doppler 9000 hd. we have a few showers to the north and to our south. and a few to the northern shenandoah valley there. we will be watching this for you. we will show you in the immediate metro things are relatively quiet. in extreme southeastern parts of prince georges county in to charles county and part of southern maryland you will see a few showers there east of la plata over to hughsville and as i said approaching benedict this morning. up north we have showers. southeast of damascus and toward laytonsville, south of frederick along south of 70 and over to seven severna park. moisture in west virginia an western maryland. flakes in the snow shoe area. ski season opens november 24th for those wondering like

myself. 37 garrett county. what we are looking at today. mostly cloudy skies. some peeks of sun but also a few showers. it is 31. angie, take it away. >> my pleasure. good morning. it is wednesday. we made it half way through the workweek. we will help you through the rest. 270 southbound, just going to want to watch for construction around montgomery village avenue. going northbound it is set up at 28 and should be clearing in the next half hour or so. taking it to the maps, route 4, route 5, crane loy, all clear out here. this is the district and northeast and it is your shot at inbound new york avenue. looks nice and light. 395 northbound no problems to report. few drivers are at speed past duke. before that you are looking at a one-hour commute out of fredericksburg past dumfries over the mixing bowl. today the supreme court is expected to hear a controversial first amendment case. it involves protests outside of

military funerals by members of the west borough baptist church. many people say the protesters are carrying and channeling sign billions offensive hateful con ten but others say you can't ban protests just because you don't like what's being said. >> the church is putting free speech to the test. >> turn them in to a patriotic pep rally. >> reporter: at the supreme court church members are argue for the right to hold antigay protests outside of military funerals. the group and the pastor believe thes are god's -- deaths are god's way of punishing america for homosexuality. they protested at a marine who died in iraq that was not gay. >> worst thing i find is anger with the phelps for taking away

that last moment that he was here on the earth. >> reporter: his father sued and won $5 million in damages, but a federal appeals court overturned the ruling on first amendment loop grounds. while the protests are almost universally seen as distasteful, it is supported by the american civil liberties union. >> we can't have a legal standard that allows for multimillion dollar judgments anytime someone is offended even if it is legitimate. >> reporter: for snyder no amount of money or court decision could give him what he wants most. >> somebody said to me $5 million, i bet you would give it up to have matt back. i would give it up just to say good-bye. >> reporter: the church is showing no signs of backing down. they plan though hold at protest this morning at arlington national cemetery. election day in montgomery

county could mean more than simply making a decision on an ambulance fee. voters may be choosing between their money or safety. montgomery county executive ike leggett says cuts, including firefighters will be necessary if voter reject the ambulance fees. a memo sent to the county council shows 89 firefighter jobs and ambulances would be eliminated. >> we will have cuts in all areas. we will try to avoid as many layoffs as possible. >> we feel it is a scare tactic because in every instance what he suggested to take away is from seniors, from children, from the under privileged and that's everything that he wants to eliminate. >> reporter: right now they are

on a proposal. the county council will have the final day in what's eliminated. if you ever plan to drive the intercounty connector you need an e-zpass. there won't be traditional toll booths when the road opens later this year. you need an electronic transponder to pay the toll if not there will be a $3 fee in addition to the toll. election officials in washington have decided to scale back an on-line voting system. the system was originally designed to ali 950 military an overseas zeroers to cast their ballots on-line. last week the dc elections and ethics encouraged outsiders to find faults with the system. the students successfully hacked the site last wednesday and uploaded the university's fight song. the new version is expected to go up next tuesday. four weeks from the mid- term elections and two polls show glimmers of hope for the

democrats. the "washington post" poll and new gallup poll think that republicans will help the middle class. a pakistani imgrant who tried to set up a car bomb in sometime square was sentenced to life if prison. he pled guilty to ten counts of terrorism and weapons charges. a u.s. missile strike may have been targeting germans. a cell of germans and britons are believed to be -- behind the plot. they believe they are riding in pakistan's border. the first civilian trial of the guantanamo bay detainee opens today. he will be tried in manhattan federal court. he's accused of playing a key role in the 1998 bombings of two u.s. embassies in africa.

investors look forward to the federal reserve to help torgoch start the economy. and one american automaker is making key changes to try to target a younger consumer.

smooth sailing traveling 50 westbound out of the bay bridge making your way to bowie to the beltway. more realtime traffic coming up. time for the first "living $mart" report of the morning. wall street ended the session after a triple-digit rally. stocks hit a five month high after the japan central bank cut the interest rate to boost the country's economy and investors are betting the federal reserve will announce similar steps to jump start the u.s. economy when policymakers meet next month. the dow stands at 10944 after gaining 193 points. the nasdaq climbed by 55 and the s&p 500 jumped by 23. ford may cut about 35% of

its lincoln dealerships as it tries to revive the luxury brand. they would eliminate 575 lincoln dealerships. the average age of the lincoln owner is 66 years old. ford wants to change that. they have the first lincoln compact car planned for the coming months. for more log on to our website at wusa9.com and click on the "living $mart" tab on the front page. when you get your children up this morning, make sure they have jacket and walking shoes. and working out the kinks of aging could be as easy as plugging in your video console. another cool somewhat damp morning out there but hang on. we have a weekend coming toward us that we have earned. the seven-day forecast is just ahead. [ male announcer ] it's sunday afternoon.

