hi, howard. >> she has your weather first. >> i hope he's in bed by now. he called me a couple of hours ago to let me know it is snowing in clarksburg, maryland. thanks, howie. we're talking about a cool and chilly, damp start to your morning. live doppler 9000 hd picking up the light rain around d.c. head up north, we're talking about a little snow also this morning. your day planner for your friday, it is friday. so, get out of bed, folks. at least it is friday. we're talking 40s by 9:00 with some light rain. new, we may have some scattered showers and then we'll be warming up to a big 50. we should be 60 around this time of year. currently, it is 38 degrees in d.c. so if you're stepping out the door definitely, you'll want to bundle up and bring out the umbrellas for this morning. here's angie with your traffic. good morning, angie. >> good morning, anny. welcome to the 6:00 hour. right now, no big problems to report. just looking at a little bit of slow goes. let's show you 95 in virginia headed northbound. we move you on down.

show you the yellow stretching from the prince william parkway up to route 1 woodbridge. we'll show you the live conditions. some spray to contend with. we're looking bat 15 minutes. that's an extra ten minutes for drivers so far. hey, 66 drivers. you're our next focus as we show you the green trip here. we're tracking between the fairfax county parkway to the beltway. volume starting to pick up. your delays certainly on the way. over to your travel times, let's check out the outer loop in maryland. 95 to 270 looking at a 14 minute commute that's getting longer. approaching the beltway, doing just fine. same goes for d.c. 295 drivers approaching the 11th street bridge, a check on the beltway in virginia is up next in your next traffic report at 6:12. over to andrea. >> at the top of the hour, let's get to some of the stories happening today. president obama will be in landover, maryland this afternoon. he will be touting the clean vehicle fleet used by major companies in our area and across the nation. >> d.c. mayor vincent gray will

be talking about the city's financial state now. he's going to release the budget for the 2012 fiscal year which happens this morning at the wilson building. today was the day the d.c. circulator bus would resume its loop around the national mall but that line has now been shelved. ddot blames a sharp drop in ridership. >> roads in america are getting safer. >> in fact, they haven't been this safe since harry truman was president. a report out in the last few hours finds driving deaths are down sharply. >> that's a story that's new this morning. jessica doyle is live in arlington with a closer look at what is behind the numbers. good morning, jess. >> good morning to you, folks. of course, we're here in arlington, fairfax drive. main thoroughfare. as you reach for your keys, encouraging news for drivers. the roads haven't been this safe in a half of a century. a lot of that has to do with what we're doing with our cars. a lot of it has to do with what we're not doing. we're buckling in more and

more. we're buckling in our families. we're driving vehicles that are equipped with airbags. some of the things we're not doing quite as much. drinking and driving. let's take a look at the numbers from the national highway traffic safety administration. they say that the number of people killed in accidents dropped to 32,788 in 2010. that's the lowest level since 1949. we're down about 3% from 2009. those declines come even as the nation's drivers put nearly 21 billion more miles on their odometers in 2010 than they had the previous year. here is a significant number. the death rate is down 25% in just the last five years alone. really significant numbers. we're going to take you back here live. i've got some statistics i want to tell you about. drunk driving in washington, d.c., if you go back to 1990, traffic fatalities, 68% of them involved alcohol. if you fast forward a couple of years, you're going to go to

2008. that drops to 39%. so, in the '60s down to 39%. people saying that we're drinking and driving a lot less. there are tough laws out there to punish folks who choose to drink and drive. and it seems the message is getting out there. coming up in our next half hour, we'll take a look at the most important thing you can do today to keep yourself safe on the roads and with that, i'll send it back to you guys in the studio. >> thank you, jess. so nice to hear good news. well, a commuter alert for beltway drivers this morning. tonight, the outer loop in alexandria will go down to just two lanes starting at 8:00, there will be just one lane in the local lanes in the express lanes between eisenhower connector and telegraph road. the work should wrap up by tomorrow morning. >> a former charles county school official faces up to 15 years in jail. she's accused of stealing federal funds intended for low income students.

