temperatures will be dropping into the upper 50s to around 60 and staying there. we'll have on and off showers, perpds of rain, -- periods of rain, northeast winds 5 to 10. not much movement with the temps today. you can see the moisture coming at us across areas in southern virginia right now. right here, this is moving off toward the northeast. going to head toward fredricksburg and richmond and southern maryland. probably we'll see a little more here in the metro and points north and west. as we zoom in approaching interstate 64, here comes the heavier showers. your temperatures this morning, they're in the 50s to 61 in town. la plata is 51. frederick 53. in annapolis, that's the warm spot at 62. so jackets a smndz rain gear -- and some rain gear and thankfully some showers in the forecast. not too bad. early morning rush hour has been moving pretty well all around town and the beltway. that includes the beltway. if you're planning to head on the northbound side of i-95 in virginia things looking great out of dale city to woodbridge all the way into springfield. we'll take a live look on the

northbound side of i-95 here in dumfries. you can see volumes are still very light. both main and hov lanes heading for the occoquan river as women. let's go back over -- as well. let's go back over to the maps this time to northbound 395. here's what it looks like at duke street. light to the 14th street bridge along 395 as well. now back to the maps this time southern maryland. route 5, 301 and route 10 heading for oxon hill looks great. we'll take a live look at the wilson bridge. both loops of the beltway are incident free between alexandria and oxon hill this morning across the bridge span. coming up in my next report, we'll go to the north side of town at 5:09. >> see you in a bit. we are learning more now about exactly what happened before a team of secret service agents was sent home from colombia last week. >> just how many people were involved we're learning about that. one of the senators who's been briefed about this incident has concerns this isn't the first time for this sort of behavior. 9news now reporter delia goncalves joins us live with

more. good morning, delia. >> reporter: good morning. that senator is calling this a complete embarrassment to the white house. we now know up to 21 women were signed into that hotel room in colombia. not only by 11 men, 21 men. the men we're told are from high ranking members of the secret service and ten members of all four branches of the military. the men were apparently partying at a strip club less than 48 hours before the president's visit to colombia. they reportedly were drunk and paid the women $60 to return to their hotel. the scandal erupted after one man had an argument with one of the women over payment. prostitution is legal in colombia. officials are now telling us it is unlikely there was a security breach but congress is simply outraged. >> it raises questions about the culture. it's also very hard for me to believe that this is the only time that this has ever

happened. i am worried that this is the only time that they were caught. >> what has gone on is very embarrassing and i think it's clear there are investigations going on both at the pentagon and at the secret service. i hope they get to the bottom of it quickly. >> copg up at 5:30, hear -- coming up at 5:30, hear from a former secret service agent himself who said he's spoken to some of these men involved in the scandal. we'll see you in a half-hour. >> thanks, delia. today a senate committee is going to take up the reins from house lawmakers as congress investigates spending practices at the general services administration. the man at the center of the scandal did not testify tuesday. jeffrey neely took the fifth during monday's question. the 2010 las vegas conference cost $800,000 and neely himself visited vegas at least nine times to plan the event. lawmakers are questioning large individual bills now.

>> 44 bucks for breakfast. i'm a big man. i can't spend 44 bucks to breakfast. are you kidding me? >> where crimes have been committed, people will go to jail. >> california congressman jeff denham also says he wants to see the gsa returned money to taxpayers. doctors are treating a man who nearly lost his life at a mulch plant in laurel, maryland. the victim became trapped in a machine. a heavy metal beam crushed his legs. after first fearing they would have to do an on site amputation, rescuers brought in a certified registered nurse anesthetist to sedate the man and then free him. he's in critical condition at a baltimore hospital but is expected to survive. metro has pulled almost 100 buses out of service and an orion sixth bus caught fire for the second time in a week. no passengers were on board at the time. last week another bus caught

fire on i-66 in fairfax. again only the driver was on board. the orion six buses are 12 years old and run on diesel fuel. five minutes after 5:00. time now for some good news in your money report. >> jessica doyle is here with today's headlines. a booming day yesterday. >> absolutely. stocks are rallying around the world this morning. green is the color and we like it. wall street had its biggest rally in a month. we can thank a string of better than expected earnings reports and the imf which says it expects the global economy to grow slightly more than expected this year. checking the numbers, the dow stands this morning back above 13,000. 13,115 to be exact. surged 194 points. best day in a month. nasdaq had its biggest gain of the year up by 54 points, back above the 3,000 level. and the s&p 500 was better by 21 points. all three major averages were 1.5% or more higher. traders also paid close attention to a huge

