court decisions would be intolerable. >> reporter: they lost their daughter two years ago to a drunk driver. he's serving three years behind bars but they're worried other drunk drivers will go free because after new ruling. it says defendants have a right to confront their accusers. it's about time say defense attorneys. >> this is going to require the government to prove their case, they're not going to get the benefits of presumptions. >> reporter: prosecutors are asking for continuances because there are thousands of dui cases and only a handful of technicians. >> reporter: testimony resumed today in the case after mother accused of kill her four daughters. the scent of death was still lingering on those boxes of evidence. prosecutors believe she lived with their rotting corporations for seven months after killing

them one by one. an evidence technician talked about the writing on the wall. when photos of her daughters were presented she would not look at them. tomorrow, autopsy results on the three sisters. the home of two largo murder victims has been hit by vandals as a surviving sister continues her own investigation into the murders. >> they broke into the house. >> patricia smith is the sister of dolores dewitt, the aunt of dolores's daughter ebony. their bodies were found in a car six months after two others were murdered in the same neighbor. there is no evidence showing the crimes to be connected, say police. smith called police monday when she discovered the vandalism. she fears it may be retribution for the investigation she has

been conducting into the murders. >> i'm going to find these animals. >> police say there's nothing new in their investigation. follow-up now for you are you on a story. a deadly fire in a riverdale apartment complex. 7-year-old jai farrell died sunday at a hospital. his 5-year-old brother jordan died on friday. investigators believe the fire started accidentally when something was left cooking unattended on the stove. we're hearing tonight that the woman shot in a domestic dispute in mclean last week has died. hillary bradford was shot tuesday night by the father of her 8-year-old son according to the police. 44-year-old john valentini held police at bay before he shot himself. some of the survivors and families of the victims of the deadly virginia tech shooting are speaking out against a proposed national stand pard for

carrying concealed firearms. about 30 of them took out an ad in today's richmond times dispatch. they asked people to reject the proposal. it would allow people to carry concealed weapons in any state as long as they're licensed to carry them in their home state. >> take a look at this sketch on your screen. this is a man police believe attacked a woman on the old doe minion trail last week. if you have any information, please call police. topper looked outside and saw clouds and it's been so long i wasn't sure what was going on. >> clouds haven't produced much rain downtown, couple of sprinkles here, in st. mary's county, over 2 inches of rain. we'll keep showers in. comfortable in. mostly cloudy, lows in the 60s. even downtown we sthud dip into the upper 60s and winds

tertheasterly at about 5 to0. 1 llesa,icture radar ininined, eg ryinthis hsoutso to north so from the 'sttom part of your seegn,nd a ndhtig ligct ayitiv around the metro area but heaviest activity hasnee bee southnd wes of town. erlive0oppl 900ndcty ivitwn ar 935ou s sow t frbuerndicksrg a aiv inshoinnt i serthountn charles county and activity in the panhandle toward cumberland. we'll talk about the prospect of showers and thunderstorms for much of this week and the prospect of 90s, may be on our door step. that coming up. >> i believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. >> that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> today marks 40 years now

since neil armstrong uttered those words as the first man to set foot on the moon. this afternoon, armstrong, buzz aldrin and michael collins met with president obama to mark this historic milestone. the president praised the work of the astronauts and their pioneering spirit. meantime hundreds gathered in armstrong's hometown wrapping up the festival celebrating the moon landing. a museum in ohio is full of artifacts from the space program, everythingm ro fmoon rocks to the jemini space craft. perdue university has its own exhibit about the lunar landing. it includes mementos and personal papers from armstrong. they even have a space suit. one year from now, the space shuttle is slated to retire. and the next manned rocket is at least five years away that's if the engineers can fix a host of

problems. so what is the future of nasa and can we afford it? >> reporter: eugene sernan was the last man on the moon. >> i thought we'd be back to the moon by the end of that decade and on our way to mars. >> reporter: buzz aldrin was the sec guy on the moon 40 years ago. in his sights, a permanent and growing colony on mars. >> the pilgrims on the mayflower did not come over and hang around plymouth rock looking for the way back home again. >> that's how they went to the vicinity of the moon. >> reporter: this is the apollo 11 command module that brought the astronauts safely home to earth. but the next generation rocket already has serious cost overruns.

and they want to try to figure out what makes sense next. the next moon mission may include two rockets, one for the astronauts and another for cargo. they dock in space and then fly on in search of water on the moon. at a cost of perhaps $100 billion. many times more than nasa's current budget. >> we now seem to be -- think it's too much to put even 0.6% into the nasa budget. that is idiotic. >> reporter: in addition to providing jobs and sharpening america's technology edge, they argue we should go on to mars and beyond. in washington, bruce leshan, wusa9.com. and despite the concerns of some of the astronauts, the space commission says it has no plans to curtail constellation. we want to know what you think about the space program.

