that's pretty standard. we'll keep that up till about noon time but we start to crank the winds closer to the 20 mile per hour range and also our temperatures though, are going to be warming up a little bit with some of that north, northwesterly wind. that will take us to the upper 50s, near 60s by later on thank. a pretty warm day all in all although a sweep below average. current temperatures are in the 40s. we're in the lower to middle 40s across most of the region. the warm spot reagan national as usual about 47 degrees. it's feeling more like the 30s and lower range 40s for most of us. so you definitely want that jacket as you step out this morning. the next three days ahead, not too bad. we have a windy stretch today and tomorrow. we'll be a slight bit cooler for wednesday and thursday when we introduce a slight bit of rain in our forecast by wednesday evening. monika? >> good morning. good morning, everybody. we are off to a pretty good start actually this morning on the beltway and all the major thoroughfares. there's just one issue and it's

pepco. it's closed between arizona avenue and university terrace so maybe just go ahead and use macarthur boulevard as your alternate route. if you're planning to head in from the west no problems to report out of sterling all the way as you travel to the beltway the lanes are open. 66 is fine out of centreville. we'll take a live look in centreville. all lanes are open coming in from manassas. pace is still very good heading toward fairfax and the beltway. the beltway is fine through annandale as well. this time to the south side. looking great as you come up from dale city to woodbridge across the occoquan river. let's take a live look in springfield northbound 95. a few people out. a lot of people are back to work today after a long holiday. you might expect to find a little heavier than normal traffic early this morning so keep that in mind. we'll go a little further north on to 395. that's looking great as well here in shirlington. back in my next report, we will look in maryland at 5:09.

it's been 20 years since this happened, but last night the maryland general assembly adjourned without reaching an agreement on the state budget. >> now lawmakers have to iron out their differences in a special session or do the so- called doomsday budget. is will take effect on the new fiscal year when it starts july 1 if they don't get things ironed out. delia goncalves is live at national harbor, one of the points of contention in this budget. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. you can also say it was one sign of progress that was made last night. it involved the national harbor and a potential billion dollar casino here that officials say would draw $69 million for prince george's county, alone. much more money for the whole state of maryland. lawmakers struck a deal to expand gambling for prince george's county and will discuss the issue that is if itself governor agrees to call a special session. governor martin o'malley gave no clear indication though about his decision on a special

session saying lawmakers need to do the right thing for the future of the state, but also said, you know, they had 90 days to balance the state's $35 billion budget. >> for prince george's 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 revenues that we'll get from the casino bill. >> reporter: that's rushern baker, the county executive who at the last minute started supporting this proposal saying it would draw a lot of money into the county, money that he can find in no other avenue. there are those severe consequences if the general assembly does not go into a special session. that is that doomsday budget you were alluding to earlier, mike, which will force the state to essentially balance

the budget through a million dollars in cuts. we'll talk more about the potential cuts in my next live report at 5:30. >> delia goncalves reporting live from national harbor in prince george's county. 5:04 now. a 6-year-old boy is dead after finding a gun and pulling the trigger. now the owner of that weapon could be facing charges. the little boy found the revolver inside a backpack yesterday afternoon. according to police, he accidentally shot himself with it. he was pronounced dead at the hospital. the boy lived with his great grandmother in clinton. the 20-year-old gun owner also lived at the same home but is not a relative. investigators will also look into whether or not he owned that gun legally. prince george's county police are also investigating a deadly shooting involving one of their own officers that officer got out of his patrol car on sheriff road in landover to speak with three men acting suspiciously but the men ran away. when the air caught up with one of them, police say the suspect resisted efforts to taser him and went for a gun. the officer shot and killed the

suspect. the officer has been placed on routine administrative leave. wildfires have scorched more than 1100 acres of national forest land in five virginia counties. the fires stretch across the george washington jefferson national forest. on the outskirts of our viewing area, close to 700 acres have burned in page and shenandoah counties and several roads and trails are closed now. so far the fires have not threatened any structures. it is 5:05. time for the latest your money report of the morning. >> headline time with jessica. a few bruises yesterday. >> we're actually coming off of the worst four-day stretch for the market so far this year. we're going to try to crawl our way back from yesterday. rough day for investors. the dow stands this morning back below 13,000. wall street selling off of course following last week's disappointing unemployment report that came out on friday. checking the numbers, the dow lost about 130 points in trading yesterday. the nasdaq was off by 33 points and the s&p 500 was down by

