welcome to news4 this week. hi everyone. i'm veronica johnson, and we're going to show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this week including a new school speed trap. why knowing a speed camera's location will no longer be enough. plus wide awake surgery will open your eyes to the reasons doctors want patients to stay awake while under the knife. and we'll drink to this. how a popular beer craze is getting attention on capitol hill. but first, the government may ask to step inside your house this summer. some 15,000 homeowners in the capitol area can expect a d.c. official to visit in the coming months. news4's mark seagraves explains

why they'll want to tour inside your digs and why you can tell them no. >> yes, i've had the police called on us. >> reporter: d.c. tax assessors with their own badges in hand are going door to door to update their records to ensure residents are paying the proper amount in their tax bills. and they're asking to come inside your home. >> what we'd like to do is start upstairs and work our way down. >> reporter: not everyone welcomes the tax man. >> most will stop us at the door. >> reporter: and some go beyond just stopping them at the door. >> yes, they do get angry, but we point out our job is to make sure information is accurate. >> reporter: depending on what they find your assessment could go up or down. >> if we find they have central air-conditioning air-conditioning if we find there is an addition to the house that we don't have record of if we find there is remodeling. >> only about half let the assessor inside.

>> we try to assess things to see if it adds market value to the property. >> reporter: if the assessor finds anything it most likely will meenan increasean an increase to your assessment. you don't have to let them in you don't even have to let them on your property. but they'll still take pictures and measurements. as someone who let them inside this woman said she wished she would have had time to straighten up first. >> other jurisdictions in our area send a tax assessor door to door as well. >> no basement so we should be good here. >> mark seagraves, news4. a controversial art display is no longer in the front hallway at oxen hill high school. it shows a police officer next to a man with his hands up. the man's shirt has bullet holes with blood streaming down to look like stripes of the american flag. the school says it removed the display this week after seeing

it circulate on social media. administrators say they don't want to offend police officers. some parents disagree with that decision. >> free speech. they're in a school it's an educational setting, and they are honor students. >> why displacey something like that? >> a school spokesperson said the school displayed the image to express what social justice means to them. well, there are drivers who know where those speed cameras are. they slow down and then take off again. so prince georges county police are taking action. they deployed the device called the dragon cam. it's a handheld cross between a radar gun and a camera. the department plans to use it in 146 school zones around the county to catch speeders. >> what we're trying to do is move our equipment around and make the best use of the equipment and to have the biggest effect as far as to get motorists to slow down. >> they're going to start with a

30-day pilot program with warnings for violators, then they're going to move on to those $40 citations. yikes. if you plan to enjoy a drink or two this weekend, chances are you might get it from a craft beer place. they're big in our area. in fact a recent poll finds that one in five beer drinkers really prefers to drink them. and as tracie potts reports, brewers are hoping capitol hill lawmakers show a preference for their industry as well. >> we're going to fill it with 12 ounces of beer. >> reporter: bill butcher is in a growing business. he's one of 3400 people in the u.s. who makes specialty beers called craft beers. >> people are willing to pay more for something that tastes better and once people taste the good stuff, they don't go back. >> reporter: about 75 beer companies are in washington this weekend to demonstrate how well food and craft beers go together. but while they're here brewers

from all 50 states are visiting capitol hill. they are on a mission. >> small brewers pay exorbitant level of federalized taxes, so it's an additional tax on each barrel of beer that they produce. >> reporter: sales of craft beers are on the rise in the u.s. for some it's a matter of taste. >> every, like craft beer has a different, like taste to it and it's cool to just, like experiment with the different beers. >> reporter: there are almost 3500 craft beer breweries in the u.s. right now. sales are up 22% over last year. the trade group, the brewers association, points out brewers contributed more than $30 billion to the economy in 2012. >> it's hip now to try these smaller companies. >> reporter: breweries, retailers and wholesalers help with more than 300,000 jobs. there's always talk on the hill about democrats and republicans not getting together but the

industry group said they found a lot of bipartisan support in both the house and the senate here for the craft brewing movement. kraes tracie potts, nbc news washington. >> i like a good beer. they're not just trying to walk in someone else's shoes, these officers are trying to see what it's like to live in someone else's head. cominge coming up the unique police training design to change minds.

