welcome to news 4 this week. >> hi, everyone. i'm veronica johnson and we will show you the more interesting local stories making news this week. among them, pot in d.c. the city has already decrimin decriminalized the drug and now it could be legal and you will have the final say. plus, hey, he is one of the biggest names in music you have likely never heard of. now friends are trying to help him get a second chance at a final gig. check this one out. knowing your price is one of the best biggest giveaways in national history. if you miss it, it will cost you a pretty penny. we begin with the fraud scheme that is hitting local businesses

that involves stolen prepaid pay pal debit cards. they actually go through when swiped, but the store gets hit with the bill by the time victims realize the cards are fake. bad guys are long gone. news 4's derek ward spoke to one business owner that was scammed out of thousands of dollars. >> romeo mortgage is covered with paperwork instead of the usual orders for fried fish or chicken. they are $18,000 in expenses he may have to eat after falling victim to scammers. they used prepaid mastercard debit cards. they don't have names on them and they have been paid from the summer jobs with the card. >> they told me these charges are coming in and yeah, they have been cleared. you won't have any problem. >> the money was not showing up in his account and he gave them the numbers. >> when i gave them the numbers, they processed the cards on the is shelf at 7-11. >> they got them.

the scammers had been on a spending spree and they made their presence known. as president of the business alliance, he found out other merchants had fallen victim. food, clothes, manicures all performed. police are warning merchants about the scammers and they allowed them to be used for off line transactions without being activated. the merch acts end up getting shorted. they had a present on this corner for 80 years and the impact is not as bad as it could be. >> do i construction on this side. i do what i got to do. >> he feels for smaller businesses that may not be able to swallow thousands in losses. >> these businesses are going oust business because they can't play the rent, the water, the gas, no nothing. >> they are aware of the contact and they urge merchants to be cautious when accepting the card.

>> heads up, everybody. d.c. police say if you are unsure about the validity of the card, don't swipe it. check with the company that processes the charges to make sure it's not a fake. well, folks, we are getting a better idea of what the headquarters might look like if it moves to green belt. look at the renterings. they show the five buildings that make up the complex near the metro station. a parking garage would be built there by the campus. there plans for apartments, hotels and private offices. the government announced this week that the green belt property is one of three finals for the new headquarters. the other two are the old land over mall and the site in springfield near i-95 and fran conia road. >> d.c. could be the next big city to legalize marijuana and you could help decide come november. you see there is a ballot

initiative to allow the voters to choose if pot should be legal. >> in a spare city government office and after official sounding words -- >> purr subt to that -- >> the d.c. board of elections put legal marijuana on the november 4th on the general election ballot. >> i will oppose the motion and the motion is approved. >> it was a victory for the cannibis campaign that committed more than 57,000 signatures, three times the number needed. >> given the wide ranging amount of support across the district, that the residents are very fierce about reforming the marijuana policy. >> the district allows medical marijuana. this year it decriminalizing possession and imposing fines instead of jail terms.

this initiative would legalize up to two ounces and allow a few pot plants in private homes. >> this is the beginning of the discrimination. >> they would approve regulation, sales or taxes. it's not clear if congress might intervene. not everyone in d.c. favors legal possession. mayoral candidate carol schwartz turns in 6600 signatures and opposes expansion of marijuana use for recreational purposes. >> as i travel around town and i see this in the nearly 50 years i lived here. too many people that are drugged out. >> in the district, tom sherwood, news 4. >> this week maryland state police marked a milestone adding a new helicopter to the fleet. trooper 2 flew the first full-service mission operation and it's been nearly six years since one of the medical helicopters crashed going for people in prince george's county. that accident is zero visibility

conditions played a key role in the decision to upgrade the helicopter fleet. good for them. if you are on the silver line during week one, nearly 220,000 trips were made on the new line in northern virginia. metro said on average about 16,000 passengers boarded a train at one of the five stations each day last week. that's nearly 2/3 of the way to the transit agency's goal of averaging 25,000 a day after one year. the busiest station in terms of total riders was west and east. willie lot of a leg to diabetes and friends are trying to help a living legend play one last gig. is your furry friend in need of extra exercise? we will take you to a gym aimed at

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>> right now most kids are

avoiding the thought of school. >> it's still summer. we learned this week that students made some big improvements. the district release results of the annual comprehensive assessment test and for the first time ever, more than 54%, half of students were considered proficient in math. that's a 1.4 percentage increase over last year and it may not seem like a lot, but it's a big improvement compared to 2007 when only 22% were proficient in math. that's huge. >> seeing outstanding growth in the number of places and i'm really proud of the work that our high schools were able to demonstrate. we will continue to see growth there. >> there were also slight improvements in reading proficiency. students also spent longer days in school.

