south emerson street in arlington. what are you going to remember most about mary? >> that she was a good mother. and a hard worker. and a good wife. >> reporter: and what about emily? what are you going to remember about her? >> everything. >> reporter: was she your favorite granddaughter? >> i hate to say favorite, but yeah. >> reporter: inside the house at the time of the fire, bill barkes. his wife, mary barkes, and their two daughters, 11-year-old sarah, and 7-year-old emily. mr. white tells this story. he says his son-in-law, bill barkes, managed to get out of the house and then use a ladder to go up and rescue his 11-year-old daughter, sarah. but halfway down, they fell off the ladder. in the meantime, he says his daughter mary was inside. she called 911 and tried to save her little girl, emily.

but the smoke and the fire was too much to bear. here now from salvador santos. he lives next door and saw the smoke and flames. he tried to help. >> anybody wasn't going to dive right in. you could see the flames coming out. >> reporter: you must have felt helpless. >> exactly. i felt like i can help nobody. >> reporter: what has this done to the neighborhood? what about the smoke detectors? more questions, more answers, coming up at 6:00. live in arlington, pat collins, news4. developments in the case of that man who escaped a d.c. psychiatric ward yesterday, and he did so by simply walking out a back door. the news4's i-team scott macfarlane with late-breaking details. >> city correction officials tell the i-team the man who escaped, you said psychiatric evaluation after allegedly attacking a police officer was placed in a private room at a

psychiatric facility off wisconsin avenue northwest. a room in which staff are not allowed to enter or even look inside. city officials tell us kenneth clayton got out by using a back door to that room and the i-team is told the back door leads directly to a stairwell, through which he escaped the facility. the city says a police task force is actively searching for clayton right now, and the rules require, they say, those facilities to have private rooms for medical checkups of its patients. kenneth clayton included. we asked if they're going to change some of their security protocols, because of this escape. we'll keep you posted when they answer. back to you. >> i-team also tracking voting problems tonight as the polls open this morning. one voter says this is what he experienced in virginia, pressing the name of one candidate only to see a check mark show up for the opponent. news4's tisha thompson at the live desk with the explanation for us now. >> we have received multiple complaints from both maryland and virginia about what's called

vote slipping. essentially, voters say they tried to vote for one person, but the machine chooses someone else. the reason is different, depending on where you live. chris fall told me he took this video when he and his wife tried to vote in virginia beach this morning. he says the machine kept selecting the democrat candidate for the second congressional district race down there. but he wanted to pick the republican. in a statement to the news4 i-team, the virginia department of elections says the issues appear related to the touch screen calibrations, and voting machines exhibiting any issues are immediately taken out of service. if a machine does not reflect the viewer's choice, the voter should notify an officer of election prior to casting their ballot. maryland has a different type of machine, and says it blames voter error or what they're calling thumb drag for reports of flipping. state officials there say they have received about 34 reports of machines potentially flipping, but all of the votes went improperly because voters

notified officials their ballots did not accurately reflect who they wanted to vote for before they cast their ballot. we have been watching ballot problems all day and will bring you more at 5:45 and 6:00. and if you see anything tonight while you're voting, call us at 202- 885-4444 or tweet tishaa tishaanntv. there are also issues at the polls in hartford, connecticut. voter registration lists were not delivered so voting was delayed. across texas, voter registration counsel for the early part of the day, so voters had to cast provisional ballots. delays in north carolina and south dakota after reports of wrong thumb drives delivered and poll workers showing up late. we're following two big races in virginia today. the tenth district house seat left vacant by retiring congressman frank wolf and ed

gillespie voted in person absentee a little more than a week ago so spent the day trying to woo voters outside the polls. we caught up with him in chantilly this afternoon. he's hoping to unseat mark warner. warner cast his ballot this morning. julie carey has been talking with voters at the polls today and is live in mclean with details. julie? >> reporter: well, this mclean polling place is in the tenth congressional district so even before all the votes are tallied tonight, they know there will be a new member of congress. and that's one reason that at this precinct and many across northern virginia, turnout has been described today as steady, even in this midterm election year. with two precincts voting at belmont ridge middle school, this ashburn polling place is typically busier than most. for the first time in more than 30 years, the name of long-time republican congressman frank wolf is not on the ballot. voters will choose a new tenth district congressman, or congresswoman.

