.c. school teachers are being forced to reapply for their jobs. plus, the national zoo's brand-new elephant. how she is being welcomed to her new home. we are going to show you but first here is a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

this morning, more than 100 d.c. teachers are getting ready to reapply for their jobs. teachers and staff at the schools will be reconstituted. it is aimed at turning around underperforming schools. both schools need a fresh start. teachers tell "the washington post" they are blindsided and that the move ignores more serious issues. new this morning, a new report says teen birth rates are dropping across the country. some researchers call the numbers dramatic. the cdc says teen birth rates fell 25% between 2007 and 2011. in 22 states hispanic teen birth rates plunged at least 40%. arizona and utah saw the biggest

drops in teen births. both maryland and virginia saw a decline between 20% and 29%. d.c. had less than a 20% decline. researchers say the reason for the drop can vary from state to state. and coming up in the next- hour of "news4 midday," a warning for drivers later this afternoon. police are watching especially if you take the hov lanes. plus, storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is back with an update on storms that could move into our area this afternoon. and then later this evening as well. you can help the recovery effort in oklahoma. we are teaming up today with the red cross right now to take your calls. if you would like to make a donation call us at 202-885-4949. [ male announcer ] you know what's so awesome about the internet?

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right now security is tight

at army barracks across london. this is in response to a brutal attack on a british soldier yesterday. witnesses say two men in a car drove into the soldier and then got out car and started stabbing him. he was killed. police shot the suspects after they say they charged at tvsers. both suspects are now in the hospital. boy scout leaders from around the country are getting ready to vote on whether to lift a controversial ban on openly gay members of the scouts. more than 1400 scout leaders are at an annual meeting outside of dallas. the leaders could allow openly gay boys to join the scouts but the vote does not include ending a ban on openly gay scout leaders. right now the national zoo is welcoming its newest addition. the asian elephant arrived in d.c. yesterday after an 1100 mile trek from baton rouge, louisiana. news4's tony tull is live at the zoo with more on what the animal is up to now. tony. >> reporter: her name is bozi.

zookeepers couldn't ask for anything more. she has been talking to other i will pants and haven't gotten a chance to see her yet. they will work that in as the days and weeks go on. in little less an month you, too, will be able to get a chance to see her. the countdown is on. 28 days left million visitors at the national zoo get a chance to meet bozi. 37-year-old asian elephant brought to d.c. from the baton rouge zoo. 1100 mile trek with the crew. >> a long trip. first we had to get her on the truck. bozi decided she wanted to get on backwards. so we let her get in backwards which meant that all along on the trip she got put her trunk out every now and then out the back window. >> social interaction for an elephant is one of the top priorities for zookeepers. when her companion died in march a search was on for another home to make sure she could remain happy. she will join two other females and a male. folks at the zoo are excited to hear about the new addition. >> i'm looking forward to seeing bozi.

i understand it will be under quarantine for a bit. we will come back to see him later. >> reporter: she will get visual access to others but for now the introduction process needs to run its course in term of emfanl talk. >> elephants are talking to each other. they have been talking up a storm. i wish i knew what they were saying. bozi is really interested. she wants to be with them and our girls are very interested in her. >> reporter: national zpoo was a top pick for the relocation. the elephant community center opened and trail exhibit was completed which was a seven-year $56 million project. a perfect new home for all the elephants. >> hope that when we open the door they all get along great. and i'm sure there will be a little bit of jostling around to decide who is who. >> reporter: even though bozi is 37, she is not post-reproductive yet. zookeepers are hoping she may be able to have baby elephants. lot of exciting things going on at the zoo. we are still waiting to hear the

panda may be pregnant. the sloth bear will be coming out soon, too. come to the zoo and check out the latest. >> sounds like exciting things going on down there. thanks so much, tony. now to a news4 exclusive. we are getting new information about the furloughs. park police are facing and furloughs could put your safety at risk this summer. news4 got a look at a letter the police department's chief sent to the force. in that letter we learned all calls to park police in the last hour of an officer's 12-hour shift will be put on hold. that means that it may take an hour or longer to get a response to your non-essential call. park police officers are furloughed between 14 and 22 days. through september because of the sequester. new this morning. we will get a look at a prince george's county volunteer fire fighter's recovery after he lost had arm in a crash. doctors reattached the arm back january. you may remember that. the volunteer fire department posted a video on facebook.

