this is 9 nice now. >> good afternoon. it is a beautiful day out there today and no need to be afraid of friday the 13th. take a look at live pictures. >> here is more. the weekend will be even more spectacular. >> we need rain, but it won't happen this week, maybe next

week. a spectacular weekend as you said with springtime temperatures. in fact by sunday, monday, it will feel hot around here. >> we have an area of high pressure in control as we look at the satellite and radar loop. >> we are watching that activity. that is going to move more to the east northeast. generally north of us, is that jet stream track takes us north and warmer air will move in especially as we head into sunday and monday. >> this morning, it was cold. got down to freezing in frederick. we stopped at 47 at reagan national. it heats up quickly. we're already at 60 in town. mid- to upper 50s in the shenandoah valley. >> another thing to day, the winds have been rather light, north 5 to 10. we're looking very comfortable. over the next through days through the weekend, mid-70s

tomorrow and low to mid-80s sunday. couldn't even be warmer than that on monday. i'll come back and talk about seven-day forecast and talk about when we may get some much- needed rain. >> thank you. new at noon, a teenager is recovering after he was hit by a train. it happened about 8:30 this morning. investigators say the 17-year- old was walking on the tracks and had his arm clipped by the train. he was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay. train traffic was shut down for some time but everything is back to normal this afternoon. today we may find out who the winner is in that race. they will count 5 those absentee and professional

ballots. >> a possible tuition hike, the board of regents is meeting at the university. the cost increase at the university could be between 10 and 13%. that means students could have to pay an extra $900. all of this is being blamed on the maryland state legislature failure to pass a tax package monday. a university spokesman tells 9 news, a vote is likely to happen in june. george zimmerman remains in jail this afternoon making his first appearance inside a florida courtroom. the neighborhood watch leader claims he acted in self-defense when he killed trayvon martin. he is charged with second- degree murder and is being held in a cell. zimmerman's attorney says his client is scared.

>> to know that he is facing charges that could put him in prison for life, you know, how could you not be freight fenned. >> zimmerman will have a bail hearing next week and at that time he may be asking to be released from jail. north korea awe launch of a multistage rocket ended in failure with the rocket falling into the sea. but the launch is being seen as a threat to the region. danielle nottingham has more. >> reporter: the un security council is meeting in an emergency session after north korea's failed rocket launch. >> it is indirect violation of 1874 and threatens regional stability. >> north korean officials says the rocket was supposed to deliver a satellite into orbit. the first stage ignited as planned. 100 seconds later it burned out

and splashed down 100 miles west of seoul. it exploded on re-entry. >> i'm sure north koreans will go ahead with their space program because if they can sell it will deliver a blow to their regime. >> they dispatched a delegation to meet with south korean officials. the white house called the launch a provocative act that threatens national security and violates international law. the obama administration this tenned to stop sending. russian foreign minister also denounced the launch but said russia opposes any further u.s. sanctions against north korea. the rocket's failure is a major setback for north korea's new leader who attended a ceremony honoring his father and

grandfather just after the launch. >> that was danielle nottingham reporting. the rocket was the same type that could be used to strike the u.s. or other countries with the long-range missile. >> our dangerous buck fires putting the fires in danger. they are threatening to get the county to get the ride on buses off the road. they are threatening to sue. they have caught fire at least six times. >> overhead panels. if it was just pinpointed one spot, we would get a handle on it and fix the problem, but it is not. these are fires that started numerous spots and there is no way to predict where the next fire will start on the vehicle. >> the national highway traffic safety administration has begun an investigation of the bus fires. montgomery county did not respond to explain its position on the bus issue.

take care of your trash. that is the message from the police and other law enforcement agencies. april is litter enforcement month and officers are going to be cracking down on violators. if you witness people littering, police want you to call them at (301)279-8000. >> how was your last metro riding experience? your opinion matters. metro officials began handing out over 400,000 survey cards at all 86 stations. randomly selected participants will get smart cards and customer answers will be used from operations analysts and planning. and happy birthday thomas jefferson. today marks the 269th anniversary of our third president's birth. just a short time ago, they laid a wreath at the jefferson memorial. still ahead is now, the time to buy property?

