they opened up a gurny and brought the person out. i heard it was a child. >> reporter: that actually was the neighbor living across the street. that was the neighbor living across the street from the six- year-old. a man named harold who watched the little boy being brought out and taken away in the ambulance. neighbors hopeful he would be okay, but he did not make it. the boy has been pronounced dead and police are conducting an investigation trying to figure out if the man who owned that handgun, if he had a permit, of course you cannot have a loaded handgun like that sitting around in a backpack. they are looking into it. so far, there are no charges in this very tragic event here in clinton, maryland. i'm peggy fox reporting live. back to you. >> thanks. the special prosecutor in the trayvon martin case said he will not be presenting that to

a grand jury. >> that's whether george zimmerman rests with her. susan mcgieness says they shut down a police department today. >> reporter: promised civil disobedience and they delivered. about three dozen of them blocked the entrance to the police department and after several hours, they got the police department's attention. student protesters blocked the entrance of the police department. >> we want justice for trayvon martin, which means an arrest for george zimmerman. >> reporter: the group which calls themselves, the dream defenders, marched from daytona to sanford. special prosecutor has decided not to use a grand jury as part of her investigation into the case. she alone will make the decision on whether to arrest zimmerman. she talked to protesters in a

conference call. >> she said the process will continue and justice is going to be served. we are still here to fight for justice. >> dream defenders say they have a list of demands and the arrest of george zimmerman is just the beginning. >> we think trayvon martin is the catalyst for a much bigger reason. >> we hope to systematically continue to face the issue that america swept under the rug because they are difficult conversations to have. >> reporter: demonstrators say the protests will not end until zimmerman stands trial for martin's death. and claim george zimmerman is innocent. they believe he will be cleared of any charges to come. lesli. thanks, susan. and in florida, only first- degree murder cases required use of grand juries. there was a huge police

presence at today's african american celebration at the national zoo. the easter monday event has been a tradition since 1891, there have been recent cases of violence, including a stabbing last year.  today's event went off just fine, featured live music and special activities for the family, including an easter egg hunt. we'll have a report coming up on 9news now at 6:00. what would you do if you could redesign parts of the national mall? new restaurants, more bathrooms, underground pavilions. help overhaul neglected sites. kristin fisher has been looking at these designs all day. what do you think? >> i think they are awesome. i mean, any of them would be a huge upgrade and what we're talking about are designs for two kilo cations key locations. one of them is right over here, actually it's right on the other side of that bus.

terrible timing. the sullivan theater at the washington monument. the other location, constitution gardens near the lincoln memorial. >> it's been around since 1976, it was intended to have a restaurant by a beautiful pond, but funds ran out. today it's more of a swampy pool surrounded by a crumbling sidewalk. but what if constitution gardens looks more like this? >> what people are seeing today are the top designers who want to design for the national mall. >> caroline cunningham with the trust for the national mall has overseen this yearlong competition. it started with 32 entries, now the eight finalists are on display. designs for constitution gardens include skating rinks a stage in the middle of a pond, even places to go fishing. >> i don't like the idea of having fishing because when you are fishing and you can catch people and you'll get pollution. that's dangerous. >> rachel smith is visiting

d.c. from new york. she's opinionated, but here her comments are welcome. >> national mall is the people's park and so having people get involved and envision the future of the national mall and hear their views is hugely important. >> i'm a big fan of this one for around the washington monument. i love the idea of the building being integrated into the ground. >> the interesting thing to me was that so many of the solutions were under ground. so it didn't change the physical space. >> the amp theater is really neat. it's not just plain and boring. just a place to sit down and have music. it has an eye catch feel to it. >> wouldn't it be neat to see that amp theater sitting right here? if you want to have your say on these designs, you have until sunday to get your comments in. after that, the winning design is going to be announced mid may. one of those designs will actually be built by 2016.

