moderate turnout at this point. it might be early voting more than 22,000 people cast early ballots and that may be where most of the people who are no shows today are. we will have to wait until this thing plays out throughout the evening. another big story has to do the voting machines. you know the city has a history of screwing up elections. okay? those voting machines already causing a lot of concern and earlier today council chairman vincent gray, who is leading according to the polls, said that he would formally submit a letter to the board of elections and ethics asking them to extend voting past that 8:00 deadline. here's what he had to say. >> in fact, i experienced it firsthand in my own precinct this morning, the scanner didn't work and i had to turn in the ballot without being -- without it being scanned, had to put it in something called an auxiliary bin and you don't know what happens after that. >> we are not only confident but we are appreciative of all the support that we have been getting, people are excited and i think it's going to be a great 13 hours leading us to

victory at 8:00 tonight. here we go. >> reporter: mayor fenty says he is opposed to extending voting hours. we set up an interview with the mayor, the mayor changed that location. all of a sudden he ended up in far northeast. we hope to talk to him at 6:00 tonight. we talked about turnout, how important that was. we have already addressed that. also what could be big in this race? undecided voters, going to be interesting to see where they fall, with incumbent or with the challenger at this point. also a lot of investigator changes we have already talked about the early voting. we have also got same day voter registration. it remains to be seen what might happen there and how it might impact this very important race. ladies, back to you. >> the mayoral race is the one we are talking about. there are other races in the district. tell us more about the ones to keep an eye on. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely right. very important other races here. kwame brown, vincent orange

going at it for council chairs. most of the polls have kwame leading with a double digit margin going into today's race. it has to do with the at large candidates, phil mendelson the veteran who has take on the fendt -- taken on the fenty administration on a number of issues is being challenged by michael d. brown. this is michael d. brown right there. okay? mr. brown dropped the d in his initial so that a lot of people are now being confused thinking they are voting for this michael brown. that's michael a. brown. only problem is, he's on the council but he's not up for election and he is now siding with mr. mendelson trying to convince people not to cast their ballots for this michael brown. let's go to that one more time. michael d. brown, he's on the ballot, michael a. brown, not on the ballot and supporting mr. mendelson who is on the ballot and according to the polls, this guy beating this guy.

we will see what the voter education ploy that mr. mendelson launched some weeks ago, we will see if that is working and if he is able to retain his seat. >> there's no test on this at the end of this? because i think we have got it. >> we like the show and tell, bruce. >> thank you. >> reporter: we will know how the test turned out at 8:00 tonight. >> yes, we will. >> thanks. turning to the 2010 campaign in maryland, in the high profile race to become the next prince george's county executive, among the democrats baker is hoping the third time will be his charm. this is his third run for the office. he faces four other challengers including michael jackson, the county's sheriff. >> we are expecting to come up [ indiscernible ] we have been working a long time, actually eight years getting prepared to be the next county executive of prince george's county. >> we feel good about the people that are coming into the polls now. we ask everybody to get out there and vote and especially vote for rashard baker. >> the current prince george's county exec, jack johnson is

not permitted to run again because of term restrictions. the 33-year-old business investor was virtually unknown before sarah palin endorsed him last month and that drew some attention and some money to his campaign. yesterday, though, palin's running mate, arizona senator john mccain, threw his support behind bob ehrlich. voters in maryland and d.c. are not the only ones heading to the polls. six other states holding primaries. our derek mcginty is in the satellite center with more on these national races including one that's getting a lot of attention that's up in delaware. >> reporter: delaware is one of the smallest states in our country but tonight it is under the political magnifying glass because guess what? the tea party has set its sights on delaware. just two weeks ago republican christine o'donnell was considered pretty much a long shot against long time congress member mike casso in the u.s. senate primary on the republican side but then the tea party came up with a check

for a quarter million dollars. well, now the polls show it is anybody's race, and the g.o.p. is worried because if o'donnell defeats castle, she may be too far right to win in november in relatively liberal delaware. >> bottom line is that i am the only republican who has a chance of winning in the general election. >> we have a winning message that after the primary we are going to take into the general election a message that resonates with independents and democrats because the people who are struggling economically doesn't go by party line. >> reporter: now, winner in delaware will probably be the biggest yet for the tea party following recent victories in red states like kentucky, utah and alaska. some other primary races to keep an eye on today, the governor's race in new york. new york attorney general andrew cuomo unchanneled for the democratic nomination by carl paladino is running neck in neck with rick lazio for the republican nod. new hampshire, four way race,

