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. this is 9news now. >> good evening. i'm derek mcginty. >> and i'm anita brikman. right now at 11:00, concerns that water pressure problems are putting people's lives and homes in danger. >> this after firefighters could not tap enough water to keep the fire from destroying former dc school board chairman peggy cooper cafritz's house last night. what's the latest on the story. >> reporter: the mayor promised a quick, who, knew, what, where investigation of who knew water pressure problems and what effect it had, if any, on fighting the fire. neighbors demonstrated their normal water pressure and what happens when a private pump kicks in. should the government have addressed that water pressure issue long ago? >> we will put together a public

report that spells out in specific detail exactly what was known to the government, what was done, what was not done, and how that impacted the fire of last night. >> reporter: worried about water pressure, they want to know if residents. >> can have confidence if there is a fire, the firefighters will turn up at the scene and be able to put it out. >> can you tell the residents of washington dc there is sufficient water and sufficient water pressure and give them the assurance that can happen. >> yes. >> reporter: they are uncomfortable waiting for the report. >> we need to provide some assurances and i'm not quite there yet. >> reporter: the mayor did provide that tonight. is that not good enough? >> not for me. i want to know what happened and where else there might be problem. >> reporter: the mayor repeated his safety assurance to neighbors. >> they should feel pretty comfortable with the fire department being able to save

property and lives, although in this case it's a tragedy. >> reporter: i have to ask this, do you find that reassuring? >> somewhat. i want to believe him. >> reality -- >> but i know. >> reporter: and that earlier assurance. >> don't be assured until we give you the report and until you wa we're going to do -- what we're going to do about it. >> but i'm hoping as mayor you'll be able to do it quickly. >> absolutely. we'll get it done next week. >> reporter: in the meantime the council woman wants to know where they might be compromising citizen's safety. one quick note, just a few minutes ago a member of the family said it wants to express its gratitude to the community for all of the support in the last 24 hours. >> and our gratitude to you. thank you. well, new tonight, another big bad fire. this time a five story apartment building a blaze. fortunately though this time firefighters had plenty of water

pressure to fight it. fortunately as well, this building was vacant. during it fire fight, part of the roof collapsed but nobody was hurt. [ water pouring ] okay. president obama shared views tonight with the two men at the center of a racial profiling controversy. as joel brown reports if the white house, the meeting was described as cordial but thought thinking. >> reporter: it was the round of drinks heard around the world. they invited henry lewis gates for beers at the white house wednesday evening. >> thanks. vice president biden also sat down with the men. professor gates said he hopes it leads to education, not re cripple nation. and there were no -- recrimi recrimination. >> in an effort to move not just the city of cambridge past this

event but the whole country. >> reporter: the four men sipped beers and munching on peanuts. it snapped a national debate about racial profiling. the last events are still a blur. >> i'm not sure this is really happening. i still haven't caught up with it. >> reporter: both men also brought their families here to the white house. they took a tour and then sat down with the president before they headed to the ross garden. the controversy began after a neighbor reported a suspected burglary. the president invited both men to a meeting after he made matters worse. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> reporter: the incident could serve as a teachable moment for the nation. the police officer and the professor say they're already planning a second meeting to reach an even greater understanding. joel brown, cbs news, the white

house. >> professor gates says it falls with them to foster wider awareness of the dangers facing police officers and the fears that some african-americans have about racial profiling. to a developing story now on capitol hill, it looks as though if you blink you missed tthe cash for clunkers program, that is. there is word congress will suspend the rebate incentive tomorrow just days after it began. that's because it's been too popular. congress set aside $1 billion and it appears the money is already all accounted for. cash for clunkers offered 4500 bucks to folks trading in an old car for a fuel efficient one. for more on ts story log on to our website wusa9.com and click on living zart and new at 11:00, michael jackson was a drug addict. at least that's what investigators now believe. according to search warrants and office of jackson's doctor, the

singer used as many as 20 aliases for medical reasons. they included mick jackson, jack london, josephine baker. the powerful sedative is at the center of theksea jac donth investigation. the coroner is expected to release the toxicology results sometime next week. new tonight, an update on some students trip to china sidetracked by the h1n1 flu. a little while ago, high school students from maryland and dc arrive in dulles airport. now, these kids planned to attend a two-week summer school program in china. but during the flight over, one student showed symptoms of h1n1 and chinese authorities decided to quarantine all 22 kids. a handful did test positive for the flu. >> we had full quarantined body students and they put me in the ambulance and they took me to this really -- it was kind of like a makeshift hospital.

