this is 9 news now. hello and welcome to 9 news now at noon. we want to update you on a serious traffic problem that has occurred in alexandria. a water main broke at the intersection of van dorn

andizen how they are morning. van dorn street has been closed in both directions while crews try to repair this break. police are asking that if all possible avoid this area in order to prevent further traffic tieups. and officials are hoping to have at least one lane open very soon. again, a water main break as forced the closure of van dorn street at eisenhower avenue in alexandria. we will keep you posted on any further changes. of course one of our top stories today the confirmation hearings for sonia sotomayor. they started on captiol hill. >> the senate will -- please remove that man. >> there were fireworks when a protester shouted to disrupt the proceedings but the proceedings continued without a

further incident this morning. if confirmed, sonia sotomayor will be the first hispanic to sit on the supreme court. we have a report now from washington. >> reporter: president obama's pick for the supreme court is ready for two days in the hot seat. >> would you please introduce the members of your family. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i will limit myself to just my immediate family. >> reporter: the confirmation hearings for sonia sotomayor are underway. the democrats have a big enough majority in the senate so that the first hispanic nominee to the high court doesn't face any serious road blocks to confirmation, but republicans still have some big questions about what she said in speeches and how she's ruled on the bench. >> do i want a judge who allows his or her social or political views to change the outcome or do i want a judge that impartially applies the law toe this facts. >> reporter: democrats say with all of her years as a federal judge there is little mystery

what she will do on the high court. >> she has been a judge for all of america and will be a justice for all of america. >> the justices sided with a group of white firefighters who claimed that they were victims of reverse discrimination. the nominee has spent days with administration attorneys preparing for today and taking part in confirmation hearings. legal analysts say the key is not to make waves. >> the only thing standing between her and confirmation is herself. >> reporter: this is the first of four days of hearings. each lawmaker will make opening statements today the questionenning begins tomorrow. >> of course we will keep you posted on the sonia sotomayor confirmation hearings, you can go to our website all day at wusa9.com. now for another presidential appointment. we have just learned that president obama has chosen a very well-known alabama family

physician dr. regina benjamin to be the next surgeon general. dr. benjamin made headlines in the wake of hurricane katrina with her determination to rebuild her rural health clinic in alabama. six lawsuits related to last month's deadly metro rail crash have been filed against dc metro rail system. nine people were killed, 80 others injured. one of six car metro trains rear ended a stopped train near the red line's fort tauton station. one is seeking $25 million. legal analysts say total financial damages could stretch in the hundreds of millions of dollars. the jacks trial started today in montgomery county. she's accused of killing her four daughters and living with their decomposing bodies for

nearly seven months. the bodies were discovered in january of 2008 when marshalls arrived at jack's southeast washington home to carry out an eviction. authorities say the girls had been dead since the summer of 2007 when jacks was living in montgomery county. jacks will be tried before a judge, not ajury, after requesting a bench trial. montgomery county prosecutors are dropping charges against two students originally accused ofa ofschoo bomb plot. officials had accused the pair of trying to kill their principal by throwing a nail bomb in his office and igniting a lis ganes exatosn io brghoospk sc olhohi serg.lv gech s arrewedropped as re part oa plea bargain agreement. the suspects face a variety of criminal charges still. the fairfax board of supervisors will hold a hearing on a proposal from islamic saudi academy to expand its

chances in fairfax. -- campus in fairfax. they have concern about the school's teachings. the academy received much of its funding from the saudi government and over the years faced criticism that its religious curriculum fosters intolerance. they say they have revised the text books but has a long history of getting along with the neighbors in that community and even teaching arabic to u.s. army soldier. the planning commission recommended approval of the expansion. well, college math professors say maryland's public schools are not doing a good enough job teaching basic arithmetic. half of maryland high school graduates who go on to four- year or community colleges are forced to take remedial classes before they can take classes for credit. >> you might call it a show of patriotism. with gardening tools. today hundreds of landscapers

