victims calling in crimes. the entire country is scheduled to be linked in to the program by 2013. lindsey mastis, 9 news now. today is monday, october 4th. i'm andrea roane. angie goff has the traffic and will have more on what is happeningen on river road an the tree down and howard bernstein is here to talk about the soggy weather that may prompt more trees to come down. >> imagine if it was inbound closed. but the sogginess is around. fortunately the showers will be tapering through the morning and by afternoon we should be in slightly better shape. not a beautiful day by any stretch. show you the big puncture. low pressure coming up the coast has brought in the rain. you travel up to new york or boston, bring the rain gear. pittsburgh they have a break

now. they could get showers and notice the swirl over charleston helping to keep the showers going. live doppler 9000 hd, big picture. little picture first. heavier showers down 95 in fairfax county and to the west in shenandoah valley from culpeper westward and sperryville, raining pretty good out there. moving to toe north northwest. not at a big clip and not the torrential rains of last week. temperatures are rather cool. 50s out there. low to mid-50s. and you can see off in barrett county only 41 raw degrees. temperatures today as the showers taper off to an isolated shower this afternoon, top off 55 to 60. early morning tieup.

inbound river road is where we see the bulk of the traffic. losing an eastbound lane on the left side. we have a downed tree in this westbound lanes that have lanes closed where river road meets brook side drive. looks like a big tree. drove by it this morning so it could take some time. eastbound lanes are getting by and westbound you are closed at brook side drive. to 270, we have slick pavement out here but no problems to report from 121 moving to the split. 66 virginia, we are tracking your trip, as well. lanes are wide open through centreville to inside the beltway. continuing in virginia, 95 northbound, look forward to a nice quiet commute from fredericksburg to the springfield interchange and wrap it up in the district. inbound new york avenue through dc, more wet roads and watch

for standing water especially around rock creek park. right now police are looking for a gunman they say took a shot at a fellow officer. it happened on queens chapel road in northeast dc. police do not have a description of the suspect but are looking for a green jeep cherokee they believe he used to make his getaway. the state department is urging americans to use caution when traveling in europe because of potential terrorist attacks. for the first time in recent history a travel alert has been issued for an entire continent. it is but one step below a travel warning which would advise americans not to visit europe. no specific targets are named but they believe osama bin laden is behind a plot to attack several cities in europe. 9 news now spoke to passengers at dulles international to gauge how they view the alert. >> like anything else you have to go ahead and proceed with

caution. >> know you have to live your life and go on and be as caution as you can and do the best you can and the rest is up to the man upstairs. >> if you do that you are not going to win. live your life. if it happens it happens. >> the united states intelligence agencies have picked up information, chatter which was shared with the site and the site is acting on following with the needs given to pakistan. the nation's highest court kicks off the new term this morning with a brand new justice, the 112th in its history. we see what's ahead for elena kagan today. >> reporter: the nation's newest supreme court justice won't be sitting on the bench for much of her first day. >> because of her past work,

justice elena kagan will have to step down from a number of cases she was involved in. >> reporter: she will hear the first case argued before the court today before stepping out. in all, she's reexcised herself from 25 of the 51 cases set out so far including the most high profile cases from illegal immigration to employment discrimination. >> that means potentially a problem because the court, if they are closely divided would split 4-4. she would not be there to cast the key deciding vote. >> reporter: in a tie, the lower court's decision would be automatically upheld. when elena kagan is on the bench, she'll be making history. for the first time there will be three female justices on the supreme court. first amendment cases top the docket this term. wednesday elena kagan and the other justices are expected to look at one case involving antigay protests at military funerals and a california law that bans the sale of violent

video games to children. while elena kagan isn't expected to change the balance of the court, some believe she could change the dynamic. >> we can see her starting to build coalitions and bring conservative justices, especially the key swing vote, the than the middle justice kennedy. >> reporter: the court will likely add another 20 to 30 cases to the workload before the term wraps up in june. cbs news, washington. and more on one of the cases the court will hear, members of the controversy west borough baptist church are expected to hold a protest outside of arlington national cemetery today. the kansas-based congregation routinely protests soldiers ' funerals believing their deaths are punishment from god for americans accepting homosexuality. at dematha catholic high school yesterday, people showed up to pay respects to looney.

