9news now in hd is brought to you by verizon fios. this is 9news now. "this broadcast realtime captioned by becky lyon." we begin tonight with of nowest washington. a tma washington. a massive fi rem atfire at a house on chambridge road just southwest of the university. live on the scene with the latest. >> reporter: what we have got anita, is a very sizeable fire ground here in the 3000 block of chambridge road. a large detached single-family home that is basically a total loss at this point. it is a second alarm fire. dc fire has had a massive response to this but they have had significant problems with water supply issues and hydrants that are out of service. at least one hydrant being out of service that we know of,

possibly more. the situation with water was so bad that tankers, auxilliary tankers had to be called in to try to put water on the fire. basically the house itself began as a small fire. it appeared to be contained and then because of those water supply issues the fire reignited and destroyed the whole house. i have more now. >> we really struggled initially with water pressure in the area. we have a supervisor and personnel are en route. they are working with us on that. firefighters did the best they could under the circumstances. it will be a significant loss. >> reporter: a significant loss is right. good news is there doesn't appear to be any injuries to residents or firefighters at

this point. but the house is probably going to be a total loss. that's how things stand here. we are going to stay on scene through the show and if there is anything that changes we will let you know. >> james, that's a very ritzy neighborhood. any knowledge on who owns that house. >> reporter: i'm not sure, derek. i don't have confirmation. i believe the residents of the home were out of town. there was a dog sitter at the house at the time of the fire. that person is believed to be okay and the dogs were also okay as well. they are with the neighbors. but the home is a total loss, i'm afraid. it's not going to be a very good homecoming. >> thank you for that, james. in other news tonight. pay more and get less? facing an enormous budget deficit dc city council appears to be ready to impose tax hikes

an budget cuts. huge hit for dc schools. bruce johnson broke the story earlier today on his blog at wusa9.com. gary neurenberg is here now with a follow-up. >> reporter: derek and anita, the council met behind closed doors to discuss the plan that as anita said will have dc residents paying more and getting less. the let the public see it votes come on friday. >> reporter: on the list getting tentative approval a gas tax that could jump to 23.5 cents. >> i worry about the gas station owners because there aren't too many places in the city right now where you can actually go to get gas. >> i have a problem with paying higher taxes to reduce dc's deficit unless i have a sense that they will do a more efficient job of managing their resources. >> reporter: city council is also considering a sales tax increase. we told shoppers on conneticut avenue the 5.7 rate could go

up. >> a small percentage rise in the sales tax wouldn't bother me at all. >> as long as those sirens keep running and ambulances keep coming down the street go for it. >> reporter: higher tobacco taxes are also on the list. >> makes it more difficult for people to go out and buy things and they are more hesitant to buy things like tobacco tax. i'm actually smoking. it is really not good. >> reporter: proposed spending cuts hit dc schools hard. >> one of the things we have to do is not just create a better school system but create a better system of excellent schools. >> reporter: a job made more difficult with a reported $45 million reduction in school spending the council will consider friday. council sources tell our bruce johnson there are tentative agreements on the tax hikes and spending cuts as a way to avoid increases in the property and income tax rates. the council will do something in public on friday.

derek. >> gary neurenberg. thank you. tonight a shot in the arm for health care reform. the white house and leaders in congress have hammered out a deal. the deal making concessions to conservative lawmakers. one example, more small businesses will get exemptions to having to provide employees with all their health insurance. while all the deal making was going on in the back rooms president obama was standing in the produce section of a kroger supermark in bristol, virginia. >> no longer will insurance companies be allowed to drop somebody from coverage if they become seriously ill. >> aides say it will help to cover costs to head off serious injury in the furniture. a miniature health care crisis. four patients are showing

