it is back to school for 73,000 students in loudoun county. here is a change some high schoolers may like. they will not have to take midterms or finals this year. snow days from back-to-back stormy winters cancelled the tests. today, river side high school will be opened for first time. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is there this morning. look for his live forecast in the next hour. students in prince william county are headed back to school this morning. one new school will welcome students in for the very first time. chris yung elementary opens for the first time this year. it's named for chris yung with the prince william county police. he died while on duty nearly three years ago. >> he cared about people. he cared about children. he had a passion for helping others and when you have that kind of passion for helping others and helping children and just helping people in general,

that's what we are all about. >> the school will run a new program called s.t.e.a.m. it is focused on science, technology, engineering, math. it's a way to begin teaching elementary school students real world subject applications. the 95 catholic elementary and middle schools in the archdiocese of washington will open in a few hours. principals and teachers gathered yesterday to open the year with a celebratory mass. the schools serve nearly 20,000 students. remember, you can always use the #show us your scholars. we want to see your pictures. tweet or facebook them or e-mail them to isee@nbcwashington.com. got a lot of great pictures last week. >> but not everyone is happy

about this. but it's exciting. >> the tart of school means -- the start of school means summer is over. >> but summer weather is not over yet. chuck bell has a look at the forecast. good morning, once again. >> good-bye summer vacation, hello summer humidity. what, the last day of august and the heat and humidity are coming back into the picture for the first week of school for many. don't forget the umbrellas first thing or you'll look like you didn't prepare. a couple of light showers across southern st. mary's county. temperatures outside are muggy already. low to mid 70s across the region. still a possibility of isolated showers. upper 70s by about 9:00 morning. high temperatures, mid to upper 80s. recess grade today, only at a "b." traffic grade, melissa? >> i'm going to give it an a-minus right now.

we have a chance yet to improve ourselves this morning. iner loop, the typical construction this morning. and 95 in virginia little bit different. we have this road work in the way again as you're headed northbound there stafford. going about 33 miles per hour at this point this morning. you can take route 1 to kind of avoid that if you'd like. 270 into and out of town look good. 6 6 at fairfax county parkway no problems there. back in ten minutes. developing out of bangkok, more bomb making materials just found during a raid of a second apartment in thailand. the police found fertilizer, gunpowder, digital clocks and remote controlled cars that can be used to detonate a device. this is near the same area that police believe is connected to the bombing of a thai shrine was

arrested. police say they have two new suspects but they believe up to ten people could be part of this plot. they include thai and foreigners. this is a developing story. we'll keep you posted. >> thank you. 4:34. in a few hours an accused bank robber who sparked a massive manhunt will go on trial. dubbed the bicycle bandit by police is accused of robbing a dozen bikes in virginia. after being arrested in march he tried to ill can himselfhen he was take -- to kill himself when he was taken to the hospital. he overpowered two guards leading to the nine-hour man hunt. he will face the robbery charges in alexandria. in a few hours we'll find out whether d.c. police officers have no confidence in police chief cathy lanier. the d.c. police union held a vote this weekend. it comes amid a huge spike of crime in the city and the highest homicide rate in years. it came at the tail end of the

latest all hands on deck initiative to limit crime. the chief think it could have influenced the vote. she said, when we have violent crime, we have to make the sacrifices that we all swore we would make when we took this job. it is now 4:35. today you may see helicopters and emergency views landing in front the u.s. capitol. but it's just a drill. u.s. park police, capitol police and officers will be with the district and they'll be conducting evacuation exercises today and tomorrow. the choppers will land on both the east and west front of the capitol building. that begins around 6:30 this morning. so you may run into street closures in the area. marvin mandel has passed away at the age of 95. governor larry hogan released a statement saying maryland lost a great leader and friend. the general assembly appointed mandel governor in 1969 after spiro agnew was elected richard nixon's vice president. he was elected to two full terms after that. he passed away in st. mary's