the race between democrat john foust and barbara comstock is expected to be the closest in the commonwealth. foust cast his ballot this morning in mclean. comestock did the same and headed to principle william county to work the polls there. this ashburn democratic voter is eager to make a change. >> i would like to have a constructive, progressive member of congress from the tenth district for a change. and naturally, that meant i voted for john foust. >> reporter: but this long-time republican voter is hoping for a different outcome. >> voted republican last 20 years. i'm a retired military officer so that's the big issue for me. >> reporter: voters across the commonwealth will also decide whether democratic senator mark warner keeps his seat or whether former rnc chairman, ed gillespie becomes part of a gop effort to take control of the senate. this democratic voter expects republicans to seize control, but he doesn't believe mark warner will be a casualty. mr. warner? i think he's going to be able to

hang on to his seat. >> reporter: he's not one you're worried about at all then. >> i'm not worried about him at all. >> reporter: a big change at the polls for virginia voters. for the first time, acceptable photo i.d. had to be presented. coming up on news4 at 6:00, i'll tell you whether or not that created problems for many voters today. reporting live from mclean, julie carey, news4. it's a tight race in maryland for the state's next governor. voters are choosing between republican larry hogan or anthony brown. chris gordon is covering the race from upper marlboro. >> reporter: voter turnout is heavier this evening in prince george's county. which candidate for maryland governor will it favor? this is chris gordon at largo high school. my report, straight ahead. we have a team of reporters covering the most contested races in this region. stay tuned for more live election day coverage coming up at 5:30. right now, police are searching for what may be a taxi that hit a person and took off. the man was hit trying to cross

new york avenue at bladensburg road in northeast this afternoon. he has serious injuries, but is expected to recover. witnesses tell us they believe the car that hit the man was a taxi. that car and driver have still not been found. and we have learned a 77-year-old man was hit and killed while he was crossing the street in silver spring. chopper 4 flying over the scene shortly after police say he was hit while crossing new hampshire avenue at randolph road this morning. that driver did stay at the scene. not clear if he was in a crosswalk when he was hit. this was shortly before 5:00 in the morning. now to a developing story that spans from pennsylvania to our area. surveillance video shows a woman getting snatched right off the street late sunday evening. and yesterday police tell us her atm card was used at a bank in northern maryland. we're joined live from aberdeen with the latest on this story. deio deiona. >> reporter: we can tell you

federal agents from baltimore and philadelphia spent the day here in aberdeen, many times coming in and out of this pnc bank here. we're a half mile from the i-95 exit, so it's believed that whoever came off that exit used that atm card here, may have gotten right back on to the highway. the cameras inside, three cameras in that atm area, one on the outside door, one inside and one on the atm machine. we can tell you that investigators have been showing photographs from those surveillance cameras to the victim's family, and they are telling us they don't immediately recognize that man. however, investigators with the philadelphia police department, the baltimore division of the fbi and the philadelphia division of the fbi have not yet released those images to the public. so they're not releasing them to the public but are showing them to the victim's family. we can also tell you federal agents have been canvassing several shops, stores and gas stations here in the area, looking for surveillance video. up until this point, nothing has been released publicly. that's the latest, reporting

live in aberdeen, deeanna durante, news4. confusion over virginia's new voter i.d. law. the news4 i-team digging into the biggest issues today. and deadline for vaccines. we're finding out what happens if students show up in prince george's county schools tomorrow without their shots. mysterious road work in front of the vice president's residence certainly sounds like a d.c. story. i'm adam tuss and we'll tell you what we uncovered about this road work, coming up. and we're talking about rain chances the next couple days. here's the rain moving our way. i'll show what it brings and what it brings after. coming up next.

as people go to polls across our area tonight, it's a historic day in frederick, maryland. it is the first time people there will elect the county executive. the county has already seen some problems today with new voting machines. election officials replaced six machines today after they weren't working fast enough. if you run into problems at the polls today, we want to hear about it. call us at 202-885-4444, or send an e-mail to tips@news4iteam.com. tisha thompson is working on a report on more problems at polls in virginia. that story coming up in our next half hour. first on 4:00 tonight, you slow down and then you go nowhere.