symptoms of the h1n1. they have been quarantined. two became ill just yesterday. the other two showed symptoms a few days ago. they are said to be improving and should be back at work this week. >> parts of our area are having to clean up from some strong storm activity tonight. folks went running for cover when the heavy rain started following in waldorf. rains started moving across chesapeake bay. tony pan is actually in front of the weather map with the forecast. >> thank you, derek. haven't seen confirmation of actual tornadoes on the ground but we had several tornado warninerins arli tevening and inin gs e arete prty quiet now. let's takea prlook at live dopple9000 ta alekettli for you. got some activity in the northern suburbs going across montgomery county. moving to the east at about 15. not severe in nature. y t if you're watching up that you'll see waa little bit of lightning and probably hear

thunder. another little storm. tornado warning here. not seen any confirmation of tornadoes touching the ground. if you are watching down here seu'll e a lilebi of lightning aranhed some thunder. things are pretty quiet in the city at the present time. what we can expect heading into the weekend. temperatures staying in the upper 80s and low 90s. just a slight chance for a thunderstorm on thursday. i'll be back hewith complete. wi seven-day forecast forecast. danny shands on the links when storms hit last thursday on congressional golf center. today his condition was upgraded from serious to fair. he is expected to make a full recovery after being hit by lightning. services will be held tomorrow for three of the four people killed in a helicopter

crash near hagerstown. friends and family will atten the visitation for flying instructor george tutor in manchester, maryland. 7:00 p.m. a viewing will be held for pilot jeff nordis in columbia. he will be buried on friday. arrangements have not been announced for neil booth yet. an 80-year-old woman pulls a clint eastwood. she takes matters into her own hands when teenagers start littering on her high school. digital correspondent peggy fox has the details. >> reporter: 80-year-old patty cook no longer has a warrant out for her arrest. but back in march it was a different story when she purposefully dumped trash in the lobby of john f. kennedy high school. >> the students who attend kennedy high school walk up and down the road and they apparently throw trash. >> reporter: cook says for over a year the neighborhood in silver springs has battled the trash. >> mostly stuff from fast food restaurants. mcdonald's cups and papers. >> reporter: so she decided to

contact the principal thomas anderson. she proposed the students pick up trash for service hours. the principal never called back she said. so this march she took a bag of trash and dumped it into the high school's lobby. and when she didn't get the principal's attention she did it again. >> i gave the principal a note saying this mess is brought to you by patty cook because i'm tired of picking up the trash on the hill. >> reporter: but she said the principal wanted her out of the school. she was charged with trespassing and littering. >> they said i threw garbage. i said i redistributed lit,. >> reporter: she went to the mediation but couldn't make the court date. when she skipped out on court she got an arrest warrant. >> i was told to turn myself. >> reporter: cook is still banking on getting superintendent -- students to pick up the trash. peggy fox, 9news now and

wusa9.com. >> principal thomas anderson declined to comment on camera. cook still has to perform service hours at the high school as part of her mediation agreement. football fans rejoice. >> first day of training camp. >> first day is tomorrow. the guys reported today. most players dread the day they have to report to training camp but after an off season filled with intrigued and personnel moves and hurt feelings and general overall drama the redskins are happy to stop talking and start playing. the team reported to ashburn this morning with the absence of arapahoe. he remains unsigned. although we are hearing there could be movement on his deal as soon as tomorrow. we will have the latest on that situation plus jim zorn sitely waffling take on michael vick and demotion of one of the team's high priced stars out of the starting lineup. all that and much more coming up when we join you with

9sports in about 13 minutes. anita? >> thank you, brett. coming up a closer look at some of the safety of the prepackaged foods we eat every day. >> i don't get why people are interested in her. >> what do neighbors think about having the latest reality t.v. star move into star? i'll have the story. hmmm... well... naaa... yeah! calculating for getaway. ♪ find your way to a perfect destination at busch gardens... and water country usa... where family-fun surrounds you... and world-class rides astound. start at buschgardens.com.

