looking weekend albeit a chilly one. really late fall here with temperatures only in the50s for the weekend. we start this morning with temperatures in the morning. 56 with cloudy skies. sunshine much of the day although at 9:00 we may get a few more clouds especially north of town. mostly sunny 67 at midday and about the same for the drive home with temperatures around 70 at 5:00 p.m. with highs today 70 to 75 west of washington. satellite and radar you can see some of the clouds we've been dealing with here the last few hours especially areas in northern virginia and maryland now. that's why we've got some cloud cover that's moved in but this is lifting north and east so give it a few more hours and we'll clear out. 48 if winchester this morning. it's 54 for hagerstown and frederick down to 43 while gaithersburg is 50. out in manassas, 54 along with andrews air force base and upper 50s in southern maryland. where today you guys are going into the low to mid- 70s and that's going to be the case for much of the region.

monika samtani's in now with the timesaver traffic. thank you so much howard. i'm happy to say that on the south side of town this morning everything is looking fine. in fact aisle going to show you the maps first. all these triangles are just construction that are not causing much of a delay. things are looking fine on the interstates right now. a live look at the northbound side of 395 at edsall road. there had been police activity on the ramp to edsall road. i don't think it's affecting traffic coming up from the beltway past this point and all the way to the 14th street bridge you will be fine. 66 inside the beltway at route 7 leesburg pike, no problems here. 66 looks good as well out of herndon to the beltway as well. between the american legion bridge and springfield no problems. coming up we'll take a look into the district. back to you guys. today the d. c. city council is going to hold an emergency hearing about expired tags. >> specifically it's about a law which allows police to arrest drivers whose tags expired more than 30 days

earlier. 9news now reporter kristin fisher is live now with more. good morning kristin. >> reporter: good morning. well you know what this law means is that if your tags have been expired for more than 30 days than you can be arrested and you could be issued either a criminal or civil citation. now believe it or not, this law has been on the books since 1937 but it's really only been enforced over the last 10 years or so. now police say hey, they're simply enforcing the laws on the books and that critics should take it up with legislators if they have a problem with it. mayor gray is open to reviewing the law but he's also said that the nation's capital faces unique safety concerns and that vehicles are a possible threat without proper registration. where does the mayor stand? we'll find out today but one thing is for sure and that is that many people are outraged over this including virginia senator jim webb. he wrote a letter two weeks ago

to the mayor saying there's no justification for jailing people whose only offense is an expired tag. if true i hope you will agree this is a waste of the limited financial resources which the district should be directing to fighting serious crime. now the mayor responded to that letter about a week later saying -- >> reporter: so what would that other option be? well, the mayor has hinted at possibly impounding the vehicle with expired tags. something that you know many neighboring jurisdictions already do. but exactly what will happen, that will all go down right here at the wilson building at 11:00 this morning. that's when this scheduled emergency hearing will be taking place. andrea, mike? >> all right, kristin fisher reporting live from downtown d. c., makes you wonder what other laws are on the books from the 1930s. d. c. police are investigating a murder in

northeast washington. a man was shot in the 1600 block of lincoln road a little after 8:00 last night. rescuers rushed to victim to the hospital but he died there. so far, police have not made any arrests in the case and we haven't received any information on a possible motive. the gaithersburg man suspected in his travel companion's disappearance in aruba will stay in jail for now. a judge there denied gary giordano's appeal to be released. he's being held for 60 days as the suspect in the presumed death of robyn gardner from frederick, maryland. she vanished in early august. giordano claims she disappeared while snorkeling. police are still severalling for gardner's -- searching for gardner's body. it happened yesterday afternoon as the boy's father was moving into the tanglewood apartments in silver spring. police say it appears a friend was helping the father move and was asked to watch the boy

while the father went to pick up his other son from school. a neighbor heard the child's cries and called 911. just about 5:05. >> and jessica doyle is here with today's headlines. good morning. >> good morning and apparently is squeaky chair so don't mind that. it was not a good day on wall street yesterday. no laughing aside, the averages down about 2% across the board. there's the chair again. and asian and european markets are down again big today. the hang seng lost over 4%. the problem is europe yet again. germany has been downplaying expectations of the solution to its problems next week. weakensings here back in the u.s. didn't help things either. the dow standing this morning just below 11,400. lost 247 points in trading yesterday. the s&p 500 down 24 points. thes the knack cause woundy -- nasdaq was down by 53 points.

