russian, shower south of manassas, more toward the prince george's county area, upper marlboro, moving in toward anne arundel. now shifting its energy to the mount airy region, 70 and 270, some slow downs on those roads. pulse thunderstorms, they will move up, they will come down, nothing too strong. we will continue to even our eyes on it here from the storm center. guys? >> thanks, doug. we had a business is day in court today as the nation watches to see how the case against the six baltimore police officers charged in the death of a black man, how that plays out. >> here are the headlines. a baltimore judge today refused to dismiss charges against those officers charged in connection with the death of freddie grave. >> the judge also refused to remove the prosecutor in a case -- in this case a case that sparked riots last spring. minutes ago, we learned that the officers will be tried separately. >> news4's mark segraves has been in court all day today,

following these developments and he joins us live with the latest. mark? >> reporter: jim, three major decision shall as you point out this morning two of them victories for the prosecution and one, a small victory for a few of the defendants. as you said, there will be now six trials, six separate trials. several of the defendants objected when prosecutors said they wanted to join three of the defendants into one trial. earlier this morning shall out here on the streets there were protesters, dozens of them, about 50. they were peaceful, they were very vocal, carrying signs after protesting in front of the courthouse, they began marching down pratt street toward the inner harbor. at that point, police say there was a confrontation with those protesters, one had to be arrested, police say because they refused to get out of the street when ordered to. now, one officer did sustain minor injuries during that incident. now, back inside the courthouse on the second floor, the judge heard arguments this morning from the defense attorneys who

say the state's attorney, marilyn mosby, contaminated the jury pool and committed prosecutorial misconduct when she made public comments after the riots as she was trying to cam the crowds. the judge called the defense arguments mind boggling and condescending and he dismissed them. later in the afternoon, prosecutors went before that same judge and asked him to join the trial of three officers together, the judge said that that would not be in the interest of justice and so, here we have it. the trial will go on. mosby will be the lead prosecutor, her office will prosecute this case and there will be six separate trials. now, we will be back here next week for one more hearing on a pretrial motion to move this trial out of baltimore. now, inside the courtroom, there were observers from the naacp of baltimore. here's what the president of that organization had to say about the hearings. >> i prayed that we don't have

any uprise, the people of baltimore, i think, it happened. people were very upset, been a long time coming, people were angry about a lot of things, a lot of things that happened in the community with the police. i think a lot has been worked on with the new commission earned the mayor trying to work on that i'm thinking with all the things in place and everybody trying to help and work together in the faith-based community, i think some of those issues are being resolved. >> reporter: again, a peaceful day outside of the courthouse here in baltimore but we will be back next week when the judge will hear a motion to move this court, this trial from baltimore to another venue. coming up at 6:00, you will hear what people in baltimore have to say about the possibility of the trial moving. wendy, back to you. >> all right, mark segraves. the freddie gray case and the mass shooting at a church in charleston, that has faith leaders calling for some major changes in our criminal justice system. speaking downtown earlier today, they say that racism remains a prevalent issue in our country and they are pushing for gun control and reforms in

education. d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton representing the congressional black caucus addressed the crowd. >> police brutality and racial profiling are the oldest unresolved civil rights issue in our nation today. >> church leaders say lawmakers at the national, state and local levels also need to act to remove the barriers that restrict or make it difficult for citizens to vote. this is a huge, significant seizure and it will have a positive impact. >> police are calling town precedepres -- it unprecedented. tonight, two men are facing charges in a case that involved hundreds of pounds of drugs. let's go right to news4's pat comes, downtown with the latest on this case. pat? >> reporter: jim, this is the largest seizure of synthetic

drugs in the history of washington crime. it is a boat load of drugs. 19,247 individual packets of a synthetic drug called bizzaro. this particular batch, blueberry flavored. it has a street value of between $2 and 4.5 million dollars. >> a seizure of this size, which is unprecedented, is going to have a significant impact on the amount of the stuff that we have on our streets. >> reporter: drugs were packed in these large cardboard boxes. now, according to court documents, police tracked the shipment to a commercial storage facility in north best and when two guys came to pick it up, the cops moved in for the arrest. now, in recent months, police say there's been a sharp increase in the use of synthetic