county surrounded by family. today, montgomery county police are looking to the county medical examiner to help solve a murder. a man died after being attacked in wheaton. montgomery county police say the man argued in a parking lot last night. the victim tried to run away from at least three attackers but they caught one him. the three men beat up the victim and he died at the hospital. police say he also may have been shot or stabbed. >> at this time we don't know what precipitated this event. the detectives are on the scene. they are gathering information and talking to witnesses. and they will attempt to determine what happened. >> the medical examiner's report will determine a cause of death in this case. police would not comment on whether they had any suspects in custody. police will keep looking through missing persons report after hunters found a body in a park in gaithersburg. the body is with the medical

examiner for an autopsy. the public should not be concerned. a grup of people -- a group of people were on a controlled deer hunt when they spotted that body over the weekend. a young girl and man are recovering from gunshot wounds in southeast d.c. evidence markers covered third and "i" streets last night. officers have not made any arrests in this case. fire causes $50,000 in damage to this house and firefighters say a cat is responsible. plus, north amica's tallest america renamed. what it has to do with global wa

happening today, some road work could affect your drive through d.c. crews are replacing the virginia avenue railroad tunnel in southeast washington. you'll see some lanes blocked today. csx says the work will go on for the next ten weeks. a cat caused all this damage to a house in suitland. that's right. a cat. the family cat knocked over candle yesterday morning. it set mattress on fire and the flames spread from there. no one was hurt, but the fire caused $50,000 worth of damage. off to a warm start on this monday morning. looking at your weather on weather and traffic on the 1s. >> what the students can look

for at the bus stop. good morning, chuck. >> good morning, you have your umbrellas in your backpacks, kid, to play out it on the safe side. there's more showers down to lynchburg and the roanoke area. that's lifting steadily northbound. so our rain chances will continue to increase. now, it's not a guarantee you'll get rained on today but i would have the umbrella ready to go just to be safe. 72 in frederick, maryland, 72 in manassas, virginia. high temperatures today. mid to upper 80s. we should see a little bit in the way of sunny breaks mid to late afternoon today and it won't take much sunshine to get the temperatures up into the mid and upper 80s. plenty more chances to be 90 and higher this week. that's in ten minutes, melissa. >> we have road work, this is at kepsington -- kensington. two lanes blocked there in the southbound lane. so that's something you'll probably be dealing with here

for the next i don't know, 45 minutes or so. if you're headed out some time soon. 270 at old hundred road, no problems there. everything looking quite good. same thing when looking at 66 into town and out of town. rolling along quite nicely. remember to listen to our friends on wtop 103.5 f.m. when you hop in your car after this back to school morning for a lot of kiddos here. 95 northbound out of stafford you can see we're slow. 41 miles per hour. still have a 2 1/2 mile backup in the area and then branch avenue at suitland parkway, two lanes blocked. southbound, one lane is blocked. >> thank you. is it the year of the anti-establishment candidate? we all know about donald trump, but now there's someone on the democratic side bearing down on hillary clinton. and just out this morning we'll tell whether you

welcome back at 4:45. this first primary state in the country is handling hillary clinton some bad news. the polls show she's losing some ground. while on the gop side, two washington outsiders are extending their live. tracie potts has more on this. good morning. >> reporter: hi, good morning. we're watching the numbers for you, boy, are they changing from the democratic -- for the democrats. the new des moines register poll shows that in iowa, democrats are as we are seen in some other stat leaning toward bernie sanders. take a look. she only has a seven-point lead over sanders. 37 to 30. that was a 41 point lead just a few months ago in may. by the way, joe biden who hasn't even announced yet is showing up in double digits. on the republican side, donald trump is still in the lead, but take a look at who's right behind him. ben carson is number two, only

five points behind donald trump in this latest iowa poll. again, that is first caucus state, so they are laser focused on what these candidates are saying and what they're doing and we are seeing some challenges for the front runners on both sides. >> tracie potts, thank you. today, president obama heads to alaska for a historic three-day visit. he'll become the first sitting president to visit the alaskan arctic to bring attention to climate change. the president will land in anchorage later today ahead of the visit the obama administration changed the name of mt. mckinley yesterday. the tallest mountain will now be called by the original name, denali. it means high one. as early as today, we could learn whether tom brady will play in the patriots first four games this year. he is facing a suspension for deflategate. the third and final hearing starts hours from now. we'll send you a breaking news alert if a decision comes down