this is what's happening to a lot of drivers the last few days, because of a paving project that's been both puzzling and frustrating. it's on a part of mass avenue that will just break your spirit if you get stuck in it. our viewers have e-mailed and called us to find out what is going on there. tonight adam tuss has the answer for you. he is outside the vice president's house on mass avenue. wow. it is just horrific over there. >> reporter: something tells me you've had had to deal with this, wendy. you can blame it all on an underground cable. take a look at massachusetts avenue here. you mentioned this is in front of the vice president's residence, the cable underneath the road. and yes, finding out what's been going on has been a guessing game. bumps in the road, road crews here and heavy traffic. but what exactly is all this? and who is in charge? they didn't even tell us what's going on, right? >> they won't tell you. they never do. >> reporter: is it a gas

project? nope. water? nope. power project? no. >> nobody knows what's going on here. >> i believe them. >> reporter: after doing some digging, we found out this is a project to bury 1,900 feet of fiberoptic cable deep under the road. crews dug six feet deep using a directional drill from wisconsin avenue to the vice president's residence. it's been about a month since this all started. and it's left a lot of open sections of the road and plenty of busted hub caps. take a look at traffic here. keep in mind, this video is sped up significantly, and the traffic still crawls. >> do you know what they're doing? >> reporter: i broke the news to her. has it impacted your ride in and out? >> yes. you know, i commute, so it takes always so much longer, especially now, so, yeah, absolutely. >> reporter: the reason the impact being felt so much right now is because paving has to happen during warm daytime hours. it's too cold at night to lay down asphalt. still, though, no agency has

come forward to say what exactly the buried cable is all about. and back here now live. coming up in my next report at 6:00, how much longer are we going to have to deal with this? we have learned that answer. reporting live in northwest, adam tuss, news4. veterans day is a week away, but there is already a big undertaking on the national mall to honor those who have served. workers are getting the stage ready for the concert for valor. eminem, bruce springsteen, rihanna, and other superstars scheduled to perform november 11th. this is expected to draw a quarter million people and it's free. open to the public on a first-come basis. the national mall will be opened to concert-goers starting at 10:00 next tuesday. >> we have been saying getting darker earlier, and the clouds aren't helping, doug. >> the clouds kept us in a south easterly wind. areas to the west, 70s today. 76 in warrenton.

to the east, 60s. we'll take the 60s this time of year any day of the week. outside right now, a very nice evening. 64 degrees the current temperature. our average high today is 62. so even with the sun down, still a little above average. those winds now out of the south at 6 miles per hour. around the rest of the area, 68 degrees, manassas. 69 in fredericksburg. and as i mentioned, notice to the west on the warmer side, 73 in petersburg, west virginia. 59 along the water. the patuxent river and annapolis. some areas cooler than others, but a nice night. we are looking a lot of clouds. these clouds across our region throughout the day. and that helps to keep temperatures down a bit. with plenty of sunshine today, we would have all gotten into the 70s. and back to the west, this is what we're watching, a strong storm system well cords canada. the trailing frontal boundary bringing shower activity and ending with another storm system around the dallas area. this is going to stay put for a

day or two. that will move to the north and in between, that rain is going to fall apart. the next area of rain will come once this storm system begins to move our way. let's talk about future weather for you. by tomorrow, 7:00 a.m., that rain moving this way is kind of out of here and just dealing with shower activity here by early tomorrow morning. well to the west. but tomorrow, we'll stay dry. we're going to be on the mild side once again with high temperatures in the 60s. but tomorrow you will not need the umbrella. thursday we will need the umbrella. thursday morning, at 6:00 a.m., rain likely across the area. all morning. so we could be seeing some locations that are problematic as far as rush hour is concerned. and maybe even a little line of showers developing. maybe even a rumble of thunder or two. and then behind this, we get rather breezy. thursday still going to be mild. but behind that, veronica johnson and i are looking at yet another cooldown making its way in during the day on friday. and vj, this is just the start of cooler weather moving in. >> that's right. here we go again. i know that folks haven't put their coats away too far. you're going to need them. take a look.

here's the pattern that we're under right now. we've got a lot of warm, mild air across the mid atlantic states. so that's from the south side of the jet stream. those upper level winds we really track, meteorologists get a handle on what's going on. warm here throughout the mid atlantic states. today those temperatures in the northern plains where you see the chilly air in the 30s and low 40s. that's going to modify a bit. but it's going to come dropping our way by friday. early part of the weekend, already on friday morning, we could see a couple locations. some neighborhoods starting out in the 30s. then we could see yet another change. doug? >> that's right. the best news is, it's not going to be quite as cold as last weekend but chilly. high temperatures tomorrow, nothing but nice weather tomorrow, with those clouds, though. 68 in d.c. 66 winchester. maybe 70 toward fredericksburg. your impact forecast for your wednesday, once again on the low side. i really do not think weather will have any issue as far as your day is concerned. no weather issues.