drugs in our city. they say it's partly responsible for the surge in violence we have experienced this summer. >> the synthetic drug problem that we have in the district, which seems to be increasing significantly, is contributing to that violence. >> reporter: according to court documents, one of the suspects was planning to distribute the bizzaro drugs to various people on various street corners in the city. one of the guys arrested talk ed to the copsafterwards. he said he didn't know it was drugs. he thought it was dollar store items or hair products. we want to explain to you what exactly synthetic drugs are and what they look like. the news4 i-team recently got

exclusive access to go inside a federal lab to see what the drugs looked like and how they are made. dea officials tell us regardless of the brand, it all begins out as a white powder that looks similar to cocaine to the naked eye. in the case of bizarro, chemicals called synthetic cannabinoids are most often sprayed onto plant leaves and mixing is often uneven, which can lead to overdose. you can see the i-team's full report on our nbc washington app. just search synthetic drugs. an autopsy is going to be performed to determine how an infant died in alexandria. officers went to the bragg towers extended stay hotel early this morning for a report of a baby boy in distress, near 395 and duke street. we are told the baby died at a nearby hospital, not clear if he had been inside the hotel for long before officers got there catholic university is warning staff and students about two sexual assaults within a

mile of that campus. pat collins reported on these two attacks yesterday. both of the cases involved women who say they were attacked after they left metro. police released a video of a man that they are calling a person of interest in these two adults. the victim says her attacker rode off on a bicycle. catholic university says neither assault involved a student or a staff member. here at the live desk, getting new details on a shooting that briefly caused metro to reroute its buses. now, the metro transit police have released a picture of the suspect. here it is. they are asking for help to find this man, besean lamont brown, wanted for the shooting on elvins road southeast nearly two weeks ago. you mayer are a man got shot while he was on a bus in that area. at first, metro changed its routes to go around the area but neighbors and even the neighbor herself complained and metro reversed course. police officers are patrolling that area 24 hours a day right

now. well, we are now fewer than three weeks away from the arrival of pope francis in the district and everyone, including one of our area's largest wireless providers, is gearing up to make sure everything is as seamless as possible when you make your phone calls and texts. verizon wireless is adding temporary cell phone towers in different parts of the district. the company says during the last papal visit back in 2008, most smartphones did not have social media. were on a 3 g rather than 4 g network. with the massive crowds expected, verizon tells us it needed to increase network capaci capacity. >> the way the technology moves, it's even progressed since 2013 when we had the last presidential inauguration right here on the mall. so we have to continue that capacity to stay ahead of that >> in addition to the temporary towers, verizon says it is also increasing capacity to some permanent towers for future

events here in the district. well, the pope's visit is expected to bring, of course, huge crowds. so the federal government is giving many of you what amounts to a snow day while he is here. the office of personnel management says federal employees will be able to telework while the pope is in town. if you work for the government, you can also adjust your work schedule or take leave or comp time then. this move should improve traffic around all of the road closures and detours. scores of people are paying their respects to former maryland governor marvin mandel as he flies repose in pippannap. a lot of former governors came out today, sharing their thoughts about this long-time leader. ♪ >> reporter: governor larry hogan and top maryland leaders escorted the cassette of former maryland governor marvin mandel into the state house. an honor guard removed the american flag and covered the casket with the maryland state flag. although mandel was a democrat, and hogan is a republican, he

spoke emotionally about their friendship. >> i, for one, will never forget the wonderful times that i spent with governor mandel, how much i learned from him, the time we spent together. >> reporter: hogan is not the only republican who calls mandel a friend. >> he did not see party at all. he saw people and he saw the state of maryland and he was going to do what he thought best for our state. >> reporter: democrats recalled mandel's ability to get things done. >> he accomplished a lot in his very quiet way and was a very good governor. >> reporter: mandel was governor from 1969 to 1979. in his later years, he worked as lobbyist in annapolis. for some, he became a role model. >> mainly being able to reach across aisles, focus on the better. of this state. >> reporter: deli owner ted leff i will have the says mandel was always available. >> my dad died 20-some years ago and i don't want to talk to somebody, i could always talk to

the governor. >> reporter: in the late 1970s, former governor mandel was tried, convicted and served time on corruption charges. his conviction was later overturned. ahead on news4 at 6:00, some of the former governors who were here today talk about how marvin mandel regained his powerful political voice here in annapolis. chris gordon, news4. >> chris, thank you. attempted abduction on metro. someone tried grab a toddler out of her stroller. find out who helped a mother protect her child. fairfax county is getting ready to head back to school. we will tell you why these new start times could impact you even if you do not have a child returning to class. a young child falls five stories from this apartment building and lives. what the rescuers are crediting with saving her life. and storm team4 monitors our weather, remember, you can check out the radar any time on our nbc washington app. we are coming right back.

