hello. welcome to 9 news now at noon. i'm j.c. hayward. investigators are looking for an arsonist in montgomery county. seven separate fires were set

in and around the damascus area. the first reported 3:30 this morning. in addition to five bails of hay being torched, two mailboxes outside of homes were also set on fire. and we're just learning that vandalism in germantown maybe linked to the arson. and there's additional breaking news that is happening right now. our digital correspondent, armando trull is in damascus with the latest. armando? >> we have just learned that there's a barn fire on wild cat road and firefighters are battling it. we are not sure if it is related though the incidents that kept them busy this morning and just learned a few minutes ago that an undetermined number of mailboxes were vandalized in the damascus area with baseball bats and police have found a stolen vehicle that was torched. they are shot sure if any of these incidents are linked to the incident from earlier this

morning. far hay bails were set ablaze on kings valley drive, mountain view road, watkins road and woodfield school road. three mailboxes were torched. the fire started around 3:00 a.m. and it took firefighters over six hours to contain all of them, no one was injured. and here's what maybes and -- neighbors told us a while back. >> i woke up at 5:00 a.m. and heard some noise and looked outside and saw flames and fire trucks. >> reporter: how does it feel to know this is just one of seven arson fires set throughout the neighborhood morning. >> kind of scary to know this is going on. because we feel pretty safe in our neighborhood so something like this is a little alarming. >> very much of a concern to us. potentially at that time of the

morning it could have gone unnoticed and traveled to occupied homes where people were sleeping and been tragic. >> reporter: right now there's still a lot of smoke here. you can see it in the air. it is quite accurate and this is the aftermath of one of the hay bail fires that took place. six others and now as we just told you firefighters are on the scene of a barn fire and also in the damascus area and they are investigating the vandalized post boxes. quite a scene out here in damascus. this is usually a quiet area of montgomery county, but, j.c., that's not the case today. reporting live, armando trull , back to you at the information center. >> thank you so mump. we will be following this story throughout the day. you can get the latest information by going to our website at wusa9.com. and of course we will have the latest information on 9 news now at 5:00. firefighters say that a man

who fell from the 8th floor of a building under construction is lucky to be alive. the accident happened this morning at a construction site at k and 1st streets northeast. the worker fell down a utility shaft [ sirens ] >> fortunately some debris fell ahead of him. a piece of plywood this this case which actually blocked his fall. he fell 15 to 20 feet. >> reporter: the man is being treated at an area hospital and doctors say he is expected to make a full recovery. we are following a story from southeast washington. ce annmgu reth olnman who otsha . rl d giea w rl. rlns he girl was inside of her as he frederick onugplladowhacs ene llst. ets wat s byrasta y police tell 9 news now . atth several shots were fired at the home last night. e gickwawarust in the ck ruand taken to a nearby hospita where she was treated and later

released. some people in frederick, maryland, are so fed up with speeders they are putting up their own money. neighbors in one section of the city used their money to purchase and mount a speed sensory radar display. it helps police track speeding patterns. although it is not a cam and does not lead to tickets it can help police in other ways. >> we can narrow down the problem to specific dates and times and get an idea of the nature of the offenses. how egregious the complain is and then develop a plan in conjunction with citizens to best come up with a strategy for effectively enforcing that area. >> reporter: officials are currently working to bring speed cameras to the city and to outlying areas. well, the government is tripling the number of people handling the popular cash for clunkers program. the paperwork is backing up, and that means that rebate vouchers aren't going out as

fast. cash for clunkers has been under way more than six weeks but come dealerships in our region are just receiving the first pavement of course they have given customers their money already. tammy darvish is waiting for the government to come through with the money. >> it has been an extremely slow process we got paid on the first one last week and have been only paid now on a total of close to 30 but we still have over $4.5 million outstanding from the government at this time. >> every dealership in our area that we spoke with says they are still taking part in the cash for clunkers program, despite the government delays. however, that is not the case in other parts of the country. a dealer in colorado is sitting on a scrap heap of cars. mike says he sold 110 car and gave each owner $4,500 for their old vehicles. of the 110, he says the