dealing with a lot of cloud cover during the afternoon. next couple days, we talk about the nice, mild weather wednesday and thursday with that rain on thursday. but then breezy and chilly friday. friday might be the coldest day, lowell see a cool weekend with highs in the mid 50s. another chance of rain on sunday as another storm system moves by. that brings through cooler air for monday with a high temperature of only 52 degrees. get ready. a stretch of the 50s moving in. >> thank you, doug. developing tonight, a woman charged with vandalizing the washington national cathedral has been found incompetent to stand trial. and a judge today said he didn't think she would become competent any time in the near future. police arrested her, you'll recall, back in july of 2013 for damaging two chapels with a soda can of green paint. she is connected to a stricken of other vandalism cases, including an incident at the lincoln memorial. did honda do everything it could after people died in its vehicles because of air bag

defects? we're going to find out why federal regulators are not so sure about that and what it means for the safety of drivers now. plus a new deadly police shooting. of some say in this case the cops did the right thing, pug the trigger on a suspect trying to escape. but not everyone is convinced. and a student groped at school, parents upset about who was accused. now at 5:00 tonight, we'll explain why that's not the only thing that has them upset. stay with us.

as soon as the results start coming in tonight, make nbc washington your home for up to the minute results for all of the local races. our first read section will also have articles to help you understand what's next, whether it comes to electing a new governor or mayor or the possibility of legal pot. now, if you haven't voted yet, time is running out. you have just over an hour in virginia and until 8:00 tonight in maryland and the district. we have posted an app to help you find your polling location. and once you make it through, take a picture and tweet it to us at nbc washington using the hash tag ivoted and decision2014. we're making a video stream and we would love to include yours. sometimes stories can transcend sports. >> this 4-year-old will get to root for her dad, devin, an nfl

player, in person for the first time thursday night. carol maloney is here to tell us why. >> such a special story it, guys. people across the country have watched as devin, a member of the cincinnati bengals, has shared his daughter's courageous battle with stage 4 pete pediatric cancer and despite health challenges, in two days, she will be the biggest star on one of the nfl's biggest stages. doctors say leah is well enough to travel to cincinnati from children's hospital in philadelphia. she was diagnosed in june with neuro blastoma, a rare childhood cancer and her survival chances are 50/50. over the past few months, proceeds from sales have been set aside for the cincinnati children's hospital, despite her dad's relative anonymity on the filed, 15,000 jerseys have been sold. even rivals have pitched in to help. and the patriots cheerleaders

wore devin's jersey a couple weeks ago. a $1.5 million check will be presented to the hospital during the browns game in her name. her dad knows just how much this is going to mean to her. >> she's just excited. she is talking about how she is going to be yelling in the crowd and stuff. so it's her first game. she usually comes to my games before everything that happened so i'm pretty sure she decided to get back out here. she wants me to see her dance and so i've got to do something for her. not . >> this is going to be a very special weekend for are her, a lot of tears and prayers. she has more radiation and chemotherapy ahead. if you need a team and player to root for, the bandwagon is growing. guys? >> yes, it is. >> thanks, carol. we've been following every development involving a woman snatched right off the streets of philadelphia. >> we told you why investigators are now in maryland, and now at 5:00, we hear from the family of that woman, that woman violently kidnapped. and it was president obama's

controversial meeting during his visit to the cdc, the security guard who lost his job after the encounter explains why things went so wrong after he tried to take a chance of a lifetime picture. election day kicks off with a theft at one polling place in the district. our decision 2014 team coverage will be rolling out next.

