we're told it started as an armed robbery at a jewelry store. we have the latest information. i know you have been gathering it throughout the afternoon. >> reporter: that's right. police say a negotiator is talking with the suspect who apparently has at least two hostages inside the home in the 700 block of valley view avenue in leesburg, which is just off -- circle southwest. here's what we know. it began 11:30 this morning at a jewelry store. it is called the other kind of jewelry store located on east market street. that is held up at gun point. there's been a money since that hour. there was a foot chase but police lost him then police say he stole a car and abandoned it nearby. next thing they know they are getting a 911 call from a resident at valley view avenue. kenneth jolly lives next door to the hostage situation is now

worried about his neighbors. >> it is an elderly couple in their 80s with 12-year-old grandson that lives with them with medical problems and my main concern i just hope nothing happens. i hope they don't have a heart attack or anything like that. no medical problems. i hope the guy don't hurt them either of course. >> reporter: and police are also saying that shots were fired inside of the home but they don't know if anyone was hurt inside. they don't know how many shots were fired, but they are continuing communication with the suspect. police say they don't know who the person is who has taken at least two hostage. back to you. >> hopefully this will resolve soon. we will keep you updated on the situation throughout the show. our other top story, general motors emerging out of bankruptcy and promising to stay out of trouble. the ceo introduced the new gm as a company with better cars, a new corporate culture and a laser focus on the customer.

but it is still dependent on the government which owns 60% of the automaker now and pledged $50 billion in loans. gm promises to pay it all back but they have a rough road ahead. >> there's never been a successful turnaround in the global auto industry without a focus on the cost and revenue side of the business. you have to do it on both sides. to win, we need to stabilize and in fact grow our business around the globe, in particularly here in the united states. >> old general motors received criticism for relying too much on suvs and trucks and the new gm says it will concentrate on fuel efficient models. the hottest model looks like a gas guzzler from the ' 70 was it has been transformed for the new millennium and they are screaming off the lots. >> reporter: from a starring role in transformers to a star in the transformation of gm,

the chevy camaro is smokin'. >> i had one in the old days and i bought a new one. i couldn't afford them when they were old. >> reporter: it is tough to even find a camaro. buyers put down deposits on 14,000 of them before a single one was built and some dealers are selling them for $5,000 over msrp. >> remembers me of the ' 69 g- 20 i used to have. >> when people get a phone call their car is in, it is not a day, it is hours before they are at the store ready to go home and you can see the grin on their face when they drive out. >> reporter: they are sold out at criswell's in gaithersburg. in the heyday of mull let hair dos and hot shots gm was selling 300,000 of these cars every year. no one is expecting the new camaro to pull those numbers, but they do hope it will bring more people in to the show room. so what strange alchemy has gm

thinking a model built in ' 66 and discontinued in 2002 can resurrect a company from bankruptcy in 2009. this is not your father's camaro. it gets 29 mpg on the highway. although fans say the v-8 the real muscle car. >> you can't legislate what everybody has to drive or we will get the great russian cars that everybody got 30 years ago. >> reporter: let the russians drive lottas. america loves the camaro. 9 news now and wusa9.com. >> i think bruce likes the camaro, too. the auto critics like it as well but complain about blind spots and a cramped backseat. the dc council is trying to clean up its act. vincent gray announced a new plan of checks and balances for contracting procedures and a code of conduct for the council members. now this comes on the heels of marion barry's stalking charges which yesterday were dismissed. gary is live with more on

what's happening today. gary? >> reporter: well, barbie is bringing star power to the investigation naming robert bennett no stranger to investigating allegations of corruption by public officials. he led an investigation for 20 years ago and represented president clinton in the monica lewinsky impeachment case and now turning his attention to marion barry. >> at issue are the contracts awarded to donna watts and the policy that allows council members to award these contracts. >> we believe it should be independently investigated and to do the best job to ensure there were no rules that were broken in the district of columbia about this contract and also, frankly, the question that was raised about public perception is important. we want the public to be as satisfied as they can that this situation has been investigated and we have gotten at what the facts are. >> reporter: barry expressed