the goal is to actually start construction in 2014, just two years away, back to you. >> i like the amp theater too, thank you. good call. and we have a link to all the designs on our website, wusa9.com. a dramatic budget standoff in annapolis is happening right now and threatens to leave the state of maryland with no plan at all for taxes and spending when the clock runs out midnight tonight. scott broom is at the state house tonight where house and senate leaders are point fingers, specifically at prince georges county. in the background, a senate president out of patience. >> this is not gambling in the city. this is gambling adjacent to the capital of the free world. >> the issue, a late proposal to put a gambling casino. with the legislative session at its end game, some senators are

refusing to delegate on the budget. the gambling expansion is resolved. leaving the speaker of the house, mike bush, a gambling opponent exasperated. >> the budget goes down and the senators are more concerned about the obsession with gaming than they are with school funding, hospitals, higher education money, let them wear that when they go home and tell their constituents. >> it does come down to today. >> prince georges county executive used to oppose gambling, but now that he's facing a big budget deficit with no power to raise local taxes, his mind has changed. >> you're talking about for prince georges county, $69 million. there is nothing that will give us that type of revenue. i would have to raise, if i could, raise property taxes 10% in order to meet the type of revenue that we'll get from the casino bill. >> we're able to work out some

compromises on the late entry and expansion to prince georges site and sending that to referendum, then so be it, if that's part of the prom mize. i think the goal has to be a budget. >> this is the 9th of the month and we have a special check to share with all of you that hits home for all of us. as you may know, j.c. hayward was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. the news is personal and private, but j.c. announced friday that she is deciding to share her breast cancer journey with her family of viewers to help other women who may be going down this same road. during our noon newscast, j.c. talked with andrea roane about her first visit with her surgeon this morning. >> today was your first meeting with your breast surgeon, tell us how that went? >> as you know, andrea, breast cancer has four stages and my breast cancer apparently is stage one or two, so that was

very good. also she told me that it was estrogen receptive and that is positive. i can take certain drugs to fight the cancer. easier than if it wasn't. it would be more difficult. she told me she did not think that i would have to have chemotherapy. so that's good, but probably radiation, 4 to 6 weeks. only one minute a day. i won't miss a newscast. >> the viewers are thrilled about that part of it. >> she talked about treatment. she suggested lumpectomy, where they take out the diseased tissue. i have opted, however, not to do that. i'm going to be very bold and very radical and i have decided to have a bilateral mastectomy, where you take both breasts off, have immediate reconstruction. i'm meeting with the plastic surgeon this afternoon and hopefully i'll have my surgery in the next day or two. >> explain to viewers and buddies why you wanted to be so

aggressive about this? she said it would be tricky since that found that second legion. depending where it's malignant, it would be tricky. you said no. >> the key is, i don't want to live my life in fear where i have to have a mammogram and wondering whether the cancer has come back. i want to put this behind me. i have things to do, places to go, people to see. and i don't want this to be the most important part of my life. right now, it is important, but i can do something that can make me sleep much better and be at ease and get on with my life. >> now if you are interested in sending some well wishes to j.c., you should go on other to her website. that's where she is going to keep you up to date on her treatments and we all know that like us, you're pulling for her to make it through. derek. thank you, lesli. there were some frightening moments for passengers on board a united airlines flight that landed here in washington.

it was flight 1075 and it landed at reagan national this morning with not one, but two flat tires. good news is, nobody hurt. the boeing 73700 was towed toward the terminal. madlin said the pilot told the passengers about the tires when they landed. >> a fire truck was going to come. of course this would happen to us. >> 122 passengers were on board that flight. it originated in houston. >> part of a busy roadway had to be shut down today after a dump truck slammed into an overhead sign. this happened this morning on 295 at pennsylvania avenue in southeast. crews closed down two lanes while the crane came in to make temporary repairs. the permanent fix will happen later on. it's a tradition that dates back to 1978 and still delights children and their parents to this day. president obama and the first family helped kick off the

easter egg roll. delia has more from the south lawn. >> in their sunday best and with a wooden spoon, group after group of kids tried their very best to roll the easter egg on the white house lawn. >> what was your technique? >> good thing, because his family traveled all the way from new mexico. >> these guys were champions getting ready. it wouldn't have been easy if it weren't so exciting for them to see this. >> and who lives inside that house? >> obama. >> and the kids weren't the only ones excited. >> i think it's more excited for me than her. >> did you roll your egg? >> yes. >> did you have a good time? >> yes. >> where are we today? >> at the bunny house. >> after a little coaching from dad. >> president obama. >> yeah, president obama, but

he is big. >> he's a big boy. >> yes. >> in the theme of this year's easter egg roll, let's go. let's play, let's move. >> a series of activities were scheduled to support childhood obese di obese. in the spired, i tried my moves. >> you go, delia. that's awesome. 30,000 people were expected to attend today's white house easter egg roll. everyone went home with a wooded commemorative egg featuring bow. the fiery navy jet crash into a virginia beach apartment building has a new debate. and it has been windy out here today. causing some damage in our area. we'll take a look at when, also

look at your complete seven-day forecast coming up. and up next, a judge sets bail for two white men accused of shooting five african americans in tulsa. we'll be back.