what did iran's supreme leader get in the nuclear deal? to start with, $100 billion. they keep their nuclear facilities and ballistic missiles. there won't be surprise anytime-anywhere inspections. and after ten years, restrictions are lifted and iran could build a nuclear weapon in two months. congress should reject a bad deal. we need a better deal. know you can keep your financial big picture under control. know you can see how much you have to spend and whether you should transfer funds. know you can easily keep track of what you're putting away.

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a 3-year-old girl survived falling five stories from an apartment window. northern virginia reporter david culver live now in bailey's crossroads where the accident happened.

david? >> reporter: jim, a sight behind me folks know well, this is skyline towers, the north building, count up five floors above the tree line, that's the fifth floor. it's from there a young girl fell right out the window. bailey's crossroads fire station 10 got the call around 8:30 last night. >> for a report of a small child that had fallen out of a window. >> reporter: not one, not two but five floors off the ground, more than 50 feet. from inside a neighbor's apartment on the same fifth floor, you can see just how high it is. the 3-year-old somehow fell through a screen similar to this one, right next to the balcony. the neighbor didn't want to talk on camera but told me she heard the screams and her heart sank. she described the toddler as a happy little girl and a lucky one, too, it seems. >> the injuries were determined to be non-life threatening. >> from your experience, five stories up, that's pretty

incredible. >> yes, apparently, shrubs and some branches break the fall. >> reporter: the tree some of the bushes, even the mulch combined helped soften the blow, likely saving the girl's life. captain mike fontana says don't allow things to stack up in front of your windows, too easy for kids to climb on to likewise important to make sure the windows can still be opened. >> so that you have egress in the case of a fire, but at the same time, you have to recognize that screens are not the same as window guards. they won't prevent a small child from falling out of a window. >> reporter: at last check, that young girl is still in the hospital at inova fairfax hospital where she is recovering tonight. we just got hold of some of the emergency recordings as emergency crews were rushing to the scene, expecting the worst. ber going to share some of those, wendy, with you when we see you again at 6:00. >> look for you then, david, thanks. we have a developing story on capitol hill. president obama has essentially shored up enough support to move his nuclear deal with iran

forward. maryland senator barbara mckulski became the 34th senator to agree to back this controversial deal. and with that the president has enough votes should he need to veto a resolution that will kill the deal. mckulski says no deal is perfect but she believes this plan is the goes keep iran from getting a nuclear bomb. 70 years ago today, president truman declared september 2nd to be vj day. there are special gatherings around the world today to market 70th anniversary of the official end of world war ii. here in washington, hundreds of people attended a ceremony at the world war memorial on the national mall. several vets with in that group, 14 fought in the war. ranger school officially is toned women. two women broke that ceiling last month when they became the first women to graduate from the grueling course. they were able to enroll in the school after the army suspended

its ban on females at ranger training. today, the army officially lifted the ban. still, the order does not mean female graduates can be part of the elite rangers regiment. women are still excluded from most army combat units. i'm carol maloney. robert griffin has been benched indefinitely and rumored to be traded this week but that didn't stop him from feeling the love today at the skins welcome home luncheon. griffin was given a 15-second standing ovation as he took moment redskins salute award for his continued support of the military. mean tile, recently named starting qb, kirk cousins was a sought after autograph during the meet and greet, a drama-filled time for fan bus cousins says he is trying to keep his routine as normal as possible. >> i have got a few more text messages, i have a lot of people reaching out back home, saying they are praying for me and pulling for me.

