help montgomery county. this is the michael program. >> president obama appeared on a conservative radio program this afternoon in an attempt to address the rights concerns about his healthcare reform plan. >> nobody is talking about the government administering all of healthcare. >> he is trying to reach out to every aspect of the political electorate. >> so he followed the conservative radio program with an online session with long time supporters who worry he may be abandoning the basics of healthcare reform. >> they freaked. they absolutely freaked over the last few days. this is barack obama's opportunity to make it right with these guys. >> reporter: the president abliged, promising reform. >> my obligation says we are going to get this done one way

or another. >> montgomery county police are offering a $1,000 reward that leads them to the suspect that started this fire and others. the farmer that owns all of this straw says the fires cost him $100,000. >> fifth generation farmer says the straw that was torched was headed to hush room farmers in pennsylvania. he thinks he has enough left on his farm to meet the demand, but he is worried about what happens next if the arsonist is not caught. >> i hope i'm not targeted. i hope it doesn't escalate and do something further. >> police released photos with gas cans with disstingive writing on them. while investigators search for the arsonists. >> they can smolder for months. and that's going to be a

problem, as long as there are hot spots. >> i'm meteorologist, topper shut. high temperature, 94 today. a breeze now here in northwest. and right now, the radar is quwet. we'll start with the forecast first. we are going to kehencep tha ce of a shower or thundersto hain tonight. it's going to be muggy. low temperatures in the 70s everywhere. mid to upper 70downtown. low 70s inthe thsurbno ban.rgn. er in frfrederick.owsh 'satthwh y sher. erco's whthey they . 88 arolco . 88in samas nad an 91 fredericksburg. cooler by the bay. li s.r anna baor baltltimore. check out bill. big bad bill is right. packing winds at 125 miles per hour. some ime ththhigh be ginning to reach rmg uda and all indications are, it will go back to a tegory4 eier late tonight or early on friday. we'll come back and talk more about the track of bill. what it means to our weather over the weekend. also talk about a cold front

that rolls through here tomorrow night. potentially giving us severe weather. it sure was great while it lasted, but we are learning tonight that the government's cash for clunkers program is about to end. in fact, it's done. the $3 billion program offers car buyers a rebate. when they trade in their old gas guzzlers for a more fuel efficient model. the program has been a big hit with dealers and buyers. it is estimated $450,000 brand- new vehicles have been sold over cash for clunkers. insects on the attack once again in rock creek park. 9 children and an adult was stung near the same area where more than a dozen people were attacked last week. the children were taking part in a day camp trip. and a feud over a vegetable garden turns violent in charles county. police say it all started when 52-year-old anthony henderson tried to run over his neighbor sula . staynd

ap hned in the 1400 block ma llofapdrrs ive hain the ivsm . lice say ro police say atth ignehb ororcam henderson on the wrist. henderson is charged with first- degree assault and charges are pending against that unidentified neighbor. suicide, a difficult topic to talk about, but when you are on the edge, an organization like crisis link really wants to be there for you. the problem is, these days they have to be there for more and more people and sometimes they worry. something has to give. digital correspondent is here with more. >> reporter: the phones have been sounding off more frequently since the recession. >> from being foreclosed upon to losing their job. >> crisis link is on the front lines of the response. >> some areas are hurting more than others in the metro. crisis link has seen a spike in the number of calls coming from loudoun county. a county hit especially hard by the housing market.

calls have nearly doubled from the previous fiscal year from 350 to 600 suicidal calls. the hot line has seen the numbers skyrocket, making it difficult for volunteers to keep up. answering the calls is one paid staff member and the rest are volunteers. hours of picking up the phone takes its toll. >> it is sad to hear the situations that people are going through on a daily basis. but i feel like it is an important thing that we are doing here. >> reporter: the media keeps suicides out of the news, but some cases have been forced into the headlines. in april, fredy max took his own life in his home. authorities learned of a murder suicide when this house was set on fire and in leesburg, three children left without a mother and father also in a murder suicide. it's the lifeline that some turn to when it seems they have nowhere else to go. and the organization that helps

tens of thousands in our area are hoping you can answer their calls. 9news and wusa9.com. the 211 information line in virginia is housed in the same office where the calls can be transferred to the crisis hot line. the phone number for crisis link is 800-273-talk or 8255. you can reach them 24 hours a day. we have a link on our website. an autopsy is being performed on a three-year-old ild d unfodead inside a home. officials are unt nosaying if t victim t a boy or girl. mecsd diunthfoe child not theainbrg in the 3,000 bl ock this morning. police say the two teenage girls related to the child were in that home. and a silver spring family needs your help to find their teenage daughter. 13-year-old bryant has been missing since sunday. police don't think she is a victim of any foul play. if you have seen her, call the police. two teenagers wanted for