it was kind of sketchy at first. >> not all of the kids from that summer school program are back from china yet. some decided to stay another week or so to make up for time lost. tony pann is here with your 9 forecast first. pretty quiet night out there. >> things are pretty quiet tonight. i think that is going to change tomorrow, though. we're going to throw some thun drstormde bks into the picture. t ove the wthabk t t tonight comput and we'll take a look at that. there's a couple of showers off to the south. but switch it over to the weather computer and you'll see a slight chance for tomorrow morning. i doubt it will affect the friday morning commute. better chance for thunderstorms, though, as we head into the afternoon. and some of those could be kind of strong again. kind of like what happened yesterday. so we'll talk about that and check the seven-day forecast when i come back in a few minutes. >> thank you, tony. anager says general he is embarrassed by this newly surfaced photo by a driver using that cell phone at work.

that driver holding what appears to be a cell phone at his ears first appeared on the website. appearing today on the radio, gm john kato says it's not the image metro is looking for for the workers. >> the policy is very clear. you cannot operate a metro vehicle or bus while using a cell phone to be talking or texting. and the policy is clear. what will happen if it's determined that that is done. >> several recent incidents prompted them to start their new zero tolerance policy for anyone that uses a cell phone. laws in dc, virginia and 13 other states now banned and studies show how dangerous it can be. yet despite all of that, drivers can't help talking and texting behind the wheel. we recently followed one teenager as he took a crash course on defensive driving and distractions. he claimed he was proficient

while texting while driving so we put him to the test. at first he does okay but as the course got trickier, it got a little more dangerous. >> texting you don't know where you're going. [ laughter ] >> where are you ? >> i kind of got lost real quick. >> you just ran over a cone. >> no, i didn't. >> you did. >> oh. [ tires screeching ] >> okay, dude . the virginia tech study found the driver's risk of collision 23 times greater if he's texting. so if you're having a hard time keeping from texting behind the wheel, you might try keeping the cell phone somewhere other than the front seat. maybe set an automatic response when you're driving. and text only at red lights if worse comes to worse. another story you first saw at 9news fou, tomorrow the dc council is expected to pass a new budget that will have you digging deeper in your wallet. the city's sales tax would jump to 6%.

the gasoline tax up another 2.5 cents a gallon and the cigarette tax another $0.50 per pack. the mayor says he will sign the bill. new tonight a lookhe aadt a new and improved 18th street. this evening they held a public review of where thingsnd staew n the 18th street project. engineers showed off the latest design, new landscaping, new lights. better pedestrian and bicycle access. well, if you're a redskins fan, this is your time. >> that's right. for the players, not so much. the team kicked off training camp today with its first pair of two a day practices 9 sports brett haber was there. >> i was there. 78 players were there. hundreds of fans were there. but brian not there. and we don't know when he's going to show up. the skins top draft pick still has not come to terms on a contract with the team. coming up you'll hear some pointed comments from his defensive coordinator on the why he better get things worked out and fast. speaking of pointed comments, clinton portis had some today

about the way jim zorn treated him last year and how things are different now. plus antuan randall reacts to being stripped of his starting status. that and much, much more when i join you on the full report of camp. that is in 9 sports in 11 minutes. anita. >> busy day ahead. what is wrong with the way we treat lime disease. patients and advocates say a lot. what they want changed is coming up. you know me. i really could have got that. he said but i couldn't s get two of them. he fought for a living and he died for his life. a former boxer beaten to death by two teenage robbers. fa c#2g

welcome back. good evening, everyone. i'm tony pann. let's start with the three-day trend as we go into the weekend. it could get a little bumpy here as we go into the weekend. it could be something similar as yesterday. ponlt of severe weather -- possibility of severe weather. but if you're going to pick one of the three days, saturday looks like the best one out of friday, saturday and sunday. at least right now. partly cloudy skies for the rest of tonight. slight chance for a couple of rain showers, maybe a rumble of thunder. and there could be a little bit of rain around for the friday morning commute. that shouldn't be a big deal.