almost 16. the parent company of outback steakhouse plans to once again become a publicly trading company. restaurant brands include outback steak house, carraba's italian grill, bone fish. i'm hungry now. now to a story just because come with me to tokyo where a certain cafe serves more than just sugar and coffee. those are bunnies. this cafe has rabbits for customers to come in and play with. apparently apartments in tokyo are spoo small to have -- too small to have pets so people come to this cafe to get their cuddle fix. rabbits can read your feelings they say and they'll do what they can to make you happy. >> that's really cute. >> that's so cute. >> i love them. >> if you have too much coffee, you'll get a little hopped up.

good night, everybody. >> tell us what you have for the next half-hour. >> we'll move from something really cute to something really concerning. there are new health concerns about nail polish and we'll talk about that coming up. the navy starts compensating people left homeless by last week's fiery crash. that story is coming up. >> that sounds exactly like gunfire, right? those, though, are hail stones the size of soft balls. we'll have more on the severe weather and where it happened in the nation's midsection. >> the redskins presumptive first draft pick arrived for a meeting with team officials. we'll be back.

good morning. we have mostly clear skies this morning. we do have some cool temperatures, though. temperatures are down in the 40s in some cases, near 50 in town till the 9:00 hour. we'll peak out right around 60 degrees but watch out for the wind late other this afternoon of the we're talking wind gusts above 20 miles per hour. looks like well t will be a pretty good evening tonight as we start to clear things out. only a scant shower chance in the forecast. then we cool things down for tomorrow and for thursday. monika? the southbound side of i- 270 here's what it looks like in clarks burke. no problems to report coming out of frederick and i-75 all -- i-70 all the way into rockville. a closer look at maryland roads at 5:16. making news now at 5:09

this morning, you can hear the power of hail stones. it sounds like gunfire. this is northwest of oklahoma. two people were injured. many cars were damaged as you might imagine. these hail stones, some of them got as big as softballs. the hail knocked out every single skylight at one county jail. there were also at least two tornadoes confirmed. wow. now to the trayvon martin case where the special prosecutor has announced he will not present the case to a grand jury. instead angela corey will decide herself whether to file any criminal charges against george zimmerman. state prosecutors have ruled out a first-degree murder charge in the case. the u.s. navy has already started handing out compensation checks to victims of the jet crash in virginia beach. last friday the fa-18 crash destroyed dozens of apartments and amazingly no one died or was even seriously hurt. a local group uses volunteers to help children

learn love of reading. we'll introduce you to the literacy lab at 5:56 in today's hero central report. the wizards find a way to win. we'll show you the highlights. >> next at 5:15, a much warmer weekend on the way. details in olga's seven-day forecast. we'll be right back. you're watching 9news now. thanks.

i'll take the usual. got it.

if you're open to choosing your own batter, mix-ins and toppings, come in today and build a stack you'll be proud of. only at denny's. good morning. welcome back to 9news now. it's coming up on 5:14.

here with olga breese in for howard bernstein today. i thought this morning meant we weren't going to have as windy conditions as we had yesterday but you say i'm wrong. >>it's coming. we're getting a little bit of a break right now so there really are no complaints. our winds right now about 10 miles per hour, 15 miles per hour. i consider that reasonable. once we get up toward 18, 20 mile per hour sustained, then things get dangerous. we've been dry. dew point is low. humidity is low and yes, there is fire danger later on this afternoon. the forecast for today, it's going to start out on the sunny side. make sure you take the sunglasses with you. the day planner has cleared us out. the moisture is off the coast. again the dry air is going to stick around. we should make it out of the 40s and through the 50s by about the 9:00 hour but then as we get toward noontime, we'll pretty much top out early in the afternoon with a 60-degree high for reagan national. notice not much change between 12:00 and 4:00.