local housing expert will join us in a few minutes to see. and right after the break, a drinking beer, could it make you smarter? the results from a new study next.

there is a nationwide push for more nationwide eating.

a new study published shows 41% of people surveyed eat pizza once a week. >> they suggest better quality frozen pizzas are driving the boost. and get this, wash it down with a beer because a new study shows beer could make you smarter. scientists from the university of illinois at chicago compared a group of drunk and sober subjects. they discovered the drinkers were better at creative solving task but worse at memory tasks. the alcohol diminishes working memory capacity. >> live like a rockstar or ride a horse? details ahead in our daily deals segment. >> mortgage rates fall to record rate lows. is now, the time to buy? our money man, dan kaplan

weighs in after the break. an allergy update. tree pollen high but not as high as yesterday. the mold, low. we'll have the weekend forecast and looking ahead as well. we'll be back in a moment.

virginia state police have

an amber alert. police say 8-year-old porsche atwell, you see on the screen now, was last seen at her home yesterday at 1 p.m. it is believed her father tracy atwell abducted her. she is in extreme danger. a felony warrant was issued for him yesterday. they may be in a 1999 jeep laredo. 63z202. call west virginia state police at (304)425-2101 or call 911 if you spot them. we have that information on our website. >> it is daily deals time. no need to go through all these discount websites. we do the work for you here. king valley stables. $60 will get you 3 horseback riding lessons and a trail riding experience. each lesson is an hour long,

good for anyone 8 years old and older. normally valued at $120. it is available. >> the school of rock has a deal for all you parents who want to be rockers. for $39 they will give you music lessons, a vip task and performance and stickers and a bracelet. a savings of 74%. this offer is good and available through living social. >> for those of you who haven't filed their taxes, there is a deal for you. the company is offering e- filing service is for $195 to file all purposenal tax returns. that covers preps up to $500 and including filing on extension. the deadline tuesday april 17th this year. if you have an offer or have seen one for our viewers we would love to hear from you on facebook. such a deal in weather

here. it is absolutely gorgeous and we didn't have to pay too much of applies for it. just four days of wind and chills. >> but we'll give you not one, not two, but four good days. this weekend, maybe you're going to the shore, the beach. >> check them out the opening weekend here. first place at 5 and 2. >> can't beat it. >> can't beat it at all. for the ballgame, you will need a little wrap. temperatures cool, falling back to the 60s once you lose the sun, but not too windy. >> we haven't had the winds and it has made it a very pleasant morning. temperatures into the mid- to upper 60s for highs. this is a lot better than we have seen wind wise in quite awhile. 7:00, 65 degrees. it will be a little bit cool for the game, but by 9:00,

we're down to 61. looking at the big picture. clouds overnight. it was key. it kept us from getting too cold. a couple spots got down to freezing like in frederick but we had frost advisories and freeze warnings but they ware isolated. that is a good thing. >> columbia up to 64. out to the west leesburg 57. 58 in fairfax. outside on the camera, barely a cloud to be seen. there is one or two out there with sunshine. dewpoints only 30 so a big spread. humidity 32%. we don't have any red flag warnings because we don't have the wind. still be careful if you need to do burning, i would say to put it off. 70s tomorrow. sunday 80s. monday probably the warmest day, low to mid-80s tomorrow.

upper 80s common day. storm systems have been hitting the west coast hard. when the jet stream dips, we warp up in the east. the moisture which we really need, we have drought conditions moving this way, we're not going to see anything until next tuesday, wednesday. your forecast, today is 67. pleasant, winds not bad. for tonight we're down in the 40s, upper 40s in town. low 40s in the cold spots. 74 tomorrow. 84 on sunday. could be a little breezy tomorrow. we head to monday, 86. then going to tuesday, 75. there will be a chance of a shower or storm late tuesday into wednesday. wednesday's temperatures still in the upper 60s and temperatures look nice. >> economists got it right at least in the case of consumer prices. they rose .3 last month.