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perfect gift for someone who has everything. now i know what i'm getting you for christmas. >> maybe for 300 instead of 325 get both enthrall strike a deal. >> we will strike a deal. a little unsettled weather today but i will give you four to five gorgeous october days. >> i'll take them. >> the upper storm system has been around since late in the week, bothering us with clouds, occasional sunshine and occasional showers and once again you are seeing the moisture wrap around from pennsylvania, new york, eastern ohio, west virginia. ' little snow around snow shoe and a dust up there. several inches in the tennessee mountains. one of their earliest snows at three inches and around here this morning we have had a couple of sprinkles. live doppler 9000 hd, not too busy. not too far from front royal,

south of cross junction. north and east of town is where we are seeing much of the action at the moment where least here in washington things are relatively quiet to start your wednesday. see the sweep going an. nothing much to show you here. as we head to calvert county in to charles, out of prince georges, north of benedict here heading to plum point, traveling slowly to the east. tillman island, mcdaniel, cambridge, a couple of sprinkles on the eastern shore. this is drifting east at 20 miles an hour. coming out of montgomery county to howard county now we have sprinkles here. heavier showers near fair view and anne arundel county and dotted west of mount airy up 70 over to hagerstown and frederick county. a couple of light showers. that's it for now. we will see more, i do believe, as the day progresses. keep the umbrellas handy for occasional showers. the momslikeme.com bus stop forecast, a few showers. most areas are dry.

it is cool this morning. temperatures upper 40s to mid- 50s and the sunrise not until 7:09. the day at a glance. 55 by 9:00. 60 at noon. upper 50 for the drive home and ' casual showers with a few peeks of nine. evening showers mainly north. partly cloudy avenue mid nigh. 40s to around 580. we clear out. nice breezy thursday. it will be back in the low 70s and a west northwest wind at 10 to 15 miles an hour. temperatures as cool as 42 in atlantic city. 54 here in town. a lot of 40s and 30s in the higher elevations where wet know flakes are mixes in.

warmer weather in the mid of the country. the warmer air will be coming toward us the next few days. so we are setting the stage once we get rid of this storm to a nice finish to the week. breezy at times with a chance of a shower but really the breeze will be more tomorrow, 73. looks good for friday night football. dc high school sports.net and the weekend, mid to upper 70s and sunshine. nice weather for the skins. >> looking forward to that, howard. right now we have a couple of construction zones set up. 14 minutes from the 5:00 hour. this should be clearing when we enter that hour. 95 northbound at 32 and powder mill and southbound it is near 198 exit. the outer loop, we want to take

you to maryland, a little bit of construction past the new hampshire avenue exit as well as before this at forestville road. next stop, 66, good morning, virginia. you are looking at a great drive right now moving out of centreville. 495 in virginia, we are tracking both loops. incident free. a live look at van doren street an give you south capitol street and the suitland parkway, not much going on. a great example of that here. a sharp channel 9 viewer alerted us to an odd situation with parking meters in one local jurisdiction. we learned the town's plans to remedy the situation in the next six months. see what is about to change in old town alexandria. >> reporter: it they are words parking meter and even the mild manner can simmer over. >> it is straight crazy. >> reporter: we met him minutes after he lost a pocket full of

coins in an old town meter. >> i have to put coins in for the company vehicle and i have lost $3. i was coming from the store so i could put it in the machine so i wouldn't get a ticket. >> reporter: davis is not alone. the parking meters display specific instructions, valid coins only but nowhere do they say what constitutes a valid coin. >> i was trying to put in nickels but the time wasn't going up so i lost a couple of nickels in there. >> reporter: we took it to the transportation department. >> the meters don't specify what kind of coins you can use how far, if you try a dollar coin it will not fit through the slot. >> they have ordered replacements of parking meters in old town. >> we feel that we are going to address the issue by replacing those meters. >> this is a classic case of

literally nickeling and diming taxpayers to death. make bad meters, tell them to figure out the instructions and say don't worry about it because we will spend more money to replace the ones we have any way. >> reporter: city officials insist the meters like this will pay for themselveses in two years and will be customer friendly by accepting credit cards. andrea mccarren, 9 news now. today is walk to school day. organizers say the percentage of students walking or biking to school in the u.s. has dropped from 41% in 1969 to 13% in 2001. in addition to being healthier, walk to school day is promoted as a way to help the environment. taking a look at the living well headlines, research shows cpr with chest compression only saves more live than traditional methods. the study from the journal of the american medical association looked at cases where bystanders performed cpr.

it found with chest compressions only a heart attack victim was most likely to survive. the finding backs previous research that shows a simpler method is better. a group of experts says nurses should be given a larger role in the health care system. a report from the institute of medicine is calling for the government to remove barriers so nurses with master's degrees can order certain tests and perform some care now reserved for doctors. experts say more health care professionals are needed for the 32 million americans that will get coverage under the new health care law. local physical therapists are using a popular gaming system to help patients ge on their feet faster and have a little fun. the nintendo wii isn't just for kids trying to conquer their favorite game or adults taking on a fitness challenge. it can help some people heal.

