or.. badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com. right now on "news4 this week," save the tidal basin. we'll explain why experts say climate change could threaten the cherry blossoms if something isn't done to protect that area. oasis in the desert. plans for a new grocery store in part of prince george's county. and high-tech transportation. school zone warnings, red light alerts. how smartphones and some new cars are changing the way people drive, and they could even help to make our roads a little safer. >> announcer: welcome to "news4 this hello, everyone, i'm leon harris. this time of year the tidal basin as you know is beautiful. th cherry blossoms are out, the place is buzzing with excitement. this week it wasll offic named a national treasure by the

national trust for historic preservation. but as cory smith reports, the tidal bas is under threat, and there's a rush to protect it. >> that' why people come here. >> reporter: imane for a moment the tidal basin. the pretty colors along the water and monuments in the background. all its natural and man madesp ndor completely wiped off the map. keeping that dark vision from becoming reality is the driving force behind a new national campaign called save the tidal basin. today on the steps of the jefferson memorial, the national park service joined with the trust for the national mall and the national trust for historic preservation to declare that the time to save this national treasure is now. >> but the tidal basin is at a pivotal moment. on a daily basis walkwayin surrou the basin are flooded at hig tide, making them impassable for visitors ano romises the roots of these very cherry trees. >> reporter: out here, age matters. designed in the 1880s, the tidaw basin not meant to hands

millions of visitors. couple that with the sea wall that is zippingi sinking and thn sea lels because of climate chamber of commer change and thergency becomes ear. >> it will be catastrophic. this whole area will be under water. >> reporter: they will lead a master plan for the basin and engage designers, engineers and e public to sustain its long-term sustainability. for tim o'brien it's an effort worth sort k ting to ensure reagan can make her memories. >> i think we need to do anything we can for future generations, so reagan and her its can enjoy >> reporter: at the tidal basin, cory smith, news4. this week ae welcome cha in prince george's county. there's plans for a brand new grocery store in the seat pleasant area. the good food market will be built in addison plaza. tracee wilkins explains just how important t fs store isor

residents who live in what's considered a food desert. >> reporter: there is one grocery store in seat pleasant. in 20 i closed its doors and was not replaced, leaving no supermarkets between here and the d.c. line. >> the store was used constantly. so when saf,ay clos it was a real abyss that was created. >> reporter: 15% of prince orge's county is considered a food desert by the usda. those areas are shown here in pink. that means there are fewer healthy food options for residents. there are more deserts in prince george's county than anywhere else in our region. seat pleasant is onef them. >> you'll see higher rates of heart disease, higher rates of obesity, and we do struggle with those poor health outcomes in the >> we don't have a grocer but we had a dialysis center. i just want to be real about id o tell you how hurt i was to realize that we had left the people of this community in that situation. cu>> reporter: county exeve

announced good food market, a grocer with a location in d.c., will soon move into the addison road shopping center. the store's mission is t build where otherss gcers won't go. for the people who live here, the wait for decent and healthy food options has been unfair and too long. >> we just need somebody to come in and give us an opportunity to do what everybody needs to do. go to the store. get some vegetables. buy aice piece of salmon. >> reporter: the super beauty, planet fitness, dollar tree where the safeway used to be. it was a large store. this new grocery store is going in behind the wells fargo atm.we ave no specific date yet on when that's going to happen. in seat pleasant, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. you have probably experienced someone driving distracted during your commute or maybe on your way to the store. maybe you've done it yourself even. but now there a new app available called travel safely,

and it kps your focus on the road. transportation reporter adam tuss is in the passenger seat for a test drive.>> all right, so you're connected. >> reporr: getting an alert. >> get ready forgreen. >> reporter: when the light is about tourn green. going too fast in a school zone. >> speeding i school zone. >> reporter: approaching a red light. >> red light. >> reporter: all warnings that can be sent straight toour smartphone as intersections and roads become connected to new wireless technology. all of this is essenally making the roads smarter. >> there's a lot of ways to make the infrastructure safer by giving alerts in school zones, speed zones, alerting when emergency vehicles are approaching and what direction. >> reporter: some of this realtime alert technology is making its way into cars, but it's nowostly used on smartphones. >> these cars don't know what's happening at the intersection so they can't make decisions to stop. >> reporter: jeff wilson is with applied information, which is towns wired up entire like marietta, georgi which

has over 250 connected intersections. think about this, that's actually helped first responders there get to scenes faster. some studies show giving an ambulance a priority green light over regular traffic can cut respse time by over minute, critical time in an emergency. more towns are jumping on arboards. ngton and howard county is already using the school zone warningno tegy. >> speeding in school zone. >> it's a change of thinking th the agencies. this technology is coming. in some form or fashion, it's coming. >> reporter: now this technology isn't cheap. it would cost about $500 per intersection to get it set up. consider this, a lot of intersections cost tens of thounds of dollars to set up without this technology. in the mean time while your car may not be getting these alerts, just ye your smartphone already can. another way that the road experience is evolving.