that's because the winds really start to crank near 20 miles per hour as we get late in the day. gusts higher than that. then we'll start to dive things down later on in the afternoon. breezy for today but we have some practice with that for tomorrow. forecast overall today is windy and cool so be prepared, especially if you're going to be out later on in the day. we will have the high fire danger and red flag warning kicks in at noontime and goes till 8:00 tonight. so be very, very careful outdoors and our cooler mid week forecast is coming our way. we're going to drop down to the 60s, back into the 50s just for a couple of days with only a slight chance of rain in the extended seven-day outlook. temperatures right now are fairly reasonable. we're not in danger of any freezing around town. we're feeling pretty good arlington and washington into the upper 40s but we do have some of that cooler air, particularly off toward the north. yes, you need the jacket this morning but things should be improving later this afternoon. humidity is very low. we will see the dew points

begin to drop as we get into the afternoon and evening hours and we'll crank up more of that later on in the day. satellite and radar shows what's happening in the atmosphere right now. we've pushed out most of the moisture. we still have a few of the high thin clouds off to the western portions of pennsylvania and down in toward west virginia. a little bit of that cloud cover is going to build in for us later on in the afternoon. here's future contrast prediction of when that should happen. i would say late afternoon, early evening hours as that wind begins to crank. we could see a slight shower north of the metro region but i think most of us will stay dry until we get into tomorrow. overall, though, the forecast is looking pretty good for the short term. i would say the next three days ahead not so bad. our seven-day forecast 60s. wednesday and thursday great for the nats home opener. things will improve as we see a warm-up coming. friday mid-60s, near 70 on saturday and, yes, we might even see 80 degrees by sunday

afternoon. crews have been dealing with a gas leak in northwest d.c. between fox hall and university terrace. i suggest that you go ahead and use arizona avenue to mcarthur as your alternate route. we'll keep you posted on that situation. looks like it may be shut down for a while. otherwise all your major thoroughfares are great. out of the west no problems on the dulles toll road or 66. we'll take a live look at the legion bridge. basically both loops between bethesda, tysons and all the way down into springfield things are looking great although i think they're going to get a little heavier than you're used to with everyone back to work. back over to the maps. this time head over to the north side of town. no problems to report out of college park on the outer loop as you head west to bethesda. we're looking great on 95 out of baltimore. let's take a live look at route 50 inbound side. no problems to report as you leave annapolis all the way to the beltway and through sheverly. coming up in my next report,

we'll focus on southern maryland at 5:24. >> thank you, monika. as you probably know, my buddy check buddy 9news now at noon anchor jc hayward was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. she's going public with her diagnosis in hopes of helping other women. yesterday she shared some good news from one of her doctors. >> she also told me that she did not believe that i would have to have chemotherapy. so that's good but probably radiation four to six weeks, only one minute a day so i won't miss a newscast. >> the viewers are thrilled about that part of it. >> jc's doctors say her cancer is at stage one or two and her breast surgeon says that is because of early detection and it's a more treatable stage. jc met with a plastic surgeon after yesterday's noon show to discuss options for recovery and reconstruction after surgery. we'll hear what happened at that meeting yesterday on today's noon show and you can

learn much more about breast cancer on our website at wusa9.com. just look for our buddy check page urt the futures tab. jc will also be sharing her journey on her website ychayward.com -- jchayward.com. robert griffin iii has been spotted dining with redskins officials in the washington area. >> but the nationals literally throw away a chance for a win against one of their division rivals. highlights coming up in sports. >> before we head to break, let's take another look at the question of the day. 25% of you at home have not done this in the last year. is it a, file your taxes, b, read a book, or c, cook a single meal? >> here's a look at a response posted on our facebook fan page by eric. he said c, because most people just don't have time to cook a meal. >> log on to our facebook fan page, leave your response.

we'll have the answer in our 6:00 hour. can't believe i bought a 6" subway breakfast sub

and got this one free. really? wow, you can buy one 6" sub and get another one free? any 6" sub, before 9am... [ cyclist ] what? wait, you can get one 6" sub and get one free? before 9am... [ tires screech ] buy one 6" sub and get one free? before 9am. [ tires screech ] buy one 6" sub? ...and get another one free? before 9am. all april long. [ male announcer ] subway. eat fresh.