former attorney general kelly iot the front rynn -- runner there. that would be the seat being vacated by the retiring patrick kennedy. onto massachusetts and wisconsin, they are also holding primaries today. we will be watching them closely as it all unfolds tonight. >> we certainly will. the polls in maryland and the district are open until 8:00 p.m. for a complete voters' guide on all the races go to wusa9.com and click on the section called extras. investigators are still trying to figure out what caused that huge deadly gas explosion in california. but one thing they already know, there were tens of thousands of miles of gas pipeline buried under homes in neighborhoods all across the country. so could it happen here? bruce leshan reports it already has. >> reporter: may 7th last year

a huge gas explosion in the pen mar shopping center in prince george's county, eight firefighters hurt by the heat, the flying glass, the falling bricks. >> they can see it coming, the pressure building up, they could see the glow and they hit the deck. >> reporter: from california to loudoun county and silver spring in montgomery, experts say gas lines have wreaked gas and destruction at least 3000 times across the country since the 1990s. these are new lines going in in ant cost ya -- anacostia. >> did you have any idea that pipe went so close to your house? >> i did not, no. >> reporter: the national pipeline mapping system is on the internet but it has been hammered by people trying to figure out if they have a pipeline in their back yard. you can see this blue line is a gas line that runs through the heart of washington. it actually goes right next to the capitol and then runs down

constitution avenue until it turns down there by the white house. a small gas line into a house or shopping center is one thing, but san bruno was a 30- inch main. >> a neighborhood on fire that just totally blew my mind. it was unbelievable. >> reporter: and that has fire departments across the region taking another look at their maps. >> now, the size of gas lines and all of that probably haven't been updated in some time. >> reporter: maybe you'll take another look at that? >> certainly. >> reporter: and one thing totally clear, if you smell a gas leak, call 911. in forestville, bruce leshan, 9 news now. >> washington gas declined to comment publicly for his story but experts say as long as those systems are properly maintained they are very safe. if you want to check if your house is near a big pipeline, we are going to have a link to that national pipeline mapping system at wusa9.com. five people were hurt today including a child when a metro bus and an suv collided in

northeast d.c. the accident happened at florida avenue and 7th street near gal defendant university. emergency -- galedette university. it is a serious injury but not life-threatening. injuries to other accident victims are said to be minor. sky nine captures a scene of a pedestrian accident in kensington maryland. police say a man was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of metropolitan avenue and edgewood road this morning and the impact knocked him onto the nearby railroad tracks. a rare service had to stop briefly. police say that man's injuries are not life-threatening. sky 9 was also over a water main break in fredericks maryland. it left two places without water service. the problem is fixed this evening but willowdale drive is still closed to some traffic. let's get a check on other trouble spots in our evening rush with patranya bhoolsuwan. >> thanks. a couple of accidents on the

beltway cleared just in time as we get into the midst of this rush-hour, one is at inner loop at 66th, that are cleared but some days starting at galo all the way to the scene. on 66, that is really bad heading out west from 495 all the way past nutley to 7100, a 30 minute commute right now, and finally 395 and 95 all lanes wide open, no accidents reported there. back to you. >> thanks. clinton portis jumped head first into the controversy of women in nfl locker rooms today. >> the washington redskins running back commented on claims that members of the new york jets sexually harassed a female reporter from mexico. fred haber is here now to tell us exactly what portis said. >> reporter: when you're in the locker room at your gym, do you see naked bodies even though you're doing your best to avert your eyes? of course you do. now imagine that locker room is your office and both genders in there trying to conduct business and the dynamic would be the least complicated. that is the back drop for this

controversy that started at jets camp over the weekend where a complaint was filed against several players and coaches for making inappropriate comments and catcalls directed at a female reporter named ines sainz. sainz, a former miss spain and miss universe contestant was dressed quite a bit more provocatively than the average american tv reporter but that hardly clueses the inappropriate behavior by -- excuses the inappropriate behavior by the jets personnel. clinton portis got on his radio show and said that nfl locker rooms are essentially a petri dish for sexual tension between players and reporters. >> all of a sudden you see a nice woman in the locker room, i think [ indiscernible ] you give her a choice of 53