the suspect in a racially charged attack in tulsa, oklahoma, appeared before a judge via close circuit tv today. >> two men are in jail and accused with shooting five

african americans. three of whom died. manuel has the latest. >> a judge set bail at more than $9 million for two men accused of a shooting spree that left three dead and two others wounded in tulsa. >> give us sufficient time to look at the evidence and make a formal charging decision at the appropriate time. >> 19-year-old jake england and his 32-year-old roommate will face three counts of first- degree murder and other charges. they were arrested early sunday. two days after the shootings that all took place. all of the victims were black. prosecutors must decide if the case reaches the level of a hate crime. >> it is preliminary to determine what the motivation was behind this. if the evidence supports that and we believe that we can prove those elements of hate crime that will certainly be considered at the appropriate time. >> police say revenge could be a motive. england's father was shot and killed two years ago during an altercation. england's fiance and the mother

of their baby also recently killed herself. the day before the shootings, england used a racial slur on his facebook page to describe his father's killer. the posting said, today is two years that my dad has been gone. it's hard not to go on. i'm gone in the head. the suspects are scheduled to be back in court next monday. manuel, cbs news. >> the police say they believe the suspects chose their victims at random. >> all right, now to some lighter news and happier. large crowds gathered in northwest d.c. for the grand reopening of one of the city's treasures. district mayor vincent gray and eleanor holmes norton cut the ribbon on the howard theater. the theater in d.c.'s shaw neighborhood originally opened as a showcase for black artists in 1910. as somebody who grew up in this city, who went to school in this city, it didn't matter what high school you went to,

if you went to armstrong, if you went to spinguard or dunbar. everybody came to the howard theater in order to see the shows. >> exciting times. the restoration project cost $29 million. high winds are being blamed for blowing off this traffic signal in old town alexandria today. the signal came down this afternoon in front of the restaurant at the intersection of duke street and danger field road. they are closed between holland lane and dangerfield. nobody was hurt. those high winds continue to stay with us, anny. >> we have seen winds gusting over 30 miles per hour earlier today. it's ban blustery day and we have a red flag warning in effect. the fire danger does remain high. here's a look at our weather camera. the easter egg roll at white house and conditions are good. on the windy side. at least it was dry.

65 degrees right now. we have the clouds moving in. it's mostly cloudy now. winds sustained north, northwest, 17 miles per hour. but the wind gusts around town, and just in the last hour, 26 miles per hour for the d.c. area and downtown, leesburg, you're at 35 miles per hour. gaithersburg, around 28. the breezy conditions will stick around through the evening hours. also, it has been a very warm march, in fact, just the numbers came out today where we broke more than 15,000 records here in the u.s. 25 states are reporting the warmest march ever. but interestingly, california, oregon, washington, the tenth coolest march, and a global warming only playing a minor role. here's a look at fire watch. the drink soil, breezy conditions, and a high fire danger through tonight until

8:00. same deal for tomorrow. the satellite radar picture picking up some showers, but we may see some isolated showers for tonight. the air still dry, so not all of it will be hitting the ground. we're not going to get a whole lot. right now it's 65 in downtown. 62 in arlington. lower 60s in bethesda. so, it's going to be cool and breezy the next couple of days. isolated showers for tonight. the high fire danger does remain. windy and mainly dry for tuesday. wednesday and thursday still cool. then we warm things up. our future cast showing a chance for isolated showers will be for tonight. and then, we have more sunshine for tomorrow, a mixture of sun and clouds. and the future cast for tuesday is looking to be dry as well. next chance for showers will arrive on wednesday. so, for tonight, what can you expect? temperatures will be on the cool side. partly to mostly cloudy, breezy and chilly. lows in the 40s. mid 40s in downtown to lower