announcement from billionaire investor warren buffett. he says he has stage one prostrate cancer and doctors will start radiation treatment in july. shareholders were told it's completely treatable and not remotely life-threatening. he plans to stay at the helm of the company during treatment. if you hate all of those cords that come along with that home enter statement system, ikia may has a thing for you, a new product. in pure ikia style it has a name that's hard to pronounce. >> it's all in one. >> let's practice together. it is an all in one system. the speakers, the media player, they're all integrated. they've got your blu-ray, dvd, cds. there's also a compartment in the back to hide the cables.

they have yet to say when the product is coming to the u.s. it's pure marketing. i know that it's just hiding the cords but i want it because i hate cords. >> it's so clean which is typical scandz nave january. what do you have for us in the next half-hour? >> we're going on vacation. >> is it going to be hard to pronounce where we're going? >> no. and it will be cheap too. it turns out humans started some of those wildfires in the virginia mountains. we'll have more on that coming up. >> plus, marine biologists are trying to help a migrating whale that has found its way into a tangled fishing net. >> a nats pitcher and it's not stephen strasburg. a two-hit shutout. we'll be right back. what'll it be?

i'll have blueberry pancakes. uh huh. actually, make that glazed pecans... ok. with chocolate... no... caramel sauce. whipped cream? uhhhhhhh, yeah... but on the side. introducing build your own pancakes. only at denny's.

. it is 5:09. happy to tell you we've got some showers out toward the shenandoah valley, parts of virginia heading toward the metro. all a he need the rain gear today -- you'll need the rain gear today. temperatures aren't going to move much at all. our day planner calling for the clouds, on and off showers, periods of rain, northeast winds 5 to 10. temperatures around 60. we'll really just stay there, maybe fall to the upper 50s. so a cool day. i'll be back in a few minutes with the seven-day forecast and have some more warm temperatures and more chances for rain. right now over to monika with

time saver traffic. a few more people out southbound i-270 at father hurley boulevard but not enough to cause a delay down to the point where the lanes divide. just getting word of an accident in virginia on 95. i'll have that next at 5:17. back to you guys. here's what's making news now at 5:10. a debate is under way on what to do with the ship costa concordia. in january the cruise ship hit a rock off the coast of italy. 32 people died in that wreck. two of whose bodies have not been found yet. with fuel and hazardous materials now pumped out, insurance agents will decide whether to repair the ship or cut it up for scraps. rescuers are trying to free a whale that got entangled in fishing nets on itsage migration to alaska. this is the third such incident? the last month. at least two of last week's wildfires in the virginia mountains are now classified as arson. the forestry department investigators say the flames in

page and franklin counties were intentionally set. all the wildfires in virginia this month so far have scorched 30,000 acres. there's another battle heating up in virginia but this one is in richmond and it's over the state's budget. that story is coming up at 5:30. at 5:24, why would a capitals best -- why would capitals best players be on the bench? >> could there be a washout this weekend? howard has the details at 5:15 in his seven-day forecast.

cartagena. good morning. welcome back to final nine now. it is -- to 9news now. it is 5:14. we are going to get some rain today. >> we're happy about that. we need it. i want to start looking at what is called the u.s. drought monitor. this is something that climatologists keep. you can go to it on the web as well. i put it down for our region because we've got some drought conditions, especially east of the bay. let's go to the graphics and i'm explain. abnormally dry conditions up and down the east coast, east of the appalachians. when you look at some of the deeper levels of drought, talking about moderate drought on the western shore of the bay. then east of the bay on the eastern shore of the delmarva, that's where we've got so veer drought. extreme and historic would be the next two levels. thankfully we're not seeing that. if we don't get in rain soon, we could see the orange and brown areas moving in that direction. with this we've seen the fire danger also has been rather high over the last few weeks.