athletes, somebody got to be appealing to her, she gonna want somebody. i don't know what kind of woman won't. >> well, as you might imagine, the redskins went into immediate damage control mode this afternoon and released this apology from portis, quote "i was wrong to make the comments that i did and i apologize. i respect the job that all reporters do. it is a tough job and we all have to work and act in a professional manner. i understand and support the team on these issues." now, i spoke with our old colleague sarah walsh this afternoon, who is up in her new job at espn and sarah as you know spent countless hours inside the redskins locker room as our beat reporter covering that team and she told me that while the atmosphere was awkward at times with all the nakedness in the room, she was never hit on or spoken to unprofessionally or any in way made to feel uncomfortable in that room but she added that that's because she never left that door open. guys. >> professionalism runs both ways. >> yep. >> yes, it does. thank you. the federal government is the largest local employer but

which federal agency has the happiest workers? you may be surprised by the results of this new survey. topper. >> clouds are dissipating right now. we will come back talk about how cool it's going to be tonight and we will talk about hurricane igor, still a category 4 and it will affect parts of the eastern seaboard. iran freeze one of the three american hikers that's held in jail for over a year. i'm joel brown at the state department. the latest coming up. 9 news now is brought to you in part by lighten up-- in part by lighten up.

9 news now is sponsored in part by your local toyota dealer. the eiffel tower has been evacuated today because of a bomb threat. the park surrounding the landmark also cleared out. about 25,000 people were in the area at the time. police with bomb sniffing dogs are now combing the grounds. after days of conflicting reports, iran has released one of the three americans it is

holding on spy charges. sarah shourd has reunited with her parents in the nearby country of inan. joel brown joins us with more on the latest. >> reporter: on iranian state tv sarah shourd did offer thanks to mahmoud ahmadinejad just moments after her release but the reality here is that this whole episode is only further strained u.s. relations with iran and it's still not over. sarah shourd embraced her mother tuesday after a 14 month nightmare in an iranian prison. before departing iran, she had a message of thanks. >> i want to thank every country, every official and individual that's involved in this process. >> reporter: shourd was arrested with two other americans in july of 2009 hiking in a group along the border of iraq and iran, she was seen here last may during a visit by all three hikers'

mother. her fiance shane bauer and their friend josh fattal were all charged with spying. iranian court set the bail of $500,000 and initially shourd's family said they couldn't pay but it's still not clear who did pay shourd's bail since the u.s. has no diplomatic relations with iran, swiss diplomats handled the negotiations and officials here at the state department say they aren't certain of the final terms of shourd's release. >> if the question is was -- you know, did the united states government pay anything for this release, the answer is no. >> reporter: the white house put out a statement saying that president obama was pleased with shourd's release, but thatbauer and fattal were still in jail although they had committed no crime. iran's chief prosecutor said think pre-trial extensions have been extended for two months. there's no indication iran's government is listening to calls for their release. so shourd is said to have some

serious medical problems and in fact mahmoud ahmadinejad, iran's president, said she was released based on -- or out of compassion for her health. lesli. >> i know there's still a lot of questions unanswered but do we know what the state department is saying about that $500,000 that was apparently sent to iran to help release sarah shourd? >> reporter: if the iranians, they say this money was paid, that all $500,000 was deposited into an iranian bank iman. still a bit of a mystery today. >> joel brown, thank you for that. round two of the mideast peace talks are underway. the negotiations that began in washington are now in egypt and the current major sticking point is jewish settlements in the west bank. they are built on land palestinians want for a state. israeli's freeze on new -- israel's freeze on new building expires at the end of the month

but u.s. is pressuring them to extend the moratorium. the national transportation safety board is out with its finding. investigators fault an air traffic controller who was on a personal phone call when a tour helicopter and a small plane hit each other. nine people were killed in the 2009 crash. the ntsb also criticized procedures that rely on pilots to quote see and avoid each other rather than relying on controllers to safely separate aircraft. people fighting wildfires in colorado say the next 36 hours are just critical. the team that led the battle against a wildfire that's now contained near boulder are in charge of this latest one near loveland, colorado. investigators think this one was sparked by a homeowner burning vegetation and that person may be prosecuted. around here, beautiful day for primary day but boy, that wind will kind of catch you off guard and move you. >> it's up a little bit. we are not going to have -- it will subside tonight and we will be okay tomorrow. and we are going to start with