40s in leesburg. here's a look at your next seven days. so, cool wednesday as well. chance for showers and then thursday for the washington nationals home opener, we're looking to be dry, still maybe breezy. temperatures in the upper 50s, but plenty of sunshine. then we gradually warm things up into the weekend. take a look at saturday and on sunday. we're talking low 80s, potentially on sunday. if you want the warmer weather, it's coming this way, but not until the weekend. for now, enjoy the cooler conditions and we're going to try to work on that rain, because it is dry. we're almost 4 inches below the average from where we should be. back to you. >> thanks, anny. metro riders finally getting a break. coming up, upcoming fare hikes just may not be as bad as we thought. but first, why tens and thousands of new ford owners are about to get a recall notice in the mail. we'll be back. we love gardening...

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we kick off our consumer news tonight with a recall. ford is calling back more than 140,000 ford focus compact cars. there's a problem with the passenger side windshield wiper. it can fail. the vehicles in question were built between august 1 of 2010.

ford starts the repairs in late may. you may like the convenience of those self- checkout lanes at the grocery store, but it turns out more people are bagging their goods to go without paying for them. our partners at u.s.a. today report thefts are five times more likely to occur in these lanes than in ones with a cashier. the national retail federation says new technologies in the works to prevent those kind of walkoffs. new scanners will allow you to put everything on a conveyer belt and prices will scan automatically. and wal-mart hopes healthy alternatives will draw more people to a new checkout line. this one has no sweets and it features items under 200 calories. it has toys to keep you moving, like jump ropes. these new healthy living checkouts are only open in one wisconsin state store. if they take off, maybe they'll end up in a store near you. lesli, speaking of wal- mart, the chain is putting off

the opening of six stores in the district after a storm of con from controversy. open its first d.c. store at the end of 2013. initially, it had planned to open four of the six new locations by the end of this year. wal-mart says it plans to use the extra time to win over support from the neighborhoods surrounding the new stores. happy 80th birthday bill marriott. the founder of the international hotel megachain celebrated his birthday this afternoon along with 3,000 associates. the event took place at the company's headquarters in bethesda. marriott stepped down as ceo of marriott international just over a week ago. the new ceo, arkansasny sorensen. marriott has 3700 properties in 72 countries and territories. coming up on 9 justice of on 9news now, the latest on our investigation into questionable government spending. if you thought this video was bad, wait until you see the

latest uncovered from a conference in vegas. plus, a new study links obesity in pregnant women and autism. >> makes sense to have navy jets buzzing virginia's most popular city. once considered moving from virginia beach. competition shot that idea down. i'm bruce leshan. the story coming up. i stepped on the machine, and it showed me the pressure points on my feet and exactly where i needed more support.

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today the navy started compensating people burned out of their homes by a military jet crash in virginia beach. dozens of apartments were destroyed when the fa18d. hornet slammed into the complex on friday. amazingly, nobody was killed. the navy says initial payments will start at $2300 for an individual tenant. the navy also says no one will be allowed back on the site until the cleanup is complete. so, what's a busy air base doing in the busy of virginia's most populous city. >> a presidential commission considered closing the nay val air station and moving it to a more secluded spot in florida, but as bruce leshan reports, that idea went nowhere. >> virginia's governor and its congressional delegation were all united in opposing this idea. they thought it was a terrible plan to move the base. about 219,000 training missions a year, over a city of nearly

half a million people and this one ended two miles from the runway. the navy superhornet crashed right into an apartment complex on friday. >> we were there when it happens and we watched our apartment building go up in flames. >> military trains pilots to do everything they can to avoid crashing into a populated area. but that may have been impossible this time. >> we'll find out what happened and fix whatever went wrong. >> how do you fix an air base where thousands of homes have sprung up? >> if you look from an aerial view, there isn't place, staying with the airplane as long as they could. >> after convincing the commission in 2005 to keep oceana right where it is, politicians committed to spending $15 million a year to buy up homes and property that were encrouching on the flight