>> i'm better walking and exercising. >> this physical therapist in arlington use the wii as part of a patient's rehab. wiihab they call it helps to regain strength after surgeries. >> what we have is a great tool to use. it allows patients to get visual feedback as to where their center of balance is, when they are coming out of surgery or relearning balance training. >> reporter: and the wii fit can spice up sometimes mundane physical therapy sessions. >> it was a fun thing to do. there's definitely a goal to it. one of the games that i had to do was a penguin on an iceberg. and the penguin had to balance back and forth on the iceberg. >> it made my sessions fun. it made them entertaining. >> reporter: nicole fell and broke her ankle taking an

awkward step out of her car. wii got her moving and delivered results. >> the rehabilitation i received here, along with the home exercises i was given, strengthened my muscles. and so i feel stronger in my ankles. >> reporter: mary clark also successfully finished up her physical therapy sessions but wants to take wiihab home. >> i probably will ask my husband for a wii for christmas. >> anita brickman, 9 news now. >> the wii offers many exercises from yoga and strengthening to balancing games. they use it for patients age 14 to 80 and says there really is something for everyone. for more living well headlines, log on to our website at wusa9.com and click on the living well tab on the front page. it is 4:53. a man refuses to take no from an answer from a phone operator and decides to travel across the country to have his say. the white house shows some overdue credit to two-year

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i don't care; it's just nice sitting here. you're getting it. you're getting it. 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. welcome back to 9 news now. the first ever sum on community colleges was held at the white house yesterday. he called two-year colleges one of the most under valued assets and says they played a key role in developing america's work force. >> as far as i'm concerned, america does not play for second place and we certainly don't play for ninth. so i set a goal. by 2020, america will once again lead the world in producing college graduates. i believe community colleges will play a huge part in meeting this goal by producing

additional 5 million degrees and certificates in the next ten years. thank you very much. >> reporter: the summit was hosted by vice president joe biden's wife jill. she currently teaches english at northern virginia community college. a popular washington tourist site is about to be shut down for repairs. work on the reflecting pool in front of the lincoln memorial could take up to two years. improvements will be made to the pool's water circulation and filtration system. the $31 million project is being funded by federal stimulus money. the government rolled out tougher crash test standards for 2011 cars. the rates system includes side crash testing and they will receive safety ratings from one to five stars and the revamped readings will help re-evaluate readings. >> we know that car manufacturers are putting new

technologies in their cars and we want consumers to know how those technologies work. how effective they are. and that's why they have been included in our rating system. >> reporter: the 4:00-door bmw series and sonata received the highest ratings and the versa got two stars and the first time ever female dummies will be used to see how car collisions impact women differently than men. a winchester, virginia, man drove drove to detroit, michigan to pick a bone with general motors. as ron a maloney reports he got the idea after being challenged by a gm phone operator. >> i'm tired of being handled on the phone like it's not like you are going to drive three states away. where are you, virginia, we will do what we can kind of attitude, condescending. >> reporter: he battled with a gm phone operator and took it as a personal challenge. he packed up his gmc pickup,

drove 475-miles from his home with this in hand, the power steering pump for his wife's chevrolet hhr that kept failing on her on the road. >> when it went out, it wouldn't come back on and it wasn't where you could always turn the key off. local ford contacted gm and put out the statement on the tour today. while it does have the same steering motor as the cobalt it is tuned differently and performs differently. the number of warranty claims were half as many as for the cobalt. we explained the results of our investigation to the national highway safety administration and the agency was satisfied with our explanation and did not ask gm to take further action. not good enough for dave. he wants a full refund on the one he bought and replaced in his wife's car and they can tell him tonight he will get

one. >> i have satisfaction knowing i have done all i can do. >> sometimes the squeaky wheel does get the grease. good morning. you are watching 9 news now at 5:00 a.m. andrea roane has the day off. angie will have the traffic in a moment. right now howard bernstein is here with a quick look at the forecast after we had snow yesterday. >> it was in the mountains. snow shoe had flakes. high elevations of tennessee and north carolina a couple of flakes there. we have she showers here and there. that's going to be the case. one more cool, sort of cloudy unsettled day and then really nice around here. let me show you what is happening on the radars going back the last six hours. showers popped up across maryland, up north in southern maryland, virginia a few from winchester, south to strasburg. go to live doppler 9000 hd and we will show you we don't have much to talk about. a few in the shenandoah valley. here in town it is all