christine o'donnell admits to witchcraft. plus topper is tracking a return of some summer-like heat. >> i hope you start doing it. really hard to stop. >> cutters. they slice open their own skin. it's a disturbing issue. it's growing and it's in our schools right now. this is 9news now. 14.9 million. that is how many people are out of work tonight. >> it's to fill a field 164 times. it can also fill a bowing 73 73,737,000 times. it seems despite the high number, we're now told the recession is over. >> in fact, it's been done since last june. brittany morehouse went to find out how long that would be. brittany. >> reporter: well, anita and derek, that news comes from a panel of economists so say it's their job to study the recession. it lasted 18 months. but the good news is, they say

we're in recovery, which means we should be seeing more signs like this. >> why do i feel like we're still in a recession? >> reporter: people were over the decline and many don't buy it. >> when you hear they said, hey, guess what, the recession is over, and it's ending in 2009. >> i say huh? right. no. >> of course it did. that's why we're all still sort of struggling. >> oh, yes. i figured the number crunchers could do that, just like the number crunchers claim that all of the school has been reformed. they always can crunch the numbers, but we go by how it really impacts us. >> reporter: how does it impact you ? >> well, we have less going out. we have to be a little more cautious with our money because we don't know whether we're going to get laid off. >> reporter: some already have been laid off, like nicki who lost her job with an airline. she says that news about the recession, well, it sounds about right. >> i was unemployed in 2009. i got a job just a few months

ago and i feel pretty good about things. >> reporter: pretty good after a rough year. >> it took about a year to finish my degree and to do the fellowship program. obviously it was worth it. but it was hard. >> reporter: now it's hard watching her kids suffer. >> my son is having a hard time finding a job. >> reporter: and her family seems to epitomize what i found on a one-block radius here in columbia heights. a tail of bitter passing sweet. the unemployed sitting across from a small business owner who received stimulus money. >> i'm on food stamps which i never thought i would be. >> if i'm not shocked, the definition is the recession is over but clearly it hasn't trickled down to our jobs yet. >> reporter: so it all depends on your peck speck tif where you are. because -- perspective where you are. because where we see a now hiring sign, see a few steps and there is a posting of a bunch of people looking for jobs. reporting live, brittany morehouse 9news now. >> well, brittany, you're right,

because even though they say the recession is technically over, the key word here is, indeed, technically. at the economic policy institute says the experts do crunch a lot of numbers so they can say officially the economy stopped shrinking in june of '09. and economics stopped shrinking equals recession over. so then why are we still feeling so broke? in a word, jobs. take a look at this graph. each job represents the job loss during 1948 and the ugly red one at the bottom deeper and broader than any others, that is us right now. and as you can see, we are still waiting for it to trend back up. this has lost more job and for a longer period of time than any before it. it is really the worst recession ever. so use whatever word you like, technically, officially, let's be real. if you're not getting a paycheck, even when it's over,

it really ain't over. anita. a striking young woman murdered and dumped in a shallow grave in a remote corner of montgomery county. that was six months ago. tonight her family is pleading for help to find her killer. >> she was a 19-year-old little girl. who did this to her. >> tanessa taylor's brother wept as he pleaded for somebody to come forward and help bring her killer to justice. they believe chan shon watson and casey boone might know something about her death. they found her buried in a shallow grave in the woods. she had been missing since new year's eve. >> she always acted brave. she was such a beautiful person. >> it's still unclear what taylor's connection might have been to the field where her body was found.

it was so badly decomposed pathologists could only say she died from trauma. the victim's rights foundation is offering a reward for up to $5,000 for a conviction. you can call in an anonymous tip 247-700-tips. an early morning bike ride almost ended her life after an suv struck the victim and dragged her down the street. >> 30-year-old natasha was out riding her bike when a cadillac escalade ran her down. this happened about 5:30 a.m. yesterday. the driver actually went all the way home before she finally stopped. >> she thought she struck a deer or a dog and just didn't feel comfortable stopping at 5:30 in the morning. >> i looked at my daughter's cheek. i can see where she was dragged

because her toe knuckles are raw. >> well, that initial report from the maryland state police says she was not wearing any reflective clothing but 9news now found a piece of reflective plastic right near the accident along with one of the victim's reflective shoes. pettigrew is in critical condition tonight. and new at 11:00, an apartment fire sent people scurrying out on to the street in district heights. firefighters say this one started around 6:45 in the 3200-block of walters lane. it got going in the basement of the three-story building. thankfully everybody got out safely and fire officials don't know what sparked it. 38 armed robberies in 11 different cities. tonight police are hoping you can find this man accused of being behind all of them. police say he has robbed dozens of restaurants in maryland, northern virginia, delaware and pennsylvania since february of 2009. officers say the robber walks in with a handgun and holds up the place. the fbi is now offering a $10,000 reward for information