tuesday's attack on a black fisherman are now in police custody. 17-year-old zachary watson and 16-year-old emanuel told police they were there when the 76- year-old man was beaten severely. 28-year-old calvin and a white supremacist was arrested shortly after that attack. marvin gay park in northwest dc is being restored. they used to call it needle park because of all the illegal drugs that used to happen, but today's ribbon cutting ushers in a new era. the playground has been revitalized and more than a mile of hiking and biking trails have been built. dc delegate was there. she thinks marvin gay would have been happy. >> if you were to ask him, i think you would hear some gratitude that the old, what was it called? watbranch park, now has the

name and the care this beautiful piece of green space deserves. >> you are looking at the first public playground to be built in that park in more than a quarter century. still to come when 9news now returns, the man convicted of killing nearly 300 people in the bombing is back home. and victims families are not amused. i'm kristen fisher at west springfield high school and one of the schools alumni is just nto away from going r tee.ouac sp outer space. the story straight ahead. fa with more eligible models to choose from than anyone.

if yoer c nklu nk qualifies to be recycled you can get a $3500 or $4500 government rebate. a anndt ndusnounced! if you qualify for the clunker rebate, you may also qualify for 0% apr for 72 months. that means you can buy a '09 ba $ltator f8 h a orntmoafter rend adoteo ay n p.wnntme adoo ay p.nt go to chevy.com for details. welcome back. today's release of the man convicted of blowing up the flight is a bitter pill to swallow for some. abdel baset al-megrahi was greeted by a cheering crowd when he landed in his home

country a short time ago. marion wolf was one of the 270 people killed when the plane went down back in 1988. most of the victims were americans. the scottish court released him because he is dying from prostate cancer and that has some victims families outraged. >> we just released a man convicted of massacring 270 people. we have given state sponsors terrorism a victory and the families have to watch all this. twenty years later, this is the last sad chapter in this odyssey. >> he served eight years of his life sentence. we'll hear from his wife. the cia spent several million dollars to kill top members of al-qaeda. that according to a new report in the "new york times." the military contractor known as black water u.s.a. was hired to train and conduct the surveillance for the program. but government officials say it failed to result the capture and killing of any terrorist

suspects. leon eliminated that program last june. it might sound kind of messed up, but new york gun laws are clear on this and today, burris pled guilty to a weapons charge after accidentally shooting himself at a manhattan nightclub. under the plea deal, burris agreed to a two-year prison sentence and two years of supervised release. he faced a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years if he was convicted in a trial. he goes to court next month for sentencing. coming up, tonight someone is $259 million richer. could it beyo maybe. plus, pp erybis back with your full forecast. keep it right here. isb@

welcome back. well, somebody had to win the power ball jackpot worth nearly $260 million. i was hoping it was me, it wasn't. the winning ticket was sold mblusoco, ia

utcolumbia, south carolina. so far, that winner has not come forward. they have 180 days to claim that prize. the space shuttle discovery all set to launch next tuesday on a mission to the international space station. on board will be a nasa astronaut from fairfax county. and digital correspondent, kristen fisher has the journey from springfield to outer space. >> this is pat sophomore year. >> in 1973, pat was a second baseman on the junior varsity baseball team at west springfield high school. his coach was ron. 36 years later, coach now retired walks back on the field where he first m met forester. >> he was athletic. >> he was also popular. >> this is pat and he is an escort to the sweetheart court and the sweetheart dance. >> most people remember forester as smart. he was a member of the national

honor society, and when he graduated in 1975, he went on to west point. it would be 30 years before the coach learned what became of his old second baseman. >> first of all, he gave me his card and he said he was living in houston. >> today, the 52-year-old is just days away from his third space shuttle flight. >> hi, i'm pat, i will be ms1. it's great to be down here and we are looking forward to a great mission. >> forester logged over 600 hours in space, including four space walks, but this mission forester will stay inside the shuttle. now it's his turn to coach a new crop of space walkers and his old coach couldn't be more proud. >> i would like to on behalf of the spartans wish him the best of luck on his trip next tuesday and we'll be watching for you, buddy. >> in springfield, kristen fisher, 9news now and wusa9.com. and forester is scheduled to lift off 1:46 a.m.

next tuesday. time to give your computer a checkup in tonight's living smart focus. if your kids gave the computer a workout during the summer vacation, and it is now sputtering along, angie's list says gea a checkup. iifneeds repaired, get neanged rkwodos t and get th te aninar es the guarantee esin it inwr g.u alyoso might want to update your spe ywar wasoyware avmslathe onlible . ou yke tathe computer in for service, make sure you delete any sensitive information. for more tips, go to our website, wusa9.com and click on living smart. all right, it is hot out there and are there anymore storms in our future? >> it is quiet right now. there's a concert at wolf trap, steve miller band. >> fly like an eagle. >> that's right. i think it's going to be okay and i read this somewhere. don't quote me on this. they were the first rock and

roll band to buy their own airplane. >> a little rock humor there. very little. here's your forecast first. 91 tomorrow. showers and thunderstorms and some of those could be heavy. some could be severe. and then showers and thunderstorms are going to continue into saturday morning, probably take until saturday afternoon to end. 85 or cooler, it will be okay for the redskin game at night and 85 on sunday. very nice. for tonight, we'll keep a chance of a left over shower and thunderstorm. lows in the 70 s and winds southwesterly at 10. satellite picture, radar combined, here are the showers and storms associated with a front that will roll through here tomorrow. in the meantime, we will take you down to the satellite picture of bill. pretty impressive picture here. really good eye. look how big the eye is. it's 35 miles in diameter. as far north as bermuda.