in arlington -- >> red light. >> reporter: -- adam tuss, news4. >> if you'd like to start using that appnd connect your phone, it's called travel safely. you can download it for free. when we come back, a smoother ride on a rocky stretch of road. we check out t progress to fix th potholes. and sometimes thet wait the dmv is long enough to read peace." we will show you how one local motor vehicle office is giving youo little light reading t pass the time away.

♪ ♪ i can do more to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. and i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release it, like it's supposed to. trulicity is not insulin. it starts acting in my body from the first dose and continues to work when i need it, 24/7. trulicity is an injection to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. don't use it as the first medicine to treat diabetes, or if you have type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take trulicity if you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, you're allergic to trulicity, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, or severe stomach pain. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your low blood sugar risk.

common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite. these can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i choose once-weekly trulicity to activate my within. if you need help lowering your a1c, ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. commuting on the baltimore-washington parkway should be a little smoother. this past week road crews shut down sections to repair potholes.ck chopper 4 c out the progress between route 197 and 198 near laurel. you can see the road isn't perfect, but it is better. in the coming weeks the national park service says it will a long-term repaving project to

fix that road. ho middle ers from virginia gave a warm welcome to a group of veterans from illinois in town this week. more than 100 seventhraders greeted an honor flight with signs and cards at the world war ii memorial. more than 80ve vets td to thstrict, of whom served boths andhe greeters were moved by the experience, including atudent whose dad served in afghanistan. >> my dad workeds -- he deployed to afghanistan for a long time so it feels really cool that i get to come here and see people who did this a long ti ago. i feel like i should give them a lot of appreciation for that. >> the group o veterans spent the trip touring monuments and seeing those beautiful cherry blossoms. hope they had areattime. we've all been there, the dreaded dmv. there are few things more frustrating than waiting in the right? now there's an effort to make is

a little l painful. it's all a machine that spits out something the length of a cvs receipt. and we talk about h a transformation will carry

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managers at a local motor vehicle administration office hope some srt stories are the answers to long lines. news4's cory smith got firsthand look at a literature e vending machi that's helping kill time and anxiety. >> reporter: let's face it, no one likes gng to the mba. all the standing and waiting for hours just to hear your num r called. if only there was a way to escape without losing your spot inline. what is this? >> reporter: that is the answer. a one-way ticket out of the mva and into a world bound only by your imagination. rg i truly thought it was a phone chag station looke wdhen

>> reporter: this is short edition, the new short sto dispenser at the mva office in beltsville. think of it as literature on demand, providing some light, readingand the lightest you could do to pass the time. >> while you're waiting, i like that. >>ter: the process is pretty simple. press a button, get a story. short edition draws from 100,000 different titles. classics, new authors, even winners of writing competitions. depending on how long your wait inine is going to be, you can get through quite a few short stories. they grabbed a few five-minute reads. >> nobody here is waiting for one minute. >> reporter: while a novel ideah olits die hard. smart phones remain the go o time waster. but the mva hope that short l editioe any good book will grab your attention. >> they're bringing the library it's a one-stop shop.

where else to bring it but the mva. this is a great thing for us to team up together. >> reporter: of a the six-month pilot progr is successful, they hope to install more you might consider that a happy ending. cory smith, news4. elizabeth taylor's grandchildren were in washington this week. they're here to carry on her t fight fse suffering with hiv and aids. years ago taylor helped create the whitman walker medical center on 14th street that bear heme. now that center is being transformed into a complex that not only hors taylor's legacy but also finds a new, clever way to keep charity alive and thriving in one of the hippest neighborhoods in town. wendy rieger was the story. >>eporter: when you first see elizabeth taylor's grandchildren, you search for resemblance. the sapphire eyes, the dark beauty, and it's all there. but taylor gave them something deeper, her humanity. >> if i could do any small part in carrying on her legacy of

compasldon, then i w be honored to do so. >> reporter: three of taylor's grandchildren came to 14th street to see a development simply called liz that honors her work in hiv/aids. liz is a reimaginion of the original elizabeth taylor medical center at whitman walker. some 30 years ago as the aids crisis raged,amaylor b an outspoken advocate for a community that faced condemnation and despair. helping create a center that brought hope and support to a people who were burying too many of their young friends. >> whitman walker meant so muc to my grandmother. she was so inspired by it and so impressed byit. and i think that the center here meant a lot to her. >> reporter: and here'she genius in this new project. with the help of five square developmen whitman walker is building luxury apartments and retail space on its land.