zone. but the defense department office of inspector general has found the effort is lacking and it has refused to certify it under brack rules. the commonwealth spent $100 million buying land in what the navy calls accident potential zone one. but the f18 crashed in accident potential zone two. >> we believe a miracle has occurred here. with us not having any victims. >> navy said its total economic contribution to the hampton roads area runs to about $14 billion a year. the governor says spending money to buy land and keep it right where it is remains a top budget priority for him and the jet flights are the price we have to pay for freedom. >> and the fact that the military is the biggest

employer in virginia beach. you take the military out of there and it's a ghost town. >> if you have been down there on the beach, you have seen those jets going over, roaring over. so a lot of people enjoy them, some people think, might crash. >> very close call. good to know no one was killed. bruce, thank you. derek. >> we have breaking news for you right now. new shakeups in the wake of that gsa spending scandal. that's all coming as word of some embarrassing new videos is out on the streets right now. the latest on the shakeups and of course what we really want to see, the new video. >> we're going to get to that in a second. first, just contacted by an official saying the number is now at 8. that's eight officials fired, resigned, or put on administrative leave since the scandal broke out. this video shows what appear to be gsa officials and employees mocking easy money and in this video, you see an official

knott following what seems to be the advice of letting things stay in las vegas. >> listen as gsa administrator just misses that las vegas slogan of discretion. >> dispense with a notion that what is done in vegas stays in vegas and really leave with what's done in vegas needs to be shared with everybody. >> a piece on the lavish las vegas spending posted seven videos that they say were prepared at or for the 2010, 822,000 conference. in one, the post identifies gsa officials as the actor is shown taking and destroying government property. ♪ [ music ]

>> and another, a government clown describes his job. >> make sure everybody else is working so i don't have to do anything. so much -- >> still another, it's afro and gold chain rappers singing about the high dollar lifestyles of gsa officials. >> i travel the world to london and peru. ain't no place better than gsa. >> it specifically names and shows commissioner, jeff neilly and lots and lots of cash. >> the gsa is the federal landlord and it's responsible for keeping travel costs minimal and reasonable. the gsa responded, calling the acts on these tapes indispensable and keeping it from ever happening again.

>> there will be consequences? >> there already have been consequences, expect more. let's go back to you in the studio. >> thank you. there's brighter thanksfected news from metro riders. it won't be raising fares, reduce expenses and improve ridership outlook, prompted metro to change its budget forecast. proposed raising rail and bus peek fares by 5%. but it now needs $16 million less than expected. fares are expected to take effect in july. the cherry blossoms around the title basin may be gone, but you have a chance to get a closeup look at cherry trees. on 18th street is hosting a special exhibit of artwork panel. it shows the significant of the cherry trees in japanese culture. visitors can learn about the many varieties that cover the

park. coming up in tonight's hero central report, we'll introduce you to an organization helping washington students live up to their reading potential. but up next, a tanker crash ignites an inferno that shuts down an l.a. freeway. and we're always on at wusa9.com. stay with us, we'll be back.

caught on tape, a suspected drunken driver sparked an inferno in southern california over the weekend. check out the video we shot right after the driver of a honda collided with a gas tanker saturday night in the glendale neighborhood of l.a. by the time the firefighters got there, you see what they found. a tanker fully engulfed. in fact, it was so hot, it burned the concrete under the freeway. that freeway had to be shut down until late yesterday when structural engineers figured out it was safe to drive on. police arrested that driver who is charged with dui. two philadelphia firefighters are dead and three of them are hurt after battling a warehouse fire this morning in the neighborhood of kensington. >> investigators say this 60- year-old and 25-year-old firefighters were killed when a wall collapsed while they were inside a vacant furniture store. when firefighters got there, explosions were literally coming from inside this

building. some nearby residents were evacuated. six homes close by were damaged by the fire. >> and working to protect homes and businesses from a wild fire in burlingtom county, new jersey. the fire there has burned around 1,000 acres in the woodland area. crews are setting backfires to try to protect about 25 homes. nobody has been hurt and it's still not clear what caused it all. >> still ahead, a week's worth of events push off commemorating the titanic's fateful journey. and facing autism. what scientists are taking a closer look at tonight. th

in tonight's health alert, a possible link between obesity and diabetes. that's what this first of its kind study seems to suggest. >> this latest research looked at 1,000 mothers in california and their children. women who were obese during