hurricane igor, it's a monster. let me show you this picture. >> wow. >> great picture from nasa. still about 1100 miles from bermuda but if we could use the bugs it would be great because you can see the eye. thank you. that is a great picture, a classic storm, a big storm, and category 4 right now. the good news is as it moves northward it is going to encounter slightly colder water temperatures. by the time it gets to bimt. hood or near -- bermuda or near there it will not be a category 4. sustained winds 145, wind gusts to 180, still 1100 miles from hamilton. we see it start to turn off to the northwest, more to the north, gets very close, almost past hamilton by 2:00 on sunday with winds 115. this is a little stronger track in terms of the intensity of the hurricane than it was just at 11:00 that howard showed you at noon. he had it down to a category 2 now it's a category 3 and because of the way hurricanes are constructed in the northern

hemisphere, the highest winds on the northeast quad durant. if that -- quadrant. if it passes through bermuda, the highest winds will be felt. i think some of the highest swells could be felt over the weekend on our north shore. 82 tomorrow, 82 on thursday, couple showers possible late in the day and at night. and then we are looking at another nice day on friday, temperatures back into the upper 70s to near 80. we will break down tomorrow, cool again to start, mid-60s and then upper 70s by lunchtime, low 80s by evening, and we are not going to have the wind that we had today. look at the temps right now. 79 at national, 79 in manassas. 81 in frederick, 80 up in hagerstown. for tonight, partly cloudy skies and cool, low temperatures low 50s in the burb. tomorrow morning, partly cloudy and cool, cool start, sweater,

sunglasses, 50s and 60s, winds out of the west at 10. by afternoon, partly cloudy and pleasant, high temps low 80s which is just about average for us and winds northwesterly at 10 but not as brisk as they were today. next seven days, 82 tomorrow, partly cloudy, 82 on thursday, again maybe a shower late, do not change your plans. upper 70s, near 80 on friday, pretty warm over the weekend, we are going to keep it dry now saturday and sunday, low to mid- 80s both days so the game on sunday, fedex, game time temps will probably be 80, 81, falling into the 70s during the game. you can watch it right here on channel 9, wusa9.com. and look at this, low 80s on monday, upper 80s on tuesday. now, ladies. >> uh-huh. >> what does this look like to you? >> cloud gush. >> a gush of -- i don't know. >> did you see any animal or any kind of formation that just makes you think of anything? >> wait. something in the clouds? >> yeah. the whole cloud, like the whole -- >> is it like an eagle? >> i think it looks like a

horse head and so did gene, the little ear and the long snout. >> that's a bit of a stretch but okay, we will go with that. okay. >> gene robinson, remington, virginia, thank you for sending it to us. go to our website, wusa9.com, and submit one. she did everything right. up next, the unusual cravings women get when we get pregnant. nine traffic now is brought to you by geico. sorry, son, but you still have 'em. [ female announcer ] you can't pass inspection with pieces left behind. that's why there's charmin ultra strong. its enhanced diamondweave texture is soft and more durable.

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why not save on car insurance? [ coin drops ] [ high-pitched voice ] thanks. [ normal voice ] you're welcome. get a free quote at progressive.com. when you're expecting, you encounter all kinds of things. >> absolutely. our peggy fox is following channel 9 traffic and entertainment reporter angie goff's first pregnancy and today her strange cravings. >> when you're pregnant cravings for strange food or any kind of food can be intense. channel 9's angie goff is finding that out as we follow along with her pregnancy in

"oh, my baby." in the first trimester of her pregnancy, food cravings threw her for a loop. >> and then i had a week where i had to have chick-fil-a. ate it for seven days. >> soon comfort foods replaced those cravings, dishes from her childhood, made by her korean mother. >> what are you making? >> i'm making a -- >> okay. >> it's made out of rice cake and very spicey. >> this is what safes me at the beginning of my -- saved me at the beginning of my pregnancy. i would come home and just eat gobs and gobs of oyconche. >> reporter: she says her cravings for the spicey korean food she grew up with has intensified. >> she loves to feed us and take care of us and so, you know -- [ laughter ] >> what are you talking about? >> not anymore. >> reporter: you can see where

anal-y's sense of -- angie's sense of humor came from but she learned to tame her cravings thanks to a doctor. >> you're not eating for two. it's the biggest mistake people make. she says no matter what you eat the baby is going to take it first. >> reporter: angie is blogging about her pregnancy and looking for lots of advice from moms on momslikeme.com. you can follow along in the oh my baby group. coming up next, new at 5:30. >> i'm armando and i'll tell you how the voting process is going. that story is coming. 9 news now sponsored in part by hh gregg. price and advice guaranteed.