you can see he is moving his fingers. doctors say the 30-year-old is ahead of schedule with his recovery. police say that he was driving a pyre truck when a tractor trailer rear ended it. two other fire fighters were hurt in the chain reaction crash. and they since have been released from the hospital. if you are planning on cheating and taking move lanes to cut a few minutes off your commute home today, don't do it. it is not a day to troy that. virginia and maryland police are busting hov violatorses this evening. chopper 4 was over 270 this morning when officers were take itting violators in virginia. police will patrol 66, 95, 395 and the toll road, too. dulles toll road. this is the fourth annual capital region hov awareness day. we will check in with tom kierein with the latest the forecast. is it raining? >> no rain here. there's some far northwest of the metro area. right now right over northwest washington low-grade clouds also showing up over downtown

washington. live view from our city camera. now as we take a look at what has been happening here over the last couple of hours, those areas in green, getting a few sprinkles of light rain up into frederick county and right along the maryland border into washington county. panhandle of west virginia. little sunshine trying to break out as well. temperatures right now are generally in the mid 70s. it will not warm up much. only up near 80 by later this afternoon. radar showing a few other sprinkles farther south and east of the metro area. this whole area in yellow. that's the zone where we could get severe storm between 3:00 and 8:00 p.m., covers most of the region and includes the district of columbia, much of maryland and virginia and east and west virginia. threat mainly heavy rain, maybe lightning and hail. also slight chance of some damaging winds. windy, much cooler weather moves in friday and into saturday. and then sunday, monday, warming up with lighter winds into the 70s during the afternoons. mild into mid week next week. >> thank you, tom. in moore, oklahoma, damage

estimates right now are around $2 billion. basic supplies are still limited for so many people. and many people need basic things that we take for granted every day. chuck bell joins with us more on how you can help the victims of the devastating tornado. >> once again we are here inside of one of our other studios at news4. partner inned up today with the great folks from the american red cross. if you would like to donate, you can give us a call at 202-885-4949. if you were wondering, you can give to the red cross in the generic sense or have a check box here on their sheets. if you want to target your donations for storm relief in oklahoma. you can give whatever amount you feel comfortable with and sometimes even the smallest amounts really add up in a big way. once we accumulate $1,000 that's enough to help keep a complete family of four safe for a couple of days. it is really for stuff. you can donated cash which allows them to purchase

blankets, provide water, provide, you know, relief services they all do. it is an for function that the red red cross doing out there. there you can see -- every time we see a disaster of any size or scope, anywhere in the country, even here locally, the local red cross chapter responded to more than 400 local emergencies just last year alone. they are on scene en masse out in moore, oklahoma, and other storm communities out there across the midwest that have been so badly hurt. $20 provides two hot meals, lunch and dinner for disaster climb or red cross cleanup kit. little amounts, $10, $20, add those up over the course of the day. our goal here today is at least $10,000. we have a long way to go. we are off to a great start. 202-885-4949. we will talk all during the course of the afternoon today and if you would like to talk to me let them know and i'm happy to chitchat as well. native texan, barbara, you understand storm relief. >> i grew up in tornado alley.

i do know what we are talking about. thank you so much, chuck. continue the good work. i will come in and join you for a little while, too. >> we look forward to that. we are hearing a lot lately about professional athletes whose hard knocks in the games they play are leaving them with long-term health issues. new studies are predicting there could be a connection between head injuries and alzheimer's. studies already have proven torn ligaments and damaged knees and hips and shoulders can cause long-term arthritic pain. we are going the talk about what we can do to prevent this from happening. we are waiting for rg3 to recover from his knee injury which was a torn ligament. and there are many other athletes who are talking about their post-season -- post-season or post-career injuries. >> one of those was joe montana who just came out recently talking about the fact that he had arthritis in his knee.