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the washington area not only a magnet for young people it's also near the top of a new list for retirees. bankrate.com did a new survey which found the arlington, alexandria area ranked second on the list of best places to retire. it's all based on factors like weather, cost of living health care and things to do. and northern virginia is the only area on the east coast that

made the top five. phoenix came in number one. well gyms routinely pop up in neighborhoods, but a new gym in northeast washington's iron city is different. how this fitness city is also a makeover for the entire neighborhood. >> that was a tough workout. >> you got a little sweat on your brow. >> i've been working out all morning. trying to burn calories, lose the weight and get in shape. >> she's just one of many at the new planet fitness. it opened today in an old industrial area that has been a backwater to d.c.'s new development. but no longer. it's drawing retail housing, businesses and other activities. vern watson has lived in the area since the 1968 riots. she likes what she sees.

>> because the new stuff brings a new look to our area and it's about putting people to work. that's the biggest thing. >> reporter: michael stewart, a cook is also a long-time resident. >> i remember this place when i was a little boy. my dad owned a market over here. >> what do you think of the new place? >> i love it man. >> reporter: the owner, who works out with the new trainer, says she's inspired not just by the new gym but by the neighborhood. >> we like gymareas that have a grittiness to them. that can be new housing. >> and working out can be infectious so soon maybe the whole neighborhood will be doing it. still ahead, a popular summer pastime will be back. how a local teen recovered from a serious accident and how staying wide awake during her surgery helped make it

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in "for your health," imagine being wide awake during surgery. a scary thought for sure but gary ginsler explains how this unique procedure helped a local teen get back on the field after a pretty serious accident. >> reporter: you don't see this too often, a patient smiling during surgery, but here is ashley marshan beaming from ear to ear while she's wide awake during surgery to fix her hand. >> i could hear everything. i was sitting there, and i could -- you could actually kind of feel him cutting into your hand. >> reporter: ashley's hand was crushed last summer when the utility task vehicle she was riding in flipped over. her hand was caught under the roof. and she suffered some serious lacerations, broke four fingers, her wrist and her forearm. >> i've never felt that pain in my life. a lot of conversation came up

about amputateing my hand. >> reporter: a softball player since she was a little kid, ashley said she was devastated to hear she could lose her hand. doctors in maine where she was on vacation tried to fix it using plates and screws but after weeks of therapy, she still couldn't move it very well. that's when physicians at medstar georgetown university hospital took another look. dr. michael kessler is an orthopedic hand surgeon. >> her bones were not set properly so when she tried to open and close her fingers to grab an object or to obtain an object she wasn't able to have appropriate motion to do any of those activities. >> reporter: dr. kessler reset the bones in her hand wrist and forearm. but once she had healed from that surgery, she still couldn't move her fingers very well and that made it impossible to do most activities including catching a softball. ashley wasn't ready to give up yet, though. >> she's a tough girl. she, you know doesn't mess around and she has her mission

set on playing softball and there wasn't anything that was going to get in her way. not five broken bones or anything else. >> reporter: that's when dr. kessler told her he could do another procedure. it's called wide awake surgery. patients are only given local anesthesia so they can actually move during surgery. that's important in ashley's case because doctors were working to free the tendons around the joints in her fingers to help them move. >> i see my hand and i got to see my bones and i got to see the plate, the tendons. it was awesome. >> reporter: so here's ashley today. she's back out on the field practicing catching and hitting. she says she's still trying to get back to where she was, but she is feeling confident. >> it's very important. softball and basketball have been my life for almost 10 years, and it's been so much fun. it's what i love to do it's