across the nation are donating their time and expertise to spruce up arlington national cemetery. it is part of a 13th annual renewal and remembrance project hosted by the professional landscape network children are also volunteering. they are planting flowers and laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldiers. the wife of the vice president will have orthopedic surgery today in order to relieve shoulder pain. jill biden will have the outpatient procedure performed at thomas jefferson high school in philadelphia. dc department of health officials say three mosquito pools have tested positive for the west nile virus. officials say the mosquito pools were collected from a block on washington boulevard southwest near ft. mcnair over the weekend. west nile virus can be dangerous for anyone with compromised immune system. well, the u.s. department of health and human services

says virginia is eligible for nearly $9 million to prepare for swine flu and the fall flu season. it is part of $350 million that president obama signed in to law for fighting the flu across the nation. the virginia department of health says at least 312 cases of the h1n1 virus have been confirmed in the state with two deaths. a lot of people from our area are heading to the eastern shore and the atlantic beaches during the summer, but in one resort town there was confusion and frustration after it was discovered that electronic parking meters were ripping people off. bruce johnson explains. >> reporter: rehoboth beach, delaware is called the summertime capital as the oceantown's number swell with vacationers looking to evidence kate the pressing grind of the washington, d.c. work place. who could have guessed that 42

electronic parking meters along the strip at the ocean could cause so much confusion and frustration. just before the july 4th crush, the meters stopped processing credit cards. >> that's the problem. >> reporter: people would walk away thinking it processed their cards only to learn when they returned 42 of the 50- meters stopped working properly and in many cases, parking enforcement teams, which are always close by had left a envelope on the wind shield with a violation fine inside. >> they are getting a letter from me. i will tell you. i put a credit card in there and got a bunch of minutes up there and walked away and within an hour i had a $30 ticket on there. >> here's my personal contribution. after i put my credit card in the meter thinking i was covering, wrong, $30 parking ticket. >> wrong. a couple of weeks ago there were problems. now they are fixed. >> reporter: what do i do with my ticket. >> if you think it is wrong take it to the parking

division. >> reporter: the parking manager didn't return our calls this week and. city officials say a majority of the electronic meters are accepting credit cards. machines have always taken coins without a problem. >> by the way, one official in charge of the meters says despite the problem the machines have processed 20,000 credit cards, although he says he would like to recommend that changes be made to the meters for next season. we will come back in just a moment with the latest on the nationals. stay with us.

we have breaking news because the washington nationals have fired manager manny acta. the team just finished a press conference about 40 minutes ago. our 9 news now sports director brett haber was there and he is joining us with the latest from nationals park. hi, bret. >> hi there, j.c. as one respected baseball analyst put it i'm not sure that any manager could have won with this team. manny acta paid the price this morning. it happened at nationals park in the wee hours of the morning after the team returned from houston. acta pulled aside by team president stan casten and informed he had been dismissed he quietly cleaned out his

office and left. his 2 1/2 seasons in washington produced 94 games below 500 including the major league worst mark of 26-61. he will be replaced on an interim basis by jim wriggleman who managed the cubs, padre and mariners in the past and who is local having grown up in rockville, manufacture movie and gone to richmond montgomery high school and frost burst state. moments ago they talked about the change. >> the team hasn't achieved. we feel we have a better ball club than we have shown on the field. 26-61 is unacceptable to not only the families and dan casten and myself and the ball club. >> manny did not show up at the press conference but released a statement that says in part i'd like to thank god for putting me in this position and giving the nationals an opportunity to

be a major league manager. i have no regrets. as i move forward, i wish the nationals the best. there is a great sense of regret from the team president having to do this to manny acta. i believe he holds him in high regard personally but for whatever reason he was not connecting with this young team this season and that was born out by the record on the field. mandatory practice on wednesday to get the group together and then back on the field on thursday. manny acta is out as the nationals skipper. back to you. >> the latest information at 5:00. thank you very much. what is your definition of fast? well, there are some technology items that are being tested that could allow us to travel almost anywhere on the planet in an hour. we'll explain. kim has the forecast. in an hour? wow. can't wait to find out how much that costs. good afternoon, everybody.

just got the allergy report and i will share that that with you next and of course the seven- day forecast is at noon. it is monday and gorgeous outside.