low temperatures upper 60s and low 70s. during the day tomorrow a mixture of sunshine and clouds. a chance for showers and thunderstorms. high temperatures in the mid 80s. sunrise tomorrow morning at '6:08. here -- 6:08. here is the weather setup. the flow has now turned to the south and we're starting to pick up some moisture coming in from the carolinas. a couple of showers moving through the central part of virginia right now. and these are the ones that could wind up hanging around for tomorrow morning's commute. but the thunderstorm chance will be in the afternoon on friday. 80 still right now at national airport with a dew point of 68. so it's a little bit on the sticky side. temperatures upper 70s and low 80s elsewhere. again, we'll settle back down close to 70 degrees in most spots by tomorrow morning. here is the weather setup. we still have a dip in the jet sfreem off to the west. and -- stream off to the west. and just like on wednesday, an area of low pressure is going to right up the jet and that will be the catalyst for the thunderstorms. and we're talking about tomorrow. so we'll keep an eye on things and see how it progresses into friday afternoon for the

possibility of severe weather. saturday looks okay right now. just a 20% chance for a shower or thunderstorm. another chance for rain coming in late in the day on sunday. do stuff early on sunday. that's what i would rek many. and the -- recommend. and the temperatures are going to stay the way through the seven-day forecast. upper 80s to around 90 degrees. >> and you're going to keep us posted on tomorrow night? >> yes. we'll keep an eye on things. sometimes when the ingredients are there, it doesn't happen anyway. how the ingredients are there for severe weather tomorrow. >> okay. thank you. he is 76 years old and not afraid of a fight. in fact he told his family he would have won if the fight had been fair. as andrew stack found out, the former championship boxer lost his final bout after refusing to hand over his wallet to a couple of robbers. >> he broke his hand fighting. he broke both of his hands fighting. broke both his hands. >> reporter: the hardest part. >> it don't make no sense. >> william and michelle can't believe their father was likely

put in the hospital and inevitably killed by people who lived alone. >> a 76-year-old man had been here all his life. >> we have been here in this house about 50 years. >> reporter: he told police he was attacked on his way to this discount store by two men who came out of an alley. >> and some guys ran and knocked him down and he was fighting one and the other one was kicking and hit him on the led with something. >> he never came home. >> he never came. >> he stayed in the hospital from tuesday. >> until friday. >> until friday. and when we went back to see him friday, he wasn't talking. he wasn't talngmo anyre. >> reporter: now michelle sifts through a lifetime of photos. >> i have a lot of pictures of him doing the things he used to do through his years. >> reporter: telling her kids of the good times. >> when did he win his golden gloves? >> about '69. he was a great boxer.

>> reporter: and police are asking the public for help. this attack took place on july 20th after 10:00 p.m. near the 2700-block of martin luther king after new and southeast. due to the severity of the attack, he could only identify the men as black men noting they were both on bicycles. if you have any information about this case, please contact washington dc police. in the information center andrew stack, 9news now and wusa9.com. >> thank you for that, andrew. an update now on a story we first told you about last night on 9news now at 11:00. on capitol hill the house has approved the first overhaul in 70 years to food safety laws. it gives broad new powers to regulate the way our food is grown and processed. it's largely in response to a recent series of food related illnesses, some deadly, involving everything from spinach to cookie dough. lime green ribbons went up all around dc today to bring

attention to lyme disease. and the controversy over how it's diagnosed and treated. a hearing at the ronald reagan building today brought together infectious disease experts, patients and advocates. some say when lyme disease is missed early on, it can lead to years of suffering. >> most looim patients have been to 5 or 25 doctors before i was diagnosed. and people thinking you're crazy, your family members don't understand because you look fine but you're in a lot of pain. >> patients like steven thomas, a virginia man, whose son always has lyme disease once treatment options changed. many insurance plans don't cover the treatment now. it's the fastest growing infectious disease in the u.s.. it's so easy to miss. >> easy to miss. >> okay. let's move on to the redskins. >> it begins. we have no major injuries. at least we can be happy for that.