confidence dense he has done nothing wrong. >> i welcome the inquiry. i have no doubt in my mind we followed all the procedures. >> reporter: the council is expected to meet next week to vote to give bennett subpoena power one condition he insisted before taking on the investigation. he says he hopes to make it a quick one and when it is over find out withstand and how that contract was awarded and also perhaps making recommendations to city council on how the so- called sweet heart contracts should be conducted in the future. anita. >> thank you. a federal appeals court says check point points like the ones dc police used in the trinidad neighborhood maybe unconstitutional. police set up road block and limited access to the area after a shooting. one victim alonzo robinson. he was shot and killed on the street in front of his mom and sibling. the check points that followed

went too far some say and the mayor says they were effective will my think the proof is in the pudding. crime did go down in trinidad. the fact that the judge doesn't agree at the appeals level doesn't mean we're going to give up. >> it is an important issue for the police departments around the country. i just got it this morning. we may well appeal it. >> reporter: the dc police will have to rely heavily on all hands on deck efforts like the one announced today on morton street northwest. a lower court is reviewing the decision on the check points. a murder trial is set for a maryland woman accused of killing two adopted daughters and storing their bodies in a freezer. 44-year-old renee bowman is scheduled to go 0 on trial in november. in calvert county, she faces trial in september on charges she abused a third daughter who slipped out of the family's home and ran for help. moving to the international front. an historic meeting took place

in vatican city load. president obama and pope benedict xvi meet face-to-face for the first time in private for a half an hour. the pontiff gave the president a document explaining the church's opposition to stem cell research and they discussed immigration, middle east peace and aid to developing nations. the first lady and a handful of the top aides were there to meet the pontiff along with a gift exchange. the president gave the pope a letter from kennedy and asked him to pray for the senator. he ends the week overseas with a final stop in the african nation of ghana before heading home on saturday. ahead we will have the latest on the hostage situation we have been talking about in leesburg. plus, the new marijuana ad that some politicians call a smoke screen. it was another beautiful day today but we have a little rain in the forecast for the weekend. we will look at th b@infea er atthnut lobut rs honufr ts he t op mbofthe ur . up d lo80anw s with no

humidity. enjoy. the weather is coming up next.

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wusa9.com. click on "living $mart." one man says he has a sure fire method to keep the deer out of your garden. but first a preview of the cbs evening news. coming up, what can monkeys teach us about living longer. a major study suggests we could all benefit from a permanent diet. we will have that and more on the cbs evening ne aws er9 news now. living with foot pain?

get gold bond pain relieving foot cream. maximum strength medicine stops pain fast. gold bond pain relieving foot cream. finally fast relief for painful feet. if you have been watching 9 news now you know we have been keeping close tabs on a developing story in leesburg, virginia. we are looking live at the scene where police say a man is holding at least two people hostage in a house on valley view avenue. within the last few minutes we have learned they heard shots fired inside. this started just before noon when the suspect robbed a nearby jewelry store on east market street. while running from the officers the suspect apparently stole a car and then climbed out and ran in to that house where he is now holding hostages.

s.w.a.t. teams are on the scene. police have been speaking to the hostage taker by phone. we will keep you updated on all of this at wusa9.com and we will have a live update from the scene on 9 news now at 7:00. move took the investigation in to michael jackson's death. detectives are looking closely at the singer's prescription drug history and interviewing his numerous former personal doctors. in an interview with good morning america, jackson's father joe says he believes foul play was involved in his son's demise. los angeles police chief william bratton told cnn police are waiting for the coroner's report before they rule out any possibility. speaking of drugs, pot smokers in california are rallying behind a tv ad that calls for legalizing and regulating marijuana. they say it would help the state raise money at a time when cash is certainly scarce. look at the commercial. >> even our state parks could be closed. but the governor and legislature are ignoring