all in all, it feels pretty similar. >> can't say build pressure or less sleep? >> i think a lot of that took place last year. when i was starting, i put a lot of pressure on myself it didn't help. i'm trying to make sure those things don't happen f they are happening, i'm probably in trouble. trying to stay as relaxed as possible. >> who are you most excited to meet today? >> kirk cousins. >> kirk cousins, huh? would you have said that last week, if you were excited to see kirk cousins last week? >> no. >> now that's the starter? >> no. be honest. no. things change. >> we like her honesty, cousins, too who added that the burning spotlight just part of being an nfl quarterback. cousins will be watching colt mckind backups bat for jobs tomorrow night. final preseason game here on nbc4, kickoff at 7:30. jason pugh and i will be live before the game, and we will break it down on the postgame report and on news4 at atlanta 11:00. hope to see you then. well, picture all of this

and then add in 1600 school buses. i'm adam tuss. i will tell you how fairfax county is getting ready for the school year, coming up. plus, deck drama. how two local families paid thousands of dollars and had very little to show for it. i feel used. i feel ♪

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still tracking a few showers and a couple of thunderstorms thought but not a lot going on across our region, cloud cover and hot and humid conditions. take a look, storm team4 radar showing you pretty well where those storms are biggest storms up toward the frederick area, portions of northern virginia. around the fredericksburg region, too, seeing pretty good storm there in and around the metro region, we have not seen a single thunderstorm inside the belt watch we had a couple back toward fairfax and some rain right along the -- right along the beltway toward springfield, that rain woodbridge, newington area, back toward the barren ton region, fauquier county, another little shower developing around the waldorf area, could see some lightning with that. this is where the big storms are though, down 95 around fredericksburg, spot sill vare ya county, down toward portions of king george county, took the heaviest storms staying to our south and our west, back to the best, seeing some pretty good rain here, luray, front royal, along i-81. we need the rain.

so, this is very good news for us, but again, strongest storms are dying quickly. a couple of bolts of lightning damascus, frederick, and then northern portions of loudoun county, leesburg and lucket, lovettsville and bluemont, some light shower activity remains. we will see a few more showers, maybe another rumble of thunder tonight. but not expecting anything severe. temperature-wise, 91 in d.c., where we have seen the rain, frederick, only 73 now. fredericksburg, only 78 degrees. we have seen rain-cooled air out there. all of this rain coming. we have high pressure aloft a little air, disturbance trying to make its bay through the region. we could see this again tomorrow in and around portions of the mountains. the mountains the best chance to see the storms tomorrow. behind the system, not much going on. that tell us we are going to stain at hot side tomorrow, 90, martinsburg, 95, culpepper, d.c., 96, fredericksburg, a very hot and humid day tomorrow, best chance of storms again to the west, northern virginia, back

toward west virginia and the mountains back toward the blue ridge. your weather outlook tomorrow for the bike ride, best early and then again late in the day, we will be green there, lunch and recess, hot and humid, in the orange area, dinner out, warm and humid, but let's be green here as we make our way through the evening, going to be on the hot side for sure, once the sun starts to go down, i think we will be on the good side, 95 on your thursday, 95 on friday, 40% chance of showers and storms on friday, i do expect that coverage to be a little bit greater than it was today. behind that, that's frontal boundary, that will really help to cool things down, 84 on saturday, 86 on sunday, a beautiful weekend, of courser, talking labor day weekend, i have got that labor day forecast for you coming up. actually, veronica does. she is ready. you ready, vj? >> i'm ready. >> she is readiville that in the next 15 to 20 minutes. >> i know we are ready to hear it, thank you, guys. so check this out, folks a bizarre sighting. we will tell you what some people spotted streaking across the night sky. plus, serial robbers, how

police say the crooks are getting away with crimes from brandywine to beltsville. i'm tom sherwood. this morning at the foggy bottom metro station, a mother and her 2-year-old child in a stroller, someone t

a dramatic scene this

morning on an orange line metro train at foggy bottom. passengers jumped in to rescue a 2-year-old girl who was being grabbed from her stroller by another passenger. >> news4's tom sherwood talked to one startled rider today who helped subdue the woman as a grateful mother looked on. >> reporter: metro police responded quickly to the foggy bottom stop a suspect handcuffed and taken away after the bizarre incident about 9:30 this morning on an orange line train en route to new carrollton a nearby passenger. >> out of into where, i kind of see a baby in the air, and a woman screams "my baby, my baby." i stood up, at first, i thought, my god it is having a seizure. >> reporter: this 27-year-old arlington man did not want to be identified by news4 but described the harrowing scene, how another passenger first jumped in to the rescue. >> and then out of nowhere, literally right in front of me, i just see a guy grab the criminal down away from the baby. the woman gets her baby back,

