website at 9 news extras. this is 9 news now. good morning. welcome to 9 news now. today is tuesday, october 12th. howard bernstein says are you you will like the forecast. >> you picked a great stretch of weather to take off. >> i was in ocean city, maryland and it was so gorgeous. oh my goodness. >> yesterday was summer like and today more like spring or late summer and the threat of a couple of showers as the front pushes through. the bigger picture. up in pennsylvania they got pounded with heavy showers and storms. some had gusts 50 to 60 to 90 miles an hour in scranton from the damage reports we are hearing up there and we had a few sneak in to maryland during the late night and early- morning hours. a mild morning out there with

50s and 60s. 66 in southern maryland. cool spots being petersburg, stanton, luray. frederick is 64. and shenandoah valley around 50. looking at the day at a glance, going to see sunshine, a few clouds. can't rule out a shower. 5:00, 79. highs upper 70s to lower 80s. it is 4:31. happy tuesday. >> hope everybody is off to a terrific start. we are looking at the 95 roadway and the bw parkway. everyone is okay out of baltimore making their way to the beltway. 495 in maryland drivers are moving at speed. an accident at 121 has cleared. you have all the southbound lanes back. in to dc we go. that's where we are finding the lanes way open on inbound new york avenue toward the third street tunnel. in virginia, it's smooth sailing, 395, nice and quiet past duke street and before

this nothing to report out of frederick on 95 making your way up to the mixing bowl. you remain incident free. back to you. >> we begin with a heads up for some federal workers this morning. they get another day off. that's because the u.s. department of agriculture animal and plant inspection services building is closed due to a small electrical fire over the weekend. the address at the facility is usda center at river side. that's 4700 river road in riverdale, maryland. we donnell know yet if the building will reopen for wednesday. if other news this morning, state troopers are trying to figure out what led to a fatal pedestrian accident in montgomery county. this is the fourth pedestrian- involved accident in montgomery county in three days. it happened just before midnight on southbound i-270 near route 124. we're told a woman was struck. the driver stayed on the scene. southbound 270 was shut down for some time but it since

reopened. no word what the victim was doing on the highway when she was struck. yesterday afternoon and 33 a, a child in a stroller was hit by a vehicle. it happened near/ligo creek boulevard. a woman was pushing her son in a stroller across the street when they were struck. both are being treated at a local hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. the driver did say on the scene. yesterday a 18-year-old boy was struck by a police cruiser in gaithersburg. the boy was trying to cross the street from the median. he was take on the the hospital with minor injuries and two men were struck and killed when they tried to cross rockville pike and marinelli drive. they were hit by a driver police believe may have been drunk. the 25-year-old ail han doe --

police have a person of interest in connection with a sexual assault. a female student says she was sitting in the library's resource building when a man walked past her and ejaculated on her arm. she turned to see he was exposing himself. the suspect fled but returned to say something to the woman. he left in a four door mar colored sedan with maryland plates. the woman said she does not know the suspect. we are now three weeks away from voters in maryland choosing a new governor. yesterday the top two candidates faced off in the debate. martin o'malley squared off with bob ehrlich in the first debate of their 2010 remature. the tone was -- rematch. the tone was heated and personal. they took swipes at everything from negative ads to taxes. >> i know you do this populous

thing and talk about working families and working families have been hammered the last four years. >> i have an obligation to make sure the public understands, notwithstanding the former governor's fantasy world never raise taxes even though he raised fees, property taxes, college tuition, tolls and the like. >> reporter: this thursday at noon o'malley lick will go head to head again -- o'malley will go head to head again. derek mcginty will be serving as a panelist. today is the last day to register to vote if you plan to cast a ball lot on november 2nd. the deadline is 5:00 p.m. in virginia. register at any dmv or the local registrar's office and if you are not 18 yet but will be before election day you can register, as well.