this as electricity costs decline. what is going on in the local housing market n dan kaplan is here. dan joins us now. good to see you again. >> good to see you. >> let's get to the gas prices and consumer prices. what is that doing to the economy which we thought was on a roll? >> if we see high inflation, we're going to see higher interest rates. the inflation rate is not exceeding the limits. rates are great. >> those mortgage rates are really great. >> yes. >> they are not going to change too much anytime soon? >> i don't see a sign of a significant increase. >> we have been talking about the dc market historically bucking the trend no matter employment or whatever, are we still in a boom in this area as opposed to the rest of the country? >> if you say it as opposed to the rest of the country, i would say we're in a boom.

the real estate market is not as strong as 3, 4, 5 years ago prior to the recession but it is good here. it is a good time to buy interest rates. a decision to make a house is like making a salad. a whole bunch of ingredients get mixed into the pot and hopefully it tastes good. interest rates are low and house prices are doing better than they were. so with low house prices, with low interest rates it is a good combination for a great time to buy. >> for those under water and we understand more foreclosures are coming into the market. is there anything you can do to savior self and keep your home? >> the best thing is to be proactive. contact your lender. just because you're under water does not mean you should not make your payments. keep making those payments.

eventually you'll have more equity in your home. just because you owe more on the house than it is worse, keep making those payments. >> the administration wants banks to give notice when they are getting in trouble. banks willing to do that? are they doing that now? >> to some degree. it varies from bank to bank. contact your bank, the people you make your mortgage payment to. contact an attorney to get advice because you want to keep your home. >> dan kaplan says if they don't call you, you call them. >> that is right. >> good to see you. >> our next guest somehow transforms recycled glass into amazing works of art. we'll be right back and i'll show you what i'm talking about. if you have copd like i do,

you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free. spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain,

or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? ask your doctor if spiriva can help. reporting live here on the scene where an amazing deal has just been spotted.

you have heard the phrase trash to treasure. you can meet irwin next thursday and he is here to show us some of his beautiful crafts. all of this recycled glass, meaning what? where do you get this glass from? >> some of this glass i know where it came from. some is a general dumpster diving event but some of this glass came from the first presbyterian church.

>> from the glass windows or stained windows? >> these were interior lights being tossed out. the architect new about me and called me and said listen, save these and this is what they trans formed into. >> this is absolutely beautiful. all of this is recycled glass, repurposed glass it is a problem doing it when it has been something else versus the way we think of glass? >> it is a little more difficult to use resick led glass. that is why a lot of people don't do it but i made it's my mission to, we're all thinking about our carbon footprint and you get a lot less when you use recycled glass versus that that has to be made from scratch new. >> the smithsonian crafts here is the first time i am showing there. i was very happy. i was the people organizing this saw my work at the safe way and asked me to apply and i

guess they thought i had a good portfolio so i got voted in and i am now one of the 40 new artists. i think there are a total of 120 artists exhibiting there. it is not a big show but a very important show. >> they saw him, heard about his work at the safe way and i have this. i did something for safe way for breast cancer awareness and this was the thank you. a lot of the glass, because it is an led building at the safe way, a lot of the glass work is all yours. >> yes. >> it casts a beautiful light at night. this is absolutely gorgeous. how do you get the colors in the glass? >> that is part of the problem. >> we use the glass that came out of the old safe way building and you can't just mix and match. you have to get this color specifically made to match with

the glass that came from the old safe way building, but it is a beautiful amber so it goes from purple to amber so it is a very nice coloring. >> go by the safe way and then see irwin's work. that is it for 9 news at noon. we'll be back at 5:00 but check us out 24/7 at wusa9.com.