both crying hist terically. >> reporter: officials have not identified the male passenger who first on sub dude the suspect. the arlington passenger joined in to help hold her down until police arrived. >> won't kept trying to resist, she had her knuckles clenched, she didn't say a word entire time. >> reporter: metro police chief ronald pavlik said neither the baby nor the mother harmed. the suspect had been acting irrationally. >> a young lady making incoherent statements walking up and down the railcar. the mother was distraught. we have great witnesses. >> reporter: police caution others about taking individual action. >> something we don't encourage. this one ended really well. any time another rider gets involved in a criminal activity, potential to become a victim as well. >> reporter: the metro train delayed temporarily while the suspect was arrested. tom sherwood, news4. there are develops on that intense manhunt and growing concerns the men suspected of killing a police officer may have left the state of illinois.

police are saying they have no indication that the three suspects are still in the area north of chicago. and it's going to be hard to find them because lieutenant charles gliniewicz wasn't able to describe them before he was shot and killed. all they are saying is two white men and a black men. investigators say they are making some progress, chasing down leads and say it only takes one to break the case wide open. in about half an hour, neighbors in prince george's county can weigh in whether they want stores to sell liquor on sunday. it is 6:00 sundays, rather, 6:00 at the prince george's county housing authority in largo. business owners say they are losing a significant amount of business to customers who go into the district to get their liquor on sundays. the county says it is all about allowing stores to be competitive. it has already received 138 applicants for the 100 sunday permit. most of the liquor stores requesting those permits are along the d.c. line. hope you're enjoying your commute now. you know the drill. it's about to get very crowded

on our roads as the largest school system in our region, fairfax county, heads back to class next week. well over 1,000 school buses will be on the road every day mixing with you as you try to get to work and this year, there's a new twist. transportation reporter adam tuss live in mary field tonight to tell us about it. adam? >> reporter: yeah, jim, the twist this year is that high schools here in our largest county start about an hour later than they did last year. that puts high schoolers getting dropped off by the bus about 8 a.m. yeah, right at the same time you're trying to get to work. in fairfax county, the school bus fleet is no ordinary school bus fleet. our bus fleet is second only to new york city. we have a fleet larger than greyhound international. >> reporter: that's right, larger than greyhound. dr. karen garza is the superintendent of fairfax county public schools. she says the buses here carry over 130,000 riders per day. it's like its own transit

system. >> 400, you know, square miles, county's quite large. so the logistics are quite complex. >> reporter: the sign here at falls church high with what you need to know, school begins next tuesday the 8th at 8:10. that's about an hour later than last year. police say the change in time could actually improve traffic. >> had children in elementary, middle and high schools and they are trying to get from school to school around the same timeframe and they get stuck up in traffic because everybody else was doing the same. so, this may actually help in some areas. >> reporter: but still, a change is coming, one you should be prepared for. everyone agrees are, it's hard to predict what rush hour will look like until next week. yeah, just be parent. now, ahead on news4 at 6:00, we are going to tell you about some of the tactics the police are going to be using to keep everybody safe this year. they say they will be out in force. wendy, back to you. >> all right, adam. arlington police want you to know, oh, they are serious about making sure that you stop for those school buses.

it's the law. that department tweeted out today that it has already issued 38 warnings so far this year for people who did not stop for those school buses when kids were getting off and getting on. arlington public school buses now have cameras installed on the arms that tell you to stop. those cameras will detect drivers who are illegally passing a stopped school bus. well, some students in the gum springs area of fairfax county will be clean cut and looking good on the first day of class. public safety agencies there teaming one barbers and beauticians today to offer free haircuts to about 150 kids. >> we are all partnering doing-to-ing to get kids brand new haircuts to get them ready for school next week. we have been doing this program five or six years from now. this year, the changes we are bringing all the public safety together to give the kids hair cuts. we basically a fun day for them. >> and fun it was. they were looking spiffy there. miniature ponies a clown face -- a clown, face painting and other