for more stories of specific local interest go to wusa9.com. find your community in our where you live section and keep up with what is happening in your neighborhood. got a story or news tip, we want to hear from you. contact us and be part of the wusa9.com team. and just weeks away from the mid-term elections nationally both political parties are battling it out on the campaign trail and the air waves. democrats and republicans have released new tv ads attacking each other and party leaders are flying coast to coast rallying voters to turn up at the polls on november 2nd. president obama and john boehner made campaign stops in florida. recent polls show republicans have a slight lead. republicans are counting on voter anger at washington to help retake congress. testimony begins on the worst shooting ever on a u.s. military base. 13 people were killed an 32 wounded in last year's another

shooting spree at ft. hood, texas. the hear willing determine whether the alleged shooter, should go on trial for premeditated murder. dozens of withins are expected to take the stand over the next few weeks. the u.s. military is investigating a rescue mission in afghanistan that went horribly wrong. it appears american forces may have killed a british aide worker on friday night while trying to save her from taliban fighters. yesterday president obama called david cameron to offer his condolences. a rescue capsule could begin to pull 38 trapped miners to safety around midnight tonight. workers finished reinforcing the shaft. they will hoist the men to the surface which is expected to take up to 48 hours. the cost of living in the dc region continues to rise. you are watching 9 news now. we'll be right back.

welcome back. time for the first "living $mart" report of the morning. jessica doyle is here with the headlines. this morning investors will try to make it past 11000. maybe a bigger move after stocks posted a small gain yesterday and wall street will get a look at the minutes from the policy setting session. traders haven hoping the central bank will take extra steps to boost the economy and we have earnings reports on tap. checking wall street -- know we know it is expensive to live in the washington area and we can put a price tag on the lifestyles. a report is out and here's the

findings. a family of four needs an income of $108,000 to be financially secure in fairfax county. this ranks as the most expensive area to live in the washington area. an individual without kids or a car though can get by on $32,000 in the district. that's the cheapest jurisdiction for singles. microsoft wants to give the iphone a run for its money. they are making a last-ditch effort to be a player in the this market. they have a colorful touch screen, easy to access e-mail, and a deal with x-box. so if you get tired of surfing or talking you can play halo 3. we will have to see how it does with consumers. for more "living $mart" headlines, log on to wusa9.com and click on the "living $mart" tab on the front page. you better get used to a new traffic pattern in northern

virginia because it will be around for the next two years and for the fist time the government is allowing doctors to use embryonic stem cells in medical treatment. here's howard. after record heat yesterday we are talking about a cooling trend and the tropics are active. we will talk about paula and what you need to know with the tuesday forecast when 9 news now returns. no [ female announcer ] why is travel these days

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returns. welcome back. a new great pumpkin in the guinness book of world records. this pumpkin weighed in at 1810- pounds at the stillwater harvest fest this weekend in minnesota. it was grown in wisconsin. the world's new largest pumpkin beat the old record by 100- pounds. >> how big can they get? >> i don't know but they keep pushing the envelope. is it tasty there? can you make pumpkin pies or anything out of something that large. >> i have no idea. >> we will find out from the

people in wisconsin. maybe they will let us know. >> pumpkin cheese. >> maybe. who knows. >> howard knows about the weather. >> we had a couple of showers and storms pop up last night 789 mainly in montgomery and prince georges county and points east. however, most of that is up in pennsylvania. we are looking at partly cloudy conditions. a slight chance of a shower toward the pennsylvania border. temperatures are mild 50s an 60s. this will be the last mild morning. the day at a glance, mid-60s by 9:00. mid-70s by noon and upper 70s by the drive home. cannot rule out a shower or two later this afternoon as the front comes through. currently 64 and winds north to northwesterly five to ten. mostly cloudy p isolated showers tonight, especially this evening. 48 to 55. north winds at five. from the a cs today to the heaters tonight. tomorrow will be cooler, partly

to mostly sunny but highs back at the seasonal level, 65 to 70 an the northeast wind at five to ten. here we go, looking at the satellite and radar combined. you will see the big showers and storms last night and early this morning. philadelphia impounded right now. some big storms delayed the monday night football game and more in northwestern pennsylvania. and for us live doppler 9000 hd, a couple of light showers now from waynesboro to hagerstown. they will clip emmittsburg and thurmont and a couple in baltimore. a quiet morning. thankfully. we don't need the weather to complicate the rush hour. temperatures on the comfortable side. notice in the mountains, nothing terrible. cumberland and oakland 59. 64 from the naval academy. 66 for naval air station in pax river. fredericksburg is 59 and manassas is 57.

