brought on a fast-moving case of pneumonia in the little one's still developing lungs. late last night the cub passed away. still curators are hopeful. luke the lion pay be especially exhausted because he spent the last six days mating with naba's sister sheera. >> reporter: last night a car went careening down this driveway and hit a house. it was the front page photo in the frederick news post today and now a source involved in the investigation says witnesses claim that a 10-year- old boy was behind the wheel sitting in his mother's lap as the pair drove down the family's driveway and lost control. >> there is a significant incline. >> reporter: it's a story the sheriff's department says it's looking into but has not confirmed. >> we're looking into all aspects of where everybody was seated in the vehicle. the investigation obviously is continuing and to determine

exactly what occurred. >> reporter: they were flown by helicopter to a hospital. the jeep went over a rock, clipped trees eight feet in the air and crashed on to the roof of the family's home below. >> reporter: in fairfax county near lee highway and forum drive, a tragedy on the bike path where a driver of an suv collided with a bicyclist. police investigating a double fatality, a teenage boy on his bike died instantly. the driver of the suv also died. police say to teenagers were riding their bikes on the bike path when the driver for some reason crossed four lanes of traffic and drove up on to the bike path. >> the bicyclists were doing what they were supposed to do. they were on a bike path and just the circumstances were -- it went wrong. >> reporter: the girl on the bike swerved to avoid getting hit but the teenage boy getting get out of the way in time. it happened in the height of rush hour. a crash reconstruction unit

will be on the scene for several more hours. >> ironically that teenager was hit on bike to work day. the annual event drew nearly 10,000 cyclists in our area. we caught these folks on two wheels in old town, alexandria this morning. the district claims to be making progress when it comes to respecting the rules of the law and keeping an eye out for cyclists. so we set our own brittany moorehouse out there today to see if the city really is more bike friendly. >> reporter: it's not often you'll find this bike in the stationary position. >> i ride my bike every day to work. >> i also ride my bike on the weekends to get anywhere. >> reporter: so alexander alderman would know. >> safety wise it's a real challenge in the city. >> reporter: meredith beacon is chair of the bike advisory council. she says the streets are swiftly changing for the better. >> h street will have dedicated bike lanes going each way. all the way up really. >> reporter: i strapped my flip cam on my helmet, hopped on the bike to see for myself.

the new lanes on pennsylvania avenue seem much wider and the fresh paint on older bike lanes helped me feel safe. so the infrastructure is there but bicyclists say getting the drivers to be courteous, well, that's another work in progress. >> i often see cars parked in bike lanes. i see loading trucks in bike lanes. sometimes it's the cluelessness that causes problems. talking on the phone, putting on makeup. >> i've had run-ins with car doors. >> drivers are somewhat surprised by what is the safest thing for sies lists to do. -- cyclists to do. riding in the middle of the road sometimes is the safest thing to do. >> it's a shared road. it's not just theirs. >> they need to not veer into the bike lane when bike lanes do exist. >> reporter: on the other hand as alderman knows. >> we need to respect laws as well. >> sure, i get frustrated with drivers, with pedestrians, cyclists. none of those groups are perfect. >> i think there's a lot of

education that needs to happen. >> reporter: brittany morehouse, 9news now. >> organizers say today's bike to work participation hit a record high? the district so it might not be too hard to keep that trend alive. well, today the district in arlington county announce add new bike sharing program. they plan to have 1100 bikes and 114 stations in place by the end of this year. the $6.4 million price tag will be covered by the federal congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program. whether you bike or drive into d.c., if you're going to work the city council is taking a look at charging you a commuter tax. that would take an attempt to the city's home rule charter. right now half a million people work in d.c. but do not live in the city. the council says charging a commuter tax would raise upwards of $500 million a year for the city. congress, however, would have the final say on that plan and the suburban lawmakers have traditionally blocked the move. so what do you think of that commuter tax plan? nonresidents use the roads. they use other city services so

shouldn't they pay for them, too? then again they do pay some sales tax, et cetera. share your thoughts in mcginty's mailbag at mailbag. work is slated to begin this summer to widen the road. the project will span just less than two miles. it includes improvements for the exits and entrance ramps. some work to look out for this weekend before you make your plans to drive. chain bridge is set to close in less than an hour. all the lanes will stay that wail till around 6:30 a.m. monday. but when the bridge reopen, all the lanes will be back open for the first time in nearly a year. and the inner loop of the beltway will go down to just one lane this weekend west of telegraph road. that's so crews can do some emergency repairs to an

overpass. the ramp from telegraph road to the inner loop will also be closed down and everything will start closing tonight at 9:00 and reopen monday morning at 5:00. and you can also expect some delays on metro this weekend. that gets going tonight at 10:00 on the red and orange lines. trains will be sharing one track between the stat more and medical center stations until sunday at midnight. the same is true for trains between the new york avenue, florida avenue, gallaudet university station and the rhode island avenue brentwood station. on the orange line the work is between the east falls church and mary month university station and out on the green line trains will share one track between the college park university of maryland and greenbelt stations on saturday and sunday between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. but roads is where the trouble is tonight. let's get to the traffic center. >> reporter: i'm happy to report things are looking better. you're looking at speed traffic here past american legion.