prosecutors say thomas used more than $100,000 to buy more than 200 electronic items. those items included nintendo wii consoles, games, televisions, ipads and ipods. barns thomas coordinated the title one program until last year. right now, montgomery county police are looking for two missing teens. 15-year-old stefonia reed and 17-year-old destiny maghana were last seen wednesday afternoon. they were outside the high school in rockville. reed's family believes she may be in need of medical attention. two men are in custody accused in the murder of a university of maryland student that happened back in january. police say 22-year-old stephon weaver and deandre williams broke into the home of justin deshea overcash. they're accused of robbing and killing him. officers say the victim was picked because he had been dealing drugs out of the house. court documents say evidence at

the scene is consistent with that story. friends and family say dealing drugs did not define the person's life. >> a scholar. he was a physics major, an astronomy major, he was a t. a. he's done so many things to help people and the fact that he was targeted like this, it just still upsets me to this day. >> officers say williams was the shooter. weaver drove the get away car. both have been charged with first-degree murder. at 6 after the hour, we turn to the military mission in libya. moammar gadhafi is defiant this morning saying he will not step down from power. while on capitol hill, vigorous debate over what role the u.s. should take next. joel brown has the latest. >> reporter: these cheering supporters refused to leave moammar gadhafi's tripoli compound so they can stay on as human shields. >> we are not afraid. we will always protect our leader. >> reporter: on state tv

thursday, the ruler released a statement saying he's not the one who should go. but that's exactly what rebel forces are demanding. they fired rockets to try to retake the oil town of braga, still their weapons proved no match for gadhafi's better- equipped troops. officials estimate about a quarter of gadhafi's forces have been knocked out of action but still have a 10-1 advantage over the rebels. >> what the opposition needs as much as anything right now is some training, some command and control and some organization. >> on capitol hill thursday, top military leaders acknowledge the rebels need help. but said if anyone is going to arm or train them, it shouldn't be the u.s. >> do you know if there is any time in the future there are going to be boots on the ground in libya? >> not as long as i'm in this job. >> now that nato is in control, the pentagon said american jets will stop conducting air strikes by saturday. that drew scathing criticism from lawmakers. >> the idea that american air

power is grounded unless the place goes to hell, is just so unnerving, i can't express it. >> while officials insist they're trying to avoid a full- scale commitment, some accuse them of abandoning rebel forces. right when they need help the most. on capitol hill, joel brown, 9news now. one outspoken opponent to president obama's actions on libya is from his own party. democratic congressman den us kucinich of ohio calls the president's actions reckless and irresponsible. however, he says he will not follow through on threats calling for articles of impeachment. we are watching your money this morning. the march unemployment numbers are out in about two hours. hiring is up according to our partners at career builder and "usa today." 28% of employers say they have hired a permanent full-time employees this year. that's the highest rate since 2008. 10% say they've cutworkers. small businesses are getting the credit for the major creators of the new jobs. >> toyota raising prices on

nearly all of its models in the united states. that includes lexus and scion brands. the company blames an expected shortage of parts and cars following the tsunami and earthquake disaster in japan. new car sales in japan have dropped 37% since march 11th. pizza chain sbarro may be filing for bankruptcy as soon as next week. the "wall street journal" reports the company is struggling and may need outside help in order to stay afloat. it is based in new york. it has over 1,000 locations in 44 countries. here's a look at what's still ahead in this hour of 9news now. >> in three minutes, a story you'll see only right here on channel 9. an alleged drunk driver busted and his supposed bad act is all caught on tape. >> at 6:48, we have a winner! we'll reveal the name of our facebook friend who's getting a brand new ipad 2. >> up next, anny hong has your friday forecast. weather first is just 90 seconds away. we go to break with a great

shot of the cherry blossom in east potomac park.

