z35k8z z16fz y35k8y y16fy right now on "news 4 this week." safe after fire. here in washington and a und the world, people vow to rebuild after thee massive fir at notre dame. highway safety ne changes aimed at stopping the growing death toll on a dangerous stretchne major tinh. >> welcome to "news 4 this week

>> hello, i'm leon harris and we begin with the news been talking about this week, that fire at notre dame in paris. images of the fire shocked the world, and tha includes people here at home. news 4 shamari sto spoke with people from france here in our area about the important role that cathedral plays. >> i want also to, in your name, express a word of solidarity with our brothers and sisrs in france. >> reporter: as the massive fire engulfed notre dame cathedral i, pari cardinal reads a statement during mass at cathedral of st. matthew the apostle in d.c. >> for some 800 years, notre dame de ris laid claim to the imagination and the afftetion. >> rep he says ownerreshspageh,

french bakery in bethesda. he was born and raised in paris. >> my world, where i grew up when i was young, is collapsing. it's a b shock. especially this week, it's holy week. >> reporter: at mass people are relieved the paris fire chief says the church's structure had been saved. but there is a lot of damage. >> we offer our prayers and express our solidarity with all of the people of france and particularly the church in paris. >> reporter: shamari stone, news 4.t' known as one of the

deadliest roads in maryland are we're talking about the indian head highway. over the last0 decade 6 people have died there including three children just before the new year. there have also been 134 crashes with injuries along route 210. now a grassroots effort by neighbors has resulted in several new speed cameras going up. news 4's megan mcgrath has more on the safety changes onhe way. >> reporter: route 210. indian head highway. it's one of the most dangerous roads in the dmv. yasmine duncanll knows that too well. her daughter samira was killed trying to cross the street to catch the bus. determined to bring change, duncan and a diverse group of citizen met i the evenings after work and kept up the pressure for safety improvements. and their effortsai have p off. three new speed cameras are coming in june. i am humbled. i am thankful. my persona journey is to do

whatever i can so that no other fami ever experience what myself and so many other families have gone through. >> reporter: andhere are other safety enhancements coming including rumble strips, improved lighting at intersections, and changes to make traffic signals more visible. people who drive along 210 hope it helps. >> as we know,re the are always accidents, unfortately, many fatalities. so anything that can be done to make it safer i think woulde awesome. >> every time i turn on the news i always hear about some type of accident, either horrific or minor. hopefully this will from speeding and cut down on fatalities on this road. >> reporter: speed is oft a factor in these terrible crashes so the hope here is that the new cameras will slow drivers down and save lives. along 210, megan mcgrath, news 4. now from the roads to the rails. a train traveling too fast, two

trains on the same track, that's pretty unsettling to think about. but now a rail agency in our area is using a new safety device thathould prevent those kinds of incidents. transportation reporter adam usk has an inside look at how vre is using this system known as positive train control. >> reporte this is a significant sety milestone. one you hope that's never actually needed. >> people are human, obviously, they make isstakes. ths to catch thingsn that a engineer may not catch. >> reporter: for example, going too fast around a curve or two trainsn e same track, even workers ahead on the tracks.in positive traontrol is a safety layer that takes over to prevent these incidents. doug allen is the head vre. >> with technology, this system will override and slow trains down or stop trains as necessary. >> reporter: you may remember that awful deadly amtrak crash in philadelphia a few years ago. that train was going over 100

miles an hour around a curve, something that never should have happened and never would have happened if positive train control had been in place at the time. both amtrak and mark have beeni to get their tracks fully equipped with the system. mark isn't there a similar sma type of system that's in place. some vre riders don't love the idea of a computer taking over. >> i think it's a good move, but it has to be designed and engineered reallcarefully. >> reporter: others hapith the safety upgrades. >> the alternative is to sit on 95ll and a its crazy drivers. so it's the best way to go. >> reporter: one thing this system can't do is detect trespassers and many rail agencies continue to warn against that. but no mistake, for vre, positive train control is a big step forward. when you think of vre, you might not think of major commuter rail systems but it is, the 12th largest rail system in the entire country, about4.5

million trips per year in our area. now a new safety layer built into the ride.in alexandria, adam tusk, news 4. when we come back, it's been years.for but this week we learn when you'll once again be able to take sn thosetunning views take sn thosetunning views in for you tour make yougnaroun