they're working with the big banks on a plan to make refinancing available to some borrowers. the "wall street journal" reports talks will continue on a deal this week. borrowers would have to be current on payments. it's unclear how many people could benefit from the plan potentially. can't find an iphone 4s? you are not alone. apple sold a record over four million of them in the first three days in stores. that's more than double the number sold for the iphone 4 in its first release. it's actually really hard to find one in a store right now and if you order online, expect to wait a week or until the end of the month to be able to actually get your hands on it. got to fix this chair here. >> wd-40. where are you? >> can you find the normal 4 without the s. still? >> unfortunately i had to do just that this weekend because my phone died. >> you're kidding? >> i had a whole new 4 and long story.

>> do you feel bad about having the 4 and not the 4 s? >> i'm a little upset about it. >> i thought you would be. thanks jess. you know, it may only be mid-october and already finding you the best holiday shopping prices. believe it or not. >> good one. thank you. president obama's bus tour rolls into virginia later today. that story is coming up. plus, we've seen him in arizona but a massive dust storm caught in texas? is this caught this city by surprise. and ahead in sports the redskins don't just have a quarterback controversy. they also have a slew of injuries. 5:07. you're watching 9news now.

coming up on 5:09 this morning, we are looking at a few clouds early but generally is decent day. partly to mostly sunny skies and good temperatures and enjoy today because tomorrow we turn wet. we turn breezy. looking at the day planner. we've got a few clouds early. otherwise as i said partly to mostly sunny. upper 60s by noon with a low 70s for the drive home. looking like a fine tuesday ahead. let's go to monika samtani now for an update on your timesaver traffic. we're taking a look live now on pennsylvania avenue sousa bridge coming through southeast you will be okay across the anacostia river here and no problems across the potomac river crossing into the distribution. coming up we'll take a look into maryland at 5:16. back to you mike and andrea. making news now, police in philadelphia are trying to figure out just how long four mentally disabled adults were abused. a landlord discovered them by chance injured and locked in a filthy basement. investigators say at least

three people were involved in the abuse and scammed the disability checks. president obama will continue pushing the jobs plan in north carolina this morning and then he will head into virginia -- southeast virginia after that. the president is on day two of his three day bus tour and he is telling crowds congress needs to vote on his $440 billion package in pieces to help americans get back to work. a massive dust storm caused widespread damage in lubbock, texas. the high winds and debris dropped visibility to near 0. trees were uprooted and there was some serious property damage especially at the airport. so far no reports of injuries. and no dust storms here coming in our future. however, there is some rain on the way. howard's seven day forecast coming up at 5:14. at 5:22, there was a 100- yard return on monday night football. >> it was awesome. >> yeah. and 59:39. two kayakers have a whale of a

story and the video to prove how close they got to one of the world's largest mammals. we'll be right back.

welcome back to 9news now. 5:13. howard is here, tuesday, another terrific day.

>> yeah. >> wednesday? wohh. >> woeful, how's that? >> wet wednesday. >> but then it's going to get better by thursday and friday. cool this weekend, i mean you like to wear the sweaters. >> yeah. i love them. >> sweater set mike remember that? >> twinset. >> we covered this a few weeks ago. >> howard is educating me on women's wardrobe. >> just listen to your wife a little bit more. weather-wise, you might need the welllies. >> you're just showing off know. >> it is what it is. let's get you going with the bus stop forecast. i think a jacket or sweatshirt for sure this morning as temperatures are down if the 40s and -- 40s and 50s with just partly cloudy skies. there's more clouds north, less clouds south this morning. some areas north are going to be overcast for a little while over the next few hours. day planner though, a few clouds early and 70 in town at the 1:00 hour.

