son's voice. >> we have a long journey in order to finish what we set out to do and that's to get justice for trayvon. >> reporter: if convicted zimmerman faces 25 years to life in prison. manuel gallegus, cbs news, sanford, florida. >> after the shooting in late february, police let zimmerman go sighting florida's stand your ground law. u.s. officials say a rocket launch by north korea broke up about 90 seconds after lift- off. it appears the debris fell into the water and did not hit any populated areas. north korea claimed the launch was a peaceful mission to send a satellite into space. the u.s. is concerned they're trying to develop a nuclear missile. the security council is also considering sending as many as 30 unarmed military observers to syria. they would monitor the cease- fire between government forces and opposition fighters. a draft of a proposal for the deployment demondays the syrian government ensure freedom of

movement for the observers and the ability to interview anyone they want in private. it also calls on government -- the government to withdrew its weapons from heavily populated areas back to their barracks. students face the reality of a tuition hike and it could be a healthy one t. could go between 10% and 13%, an extra $900 for most students. students are blaming the maryland state legislature letting the clock run out without passing a tax package that would have funded spending for education. lawmakers instead chose a budget with steep cuts for many government programs, including education. the governor is not happy about it. >> for crying out loud, there's more important things at stake here than whether or not we have a sixth site for gambling in the state of maryland. five, six. none of that matters as much to me as making sure that our children are given the best education they can.

>> governor o'mally says he does want a special session and is willing to call for it but is not going to call for one until he knows the house and senate leadership has reach add consensus on what -- reached a consensus on what can be accomplished. the proposed metro fare hikes we've been telling you for months is one step closer to reality. the increase was unanimously approved last night. it calls for the average peak rail fare to go up 5.7%. the extra dollar would be charged any time someone uses a paper fare card. the proposals also eliminate the peak of the peak surcharge and would add a one day and 28- day rail passes. the plan heads to the full metro board for a vote. if passed the changes will take effect july 1. the bus drivers union in montgomery county is threatening to sue the county to get what it is calling dangerous and unsafe ride on buses off the road. >> just if you think that is inflammatory and a toric, wait

-- and a restoric, wait -- restoric -- rhetoric, wait sill i see the pictures -- till you see the pictures. >> reporter: we have pictures from 2010 and 2011. fires have not started in just one place. >> electrical overhead panels. it's just -- if it was just pinpointed in one spot, we could get a handle on it and fix the problem. but it's not. these are fires that started in numerous spots and there's no way to predict where the next fire is going to start at on the vehicle. we'd like to see the county take these buses off the road immediately. >> reporter: the fires have moved quickly according to the drivers. >> he told me he had stepped off the vehicle, called his supervisor, told him that the bus was on fire, to dispatch 911. he said that there was so much smoke and flame that he

couldn't even get back in the bus to grab a fire extinguisher to fight the fire. >> reporter: in silver spring, we found one broken down giving mechanics fits. we also found passengers who ride them with some frequency. >> twice a week. it makes me get scared because it's public safety. if they're not good, they should be taken away. >> it bothers me because i'm scared if i ride the bus -- [indiscernible] >> reporter: drivers fear getting wheelchair bound passengers off in time in case of a fire. >> people panic and the -- most of the buses now only have one door, not like the authority buses where everybody come to the engine, towards the engine and that's normally where the fires are. >> reporter: so getting them off is dangerous. >> very dangerous. >> reporter: half a dozen burned out shells at a county lot in gaithersburg. >> at a -- out of a fleet of 48, 50 buses, i would say, you know, we lose over 10% of the fleet to total fire is pretty

bad. >> reporter: the national highway traffic safety administration has begun an investigation of the bus divers and attempts by 9news now to ascertain montgomery county's position have not yet been met with a response. gary nurenberg, 9news now. >> more than 360 firefighters from 23 states are now working to contain the wildfires in a v.a. -- in virginia. right now several fires are burning throughout the commonwealth. they burned nearly 17,000 acres. the largest is still in allegheny county. another in page county now stretches six miles long and has charred more than 5,000 acres. large fires are also burning in both craig and shenandoah counties. it is 4:35. let's take a look at some of the other stories making news now. a police chief is dead and four other officers are injured after a shooting in a small town of greenland, new hampshire. police and federal agents attempted to search a home for drugs when a gunman inside