before 9am. all april long. with these new depend real fit briefs,untry and today we are surprising pro football all stars. there's wes, clay and demarcus.what's up guys. now i know you don't need one, but would you try these on for charity and prove just how great the fit is? seriously? no way for charity? let's do it! yup... they're doin it. the best protection now looks, fits and feels just like underwear. let's go drive, use the legs... nice teamwork! they tried on the new depend real fit. get a free sample so you can too. welcome, everyone. i'm olga breese in for howard bernstein this morning. we have clear skies. our day planner will feature looft sunshine. i think we'll make it through the 50s near 60 degrees by your lunch break. later on this afternoon we'll bring in some more of those winds near 20 miles per hour.

the wizards beat up on the only team in the nba with the worst record. >> you go, wizards. rg3 has been spotted in d.c. kristen berset has your morning sports. good morning, everybody. the redskins are wasting no time getting their potential franchise quarterback up to speed. offensive coordinator kyle shanahan flew to waco, texas to spend time with robert griffin iii getting him familiar with the skins offense and play book. he has now blown to washington. goat in yesterday to meet with ed reasonable doubt -- he got in yesterday to meet with redskins coaches. they were spotted dining in tysons corner. that is rg3's first visit with team officials in the d.c. area. to the diamond now. nationals opening up their series with the mets last night. nats up 2-0 in the 3rd. adam laroche nailed one the other way. ryan zimmerman scores easily making it 3-0 nats but the mets were not going away. given to henry rodriguez who

makes an awful throw to first that would ultimately cost them the game because daniel murphy, next batter, walk-off single. mets win 4-3. john wall and the wizards visiting the charlotte bobcats. check out this play. wall taking it coast to coast, find as rookie for the alley- oop slam. the rookie with a double double last night. john wall was in a sharing mood. he had 12 assists on the night this one to jordan crawford. then james singleton who is on a ten-day contract but he had a double double as well. the wiz crush charlotte 113-85. that's going to do it for your morning sports. have a great day. there's another news story with the maryland lottery n. time they have a megamillions winner. that story coming up. maryland lawmakers will have to work overtime if they want to come up with a budget that's not full of a long list of cutbacks. a quick check of the commute now. >> we're taking a look at

southern maryland. no problems here at route 4, pennsylvania avenue as we travel through andrews air force base and down to the wilson bridge into alexandria. coming up in my next report, we'll focus this time around on virginia at 5:29. you're watching 9news now. stay with us. make plans now to join joel and victoria osteen in our nation's capital on saturday, april 28th, for america's night of hope 2012. god is going to take you places that you've never even dreamed of. it's so uplifting in every way, shape, or form. it's probably one of the most inspiring moments that i've had in a long time. he's a god of the future. he's not a god of the past. in philippians, it says "i can do all things through christ who strengthens me."

we are so excited about america's night of hope right here in washington, d.c. at national's park. it's going to be a great evening of music and inspiration. we're looking forward to seeing you. it's going to be beautiful here in april. come spend the weekend with us. bring your friends. bring your family. you won't want to miss it. america's night of hope at national's park in washington, d.c., saturday, april 28th. visit joelosteen.com for ticketing and more information. . . .

good morning. welcome back to 9news now on this tuesday morning. we start by saying good morning. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. we are getting it together. i promise. it's going to work out really well for us. >> by the end of the show. here's monika santami. coffee does it better for me. >> coffee will warm you up maybe maybe. >> the weather? >> it's not bad. about 45 for our low this time of year. i think most of us are constituenting right around that -- are sitting right

around that right now. we do have our winds very nicely at this hour, about 10 miles per hour. no complaints there. things will get a little windy and brink late other this afternoon and we -- brisk later on this afternoon and we ouds l- degr degree mark. yes, it will be a little bit windy. 20 mile per hour winds expected by about 3:00 to 4:00. some gusts even higher than that. that's going to hold down our daytime highs although we're sitting fairly nice at this hour into the 40s. we'll only get close to 60 degrees by later on this afternoon. the next stretch over the next three days not too bad as temperatures will stay in the upper 50s. if you're planning to head outside right now, you know things haven't been too bad for 5:30 in the morning. good morning, everybody. here's the beltway. no problems to report. if you're planning to head in from the west, things are looking great out of centreville toward vienna and the beltway. we're doing fine on the beltway right through annandale and even up here in the tie soans