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v-dot looking into a way to make repairs safer for road crews and drivers. startinghi t summer they'll be deploying rumble strips to work zones onla tw roads during the day. the idea is the sound will give crews a heads-up of oncoming vehicles. accidents in work zones last year left over 1,200 injured and killed ninencluding some drivers. still ahead, a spotlight on service in our gmmunity. i'mng to introduce you to the local police officer dedicating so much of her time to our students, a us about ever pass apple i the store because it didn't have the perfect shape? you are not alone. coming up meet a maryland man who's pking up that produce you don't want and putting it to good use. y're thinking going

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if scoring airlines points is important, look for credit cards with transrrable points. these will let you transfer to dozens of different airlines. >> it really opens up a lot of opportunities to tra maybe one airline devalues their program,se somebody else. or a certain airline doesn't fly where you want to go on vacation, the good news is if you use one of these , progra you've got lots of other choices. >> one piece of advice, try to get rid of your debt before you start chasing rewards points. and you still have a decent amount of time to rack up some points before your summer vacation. back to you. >> thank you, susan. you know, we expect police to protect and serve our communities. but montgomery county officer katie beard is especially invested in that office part. ficer beard has done a lot of good work during her 19 years on the force. perhaps though none as rewarding as her currentgnassint. her dedication to her community is why one of her neighbors nominated her to be this week's "harris' hero."loing t uffs b

beard really cares about is that these kids know they have a friend who's a police officer. >> especially later in life when the kids start to go to really get into the peer pressure,hey know that they have that one person that was always there for them. >> reporter: this visitt drew elementary school is just one of three community events that officer beard will participate in. her dedication to the community is why michelle james nominated her to be a hero. >> her whole day is filled with this, but she's really a blessing to montgomery county. >> reporter: yes, it's her job, but officer beard goes above and beyond to make herself available. >> she'll answer anybody's question any time. >> reporter: she always wants to drive home that montgomery county is her home too. >> i go towim practice just like you have lacrosse with your

kids, you know, and i try to get that huge elementut there too. and i think that helps a lot with building relationships. >> reporter: meeting with seniors, colleing baby supplies for teen moms. for more than 19 years, officer beard has been finding those kinds of creative ways to engage the community. >> it's important for me to be out there and be visible, and so people know they can ask me y questions, then come up and they can talk to me. ac >> reporter: bk inside the classroom, oicer beard lets the little ones try oner h vest or use her radio, hoping that one day they'll remember they have thanks to officeryobeard. thank y do. we love rig if have a hero, head to our nbc washington app and let us know. the amount of food we throw away ery year is staggering. 20 billion pounds of produce is

wasted in this country, most of it for no goodre on. a university of maryland graduate wanted to tackle the issues of food waste and hunger the same time. re's news 4's aaron gilchrist with a look into the business of rescuing food. >> reporter: it's not the prettiest fruit i've ever seen. perfection completely missed this box of carrots. >> so that when the packing house is going packing some these carrots, they actually sort these out because they don't fit the exact mold. what about thisro car looks wrong? absolutely nothing. >> reporter: evan lutz has built a successful company around that premise. welcome to the warehouse of hungry harvest where food destined for the dump gets e second c it to yourtable. >> we really are trying to build an inclusive food system where there's no fruitor vegetables that are left behind because of aesthetics, also no people left behind. >> reporter: lutz calls himself a social entrepreneur. the hungry harvest mission is twofold, rescue produce, and get more fresh food to places that

need it. he came up with the ideas a senior business major at the university of maryland. >> i started a little stand in the basement ofm doroom for students at college park. sooner or later i had 00 customers every week. >> reporter: that was about five years ago. lutz says in that time his company has saved 13 million founds of produce from going to waste. that isn't bad, just misunderstood. take cage-free eggs, for exsuple. >> conrs think naturally they're brown. hethese are as , thing. >> we herwise would go to waste. >> reporter: hungry harvest buys from faers, packagers, and wholesalers at cost but a >> usually types of fresh sngc.

and to 10,000 pounds of proimpressi plans to expand to a fewt more east coas cities in the next year.. the next year.. when we cng boy in our beco?

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a local teen who always wanted thanks to some of d.c.'s s hass ofcer.way, putting hisbeen the

department. the pediatrics officer g age getting acquainted with the needs, a partner watching his hi happens, stay ve that wasn'tappening. me. >> reporter: soon they'll be beat tother. n officer,won. mind

>> reporter: as for hthis iha ps alcommunity. so you reach out to youth like antoine. >> reporter: to show them that even again4.corey. way to "news 4 this weo showouges from the rocket launch in wallops island in virginia. t internationalday. thanks for joing us. thanks for joing us. ha a [phone ringing] w

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