soon after he finished playing and that it started bothering him. he also had trouble was his shoulder and his elbow. i haven't an example of the knee here and a shoulder here. two joints which he is now complaining of and realizes that many individuals who have injuries can be at risk of developing arthritis afterwards if they don't take care of their injuries appropriately. >> of course some are complaining now about not having the insurance coverage to take care of those injuries after they made so much money during their careers. it is a shame, of course. i know they will fix that with the nfl but let's ask you, does sports in general cause the things that lead to arthritis? >> luckily not. most simple injuries do not go on to cause arthritis. so people are able to exercise appropriately and they do it appropriately, they truly are not at risk. in fact, that's one of the ways we are trying to prevent arthritis, to try to keep joints from degenerating. >> let's take a look at and x-rays you brought.

one a healthy knee, i believe. >> no. this is a. >> host: the -- on the side without the hip replacement there's still a space between the bone and the joint. the other side, in fact, has had a joint replacement. this person went on a year later to, in fact, have progressive arthritis in the good hip. and that was a problem. this individual ended up having bilat ram joint replace. >> do many people who in -- who participate in sports end up with replacements of their nears and other joints? >> my radio program, speaking of health," i had a football player from the cleveland browns who had three joint replacements who is in his late 40s. the professional athletes are at an increased risk. we hope that individuals who just do sports as an amateur don't have those kinds of injuries and would not require

joint replace. >> not as high a risk. let's tell people what they can to try to keep from developing arthritis because of sports injuries. first of all you say you got have to warm up and cool down. >> that's for. i think people need to actually take the time to use the -- uses their bodies appropriately. if they warm up and cool down they will do well. >> use the equipment effectively, you say. and you also say they must maintain their right weight. >> right. doesn't mean they have to be thin as -- as thin as possible but at a weight that does not put too much strain on their points treat the problems early and always allow those injuries to heal. don't get back out there and start playing again. >> rehab. it is for to rehab appropriately. >> thank you for coming here to talk about this. football season approaches. we want to protect our kids that are playing and also hope our career players will take care of themselves. >> as well. thank you very much. >> thanks for coming. it is 11:43. still ahead can we expect another sell-off on wall street?

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this morning can mart is out with a new commercial that will make you say to yourself what did they just say? listen closely. >> save 30 cents a gallon. >> that's a big gas discount a really big gas discount. >> really big gas discount. >> that's big gas discount. what else did you think they were saying? the commercial follows can mart's much talked about ship my pants ad. if you want to watch the full commercial we posted the video on nbcwashington.com's facebook page. turning to business news and good news for the housing market. we will check in with hampton pearson. hedowns us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. >> yes. we are going to start first with -- started the day with u.s. markets being part of a

global slump so far today. treasury worried how much longer the federal reserve will continue to spend billions buying treasury bonds to prop up the economy. right now the markets are off those triple digit lows of the day. dow is only down about 18 points. nasdaq is down 10. the s&p down 7 points. yesterday on capitol hill, fed chairman ben bernanke told lawmakers that the fed wants proof the economy especially the job market is improving. including months of strong economic data before making a decision on curtailing bond buying program. but markets were spoofed by the release of the minutes of the last fed meeting that showed several monetary policymakers leaning towards acting sooner to curtail bond purchases and those record low interest rates as well. wall street ignoring some good news from main street. main street economy. first weekly jobless claims fell last week despite budget belt tightening in washington. first time unemployment benefit

claims and dropped by 23,000 and to a seasonally adjusted 43,000. and more good news about housing. april new home sales rose 2.3% and median home price climbed to an all-time record. $454 thousand how is the new seasonally adjusted sxrat commerce department says the median home price was $271,600. up 14.9% from a year ago. highest since the government started keeping records back in the '60s. if your stocks are taking a beating today, what is perhaps the most for investment for most people their home is, in fact, on the rebound. barbara, back to you. >> it is good news. thank you so much. have a great day. there is a real need throughout the country for loving adoptive homes for kids in foster care. now the governor of virginia is launching a special initiative to match up a thousand families with waiting foster children. virginia's governor bob mcdonnell kicked off a special initiative in honor of foster

care month. celebrating across the country in may each year. >> encourage more people to love their neighbor and get involved with the adoption of foster care children. i'm delighted today to be joined by so many people and as we launch virginia adopts, the campaign for a thousand initiatives to be able to place a thousand foster care children with permanent loving families in the commonwealth of virginia and for that i need your help. >> our wednesday's child program on news4 features children in virginia, maryland and the district of columbia who are currently in foster care. awaiting permanent adoptive homes. in all lee jurisdictions to adopt a child you will first need to attend an information session. next, you will be invited to go through 30 hours of special training. this can usually be completed in several sessions over a few weeks' time. after that, you will have to have a home study to assess your