pregnancy were about 67% more likely to have autistic children than women of normal weight. they also had double the risk of having a child with another developmental disorder. >> there's a general feeling that some of the origins of autism are in the prenatal period when the brain is developing at a very rapid rate. >> diabetic mothers were twice as likely to have a child with developmental delays and their children also scored lower on language and communication tests. >> doctors stress the study doesn't prove maternal obesity or diabetes cause autism. however, researchers say it does raise serious concerns because more than a third of u.s. women of childbearing age are seriously overweight. >> there are actions that people with take and that's the point is we are trying to find modifyable factors, which genetics is not. >> the cdc now estimates very recently that one in 88 children have autism in the

united states. the causes are multifactorial. genetic tendency, environmental factors and greater diagnosis. maryland's transportation department is down playing any likelihood of another potomac river bridge. transportation administrators from maryland and virginia talked about that idea last month at a meeting called by folks from the virginia side. but the maryland transportation department says there are too many obstacles, including concerns about the environment and about encouraging even more traffic. this week marks the 100th anniversary of the titanic's first and last voyage. a memorial cruise is now following the ship's intended route across the north atlantic. it is the ms headed for new york. now a lot of the passengers are direct descendents of passengers and crew who were on board the original titanic. people like phillip, his grand dad was a steward. >> he was in lifeboat 13.

he said we have 35 women and children, shouted more, but none were forthcoming. >> the titanic, everybody knows by now, hit an iceberg on april 14, 1912. we have a commuter alert right now about a popular way home. right now, nebraska avenue is closed between fox hall and chain bridge road. washington gas tells us a contractor hit a gas line. right now there's no idea how long the repairs are going to take. may want to find an alternate route. we'll keep you posted as we get more information. >> and anny is in for topper. >> we've had wind gusts over 40 miles per hour earlier today. so it's been a very blustery day. it will be breezy tonight. that red flag warning is still in effect. the fire danger is still out there. for tonight and through tomorrow, which means we don't want to start any fires, no controlled burns because the wind gusts and also the soil is

very dry right now. we want to see if we can get showers in here. but first, here's a live look at our michael and son weather camera of the white house. 65 degrees. mostly cloudy conditions. west, northwest wind at 17 miles per hour. that is the sustained wind, but the wind gusts are right around 26 miles per hour. around 33 up in leesburg. 30 in martinsburg, so it is a very windy day today. and it feels cool out there. so because of the high winds and the dry soil, we have the red flag warning in effect for the entire d.c. metro area, also up through pennsylvania, new york, into new england. very dry out there. also, right along west of the divide where you see blue in the mountains, a freeze warning in effect. it's going to be a chilly night for you. we have satellite and radar pictures showing us, showers are trying to make its way through. air is dry, not all of it is

hitting the ground. right now, mid 60s in downtown. gaithersburg down to 59. martinsburg 57. the cool pattern sticks around. isolated showers for tonight. a high fire danger the next couple of days as well because of windy and dry conditions that continue through tuesday. cool also for wednesday and thursday. our future cast showing a chance for isolated showers for tonight. not widespread, not going to get a whole lot around here, our lawns and gardens can use it. tomorrow, generally partly sunny skies out there and right now, not looking at showers impacting our area. most of it is staying to the north of us. tonight, partly to mostly cloudy. isolated showers are possible. lows generally in the 40s. tomorrow morning, as you are heading out the door, partly sunny, breezy and chilly. temperatures starting out in the 40s and 50s.

the afternoon, still partly sunny and windy and cooler. highs near 60 degrees with west winds 15 to 20. so, mid 50s to upper 50s. here's a look at your seven-day forecast. temperatures still cool the next couple of days here. tuesday, wednesday, mid to upper 50s and then for thursday, as we look at the washington nationals playing home opener on thursday, looking dry, mostly sunny conditions, upper 50s. saturday and sunday, we will be warmer. into the 80s by sunday. back to you. >> sounds good. >> all right. >> for 16 seasons, d.c. united soccer team has called rfk stadium home. >> yeah, but like me, the stadium is almost 50 now and showing some wear. not quite what it used to be. >> and that could move the team out of the district. kristen berset is here with more on that. >> d.c. united is one of just three major league soccer teams that doesn't play in a soccer specific stadium. and in the end, the large 50-