we're still seeing a little bit below speed from georgetown road to new hampshire. on the outer loop will be below speed towards the toll road. switching on over to our next shot, this is 270. things are improving a bit. still seeing a little bit of a delay. shady grove but past beyond this point to incidents or accidents reported. finally a check of our public transit this friday night. metro on time. if you're heading to the game running a little bit late, no problems there. the area looking good. but train 879 on the brunswick line leaving silver spring about 20 minutes behind schedule. that's a quick check of your commute. have a great weekend, everyone. topper is here with the 9 forecast first. the all important weekend is almost here. >> you're putting pressure on me, derek. 86 today. it felt like summer today. here's your forecast for tonight. very nice. we have some clouds. we'll call it partly cloudy. comfortable, though. lows upper 50s in the suburbs. mid-60s downtown. winds south, southeasterly at about 10. temps right now are still pretty mild. 77 downtown. 79 up in gaithersburg.

still in the 80s down toward fredricksburg but only in the 60s toward oakton. we'll come back and talk about the weekend. it's not going to be picture perfect but it's not going to abwashout. we'll tell what you time the showers roll in. back to you. still ahead, stopping the spill. the latest time frame to try and stop the gusher in the gulf. you're looking live at it right now. you don't want to get this close to a copper head out in the wild. i'll peggy fox. coming up i'll tell you about some recent sightings and bites and show you how to identify one from a safe distance.

louisiana officials closed the public beach in grand isle today after oil began to wash ashore. today bp said it would probably be at least tuesday before engineers could try and shoot heavy mud into the leak at the bottom of the gulf of mexico. bp is hoping the delicate procedure known as a top kill will stop the oil flowing out of the well. former energy secretary federico pena says he agrees with the new plan to split the minerals management service, the agency responsible for off shore drilling. >> i think secretary salazar has done the right thing by breaking up ms. i think most people believed there were relationships not quite appropriate with the private sector. i think he's acted very forcibly in that regard.

>> more from secretary pena on the gulf oil spill. plus, the controversial electric plan he's promoting this sunday morning 8:00 "platts energy week." state and federal regulators confirmed another death at a mine in west virginia. 55-year-old james irwin died may 10 after being pinned between a us piece of equipment and a wall. the announcement comes one day after massey's c.e.o. testified on capitol hill about the safety of the company's operations. >> we did a survey i believe in february of this year where we anonymously ask our people if they felt safe on the job and whether they thought massey's s1 which is the name for our safety program made them safer than competitor mines. anonymously 93% confirmed they felt not just as safe but safer. >> 29 men died in an explosion

at massey's upper big branch mine. that was the dead lest coal mining disaster -- deadliest coal mining disaster in 40 years. is it a rat? more when we come back. and topper has the full forecast. we're back in three minutes.

president barack obama issuing his own green alert tonight. he's falling for the first mileage and pollution limits for big trucks. the president also wants to tighten the limits for cars and suvs made after the year 2016. the goal is to get the nation's vehicles running on half the fuel they use right now. maryland's governor says more sanctuaries and an emphasis on aqua culture will help restore the check piece bay's oyster population. governor martin o'malley announced new regulations today aimed at increasing the bay's remaining quality habitats from 9% to 25%. >> if we are informed, if we are guided by science and we stick to what we know will work, then we actually can make a better day for the oyster as

we have already brought about a better day for the crab. >> right now oysters are about at 1% of their historic levels in maryland. governor o'malley says crab harvesting restrictions have already led to a significant rebound in that population, but he's not sure the oysters will reboindz quite as -- rebound quite as quickly. critics say increasing sanctuaries will just cut off some of the best areas of fishing and put between 400 and 500 watermen out of business. lots of debate tonight about just what was caught on camera scurrying across the president's podium in the white house rose garden last night. president obama was just about to deliver some remarks on wall street reform when look at that little fella there in the lower right-hand corner running across there. oh, man. mouse? rat? press secretary robert gibbs said he thought it was a rat but another thinks it was a mole or sort of a field mouse. they say whatever it is will be left to live in the rose garden but if it comes into the white

house, it's doomed. i just added that last part. let's talk this weekend. >> here's the deal. it's not going to be picture perfect but you'll be able to do some things. i think you'll -- i think all the gaiments in the morning will be fine. little league games. get your bike ride in in the morning. no problem. here's the forecast first. the next three days temperatures go down a little bit tomorrow because of the clouds, but still about average. 77. most of the showers and thunderstorms hold off until late in the day. at least in the afternoon. and again everybody is not going to see a shower tomorrow. now sunday primarily morning showers. no storms on sunday, primarily morning showers. and cooler because of the clouds and the showers. 73. and then even on monday some showers possible. temps go back up to 77. so again not picture perfect but okay. partly cloudy and comfortable tonight. 58 to 64. winds south, southeast at 10. now tomorrow morning partly sunny and mild. 60s and 70s. wins out of the south -- winds out of the south at 10. by afternoon mostly cloudy. a couple of showers, a couple