the 9-year-old navy seal seal was among the personnel killed in a helicopter crash in afghanistan. he graduated from dematha where he played on the football and baseball teams as an outstanding athlete. 1100 people showed up at the public wake. they say it is a testament to his character. students at rutgers university held a silent vigil to remember tyler clementty. he is the student that committed suicide. the promising violinist jumped off the george washington bridge to the hudson river three days later. he is one of the suicides involving teens believed to be victims of antigay bullying. a new law in maryland is requiring at least a three-foot buffer against vehicles and bicycles and motor pittsburghs

must yield the right of way to bikers. drivers who cause a crash face a $1,000 fine. for information on this or other stories where you live go to wusa9.com and find your community where you live and keep up with what is happening in your neighborhood. if you have a story or news tip, we want to hear from you. our time is 4:38. the first "living $mart" segment is next. see how an anticipated boost in the holiday shopping season could lead to more jobs. 54 degrees and you are watching 9 news now. 3q with the money you invest in clothes, why risk they'll end up faded or stretched ? try woolite. woolite isn't just for your delicates. it's for all your clothes. with woolite complete you can wash everything

because it has the right balance of cleaning and care. and say goodbye to fading, shrinking and stretching. woolite complete keeps all your clothes looking like new, longer. visit woolite.us to print your high value woolite coupon.

welcome back. hope you had a great one. pack in an extra minute or two for the morning commute. slick roads but no problems to commute heading to from the toll plaza to the airport. we have more road conditions coming up. it is time for the first "living $mart" report of the morning.

jessica doyle is here with the headlines. good morning, jessica. >> good morning, everybody. investors are smiling after the best september in 71 years. stocks headed in a positive direction. in overnight trading, asian stocks rallied today, as well. checking wall street, the dow stands at 10829. it added 41 points on friday. the nasdaq was up by two and the s&p up by five. later today, we're going to see an update on home sales. on friday the government releases the september unemployment figures. economists expect the jobless rate to edge up 9.7%. will this year's holiday shopping season give retailers a boost they expect an increase from 2.5 to 3% from last year and staffing up to handle the crowds. stores may add as many as 650,000 jobs over the peak shopping season. that would be a significant

boost from last year but below this hiring levels seen before the recession. our time is 42. the first health alert of the morning is next. we all know that american children love junk food but a report shows how much junk food they are eating every day. it may not be the best start to the week, but i think you will like the finish. we will have details when 9 news now returns.

welcome back to 9 news now. in the weather center with howard bernstein. i just town out he was able to mow the lawn before the rain showers came. >> it was a little damp from the big deluge there we had on thursday and friday morning. >> but you are seeing it jump higher. >> it is one of those i have to pull the trigger and get it done because we know more rain is on the way and it will be really tall for those of you by thursday if you don't get it

done tomorrow. some rain moved in south and east of town and the showers are showing that northern or slightly west of north movement toward us. you notice more breaks south and east. a lot less action here. i think as we go in to the morning, especially in the afternoon we will have a lot less activity, as well. live doppler 9000 hd, show you where the rain is coming down the hardest. eastern shore, lower eastern shore to the northern neck is fairly quiet. better concentration of shower and drizzle, if you will, in the metro region. from dc west in to southern montgomery county. most of fairfax, light to moderate rain. especially the area between the dulles toll road, 66 down to 95. east of 95, things are lighter. showers break up some in charles county, portions fairly wet from brandywine to clinton and over to college park, as well. i want to go west a little bit here in to northern virginia.