millions of californians who want to pay taxes. we are marijuana consumers. >> reporter: a group called "the marijuana policy project "says pot legal zig would generate a billion tax dollars each year. >> what we have done is have this very large market. it the number one cash crop in california to unregulated criminals. >> they say it will bring in a billion which i think it is doubtful. the social cost will be much higher than anything we bring in. >> people say far too many pot smoker turn to more dangerous drugs including cocaine and heroin. in to july and it is time for the gardens to harvest more vegetables than ever. that is unless the deer get to them first. oxon hill is plagued with deer and a gardener was enjoying success with a deer proofing idea. >> chris irvin loves garden

vegetables and hates the deer that steal them. >> tell me about the deer. >> about 50 of them. >> he has tried everything to keep the deer away. plastic owl. >> it is pretty decoration. it maybe pretty for some gardens but doesn't do anything. >> and east eating fencing. >> it didn't stop them. >> reporter: if deer laughed you could have heard them inside the house. >> expensive, too. >> but this year look at the garden, corn, melon, collard greens unmolested because chris has discovered a secret. >> caution tape. i would i could patent this. you see how pretty the garden is and they don't touch it. they won't touch it at all. >> how did you come across this tape idea. >> i don't know. cutting grass one day and probably had a couple of beers and i said let me try something different. maybe yellow because might be

the color of it they can see it at night time. the wind blows all good. i had deer every morning and by 12:00 in the day and 8:00 in the evening. >> caution tape how about that. now, this report does not come with a guarantee it will keep the deer away but at dollars for 1,000 feet of stuff you can wrap it around an awful lot of gardens to find out. in oxon hill, scott broom for 9 news now and wusa9.com. >> worth a try. some biologists believe the deer population in this region is actually higher now than when colonist arrived. when it comes to weather vanes they don't get more impressive than this. this is old jake weather vane in west virginia. six feet high and dating back to 1850. you can get a close look without having to climb on a building to see it. the charlie ruth fire house is displaying it in winchester.

pretty cool. and pretty spectacular, tony pann in this weather department. >> the weather is awesome. i was going to say a lot of people collect historic weather vanes. it is a big collectors item so that would be worth plenty of cash for those collectors. weather wise, there is really not much to say. it is gorgeous. for this time of the year. >> time for you to do the forecast. >> it is easy, nice and people enjoy it. so that makes me smile, yeah. it is going to change a little bit over the weekend. some rain in the picture but i don't think it will be a washout. start with the three-day trend first and get to the seven day in a second. temperatures in the mid to upper 80s on saturday and sunday. keep in mind the normal is 88. below that mark but a shower or thunderstorm is possible, especially saturday night and sunday. we will talk about that in a second. partly cloudy skies. pleasant conditions for the rest of the night. not as cool as last night but cool for this time of the year. lows in the 60s.

southeast wind at five to ten. during the day tomorrow, partly sunny. a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. i'm talking about after 4:00 or 5:00. most of the day will be fine. if you are going to do stuff outside highs in the mid-80s and more humid than today. right now we have cloud cover spilling in from the north out of pennsylvania. these are leftovers from thunderstorms that fired up in the great lakes. all of the precipitation is gone with those but as the storms die the clouds drift in. and that will be with us i think for most of the night tonight. there are some showers popping up in ohio and parts of west virginia. that's just -- that system will come in here over the weekend. upper 70s and low 80s. outstanding for this time of the year. 81 hagerstown, one of the warmer spots. 77 baltimore. officially at national 78. look at the dew point, still 57. it is not uncommon to have the dew point around that 70-degree mark. it is the beginning of july as you well know. high pressure is in control of