of thunderstorms. a greater chance if you're west of town. high temperature 75 to 79. winds southeasterly at about 5 to 10. satellite picture, radar combined all the big thunderstorms now in parts of the midwest and down in the deep south and the southeast. this is the same front that will get close enough to us tomorrow to trigger a couple of showers and storms. it's not a very well organized system at this point. a lot of storms pushing up almost due north from indiana into michigan. and massive storms went through much of northern georgia. they're now pushing off to the south and east. notice we're kind of in between the two points of energy so to speak. so not that much is coming our way tomorrow. nothing is coming tonight. a couple of sprinkles out in the mountains. that's about it. we are going to get some of these high and mid-level clouds in here tonight but they'll all dissipate before all is said and done. 74 in oakland but 80 in culpeper. better chance of showers and storms in the mountains. 77 downtown. 77 in annapolis. but no winds. no small craft advisory. next seven days, upper 70s tomorrow. there's the storm late.

73 on sunday. so probably mainly morning showers. probably on your way to church. dry in the afternoon. 77 on monday. a couple showers. 80 on tuesday. then a little touch of center next week, derek. temperatures by late in the week upper 80s to near 90 with some isolated storms. a reminder celebrate fairfax coming up june 11, 12 and 13. if you want to buy a ticket or volunteer, go to our website wusa9.com. great food, great music, good times. >> thank you, top. fairfax county police say there has been an unusually high number of copper head snake sightings around here lately and they are biting. how you can protect yourself, your children and your pets? peggy fox shows you how to identify copper heads and how to stay away from them. >> reporter: if you happen upon one of these guys, it can be scary. >> the pattern is like an hourglass or a butter play shape wings down the spine of the snake. >> reporter: copper heads are one of only three venemous snakes in virginia. >> once you see a live copper head, then you'll be able to know that everything else

isn't. >> reporter: suzanne holland, the assistant manager at hidden oaks believes there may be more copper head sightings and bites because they're losing their habitat. >> that is why they are where they are to find a meal. >> reporter: because they get their energy from the sun and not food, they can lie in the same spot for days under a rock or log waiting for a mouse to walk by. if a child with no shoes on jumps over that log, he could be biten but most bites, 95% are on the hands. >> snakes are trying to stay out of your way. their bellies are all along the ground and they feel vibrations so they are trying to get away. if they have a chance to escape down a hole or under a log, they will do that. not turning over that log to see where they went to would be a really good choice. >> reporter: this is the most frequently snake seen in the area. it's nonvenemous yet bolder than the copper head so it's more likely to be seen near your home. the baby black rat snake resembles adult copper heads because their skin is modeled

gray and black but it's not a pattern like the copper heads. >> a copper head itself is a very unlikely situation but if you're bit by a snake of any kind, you should assume that you've been inven mated and seek medical care from the closest facility. >> that's good advice. and if you do find a copper head in your yard, call animal control. don't try to catch it or kill it yourself. even a dead copper head can be dangerous because that jaw can still clamp down and release the venom. on a much lighter note, we get to our weird news file now. what would you do if you came home to a swarm of bees on your front lawn? grab a can of raid? run screaming into the night? how about make some cash. in vancouver nick faced down the swarm and made a bee line for his computer where he created a post on craigslist advertising for freebies. he's also -- free bees he's also asking about how to get rid of them without harming him. he's gotten about 50 responses. he says this stuff happens all

the time. maybe a neighborhood hive got a bit too crowded and made a move to your lawn. all you have to say happy ending if there's no reports of anybody getting stung. we want to hear what you think. end your e-mails to mcginty's mailbag. the address? mailbag@wusa9.com. 9news now will be right back.

in the mailbag tonight, some folks still just a little bit worked up about the guinea pig that got turned into a hat and the man put in jail for doing it. last night i suggested all the outrage was ethically inconsistent from anyone who for example wears leather shoes. well, debbie wrote us back again to note that she is not one of those people. i've been a vegan for more than 20 years. i don't wear leather belts or shoes. the only burgers are eat are veggie burgers. i have much respect for the life of a cow as the life of a

guinea pig or human being. i would not kill any of them. fair enough but steve from southern maryland has by back. ism folks raise cute little bunnies and eat them for dinner. why is it okay for us to do that? society says it's okay to eat a cow but not a horse. the manual's guinea pig hat was in poor taste because society loves cute little guinea pigs and we don't eat them for nourishment. then there was this on the oil spill cat catastrophe in the gulf. alfred wonders why there is so much confusion about how much oil is actually gushing out of the underwater pipe. after 70 years if you have the diameter of the pipe and know the pressure, you can calculate the flow of the effluent per unit time. if the experts and talking heads can't figure out the amount of oil being released, they all need a refresher course in eighth grade math, you included. well, alfred, i can't speak for all the other talking heads but

i took geometry in eighth grade and i was terrible at it. that's part of the reason i got in journalism. you don't need math skills to join our conversation. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. that is our report. i'm be right back here tonight at 11:00 with anita brickman. log on any time to wusa9.com. we'll see you a bit later. have a great weekend. bye-bye.

jesse breaks down over sandra.

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