this morning or whether brady and the nfl reach a settlement. they asked for a decision by this friday for -- at the latest. if the suspension is upheld it will begin in ten days. director wes craven died yesterday. he created freddie kruger and the nightmare on elm street movies and he saw success in the scream movies. he suffered from brain cancer. he was 76 years old. you can wear maroon and orange today to remember one of the victims of last week's on-air ambush. adam ward's family says he loved his alma mater virginia tech. a disgruntled wdbj employee murdered photographer ward and reporter alison parker live on tv. the family will hold a memorial service at salem high school in the southwestern part of maryland. the focus in the story may be shifting to mental health issues and how we care for those who are struggling with them.

the man who shot ward and parker admitted himself that he wrestled with those issues. at a memorial service yesterday, wdbj's station manager said he's working with state lawmakers to better identify how to approach and care for those suffering from mental illness. >> most mental illness is treatable if we can get to the suffererer. if this case we didn't. >> the service began with a video montage. a view of who ward and parker were. you can see them dressed up and having a little fun during some of their live reports. that's how people want to remember them. well, we are learning more about the man who fell to his death at a baseball game. the braves held a moment of silence for gregory murrey before yesterday's game. he fell over the deck saturday night. he was a braves season ticket holder for 23 years. new this morning the car in your driveway could be attracting thieves. we just got a new list that has

the most common stolen vehicles of 2014 and there is a common thread. we posted that whole list on the nbc washington app. but here's some of the highlights for you. in washington, the 2002 dodge caravan was the most stolen car. that was followed by the 1996 honda accord and 2000 jeep grand cherokee. the 2002 dodge caravan also topped the list of most stolen car in maryland. the 1997 honda accord and 2006 ford full sized pickup also had high theft numbers. the '97 accord moved to the top of the hiss in virginia followed by the full size pickup. the 2014 toyota camry was the third most stolen car in virginia. last year, national insurance crime bureau released that list. maryland is the fourth worst state for driving according to bank rate.com. as you know, maryland had some of the longest commutes and the highest insurance costs.

the good news is that maryland has a low deadly car crash rate. louisiana was the worst state in the country for drivers. for first time in months blue bell ice cream will be back on some store shelves today. the company is rolling out the popular ice cream in stages with starting some stores in texas and alabama where it's made. ten cases of listeria were linked to their products earlier this year including three deaths in kansas. virginia will be one of the last states to see blue bell return, but the company hasn't said when that will be. and an update for you on our panda cub at the national zoo. they're starting to see his black marks develop. isn't that cute? around the ears. mei xiang's mom isn't putting him down very often. still bonding. parents, a reminder for you in this back to school rush. your child needs to have up to date immunizations before entering kindergarten or sixth grade or transferring into the fairfax county public schools.

there are extended hours in the clinics. school starts next week. there's still time for the back to school hair cuts too, but if you wanted to get them for free you may have missed the window. stylists at alexandre de paris, they gave out free hair cuts to 98 kids yesterday. the salon said the cuts were part of a benefit for the american cancer society. but there are a lot of barbershops in northern virginia that do this every year. they do free hair cuts so look around your neighborhood. >> looks like they're not just getting hair cuts, but whole blowout treatments and scalp massage. >> getting ready for the prom. i need it all blown out, extension, all of i. >> we laugh but you never know these days. >> your kids, do they get their hair done and ready for -- >> no. we do get them a little hair cut, but no special treatment. >> they'll need a lot of hair spray today. >> they are.