activities filled the time while the kids waited their turn in the barber chair. 400 children in prince george's county are benefiting from your donations to our backpacks for kids campaign. backpacks were given out to students at concord elementary in district heights, maryland this morning, in total, over 3,000 given out this school year, thanks to your generosity. you can still donate to help kids start their school year off right. go to our facebook page right now to find out how. honoring a james madison grad. how the campus community paid tribute to a journalist murdered on live television. prince george's county police are looking for two suspects involved in a rash of robberies. i'm tracee wilkins. on news4, why they

we think she might just be another julia child some day. our wednesday's child says she thinks she might like to be a famous chef some day. she would love to share her passion for cooking with a forever family. you may remember serena when i interviewed her several months ago. she is still waiting for the forever family. she lot got a lesson in every child's favorite, macaroni and cheese. >> hi, serena. you so excited to cook today? i'm so excited that you're here. look, i got an apron for u so, we are going to start out, we are going to make macaroni and cheese. >> reporter: serena said that is one of her most favorite dishes

and surprised to learn that there were so many choices of cheese that you can use to make it. >> you can pick one kind or you can pick all four, you get to pick. >> yay, i get to pick all four, >> having some choices was a nice experience for serena. in her 11 years, she's been moved around as a foster child with little to say about where she goes or how long she gets to stay. her social worker says she is a bright child who needs a loving home to grow up in. >> she loves life. she is very friendly. she loves to cook, like you can tell today. >> reporter: serena remembered every step she learned today. >> step one, bash your hands. step two, put the butter in. step three -- step three, put the flour in. step four, put the milk in. then stir until it's bubbly. >> what would you like to be when you grow up? >> i would like to be a chef, like the lady that i was cooking with, i want to be just like her. >> cheers. >> we clinked spoons and tasted the macaroni.

>> i want a home that is a loving and caring and likes to cook, just like me. >> reporter: we hope she finds that loving, caring place about a family to cook with. she deserves it. and if you have room in your home and your heart for serena or another child who is waiting, please call our special adoption hotline. the number is 1-88-to-adopt-me or search wednesday's child on nbcwashington.com. so cute. >> she is. what a sweet heart. thanks, barb. well, it was not a shooting star. >> but got a lot of people wondering. we are going to tell you about what we found about that sighting that went viral. thousands of dollars and an unfinished deck. and there's more where this came from. i'm erika gonzalez. we will tell you the story of what prompted neighbors in this round hill community to call the consumer watch for help. reports of hail in winchester and frederick, maryland, from earlier storms. now, we are seeing more showers than storms on storm team4 radar, but not done with the

rain for the week or the heat. rain for the week or the heat. we will show you the new data

what did iran's supreme leader get in the nuclear deal? to start with, $100 billion. they keep their nuclear facilities and ballistic missiles. there won't be surprise anytime-anywhere inspections. and after ten years, restrictions are lifted and iran could build a nuclear weapon in two months. congress should reject a bad deal. we need a better deal.

>> reporter: just yesterday, at 1 in the morning this 7-11 in the 6,000 block was robbed by two masked men. police now think these two guys are responsible for a number of recent robberies in prince george's county. >> during the course of the investigation we found were linked to about four different, separate robberies. >> reporter: last wednesday, police say one suspect, who wore a shirt with a skull on the back, stole items from a truck parked at a home on sellman road in beltsville. you can see the robber's gun in this picture. it was taken as they robbed a gas station. the 16,000 block of mchendry road and brandywine. after grabbing cash, they got away in a blue ford with maryland tags 1 az 8591.

turns out it is a stolen car. >> during the course of that robbery, it was later discovered the vehicle used was carjacked some time before that same day. >> reporter: last friday, this 7-11 on silver hill road was robbed. 4:00 in the morning much the manager here tells me there were three employees inside at the time. on august 29th, police say the two robbed this subway in the 5700 block of silver hill road. the front of the store, they have a wanted sign for the suspects police are looking for. >> our robbery unit is actively investigating all of these incidents as well as we had stepped up patrols in the area, we have officers routinely checking in on several convenience stores throughout the area. >> oh. >> reporter: signs are in front of all of the stores where these robberies happened, showing the actual rob there is happened inside the specific store. almost impossible to go any were around here without seeing them. prince george's county police are asking people who look at these pictures to see if they