started firing. officers are now in a standoff with that suspect who is still inside the home at this point. two coast guard members shot and killed on an island off the alaskan coast appear to be victims of a double homicide. another coast guard member found the two yesterday. the commanding officer of the base says the shootings took place soon after the two arrived for work and now federal investigators are on the island searching for clues and a possible suspect in the shootings. a pennsylvania judge has refused to throw out charges against jerry sandusky. a lawyer for the former penn state assistant coach had argued the statute of limitations might have run out for eight of the ten alleged victims. but the judge rejected that argument. he also rejected another argument that the child sex abuse charges were not specific enough. sandusky faces more than 50 counts of abusing ten boys. he denies the allegations. time 4:36. coming up at 4:40, a good day for a key internet company adds

up for a good day on wall street. at 4:50, a man who answer add tweet from a major league pitcher received a once in a lifetime experience. we're back with your weather first in two minutes. weekend details next.

4:39 on this friday morning. we're in for a nice weekend. we really need some rain. i'm going to hook up the automatic timer on my soaker hose to help the garden. we're going to have a lot of sunshine today. by 3:00 65. highs mid if not upper 60s. very even warmer temperatures now for the rest of the weekend. that forecast in just a few minutes. here's monika santami with time saver traffic. howard, on the westbound side of i-66 overnight there

had been construction at nutley street blocking the two right lanes. looking closely, looks like the cones have been moved to the shoulder and all lanes are open. coming up in my next report, another look at area roads at 4:47. time now for the first your money segment this morning. jessica is off but we do have the headlines. google did not disappoint when it comes to its urges report. -- earnings report. they reported profits topping analyst estimates. sales rose to more than $8 billion on strong demand for new services. google also announce add two for one stock split. wish i had that stock making the stock affordable for many investors. this ahead their biggest two- day rally on the news that the u.s. trade deficit this rank in february and -- this rank -- shrank in february and the s&p 500 was up more than 18 points. maryland students apparently can expect to be in debt for years to come. a new report out by the

consumer credit management company finds that maryland college students are carrying more student loan debt than any other students in the country. it adds up to about $33,704. virginia the average debt is $31,704 which those are both well above the national average of $29,523 in debt. for families trying to keep the cost of college down, the government has a new website to help you do that. the consumer financial protection bureau site lets you compare three schools at a time. so say you live in maryland and your child is considering heading to college in college park at in state rates or gw in the district or george mason in virginia. you can see the average amount the students end up borrowing at maryland is just over $13,000. gw you end up borrowing $27,000 and mason it's about $28,000. following the crowd appears to be a natural instinct of human nature. >> when we return in two

minutes, we will bring you the findings of a study. plus, we also have your weather first.

good morning. happy friday 13th. it's a good luck day because the forecast you're going to hear from howard in his words is going to be spectacular. >> it's a great weekend to get out and do some yard work, grill. >> really? you don't have to worry about the fire zane senator. >> well, -- fire danger? >> well, if you have a controlled burn. don't go out and -- it is rather dry. we do need the rain. i'm starting talking about our rain deficit. it has been a very warm, dry start to the year. looking at the numbers you'll see we've only had about 5.7 inches of rain here in washington. we should have over ten. we have a four and a half inch rain deficit. the same at dulles and

baltimore. not quite as dry in martinsburg. almost three and a half inches in the hole. when we look at the drought conditions, this gets updated weekly from the u.s. drought monitor folks. they look at how much soil moisture and other conditions. abnormally dry conditions across much of the east coast. then a moderate draught in delaware. severe draught. two more levels that go to extreme and historic. so this is a trend unfortunately we don't want to get into. we need some rain and it doesn't look like we'll have much in the way of rain chances till maybe next tuesday or wednesday at this point. yeah, a dry weekend ahead. your bus stop forecast, not bad this morning. it is a little bit on the chilly side. we've got some 30s and 40s out there. it's currently cloudy in many areas. we'll call it partly to mostly cloudy with 30s and 40s. the sun is going to come back in just a few hours. a delightful day ahead with temperatures well up in the 60s. this morning we have a frost advisory in the darker blue counties north and west of town and a freeze warning well north