year-old rfk stadium is doing the franchise more harm than good. dave owens takes a closer look at united's stadium dispute. >> for franchise that collected so much hardware, the future certainly has a lot of question marks. since 1996, d.c. united has called 46,000 seats, rfk stadium, home. large, yes. too large for some. >> you need to have the right venue for each sport. >> so says team president, kevin payne. he, owner will chang, and the league have been searching for that venue. a soccer specific one. >> the life blood of sports teams is season tickets. >> that's not all. >> very few premium seating opportunities. the facilities are horrible. >> this may tell the story better than any other.

emblems from the redskins past. some may think that seems like that here at rfk stadium make this thing venerable. >> venerable is a kind way to put it. we have some afiction, obviously, for the building because we have been here for a long time. for soccer in particular, there are things that don't work. >> what now? >> we have had conversations with the city of baltimore and state of maryland. and those are real conversations. the reality is, we need a stadium. >> not in d.c.? fans like tony to imagine. >> heartbreaking for me. >> which stadium this team kicks eventually land in? who knows. dave owens, 9sports now. d.c. united and city officials agreed on a lease extension, keeping the team at rfk through 2013, giving them more time to find a mu new place to play. >> hopefully they stick

around. heavy police presence at a traditional easter monday gathering. we'll tell you why there was so much security at the zoo. >> and good news on gas prices. but first, building strong readers and strong futures. find out how, next.

according to a national survey, 86% of 8th graders here

in washington, d.c. are reading below their grade level. >> that's a lot. and we know that if you don't have good reading skills, you could have limited opportunities. j.c. hayward takes us to a place that is trying to turn those numbers around. >> what do you want to be when you grow up? >> i want to be a teacher. >> a nonprofit organization that pairs tutors one on one with students who need assistance. they deliver high quality instruction twice a week for two hours after school. >> good job. >> with the literacy lab, the tutors are responsible for one student at a time. and every teacher wants to be able to devote all of their attention to every student. so from a teaching perspective, this is ideal. >> ashley johnston, a former high school teacher is the founder and executive -- >> i've learned that -- adult

who is coming twice a week for two hours each time, the kids can make huge gains and you can see the student really actually enjoy reading rather than trying to avoid it. >> i want to share this with you. i think it's so important. it's ten great reasons to read. read to understand the past, explore your world, plan for your future, view new places, create new things, make a good decision, have fun, exercise your mind, keep in touch, read because you can. when a student gets into the literacy lab program, not only do they change their reading scores, but they actually change their life. >> shannon, the principal of the elementary school knows the importance of having the literacy lab on site. in three years, the program has made a significant difference. >> we can't do everything in the 6 1/2 hours we have the students all day. we have a lot of curriculum we have to accomplish in that

time. so any type of partnership that we can have from the outside that is willing to help our students in the afternoon when they are here from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. is an enhancement to our program all around. >> literacy lab operates in 45d.c. schools and works with 300 students. they keep students engaged by using a variety of techniques, including songs, poems, articles, and comics. literacy lab works closely with teachers and parents and together, they build a strong foundation. >> tell me about your teacher, do you like him? >> yes, he's the best teacher. >> i'm j.c. hayward, 9news now. >> this program has been very successful, many of the students reading skills improved two levels during the six month program. great news. if you'd like more information about the program, go to j.c. hayward.com and click on the hero central tab. this is 9news now.

>> we begin tonight with an update on breaking news. peggy fox live in clinton, maryland, where a child has apparently shot and killed himself by accident. peggy. >> reporter: well derek, the shooting happened in that white house right there. now police are still investigating tonight, even though the shooting was an accident. it is filled with questions. we know that the first grader lived here in his great grandmother's house. she was home at the time, but we don't know if she was watching him. we also know two young girls were in the home, but we don't know if they witnessed the shooting. police say at 2:40, the six- year-old boy found the loaded handgun in a backpack at his grandmother's house. he picked it up and shot and killed himself. the backpack belonged to a 20- year-old male who lived in the home. now police say there may be charges relating to the ownership and accessibility of that gun. >> didn't need to happen. it seems like it