5, 8, 10 miles an hour with the wind and this afternoon we're looking at the temperatures still loving around the -- hovering around the 70-degree mark. a really decent tuesday afternoon around here. some outdoor plans get them done today. tomorrow i don't believe you'll be doing anything outside. so the weather headlines cool start. mild finish. highs generally in the low 70s. you will need the sunglasses and then a rainy breezy wednesday. you will need the rain gear before we turn much cooler to finish out the week. satellite and radar, we've got clouds and even showers up in pennsylvania. these are going to stay north of us but the cloud cover here, you can see it here fredericksburg at points north even out of richmond a few clouds. rub botsville down to 45. that's the cool spot although it's 51 for sterling and centerville and also in -- centreville and also in rockvillement up in laurel we've got 50 degrees while coughton 52. warm spot in the bay at the naval academy at 59 and in town got mid 50s right now. reagan national 56. that's up a degree from last hour with the east northeast

wind at 5 miles an hour and the humidity is out there. 90%. the dew point only three shy of the temp and speaking of cold temperatures look at this out in the west, lots of chilly air. denver 31. bismarck, 34. and this cold is going to be moving east/southeast so once we get rid of the storm system that's going to get us tomorrow, it will allow the cold air to come in. in fact here's some of the storm system part one of it in the mississippi valley with some showers and thunderstorms. part two is down in florida with all the tropical moisture. it's going to start lifting north in response to the western system coming in so for us, we're going see it arriving here as we head into tomorrow. today, not bad at all. a few clouds early. then here comes the moisture tonight into the day on wednesday. winds are going to kick up tomorrow northeast and then when the storm passes on thursday the westerly wind really kick in and we clear out but colder air moves in for the remainder of the week. for today we'll be in the low 70s. a nice day. tomorrow breezy and wet with

highs in the 60s after being in the 50s to around 60 tonight. then friday through sunday, sunny and cool highs in the upper 50s and lows in the 40s in town with 30s in the suburbs. monika? all right planning to head out this morning early and you're taking public transportation i'm happy to say as you can see, everything is running on time. vre 300 out of fredericksburg and 322 out of manassas, everything fine. to problems across the -- no problems across the 14th street bridge but i'm hearing the ramp to edsall road is closed off with an accident and police activity. you might have to head further north and take duke street instead of edsall road. look at 66 inside the beltway in rosslyn, no problems here at lynn street heading in toward downtown right now inside the beltway and a last look live on the west side of town here at the american legion bridge. just a bit of volume this morning but no problems here

leaving bethesda and tyson's corner on both loops of the beltway. coming up i will update you on the situation on 395 at 5:24. back to you. thank you. the nfl decides whether to fine two coaches involved in a postgame shouting match. >> wait until you see this. and four interceptions this week. so will rex get his starting job back for the redskins? mike shanahan says he'll announce later today. before we take a break, it's time for another look at our question of the morning -- >> what do you think it? >> coo meal ballard wrote this on the 9news now facebook fan page -- >> log on to our facebook fan page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer later this morning.

5:21. we've got a few clouds around this morning and at 9:00 better chance of clouds north and south. temperatures here will be in the upper 50s with low 50s places like frederick and martinsburg. fredericksburg 56 and still in the low 60s down south. now toward the lunch hour, you got an outdoor lunch planned today? it's going to be pretty good. partly to mostly sunny. mid- to upper 60s then a great afternoon. with highs getting into the low 70s in many areas by 3:00 p.m.