and west. you can see it's not the district but montgomery, howard, fauquier, points north and west. this patch of clouds has been coming at us overnight. you see it right here on top of it. that will be around for another hour. the timing is really good because it acts like a blanket and prevents us from getting too cold. i think that will prevent a lot of the freeze and a lot of the frost concerns. our weather headlines, a real pleasant afternoon ahead with mid- to upper 60s. 70s on saturday. as we head into sunday, 80s. i think low, maybe mid-80s and monday looks to be the warmest day. i think we'll be in the mid-80s and some areas i wouldn't be surprised if they made a run toward upper 80s. monday is going to be a very warm day. monday very warm day. 45 in easton. it's in the 30s in hagerstown down through the shenandoah valley and culpeper and gaithersburg. here in washington this morning we've got cloudy skies.

looking outside, good visibility. flags not standing nearly as straight as they have been the last few mornings at the capitol with 47 degrees. only a north, northwest wind at 6 miles an hour. one of the big keys for today, it's not going to be windy. it's been so windy for the last week or so. still have a lot of storm activity out in the western u.s. they're getting pounded again with more rain and mountain snows here across much of california, especially north of l.a. rains and storms in the plains here heading toward the mississippi valley. but the east other than a few showers yesterday out toward our east, well, pretty quiet. so that patch of clouds this morning, it quickly leaves the region. by this afternoon we're sunny. by mid-morning we're sunny. we stay clear basically overnight tonight. tomorrow looks like a little system is going to pass mainly to our north. we may get a few clouds in the afternoon and tomorrow night. going to be on the warm side of the equation with 70s tomorrow. we stay in that warmer air for sunday and monday as well.

so warmest numbers i've put this season on the seven-day. 67 today. 74 tomorrow. tonight we're only going to be in the 40s or so. so very comfortable tonight. 50s tomorrow night. by sunday 84. one of the reasons i'm going to warm, it's just dry and the dry ground heats up more quickly. monday 86. that's in town. again south and west even warmer. tuesday 75. could be an afternoon or evening shower or storm into wednesday. then only about 70 but still pretty nice on thursday. monika santami is here at 4:48. she has time saver traffic. >> good morning, everybody. i'm happy to say it's an easy friday morning. no big problems to report around town. the beltway is looking great. here's 270 and i-70 coming in from the north. looking great out of agreed rick through -- frederick through damascus all the way down to germantown and the point where the lanes divide. at the american legion bridge, this is what you should expect if that's where you're headed. a few people out and about but no big deal the entire stretch

of the beltway. let's go back over to the maps this time to southern maryland. those of who you come out of accokeek, you're going to be fine on route 210. broondzywine, no -- brandywine, no problems on route a. a live look at route 50 coming in from annapolis past i-97 to the beltway you're going to be fine. coming up in my next report at 4:55, we'll take a look at 270. drinking reds wine could help you keep weight -- red wine could help keep weight off. the study found there's a compound in red wine and grapes that controls body fat. the substance delays the cellar -- cellular process that allows the fat cells to form and prevents them from growing. researchers hope findings from this will eventually lead to a method to control obesity. nearly one out of three athletic injuries in college is from overusing the muscles. it happens in the low contact sports. long training sessions and repetitive motions are the

culprits. rowing, softball, volleyball, cross-country and track and field are the most common sports when it comes to overuse injuries. doctors say the injuries get worse gradually which means it takes longtory diagnose and treat them. a new study throws more light on the power of peer pressure. a. they found toddlers are more likely to copy an action if they see three of their peers do it first. that doesn't hold true if they see it just one peer do it three times. the study's conclusion is that even at the age of 2, the majority influences people. >> interesting. a tweet from a major league pitcher led to the ultimate game of catch for a denver man. >> earlier this week jeremy guffrey took to twittory find a partner to play catch. we have more. >> i live downtown. very my glove. so i said let's do it. >> reporter: woody roseland's

quick reply paid off. next you know he was at coors field hanging out with the newly acquired ace of the rockies staff. >> i was like, how do you like pitching at coors? this is the first day i've even been at coors. i just walked out to the field. tried the glove and ball and found a good spot in the outfield, played catch. >> reporter: they tossed the ball around and talked for about half an hour but it wasn't all about baseball. as you can see, woody's an amputee. the 21-year-old lost his leg to cancer, a fight he's been waging the last five years. >> you just like expect it to be like the worst thing in the world but when you're actually -- you just have to deal with it on a daily basis and use a prosthetic, it hasn't been as bad as i expected. >> reporter: that positive attitude is exactly why woody took a chance answering a tweet. he got a day and a souvenir he'll never forget. oh, but playing catch with jeremy guthrie was actually the