government has only reimbursed him for three of those cars. the dealer says he is dropping out of the cash for clunkers program and he knows of other dealers who are doing the same thing. well, the number of metro riders is dropping the washington examiner reports ridership fell more than 2% between this july and july of last year. metro has had numerous delays on the red line since that deadly june 22nd crash. metro says it has seen an increase in bus ridership on- lines that parallel its red line as people are dumping the train for the bus. well, it is time to check in with our hero central page. milwaukee's mayor is receiving more praise. tom bare rhett was attacked while saving a woman over the weekend. residents in milwaukee are selling t-shirts and they are saying our may mayor ain't no cream puff. the shirts went on sale today

and the profits will go to the mayor's task force on family violence. a woman who has dedicated 46 years of her life to helping others now finds she's in need of a hero. she runs a shelter for single mothers attempting to escape violence and tragedy. a while ago that shelter bumped down and since then reverend stewart has converted three rooms in a northeast row house in to ma makeshift shelter but she's struggling because she has a lack of donations. >> we just don't have the money. it is just too expensive now. >> reporter: reverend stewart has recently been diagnosed with gum cancer and is concerned about the future of the eight women and three children who are currently in her care. whether you need a hero or would like to become one, we ask you visit our hero central page located on wusa9.com.

you can get links to charities in our region and if there is money you want us to know about, send an e-mail at wusa9.com. still to come, china's famous mascot, the giant panda is facing new threats. we'll explain when we come back. the taliban is using bombings to scare voters away from the volumes in -- voters from the polls in afghanistan. reaction from the white house coming up.

we just received sad news from our information center. the syndicated columnist and political commentator bob novak has died. he of course hosted several shows for cnn incluing cross fire. he was diagnosed with a brain tumor last august and he retired from his television duties. bob novak was 78 years old. taliban fighters are doing all they can to disrupt presidential elections in afghanistan. a pair of explosions rocked the capital of kabul today. u.s. service members were killed also in another attack. joel brown has more from the white house. >> reporter: the taliban said it set off a car bomb in a city that killed at least seven people. it was targeting a alternate

convoy. mock the dead two u.n. workers 50 others were wounded in the blast. hours earlier and a short distance away, two mortar rounds struck near the presidential palace. no one was hurt and in eastern afghanistan, two soldiers were killed and three injured when their convoy hit a road side bomb. that brings the total number of u.s. forces killed in august to 26. the spike in violence comes as afghan officials prepare for the country's second ever presidential election on thursday. taliban forces condemned the election and warned people to stay away from the polls. president obama says the u.s. has a deep interest in a peaceful, stable afghanistan. and ordered u.s. forces to secure polling places so this week's elections can go forward. >> that may not be enough to calm some afghans. there's no security. >> this man says -- people are scared because the election is about to happen. the u.s. million and allies say they will halt offensive

operations when the voting actually takes place. troops will be on stand by just in case they need to protect voters. joel brown, cbs news, the white house. the conflict over health care reform is causing a rift between the white house, aarp and some of its members. cbs news has learned that aarp has lost 60,000 members since july 1st. many say they are upset that aarp is backing the president's plan. but we found out that is not entirely true. >> there's been confusion as to whether aarp is supporting or endorsing the president's plan or not. which is it? >> aarp has not endorsed any plan at this point. >> a lot of members leaving

aarp are going to the american seniors association. it is adamantly opposed to president obama's plan. a shrieking -- a shrinking habitat is threatening giant pandas in china. the threat is development. they are confined to corridors less than a mile wide. we have more now from beijing. >> reporter: china's famous mascot the giant panda could disappear from the wild in two to three generations. experts warn the natural habitat is threatened by development. >> heavy traffic has stopped pandas from crossing a-- highways and can no long meet and interact with each other as they normally do. researchers increased the number of pandas born through artificial insemination. the chinese bears are unsuccessful of reproducing oner that own.

1600 pandas are roaming the corridors less than a mile wide. american technology has boosted the number of pandas in zoos afternoon the construction means the panda population could soon shrink to nothing. all right. we will get the forecast from kim. >> doppler 9,000 found a thunderstorm and i just got the latest pollen report. i have been sneezing. i will let you know what to expect the next couple of days. it is all next.