and it's on. there was only one man missing, though. he was a big one. why brian arakno didn't show up and why his boss says he better hurry up. plus a mending of fences between jim zorn and curtis a sort of. we'll be back right after. >> there your pet makes lots of friends. but there's one little friend you don't want him to meet. the flea. just one in your home can turn into thousands-fast, infesting carpets, furniture, even your bed. to stop an infestation, ask for frontline plus.

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fab@ well, if you're an nfl

rookie, holding out of training camp is kind of a dangerous gamble. you want to get every last penny you can, but every day you miss is a day that somebody is passing you on a learning curve and that's a great way to spend your rookie year on the bench. so with that as a backdrop, the redskins open training camp this morning. and brian arakno was not there. the linebacker/end has failed to agree upon a contract and his soon to be defensive coordinator says he better hurry up and work it out. >> any time a guy is missing practice, somebody is taking it. somebody else is getting better. he's not getting better. we're not getting better on a team. when a guy holds out, it doesn't help him, it doesn't help the team. the only person it helps out is the agent. >> meanwhile, a bit of an injury scare to another rook he. dominic -- rookie. dominic dorsey was seen carted off. we're told it was just cramps.

a fine day. which brings us to the relationship portion of opening day. if only jim zorn and clinton portis could sit down and talk things out over a beer. it's not so secret that zorn and portis had a rocky relationship last year. zorn chalked it up as normal growing pains. portis suggested today that at times last year zorn showed a lack of trust and respect towards some players but said that this year things are better. >> this year he came back with the chance to let it be me. staying at home and being responsible and leaving it on us. so i think that's a great start. i think me and him are on the same page. our communication is a lot better. and what happened last year, that's done and over with. >> all better now. don't forget our training camp coverage begins tomorrow. reporting from sara and dave. and, of course, blogs and uncut interviews on our website wusa9.com.

perhaps the most interesting sign of the day on today's practice, dc wants vick. of course zorn and vinnie said yesterday that's not going to happen. vick says he is close to signing with a team but would not reveal with whom. >> on to baseball, trade deadline is tomorrow afternoon. and when jim riggleman left josh out of the lineup, a lot of people thought he was going to be dealt. nats and brewers in a matinie. and there is one guy we can positively guarantee ain't getting traded. not this year, not any year. ryan zimmerman 18th shot. tied at three in the 7th. runners in the corners. zimmerman makes the play. he's coming home. but they do not block the plate. cameron is safe and the brewers win 7-3. meanwhile yankees fan started referring to their rivals as the sox of boston. manny ramirez and ortiz revealed that they tested positive for steroids back in '03.

of course, there were no penalties back then. sammy sosa and a rod named to the same list. at madison square garden tonight, mystics trying to say above 500 from new york. and they did. she poured in 28. six wins, 75-75. they are 10-8. finally tonight as can you imagine, the proliferation of golf carts over the year has decimated the caddy industry. and now, yes, llamas as caddies. you can loop your 18 holes not with a dolly llama but with an actual llama. operators say each llama can comfortably carry two bags. >> they do need a guy to go behind the llama. >> to shovel the sand trap. >> to trim the rough anyhow. >> they eat it up. >> that's right.

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a san diego college student is thinking out of the box when it comes to financing his education. >> you can say he's getting the most bong for the buck. andrew scribe set up a website. it's called stoner.com. this certainly puts the high in higher education. >> any and all help, a thousand, a couple hundred, even $50 helps. >> well, how much has he raised? at last check $10.66. come on now. you can't be all that deprived. he's becoming money off of pot heads. new business motto, my friend. new business motto. >> tn keys are expensive. >> -- twinkies are expensive. >> and doritos even more. >> goodnight.

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