right now at 5:30, he says he's living a nightmare. the security guard who was fired

after taking a picture with the president explains why he says he was wronged. time is up. the deadline is here for students who still haven't gotten their shots for school. what parents in prince george's county can expect if they still show up tomorrow without a doctor's note. and a justified deadly police shooting. >> i think it's a whitewa. >> the one reason officers say she fired on a man running away. we kick off our election day coverage with the race for governor in maryland. >> ooh, it's a tight one between lieutenant governor anthony brown and republican larry hogan. the key is going to be voter turnout and people have been lining up to cast their ballot since early this morning. chris gordon tweeted out this photo. and he joins us live. kicking off our team coverage from a polling station in prince george's county. chris? >> reporter: thank you. well, this morning i was in montgomery county. behind me you see the voters lining up here at largo high school in prince george's

county. the turnout has been steady all day, and just in the past hour, you can say it is beginning to get heavy. prince george's county is considered heavily democratic. it's the home of democratic candidate, be anthony brown, who has served prince george's as state delegate and lieutenant governor. and brown appears to be doing well here. how are you voting in the maryland governor's race? >> anthony brown. >> reporter: why? >> well, because i think he's the best one for the job. >> reporter: but other voters here in prince george's county prefer republican candidate larry hogan. you think he's the best candidate, why? >> i don't think he's the best candidate. i mean, for the best candidate, i think he's just the right person for the job. >> reporter: leisure world in silver spring is the biggest and most politically active precinct in all of maryland. but some voters told me they weren't thrilled with their choices for governor. >> i voted for brown. with great difficulty. >> reporter: meaning? >> meaning that i do not want to

vote republican, and that is not the way i ordinarily vote. >> reporter: but you weren't enthusiastic about your vote? >> no. >> hogan -- i was concerned he has not held an elective office, and that matters to me. >> reporter: now, republican candidate larry hogan is counting on democratic defectors, because in the state of maryland, democrats outnumber registered republicans by 2 to 1. tonight, on news4 at 6:00, we'll talk to some democratic voters who made the leap, and the question will be, are there enough? that's the latest, live in largo, maryland, chris gordon, news4. somebody broke into a voting site in the district and stole some polling laptops. an elections voluntary in davis elementary made the discovery around 5:00 this morning. d.c. police were notified. the four missing e-poll books are used to check in voters. elections officials replaced them for voting began. the board of elections says

there are no privacy concerns, a spokesperson telling us voter information cannot be obtained with those devices, unless they are connected to their network. we are tracking the race for d.c.'s next mayor. that race is the most competitive it's been in a generation. for more on that and other races in d.c., with he go to tom sherwood, at a polling place in adam's morgan. tom? >> reporter: wendy, precinct 24 here in adam's morgan is starting to pick up tonight. people are here for their various candidates. it's part of a changing city that makes this general election more competitive than ever. precincts across the city were reporting steady but not spectacular turnout this election day. the most competitive general election for mayor in 20 years as the city's demographics are changing. >> it's a changing city. washington, d.c. is a changing neighborhood and changing people. because the city in that sense

is up for grabs in terms of the politics of the city. >> election day! >> reporter: democratic nominee muriel bowser voted early, hoping a well-financed get out the vote operation would carry her to victory over challenger, david catania. catania, an independent focusing on school and government reform, has run many say a stronger than expected campaign against bowser in this overwhelmingly democratic city. three out of four voters are registered democrats. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: carol schwartz, making her fifth run for mayor, came out of retirement and switched from republican to independent in just the past three months for this contest. she consistently has trailed a distant third in the polling. what about tonight? is this a precinct that tends to vote in the evening? are more expected tonight? >> we had a push this morning and we'll have a push tonight. you have your joggers in the morning and night owls at night. >> reporter: also, the first-ever elected attorney general, spots on the d.c.

council and assorted other neighborhood offices andel school posts. and so we're going to try to get more enthusiasm from these people. they've been ought here owl day. whoever wins the mayor's race tonight, keep in mind, city voters have refused to it reelect the last two mayors in this city. we'll have more on that coming up on news4 at 6:00. i'm tom sherwood in the district, news4. >> thank you, tom. voters in the district will decide whether or not to legalize marijuana today. but businesses looking to get into the pot business should think twice before trying to cash in. there is a new tax that dates back to the war on drugs in the '80s. it allows the irs to take a huge chunk of profits from the sale of marijuana. the tax code does not allow businesses to deduct things like rent, advertising and employee salaries. after pot became legal in colorado, one business owner ended up owing the irs more than $20,000. a montgomery county middle