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average the first hurricane of the atlantic season is currently a category two storm and only expected to get stronger. hurricane bill is on a track that could take it close to bermuda by week's end. tropical storm claudette made it through the florida panhandle yesterday. it quickly fell apart but it brought plenty of wind and rain. and we're just getting this video in from st. croix. this is from tropical storm ana. when ana came through, it didn't form very well an it dissipated but also while it

was there there was a lot of win and rain and lightning to the virgin islands. all right. so you can track the weather in the tropics by going to our website at wusa9.com. and you can get the latest from our weather page. and you can down load a hurricane tracker. it is free. it's easy. go to wusa9.com. here's the person that keeps us up to date. >> gad afternoon, girlfriend. >> how are you? >> i'm well. i have been sneezing like crazy. >> i have, too. >> the latest allergy update came in. ironically all the ailer jens are technically in the low category. show you the map. this means mold, trees and grass. okay. but here's what i found out. ragweed is just coming out and you know what my nose can smell it a mile away and only getting to get worse over the next several days and weeks. we hope for a few rain drops to

wash the pollen out of the air and look at who i found growing? someone's garden. this is little baby brody davis. he is turning 1 on august 29th and this is his fairfax garden. they grow squash, zucchini, basil, they harvested lettuce already. so looking good. send me your garden pictures at my blog at wusa9.com. in is our time lapse tower cam from the netherlands carillon. 70-degrees this noon and variable winds less than five miles an hour. frederick has cracked 90-degree mark. we are easily heading in that direction today. 90 manassas. 7 martinsburg. annapolis cooler there 82. show you doppler 9000. we found a lone thundershower for you. it is just east of 522.

this is flint hill and it is slowly wandering to the east may get to the northern pushes of warrenton an approach 86 and the plains later. we will be looking for the northern suburbs to have the best chance of thunderstorms today. on the radar loop you can see how they are tracking to the eastern panhandle of west virginia and western maryland. you folks in allegheny county if you are outside, bring stuff inside. we will be seeing thunderstorms developing and a couple of these might affect you on your rush hour commute around the beltway. 91 today. 89 tomorrow. scattered storms back up to 91 on thursday. we have all of the heat coming ahead of this front here which will stall to our north and west. let me tell you about bill. hurricane bill in the atlantic ocean. it is a category two storm and 1,000-miles away from san juan, puerto rico. here's the path with the winds at 105. only going to get stronger. it will start to curve to the north. may cut it close to bermuda but

it should stay to the north and stay east of the u.s. so again there's wiggle room for these prognostications. but as we take it the next several days over the weekend we may get rough surf from bill and of course keep you updated. the forecast as we head to the rest of the week, flirting with 90 degrees just about every day. one front on friday sweeps thunderstorms through. and in to the weekend much better weather. this is the noon show on wusa9.com. we will take a break and come right back and we want to see you on the other side. it's a revolution in pain relief.

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when you get your aarp magazine magazine guess who's on the cover the boss. he is 60 years old. downknow many of us are thinking of retiring and going to live a simple life somewhere. in this month's september, october, edition of aarp the magazine it has a list of some places you may want to consider. the executive editor of aarp the magazine is here. let's talk about it. how did you select them what was the process. >> we had 20 quality of life measures, how stressful is the place are people healthy. are there parks anything that makes a place a simple place to live. >> first place is tucson. >> if your idea of a great town is great food, tucson has it. mexican food is fabulous. people talk about it all the time. there's a rich mix of native american culture, frontier

roots and 286 sunny days a year. >> the next is south carolina, greenville. >> they did it smart. four lanes down to two. you can get trails to take you toe neighborhoods. it is beautiful. vermont, month pill year. a state capital. only state capital without a mcdonald's which tells you these are people that valuable authenticity, it is the real thing. >> four utah. >> logan one of the safest cities in america. beautiful views of the mountains which gives you hiking, biking, utah state university can senior there. that gives you all the great things that come with a college town. >> and iowa. >> amess. >> wow. >> all the perks of the big city with rural charm. people say i can be five minutes out of town. maintain trails, three farmers

marks a week, rural, green and very nice. >> it is in the september, october edition of aarp, the magazine. if you want the simple life, meet new friends and do fun things think about it, consider it. >> thanks for joining us. come back and visit us at 5:00. have great day. bye-bye.