right now, new at 5:30, new voting equipment or unprepared volunteers? why are some voters having problem at the polls in the district? which federal agencies have the happiest people working for them? the surprising result of a new survey. and president obama addressed students again this year, but without the controversy that accompanied last year's back-to-school pep talk. in the district, new voting equipment has created a few setbacks for some voters, but officials say most of the issues are because polling volunteers weren't sufficiently acquainted with the new

procedures. new at 5:30, armando trull has more on whether the problems could affect the outcome of today's primary election. >> there was 143 precincts in the city, the problems that we have had, i know we have had problems in at least 15 to 20. >> reporter: one trouble spot was saint benedict church in northeast. >> when they opened, the electronic machine was not working. we called it in and it took them about an hour and a half or so to get out here and correct the problem. >> reporter: issues were also reported at this polling place on alabama avenue southeast. but the d.c. board of elections says these glitches are common when rolling out a new system. >> most of the issues came about with the electronic voting equipment and with some of the poll workers not familiar with the new technology that we are using. >> reporter: officials 12res that broken -- stress that broken machines and printers have been replaced, volunteers and workers retrained and every effort made to accommodate voters. >> the staff inside made sure they had a paper ballot so everyone left happy.

>> reporter: when the machines did work, voters seemed to like the paperless option. >> everybody seemed to be opting for the electronic. >> it was easy. >> really? >> it was easy, no waits. >> reporter: and so far voter turnout has been light. >> when i got in there, it was barely nobody in there, so -- >> we had such a heavy turnout for early voter that a lot of the -- voting that a lot of them have voted. >> reporter: as you go into the booths, remember that paper ballots are color coded by party preference. democrats have a blue ballot, republicans are yellow and the green party isn't green. it's pink. and the booths close tonight at 8:00 but if you're standing in line by that time, you'll get to vote. i'm armando trull. 9 news now. >> d.c. elections board officials say they will begin posting results around 8:30 p.m. with final numbers between 11:30 and midnight. we will have the latest results tonight on 9 news now at 11:00 for you. if you live in sterling, tonight is your chance to learn more about phase 2 of metro's

silver line project. last night's meeting was the first open forum on the extension. it will go from wheelie avenue to herndon, dulles airport and ashford. that line is scheduled to open in six years. tonight's meeting is at the loudoun heritage farm museum off the cascade parkway in sterling. for more information check out a new feature on wusa9.com, just look for the blue box in the middle of the home page, then click the change button to find news in sterling and 52 other communities in our area. things are running much more smoothly this evening at the wheaton metro station in montgomery county. the red line station was closed for several hours during the rush-hour last night. all of the elevators and escalators were out of service due to mechanical trouble. the station is one of the deepest in the system. metro says most of the escalators and elevators there are now operating again at wheaton metro. how would you rate your workplace. >> one nonprofit went over the surveys of federal employees to

find out which agency has the happiest workers. and as jessica doyle reports, you may be surprised by which one came out on top. >> reporter: of all of the government agencies, which one is the best place to work? workers at lamfeld plaza took a guess. >> i know they are happy at state. >> secret service. >> pod. >> faa. >> why do you say that? >> because i work with them. >> reporter: based on worker surveys that reach over 263,000 federal workers, the nuclear regulatory commission took the top spot for the third year in a row. surprised? >> okay. >> reporter: max stire is ceo for the partnership for public service. it has been ranking agencies based on workplace conditions since 2003. >> the most important ingredient for an engaged workforce is strong leadership. >> reporter: top flight leadership, vision and a sense that your work matters, some of the rankings that pushed up the department of transportation in the best places to work survey.