area. -- tysons area. dulles toll road pretty much the same story heading in from leesburg. here's 66 inside the beltway in rosslyn at lynn street. very, very quiet inside the beltway this morning. so some good news for you. if you're planning to head on the other side of town, let's take a look at the maps again on the northbound side of i-95. just beginning to pick up a bit of volume out of dale city toward the occoquan river. no big deals yet so if you're just heading out the door, you'll be fine. a live look outside and here's what it looks like. 395 at the 14th street bridge. a good indication of 395, the length between the beltway and the potomac river. in my next report, we'll go to the north side of town at 5:39. >> thanks, monika. a closure that messed up some monday evening commutes in northwest washington didn't go away overnight. >> it was all day monday. we were first told by washington gas that a contractor hit a line near the western end of nebraska avenue on lot ofboro road. i got caught in it yesterday.

in the last couple of hours, we've learned that pepco crews are there performing emergency repairs and expect to keep the road closed through the morning rush hour. this is the last weekend you don't have to worry about work on metro trains because of the cherry blossom festival. they did initially suspend all this work and the transit agency released its weekend track schedule for the rest of the year and for 30 out of the next 38 weekends, metro is going to close some stations in sections of track so they can get the work done. it starts april 21. buses will be replacing the trains during these times. here's another thing in need of repairs. the state of maryland's budget. the general assembly finished the 90th and final day of its 2012 session at midnight last night without coming to an agreement on the spending plan for the next fiscal year which starts july 1. 9news now reporter delia goncalves is live at national harbor with more on this story. good morning, delia. >> reporter: good morning, andrea, gambling opponents, including the governor, blame

the national harbor and a billion dollar proposed casino here for last night's stalemate, the governor even calling the 2k3w578ling issue a -- the gambling issue a distraction. the proposed casino would bring in $69 million to prince george's county. lawmakers spent most of last night's session debating a casino project and of course ended the session without passing a budget. that means unless the general assembly goes to a special session, the state must balance the budget through $512 million in cuts. slashes to classrooms, libraries, and police departments in prince george's county would top $65 billion. montgomery county faces a potential loss of $41 million in programs. >> if the budget of the state of maryland goes down and the centers are more concerned about the obsession with gaming than school construction,

school funding, hospitals, higher education money, then let them wear that when they go home and tell their constituents why they had to spend extra time in annapolis. >> reporter: whether or not they'll be spending extra time in annapolis is still up for debate. it is unclear whether or not the governor will approve a special session for lieu makers to -- for lawmakers to consider passing a complete budget and consider a gambling proposal here for national harbor. we'll have much more on this story coming up at 6:00. back to you. >> delia goncalves reporting live from national harbor. a top official in northern virginia plans to seek statewide office. cory stuart is currently the chairman of the prince william board of supervisors. he plans to announce he's running for lieutenant governor next year. stewart planned to run in 2009 but withdrew after bill bolling decided to seek reelection. bolling is now running for governor. today the montgomery county council is holding the first of

five public hearings on next year's budget proposals. all five hearings will take place in the county office building in rockville. tonight's meeting 7:00 p.m. then tomorrow and thursday, they'll be -- there will be hearings at 1:30 and 7:00 on both days. the council expects to approve the final version of the fiscal year 2013 budget by next month. if you'd like to speak, you need to contact the council offices in advance so you can have your comments heard at the hearing. the continuing drama as the lottery turns. we may get a very unsatisfactory ending to the maryland megamillions saga. maryland lottery officials say they have received and verified the winning ticket and they'll hold a news conference later today. that ticket holder is splitting the $656 million grand prize with two other winners. however, the person in maryland wants to remain anonymous and this is allowed under maryland law. it is 4:34. time for another your money report. >> or 5:34 too. jessica doyle is back with health concerns about nail

polish. >> sthat's right. these are serious safety concerns about nail polish. what this is n some nail polish advertise as free of toxic chemicals actually do have high levels of the agents known to cause birth defects. california regulators randomly tested nail polishes. five of seven products claiming to be free of the so-called toxic trio actually weren't. ten in 12 had dangerously high levels of one chemical. the report being released today determined that the mislabeled nail products have the potential to harm thousands of women in that state alone. i've added an article to wusa9.com that lists the names of the products involved in this study. the federal government plans to come out with new rules to help more homeowners avoid foreclosure. congressman dated changes to the mortgage industry aft 2008 financial crisis. the latest proposal will be announced by the consumer financial protection bureau today. it would require mortgage companies to give all borrowers