school is holding a meeting for parents tomorrow after a man working at that school is accused of groping a student. this happened last month at baker middle school in damascus. but a letter was just recently sent home. school officials say they want to protect the victim's identity. they say the man was hired by a temp agency, and his background check was inaccurate. he is now facing assault charges. and we're staying on top of this developing story right now at 5:00. kidnapped off the street. emotional pleas from the family of the woman in that terrifying video there and her connection to our area. a new vehicles into defective air bags. what one automaker knew before the recall. and parents and students trying to beat a vaccination deadline and make it to school tomorrow. >> oh, we had a lovely day and a nice evening, doug. >> a nice evening tonight, i think. we're going to squeeze out one more day before the rain starts to move in. i'll show you when in my forecast

passengers thought the worst was coming. the turbulence on their flight was so strong, it sent several crew members to the hospital with a concussion. the air transflight from paris was bound from new york, but the plane encountered soefr turbulence over northern england because of bad weather. three crew members were injured and the plane was forced to fly back to paris. no passengers were hurt. there are new concerns

tonight over honda and those recalled air bags. the government is investigating whether honda failed to promptly report incidents of at that cata air bags deploying in a way that kills motorists. 8 million air bags have been recalled in the united states, 5 million in honda vehicles. safety advocates say at least four deaths and dozens of injuries have been reported because shrapnel can spray from the air bags when they deploy. an alexandria man is dead tonight after running out on to a busy roadway. this accident happened last night on the james madison parkway in king george county, virginia. investigators tell us a car hit matthew thompson when he ran out in front of traffic. thompson died at the scene. the driver of the car did stop, and won't be charged. virginia's governor is checking out the ebola screening process at one of the area's busiest airports. terry mcauliffe toured dulles international and got an update.

dulles, one of five u.s. airports, were in the majority of people traveling from liberia, sierra leone, and guinea enter the united states. enhanced screenings began there two weeks ago and travelers are given a kit which includes a thermometer, a tracking log, pictures outlining symptoms and information on who to call if they become sick. breaking news at this hour. we're gathering new images just released in connection to the abduction of a woman in philadelphia. up next, see the new photo, proof that her abductor stopped in maryland. one big issue stands out to the news4 i-team when it comes to problems at the polls. we'll show what we found in virginia.

♪ good morning, usher! hey! did you know bees communicate through dance?

me too... we're practically twins!

we have breaking news on a storye brought you earlier. we are now getting our first look at that man who could be the person of interest in e abduction of that young woman in philadelphia. you can see him at the p & c bank in aberdeen, maryland, where police say he used the woman's atm card. if you look closely at the right, you can make out part of his face. the man is wearing similar clothing to the person seen in that surveillance video of the abduction. this has been an emotional day for the family of that young woman. she has ties in her area. her name is carlesha freeland-gaither. she was abducted late sunday evening while walking in northwest philadelphia. here is the video. rosemary connors was there as carlesha's family made a plea for her safe return. >> at first, the mother of

22-year-old carlesha freeland-gaither was at a loss for words, overcome by grief, but then she made her plea. >> please let her go. let her go. just give her back. just give her back, please. give her back. >> reporter: carlesha's personality is as bright as her smile. her family tells me. after graduating from leonardtown high school in maryland, where she lived with her grandmother, carlesha moved back to philadelphia. her father, carl, helped her get a job as a nursing assistant caring for cancer patients. >> if anything, we want somebody, come get me. just release her. she is a young female. she doesn't need to go through this. >> reporter: earlier in the day at the scene of the abduction, carlesha's family continued to canvas the neighborhood with word that her debit card was used out of state, her grand mother wonders if the abductor in this video could be a former boyfriend from maryland who tried to track carlesha down a few years ago after she moved to philadelphia. >> i do recall carlesha telling

me that shehought he was a little aggressive, and a little controlling. >> reporter: police patrolling the crime scene area today are only saying they're looking at all possibilities. >> if carlesha can hear this, what do you want her to know? >> i love you. >> the whole entire family. >> her whole family. >> the whole world loves carlesha. >> we love her. and we just want her to be returned to us safely. >> reporter: 9:30 tonight will mark 4 hou8 hours since the abduction. in an effort to entice people to come forward, there is a $42,000 reward for the arrest of the attacker. reporting in philadelphia, rosemary connors, news4. turning to decision 2014, and the role of voter turnout. it will be key to several big races tonight. but candidates will also be splitting fewer votes. our i-team scott macfarlane found out more than half a million votes were returned back in 2008, nearly five times more than the number of absentee