69 for gaithersburg and 70 in leesburg and 68 in annapolis and driving home with a good deal of sunshine and temps in the upper 60s to low 70s. mike? who needs an offense? the defense got all the points the jets needed on monday night football. >> check this out. already up by a field goal, the winless dolphins driving to the red zone when darrelle revis intercepts a pass in the end zone, 100 yards for a touchdown for the jets. mark sanchez ran for a score, threw for another. jets win 24-6. now here's kristen berset with more football in your morning sports. good morning everyone. here's your first look at sports. after a promising start to the season, the redskins were tested and exposed sunday by the eagles. the run game pretty much nonexistent and rex grossman threw four interceptions, his worst performance as a redskin by far. mike shanahan was quick to jump to grossman's defense after the game but he now has a big decision to make. who gets the start against

carolina? does he give grossman another chance and hope this was some sort of fluke or does he go with his golden boy john beck? >> on wednesday the decision will be made based on what's you know who's going to start. the best interests of our organization. i have not made up my mind right now. but we're going to do what we think is best for our football team. well, the redskins also lost some key offensive players sunday. chris cooley having surgery on the broken index finger out for the season. there you can see trent williams out with a high ankle sprain and lichtensteiger out for the rest of the season. the redskins didn't have much depth in o-line to begin with. they've got some serious shuffling ahead. there will be no fines handed out for the postgame scrum between 49ers' coach jim harbaugh and lions' coach jim schwartz who said he felt slighted by harbaugh's postgame handshake. that's a quick look at sports this morning. we'll be live from the verizon center at 5:00 today and 6:00

previewing the caps' match-ups with the florida panthers. until then have a great news. more of us -- tuesday. more of us are failing to pay our credit card bills on time. plus the team that rappeled down the washington monument is now getting an up close look at the national cathedral. here's monika. thank you so much andrew yea. here's a live look at 395 on the northbound side. edsall road, watch out for police activity. otherwise the main leans are open to the -- lines are open to the 14th street bridge. more on that and other roadways coming up in my next report at 5:29. thanks for watching 9news now, stay with us.

good morning and welcome back to 9news now this tuesday morning. i'm andrea roane. >> 5:30 just about here, i'm mike hydeck. thank you for joining us. here's monika samtani. >> good morning. >> she'll have traffic in just a moment. mr. howard bernstein has your weather first.

still two hours until sun vise. >> that's sort of shocking yesterday. 7:18 or something like that? >> 7:20. >> when you woke up? >> am i at work today? >> exactly. like saturday and sunday when you wake up early. do i still have to tornado? the late sun vise -- to work? the late sunrise. a couple of weeks to go with the daylight savings time. today, is decent look tuesday out there. a few clouds early. otherwise a good deal of sunshine. thanks. 67 by noon. 70 at 5:00 with a current temperature right now 56 at national. some areas are in the 40s. we've got winds today they'll be out of the east at about 5 to 10 miles an hour with highs between 70 and 75. clouds have been streaming in from west to east but they're moving up to the north. in a few hours i expect the area of clouds here to be up there. we'll get into some sunshine here in little while. it's 52 in western maryland. cumberland good morning to you

folks. winchester's in the upper 40s down in the valley with near 60s on the bay also in southern maryland 53 for la plata this morning. this afternoon under sunny skies highs will make it to the low 70s a couple of spots around toward 75. monika's stepping in now with the up trait on timesaver traffic -- update on timesaver traffic. at the wheaton station, all entrance escalators are broken right now. they're in the process of repairing that and they've called for a shuttle bus service for you. just keep that in mind but the station remains open. here are your travel times -- let's take a live picture of the northbound side of 395 a little further south of duke street here at edsall where i'm hearing that police activity blocks the ramp to edsall road. you want to go up to duke street and take that around instead this morning on the northbound side of 395. and now live look if you're planning to head on the north