standardized monthly statements. they would also be required to warn borrowers about interest rate or insurance changes, make good faith efforts to contact borrowers at risk of foreclosure and give them options to avoid losing their homes. a new king on broadway. figures show "the lion king" has bumped the phantom of the opera to become broadway's all time highest grossing show. the musical has earned $854 million since its debut on broadway 14 years ago. phantom of the opera now in its 24th year still holds the title of longest running show in broadway history. >> great shows. >> awesome. >> jessica will be back in a couple of minutes to reveal today's daily deals. >> find out how you can weigh in on the designs for the national mall. when i get terrible congestion from my allergies,

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get claritin-d at the pharmacy counter. live claritin clear. welcome back. we are looking good outside

this morning. clear skies. we'll have some sunshine through midday and late day but temperatures will be in the upper 50s for highs. notice the winds. by 5:00 20 mile per hour winds, plus gusts even higher than that. that gives us a red flag warning, kicks in at noon and runs till 8:00. there's an accident now if you're coming in from southern maryland inside the beltway on route 5 at silver hill road. crews are just arriving on the scene in temple hills. meantime route 4 is incident free inside the beltway. coming up in my next report, more on than and other area roads at 5:48. we've been combing through the retailer wep sites to find you -- websites to find you deep discounts. attention tax procrastinators. you know you're out there. offers.com reached out to me with this deal for you. specifically 45% off services with h&r block online. that's going to save you nearly 16 bucks for the basic version. this deal good through april 13. a reminder one week until the

i.r.s. tax deadline. get it double, people. if you're a bradley fan, if you spend $75 on the company's website, you'll get a free cosmetics bag worth $36. the deal is good just for today. and here's the deal of the day on bestbuy.com. if you use apple's i itunes for music, books, whatever, you'll get 20% off with this deal. the u tiewns discount -- itunes discount codes are good for digital delivery. i would love to hear from you on facebook if you have a deal for our viewers. there are eight finalists in a design competition for the national mall. >> their plans are for one of two spots on the mall that need improvements. one is the amphitheater at the washington monument. the other is constitution gardens near the lincoln memorial. the eight finalists were selected from 32 entries and their designs are on display at the mao museum of american

history and public comments are welcome. >> the national mall really is the people's park. so having people get involved anden vision the future of the national -- and envision the future of the national mall and hear their views is hugely important. >> deadline to comment is this sunday. if you can't make it to the museum, you can check out the designs and submit your opinions online for a link to the website go to wusa9.com. look for the story under district news. the winners will be announced next month. the conflict in syria spills over that country's borders. the story coming up. plus, firefighters spend the night trying to knock down some wind-driven flames along the east coast. we'll tell you where that is. it is 5:41. here's some people celebrating a birthday today, the 10th of april. oscar nominated actor and winner max von sydow is 83. omar that reef is 80. football commentator, super

bowl winning coach john madden is 76. >> steven segal turns 61. orlando jones is 44. if it's your birthday today, happy birthday. we'll be right back.

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thanksi'll take the usual. got it. if you're open to choosing your own batter, mix-ins and toppings, come in today and build a stack you'll be proud of. only at denny's. good morning. 5:45. welcome back to 9news now. olga breese is here. she has your weather first. >> looks good. so far this morning it's been on the cool side. i think you'll want the jacket as you step out. by midday most of us should make it to the upper 50s by the lunch break. some cloud cover later on this afternoon but it does look like we'll crank up the winds later on today. day planner does feature a lot of sunshine to start off with midday and late day, though, that forecast is going to get a little bit warmer for us. so that's a good thing.

if you're getting the kids ready to head out to the bus stop, they do need a jacket. 40s and 50s through the 8:00 and 9:00 hour and then things should improve with all that sunshine later on in the day. it looks like the forecast today is going to stay a little bit on the windy side. it's going to be school like it was yesterday. the temperature, the thermometer will go up a little bit but the wind gusts are going to make it feel much cooler, especially if you are in the shade. by late afternoon, though, we start to kick in noontime till 8:00 tonight the red flag warning. that's because our dew points are low. the terrain is dry and we're cranking those winds with very, very low humidity. i'm tracking some cooler temperatures on the way for wednesday, thursday, and as we get into friday we'll see a slight warm-up and a return of some showers in our forecast for the short term only. forecast right now not so bad. we're sitting into the 40s inside the beltway. a little bit towards the lower 40s the further you go off to the -- you go off to the north and the west. we'll see an opportunity for the winds to crank up.