look at this. there is a heavy shower south of boston heading to sperryville in another half hour. amissville and culpeper. this is lifting north northwest. it will ride close to 522 and been bentonville. looks like a wet one for the kids this morning. the momslikeme.com bus stop forecast, have the rain gear handy and a cool morning, as well. that may be an understatement. with 50 to 55 it is raw out there and the showers and drizzle. sun is up at 7:07. today at a glance, showers this morning. maybe a leftover shower by noon and this afternoon fairly quiet at least here in town. north and west in the higher elevations you may be dealing with a few lingering showers. upper 50s to perhaps near 60 in one or two spots. we are in the 40s with a northwest wind at five to ten and the sunset 6:46.

tomorrow, some sunshine. still breezy and cool. highs around 65. there could be a stray shower up to the pennsylvania border and again in the mountains out to the west. temperatures in the east, 40s and 50s this morning. norfolk is holding on to 61. locally we are down to 50 in reston, haymarket, gaithersburg, rockville and laytonsville, columbia is 51. bwi andrews 51. mason neck is 52. springfield is 51 and arlington is only 50. a really raw morning. showers and drizzle 54 in arlington. there is a wind this morning making it feel like the 40s. we will watch this area of showers kind of lift north. notice this storm here. this is going to hang out for a couple of days. tomorrow should be farther enough away from us we shouldn't see much but wednesday a few showers and then the second half of the week, hang in there, it will be a lot better. our seven-day forecast, 58 today, breezy.

damp at times. tomorrow, some sunshine, 65. again, a shower or two on wednesday and then look at thursday, 74. friday, saturday, sunday, oh, it's looking nice with sunshine. skins are home again. green bay this weekend temperatures in the 70s. it is 4:48. angie, good morning. >> good morning, everybody. outbound river road. here's some 9 news now video of the conditions we are cooling with early on. wet pavement and the roadway is closed at brook side drive because of this, a downed tree. now, going eastbound, which is inbound river road, you want to stay to the right because it is losing a left lane, u.s. june but it will stack up quickly as more drivers take the road this morning. a good sized tree so they will be out there for some time. the outer loop where the rain is causing drivers to move more slowly as we would expect. no major delays north of the district. these are live conditions at 29

colesville road. to the maps, are route 4, route 5 and 301. everything is incident free and we are tracking the trip northbound on 395. you can see everyone is at speed to the 14th street bridge. and finally the beltway in virginia be careful going off and on the ramps, especially near construction zones, for example at route 7 a good amount of standing water still. in the first health alert of the morning, a new report found nearly half of the calories consumed by american children came from junk food like pizza, soda and dessert. they say it is fueling the obesity epidemic and putting people at risk for serious health problems later in life. new research suggests there is a link between cancer and cognitive function. the report shows people with a history of cancer are more likely to experience memory problems and concentration than people without the disease.

we also have a health alert for anyone who suffers from back pain. if you are at the point where you are thinking surgery, there's a procedure out in that involves smaller incisions, less blood loss and less time on the mend. anita brikman shows how it is done. >> reporter: this 71-year-old has been coping with back pain her entire adult life. >> i would hardly walk in because it hurt so bad going down my leg. >> reporter: years of a nurse, always on her feet, strained her back to the.she couldn't stand up straight anymore. >> the curve started developing and getting worse. it's just unbelievable how much pain you can have when you have those nerves. >> reporter: she was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease and curvature of the spine but having open back surgery worried her a lot.

she didn't want to be laid up for months. she found a spine surgeon who told her about a minimally invasive procedure. they access the spinal column through the patient's side and make a one-inch incision, thus cutting through less muscle than if they went in the back. >> you come down here and work in this space here so you are far away from the nerve. you remove the disk and put a spacer in here to jack open the space so that you create room for the nerve. >> reporter: the procedure takes from a half hour to two hours. she was on the higher end because the doctor also fixed her scoliosis. as for recovery times most patients say it takes six to eight weeks. >> i'm doing just about everything i want to do at my age. >> reporter: anita brickman, 9 news now. >> in the past, the patients eligible for x-lift were

limited but now it is a procedure for many people with back problems anywhere along the spine. a piece of candy that resembles a drug pipe has one community outraged. see what they did to get them yanked off of store shelves. we'll be right back. 3q health matters to all of us. that's why lysol has started a mission for health. with new mom programs,

lysol healthy habits initiatives in schools and disaster relief efforts. when you use lysol at home, you'll know you're a part of something bigger. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth. [ female announcer ] yoplait's real fruit and the goodness of dairy... gives you a little slice of happy. and happiness comes in 25 delicious flavors. explore them all. yoplait. it is so good. now the yoplait you love in a new four pack. try it today.