>> live doppler 9000 hd, we do have some light rain falling. the areas in green is the light rain and to the north, we're seeing some light snow falling.

really not a whole lot of accumulations but clarksburg, maryland, seeing some light rain. also, westminster. not light rain. i meant to say light snow. really accumulations not really a big concern. you may see a little bit slowing down. here's angie with your traffic. good morning, angie. >> good morning, anny. thank you very much. we're tracking your inner loop in virginia. no incidents right now. a little bit of volume picking up between braddock road and 66. still ahead, we're checking on your maryland roads. that's coming up in your next traffic report. mike and andrea, i'll have that at 6:18. >> in ohio, labor rights organizers say they are going to go after lawmakers who support a bill stripping state workers of collective bargaining rights. a bill that is now a law. >> it is one of the stories making news at 6:12. republican governor john kasich signed it into law yesterday. it only affects salary talks not healthcare or pension benefits. it also bans state workers from

striking. >> today, a judge in wisconsin hears a challenge to that state's new labor law. it also strips most public employee unions of bargaining rights. the issue is being heard today whether republicans violated the state's open meeting law. >> yesterday, we showed you the royal wedding in legos. today, it is "star wars" in legos. this is in california. it took 1.5 million legos to re- create six "star wars" scenes. a virginia man is facing drunk driving charges in his alleged incident was caught on tape. >> the erratic driving was caught on tape by a 9news now photographer. the video is instrumental in the case. >> this is a story you'll see only on 9. andrea mccarren shows us what happened on a recent friday night. >> reporter: our colleague, photographer reporter kurt brook was driving home after the 11:00 p.m. newscast when he found himself behind an erratic driver. his video offers us all a rare

glimpse of what happens when someone who ends up charged with dwi gets behind the wheel. >> he was acting a little erratic so i decided the best defense is a good offense. get around him, get away from him. >> kurt brooks was headed south on i-95 driving a 9news live truck with a small camera on his dashboard rolling. >> i went to the right-hand lane, tried to pass him. at that point, he nearly drove me into the guardrail. >> reporter: when the driver suddenly cut him off, kurt hit the brakes so hard it set off the truck's emergency warning alarm. kurt called police and tried to direct them to the location of the driver. >> hov lanes just past the prince william parkway southbound. >> the driver appeared to be speeding and repeatedly hit his brakes while weaving between lanes. we sped up the video so you can see a good portion of his journey straddling the center line and swerving on to the

shoulder. >> sitting at the green light. >> kurt followed the driver more than 25 miles. from prince william county to stafford county. where he witnessed this heart stopping moment. >> ok. he's about ready to head-on collision. oh, my god. he almost did. >> i felt like i failed because i had been working so long to try to get this guy pulled over. here we are after all of this time. he's going to go ahead and kill somebody right in front of me. i was regretting watching what i was watching. >> thankfully nobody was injure and police arrested the driver who stopped his car right in the middle of the road. >> it is all just sad. >> it is sad he endangered himself and others. it is just -- not a gateway to spend a friday night. >> we did give the virginia state police a copy of kurt's tape. we know the driver's name but are not reporting it now pending further developments in the case. we did find several court records that show he has been found guilty of reckless driving, speeding and other traffic offenses before and has

simply paid a fine. his license, we have learned, has now been revoked. in the newsroom, andrea mccarren, 9news now. >> virginia state police and maryland state police both say if you spot a drunk driver on the road, use your hands-free device on your cell phone to call pound 77. time for our weather first. howard bernstein is off today. anny hong is in. she has our all-important friday and weekend forecast but it is a little dreary, isn't it? >> it is. definitely. you're feeling that chill in the air. we're talking about some light rain to start off your friday morning. that rain also turning to some light snow in some locations. especially north of the d.c. area. here is a look at your bus planning forecast. bus stop forecast as you're planning your day here. as you're getting the kids ready for school. here's what they could be encountering, light rain as you step out the door. maybe a little bit of snow north and west of d.c. temperatures will be around mid-