>> they held town hall meetings, solicited input from their employees, most important thing is they listened to their employees and then acted on what they heard. >> reporter: based on the overall scores, the nuclear regulatory commission was first, followed in second place by the government accountability office, the federal deposit insurance corporation and third in fourth place, the smithsonian institution and the national aeronautics and space administration rounded out the top five. what are some of the things you need to make it happy? >> family friendly, balanced, especially working mothers. >> you're being listened to and you make a difference. >> smile, come in with a big smile. make people smile, make them happy. >> reporter: jessica doyle, 9 news now and wusa9.com. >> i like his advice. those are the agencies at the top of the list. the ones at the very bottom, the national archives and records administration and the department of housing and urban development. they tied for last place.

guess what? seems most of us or more of us are washing our hands. a new survey published in this morning's "usa today" paper found that 85 percent of adults say they now wash their hands in public rest rooms. however when it comes to the sexes, not so equal. the study says only 77% of men wash their hands compared to 93% of women. coming up next, an unexpected visitor shows up for the opening bell at a florida school. probably pretty unwelcomed too. and coming up new at 6:00. >> this is going to be a new ice skating rink. i'm lindsey mastis in virginia. coming up, a group rebuilds after february's blizzard. don't forget we are always on at wusa9.com. stay with us. we will be right back.

caught on tape, an eye opening start to the school day for some students near tampa, florida. a crossing guard spotted that gator lounging right near the elementary school as the kids started arriving for class. deputies were able to tape the gator's mouth, handcuff its hind legs and then they waited until animal control officers came to take it away. >> maybe they have a new mascot there. a search is underway for a spider monkey near san antonio. the monkey's name is wc fields. somehow got out of his sanctuary last week when strong winds from tropical storm hermine tore open its enclosure. animal experts say the monkey is probably scared but he's also scared some residents as he searches for food. let's go back to the evening rush-hour on this tuesday night. >> i know escaped -- no escaped monkeys on our freeways this afternoon just a lot of frustrated drivers especially 495, a long day starting from connecticut past university all

the way to route 50 due to an earlier accident. travel times, not going to be pretty. everybody in the red right now from i-95 to route 50, more than 30 minutes if you start around wisconsin give yourself an hour and 66. more than 30 minutes as well from 495 all the way to 7100. sending it back to you. >> thanks. coming up, singer george michael learns his sentence for drunk driving. plus one extremely bad con job. countless people are finding it too hard to resist. we can access this on our website at wusa9.com, click on the "weather" tab and follow a dropdown menu to allergy update. grasses and mold spores in the moderate or medium range but weeds in the high range and be with us now until our first frost. we will come back and talk about warmer air, a look ahead into the weekend. stay tuned. president obama gives american students a pep talk. i'm randall pinkston in new york. that story coming up. [ male announcer ] today, scrubbologists reveal

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for the second year in a row, president obama delivered a back-to-school lesson to kids across the nation. speaking at a school in pennsylvania, he told the students their job is to pay attention in class and stay out of trouble and as randall pinkston reports, this year's speech was met with far less controversy. >> reporter: president obama is telling american students to work hard and dream big. >> your future is in your hands, your life is what you make of it, and nothing, absolutely nothing is beyond your reach. >> reporter: the president chose a successful school in philadelphia for his second annual back-to-school pep talk. >> nothing is going to have as great an impact on your success in life as your education. >> reporter: schools across the country had the option to show the speech in the classroom. last year just the idea of president obama delivering a message directly to students sparked an outcry from conservatives accusing him of

trying to push politics on children. this year the hullabaloo was largely absent. an informal survey of schools in this area reveal that few even planned to show the president's remarks. on their lunch break from beacon high school to new york city thousand students had a mixed reaction to the president's message. >> he's promising us that if we work hard things will get better. >> reporter: do you believe that? >> yes. >> i want to believe what he's saying, if you work hard, you'll do better, somehow become successful but a bunch of people who are laid off have no work and they have degrees. >> reporter: still these four young men say they are optimistic about their future and college bound. president obama says their performance in school and the success of their peers will determine america's success in the 21st century. randall pinkston, cbs news, new york. >> the president also announced a second commencement challenge. it is a nationwide contest in

which schools compete to land him as their graduation speaker. michelle obama is turning her focus to childhood obesity again. she told members of the congressional spanish caucus institute the problem is especially pronounced in their culture. >> nearly two in five hispanic children are overweight or obese and this isn't just teenagers or school aged kids that we are talking about. believe it or not, the obesity rate among hispanic preschoolers is higher than their white or african-american peers. >> the first lady encouraged parents to teach their sons and daughters healthier eating and exercise habits. the summer driving season may be over but gas prices are on the rise. the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded has jumped 4 cents in the past week to $2.72 a gallon. the biggest increase was in the midwest where the average jump was more than a dime due to an oil leak near chicago.