locally cool spot ft. belvoir at 56. manassas 57 but sterling is 67 where yesterday they set a record at 86 degrees. columbia this morning is 60. national 64. a couple of clouds out there. winds calming north northeast at ten and the dew point at 60. a decent amount of moisture ahead of this front, which is up here. the storms to the south and east, they are moving to the east. they shouldn't be much of a problem, but with the front to the north and west we will see a few showers pop up as this sinks south. not much with it because threat of a shower or two as it comes through this evening. and things sethle up to the south tomorrow. by thursday morning look at the surge of moisture. thursday could be a wet, ugly chilly day. highs on thursday, potentially not getting out of the 50s. right now a high of 80 here.

mid-80s to the south and west and 70s to the north and very quickly, i want to show you paula with winds of 70 miles an hour. this will head to cancun and drift over to the cayman. a lot of rain with this. it will be a weak hurricane near cancun and cozumel. so they will be watching that carefully but it should not affect the u.s. that much. the seven-day forecast, we have 81 today, 68 tomorrow. by thursday a chilly rain, 59. friday we dry out, 63. a good night for friday night football and a decent weekend. 70 by sunday. time for a traffic update. >> love the fall and the changing of the leaves and the football. go redskins. hey, everyone. 270, better news we want you to know at montgomery village avenue the accident going southbound has cleared. all the lanes are back and seeing a good amount of traffic here. everyone is returning to work after the holiday near the germantown road exit. show you route 4, route 5 and

301 crane highway. nice and quiet. early on these roadways. virginia 395 northbound, right now no real problems to report. everyone is zipping by past duke street to the 14th street bridge. 495 in virginia. watch for inner loop construction set up past the dulles toll road, 267 exit. we are hearing you want to stay to the left to get by. should be clearing in the next 10 to 15 minutes and 66 eastbound, smooth sailing from centreville to inside the beltway. andrea, over to you. we have another commuter alert for drivers in the tysons corner area. there are lane shifts and ramp closures for work on the dulles metro rail. all four lanes of i-495 northbound or the inner loop will move to the left over route 123. now, once drivers cross over chain bridge road, the lanes will shift back to the right and tie in with the existing beltway. an the ramp from 123 north to 495 north will close starting

tonight, as well. drivers will now have to turn left at a turn signal to get on the inner loop. vdot says these changes will be in affect for up to two years. no movie scenes will be shot anytime soon in the district. police have suspended all movie filming on closed dc streets until they review safety procedures. the hiatus comes after an accident on the set of transformers 3 on the national mall. a fan caught it on tape. it happened with the famous camaro known in the movie as bumblebee. a police cruiser cut through the set and collided with the movie car. the stunt driver of the movie car walked away uninjured. the officer was hurt and taken to the hospital. >> bumblebee was going out and the cop i guess didn't know they were filming and. >> whipped out in the road and there was a police car and whamo. >> reporter: the accident happened in an area which had been cordoned off by police to

accommodate the movie but police say officers are allowed to use closed streets in case of an emergency. looking at the living well headlines, doctors are testing a human embryonic stem cell treatment on spinal cord injuries. it's the first time it has been used on a human in a government approved study. it took place at the shepherd center, the spinal cord hospital. it is injected in the spine within two weeks of an injury to see if it helps nerves regenerate. the scientist who developed the treatment has waited years for this moment. >> this clinical trial is a historic moment in that it reflects a change in spinal cord injury research as we move from the bench to the bedside. any benefit to that patient population will be a home run. >> the main goal of the study is to see if the treatment is safe. the doctors should know in one to two months if it is