know these guys and if so, give them a call at crime stores. they are offering an award for any information that can lead to an i a rest in this case. why people who live in this community is especially upset about these businesses being robbed. live, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. this morning's launch of the atlas 5 rocket went off without a hitch, did it create a buzz on social media that rocket blasted off from cape canaveral carrying a communications satellite for the u.s. navy. photos and videos of the bright tail it left behind quickly flooded facebook and twitter. that's actually beautiful. >> mm-hmm. >> many people were caught off guard wondering what was it. the satellite is now orbiting some 22,000 miles above the earth. >> if you didn't get the hint, what would you think it was? >> i don't know. >> a glimmering spoon in the sky. >> we have still got wet weather

out there. >> the storms winding down, most fredericksburg and continuing to move awake really, just some pockets of wet weather out there right now, maybe one or two. thunderstorms not producing anything severe. so you're driving impact forecast, the storms should be i think ending and over by 7:00. 90, the temperature still, it will be a few warm pockets, then we get warm and sticky by 10:00 this evening. so the humidity will stay high. got a chance to cool down with some of these storms, the humidity has been right up there look at this we have got some showers north of the beltway, south of the beltway, west of the beltway. these moving to the southeast pretty slow. winchester and frederick, maryland, some hail. front royal, warrenton, seeing some shower activity, right here, had the thunderstorms, south of frederick, bowling green, route 1, i-95, woodbridge to waldorf, 301 some wet weather

as well. see this wind down, less of a chance of seeing showers in the area could be some in the mountains a better chance friday, look at this saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, not much in the way of any rain chances coming our way. we get into this dry period again, hit a high today, 92, heat index right on up to 96. tomorrow, that number a little higher, back down to about 93 for friday. then again, nice weekend coming our way with more refreshing air. cooler, yes. and low humidity. here's 3:00 tomorrow. again, just some isolated showers for tomorrow. maybe a thunderstorm or two, most of which will be in the mountains, friday, starting earlier, 1:00 or so that east to northeast wind will produce a few showers and then with the weather front coming in, i think by the late afternoon, evening hours, there's even 9:00, still some thunderstorms will roll through our area. but forecast tomorrow, some foggy spots again, we go up to 82. another day where we warm very

quickly. and again, going to be a good day to get out, if baunt want t exercise, get out early in the day. the beach forecast for the weekend, your friday, saturday and sunday, water temperature now at 80. temperature the beach locations, right around 80 degrees for saturday and sunday. labor day itself, we go up to 90 to 91 degrees. we are hot, not too humid. as we get into tuesday, wednesday of next week, it's another dose of heat for us. so the time to enjoy, get out, make those plans will be this saturday and sunday. 84 degrees expected on saturday. 86 on sunday. we are 92 again on labor day. then 93 to 95 tuesday and wednesday. we have got more coming up on news4 at 6:00. if we are going to see this pattern of heat continue throughout most of this next week, we will have that coming up. guys? >> thanks, vj. this labor day weekend, many of you, of course, will be enjoying the holidays, sitting outside on your deck or patio. but for some homeowners in loudoun county, they paid for a deck that was never finished.

erika gonzalez has their story. >> reporter: it is the story of a deck contractor who homeowners say just disappeared. they say they are out thousands of dollars after a local contractor who started the projects never finished them. this is ryan and laura white's dream house in round hill, virginia. and their dream view. this just suspect their dream deck. >> well, this is definitely unsafe. we have giant nails. we have three kids. >> reporter: instead of having the home builder construct the deck, the couple thought hiring a contractor would cost less. and they happened to know someone. >> we were approached by another gentleman who actually is a -- was a friend of sorts of the family. >> reporter: whites were quoted $6,000 for the job. they thought the deal was so good, they told their neighbors, the tutoros. >> $5,000 for a deck sound good to you? >> reporter: sounds very good. each paid nearly the entire amount and showed their