30s and sunrise at 7:31 this morning. all right. we're talking about the light rain and the light snow. most of d.c. metro seeing the light rain. but to the north, you're going to also encounter some areas of light snow. most locations, not sticking but places around 83 around north of baltimore, they had half an inch on some roadways. we're on the southern edge of what is really a nor easter in parts of new england for today. expect some snow out of the system by saturday morning. now, in our area, no winter weather advisories or warnings to talk about. but for new england, we're talking in through parts of maine and vermont and parts of massachusetts. winter storm warning, the areas in white. they'll get the most snow by tomorrow morning. i'm talking maybe one to two feet of snow locally on the high end of those snow totals. now, we're watching the temperatures. that's why we're seeing some snow in some locations. hagerstown is coming in at 36.

gaithersburg, 34. d.c., 38. fredericksburg at 41 degrees down to the south. winchester, 38 degrees. as you're stepping out the door this morning, it will feel colder. especially when you factor in the damp weather conditions. here's a look at the future cast. we've got the snow to the north of us. we're going to see the rain this morning. and pretty much all morning for that commute. may slow some folks down. by 10:00, we should be done. see some more scattered showers going through. may see a little bit of clearing. otherwise, mostly cloudy. then for saturday, another chance for some rain and maybe some snow. the highs for today, it is cold. only low 50s. generally for most areas. here is your seven-day outlook. if you have plans for dinner, definitely layer up. tomorrow, a chance for some weather in the morning and then we're drying out by sunday. 58 degrees. here's angie with your traffic. >> thank you, anny. right now, still have some slick pavement to contend with.

overall, i'm happy to report, not affecting many of our commutes as far as incidents and accidents are concerned. let's zoom on into your outer loop and show you where things are slowing down. drivers out this way, using their brakes as we take you outside live. open the door from 95 over to georgia, obviously that delay is growing. back over to the real time graphic, this time, we take you to 270, we're tracking the southbound drivers in the yellow out of urbana. then from germantown road down toward the split, it looks like we're down toward montrose right now, that's where the main jamup is. metro doing ok. vre, fredericksburg line, train 302, you're running 30 minutes behind. marc also problems on the brunswick line. train 874 also half an hour late. coming up in my next traffic report, 95 in maryland, we're tracking it at 6:24. back to you. next in sports, the capitals and blue jackets head to overtime. see how this one ended. >> plus the pomp and circumstance of opening day at

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so that no mother... granddaughter... sister... daughter... mother... go through what my wife had to go through. this is more than just three days. this is a lifetime. (man) register today for the... because everyone deserves a lifetime. >> a quick look at the rain and the snow. what's happening where as you look at live doppler 9000 hd. we do have areas of light green which means yet we're seeing light rain. head up north toward hagerstown, frederick. the mason-dixon line, we zoom on in to show you we've got some mix right around hagerstown. you go to westminster and around pennsylvania, we're talking about light snow. also, route 7, blue ridge loudoun clark county line also getting reports of the snow sticking to the grass and the

highway sign. here's andrea and mike. good morning, guys. >> good morning, anny. in sports, the wizards host one of the few nba teams worse than they are. >> the cleveland cavaliers are in town. they tip off at verizon center at 7:00. >> last night, it was the capitals and blue jackets going into overtime. halfway through ot, d.c. goes three-on-two. jason shoots and scores. caps win 4-3. they're now just one point back of the flyers for the top seed in the east. >> do you love college hoops, this is your time of year. we're 36 hours away from tip- off at the final four and you can bet everyone in richmond, the whole city will be watching! the best story of the tournament so far, vcu rams are making their first final four appearance. the team had its first shoot- around in houston. they have won five in a row. good luck to vcu. >> this is the place to watch the final four tomorrow after 6:00. vcu against butler in the first game. late game, kentucky takes on my

