right now on news 4 this week. harpers homers. we look back at the power display from the gnats slugger during the home r derby. how nationals pk transformed d.c. and the one thing the city still needs to be a true baseball town. plus, slow down. police are taking a new approach to dealing with reck less drivers in one of the most wide open roadways. hello, everyone. we'll begin with the exciting week we had at nationaling park with the all star game. in town. >> there it is! center field. bryce harper has thrown his bat in the air. and won. >> what a moment. first the night to remember for nationals fan. bryce harper took the title in

the home run derby. against seven break out players this season. that was his second home run derby. but first win. he lost in 2013 final at city york.in new harper says it meant a lot to wi d theby in his home park. >> for me and my family. but forhe guy w works the front and the clerk. and the people upstairs. and this is for the whole city. >> harpers dad played a big part in help lg him win. he was a pitcher back in the day. and pitched for harper. >> the all star game fts the chance for d.c. to flex its muscle and show theountry we know how to do baseball. it was also a chance to show off an area of theerity that's u gone a rapid transformation since the ballpark was built. i and will most fans from out of town were impressed. news 4d tal to the fan who told us we need one more thing to truly be a baseball city.

>> all star summer has reached its peak. kids inhis fountain pool. voters on the -- are all par of it. the capitol river walk is decorated in all sr red, white and blue. washington went without a team for 33 years. then, the joy of baseball returned. and the best day of my life was april 1 2005. when baseball returned. i used to go to griffith stadium with my grandfather and brother. i i love >> nationals park spurred oevelopment all around it from the stadium capitol hill. construction cranes are putting up w buildinh offices, restaurants and retail. andesential. some season ticketholders see the seem to be getting a little giddy. >> will washington have to w a

world series like houston did in order to get the respectf being called a real baseball down? >> i think it will. honestly. >> washington is al baseb atown. originrican league city. we won in 1924. >> this week a local baseball hall of famer says he'll help build ten ballparks for kids. cad one is cing to the d.c. area. rip ken jr. says his foundation is working to get inner city kids interested in the sport. the program will pair children with coaches and >> there's a pattern of stories that come back as sports does make a difference. coach, aentor. does make a difference in all the other aspects of their life. >> the new fieldsill be built over five years. made possible in part by a donation from the organization group 1001. >> moving on. the icc took a while to cch on. now that more people are using

it more people are speeding on it. isn't always the drivers doing the speeding. l ws 4 explains who police w target. >> reporter: aggressive driving. most have experienced it on area roadways. >> i do find people want to cut you off all the time. >> i stayn the right lane. and just leave a big distance. >> reporter: and it's been an issue of late on the connecter. >> they compassed my flying all the time. >>eporter: if you find yourself following too closely or making unsafe lane changes on the connecter. ask yourself is tt car next to me a police car? what about the one in thear ew mirror. it's not always obvious. >> unconventional police vehicles. that are not your regular type looking police vehicle. that we will be using. >> reporter: transportation authority police say they'll be cracking down onro theng problem of aggressive driving. have been up especially complaints regarding motorcycles. and not going to chase them.

but will track them down. >> it forces us to use strategy. that we're looking to employ. i won't put them all out today. for public knowledge. but it forces us t becreative. >> reporter: the good news is that crashes are actually downe 20% his time last year. but the surge in s complaintss this is something they want to get out ahead of. >> montgomery county often rarngs one of the wealthiest risdictions in the region. despite that the county is facing a major issue when it comes to homelessness. this week county officials have a ceremony tobe rem more than two dozen homeless individuals who have died in the past year. the county also announced a new effort to focus on ending homelessness among families by 2020. a recentndurvey f 800 individuals experience homelessness in the county. when we come bac a look at

the harmfulffects of the poisonous plant. recovering after an unfortunate ensunter. plus n 4 getting results. the change made to dangerous guardrails after our guardrails after our investigation. super emma just about sleeps in her cape.

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we have been warning you about the poisonous hog weed plant in the area. we're seeing the harm firsthand. a teen from northern virginia is in the hospital with serious burns. he was working as a landscaper. he thought he wasn cutting another bush. it wasn't until he got home and showered that he realized something was wrong. his mom took one look and noticed the serious burns. >> it felt like i had sunburn. i didn't pay. attenti and my face started peeling. mom came home and i thought it was sunburn. i had third degree burns. >> all from a plant.

he's worried he'll miss college orientation next month. he maybe able to postponehe start of school. >> when we come back. the major change coming to guardrails after the area. ter an consumer investigation. plus. a look at why it's so important to track downni elect devices with enlisted images. a look at the new a look at the new sniffing them out. ♪ a look at the new sniffing them out.

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a major change is coming to so of the roads. following a news 4 consumer investigation. we have been telling you about the saf concerns surrounding a plr type of guard rain. called exlite. consumer investigation reporter has the action being taken by transportationof cials. >> reporter: no other family has to be fere. st introduced you to steve last fall. aus 17 year-oldter was

killed after crashing into an exlite in tennessee. in 2016. >> guardrail pierced her car. and she was killed instantly. >> reporter: he learned his daughter was not the only one to die this way. for the last year and a half he has met with state and federal officials. all over the country. pushing to have the guardrails usmoved. >> i never thought i would be going through this. ever in my life. >> reporter: earer this year, this who are joined his fight. sandra carter's son michael died ter hitting an exlite on the eastern shore in february. she started her own campaign to have the exlite removed from the she found support in one state lawmakers. but won't nd that anymore. e maryland state highway is replacing all exlites in the state. >> there are a 1,000 of them. a small percentage othe 52,000