side of town. here's the beltway outer loop at university boulevard, no problems adds you head through the -- as you head through silver spring and bethesda into 270. another look around the area coming up. back to you guys. later this morning, road trip for the president. his jobs tour bus will drive from north carolina into southeast virginia. >> the president told a packed high school gymnasium he's relenting on some earlier demands he wants the jobs bill passed as a whole. now pass a portion of the bill around $35 billion to help local governments keep teachers and public safety officers on the job. >> we're going to chopit up into some bite size pieces and give them another chance to look out for your jobs instead of their jobs. >> appropriate on the taxpayer's dime since it is clearly campaigning and i must say again i've never seen an uglier bus. >> now the white house insists

this trip is about jobs and not next year's election. if a few hours -- in a few hours it will roll out of north carolina on a stop in virginia. today, the d. c. city council is holding a hearing about a law some say is too harsh. it allows police in the district to arrest drivers who have expired tags even those from other states. after complaints the council will consider repealing the law enforcement 9news now reporter -- law. 9news now reporter kristin fisher is there. >> reporter: good morning, the d. c. council is going to be voting on temporary legislation which would immediately repeal this law and this is the law that currently allows d. c. police to arrest you, jail you and potentially issue you a criminal citation all because your tags are expired. now it's still unclear exactly how many people have been actually you know been arrested and how often they're issued a criminal citation but over the last few weeks there's been

enough of the kind of arrests to incite outrage among in dryers including the council chairman jim webb. he even wrote the mayor a letter calling the law a waste of financial resources but the local chapter of triple a put it a bit more simply. they just call the law ridiculous. >> we're not talking about a misdemeanor. we're not talking about a flagrant violation of traffic laws and you are throwing people in jail for three to six hours because you say it makes the streets safe? >> reporter: and that is the other side of this argument that this law enhances public safety. that especially here in the nation's capital, vehicles without proper registration pose a potential threat but whether or not those arguments will win out. that will be determined here at the wilson building when the d. c. council meets at 11:00 this morning. >> all right, reporting live from downtown w. today the suspect in the

murder of a jermantown woman is expected to arrive. 45-year-old curtis lopez is accused of killing his estranged wife 51-year-old jane mcquain. she was found beaten and stabbed to death in her home last week. still missing is mcquain's 11- year-old son william. he hasn't been seen in over two weeks. monday montgomery county investigators focused their search and sights in clarksburg and damascus. a trial is underwaif for the montgomery county teacher accused of punching, kicking and choking her students. susan lee burke taught at green castle elementary school in silver spring until she was arrested. and at this point at least seven children say she attacked them when she was angry about their behavior. burke denies those allegations. the children are all expected to testify and could start taking the stand later today. today, prince george's county voters will pick a

replacement for disgraced councilwoman leslie johnson. she resigned this summer after pleading guilty in connection with a corruption scandal. the candidate is derrick davis and opposed by gardner. polls open this morning at 7:00 and close tonight at 8:00. the rappeling team is now working at the cathedral. sunday's high winds delayed the start of the operation until yesterday afternoon. excuse me. the cathedral sustained some damage both from the august earthquake and then hurricane irene a couple of days later. last week stone masons removed two tons of damaged stonework from the cathedral. it's scheduled to reopen november 12th. 5:34. time for another your money report. >> and jessica back with the lowest prices for holiday shopping season? we're not talk about candy corns and candy here are you? >> no, no, i mean we're not even at thanksgiving yet right? so this is really early. a lot can change but it looks right now that wal-mart is being incredibly aggressive when it comes the prices this holiday -- to prices this

holiday shopping season. new analysis shows wal-mart is undercutting competitors already like target and k-mart and toys "r" us on many of the hottest toys. wal-mart says people buying toys and electronics can choose to pay off the items between now and mid-december. there's $5 service charge by the way. other stores such as toys "r" us are now offering layaway as well. now overall consumers are expected to spend less this an compared to last year. the national retail federation predicts sales will slow to 3%. that's down from more than 5% last year. it seems we are already having trouble yet again paying off the credit card bills long before the holidays even get here. five of the nation's top six credit card issuers are saying that late payments rose in september. that's the first month since february 2009 that so many major companies reported a rise in payments late by 30 days or more and you can blame the nation's stubbornly high