right now a southwest wind at 6 miles per hour is very reasonable but as we get late in the day, things will are changing. satellite and radar has cleared us out nicely since the overnight period. we're tracking a little bit of cloud cover west of the blue ridge. that's going to slide in rater on in the day. -- later on in the day. a slight chance for a raindrop in the forecast later on this afternoon north of the beltway. i think most of us inside the metro area are going to stay dry. future cast does bring some of that moisture in. i would say after 5:00 in the evening. again most of it hits baltimore, harrisburg, up toward philadelphia. we get clearing skies overnight tonight and that means our temperatures are going to go down once again back into the 30s and 40s. then for tomorrow, tomorrow afternoon we build in a lot of cloud cover and that is our better chance for seeing these scattered showers. it's not going to be an all day rain event and we're really not going to get too much moisture out of it but you want your umbrella for tomorrow and things start to clear out nicely as we head into thursday for the nats home opener. the short-term forecast looks good. today we get up into the lower

60s, upper 50s for most of us and things are looking pretty good. 50s for tomorrow. winds start to die down as we head into thursday. not so bad but look at friday, saturday and sunday as we head toward the weekend. our subaru seven-day forecast takes us toward 80 degrees. overall things have been looking pretty good. i'm beginning to see the volume increase in the camera. that's to be expected as we approach the 6:00 hour. but in the meantime beltway is running well. this accident inside the beltway route 5, branch avenue at silver hill road was cleared but now at nailer and branch avenue, the sing natural lights are out -- signal lights are out and police are trying to deal with that situation. 295 is fine inside the beltway as is 395 heading for the 14th street bridge. if you're planning to head northbound on i-95, this is what it looks like in springfield. you've got that slow stretch in woodbridge and gendz springfield -- and again springfield. let's go back over to the maps. this time all the way to the

north side of town. no problems to report on 270, i- 70 and 270 is just slowing down just a bit, 45 miles per hour out of urbana into clarksburg and it looks great to the point where the lanes divide. a live look the at spur on democracy boulevard and no problems heading for the beltway. in my gex report, we'll go -- in my next report, we'll go to the north side of town at 6:00. the united nations has waited to see whether syria's government will honor a cease- fire broker by special envoy kofi annan. that deal was supposed to take effect today. >> but yesterday the civil strife in the country spilled across the borders two of of syria's neighbors, both lebanon and turkey. >> reporter: government forces are supposed to withdraw from syrian cities today. but activists claim this video of burning buildings and homes shows syrian forces were still engaged in battles monday, hours before the deadline. >> not only has the violence not abated, it has been worse

in recent days. >> reporter: yesterday the violence spilled over the boarder into lebanon and turkey. people were seen running from the syria-turkey boarder as a gun battle broke out near a refugee camp. at least two people died in the attack. this man lives in turkey and showed bullet holes in the walls of his hope. he says our house was also hit. we are not safe here. according to the peace plan, united nations special envoy kofi annan brokered, today the assad regime must pull troops out of cities and begin a cease- fire within 48 hours. >> it's done some moving around of its tanks and artillery but only so that it can use them in other places. >> reporter: president obama is watching today's developments closely. a whitehouse spokesman says the international community will meet to discuss what the next move will be if today's deadline is not met. >> we certainly have seen no signs yet of the assad regime abiding by its commitments which is obviously quite unfortunate. >> reporter: the peace plan appeared to break down over the

weekend when president assad demanded rebels agree in writing that they would lay down their weapons. opposition groups say they will obey the cease-fire as long as government forces stop fighting. making news now at 5:51, a police affidavit says the two suspects in the tulsa, oklahoma shooting spree have both confessed. 19-year-old jake england and 32- year-old alvin watts are accused of shooting five people last friday. they're charged with first- degree murder. three of the victims died. all of the victims were black. jury selection is under way in the trial of the man accused of murdering jennifer hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. if convicted 30-year-old william balfour of chicago faces a life sentence. illinois abolished the death penalty. the singer and actress jennifer hudson is expected to attend the trial once the testimony starts. commuter trains in connecticut had to halt service