the weather. that will slide away and allow the system in the midwest to move eastbound and we will get a chance of a couple scattered showers and thunderstorms over the weekend and also bring in the heat that's been plaguing the folks in the southern plains. 102 in dallas. little piece of that heat will come in ahead of that system. scattered showers and thunderstorms saturday night, maybe on sunday, as well. if i had to put a percentage on it i would say 40% for saturday night and in to sunday. chance of showers on monday. look at the high temperatures in the beginning of the week, 79 on monday and have this is typically the hottest part of the year. 83 on tuesday and then mid-80s by wednesday. still no 90-degree temperatures in the seven-day forecast and a very unusual 79. that sticks out at you on monday. >> are we going to get socked in august. >> i don't know. we were talking about how mother nature evens things out a lot. maybe a little pay back in august. >> i hope it stays that way. for football season. >> take it right in to football season. right now the guys have a break

and they are doing some good things. >> in the middle. basketball just finished waiting for football start. a quiet time of the year. what's up, everybody? the athletes are taking their time. it is a quiet time of the year in terms of sports. but off the field players are busy helping the community up next a former and current redskin out and about serving less fortunate. the caps and hockey make an addition to the roster. more fire power come to the verizon center. we will tell you who next xtin sports. many surfaces that seem smooth and strong...

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what's up, everybody. the nats don't have a lot to lean on this year but one of the things they have asked fans to be is patient. who are we kidding? this is a rebuilding year but hope lies in the youthful pitching staff with no starter over the age of 25. one of those guys, scott olson, who the team picked up from florida in the off season. got off to a slow april and lit up in may and then on the dl with shoulder soreness but since he has been back he has gone from lit up to lights out. it is his job to get the job done tonight against the astros. he wants to get the team on the winning track. the bad news, he is facing roy

oswalt who has a 7.07 era. zimmerman is not in the opening line up. he hasn't had a day off yet this year. to our knowledge he has an injury. it looks like just a day off if before the all-star break. festivities for him in st. louis. bobby mitchell played for the brown and redskins and cleveland teamed up with a guy named jim brown. may remember that name. that formed one of the finest running back combinations in the era. he returned kicks and is an 83 hall of fame inductee, as well. you could say he is a hall of famer off the field, too. he has done tireless work for leukemia and lymphoma research. today he held a golf tournament at lansdowne resort to raise money. over the years his foundation has helped to raise $6 million and hopes to improve quality of

life for patients. >> great thing to happen this year. young man is with us. we had an opportunity to go to his graduation from high school. that's why i'm here. >> he's doing great work and he's not the only one. more charity work, boost mobile presented a $5,000 check to the foundation of redskins wide receiver antawn randell el for its commitment to the community. the el foundation supports underserved children and their families in the dc area. caps fans will be excited. off season hockey news they signed brendon morrisson to a deal. terms not disclosed. last year he played anaheim and dallas and scored 50 plus points. he has some hot many his stick. now to the golf pga tour.

the second best player in the world will not be there. phil mickelson has officially pulled out to be with his wife amy as she begins her recovery from breast cancer treatment. the news actually not much of a surprise. last month mickelson said after his runner up finish at the u.s. open it would be unlikely he would play the british. his absence and the longest active streak of the majors played. tour de france, stage seven through the mountains. this is where lance makes his move. lance and the team led for most of the day but he actually fell back at the end. everyone is chasing that guy there from france. he took the stage. lance is in third. he said he wasn't as tired as he thought he would be. finally football news. the cleveland browns wide receiver dante stallworth was

released from jail after serving 24 days in jail for dui manslaughter. he struck and killed a pedestrian on march 14th. he will be on house arrest for the next two years followed by eight years of probatioand has been suspended indefinitely by the nfl. but of course the good news in the nfl and those guys are out there doing great work in the community and always great to see that. >> great. thank you. >> that is all for 9 news now at 6:00. the cbs evening news is next and then join derek for the only newscast at seven and the latest on the hostage standoff it is going on in leesburg and don't forget, wusa9.com is always on. i'm anita brikman. have a good night.