we have today. immediately.will begin he tells news 4hat exlites on roads with a speed limit of 55 or faster will be removed. first. slater delivered the news to carter personally last friday. during a meeting at her home. >> they were warm. they were kind. and they made it about me. my family and my son. and just put the icing on the cake. >> i did athe of listening. i want to talk to mrs.anarter learn about michael. and she's an amazing woman. and he was an amazing young man. it was really important for me to assure her perspective on the crash. >> the sha was unable to determine whether the guardrail failed in the crash. calls the states decision to

remove exlite an engineering based one. caers mom believes a combination of factors led to the call. >> i believe tha mike's death and steve's work may have helped. with the decision. i don't think i would be here to wy at allhout news 4. helping m anding phone calls. following up and staying on thst y. >> she's shedding tears of joy. instead of heartbreak for the first time since her son's death. >> no one else will die the way my son died. maryland roadways will be safe. and that makes me happy. tears of joy. >> maryland says it could take a couple years to replace all the exlite. virginia is also in the process of removing exlite from roads. where the speed limit is 55 or

faster. d.c. doesn't use the exlite. the maker of the exlite insist the guardrail is not defective and says many factors play into the out come of the accidents. in the meantime. this guy carters 19th birthday is next week. and d honor him his family erarted a fundraiser fro virgin island clean w to families in need. we have a link in the n be, c washington app. search marine fundraiser. >> the news 4 i team introduced wrou to a tool to stop child it has four legs. one of two dozen police canines rldwide that can sniff out hidden electronicevices. things like hard drives used to store illegal images. why it's so important to track the predators down. the i team continues the report with this story. >> reporter: what happened 16 years ago changed the course of

her life. on newears day, 2002.he a man thought was a boy she t online kidnapped her. taking her from her home near pittsburg to a house. where he held and tortured her for days. she was 13 years old. >> hands bound above my head. screaming. begging. pleading. bruised and crying. >> her predator sharehe images of the sexual abuse online. for the world to see. >> haunting. to say the least. >> one of the viewers recognized her picture from a missing poster and called police. >> a miracle. >> her story shocked the nation. one of the first local cases to show how quickly technology can spread child sex images across the globe. images that might never be fullr ased to this day. >> it can't be pulled back. there's nothing they can do to stop it.

>> reporter: police are trying to stop this. because of a soaring number of local cases. publicecords request the news had i team obtained years of case law from the u.s. justice. departme a fast rising nurnl of cases in d.c., virginia andd. maryl rising pressure on authorities to stop the criminals. >> last year we received 10.2 million reports of child sexual exploitation through the tip line. in one year. >> the national center for missing children is built a cay day base ofmas of 14,000 suspected victims. to help police. >> new lawl requires soc kbleed net works and internet providers notify the center of the user post or shares the suspicio image of a child. she's now dedicated her life to pushing for even stricter state law. boost funding for local police to hire more officers or buy nor equipment.

to combat child predators. madland's law pas in 2016 in virginia it passed in 2008.th nine states have done so since. >> eleven states isn't enough. it truly isn't. working on getting it passed everywhere. >> she's advocating for the training a deployment of police canines. especially trained to sniff out and find hidden devices from the homes of suspected predators. >> when you go into the house and take all thehis. people hide sd cards in places. in the ceiling and places you could never find it. >> only about two dozen are currently working worldwide. police need more money for as many new pools as possible to track the cases. knowing the images can be shared. haunting the survivors after they grow up. >> whas it like having that worry? >> it's horrifying to think image can be shared overnd over.

and over dpagain. >> her kidnapper was sentenced to about 19 years in prison. we checked with the u.s. bureau of prison and he's scheduled to be released in north carolina. in april. i team spent time with one of the electronic sniffing dogs. it's retty amazing how she operates. see it all by going to our app. when we come back. he smithsonian closes for renovation. when the exhibit will re

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new breyers delights. indulge without all the guilt. it used to be one of the worlds most prolificto pre. the t rex. our city is home to what's being called the nations t rex. the museumfatural history closed down in 2014. for some renovation.t, e're less than a year away from reopening. news 4 gives us a sneak peek of what to expect. >> reporter: this is about to be

the new home of the nations t rex. and scientists say even though ne sidinosasent extinct millions of years ago they can teach usng thi twof. creatures like thisksed to wal the earth. as you look at the bones of this t rex. u can't help but wonder what life was like if r it all the years ago. >> this will blow peoples minds. >> t director of the museum. says the hall has been closed so the tex can get a tune up. they learned more about the history of dinosaurs. lessons that could shedht l on climate change. >> the best way to plan for the future is understand the past. >> the t rexxhibit won't officially open until june of next year. many visitors already roaring with excitement. >> they' so huge and scary. it's amazing we are on the same

planet they were. >> we love dinosaurs. grew up watching dinosaurs. it's part of the history. i love it when kids cry when they leave. i don't want to go i want to stay. i love that. >> a the museum of natural history. and we can't wait. that's all for news 4 this week. we'll leave you with more images from the all star festivities. thanks for joining us. have a great week. ♪ ♪ ♪ aggressive yellow.

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oh, we've got rain on the way. two weather systems combining to bringeavy rain to the area today. we are weather alert with what you need to know >> off the rails. a maintenance project shutting down two busy metro stations in d.c. for weeks. find out the plan to keep you an emotional ride. a month after someone wasd gunne down, his friends take one last ride with him to the place wher fe ended. good morning to you. >> a beautiful workweek is over and now we're looking at weekend showers