should we continue to fund it, can we afford it, or do you think we've gone as far as we night to go in these tight times? drop a mail into mcginty's mail bag and we'll read responses on the air tomorrow. astronauts on endeavour were celebrating today with their own space walk. they attached spare parts to the international space station today. one of the staunched supportest is waiting to have surgery tonight. barbara mccluskey broke her ankle in three places last night. it happened while she was walking down some steps. she said she's receiving excellent carry while she waits for that surgery. we've talked this problem to death. year after year. >> the president is calling for action on health care reform. more from him and the opposition coming up in a minute. then, later on, trying to put the brakes on plans to close

roloe l rest a .s lo

. >> these health care professionals are dor heroic work each and every day to save the lives of america's children. but they're being forced to fight through a system that works better for drug companies and insurance companies, than for the american people that all these wonderful health professionals entered their profession to serve. >> president obama making his case for health care remember form at children's national medical center in d.c. today. he's faceing stiff opposition from the republicans. >> obama, pelosi want to start

building a colassal system where washington decides. patients and doctors make the decisions is the alternative. a meeting is being held on this and more on that coming up at 11:00. there will be no sales tax holiday this year in the city. with times so tough the district needs every spare dime and repealing the holiday will bring in $640,000. in past years shoppers had several days to stock up on back to school items without having to pay a sales tax. fresh fruit and vegetables aren't the cheapest things to shop for but coming up tips on buying without breakginhe .a plus topper is back with the full forecast so keep it here.

úb@ . food tastes better when you buy it in season but it's also cheaper. in tonight's living smart focus, that colorful spread you bring home will do more than burst yith flavor. atttithonpao tiso listnd a s u'lleavee s. somckbu waonteelanrm cop, l'tcke,chea ps ear d gatrelsea in july. summer squash, corn, green beans, and lettuce will help you stretch the food budget. find a complete list on log on to wusa9.com and click on living smart. groceries certainly take a big chunk out of anybody's budget. tonight at 11 i'm going to show you how some people in our area

are saving as much as 70% on their food bill. it's local grocery auction. that's tonight, only in your 9news now at 11:00. virginia is making plans for spending more than a billion dollars in stimulus money for projects. today $123 million are going to highway safety and construction improvement. 116 will be allocated to bridge replacement or repair, and 730 million is for sewage plant projects. at midnight, virginia will start to close down 18 of its 42 rest areas, four of them like this one in dale city are along interstate 95. the virginia department of transportation says it will save $9 million a year by closing the rest areas but critics argue it will put driefrts at risk by eliminating places where they can pull over safely. today bob mcdonald proposed creating a program to keep the facilities open. his adopt a safety rest program will let businesses and civic

groups pay to help keep the areas open. mcdonald says if he's elected he will work to reopen the closed rest areas as quickly as possible. and democratic candidate crede is vowing to open them if he's elected. he wants to create a fund that would give loans to small businesses in rural areas with high unemployment rates. he said he plans to shore up the economy with tax credits, green jobs, and other business incentives. talking about green jobs is one thing, getting one is another. most of the jobs are with smaller businesses. and now, the federal government is directing $60 billion towards training programs and clean energy sources. >> it's a question of training the people to understand the technology and then take it out to market. >> at this time, being out in

the workforce, looking for a new job, you know, we had to reinvent ourselves. >> and you can get a leg up on that job market at wusa9.com, just click on living green to get on our jobs board and the world of opportunity. today governor tim kaine spoke with some of the residents in the midst of their job search. even though virginia's unemployment rate is better than the national average it's still double what it was 14 months ago and that has v.e.c. seeing much larger crowds. >> a lot of training opportunities and training stimulas dollars that are important. this is a common thing that folks do, it's a perfect time to may be find some additional training. community colleges and v.e.c. offices are good places to go to find additional training opportunities. >> the governor also took time

out to praise the v.e.c. employees helping to maximum the resources available. talking about the disappearance of coastal underwater grasses. the latest study by one researcher with the university of maryland finds a 58% reduction worldwide. >> in fact, when we add it up on a global scale, we lose about a soccer field of sea grasses every 30 minutes. >> scientists think the problem is the amount of sediment carried downstream in waterways and when the dirt gets there it smothers the grasses on the bottom and they just die. they typically serve as a nursery for fish and other aquatic life. meantime the grass in your front yard may be getting brown because although there's been talk of rain we haven't seen any. >> no. and you know what? the water tables are fine but the soils dry out quickly and your grass will turn brown. now, a couple of sprinkles here in the northwest, but 2 inches

south of us in st. mary's county. forecast first. temperatures will be going up as well. 81 tomorrow, a couple of showers, although not much. 85 on wednesday, maybe a thunderstorm or two, and upper 80s on thursday. again, maybe a thunderstorm or two. we're not looking at a lot of activity the next two or three days. tonight, mostly cloudy and comfortable. showers are possible. low temps in the 60s and winds northeasterly at 5 to 10. doppler 5000 and this is what's on radar right now as we speak, helsyav activity from la plata down to fredericksburg and west and more activity out in the panhandle of west virginia. this is our future scan. going to weaken a little bit, but everybody is going to get a little shower tonight between, say, 8 and 9:00. not as heavy as what we're seeing south of town, though, by any means, and this has been hefty down in st. mary's county and southern sections of charles county. 2 and a half inches of rain last