uconn huskies. championship game monday night in houston. >> an underdog will make it to the finals. >> that's right. >> orioles begin their 2011 season today. baltimore visits tampa bay tonight. now, the nationals have the day off after opening day thursday. livan hernandez gave up that home run in the second. to jason hayworth. but he was fantastic after that. he retired 15 in a row and the relievers were good. the nats were shut out. and we were all at opening day. the morning team. with the winners of our take me out to the ball game along with screech. with bill callery and his delightful wife, tara. bill has a wealth of information about every player who stepped up to the plate. >> he was absolutely fantastic. they love, love, love the nationals. they know every dlaism they could not have been kinder people. what a great couple. >> it was so great. we were out there in the elements with them. and we had a great time.

>> 6:25. coming up, we'll announce this morning, the winner of our ipad 2 give away. >> also ahead this morning, an update on all of the big road projects in virginia. the ones underway and the ones still to come. >> right now, angie has a quick check of your commute. ang? >> a slow ride from 198 down to powder mill. bw parkway checking out just fine. still ahead, a check on district roads.

switching to progressive could mean hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. >> a live look at the cherry blossoms in east potomac park. it is cloudy and just in upper 30s, low 40s. boy, that is a beautiful shot still. >> absolutely. as long as the wind doesn't come in and blow them away. thanks for starting your friday with us. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm mike hydeck. it is april fools day. howard is off and really, anny is here in for him. she's in the weather center. >> good morning you guys. that's a beautiful shot of cherry blossoms. wind can damage them. i'm sorry to say the winds are expected to pick up tonight and for tomorrow. first, i want to talk about the light rain we're seeing. yes, we're seeing light snow. this is no april fools joke, everyone. it is to the north of us.

it has creeped down farther south. so, d.c., we may see a little bit of rain mixed in with that snow but no accumulations expected. here is a look at your day planner forecast for today. we're expecting the precip whether it is rain or snow to stick around this morning and then by the afternoon, we'll be in the 50s. still well below the average high of around 60. right now, it is cold out there. 30s. make sure you bundle up. here's angie with your traffic. >> halfway through the 6:00 hour, right now. no major tie-ups to tell you about. tracking your delays on a very slick commute out there. this morning. let's begin with our district roads. we'll take you out there live. wisconsin avenue and massachusetts. no real problems, few more drivers hitting the road out here in northwest. next stop, pennsylvania avenue. this is in the heart of washington where it meets 16th street. still have our lanes wide open here. then in northeast on this part of town, we definitely do have the delay setting in between the times building past

bladensburg road. still ok approaching the third street tunnel. tracking travel times on the outer loop, looks like your volume is building between university over to georgia, 95 to 270, 16 minutes and growing. eastbound 66 slow from the fairfax county to the parkway. inner loop not bad between 395 and the dulles toll road. still ahead, we'll look at the outer loop in maryland coming up at 6:45. andrea, back to you. >> all right, angie. back to you. >> the number of people dying on america's roads is down drastically! >> in fact, the last time the numbers were this low, harry truman was president and we only had 48 states as well as the country's first tv station had just gone on the air. >> wow. >> new this morning, a look at why the number is dropping. jessica doyle is live in arlington, virginia. good morning, jess. >> good morning to you both. obviously, the statistics down. we have to go back a half century to find the fatalities quite so low. national traffic highway safety

administration came out with the statistics just a couple of hours ago. between 2010 and 2009, traffic fatalities were down 3% but if you go back five years, they're down 25% and there are some real reasons why. last half hour, we said what is the number one thing you can do to stay safe in the morning when you're driving around your car all day long, put on the seat belt. put the seat belt on yourself. make sure the people you love in the car are buckled in. let me give you statistics about wearing your seat belt. if you're taking a look at live tapes from seat belts age 5 and up in 2009, just in the washington area, we're talking over 400 lives saved. we're talking an additional 100 lives that would have been saved as a result of seat belts. airbags, now standard in vehicles that are sold in the united states, that wasn't always the case. but for now, just in 2009, we saw 100 people -- 100 lives saved just in the washington

