back. also today the inspector general testifying that this is corruption widespread in the agency, possibly involving bribery and possibly involving kickbacks. the official in charge of that las vegas boondoggle, commissioner jeffrey neeley, refused to answer questions. >> did you attend the 2010 western regional conference in las vegas? >> mr. chairman, on the advice of my counsel, i respectfully decline to answer based upon my fifth amendment constitutional privilege. >> mr. neeley, did you approve the funding for the 2010 western regional conference? >> mr. chairman, on the advice of my counsel i respectfully decline to answer based upon my fifth amendment constitutional privilege. >> reporter: former gsa administrator martha johnson made her first statement since these pictures, 2,400 square foot hotel suite showing where gsa vips stays in the las vegas resort during the agency's

$820,000 convention. gsa video's mocked the easy spending policies in videos. >> i am extremely a grieved by the gall of a handful of people to misuse federal tax dollars, twist contracting rules and defile the great name of the general services administration. >> reporter: johnson said the white house did not ask her to quit, but she resigned on her own to symbolize the need for new leadership. >> i will mourn for the rest of my life the loss of my appointment. >> thank god this time what happened in vegas didn't stay in vegas. >> reporter: members of congress expressed outrage and asked why the official who planned the conference, who refused to testify today received a $9,000 bonus. the inspector general who uncovered the las vegas spending spree testified he's handed the case over to the justice department. >> we've recommended criminal charges. >> the acting administrator now puts the number at 12, the number of gsa officials who have quit, been forced out or

put on administrative leave and tonight they are not making any comment about the story we broke friday night involving the gsa death list and $26 million in annual gsa bonuses. >> sounds like a lot more explaining still to come. congressman issa is also considering holding hearings on reports that members of the u.s. secret service hired prostitutes down in colombia. you've all heard about the scandal by now. >> as you know, in colombia, they didn't break the law. what they broke was the discipline and the predictability of not compromising yourself, particularly making yourself exposed to blackmail because what's legal in one country still could lead to a married man being blackmailed. >> the secret service sent 11 agents back home from colombia amidst these allegations. so far the pentagon says only five are actually being investigated. a judge in oklahoma entered pleas of not guilty for two men accused of going on a shooting rampage earlier this month

killing three people and wounding two. defendants jake england and alvin watts were arraigned via closed circuit television. both face charges of first degree murder, shooting with intent to kill and malicious harassment for the shooting april 6th in in tulsa. as day broke in blacksburg people started leaving wreaths and flowers at the memorial in blacksburg, some five years after the shooting that killed 32 people on campus. our peggy fox is live at tech tonight where students were in class on april 16th for the first time since those shootings. >> reporter: well, it's been a busy day at the memorial, a lot of people coming by, some shedding tears. it is pretty overwhelming to look here and look at all these memorials, 32 and think about the lives lost here, but for me i'm a virginia tech alum and

what i think about when i remember virginia tech is this, a beautiful day, the drill field, people having a good time. however, because of what happened on this day five years ago this campus has changed forever. we have seen people come by putting flowers down at the memorial, families who come every year on this day to remember the lives lost. we've talked to students today who are glad that classes resumed but also stopped by to remember the people and we've talked to former students here during the tragedy. a student from new york who came back for the whole week to remember friends that he lost. >> knowing someone it always affects you pretty hard, but even not knowing people it still affected you because you were here. you experienced the terror that was going on around and the uncertainty of what was going on and plus other people had roommates or friends that were still outside if they weren't and that just terrifies you as well. >> at this point i think we've

undergone a lot of healing and i think it's not a matter of remembering pain. i think it's a matter of just honoring the people that died. >> reporter: this is a memorial to mary karen reed who was a student before virginia tech at unanimous dale high school in northern virginia -- at annandale high school in northern virginia. there were six victims from northern virginia who lost their lives in the virginia tech shootings. mary reed's father says they come back all the time so that her younger brothers and sisters won't frabbed of this campus and think of it only as the -- be afraid of this campus and think of it only as the place where their big sister was shot and killed. this shooting has not only transformed the people who lost their lives in this family, but also the students here. several student say they have to live their lives for these people who lost theirs. we'll be here for the vigil at 7:30 and have a live report at

7:00 and again at 11:00 tonight. back to you. >> the hokie bonds are strong and, peggy, you know that very much. thanks. closure is a word we often hear after tragedies, but five years after the virginia tech attack parents who have lost children are still grieving. >> so what's different is in our family moving through the stages a family goes through, but we're doing it without the oldest sibling. the thing that isn't different is that mary is not here and so that hole in our family is still there. >> many of the families of virginia tech victims created scholarships at the school in their memories. the scholarship in honor of erin peterson has given nearly $100,000 to 31 students who hoped to teach elementary school. that was erin's dream before seung-hui cho cut it short. peterson is just one of six local kids killed in the