reseateds. this is what they got. >> i'm angry. i wonder how can someone who has a family prey on families. >> reporter: the couples say the contractor, nate hill, owner of wheat land hills landscape and design, came around on multiple occasions for money, but did little work. >> it seemed like he always had a new reason to stop by our house to collect more money. >> reporter: they say eventually, hill just stopped showing up. he even left his equipment. >> i feel used. i feel lied to i feel taken. >> reporter: they say hill admitted he was in over his head in these text messages sent to the couples. we talked to hill on the phone and he told us he was in financial duress. he later sent this e-mail, saying he would not talk to us on camera but made clear he has "every intention of revolving the issue" and says he "will not ignore or run from this

situation." we did some digging, called loudoun county, but the county told us it didn't have any permit for the jobs and on top of that, no record of a business license for nate hill or his business in the system. a red flag for anyone looking to hire any type of contractor. in fact, the federal trade commission says before you hire a contractor, find out how many they have been in business. try to make payments contingent upon how much work has been done. and find out if they have insurance, personal liability, worker's comp and property damage. so, where choose leadoes that l families? a long way from enjoying their homes the way they wanted. >> it makes our deck probably something that is going to be way out in the future. >> we spoke to the couples today and both of them tell us that they have filed complaints with their sheriff's office. as with any consumer complaint, the whites say that they also filed with their state's attorney general's office. i think the thing that stings

the most for these couple, jim and wendy, is the fact that they knew this individual. so, there's a trust factor there. there's confidence there that was betrayed and really puts salt on an open wound. >> you never know. great digging. >> thanks, appreciate that >> thanks, erika. one of the slain virginia journalists was a james madison alum. up next, we take you to campus for a special tribute. and then tonight at 6:00, a potential breakthrough in the fight against parkinson's disease. the story of a local woman taking part in a first of its kind study that has had some incredible results. and a quick reminder tonight, this year is the 15th annual national book festival, hosted by the library of congress and tom, erika, ahn and angie will be

new video of a deadly police-involved shooting in texas may end the question of whether the suspect was armed. it appears show gilbert flores raising his arms to surrender in a confrontation outside a san antonio home. officials believe he may have been holding a knife. police found a woman injured when they were called to the home for a domestic disturbance. they say flores was resisting arrest and non-lethal efforts to detain him failed. at 6:45 this morning, students stopped for a moment of

silence. >> that the time alison parker was killed one week ago today. ♪ >> reporter: alison parker wasn't just here at james madison university. she thrived as a journalism student, sorority sister and friend to so many. >> i got to realize her true zeal for journalism. she had this passion and so radiant. and it was just a total joy to be around her. >> reporter: jmu students, professor and alums paused to reflect on a young woman who had already proven herself a dedicated journalist at wdbj, a talented dancer, swimmer, musician. her jmu classmates, school paper colleagues and sorority sisters hold tight to one another, remembering a flame that wouldn't diminish. >> she absolutely loved getting involved in jmu.

she was -- had an exec position. she helped plan a philanthropy event. >> reporter: a legacy that will shine bright for those who knew her and those who will come to learn about allison -- alison parker's dedication to journ journalism. big developments out of baltimore on a case that captured a nation's attention a judge refuses to dismiss charges against six police officers charged in connection with the death of freddie gray. the judge ruled the officers will be tried separately. >> more on that in a moment. first, storms are having an impact on parts of our area. doug where and how severe? >> i tell, vance, we were seeing some of those strong-to-severe storms between 3 and 4:00 hour but since then, those storms really started to weaken. we have seen the shower activity continue around parts of the area. we need to see the rain, if you have got it consider yourself lucky. look now, they have moved through parts of the region, moved on the last couple of

hours. one thing you notice here, we saw a lot of reds earlier that is now all gone, now mostly just green, a few areas of yellow, down toward luray, rutgersville, culpepper, this is the area we continue to see light-to-moderate rain, this is going to stick here the next hour or some look down to the south of fredericksburg, very strong storms here around spotsylvania county, these storms moving to the south and then up toward the d.c. metro area, we have some right around mount vernon, light rain in this area this rain continuing to move on down, farther to the north, along 70, thurmont, this is where we are seeing some more rain. we have some showers across the region. no severe weather in our area right now we will continue to keep you posted. talk about the temperatures and the next chance for storms coming up in just a minute. >> thanks, doug. tonight, lawyers for six baltimore police officers charged in the death of freddie gray have been dealt a couple of losses in court. >> a judge refused to dismiss the charges against the officers and also refused to remove the