area. for having an airbag. if we go back to the car seat in the back for your kids, a child safety seat and restraint has saved 300 lives nationwide in the united states just for 2009 alone. very simple things that we can do in our own lives to stay safe on the roads. andrea, over to you. >> jessica, thank you. jessica doyle live in arlington, virginia, this morning. >> also, more good news for drivers in northern virginia. all of those massive road projects underway are on time and on budget. that list includes the beltway hot lanes adding a fourth lane to i-95 work on the beltway near telegraph road and the metro extension toward loudoun county. those are all part of vdot's megaprojects group. spokesman steve says everything is on schedule and you'll start seeing results soon. >> so, over the next several years, people in northern virginia will see quite a number of improvements that will add to their choices. >> the bad news, in the short

term, expect delays and detours as crews continue their work. >> we're a week away from a potential government shutdown once again. there are some good signs coming from capitol hill this time though. house republicans and senate democrats are both saying they want to reach a deal to avoid a shutdown. >> as i said from the beginning, our goal is to cut spending, not shut down the government. >> we're continuing to work very, very hard to avoid the terrible consequences. that would come with the government shutdown. >> lawmakers have until april 9th to reach a deal. they need to fund the government through september 30th. while d.c. public schools investigate accusations of cheating on standardized tests, the woman tapped to be the new chancellor is underfire now. mayor vincent gray's choice interim leader kaya henderson. at a town hall meeting, d.c. council chair kwame brown got an earful about those who are mad about henderson's resume and that no other candidates

were considered. >> i don't even know her. she's just a carbon copy of michelle rhee. >> they already had in their mind who they wanted to select for the chancellor. she was very close to michelle rhee. so, i think it should be a good selection process. >> another meeting for community input on henderson is scheduled next wednesday at stewart hobson middle school in northeast. it is the beginning of a new day. those were the words of university of maryland president wallace lowe as he cut the ribbon on new charging stations in college park. electric car drivers will be allowed to use them for free. two of the stations are located at the student union building, three others are across campus. in his state of the union address, president obama said he hoped the country will have a million electric vehicles on the road by the year 2015. >> speaking of the word million, the nation's newest megamillionaires are nicknamed the albany seven. >> seven new york state workers are splitting $319 million.

>> they came forward yesterday to claim their winnings. >> it has been a blur. >> just hasn't sunk in. >> still in disbelief. >> the man who bought the winning ticket had someone cut in front him in line to get a candy bar. he was getting the candy bar. someone cut in front of him which delayed him making the albany seven $19 million richer each. that is after taxes. >> i'll take it. >> then what was the candy bar, too. get some stock in that. >> it is 6:37. 38 degrees on our way to a high of 50. up next, anny tells us when we'll see the sun this weekend. >> here is a live look at interstate 70 east of 270 in frederick. you can see the road is damp there and the next timesaver traffic report is just seven minutes away. >> at 8:00, watch the new show, chaos. then at 9:00, csi new york. join us for 9news now at 11:00.

we'll be right back.

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. >> the end of the week. a start of a new month and hopefully anny hong has some information about sunshine and blue skies in the forecast. >> yeah, we're going to get there this weekend. the latter half of the weekend. nice shot of the cherry blossoms. some wind gusts coming this way. so, i'm hoping you got your cameras out early this week. we're in the peak bloom period right now. and right now though, as you're stepping out the door for the friday morning, we're talking about a kind of a dreary and cold, wet start to your day. as the kids are getting ready to head out the door and take the bus as your bus stop forecast for this morning, cold and damp. light rain, maybe some snow also for this morning. mid-30s. sunrise at 7:31 this morning. speaking of the snow, where is