it is about 590 miles south, southwest of bermuda. as far as we are concerned, a couple showers back to the west of us. doppler is quiet. tomorrow night is going to be the active night. temperatures, 86 in vienna. 86 in laurel. we are looking at mid 80s toward winchester and woodstock and 85 in laray. tomorrow morning, partly cloudy, very warm. 70s and 80s. i think we'll stay dry. showers will be popping quickly tomorrow. southwest at 10. by afternoon, hot with thunderstorms, showers, some of the storms could be heavy. some could be severe. high temperatures around 90 and winds increase a little bit southwesterly 10 to 15 ahead of the cold front. all right, we'll talk about bill. now this is a wind field. this is a projection of the wind field of bill. these winds are about 40 miles per hour in the orange and in the red they are about 60 miles per hour. all indications are they are going to skim, maybe martha's vineyard and parts of the coast

of massachusetts and hit maine and go up into canada. that said, it's going to get close enough to us to produce it looks like some good rip current. if you are going to go to the beach this weekend, please be advised of the rip currents. go to our website, wusa9.com and check out my blog. i talked about how to get out of a rip current. if you are a surfer, the waves will be good. you too have to watch the rip currents as well. after that, the storm curves off to the north and to the east. next seven days, 91 tomorrow. showers and storms. showers and storms continue into saturday. at least in the early afternoon. 85. mid 80s on sunday, monday, and tuesday. lows in the 60s. temperatures kind of creep back up. upper 80s on wednesday and thursday, maybe a shower by thursday. >> now before it was sunny on those first parts of this week. now you moved some clouds. >> i love sunny days and hate to see them go away.

>> i could put a drop, but i didn't. >> you may later. >> that's how he works. >> let's get to our weird news file. something that is perhaps not so much weird as it is a sign of the times. ulyocollu cad gn this a double wider fodeyour darier. they put these extra g bichairs train stations to coe mmatenodsspars wssh it more junk in the h k,untr as th say. an corunppsut more than 500 oun dswithout breaking. now you think s lkfolkwould grateful. so far, fepewhople o edne emcie are using fiofs althink shame may be ens evprting folks from sitting down with what evamounts to a sign saying wide load over their heads. we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails il bag. to mcginty's mail bag. 9news now will be right back.

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in the mail bag tonight, healthcare reform. russ not sold on the idea of the so-called public option to foster competition for private health insurers. the two dozen companies that pr vied health insurance enough competition. there are laws on the books to stop it. as a 60 something, i'm afraid that a public option will become the only option. amtrak, the postal service are all public options in their respective field. they are bankrupt provide poor service. unfortunately, it is rarely quite so simple. right now, you don't choose between dozens of companies. you choose whichever companies or company that your employer picks for you. as a 60 something, aren't you getting or about to get medicare the ultimate public option? that's okay. john is on your side. hundreds of car dealers are no longer participating in the

cash for clunkers program because the government is failed to reimburse them for the millions of dollars in clunkers. yet the government got billions of dollars into the hands of the banks, so they could give out millions of dollars in bonuses to the very people that played a large role in getting us into this financial mess in the first place. we want the government to run our health insurance program, not me. john, you have a point, but isn't it a tad ironic that the private sector created those banks that you blasted for causing the financial mess. it's hard to excuse the federal government for not paying the cash for clunkers more quickly, it may be just as hard to find excuses for private sector lemons ranging from the ford pinto to microsoft vista or anything else. you can have your say in mcginty's mail bag. that is our report. i'll be right back here tonight at 11:00. u n't forget, log on any fotime likelito wusa9.com where we are always on.

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this is "entertainment tonight" in high definition. michael jackson. and the surprise witness. the "e.t." exclusive. >> someone called in and told me not to talk to police. >> she talked to the authorities. she's talking to me. what did you tell the police? >> are more doctors about to go down? >> were you able to name names? >> the new raid on dr. klein's office. >> i'll tell you what police were looking for. and inside michael's mausoleum. could graverobbers steal his body? >> celebrities graves have been tampered with. . and even attempted robbery. oprah winfrey suing mad over a diet. who the queen of talk is fighting to stop? mischa barton out of the hospital. now, a naked pill-popping model. >> secrets from tv's newest catwalk and the controversial naked cast photos.