unemployment rate yet again. people have to actively save for christmas this year. >> the layaways we were talking about will make a difference. it's throwback but it's needed. >> people are loving it and the thing to remember is it does come with the fees. so you are paying for that option. but you know. it's helpful for some folks. >> but is it more than 18% on your credit card? you might save money that way. >> exactly. thanks jess. a familiar landmark to many ocean city tourists will be replaced after falling to hurricane irene. that story is coming up. plus, a couple of kayakers in california have a whale of a tale and the video to prove it. wait until you see this. >> wow.

5:38 out on the weather terrace, looking up a thin overcost covering this morning -- overcast covering the moon

this morning. some areas north clouds thicker but a good day today. expecting sunshine and some nice temps this afternoon. in fact right now without a jacket it's fairly comfortable. looking at our day planner, we'll be climbing through the 50s this morning to the upper 60s by noon. northeast to east winds 5. 10 miles an hour. 5:00 p.m. temperature 70 with highs 70 to 75. details on the wet wednesday when i return in five minutes. now inside to monika. a live look northbound on i- 395 here at edsall road. just up ahead ott the exit ramp watch out for police activity on the right side and also blocking the ramp. use duke street instead. i'll have more on this coming up. mike back to you. thanks monika. an ocean city landmark swept away during hurricane irene is making a comeback. the coast gas says it will replace the -- guard says it will replace the jetty tower that used to sit at the entrance of the ocean city inlet. the daily times of salisbury says the plan is to replace a

tower of its kind. many boaters rely on the fog horn. two kayakers got a closeup few of us will ever experience, paddling off the beach in california last week, the couple encountered a 50-foot long blue whale one of the world's largest mammals. remember they're in the kayak. one of them was brave enough the dive in with the camera to get some underwater footage. however, this was risky. such large animals can easily hurt a person just with their flippers. isn't that amazing? >> that is something. >> she said she was a little worried when she saw him go in. just a little. >> really? gorgeous video. the race for the republican presidential nominations heading west tonight. that story is coming up. and in today's buddy check report, how a grant is making sure breast cancer screening and treatment facilities are welcoming to women with disabilities. birthday time now, let's see who's celebrating today --

sunshine. that's a good way to start your day right? it's not sunny up just yet. not until 7:20 yet? >> some high thin clouds overhead now. those will be out of here in the next few hours and sunny today. tomorrow is storm system kind of a two part storm system converges on the mid-atlantic with some rain and wind and

then cooler temperatures to finish out the week. the tuesday morning, tuesday morning. tuesday's got the tuesday blahs this morning? >> ? , tuesday is all right. >> no, wednesday or monday? >> wednesday, wednesday. yeah. >> went will be wet. partly cloudy, chilly out there. 40s and 50s. 7:25. the sunrise is later and later. the day planner as we get more and more color in the leaves. nid 50s here at 8:00. partly to mostly cloudy. now by noon though 67 degrees. as we become mostly sunny. winds east to northeast at about 5, 8, 10 miles an hour. this afternoon, 71 by 4:00. highs about 72, 73 with the 8:00 temperature back in the mid 60s and east winds at 5 miles an hour and the easterly winds are going to bring in more low level moisture. this is some false return with some showers in pennsylvania but these are high thin clouds. we have a thin overcast at the moment and really dry air at the surface. the do you knows in the 40s --

dew points in the 30s 40s in many areas but southeast of town the dew points get into the 50s. the low level moisture will be pushed to the west and we'll start to feel it. by tomorrow morning not as chilly as it is this morning. in fact tonight we may stay 60 or better with the clouds or showers moving in. 58 at pax river and 48 in winchester with 55 at the tappahannock airport down in south richmond. they're at 60 degrees but we sit at 56. the east northeast wind at 5 miles an hour and the dew point in the 50s now. we'll be creeping up over the next couple of days. lots of moisture off the florida coast and in the middle of the country. showers and storms from southern illinois back through parts of louisiana and east texas. and then the heavy rains, this tropical moisture flowing in across south florida. this is going to be moving up through florida and then up the east coast and have a little party here in the mid-atlantic and the northeast.