>> so whitman walker ends up the majority owner of this. >> reporter: which wontinue to bring in money that will pay for whitman walker's mission for cocades to . >> we're now supporting 20,000 patients in our health care center, 300 employees. >> reporter: but taylor will be here in more than name. thete original c will be enlarged and reenvig rated, becoming a research center and cultural center that will t celebrate jus how far they have come thanks to her tenacity, something not lost on her offspring. >> the ezabeth taylor that i knew was grandma, so not elizabeth taylor the celebrity, but elizabeth taylor, you know, you mak pb & js with or ice g out sundaes and just h with and watch a movie with. but here in this capacity, as leila was saying, it's a great honor to takensration from her work and her legacy. >>whitman walker's liz

development will open this summer. when we come back, a h for a hero. a local veteran and his wife get their forever home free of charge. we'll take you inside as they check it out for the first time. nothing says spring like fresh flowers,

so let's promote our spring travel deal on choicehotels.com like this: (sneezes) earn one free night when you stay just twice this spring. allergies. or.. badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com. it all started that one family night in dumfries, virginia. family night is for everybody, it's a time for families to do crafts together. the kids just love going to chick-fil-a for dinner. being a single mom and getting everybody ready - it was tough. we would get there a little bit late, like on the tail end of it. helen saw that i was having trouble getting them to chick-fil-a for the family night on time and actually got it extended another hour. noticing things like that, i never really told her how much she affected me but she did. love you. [all] moo!

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new details ahead of amazon's arral in arlington. the washington business journal reporting the company is considering a zo energy campus for its new hq2wl in the renamed national landing area. that would mean the buildings generate as muc energy as they use. nothing is officiayet, but it could be a key sustainability effort for amazon. this comes as the city of alexandria begins public meetings about virginia tech's planned innovation campus at the site. news4 is committed to honoring those who have served our country. one of thoserave individuals, a local army veteran who was injured overseas, now he is moving into a i new house purcellville.

aimee cho talked to him about e road to recovery and why this new home means so much. >> reporter: on a brand new house above ahill, fresh flowers and new beginnings. >> larr shrubs toward the back. >> reporter: inside sergeant william and his wife, alice, explore t new home. >> we can actually hang pictures where they want. >> reporter: they say they're just excited to finally put down roots. >> not worrying about moving, not worrying about where we're going to go and know in two amars we have to pack and leave. >> reporter: wil served over 20 years in the army, always moving from place to place, and ing overseas, until one day a rocket hit his tank. >> i was medically evacuated to walter re. my arm career was cut short. i had neck surgery on my ck, ptsd and depression. >> reporter: he also suffered brain damage s williant two years at walter reed. as for how he's doing now? >> i think i do prettywell. what do you think? >> mostly, yes. >> motely. >> repor there are hard days, though. sometimes william forgets things and walking is still tough.

>> at the endi of the stairs, i just feel i'm r:ne. >> reporhat's why this new house is designed to make william's life easier. >> because i have mobilityis es with my knees -- >> reporter: it's taken months. builders with the group hero homes working day and through a hot summer and a cold winter, builders serving those who servedus. >> we're an all-volunteer organization. nobody gets paid. >> he's done so much for our country. we figured it was the least we could do for r:m. >> reporhe family didn't have to pay a penny. >> i was grateful. >> this will be the first time we'll actually have a place where we're going to live. s reporter: now all tha left to do is decorate. >> we're going to hang christmas stockings right there. >> reporter: they have gotten their nnd house in all the volunteers, they say they also found new family. aimee cho, news4. has already

started planning the next house they'll be building for another deserving hveteran. we whem all the best. that's all now for "news4 this i'm leon harris. we'll leave you with one last look at the cherry blossoms. thanks for joining us. have a great week.

>> announcer: "ws4 today" starts now. 6:00 on this saturday. here's what we're following for you. an image that sparked outrage. a 10-year-old child led away in handcuffs. officials are stepping forward to let everyone knowhe young man is innocent. and a man in jail charged with running over a woman is charged with hitting another person outside his islamic center. and police say you're looking at someone stealing thousands of dollars right before your eyes. mood saturdayning to you. thank you so much for being with us. i'm adam tuss in for david. the skies will look bright fer heading out to the cherry