shootings. rima samaha, and three others were all from northern virginia. april 16th, 2007 marks the first in the line of duty for death in the prince william county's fire department. kyle williams was searching for anybody who might be trapped in a burning house in woodbridge. the 24-year-old became trapped when the roof collapsed. seven people in the house escaped without injury. today a judge set the sentencing for george huguely, august 30th, the former university of virginia student convicted of second degree murder in the beating death of his on again off again girl friend yeardley love. huguely faces up to 26 years behind bars. the list of potential witnesses in the roger clemens' case sounds like a who's who of baseball, barry bonds, jorge poe sawed auto, just some who might be called -- posada, just some who might be called to testify. the former major league pitcher is accused of lying to congress about using performance

enhancing drugs. his first trial last summer ended in a mistrial. at 6:00 ever get a ticket for running a red light in the mail? neighbors think someone was perhaps a little frustrated after being sighted by this camera and decided to take it out on the camera. police say they got the call around 1 a.m., but when they got there, you can see what they found, the camera had been knocked off. thanks to david lee roberts for submitting these pictures to www.wusa9.com. tonight at 7:00 d.c.'s battle to gain more control from congress gains a big ally, as in the american people. we'll tell you the lopsided results of a new poll that says the district should control its own cash. >> we'll see you then, derek. still to come in this half hour caps, caps, caps. >> reporter: yeah, it's quiet here now. you are the only ones screaming, but caps have a chance to break open this

playoff series. a little later in sports some insights into the minds as they prepare to hit the ice. >> doesn't really feel like caps weather, temperatures in the 80s. in the almanac 89 at national, 88 dulles, no records, but 67 is the average high. 92 was a record set just 10 years ago. we continue to have a monthly and yearly deficit in rainfall. we'll come back and see if we can do anything to that. we've got two cold fronts heading our way. >> but first some salad that could make you sick. we'll tell you more about a lettuce recall up next.

back on 9 news now with a consumer and health alert. the dole food company is recalling thousands of packages of precut salad. the recall targets a product called seven lettuces sold in plastic bags. apparently a random sample tested positive for salmonella. dole says some of that salad was sold in maryland and virginia and it is stamped with

a use by date of april 11th, 2012. if you have this, toss it out. salmonella, if you have it, can cause some major gastrointestinal distress. >> bad stuff. 150 years ago today president be a ram lincoln freed the more than 3,000 -- abraham lincoln freed the more than 3,000 slaves living here. >> for the last seven years it's been a holiday in the district. today's celebrations included a prayer breakfast, parade, festival and concert plus fireworks later tonight. still ahead getting ready for the shuttle shuffle. a preview before discovery comes to town to take the place of enterprise. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪

last minute preps are underway in florida tonight for the space shuttle discovery's final voyage. between 10 a.m.

and 11 a.m. you'll have a chance to see it fly over washington on the back of a 747. >> reporter: i'm anny hong at reagan national bradley point, one of the best spots according to nasa to see the space shuttle discovery come through here tomorrow morning before finally retiring. space shuttle discovery has one last mission to complete. >> i think it's incredible. how many people get to see this? i mean it's probably a chance of lifetime for some people. >> reporter: after spending 365 days in space orbiting the earth some 5,800 times and traveling more than 148 million miles, discovery is ready to retire. >> it will fly no higher than 1,500 feet above the ground and even lower than that at times. it will be hard to miss. >> i think it's awesome, didn't expect it until we came here today and found out. so we're coming back tomorrow to watch it with the kids. >> reporter: discovery is the first of nasa's three remaining shuttles to head to a museum. once it lands at dulles international it will take two

days to prepare the shuttle for towing to the udvar hazy center. anny hong, 9 news now. >> if you can't get to an area with a clear view of the shuttle, we've got you covered. we'll be on the air live once it reaches our airspace around 10 a.m. and we will stream the shuttle's arrival at www.wusa9.com. >> today's weather would have been perfect for tomorrow's shuttle arrival, but while the heat was great for kids may be playing in the fountain for downtown silver spring, it's the latest in a weather pattern leaving the region pretty dry. >> reporter: i'm scott broom on maryland's eastern shore where it's so dry right now many farmers have suspended putting in their all important corn crop, but the well drillers are busy. >> usually this is the wet time of year and it's dry. >> reporter: bill spees and his crew are punching new wells in a farm near creston, maryland, that needs up to 1,000 gallons a minute to irrigate crops and there's already anxiety that some marginal wells might go dry

without rain. >> ones that are right on the borderline now may need another well to boost the volume out of the system. >> never been this dry this early. >> reporter: standing by is just in hoffman who sells giant irrigation systems. >> i guess with the dry weather and price of grain factor, they're irrigating parts they haven't before. >> reporter: huge plumes of dust follow behind the tractors that are preparing ground where moisture is only 60% of normal for this time of year. on the eastern shores scott broom, 9 news now. >> hot and dry. >> and i wish, you know, we had better news about this cold front. it's going to go through tonight, probably nothing here, maybe showers in the mountains. we are pinning our hopes on another cold front over the weekend. we'll talk about that in a weekend. first let's grasp the temps. this is pretty unusual. it's just hot, flat out hot. saturday 75, gorgeous, yesterday 83, today 89 officially at national, 88 dulles.