in fact back to the ohio valley as well. we'll show you the futurecast. this front sort of returns as a warm front. easterly winds will be kicking in later today. tonight, clouds thicken up. by tomorrow at 3:00, some showers 3:00 a.m. that is. some showers start to develop. for the morning rush, some showers around and tomorrow afternoon and evening, some showers around. some of the rains if this -- ends up being a little bit farther west might get on the heavy side or we may get split between the two. the whole system should be pulling out of here by thursday morning with some wind can cooler temperatures to fine -- and cooler temperatures to fin ebb out the week. today, 72. fairly nice. tonight, tomorrow breezy and wet. 67. breezy on thursday and only around 60. and then friday, saturday and sunday, your highs stay in the upper 50s and nighttime lows 40 oz.. that's in w -- 40s. that's in washington. that means lots of 30s in the suburbs. monika samtani's got the timesaver traffic good morning monika. just enjoy today. what do you think howard? yep. and if you are planning to head

out today using metro. i want to tell you that at wheaton the escalators are broken. they have a shuttle bus service available for you but the station is open. here's what it looks like 395 at edsall road. if you look right here at the police activity i've been telling you about this for the last half hour or so, police activity blocking the ramp to edsall road. if you need to get to edsall. take duke up ahead of this point and work your way around back to edsall road. let's take a live look at the other side of town. here's what it looks like in downtown. no problems across the 14th street bridge on to 14th street the mall looks good on constitution avenue southeast southwest freeway is incident free. a live look leaving the airport, you're fine, no problems on route 7 out of leesburg or 123 in tyson's corner. in mimmicks report another look at 395 at 6:00. mike? thanks monika. making news now, a long awaited prisoner exchange between israel and hamas is underway this morning.

in exchange for one soldier captured more than five years ago, israel is releasing nearly 500 palestinian prisoners today and has promised to free another 500 by the end of the year. the new flag of libya has been hoisted over the city center. rebel fighters celebrated the victory over one of the last towns still loyal to ousted leader muammar gadhafi. the town had been under siege for weeks before it fell. republican presidential hopefuls are getting up for another debate. they'll be facing off tonight in nevada. a key battleground state. the candidates are expected to tackle the key issues from unemployment to illegal immigration. we want you the see this week's buddy check 9 report this morning and we apologize for yesterday's issues. early detection is key to a woman surviving breast cancer but what if she is one of the 27 million in the u.s. with a physical disability? now a grant from the susan g. komen foundation helping those women overcome barriers to

breast cancer screenings is the subject of today's buddy check 9 report. >> when i was age 16. i had a diving accident and i became a quadriplegic. >> reporter: sherry a lawyer, a special assistance at hhs and wheelchair-bound. while recovering from treatments related to her disability, she felt a lump. she had a mammogram and then a biopsy. >> four days later it was july 4th weekend i found out that i had a cancerous lump. >> reporter: research finds women with disabilities tend to get screened less often than women without limitations. sometimes even health care workers don't encourage screening. they and the patient focus on the disability rather than the health conditions like breast and cervical cancers that women still face as women. >> in some cases women with disabilities feel like lightning can't strike twice. there's no way that i can get breast cancer in addition to this. >> reporter: but several factors outside the disabled woman's control often create

barriers to screening. >> i have a trach. it was trying not to hit the trach on the machine. it takes awhile and it's not comfortable. >> reporter: with two funded grants the american association on health and disabilities surveyed 55 area medical facilities and hospitals to measure accessible. starting with doorways. >> this meets the requirement of 32 inches just so a woman in a wheelchair would be able to pass through easily. >> reporter: jen looked at exam tables. did they lower for easy on and off and in mammography machines. >> if it goes down lower than 24-inches it is possible for a woman seated in a wheelchair to be able to have her mammogram. >> reporter: she measured handicapped parking spaces. >> spaces should be 96 inches or 8 feet next to an adjacent