it falling? basically, north of d.c. really more toward the mason-dixon line. some areas saying that some of it is sticking. really, accumulations not expected. we take a broader view of doppler radar. you can see we're just on the southern edge of the storm system. this is really a nor'easter impacting places like maine, vermont, maybe one feet of snow, two feet locally by tomorrow morning. now, we're watching temperatures because that's what's going to create some of the rain to go to light snow. frederick, 36 degrees. gaithersburg, 34. d.c. is coming in at 38 degrees and luray at 37. so, when you factor in the precipitation, it is kind of a -- you feel the chill in the air this morning. definitely dress in your layers. here is a look at the future cast. we're talking about light rain for d.c. and also some light snow from gaithersburg. frederick. maybe even a mix all through this morning. so, probably will impact some commutes or just slow it down a little bit. not too much here. by 10:00, we're mainly done with the precip for a little

bit. we have another round coming through in the afternoon. generally, mostly cloudy. may see a little bit of clearing throughout the day. this evening, expecting the wind to pick up. it should be fairly dry. cold. dress in layers. if you have dinner plans for your friday. high for today, the numbers, we should be at 60. instead, we'll be in the low 50s to top off your friday. breezy tonight through saturday. and then sunday, we're drying out. partly cloudy. high near 58 degrees. warm by monday. here is angie with your traffic. good morning. >> good morning. thank you, anny. we're kicking off right now with the green light. no incidents to report. just some heavy delays that we're tracking across the region. let's take a wide view of the maps. i'll show you that everything is checking out ok as far as indents and -- incidents and accidents are concerned. moving it outside live, we're looking at 20 minutes at least to make it from 95 over to georgia. usually on a normal day, that

takes about 10 to 12. let's move it back over to the maps, we'll move it on down to virginia. 95. we're tracking you. looks like the northbound trip in the yellow, a lot from the fairfax county parkway to the mixing bowl, you're slow. before that, using the brakes from the prince william parkway over to lorton. tracking more virginia roads, 66 headed eastbound in the yellow from the fairfax county parkway. 16 minutes and growing. inner loop not doing too bad. and the toll road itself, no complaints approaching the toll plaza. still ahead, we're going to take a closer look at the building delays bumper to bumper on 395 at 6:58. andrea? >> we turn our attention to the disaster in japan. we're getting a look at the interior of a damage reactor at the fukushima plant. smoke is still rising up there. water is being poured on to it constantly to keep reactor cool but that just sends radioactive material into the ground water in northern japan. the world's largest concrete pump is being sent from georgia

to japan to pour concrete on the reactors to seal them up. we're celebrating japan here in washington this week with the national cherry blossom festival. >> it is a reminder of our friendship with japan and a chance for people in our area to help out. >> karen caper has more on what's being done on it. >> reporter: springtime blushes in washington. the city's famous cherry blossoms inspiring shades of pink from blooms to beverages to bakeries. the iconic trees were a gift from japan in 1912, a country now dealing with the aftermath of a massive earthquake and tsunami. >> nearly 100 years later, this gift of friendship and peace endures. >> when the quake struck on march 11th, festival organizers were in the homestretch of planning just about two weeks to go before opening day. >> our first reactor was to make sure our friends and people we work with in japan were fine. the next thing was to sit down and think about how we can stop and pause and reflect. >> they've been taking

donations through the official festival web site and open the festival with an evening walk around the city's tidal basin. the uptick in foot traffic and revenue from an estimated one million cherry blossom visitors usually puts a spring in the step of washington's restaurants and merchants. this year, many have opted to give something back. at krums for example, 15% of the proceeds from sales of this cherry blossom cupcake will go to the red cross japan relief fund. and when the tsunami and earthquake hit japan, it was clear that that was an organization and something that we would want to give back to. >> this spring's blossoms giving hope for renewal thousands of miles away. >> the relationship with japan is at the heart of the national cherry blossom festival and the cherry blossoms symbolize rebirth, renewal and now rebuilding for japan. >> in northeast washington, 9news now. >> to learn about this weekend's cherry blossom festivities as well as places to get the best tastes at the

festival, head to d.c. metro mix.com. and a link there is right on the front page. >> right now, it is time to announce the winner of our great tablet give away. >> thousands of you have entered on our facebook page to win the new ipad 2. we final i have a winner. >> drumroll please. >> it is heather lynn heflin of woodbridge, virginia! you are the new owner of an ipad 2. congratulations! >> heather, someone will be contacting you later today on how to get this. we really appreciate everyone who entered. >> and continue to be fans of ours. >> yeah. >> our time is 6:48. 38 degrees here in northwest washington. >> a check on the news before you go is coming up next.