all right. we told you about a water main break that occurred at van doren and eisenhower in alexandria. good news that because van dorn street now has one lane open in both directions so traffic is moving. but if you can try to avoid that area. all right. imagine being able to fly almost anywhere in the world in an hour or less. it could be reality very soon. several companies are working on a rocket plane. the aircraft would use standard jet engines for takeoff. once it reached 40,000 feet it would fire a rocket that would take it 62 miles above the earth where it would then travel by rocket power toward its destination. >> wow. >> it would descend and land under jet engine power. now, the technology could be tested within the next three years. that's traveling fast. >> initially i was hearing, you know, one of the early flights, everything starts off

expensive, 200 k. >> oh, gosh. my heart would stop. >> i know. i think i would be pretty scared. >> i think so, too. >> i'm doing well. >> beautiful weather. >> i know it. >> doesn't get much better than this. >> the only thing taking advantage of the weather is the grass pollen which snuck up to the moderate category. everything else is low, including weeds. speaking of which i tried dan delions on the 9:00 a.m. show. >> litter bitter? i would think so. fawas just outside and it was ntastic, plenty boflu sk y teurullaboue thmp erat. es . 83 grdes ees inside the beltw to the rth hstinagn ower whe u you r nevefeel left out on channel 9 because we include everybody, including the north

and south. 81. annapolis 79. hagerstown in the middle 80s. across northern virginia a lot of 80s on the map. quantico you are the exception with 79-degree reading. you share that with winchester. the game plan today in purcellville 87. also the goal in warrenton and 85 for spotsylvania. if you want your forecast for the next three i'm fine with that. let me step out of the way and show you. more sun tomorrow, 85 and 90 for the hot high on wednesday. the average, right around 88. the winds have been variable but basically speaking the humidity has been kept out of the forecast and down along where the stalled front is across north carolina we have some strong to severe thunderstorms across southeastern virginia last night. and looks like that will be the place where they stay out of reach here. then as we follow the front it bends to the north and west through southern missouri and arkansas. that's for the latest round of thunderstorms is blasting

through. around here we have sandwiched between that system and a weak front across the northern adirondacks and new england. up here there is where they will have rain. here partly sunny. in between the systems means the air will be sinking on top of us and we get nice weather in the upper 80s. got to like that. quickly if you are doing traveling today, 103 in dallas. yes, that's 115 in phoenix. san fran my pick with that 77. i'm going to show you the next seven days. going to like it. rain-free tomorrow and wednesday. the next shot at thunderstorms is 90 degrees on thursday and then as we head to the weekend we will have a couple of storms as we think about saturday. all right. it is money monday. we will be right back. please stay with us. you are watching the noon show on 9 news now. having the right tools is crucial

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income by using a financial instrument called annuities. >> what's the good thing about them. >> the good thing about an annuity is it provides a guarantee. so social security and other pensions people have but this is something they can do for themselves to provide that guarantee. if you think back 20, 30, 40 years ago many companies provided that guarantee. today most of them put the burden on us and make us save using 401-ks and it is up to us to fund the retirement plan. how nice would it be to turn it over to a large financial institution and have that guarantee continue for your entire life. >> is there a down side if so what are they. >> they are not appropriate for everyone. and most important you may not put all of your money in an annuity because often times you are looking up that money potentially for the rest of your life but a portion of it and knowing you have an income

you can not outlive there let people sleep better given the market turbulence we have just had. >> who should not get an annuity. >> someone who already has enough guaranteed income for life. why tie up more. it is not as easy to pass on to the next generation. some type of annuities may be able to pass on to the next generation but many of them stop payments upon their or their spouse's death so choose the appropriate type for your needs. >> of course you need to talk to a professional. to get more information but this is an option to have guaranteed income and in today's economy boy oh boy that's what everybody wants. thanks for joining us. come back and visit us again. >> thank you for being with us for 9 news now at noon. come back and visit us at 5:00. let's take another look at the forecast. >> a seven day, enjoy it everybody. we have dry for three.

no thunderstorms coming in until thursday. until then, j.c., that's our weather.