leading to an arrest and conviction. dc school chancellor michelle rhee will soon be up on the big screen. she'll be starring in a new documentary called waiting for superman and it's about the poor state of education in american public schools. the taping actually occurred before rhee's own job became in limbo. last tuesday her boss mayor adrian fenty lost to vincent gray in the primary race. rhee has said she cannot work for gray, but for his part gray says he wants a chancellor who gets along with people. >> i expect we'll probably try to meet this week at least for the first time anyway. >> do you see any scenario in which the two of you can work together? . >> i think it's contingent on what the discussion reveals. >> rhee called the loss for the mayor a devastating event but later clarified she meant she was talking about a defeat for her reform efforts. by now you probably heard about the delaware candidate that says she once dabld with witchcraft when she was young.

>> we were en chanted by finding witches in dc and it didn't take long for gary nurenberg to conjure some up. >> reporter: it's all over the net. >> i hung around people who were doing these things. >> reporter: on the campaign trail, christine o'donnell is dismissing it as high school hiking. >> no, there has been no witchcraft since. >> reporter: fascinating, though. >> i didn't know it. >> i think someone was having fun at her expense. there is no way a real witch was trying to sit her on an alter. >> reporter: this woman held preside over a witch circle celebrating the fall equinox. >> these represent a past to the holy land or a path to your soul. and they represent a sacred journey. >> reporter: which is practice wiken, a religion tied to the earth and its seasons. >> it's the work of the wise.

it basically means that we are working with the world. that we honor the air, the fire, the water, the earth. we honor all life. we honor the seasons. >> reporter: do witches cast spells? >> i always lichen spells to prayers. i was raised catholic and we did prayers for everything. we blessed animals, houses, children and we blessed the folks who were dying. witches do the same thing. >> reporter: and with a sense of humor, we found a broom on her porch that was used as a may pole. >> the next year it was used to sweep snow, so that's where it wound up. >> reporter: you don't ride that? >> no , no, no. i wish it could fly like in the harry potter. but, no, unfortunately not. >> reporter: it is more mainstream than you might think. it is allowed on grave and earlier this year the air force academy built an outdoor place for them. there are a couple thousand in

the dc area. i'm meteorologist topper shutt. a beautiful day. 81 today. it's getting chilly right now. grab a sweater, grab a light jacket. you'll end up carrying it home. 52-62 to start. winds southeasterly at ten. we'll come back and show you a cool picture of jupiter. still ahead tonight. >> i know it sounds horrible but it's true. >> when she was 13, sierra began to cut herself and then she couldn't stop. >> once you start doing it, it's really hard to stop. >> cutters, a frightening trend every parent should see. that is coming up next. hey, ove, i'm gonna need a bank. any ideas?

capital one bank. they're everywhere. ♪ yeah, you're right! [ horns honking ] hey, there's one right up the street. [ male announcer ] capital one bank. the most branches and atms in the dc area. what's in your wallet? ove, go long! i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks]

our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪ in kentucky new developments in a case of a man strangling his wife. >> he now claims that excessive caffeine left him so sleep deprived he falsely confessed to the murder. smith has said that excessive caffeine left him temporarily insane regarding the killing of his wife and in today's opening statements at the trial prosecutors say that smith attacked his wife during a fight and then strangeled her with an extension cord which seems a lot to blame on caffeine. an embarrassing billboard mistake. a message for the school system didn't work out. it was supposed to say 15 best

things about our public school but as you can see somebody left out the l. a local couple was among the first to point out the mistake two days after the billboard went up. [ laughing ] >> we were out driving around yesterday and we stopped and watched the cycle through and sure enough it had that typo in it. so we took a picture and the rest is history. >> yes, it since came down. the company that put it up apologized. a disturbing trend now is emerging among young people rarely discussed in public. >> girls and in some cases boys are cutting themselves. it's a way to deal with stress and the emotional up-heave -heavel. >> it's hard to kwaund quantify just how many teenagers are engaging in self-mutilation by cutting their skin because so few formal studies have been done, but a survey conducted in 2005 by a

group of developmental and behavioral pediatrics surveyed 293 teenagers. of those a remarkable 105 reported a history of self cutting and local experts tell us they are seeing an increase. tonight a courageous young woman from virginia comes forward for the very first time to share her story. she hopes it will help others stop this dangerous behavior and we do want to warn you some of the images may be disturbing. >> once you start doing it, it's really hard to stop. >> sierra started cutting herself on a regular basis when she was 13 years old. >> people always thought i was trying to kill myself, even when really the thing was i was trying to keep myself alive. >> sierra's mother died when she was just seven years old. her father was immersed in work. an only child, she felt comfort in self injury. >> i really did it mostly on my upper thighs and my stomach for