second best part of a very good day. >> this morning i went to my doctor's. they checked my counts and they're back up which means i'm officially done with cancer and chemotherapy once and for all. i found that out this morning. then i'm going to hang out with jeremy this afternoon. >> great story. that was vehicle lombardi reporting. the day after the game of catch, guthrie tweeted this. cool in an attempt to make someone's day, someone made my day and touched my life. time for the question of the morning. by the time the average american student graduates from high school, they've done this at least 1,000 times. is it a, taken a test or exam, b, fallen asleep in class, or c, eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. >> if you are falling asleep, you're not a graduate i'm thinking. log on to wusa9's facebook fan page and leave your answer.

we'll have the answer to the question in the 6:00 hour.

s. >> welcome back. 4:55. your weather first on this friday morning. you'll need a jacket early. we're going to see a good deal of sunshine. northerly winds. only about 5, 7, 8 miles an hour. not that windy at all. temperatures mid if not upper 60s and even warmer for the weekend. we'll have pore on that coming up on -- more on that coming up on 9news now. here's the beltway north of town in silver spring at georgia avenue between bethesda and college park. all lanes are open both loops of the beltway and no problems coming south on 270 from frederick. we'll go south of town at 5:01. frederick county public schools will close may 18 because of the g8 summit being held at nearby camp david.

this is at the qf the county sheriff. he -- request of the county sheriff. he cited safety concerns and congestion with all the news media traveling through the country. advance placement testing, proms will still all go on as scheduled. the virginia state capital building has been selected as one of the most ten influence buildings in the country. a program called ten buildings that changed america is set to air next year. virginia's capital building was first occupied in 1788 and has influenced the design of dozens of other buildings. everything from the u.s. capitol to banks all across the country. do you remember the days when you would pull into the gas station and there was someone to pump your gas, clean your windows and check your tire pressure and you weren't on the jersey turnpike? they still do those things at holland automotive, a full gas

station but monday morning they won't offer the services. you'll which to pump your own gas. the gas station owner blames it on the rising price of gas and just about everything else. while customers say they understand, they still hate to see it go. >> everything has to come to an end. >> if a customer can't physically manage the gas pump, they will still gladly offer a helping hand. what's old is new again in northwest washington. >> after decades in the dark, the curtain finally went up once again at the howard theater. matt jab low was there last night along with the constellation of stars from the music world. for 60 years from 1910 to 1970, it was a vital part of washington's cultural scene hosting some of the country's most famous and influential musicians. >> ellington to ella. now i get to sing tonight. >> reporter: after being closed

for more than 40 years, the howard theatre is back. according to its early reviews, better than ever. >> it's nothing like it was. it's so much better. >> reporter: tonight's grand reopening of the howard complete with a red or purple carpet to match the color theme comes after a two-year, $29 million renovation. >> we had a great time. i'm happy that they're refurbishing it and it's going to bring quality entertainment back to washington, d.c. >> reporter: tonight's big event hosted in part by bill cosby was a wonderful mix of the old and the new and the r&b music scene. >> it's like coming home. it's wonderful. >> reporter: perhaps more importantly, a wonderful opportunity to reflect on all that the howard theatre was. >> it was a beautiful theatre

then. i enjoyed my stay here. the audiences were incredible to me. >> reporter: and all that it now promises to be. >> i'm excited. >> reporter: in northwest washington, matt jablow, 9news now. >> good sound. and it's just beginning. now they start their regular concert series for people to go and enjoy. good morning and thank you for hopefully enjoying us on 9news now at 5:00 a.m. and getting some information that you can use. i'm andrea roane. we might even sing now later. probably not. i'm mike hydeck. happy friday. here's monika santami. >> he will. >> no, i won't. i need a rehearsal first. traffic momentarily. howard breaks into song regularly. stay tuned. >> i'm a triple threat. weather wise we have a great weekend ahead. we need rain. it's not going to happen so let's just enjoy the warm temperatures that are headed our way. looking at today's day planner, it's chilly.