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brian orakpo. welcome back. i'm tony pann. things quitenned down since earlier this evening when we had all of the activity. several tornado warnings as i menned and no confirmation of any tornadoes. but let's start with live doppler 9000 since we still have some activity showing up here. things pretty quiet in the city but like i said at the top of the show activity is going through montgomery county. gaithersburg with a little activity. moving to the east at 15 miles per hour so anywhere from the central part of montgomery county across the northern part of anarundle county you may

have rain, hear a little ghundet.toghni zono inthsereinle. out's omt, take a dewi view once again. those of you in the western suburbs things are pretty quiet. same thing downtown. switch over to the weather computer. three-day trend going into the weekend and we are going to get warm again. today the high temperatures in the mid to upper 80s because of the cloud cover but back up close to 90 for the next couple days and looks like a pretty good chance for thunderstorms again on friday. specifically for tonight. partly cloudy skies. a chance for a shower or thunder storm as we head into tomorrow morning and could be leftover showers for the early morning commute but i doubt it will affect things that much. partly sunny tomorrow. only a 20 or 30% chance of a thunderstorm. high temperatures around 90 degrees. a system coming out of the mountains here. area of low pressure traveling up into pennsylvania. as soon as that passes all of the activity will push off the coast. as a matter of fact, if we look

upstream you can see a few hit and miss showers going back into ohio. we will keep that slight chance in for the rest of tonight and things should be pretty quiet once we get past the early morning hours on thursday. what is tomorrow? thursday. i knew that. 76 dt re aesthe top aof the ur . de w point of 71. elsewhere temperatures in the low 70s and we are probably just going to drop off a couple of degrees from that point. >> yes, the seven-day forecast confirmed, derek, tomorrow is thursday with 100% accuracy i will forecast that. chance for a thunderstorm on friday. best chance for rainy think going into the weekend friday and sunday. at this point if i was going to pick one of the weekend days i would pick saturday as opposed to sunday. >> for outdoor plans. >> for outdoor plans, yes, indeed. >> unless you like rain. >> exactly. >> thank you so much. you remember that ad campaign. it appears the ginnis guiness

may prevent heart clots and cuts your risk of having a heart attack. the study comes out of the university of wisconsin. also tonight in living well. a push to crackdown on food safety especially greens that say prewashed and ready to eat. unfortunately they have been the culprits in some widespread cases of food poisoning. >> reporter: kelly cobb won't go near a salad that comes from a bag. >> you shouldn't have that kind of pain in your stomach. and the pain was unbelievable. >> reporter: she was infected with e. coli after eating a salad at a washington state restaurant. chief -- she said she found out later the lettuce came from a bag. she ended up in the hospital for two weeks. kelly told her story to lawmakers today. the congressional panel is looking at weather the government needs to toughen up food safety regulations especially for greens that are bagged and marked ready to eat. members of congress honed in on e. coli breakouts including

spinach back in 2006. the ceo of a group spoke. >> this is the biggest safety program in produce in america today. >> reporter: they are looking to make that a blue print for new national rules. >> now what can you do at home? make sure you wash your hands beforehandling lettuce or any raw produce even though they say prewashed doesn't hurt to rince them again. check the expiration date. food safety experts say e. coli can grow quickly in greens that are deteriorating. >> a follow-up now for you on a story we first showed you back in january. concerns about cancer in montgomery county. raising concerns about the number of cancer cases in their neighborhood was raised back in january. the centers for disease control showed up and studied specific

cases around the town and they determined there is no cancer question but the agency will continue to monitor things. the county is undertaking its own reporting and that study should be finished sometime this year. there is another reality t.v. star moving into our neighborhood. >> kate gosslin has reportedly bought a condo in rockville. lindsey mastis with more on her new digs. >> she is going to rent a condo here? >> reporter: the debate has begun. kate may soon call this home and it seems everyone has an opinion about it. >> i think it will be really, really cool. >> i think it will be scary. >> reporter: a few weeks ago kate was eating right here if she is indeed moving into a condo in the town square it would be the paladdian. the insides have hardwood

floors and there is a large soaking tub and a gorgeous view. but what will the neighbors think? >> finally something that rockville residents have to look forward and i think it is even better if a celebrity is moving in. >> we can always use some added ambiance here in rockville. >> it is exciting. i can't wait to be here. >> reporter: but some not so much. >> i don't get what the hoopla is. i don't get why people are interested in her. >> stop trying to do your hair like rod stewart. >> ouch. >> i don't want her here. >> she will bring the cameras and paparazzi here. i don't want it disturbing our peace. >> reporter: i'm lindsey mastis, 9news now and wusa9.com. welcome to the neighborhood. >> if you would like to share your thoughts on the discussion board about kate's arrival at mom's like me.com. >> we are worked up about it here. >> oh, man. >> we care.