ballots turned in this year at just 118,000. keep in mind, this year's number is consistent with other midterm election years, but it goes to show just how many fewer votes are cast when the white house isn't up for grabs. the i-team is also keeping track of problems voters are reporting at the polls today. news4's tisha thompson is at the live desk with more on that. >> wendy, one big issue we have seen today has been confusion about virginia's voter i.d. law. this is the first major election were voters in virginia are required to show a photo i.d. before they can vote. there is a long list, including passports and i.d.s. but some who tried to use those, told us today they were asked to show a second i.d. tt contained their home address. the secretary of the fairfax county office of elections says if you bring in a passport or an employer i.d. you do not -- you do not need to show an icht d. with your address on it. they called the various

precincts we told them about to clarify this with poll workers there. we have a complete list of what i.d.s are and are not accepted to vote in virginia on our website, nbcwashington.com. and if you see a voting problem tonight, call us at 202-885-4444. or e-mail us at tips@news4iteam.com. we're tracking voter problems throughout the area, and through the night. we'll have more of what we have seen tonight at 6:00. tisha thompson, news4 i-team. people heading to the polls right before they close, doug. >> not a problem out there at all. after another nice day today, temperatures in the upper 60s and even low 70s. this evening not a problem. take a look at the evening planner as the sun went down at 5:04 and days continue to get shorter. 64 degrees currently. 64 at 7:00. 11:00 temperature dropped to 56. that's in the city. so it won't be a little bit on

the chilly side, especially in the suburbs as temperatures will be in the upper 40s to the 50 degree mark. 64 in reston. 58 the cool spot towards annapolis now and cooler along the water and 257 in college park. what we're seeing on radar, nothing. no rain out there. and we're not going to be seeing any rain as we move through the night tonight. and no rain tomorrow. mostly cloudy and still mild. we're going for a temperature between 61 and 69 degrees. so it will be fairly mild tomorrow. our average high this time of year, 62. so, again, a little above that. so tomorrow maybe the last nice day to get out there and play golf. so that exercise impact forecast, sunrise at 6:40. sunset at 5:03. i'm not telling you to call in, i'm just saying tomorrow could be nice. 1:00, temperature around 65 and up to 67 degrees around 3:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon. so looking pretty good. how about skycast 4 for when the rain moves in? tonight a very nice night, dealing with cloud cover tomorrow morning. we'll start off with the cloud cover around our region. but we'll have some breaks of

sun, but a nice start to the day along the mall, looking pretty good around the city. and then we see the rain. here we are thursday, 7:00 a.m., notice how the rain is falling across the city and i think this will have an impact on our forecast and commute during the day on thursday. so that's something we'll be watching out for. so 70% chance of rain during the day thursday, and most likely earlier with a high of 67. and then we drop to 53 on friday and it will feel cooler than that. 54 on saturday, 55 on sunday. that's when our next chance of rain moves in. not a big chance, but this is another storm that will bring in cooler air as we make our way into early next week. highs next monday only around 52 degrees. so after a little bit of mild weather, we get back into the 50s. >> thank you, doug. they can't put it off any longer. tomorrow is the deadline for the hundreds of prince george's county students who still have not been vaccinated. now, if they don't get those required shots, they can't attend classes. it's our flash survey question tonight. should parents be punished if their children are not

vaccinated. call or text 202-601-34444. 1 for yes, 2 for no. darcy spencer visited a health clinic today, trying to help families meet the deadline. >> reporter: this little girl who recently moved to the u.s. is getting a vaccine at the mary city in adele my. if she didn't do this today, she couldn't go to school tomorrow. >> good job! >> reporter: her mom spoke to us through an interpreter. >> she was told if she didn't have them she wouldn't be able to go to school but now she will be able to go to school tomorrow. >> reporter: more than 400 other students could be barred from attending school in prince george's county wednesday if they haven't gotten their vaccinations. school officials say they have done everything to let parents know about the requirements, from letters to phone calls to even home visits. now the final deadline is here. >> a lot of patients, their

vaccine records are piecemeal, so we have to piece them together so they may have gotten their vaccines in one clinic or another country. so we have to put the vaccine records together to show the school that they are actually fully vaccinated. >> reporter: so what happens if a student who hasn't gotten the immunization or proof they got it shows up? school system officials say their parents will be called to come pick them up. they won't be allowed in the classroom. so what happens if parents don't comply and get these shots for their kids? there could be some serious repercussions for those parents. i'll tell you about possible truancy proceedings coming up on news4 at 6:00. in adele my, news4. here are the results of our flash question tonight. about punishing parents whose children aren't vaccinated. so far a majority believe there should be consequences. this is also a hot topic on our facebook page tonight. well, he was allegedly threatening police with a sword. and police say the case is

clear. they had every right to shoot to kill. we're going to explain why this case is not so clear to everyone. that story is next.