a really long time. and then it got to the point where i couldn't control it and i was running out of room and i know it sounds horrible but it's true. >> i was in the kitchen and she said, dad, i have to show you something and she did and i was standing right there. i took one left and fell and i couldn't get up because there was so much of it. it wasn't just a few cuts. >> it's becoming more and more common. >> licensed krin cal social worker -- clinical social worker says cutting actually releases en door fins in the body -- endorphins into the body. >> they get a sense of being in control and being in charge. cutting is also a cry for help. and these kids generally come from families where they're not allowed to express anger or negative emotions and this is their way of being able to do that. >> as most teenagers do, sierra hid her scars under big bracelets and long sleeved shirts. when she and her father sought help, they were stunned at how little is available. >> there is nobody to call.

there is no place i can take her this afternoon. >> today they are still healing from their ordeal and have become experts on a topic few are willing to discuss. >> if you're a young person and you know one of your friends is doing this and you're keeping this secret for them, because plenty of people kept it for me, and this many years later i wish they hadn't. >> sierra and her father hope to start a support group for cutters so no one else has to live through the isolation and desperation they experienced. it's a tough story to tell, but we felt it was important to get the word out there to young people who might be doing this and their parents who might not be suspecting it. >> i think the main thing people have a hard time getting to is it looked like that would hurt a lot. how can you do that? >> wouldn't you think so. enough of the experts say it releases some kind of endorphins in the body. also sierra's father says he had seen his daughter not cutting

but soon after and she seemed almost -- it tranquilized. >> wow. >> we have a report coming up at 6:12 and we will learn more about the warning signs parents can look for and why teenagers are increasingly resorting to this really difficult behavior. it's hard to imagine. >> it is hard to imagine. but you helped us. thank you. now a frightening scene at a small stadium in brazil. take a look. [ screaming ] >> whoa. that was a scene yesterday at a car race. as you can see, part of the seating area collapsed. more than 100 people injured, 20 seriously. they're trying to figure out why the bleachers gave way when they did. now to a very unusual way of artistic expression. this is in rome. they used video projection to show a fire destroying one of the most famous buildings.

rome's colosseum. they're hoping to spread dialogue on the heritage. i don't know about that, but -- >> that would do it. >> i think that would grab your attention, wouldn't it? >> yes, it would. >> wow. >> nice day out there, topper. >> yes. >> i loved it. >> i know we need rain. i know it's dry. don't burn anything in your yard. this is a great time of year. it's dry this time of year. it's not crazy unusual. here is the forecast. the next three days sunshine out of the gate. we're in great shape. temps around 80. a little warmer on wednesday. perhaps a thunderstorm. not a lot. slight chance upper 80s. and then by thursday we're going to call it hot. afternoon storm possible. high temperatures by thursday will be near 90. let's break down tomorrow. you'll need sunglasses, a sweater, light jacket. 59 to start at 7:00. that's a downtown temperature. in the burbs, we're talking upper 40s to around 50s. so for the high schoolers, the kids out there very early, it's going to be chilly. 75 by noon and upper 70s to near 80 by evening. all the sunshine and less wind than we had today. overnight clear skies.

almost chilly. jupiter now is visible overhead. low temperatures 47-57. winds will become light a little bit after midnight. let's talk about the picture of jupiter. david sent this in from stafford. it's not -- it's a little out of focus. but when you magnify something that is so far away, it kind of gets out of focus. you can see the rings of saturn. you don't even need a telescope. you can actually see this with a naked eye again tomorrow night and even right now if you want to take a look outside. sunny with a chilly start in the morning. 40s and 50s. winds southeast at ten. zone forecast for tuesday, all zones are still on our website at wusa9.com. in the 60s west of the divide by 74 in cumberland. only about 78 in leesburg and manassas and middleburg. no winds to speak of. no small craft advisory for the bay or tidal potomac.

next seven days, 80 tomorrow. thank you. sunshine. and then a shower or thunderstorm possible late wednesday and thursday. fall officially arrives at 11:09 on wednesday. more like summer. maybe a shower friday night but i don't think we'll see any problem with high school football. behind that front cooler. we're in the upper 70s on sunday and monday which is, again, quite nice. so toex anz are better than -- texans are better than we thought. >> they were good. they didn't play very well in the second half it appears. yesterday redskins couldn't cover anybody. so now hall wants to cover everybody. his bizarre declaration following yesterday 's loss. plus a baseball player that got schick kebobed. and this is no joke. scary video coming up. [ music throughout ] [ male announcer ] looking for a complete picture of your money?

meet pnc virtual wallet. it comes with a calendar that shows you all your finances at once. it lets you know when your money's going out. and when it's coming in. it even tells you when you're running low. we call that danger days. it's built to help you see your money in a whole new light. experience everything virtual wallet has to offer at pncvirtualwallet.com. pnc. for the achiever in us all.