well, craigslist has been in the hot seat lately for its adult ads, but lots of solid businesses and people use the online classified site to sell, buy or even rent a place to live. and if you're not careful, that real estate ad could steal more than your money. >> so this is your childhood home? >> yes, yes, it is. i was 2 years old when we -- >> special moment sherrie ritter cherishes, growing up with her siblings and parents in their arlington, virginia home. >> they have been here 49 years and it's just time for them to get some -- a simpler life. >> so empty nesters motherlin and polly with their half a million dollars house up for sale and lots of people responded to the listing, not to buy, but to rent. >> initially i said oh there must be some mistake. this property is not for rent. it's for sale. >> reporter: this woman said she was excited to stumble on this ad. >> the house is available for

rent. i want you to know that it was my transfer to poland. we saw this, $600. i was like oh, this is a good price. >> my initial reaction was it was some kind of practical joke. >> reporter: it was not. crooks created a bogus classified ad in her client's name to scam consumers. >> yeah, he wants to know my name, my last name, my home address. >> reporter: even her date of birth. >> i kind of thought of it that it might be identity theft. >> reporter: her instincts were dead on. she did not give away her personal information but others did and the federal trade commission says 8.3 million americans were victims of identity theft back in 2005 and this craigslist scheme has all the markings of identity theft. >> is it really realistic that they could rent a house for $800 that's selling for $575,000 with the person is overseas, they can't see the person face to face, just one more way that scammers can try to take advantage of people.

>> reporter: meanwhile mary agnes concerns her search for a home to rent and she had a few final words for the con artist. >> whoever you are, stop scamming people. >> reporter: the ftc says another possible telltale sign that you're being had, if you look at one of these ads and it has a lot of grammatical and spelling errors, that's a good sign something is not quite right. >> the trial getting underway for the man accused of causing the death of nick adenhart. he was killed by an alleged drunk driver. it happened just hours after he pitched six scoreless innings in his 2009 season debut for the los angeles angels. two of adenhart's friends were also killed in the crash, 23- year-old andrew galo has pleaded not guilty to three counts of 2nd-degree murder. in england, singer george michael was sentenced to eight weeks in jail today for driving drunk. the former lead singer for wham also lost his driver's license for five years.

michael pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and possession of marijuana following a july 4th collision in london. a british judge told michael his addiction to pot put him and the public at risk. oscar winning actress penelope cruz is expecting a baby. the spanish agency that represents the 36-year-old star released a statement saying cruz is 4 1/2 months pregnant. this would be her first child. cruz married spanish actor javier bardem in the bahamas in july. she is currently filming "pirates of the caribbean" in stranger tide. >> july is the seventh month. this is the ninth month. i'm just saying. okay. >> i wasn't going to do that. >> we weren't either. >> really? >> we were not going to do that. >> that was too easy. >> i did it in my head because i wasn't going to say it. >> do you have more commentary? >> i'm just saying. >> why don't you move onto weather, mister. here's the deal with julia, not as strong as igor and going

to the well -- well to the east of bermuda. we do love these pictures that nasa sent. doesn't have as well defined of an eye and the maximum winds are only 85 miles per hour. for us, well, here we go, looking at a nice day tomorrow, temps back into the low 80s, low 80s on thursday, despite some clouds and the chance of a couple of showers, not much really going to happen thursday. most of the showers occur late thursday or thursday night so do not change your plans and nice again on friday, temperatures depo back into the upper 70s to near 80. we will break down tomorrow and sort of a similar deal. you'll need probably a sweater in the morning. the kids go back to school, a lot of them, to 64 to start and that's a downtown temperature so mid-50s in the suburbs, 82 by evening, all under partly cloudy skies and not as breezy tomorrow as it was today. right now temps are in the 70s, pretty much everywhere. 79 downtown, 79 as you head down towards springfield, 80 in fort bold wear with 75 in