tomorrow will be 75 and then wednesday will be the cool day. so when the front goes through late tonight, it will end up making wednesday the coolest day. then temps rebound thursday and friday, but put things in perspective our average high is 67, 89 today. that's pretty crazy. a live look outside brought to you by michael and son, wisconsin avenue, lots of sunshine, very few clouds, 87 downtown, winds out of the south at 16 gusting over 25. the winds will stay south, southwest until midnight. cold front goes through. they'll turn northwesterly about 10 to 20 after midnight. temps haven't changed much, 89 college park, 88 beltsville, 86 bethesda, down a degree now, 90 in rockville, 87 great falls, 86 reston, even leesburg in the mid-80s and even manassas is in the upper 80s at this hour. so temperatures about 20 degrees above average across the board. we will cool off, mild and breezy tonight, not as warm tomorrow, still dry. be careful with those cigarette

butts, please. cooler wednesday and thursday. those will be probably our two coolest days. we may hold in the 60s those days. tonight partly cloudy, breezy, warm, maybe an isolated shower, probably just west of i-81 and the mountains. low temperatures, mid-50s in the burbs, low 60s downtown, winds becoming northwest 10 to 20. tomorrow morning partly cloudy, breezy and mild. you'll need your sunglasses, 50s and 60s, winds northwest 10 to 15 and by afternoon partly cloudy, breezy, not as warm but still nice, high temperatures near 75, winds still a little breezy northwest at about 10 to 15. so really cooler but nice in oakland, 58, 66 cumberland, 70 in hagerstown, low 70s in warrenton, manassas and leesburg. downtown mid-70s and up 270 through rockville and gaithersburg and fred 73. mid-70s into southern maryland -- and fredericksburg 73, my 70s into southern maryland and a small craft advisory into the

bay and tidal potomac into tomorrow. upper 60s and low 70s by noon tomorrow and 72 to 76 by this time tomorrow, a pretty darn nice day. next seven days, we get cool wednesday, low 60s and not quite 70 thursday, then temperatures come back. we're 75 friday and then really good news, showers and storms possible late saturday, showers and rain and storms possible all the day sunday into monday. we hope that materializes. the only caveat, could be some severe weather sunday, but we'll keep you posted. >> it kind of messes up the weekend, but we sure need it. >> doesn't matter. got to come. well, inside there is a key fame that's going on tonight for the caps. kristin is there. how's it going? >> reporter: good. it's a lot colder in here than outside. we're just an hour away from game three against the bruins. county caps keep the momentum going? we'll hear from the players as they get ready to take home ice and dale hunter as he makes his nhl playoff debut as coach.

>> plus they're not the only game in town. the nats open up a four-game series, the almighty righty on the mound, coming up next in sports.

now 9 sports with kristen berset, the best sports in town. >> reporter: welcome back. we are live from the verizon center for game three between the capitals and the bruins, the series all tied up at one game apiece. now the capitals' double overtime win saturday against boston on the road was so

crucial not only for the series, but for their confidence because it proves that they can hang with the defending stanley cup champs. now they have a chance to break the series open before they go back to the garden. the capitals have been stellar at home, 26-lessen-4 and hope with the home crowd they -- 26- 11-4 and hope with the home crowd behind them they can keep this momentum going. >> it's exciting to play in front of your home crowd, bit it's still going to be tough because there's not a lot of chances out there. it's always fun to have your home fans behind you. >> reporter: this also mark the nhl playoff home debut not only for goalie braden holtby but coach dale hunter. he's a man of few words but spoke earlier and did say how excited he is to play at home. >> as a player you have to prepare differently. as a coach you're excited to be out there when you hear the fans behind your team. that's pretty exciting.

>> reporter: the caps aren't the only game in town tonight. stephen strasburg takes the mound as the nationals open a four-game night series against the houston astros. the washington redskins busy today. they opened up offseason workouts in ashburn getting back to work, getting conditioned and back in shape before those organized team activities begin in a couple weeks. joining them will be their captain, london fletcher. the redskins officially announced fletcher's signing in a move to kind of help with the salary cap issue they had to deal with before free agency. fletcher's contract is five years and he gets paid the most in his first two years. the wnba draft held today, the mystic selected natalie novosell from notre dame with the eighth pick and used their 10th pick. angela barrett will stay in d.c. taken 26th and lynette

kaiser will head to the tulsa shock. now for our high school game of the week poll, games in boys lacrosse, softball and boys and girls soccer. go to our website to vote on thursday. i'm starting to hear the cheers of caps and as you can imagine, in about a half hour, this place will be rocking. we will have full highlights and postgame coverage for you coming up tonight at 11:00. i'm kristen berset live at the verizon center. back to you guys in the studio. >> she can hear herself now, might not be so easy later. >> a little shellshock going from the hot outside to the cold in that stadium. >> temps will be in the 80s when strasburg is pitching and maybe it falls to the upper 70s, a little cooler air wednesday and thursday and a real good chance of showers and rain over the weekend. we'll talk about that at 7:00. >> that's it for us. the cbs evening news is next. >> derek is back with your

area's only local newscast at 7:00. >> good night.