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magana. good morning. time now, 6:52 on your friday morning. bundle up and bring out the umbrella. we do have areas of basically light rain across d.c. metro area. some are turning snow far to the north though more toward the mason-dixon line. your day planner for today, we do have some light rain through this morning. chance of showers also this afternoon. 50s though by 3:00 under mostly cloudy conditions. look at the winds though. notice the winds will be basically out of the northwest around 16 miles per hour by 3:00 and 6:00. we're expecting breezy conditions this evening. and also still a chance for showers even tomorrow morning. so, kind of a wet weekend but by sunday, we'll be drier and a little milder. here's mike. >> thanks, anny.

sounds good. >> friday, april 1st. here is a check of the news before you go this morning. president obama will taking his push for energy efficient cars to landover, maryland today. he'll praise delivery companies for their fleets. this week, the president called for a 1/3 cut in oil imports by 2025. virginia state police have cleared out a homeless camp along i-95 in dale city. some people lived there for a decade. police clear the camp off complaints people were walking along the highway ramps causing safety concerns. metro's considering big service cuts to cover a $72 billion budget shortfall. "the washington examiner" reports the cuts include cutting bus routes with low ridership and increasing time between trains. any changes though would not take effect until september. our time is 6:53. >> one more check of traffic and weather when 9news now returns. now it can stop pain from any angle, with no mess.

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relief that's icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. and no mess. icy hot spray. don't mess around with pain. >> we're taking you live out to -- >> out west. that's why it is snowing. >> it snows a lot more in the western state of massachusetts. >> this is where we're talking about. we do have winter storm warnings. where this nor eastler drop quite a bit of snow. contrast that to d.c. where we see the cherry blossoms with a gray background. we're seeing light rain but that looks pretty nice. we're seeing the winds pick up tonight through saturday. maybe get out your cameras sunday if you haven't had a chance to do that. here's one last look at your seven-day forecast. at least for this hour. we're talking about still some morning showers, light rain. maybe a little bit of mixing in with some snow and breezy tonight. so, definitely bundle up if

you're heading out for dinner plans tonight. then saturday, a chance for some morning rain also. and also some snow. here's angie with your traffic. >> ok, the rain this morning, adding to the slow goes on a lot of the main roads. 395, feast your eyes on this. bumper from bumper. 15 to 20 minutes for that. 66 drivers delayed. from the fairfax to the parkway, pretty much stop and go. inner loop drivers slow from braddock road up to route 50. no incidents or accidents. 270 southbound using the brakes from father hurley down to the split thanks to the rain. on the outer loop from 95 over to georgia, you're heavy about 20 minute commute there. over to mike. >> thanks, angie. overdue expectant moms, you should go to a unique bakery. >> there's something special about the lemon drop cupcakes. they apparently induce pregnant women to go into labor. medical experts are stumped but 19 overdue babies have been due

after their moms had one of the lemon drop cupcakes. >> wow. >> i was five days overdue. we came back downtown and i got one and it worked. >> i was in the hospital i think my daughter was maybe five hours old and i called the cupcake shop and i was like it worked! >> the confections are a well- known secret among ob/gyns in charlotteville. she mixes in a little extra love in every batch. >> oh, my gosh. >> unbelievable. >> baby gaga ice cream is made with breast milk in england. lady gaga is suing over that. >> early show is coming up next. have a great day, everybody. >> they'll be back in 25 minutes with an update on weather and traffic and we'll all see you except for make, he's going on vacation, monday.