readiness to adopt. it will include background and reference checks. once you are approved, you can submit an application for a child. maybe it will be one of the many children waiting for permanent loving homes that we have featured or will feature in the future. right here on "wednesday's child." you can change a life and add something very special to your own by adopting. if you have room in your home and your heart for one of our wednesday's children, please call our special adoption hotline. you can search wednesday's child on nbcwashington.com. the time is 11:50. a guide to look creek park for the beautiful weekend coming. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein will be back with who can see storms this

i'm melissa mollet at the

live desk p.m. take a look at this video. redskins fans all over will be happy to see this. video of rg3 working out with the redskins at redskins park about 30 minutes ago here. you can see him running fairly normally. still has that brace on. his knee, of course, injured that knee at the end of last season. and since then has been following his surgery and rehab. lots of speculation whether he will be ready for opening day. this, of course, a very encouraging sign. at the live desk, melissa mollet, news4. >> that's great to see. in today's weekend scene guide to rock creek park. we have highlights for us. this is going to be a nice weekend, it sounds like, from what tom has been telling us that's right. >> rock creek park will be a great place go. there are good places for hiking and biking. is that right? >> that's right. rock creek park is more than 2,000 ache acres. biggest park in the city. i feel like it can be really daunting for people. lot of folks head out to some of the more obvious places, c&o canal and virginia to go hiking. there are great trails for

biking and hiking in rock creek park. there is a great one called rapid bridge loop. this is actually two miles. you can pick it up hund the horse center in northwest washington. another great one is the boundary ridge trail. this one picks up just on the border of maryland and it is very sort of isolating. if you want a quiet hike, very beautiful and really scenic. >> great to get the maps for those trails so people can know how to find them. >> sure. all have you do is google them. lot of hikers maintain these maps of places to stop and view. really great. all over the internet. >> you also mentioned the horse center which is right over there, too, in the park. >> that's right. lot of us may have seen people riding on horse in the park. this is something you can do. they have more than 6r 0 horses. lot of them privately owned but you can learn how to ride a horse and go on trail rides within the park which is cool. $40 to go on a trail ride. they fill up quickly. you can make a reservation at

rock creek horse center.com. really fun way to experience the park. >> that's a wonderful thing to be able do there. simple picnic. any advice on where to go? >> do you have to make reservation if you want to have one of the covered picnics. a lot of people don't know that. you have to make a reservation. there are eight sheltered areas. you can make a reservation at 1250 u street northwest. go in earn and pay in cash. other than that there are more than 30 pick mick areas in the area. bring your own gas grill. you may not find a grill on the park. you can bring one. >> you can do that without a reservation. >> that's right. >> okay. that sounds great. thanks. it was great to see you. for more ideas for your weekend logon to nbcwashington.com or the going out guide on "washington post".com. let's take a look at stories we are following on news4 this afternoon. we are going to be following several major stories. the boys scouts decision on gay members and for speech from president obama and the possibility of storms this evening. plus, at 4:00 the 14th street's

sinkhole is on social media now. how this hole in the road has become an meat celebrity. a local elementary school with a unique connection to the oklahoma school destroyed by the tornado. time for a final check on your forecast. >> lot of cloudiness around. live view from the news4 city cram. later today thunderstorms rolling lou. between 3:00 and 8:00 p.m. slight risk some of the storms could be severe. stay tuned. if you hear thunder turn on news4 and we will let you know if any storms are threatening your neighborhood. tomorrow much cooler and blustery wind. highs in the 60s. cool and blustery and again on saturday, too, partly cloudy. highs near 70 after a chilly start in the 40s. another chilly morning on sunday and again on memorial day morning. 40s to near 50. afternoon highs sunday and monday in the low and mid 70s. bit milder as we get into mid week next week. have a good afternoon and see you tomorrow morning. >> thank you. that's "news4 midday." we will be back tomorrow morning

at 11:00 with "news4 midday." reminder, if you want to give to the reds cross to help with oklahoma tornado relief efforts, call us right now at 202-885-4949. volunteers will take

>> met by billy and kit, we are live in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.