and i don't want my skin to show it. (announcer) gold bond ultimate restoring lotion. coq10 helps skin renew itself. gold bond ultimate restoring. this stuff really works. an important consumer alert for anyone who needs money. it's harder than ever to get a loan, even with a good credit score but what if i told you could get the cash in less than a week from people you don't even know. a community that often says yes when banks say no.

>> reporter: from a small space in rockville. >> let me know yo if you get ahold of anyone. >> reporter: this staff at this nine month startup is working to get depositions taken all over the world but this time last year plan at the time depos barely had a camera or court reporter and struggled to get help from a bank. >> you go and get laughed at. >> reporter: joe reached out to lending club, an on-line peer to peer service and got his money in less than two weeks. >> someone from california gives $25, someone from alaska or florida gives $75 and before you know it you are up to $15,000. >> reporter: ages ago, neighbors were the community bank and there is a rebirth of that kind of transaction through peer lending. >> it's not paid to a nameless faceless bank. they know there is a real person on the other end. the same for investors. >> reporter: the approach is simple. credit worthy borrowers get low interest rates and investors

see big returns. peer lending is different from banks because they aren't putting all of their eggs in to your basket. the people who invest in you get to spread out their risk, putting a few eggs in to several baskets. you get your money from many sources, and by giving only small amounts, investors reduce their overall risk. >> i have 899 that are in some state of being paid back and current. >> reporter: don joined the club 18 months ago. for him the stories make all the difference. >> we like to bond with others and this allows us to do this without a middleman. >> reporter: one of his first loans truly tugged at the heart. >> a fella ended up in a while wheelchair and needed to make his home wheelchair accessible. >> reporter: something don knows he will have to do in a few years, he has muscular distrophy. >> folks need a way out. >> reporter: they call ate game changer and joe hopes to complete the circle.

>> maybe one day i will be an investor on lending club. >> reporter: she says the selection process is detailed and you need good credit with a score of at least 660. tense moments for parents when a ferris wheel broke down stranding 17 people. most of them children. it happened in racine, wisconsin. anxious parents watched while rescue teams placed two front- end loader trucks on either side of the ferris wheel to stabilize it. >> it is really scary. they seem to be very brave. >> being a father of two i was telling them we have hot chocolate waiting for them. their moms an dads are waiting for them. >> after two hours all the children were rescued. an inspection will be done to determine what caused the ferris wheel to stall. a candy controversy is

brewing in indiana. they are called lollipipes and look like drug paraphernalia. >> i bought five of the six fruity favors of the lollipipes at 7-eleven and it is made of candy that supposedly won't melt when the pipe is lit. >> looks like something you would smoke hash in. >> reporter: tobacco free saint joe county had never heard of a lollpipe before and neither had this d.a.r.e. officer. >> this influences our children in what they want to do. i consider this to be drug paraphernalia as well because it is a hollow pipe. it can be used for snorting and doing other stuff when you think of the drugs. >> i'm concerned with the children being able to purchase this item and it appalls me. i cannot believe this is in a as soon as store.

we took candy cigarettes off think market but put drug paraphernalia for children to eat. >> reporter: she tipped us off about them after she saw them in bullet multiple stores and were marketed at the point of purchase at the register. i spoke to the owner of the store where i purchased them and he said he wasn't aware they were being sold there and pledged to take them off the shelf immediately and we checked back and the pipes had bin been sold. angie goff will have this traffic in a moment and howard has a look at the forecast. >> wet friday morning when we left and it is a wet monday morning. >> wet sunday night. saturday was really nice, wasn't it? >> it was. >> get going this morning with the rain gear and a little patience because the wet roads will slow you .