restoring any function. the company behind the drug will test it on ten patients over the next two years. in other living well news, october is breast cancer awareness month and as anita brickman reports, a new way to predict who's at highest risk is causing controversy. >> reporter: jill steinberg had a radical surgery. she had both of her breasts removed has a preventive measure. the mother underwent a mastectomy. it gives her an 80% risk of getting the disease. >> that or cancer, small price to pay. >> reporter: jill didn't learn about the gene from her doctors, she doesn't have a strong family history of breast cancer so they didn't recommend genetic testing. instead her husband bought home dna test kid kits after reading about them on twitter. the results came by e-mail. >> i clicked on it and saw that she was a trait carrier and my

heart sort of stopped. >> reporter: after learning the news they got genetic counseling, double checked the accuracy and developed a plan with doctors by not everyone can afford to do that. >> if they get the information without knowing what their options are and what their choices are, it can be a devastating blow. >> if you are getting a genetic test you need to be prepared for the results. >> reporter: jill believe the home dna test saved her life. anita brickman, 9 news now. >> commercial genetic tests came under scrutiny by the government this summer. the concern is the results can be misinterpreted. right now no government agency regulates this new industry. for more living well headlines, log on to wusa9.com and click on the living well tab on the front page. a local university marching band will be heard every week on popular new primetime drama and legalizing marijuana has long been a new hot button

issue but could it become a reality? these stories and more when we return. woman: who are we? chic, modern, daring dinner-party hosts. that sounds dangerous, maybe we're more the traditional sunday brunch set? i'll expect slippers and a cocktail to be ready when i get home from work. point taken. how about... peaceful, quiet cottage in the country folk? now that's us. spend over 2500 dollars on a new kitchen and save 40 percent on custom countertops until november 28th at ikea. the life improvement store.

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winter luxury by air wick; also in new scent ribbons candles. why not save on car insurance? [ coin drops ] [ high-pitched voice ] thanks. [ normal voice ] you're welcome. get a free quote at progressive.com. you heard them fist on 9 news now and they will be coming to a tv near you. that's the band performing on the hawaii five-o song. haze been a staple of bands for years but promotes the new version of the show. they held a national wide competition and announced the winner is the terps.

>> this is incredible. i mean there's so many bands out there still competing for this. it's so surreal. >> reporter: the terps marching band will be awarded a thundershower dollars and an opportunity for their video to be played on cbs this fall. voters in four states will see marijuana on their ballots this november. people in california, south dakota, arizona and oregon will make decisions regarding the so- called gateway drug. joe johns looks at what yes votes could mean for americans in the future. >> reporter: what was once called the gateway drug, the so- called evil weed that lead to cocaine, heroin, ruined lives and sent thousands upon thousands to jail could become okay to do for fun in california. three other states with pending

legislation, oregon, south carolina and arizona are looking to legalize marijuana for medical purposes or to modify the medical marijuana laws they already have in place. turns out 14 state and district of columbia allow medical marijuana use which is something a former national antidrug czar sees as a problem. >> there isn't medical methamphetamine, crack or heroin. this is a sham. >> criminallologist peter reuter says attitudes have changed about marijuana, especially since medical marijuana, though controversial, has become a legal reality. >> it does give an aura of usefulness to this drug, which previously in every public presentation by any official agency was always very negative. >> reporter: use of the drug hasn't exactly skyrocketed

recently but the one thing that has changed is the economy. money hundredry states are looking for new sources of revenue and wondering if pot is the next cash crop. >> governments certainly, if they become promoters of legalized marijuana legislate the stuff, it is clearly for, in most cases, for revenue reasons. >> reporter: that was joe johns reporting. for now the legislation is just a pipe dream. some predict legalization in california could cause chaos starting in the courts. experts believe such a state law, if passed, would clash with federal law launching a major battle that could end up in the supreme court. we thank you for watching 9 news now at 5:00 a.m. angie goff will have the traffic in a moment. howard bernstein has a look at the forecast. >> may be able to get by with shorts one