i mean, i don't need a lot. but that's because my hair is nice and short. no one care -- >> aaron needs quite a bit. >> does he really? i always wondered about that, aaron. why do you go through so much hair products. >> 20 minutes it takes. >> wow. i have better things to do in 20 minutes. it's a cloudy start. there will be some chances that you'll get rained on today. so keep the umbrella close by. 76 degrees now, lots more humid now than it's been in the last few days. plenty of clouds, occasional showers. warm and humid. probably not going to make 90 degrees today because of all the cloud cover, but it will feel like 90 with the humidity. 72 now in new market, maryland. 72 in martinsburg. 75 quantico and stafford this morning. runners forecast, occasional showers and lots of humidity. temperatures out the door this morning are already in the mid to upper 70s. so plan on sweating a lot on the morning runs today. temperatures will gradually climb under the mid and upper 80s. it depends if we get the

sunshine earlier in the day, we may flirt with 90 degrees. if the clouds hold thick long enough it might be more in the 85 to 86 degree range. not much on the roads yet. there are showers down to the south, the area of low pressure was erika and now all the moisture is trying to stream northward. there sure is a lot of moisture out there, so keep the umbrellas ready to go for today. here's future weather off and on chances for light showers through 8:00 or 9:00 this morning. clouds holding tough through about lunch time. with enough daytime heating we can bubble up with a few more showers later on today. here's the first check of the seven day. 40% chance you'll get rained on today. pack into the 90s for tuesday, wednesday and thursday. best chance for rain this week is friday. it doesn't sound good, but labor day weekend is looking great. >> i like that.

inner loop, the two right lanes are blocked, still some road work is happening until 5:00 a.m. you should be cleared out of the way and just fine. southbound connecticut avenue at kensington baltimore street two lanes were blocked there. 66 looks good. 95 in virginia looking better. the earlier road work through stafford has cleared out of the way. seeing a slow down southbound in dale city, but no problem listed. branch avenue suitland parkway, northbound, two lanes are blocked. southbound one lane is blocked. 95 at 198, no problems there. the blue angels put on a show high above d.c. we'll tell you the unique reason they took to the sky this weekend. she beat cancer. now he

you're watching "news4 today." >> and -- >> we were up late last night to catch the end of a no-hitter. jake arrieta no hit the dodgers last night. head the most wins -- he has the most wins of any major league pitcher in the league. it was the second by any team in less than a month. work on route 210 finally begins today. you may know it as indian head highway. m dot says the crews will start

clearing trees and other vegetation near livingston road. they're setting up the area for a new interchange. we'll be sure to update you on the progress. and there was some high flying acrobatics up in the air. that was a photo shoot for the blue angels in our skies. this weekend you may have seen or heard the legendary navy's blue angels. they were doing a photo shoot. f/a-18 hornets made several passes over reagan national airport. the seven jets flew alongside to take the pictures. never get tired of seeing that. we are three weeks and one week away from pope francis' visit to washington. when pope francis steps off of the plane at joint base andrews it will be first time he's visited u.s. soil. he will become the first pontiff to address a joint meeting of congress as well. the pope arrives on september

22. download the nbc washington app for all of the papal visit coverage. it will be extensive. a d.c. teenager who beat cancer as a child is now battling a new health challenge. 15-year-old kyleigh petersen has type i diabetes. a new service dog named hazel is helping her adjust to her diagnosis. hazel is a diabetic alert dog. she can smell when she needs to take her medicine. hazel will eventually be able to bring her her understand when and alert emergency responders through a modified phone. >> it's like actually -- >> being able to have something awesome come out of it i think is a huge blessing. >> they were able to get hazel through a grant process. if you'd like to learn more about the nonprofit company that supplies and trains service dogs like hazel be sure to check out the nbc washington app. so impressive the service dogs. with training and just specific to the particular disease. >> pretty amazing.

you can train a dog to do that. all right. stay with us, "news4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m. >> "news4 today" starts now. >> it's time to go back to school. four major school districts starting a new year today. >> we are getting you ready with a look at what's new in montgomery, loudoun, prince william and charles county. >> but we start with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell and the back to school forecast. >> good morning. while you were sleeping, clouds continued to move in and thicken and they're bringing a pretty solid chance for rain with them as well. not everyone is going to get rained on today, but you should have the umbrella ready to go because you could get rained on at any point, especially between about 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 or 3:00 this afternoon. right now, 72, gaithersburg. 73 in leesburg and dulles. hour by hour planner, maybe a sprinkle or two early t