because of brushfires. gusty winds made it more difficult for firefighters to put out the flames. there have also been some evacuations overnight on long island because of fires. 5:52. let's take another look at the question of the day. 25% of us didn't do one of these things last year. is it arks file your taxes, -- a, file your taxes, b, read a book or c, cook a single meal. >> ryan wrote b, read a book because not a lot of people read books like my teachers say. why read a book when you can watch the movie. >> really? teachers say that? log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page and leave your response. we'll have the answer in about an hour. >> the clock struck midnight and maryland lawmakers failed to reach a deal on the state's budget. more on that coming glup we recognize a tutoring program that helps students catch up and excel in all things reading. read a book. jessica, over to you. >> well, this is one of the hottest items for a local thief.

coming up a big announcement that will help protect you if your cell phone gets stolen. i'll have the details coming up. you're watching 9news now. i bathed it in miracles. director: [ sighs ] cut! sorry to interrupt. when's the show? well, if we don't find an audience, all we'll ever do is rehearse. maybe you should try every door direct mail. just select the zip codes where you want your message to be seen, print it yourself, or we'll help you find a local partner and you find the customers that matter most. brilliant. clifton, show us overjoyed. no, too much. jennessa. ah! a round of applause. [ applause ] [ male announcer ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance

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welcome back. at 5:55, i'm meteorologist olga breese in for howard bernstein this morning. we're off to a school start although our temperatures are here in the 40s. inside the beltway 30s. outside the beltway it's feeling a little cooler due to the winds we have. about 5 to 10 mile per hour winds at this time making it feel a few degrees cooler. as we go through the day, we'll increase the cloud cover from midday into late afternoon. we'll crank up those winds and even bring in a little bit of

moisture late in the day. but the shower chances should hold off for the evening. mike, andrea? >> thanks, olga. 86% of eighth graders in washington, d.c. read well below their grade level, according to a new study. >> but it's been proven that without good reading skills, students face limited opportunities. jc hayward takes us to the literally lab. >> reporter: what do you want to be when you grow up? >> i want to be a teacher. >> reporter: the literacy lab is 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. >> with the lit say lab, the -- literacy lab, the tutors are responsible for maybe just one student at a time. every teacher wants to be able to devote their attention to every student so this is really ideal. >> reporter: ashley johnson, a former high schoolteacher is

the founder and executive director of literacy lab. >> i've learned that it is possible for students to make significant growth quickly with consistent instruction from a professional adult who's coming twice a week for two hours each time. the student can make huge gains and you can see the student really actually enjoy reading rather than tying to avoid it -- trying to avoid it. >> reporter: i want to share this with you because i think it's so important. it's ten great reasons to understand. read to understand the past, explore your world, plan for your future, view new places, create new things, make good decisions, exercise your mind, keep in touch, read because you can. when a student gets into the litty lab program, not only do they change their reading scores but they actually change their life. shannon, the principal of smothers 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 six and a half hours that we have the students all day. we have a lot of curriculum that we have to accomplish in that time. so any type of partnership that we can have in the outside that's willing to come in and help our students in the afternoon when they're here from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. is an enhancement to our program all around. >> reporter: literacy lap operates in 45 d.c. schools and works with 300 students. they keep students engaged by using a variety of techniques, including songs, poems, articles, and comics. hut si lab works closely with teachers and -- 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. >> reporter: i'm jc hayward, 9 news now. >> best compliment from a student. the program has been very successful and many students' reading skills have improved

two lefts during the six-month program. if you'd like more information about this program, go to jchayward.com and click on the hero central tab. thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. good morning. here is monika santami. >> doing great. >> olga breese is here with weather first. >> starting off on the cool side but it's not so bad. we're above freezing, always a good thing this time of year. we are looking at some winds starting to crank up later on this afternoon. for the short term i think you're going to be fine when you get going this morning. temperatures will move out of the 40s into the as by 9:00. we should hit a high upper 50s to near 60 degrees by about noontime. then the winds really ramp up. 20 mile per hour winds later on this afternoon. that's definitely going to keep our temperatures on the cool side. it's going to feel cool. it's feeling a little coolt