let's check what stories are trending online today. the security guard fired after taking a picture of president obama at the cdc says he's living a nightmare after news

reports wrongly called him a convicted felon. kenneth tate was assigned to accompany the president during his visit last night. he tried to snap a picture for his mom. tate was later fired for carrying a firearm as he rode in an elevator with the president. ringling brothers has just been slapped with a hefty fine for this hair-hanging stunt that went horribly wrong. osha find them $7,000, the maximum allowed by law. federal safety regulators say a clip snap, sending eight acrobats to the ground. some were seriously injured. the circus has 15 days to app l appeal. adrian peterson says he's ready to move forward. the minnesota vikings football star won't be going to jail for hitting his 4-year-old son with a switch. today a judge accepted his plea deal. peterson will have to pay a $4,000 fine and perform community service. he will still be allowed to see his son and he may be back on

the football field this season. two police officers are in the clear tonight after a deadly confrontation with a man wielding a sword. a judge in utah has ruled the officers had no choice but to shoot. andrew adams has reaction to the verdict and what the man's family plans to do now. >> the sword is here. as you can see, it's over three feet long, it's metal. the tip is sharp. i don't find it reasonable to require the corporal to permit a person who is armed and who is most immediately attempted to wound or kill police officers to escape into a populated commercial or retail area. >> reporter: the utah county attorney is resolute. >> mr. hunt's actions and their speed, violence and unprovoked nature, evidenced an intent to kill or cause serious bodily injury to one or both of the officers. >> reporter: he gave reporters a detailed accounting of the final seconds of darren hunt's life. calm at first and then fatefully

reaching for that sword. >> abruptly and without any apparent provocation, withdrew the sword from its sheath and immediately swung or stabbed it toward at least one of the officers. >> reporter: hunt was shot as many as three times in that spot. prosecutors say cops were worried he might hack somebody in a busy parking lot. officers shot him three more times as he ran, sword still in hand. >> i can assure you and the public, there was nothing being hidden in this investigation. >> reporter: saratoga springs pd says it was confident the case rose to deadly force. >> knowing what we know about a case but not comment on it is a frustrating situation sometimes. >> reporter: family lawyers simply aren't buying any of it. >> i think it's a white wash, i think it's an exaggeration. i think they ignored good, hard evidence to the contrary. >> reporter: and continue to prepare for a lawsuit. >> there are a lot of questions raised by this, as cara said,

probably more questions raised than answered today. the family is concerned. >> and hunt's family says they hope a lawsuit may prompt changes in the way police officers are trained. now at 6:00, the final votes being cast in virginia, d.c. and maryland. tonight, new information as the polls prepare to close on one of the longest and most expensive midterm election campaigns. from complaints about vote flipping to problems at local polling stations. >> steady voter turnout for the maryland governor's race. who will it favor? >> will democratic mark warner hang on to his senate seat, and who will the first new member of congress in the tenth district be in more than three decades? i'll tell you what the voters have to say. in d.c., it's the closest general election for mayor in two decades. nationally, all the eyes are on the senate. we're now just an hour away from polls closing in virginia, and two hours left in maryland and the district.

our crews are spread out across the region tonight. we begin with julie carey in mclean, virginia. julie? >> reporter: i can tell you, still a steady stream of voters coming to this polling place in this final hour. this mclean precinct is in the tenth congressional district here and in the eighth district there is an open congressional seat. so voters will elect a new representative this evening. that's been driving turnout across northern virginia. virginia voters also faced a first at the polls today, the first time they had to present photo i.d. to cast a ballot. it's the marquis race on the virginia ballot. democratic senator mark warner cast his ballot in oldtown this morning. the poll showing him ahead in his bid for a second term. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: warner's challenger, ed gillespie, voted in person absentee last month, so today he was working the polls. >> if there's any questions i can answer to help you decide,