>> you know it. you know the music. it helped to make but few know. this guy by name. woody woodson. a native washingtonian has lived in the same home for more than 50 years and spent most on the road backing up some of the greatest singers in music history. a few years ago diabetes took one of his legs. he said he is hoping to get a second chance at playing one more show. >> marvin gay's temptation with the supremes and stevie wonder. >> sitting in his northeast d.c. home, he recalls playing drums for the greats. he spent years on the road with otis redding and marvin gaye. he snapped these pictures while on tour. one of the biggest hits was the eisley brothers hit, it's your

thing. steve jordan who plays with eric clap and keith richards said it was his drumming that inspired him. >> he is one of the greatest drummers of all time and a deep influence on my playing. >> today he struggle and able to get himself around his two-story home, but it's not easy. >> it is rough. it's rough. >> unable to work for years because of diabetes, he gets by on the few checks he does get, but he gots nothing for his work on two of otis reddings's biggest records. >> otis got two out at the whiskey a go-go. i should see money somewhere. >> without a leg, he is unable to play the drums like he once d. his friends are trying to help him out. >> hoary is a guy that nobody knows about. he is super bad.

totally increatible. he needs a leg. >> what are woodson really wants is to play. >> it would tickle me to death not to play a gig, but to be able to play a couple of songs. if i play a couple of songs, ain't no telling. >> in the district, mark sea graves, news 4. >> we hope he gets that leg. chances are you like to work out at some point during the week. what about fitness for fido? we have a new that opened in alexandria that will do your doggy some good. the canine sports club opened this week. it's a gym for your dog that offers programs to opportunities for special events. it has a treadmill and agility and obstacle course. it is operated a lot like gyms for people. >> there is a canine sports club that works like a gym membership.

you play the monthly membership and you can use the facility throughout the month as much as you want. >> he is a top rated dog trainer. they have hours on monday through saturday. get the doggy there. you would think that the navy yard would have extra protection after last year's shooting. when news 4 return, the i team looks at why the facility may be under staffed and lacking protection. plus he is not backing down. dan snyder speaks about the main dan snyder speaks about the main controversy and

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protected. y oi military memos that showed the navy is fighting an uphill battle at the washington, d.c. naval facilities. >> my wife was the eighth killed. >> doug spends a lot of time in his garage in wid brooj. focussed on rebuilding his 73 mustang. trying not to focus on the incident that changed hads life ten months ago. kathy was shot september 16th, next to her desk. in navy yard building 197. >> i can picture how it went down in my mind. >> here wonder fist she was trying to run. he said america's military bases must be better protected. >> if they are going to react quickly, they are going to have to have the manpower. >> the i team found manpower might be a problem. there as many police officers as there should be some. >> no, sir.

we don't even come close. >> tony neely is a recently retired police officer at the washington naval yard. >> we have an example at ft. hood, it can happen again. >> the union in d.c. area naval facilities say they are shorthanded. so much so he deploys just one officer patrolling the navy guard while others man the gate. a vulnerability if another shooter hope opened fire. >> one officer goes in a what if they get shot. the overall force of officers at the naval facilities shrunk to about 90. navy memos that came in as of january 13. naval officials recommended a force of 132 police to protect local facilities and site a shortage and neely said the memos confirm the base has used one officer patrol of police in the navy yard. in the days following the

september 2013 killings, they said the officers were slower to respond to the government because the force they say was only half as large as they should have been that day. navy public affairs officials said they will not detail how many they recommend patrol the navy yard, but it has been trying to hire more recently. two jobs posted and 13 others have been hired since december. when they showed the numbers to them, they are losing officers faster than they can hire. the navy is offering extra pay to help phil. >> they are filling the gaps with overtime? >> overtime officers, yes, sir. >> some are working 70 hour weeks and suspects all of that overtime is the reason they are burning out and leaving. he said extra police wouldn't have stopped him. >> i don't think that was the time or the issue this this shooting. >> it was a break down at the government's background system that allowed the history of mental illness on to the base

with the weapon. the review said the same. it was a failure of background investigations. it does not mention the claims about police shortages. navy public affairs and statements to the i team said they are able to manage and meet all requirements to protect the workforce. the union representing the cops on the beat said the lack of man tower is the true weakness. >> is the yard as vulnerable as it was september 16th? >> yes, sir. we haven't made any corrections. >> the navy spokesman said the agency is aggressively recruiting and hiring new officers and doing so takes time. everyone wants a nome. a jason nome to be exact. if you didn't pick one up at last week's game, it's going to

writing a letter to the fans last fall, washington redskins owner snyder is speaking about the controversy with the team's name. he spoke with espn's outside the lines and said he shouldn't change the name because it's a term of honor and respect. >> a redskin is a football player. redskins are fans. washington redskins fan base represents honor, respect, pride, hopefully winning and it's a positive. taken out of context, you can take things out of context all over the place, but in this particular case, it is what it is. it's very obvious. >> this week marilyn got her mard in o'malley posted on his facebook page that it is time to change the name. the full interview will air in september. the nationals are creating nome mania. if you left with the team's

latest give away, you might be a big winner. the nats had jason wirth nome night this week and fans started arriving after 2:00 p.m. by 6:15, nearly an hour before first pitch, all 25,000 noms had been handed out. attendance was just over 40,000 meaning a lot of people left the game and went home empty-handed. now the noms are popping up on sale on ebay. the problem is the price. some are going for nearly $200. i know. i didn't get one. you probably didn't get one. so maybe there will be another chance. that's all for news 4 this week. i'm veronica johnson. thanks for joining us. be safe, be be kind, be happy. bye-bye. [ mom ] when the nest gets too quiet...

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overnight, more chaos for a ferguson community after two days of peaceful protests. large crowds, officers in riot gear. why one man says that market should not be the target. plus a day that signals a near end of summer. why cars could be stopped in the street and blocking your travels today. and a noticeable chill in the air early this morning. we're tracking the numbers. don't get too comfortable. good morning, everybody. good morning. i'm angie goff. >> and i'm kristin