three hours. heavy activity from just south of woodbridge down toward fredericksburg. broken up a little bit. put this into motion. this pushes away and then activity pushing from the east side of 95 to the west side between woodbridge and stafford. a little bit more to go before everything kind of fizzles out later on tonight. look at also to the north and west of us. this is not particularly heavy except between slainsville and down 50. eventually toward cumberland, will cross 68 as we get into the 9:00 hour. back to the computer. temps, because of the clouds and showers, cool. 75 in brookville as you go out 97, georgia avenue, 74 in chantilly. by afternoon, mostly cloudy tomorrow but still pleasant with a few showers, yes, but highs around 80. most of us won't see anything.

the nine microcast shows a lot of clouds tonight, lot of clouds by lunchtime tomorrow, buty little in terms of showers. showers in the bay, heavier activity tomorrow night in the mountains, but a cloudy forecast with hit or miss showers for the next three days or so. zone forecast, low 80s, shower possible, manassas, 80, fairfax, 80, 82 in woodbridge. 81 or so downtown. next seven days, 81 tomorrow, thunderstorms possible wednesday and thursday. not a lot of activity. mid-80s on wednesday, upper 80s on thursday. and then we flirt with 90, friday, saturday, sunday, and monday. a chance for thunderstorms as we get into sunday and monday, but even 90, while it is hot, we only have two days in the 09, isn't crazy hot. >> no. >> considering this is the hottest time of the year. >> let's get to the weird news. if you are on a low carb diet,

look away. it is the world's largest cub cake at the mall of america in minnesota the treat that is usually supposed to be for one person has been mutated into this giant beast that whole elementary schools might have trouble eating. this weighs in at 150 pounds, a foot tall, two or three feet wide, they used 75 pounds of cake batter, 60 pounds of icing, and 15 pounds of fudge filling! to create cub cakosaurus and it only has 130,000 calories. guinness on hand to record the title of world's largest cub cake. world's largest candle, too.

. in the mail bag tonight, closing down those rest stops in virginia, as of midnight the state of virginia shutting down 18 rest stops along i-95 and other interstate highway as as the governor says there just isn't the money to keep them open. our good friend karen doctor alexandria says, there are some things money can't by. we commoners who don't routinely travel by limousine need to be

able to pee. what a damper, no pun intended, on the state's tourism industry closing the rest stops to automobile. virginia is for "if you can hold it? ." i don't think closing the rest stops is the greatest idea in the world but as long as they won't let states commercialize the rest stops to bring in dollars, this is the deal for the for seeable future. last week we ran a story about a truck dealer in missouri giving out free ak-47 rifles as a promotion to selling trucks. there is a reason the crime rate in virginia is lower than in d.c. it's called an armed citizenry. d.c. is lacking in the armed citizenry and has a lot of armed criminals. setting aside the gun argument for a moment, can you compare crime rates in a big city to a

state that's mostly rural and suburban. besides, listen to bob to lives in dumbfrys,. he thinks it's a good idea. the only thing that would be make it better if he was held personally responsible for the murder some of those guns will be put to. we love a good debate here in the mail bag and we only put your e-mails to filling up the mail bag. the address is wusa9.com, don't forget your name and where you're writing us from. that's our report. i'll be back here tonight at 11:00 with anita brikman. bye bye. gecko: uh, you wanted to see me sir? boss: come on in, i had some other things you can tell people about geico - great claims service and a 97% customer satisfaction rate.

show people really trust us. gecko: yeah right, that makes sense. boss: trust is key when talking about geico. you gotta feel it. why don't you and i practice that with a little exercise where i fall backwards and you catch me. gecko: uh no sir, honestly... uh...i don't think...uh... boss: no, no. we can do this. gecko: oh dear. vo: geico. fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. excuse me? buitoni? (announcer) take an italian masterpiece home. new from buitoni, wild mushroom agnolotti.

simple ingredients, artfully prepared. buitoni. the italian art of food. new, in the refrigerated section. this is "entertainment tonight" in high definition. >> is michael jackson's mom contesting the will? inside the new court papers just filed by katherine. >> michael had a no-contest clause. if anyone objects to his last wishes, they get no money. >> plus, is michael's dermatologist about to come forward as the biological father of hichildren? >> the ugly truth about katherine heigl. >> let's get real. >> candid about gray's and his marriage. and meryl streep as julia child. the things you never knew about the oscar winner. >> what about cooking? >> i'm not a great cook. >> that's the way it is. >> hollywood remembers walter cronkite. >> i never heard one bad thing about walter cronkite. >> it was really about the news