♪

and not what you get? like electricity for gadget power at your seat. room to stretch your legs, and your wingspan, food when you're hungry, and taking off your shoes, only if you feel like it. these aren't luxuries, they're basics. get them back on acela.

it's time for 9 sports with brett haber, the best sports in town. >> well, when your defensive secondary gets lit up for 500 passing yards, there has to be some finger pointing. and the day after they coughed up the 17-point lead against the texans, hall pointed his fingers in several directions, including at himself. he was disappointed by the coverage they provided against houston. today he said going forward no matter what formation they call, he, deangelo, is going to cover whoever the best receiver is on the other team. if the coaches don't like it, tough nugys. >> it don't water what he says. it's my team. i said that's it. we have to win the game. that's what i'm going to do. it won't happen like that again. andre johnson is out there, i'm going to be out there with everybody else. >> it's my team. it's my defense. meanwhile good news concerning

the knee of first round draft pick williams. the left tackle had to leave the game but an mri today negative. he has not been ruled out to play against the rams on sunday. of course the whole outcome yesterday could have been different if redskins kicker had connected on that 52-yard field goal in over time and it's a sequence that has a lot of redskins fans talking today. he lined up and made the kick the first time but texas coach called timeout to ice him before the snap. and when he tried to kick a second time, he missed it badly wide to the right. now, conversely, when they wrapped up for the game winner, mike shanahan, the guy who invented icing the kicker didn't do it this time and the kick was good. so, mike, why not. >> i got so much abuse for starting it, i can't blame him for throwing a timeout in there. you have to go with your gut. you could miss the first one.

all of a sudden you have to do the second one. >> the problem is he doesn't have a gut. meanwhile no update on the status of this man albert haynesworth. he was inactive yesterday. some say if he had been in the game, things might have been different. had an ankle injuries. others are speculating it's about his ankle at all. it's a precursor to him getting traded. some team is going to pay dunn big money. dunn and the nats are getting close on a long-term contract extension and he expects to be here next year. good news as the nats play the astros tonight and right on cue. there is adam dunn with two men on the bottom of the first. rbis number 94 and 95. 2-0 nats. fifth inning tied at two and hernandez throws a curve ball that he now regrets. six batters later a fast ball

that he now regrets. geoff blum 3-run shot. seven runs and a nightmare fifth inning. nats fall 8-2. finally i said for years this was going to happen and it finally did. the cubs tyler cobin is on third base and you see what happens when the bat shatters. the shards get cobin right in the chest. as you can see after he gets schick kebobed, he was able to continue running but shortly thereafter air started to fill his chest cavity. he was rushed to the hospital where he remains. he is in stable condition but his season is over. and i've said for years that they have to do something. they have to construct bats in a way that when they shatter, and they will shatter, that there is some kind of safe result. >> it pierced his lung. >> it didn't pierce his lung but it pierced his chest cavity. >> wow. >> but what if one of those things hits a guy in the jugular. it's all over right there on the field. >> we have to go. we'll be right back. >> okay. think about the internet.

growing, evolving, literally transforming our lives. now imagine the possibilities of what tomorrow could bring. at at&t, we support a core set of standards that will guide the internet into the future... to protect users, and reward innovators, for years to come. we support a fair and open internet - affordable

and accessible to everyone. transparent networks, managed in ways that are clear to all users. we support the fcc's plan to bring high-speed internet to everyone in america by 2020. and we are committed to keeping the internet working, as the economic engine that's creating jobs now. working together, investing, keeping information and ideas flowing freely, we can ensure that the internet will continue to grow and influence the future... in ways we can only imagine. because the future has always been our business. at&t.

and that is our broadcast. thanks for staying up with us. >> letterman, of course, is next. have a good night. i'm done with all these lists.

and driving all over town. i want one list. for one store. [ female announcer ] at safeway, you get it all. great quality and great prices. so you just need a safeway list. [ male announcer ] with thousands of everyday low prices you'll save all over the store. [ female announcer ] with club card specials like honey bunches of oats just 2 for $5 and ovenjoy round top breads only 89 cents. [ male announcer ] quality and low prices. so there's one stop for everything. [ female announcer ] at safeway, that's our promise. that's ingredients for life. [ female announcer ] at safeway, that's our promise. words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion

independently-run claims fund. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right.

america needs clean energy, and america needs jobs. wind power can deliver on both - but only if the senate encourages investment by passing a strong renewable electricity standard. with a strong res, we can keep 85,000 wind power workers on the job, and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, too. jobs that america could really use right now. for american jobs, tell your senators to pass a renewable electricity standard today.