>> i forgot all about redskins training camp. i have got jim and dan plus 79 starting tomorrow. how is that for a reality show? >> that's what i'm talking about. >> camp hasn't started already one redskins player lost his job. wide receiver. pressing issues on the eve of camp. nats go for five in a row. derek, five in a row. >> i'm worked up. ts 9orsp coming up. orb@ ?f @

it is time for 9sports with brett haber. the best sports in town.

training camp doesn't start until tomorrow morning but already several jobs are up for grabs at redskins park. coach zorn saying today that starting gigs at wide receiver and right tackle are ripe for the picking but in terms of adding a certain newly available quarterback, thanks but no thanks. sara walsh was at redskins park for reporting day. >> reporter: this will clearly be the most pleasant day at camp much the one in which you only have to show up because as players recall what the first few days are like and this is what you get. >> miserable. not going to lie. i was tired. our coach he works us until we can't go no more and then we got to do that for what, three and a half weeks? >> reporter: those grueling workouts won't include michael vick. >> i would just say it won't be with us. >> reporter: and while they have yet to hit the field it seems one veteran may have already slipped a spot on the depth shot. wide receiver antwaan randle el who was the team's number 2. >> he is going to have to try

to fight hard to keep that position at the flanker and he is easily our third receiver but is he our second receiver. >> reporter: the first practice is just hours away but barring an overnight deal brian orakpo won't be on the field. he remains unsigned although jim zorn is optimistic a deal will be done soon. sara walsh, 9news now and wusa9.com. >> sara, thank you. brian mitchell and i with live reports each day. sara and dave also. uncut interviews on the website as well. ravens are working on a trade it is said for brandon marshall. baltimore in desperate need of a receiver since the retirement of derek mason. when you've only won 32 games total doesn't take long to count your five-game win streaks. in the nationals case, it is zero. last august the last time the

dc nine strung wins together but had a chance to do it tonight in milwaukee widing a four-game streak and nats struck early. second inning bases loaded for cristian guzman. one through to the left side. josh bard home. 2-0. 6th cristian guzman on second for ryan zimmerman. 63rd for zim. nats up 5-3. bottom half now. casey mcgee. two-run shot putting the brewers up and they win 7-5. camden yards. adam jones homered in the first two games of this series. you can make it three. puts a coat on that hanger. two-run shot. 17 for him. nice week for jones . os take out the royals 7-3. michael phelps hadn't lost anything in four years but today we learned that losing makes michael phelps faster.

at the world championships in rome a day after getting beaten michael phelps rebounded with a world record in the 200-meter fly. 151.51. his 34th career world record. passes mark spitz who had 33. hosting the boston breakers. dc star abbey in alone. 72nd minute. leading the freedom to a 1-0 win. finally we have seen plenty of outfielders climb the wall to save home runs but here is an outfielder who caused one. getting a glove on this fly ball but actually pushes it over the wall. want to get away? it might have gone over anyway. we checked and it may not have gone over. >> that said it all. >> e for effort. but not so much for -- >> got us all worked up about

the nats. >> four wins is nice. >> all right. museum getting a lot of attention. coming up the story you have to hear about one fax figure, what it cost. you'vetogoy t ta stuned for this one.

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this could be talk around the water cooler tomorrow. members of the oldest african- american sorority are suing to remove their president. they say barbara mackenzie spent thousands of dollars of their money on herself. $900,000 to commission a wax figure of herself even. for the record you can being commission an artist to mold a wax figure of you. mackenzie says the lawsuit filed in dc today is full of "malicious allegations." >> $900,000. what does it do? walk around? >> it better move. >> take your place in court which is whwhat you might need. >> not happy about that.

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