aisle of 5 feet or 60 inches. >> reporter: the good news? the survey found most area facilities are accessible. currently phase three is focused on raising awareness among women in prince george's county, maryland and some crown industries in virginia. the -- counties in virginia. the second day of a conference is underway at gallaudet university promoting health and wellness of women with disabilities. for more on the conference and a link to the aahd's website. click on buddy check 9 at wusa9.com. and even the wheelchair at sib lee, the arms come off making it even more accessible to the tom get her mammograms. -- woman to get her mammograms. >> it makes so much sense. before we take a break let's take another look at the question of the morning. >> today's question -- so here's one of the responses on our wusa9 facebook fan page, mo wells wrote --

>> was that on the list? log to the wusa9 facebook fan page and leave your response and we'll reveal the answer in about an hour. today council examines a law which allows drivers with expired out of state tags to be arrested. and next in today's heroes central, helping homeless youngsters lead a more normal childhood. jess da. have you ever had a service problem with a major company? complaining on their facebook page help you out? i'll have the most effective steps for becoming a squeaky wheel. that's coming up at 6:06. you are watching 9news now.

5:56. by the way the allergy update came in from yesterday. mold spores were mod cat. everything -- moderate, everything else was low. the temperatures will be ride rising into the upper 50s. the lunch hour, partly to mostly sunny. 67 not a bad lunch at all. 71 in easton and 62 in hagerstown. little bit cool there. mid-afternoon if you can get outside enjoy it. because we'll have temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s with highs today between 70 and 75. play time. it's a right that all children

deserve but homeless parents can find it difficult to nurture and care for a healthy child. in this week's heroes central. j.c. hayward introduces us to the homeless project. >> reporter: each week, loretta jones brings her son and daughter to the northwest church family network on new york avenue. they go for recreational activities and the opportunity to interact with other youngsters. for two hours her children can relax and play like normal children. >> i first -- my kids wouldn't go. my son used to scream because he didn't want to come. and now he screams when it's time to go. he wants to stay. so that's pretty exciting now that he really don't want to be all up -- want to be around other kids now. >> how about pbs kids? have you heard of that? >> reporter: eight years ago she and a friend started the volunteer program to help homeless children succeed.

their belief was that youngsters and shelters suffer from emotional, behavioral, and learning problems. their answer? structured play. >> when children are traumatized and children who become homeless have gone through multiple traumas in their lives ranging from demostic violence to eviction to losing their belongings and family members. and one of most powerful ways to heal from trauma for children is through play. >> reporter: volunteers who work for the youngsters are rewarded by creating childhood memories not often found in transitional housing. >> we've had sleepovers for children who aren't allowed to have slumber partiesful we bring the pajamas and popcorn to them and let the kids experience what it's like to live a normal childhood. >> reporter: there are more than 120 volunteers at five shell necessary d. c.. as unemployment increases the need for the play time project becomes greater.

i'm j.c. hayward, 9news now. >> the homeless play time project plans to distribute 300 costumes at halloween parties at each site and they need some costume donations, go to wusa9.com to learn how to give and look for heroes central under the features tab. good story and thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> and i'm mike hydeck glad you're here. here's monika samtani. she has timesaver traffic. momentarily. right now, howard bernstein is right here on the money with the forecast first. tuesday is looking good. >> yeah, tuesday is looking fine. it is going to be a good afternoon. yesterday we had temps in the upper 60s and low 70s. today about the same be sunshine. it's tomorrow that we'll have some problems. you'll need the rain gear for your wednesday i tell you now but today it's all lights are green here weather-wise. maybe not traffic wise but weather-wise. a few clouds out there right now with some high clouds and 57 degrees. we'll be in the upper 60s by noon with paly