bethesda and rockville. for tonight, partly cloudy and cool again, low temperatures 52 to about 62 downtown, winds north-northwest at 10. and lows tonight very comfortable. you go up past gaithersburg, low 50s, around town, around the beltway, around 60, 57 in college park and 56 in reston. tomorrow morning, partly cloudy and cool, 50s and 60s to start, and by afternoon another nice day, partly cloudy and pleasant, high temperatures in the low 80s, winds northwest at 10. next seven days. low 80s tomorrow, low 80s thursday, again some showers possible late thursday and thursday night. i don't think you're going to change your plans at all and then on friday we are back to a nice day, weekend warms up a little bit actually. we are back in the mid-80s on saturday, low to mid-80s on sunday. got the redskins in town against houston 4:00 start right here on channel 9 and then maybe some showers next week. looks what happens to the temps, upper 80s by next tuesday. >> oh, boy. >> they are supposed to go down, not up.

>> they have been mainly since labor day. >> thanks. up next, a hidden blood vessel condition affecting millions of people. i got tested. find out how you can too for free. and coming up new at 6:00. >> i'm busy. polling place in prince george's county looks like it's busy but the turnout numbers not great. the only real message in terms of trouble today, one polling place without electricity, they operated on battery power. but these guys are charged up. we will have the story coming up. i'm peggy fox with momslikeme.com. how do you pack a healthy lunch for your child? that he'll eat. i'm talking about leaving out the chips and cookies. you've got questions and we have got answers. well, the doctor does. he will answer your questions about healthy school lunches just write them up on momslikeme.com. oñoñ !%

stocks lost a bit of ground today on wall street. the dow fell 17 points to close at 10,526. the nasdaq was up four points and the s&p 500 was down a fraction. in tonight's health alert, an expert panel has found that bone strengthening drugs could actually cause bone fractures in some cases. the panel concluded drugs such as foss maks, act mel and boniva raised a risk for a rare type of fracture in the thigh

bone or femur. katie couric will have much more on this story tonight on the cbs evening news at 6:30. also tonight, a simple test that could save your life. most of us know when the arteries around our heart get blocked that spells trouble and even a possible heart attack, but what happens when blood vessels in other parts of your body start to narrow? it's called peripheral artery disease or pad. >> can people have this and not know it? >> they can. >> dr. richard knefel is chief of vascular surgery at georgetown university hospital which is not only sounding the alarm about p.a.d. but offering to screen people for free. >> are you getting any swelling at all? >> no. >> no swelling, good. >> reporter: so who should consider getting tested? people like joseph gazzo, a capitol hill resident who started having worsening pain in his legs every time he tried to exercise. >> i was not able to go fast

enough, long enough to get my heart rate up beyond about 110, which is not sufficient. >> it occurs when you walk and use the muscles and you get a crampy pain that can be very severe. >> reporter: dr. knefel says many people chalk this leg pain up to getting older but the poor circulation of p.a.d. can mean foot ulcers that don't heal and if it gets bad enough loss of a limb. it's also linked to diabetes and kidney disease so there are plenty of reasons not to ignore it. the screening is short and simple, comparing blood pressure in the arms with that in the legs. screeners look for certain ratio that shows there's nothing hindering the blood from getting down to my feet and back up to my heart again. fortunately, my peripheral arteries are going strong. >> we want it to be between one and 1.3, so you're well within normal limits. >> reporter: what happens if you're not? doctors will tell you to give up cigarettes if you smoke and adopt a heart healthy lifestyle, because p.a.d. can be a red flag that other

arteries in the heart or the brain are in danger too. >> there's a real lack of awareness about this condition. >> reporter: now, that screening we are talking about this thursday september 16th from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. at georgetown, this is free but they do want people to call and make appointments. 202-342-2400. thanks for joining us for 9 news now at 5:00. 9 news now at 6:00 starts right now. from the first local station with news in high definition, this is 9 news now. the polls will close in about two hours and voters will decide tonight who will be the democrat challenger in the d.c. mayoral race. all polls point to challenger vincent gray over incumbent mayor adrian fenty but voter turnout today has been surprisingly low. and the other hot primary in our area, the race for prince george's county executive, the top contenders are baker and