what i want to do and i'm really hoping i can take it to the collegiate level. police officers in fairfax county are on their way to a better understanding of how to help people struggling with mental illness. this week 20 officers put on headphones and ear buds and they spent 45 minutes hearing voices. the exercise to simulate what someone with schizophrenia might be experiencing and give those officers a better understanding and idea of what might happen if they encounter someone like that on patrol. >> we can talk academically about what mental illness is and what somebody might be suffering, but to be in somebody's shoes and to experience what it's like is a whole different world. >> police in d.c. montgomery county and prince georges county have also undergone crisis intervention training. if you or someone you know need

to learn to cope with mental illness, we have resfourszources for you in the changing minds part of our website. it's used to celebrate and toast good times. now a local company is using beer and wine to honor fallen heroes. we'll show you

oh it's a highlight of the summer. this year's screen on the green will kick off july 20th. the 1959 classic "north by northwest" will be the first movie shown at the free outdoor event on the national mall. "the poseidon adventure" will be august 3rd and then "back to the future" august 10. the movie starts right at sunset. it's put on by hbo and our sunset film festival.

we have an entire program hosted on our website. thousands of american troops have died fighting in iraq and afghanistan, and while their sacrifice has been praised their names often become casualties as well. now a local beer and wine company is trying to change all that. news4's ho yang shows us how. >> reporter: on october 3rd 2009 400 taliban fighters attacked a small outpost of 53 u.s. soldiers in afghanistan. 21-year-old army specialist stefan mace of percival virginia had just finished duty but he ran back to his post to help his fellow soldiers. he died that day. the next day, his mother received a knock on her door. >> i don't remember whether i fell to the ground or fell into my husband's arms but i remember going outside and screaming on the front porch.

>> reporter: edelson says her son was the kid everyone loved. he was funny and fun-loving. but he also had a strong sense of duty and wanted to serve the military to make a difference in his country. >> you're trying to not only remember your child, but for other people to remember him and the sacrifices he made. >> reporter: one year ago, edelson discovered honor, a winery and brewery that pays tribute to men and women in the armed forces by sharing their stories and donating to charities for fallen and injured troops. >> now i have somebody who has said i care about your son. >> reporter: founder dave keener comes from a long line of veterans. >> i wanted to do something not only to honor my family but to honor those that have served our countries. i look at wine and beer as a means of celebration. it's raising the glass in someone's honor for the courage and the loyalty and the commitment of what they've done for our country. >> reporter: the wine is made in

napa valley and sold at distribute torzors across the country, including oakland wine shop. each contains a tribute card sons and daughters, brothers and sisters who made the ultimate sacrifice. >> we wanted these stories to be real. it's not about how they were injured or how they were killed it's about their life. these are real people. >> reporter: edelson believes these real stories not only salute the brave but start conversations about how to support veterans and their families. she's become a strong advocate herself. >> i cite for them every day, especially the ones that came home with stefan. i'm their surrogate mom and i get phone calls all the time when they're in distress and i help them. >> reporter: honor fights with her to keep stefan's memory alive and to keep living veterans from being forgotten.

hun yang news4. >> that is a fantastic idea. i hope they're selling that close to where i'm from fort bragg, north carolina. honor also began a program to send handwritten notes to families who lost loved ones in the line of duty on the anniversary of their death. that's all for news4 this week guys. i'm veronica johnson. thanks for joining us as always. until next time be safe be happy, and i'll see you back here again next time. ♪

that breaking news starts us off in the district. police are trying to figure who shot and killed a man overnight. it happened at wisconsin and calvert street in northwest in the global park neighborhood. the man was stabbed several times. >> tropical troubles are headed our way. we have potential for heavy rain today. bill swept through the midwest soaking state after state. at least three people died. now remnants of that system could put a major dent in your weekend plans. >> 6:00 on this june 20th. i'm david culver. >> let's get to chuck b