but we do have some moisture on the way. we've got some fires. we were just talking about that out toward the park, the shenandoah valley seeing some of that. the bus stop forecast today, spotty showers this morning. it's been west and southwest but rains creeping toward us. temperatures mainly in the 50s with sunrise at 6:27. not going to see it in the way of cloud cover for that for today lots of cloud cover. showers or periods of rain even. temperatures pretty steady, upper 50s to around 60 all day long. even this evening at 8:00 still a few showers around and 57 degrees. but a couple of good days here thursday and friday. here's the moisture coming in from the south and west. down toward the north carolina- virginia border, there's been some lightning with that as well with the heaviest tracking off i think towards our south and east the way it's going over the next few hours. live doppler 9000, some showers toward hancock and coming down toward winchester and straussburg and front royal and new market. seeing a couple of light sprinkles trying to get east of

that. you see this the north side of frederick. you go down 81 from winchester right where 66 comes into 81, that's where we're seeing a little bit of yellow and more yellow from luray south to the park and now west of orange headed toward culpeper. some of these areas south and west. so in the next couple of hours, we'll be watching for those rain showers to increase across the region. your temps are running in the 50s. low 50s in lovettsville. sterling is 57 along with rockville. it's 60 in fort belvoir. annapolis 62. in washington right now we're looking outside on our michael & son weather camera it's quiet. all quiet out there. cloudy skies. nothing falling from the sky under the clouds. got north, northeast winds at 12 and 61. the air is still dry with a dew point of 36. you can see the moisture coming out of atlanta through ashville, coming through bristol, headed toward roanoke and eventually headed toward us. that's why we have showers around in the forecast for today. we will gladly take the rain. highs about 60 today, cool.

tonight upper 40s to 50, 52. we return sunny tomorrow, 70. friday looks really good, 77. saturday morning probably okay if you've got plans or softball or baseball games, soccer games. but by afternoon and evening showers and storms. could be some heavier showers and storms on sunday into monday and cool by tuesday. highs then in the 50s. it's 5:17. here's monika. >> it's early but there's already a problem. it's in virginia on the northbound side of i-95 as you leave dale city just before the prince william parkway. an accident and i just saw crews arrive at the scene. let's take a live look there. fire trucks there as well and only the right lane is going to get you through if you look closely on the northbound side of 95 just before the prince william parkway so watch out for that accident activity, especially as you head north from dale city on 95 this morning. i'll keep you posted on that situation. we'll go a little further north on the northbound side. here in springfield everything is fine. no problems to report. both the main and hov lanes heading for 395 and up toward

the 14th street bridge. back over to the maps this time on the inbound side of i-66 and the dulles toll road, leaving the airport, leaving manassas you'll be fine on both of these major corridors to the beltway. tysons corner everything looks fine on route 7 and 123. a live look at american legion bridge west side of town. no problems leaving bethesda across the river. coming up in my next report, i will update you on 9 a at 5:25. -- 95 at 5:25. many of you saw it on your morning commute or from your home or office. >> the space shuttle discovery flew in circles around washington yesterday before landing at dulles airport. discovery part of now the retired shuttle fleet will go on display at the air and space museum's udvar-hazy center in chantilly. why the sight of discovery perched on top of that 747 was just thrilling, some people were also pretty westful. the united states -- wistful. >> why did they turn out to see

it? it represents the hopes and positive future for our children and grandchildren. >> we are trying to figure out exactly what we want to do in space and how we want to do it. >> so for now the united states will rely on the russian soyuz rockets to shuttle astronauts to and from the enter significance space station. discovery's official welcome to udvar-hazy events really get under way tomorrow. the official move into place begins thursday at 11:00 a.m. that's when we'll be able to see discovery and enterprise sitting nose to nose. then the shuttles will start being moved at 4:00 p.m. discovery into its new bay. and enterprise is headed to new york to go on display at the intrepid museum there. >> we'd love to remind you too if you took pictures yesterday, upload them to our facebook page so we can share them with viewers. still ahead, redskins learn their schedule for the 2012 regular season. >> plus, today the nationals have a chance to win their tenth game of the year and

we're not even two weeks into the season. >> another look at the question of the morning now. new research suggests drinking one of these things will make you 40% smarter. is it a, coffee, b, beer, or c, grape juice. >> conan says he thinks it could be beer. my grandfather drank red wine daily and he lived till 103. >> log on to our facebook fan page, leave your response. we'll have the answer in the 6:00 hour.

5:23. some showers west and south of town now by about 50, 6 on miles. by the time we get to the middle of the day, they'll be scattered showers. the readings upper 50s to around 60. scattered showers on and off all day and into the evening as well. we'll clear it out though for your thursday. over to you. >> thank you, howard. a key capitals player has been suspended from tomorrow night's playoff game. >> plus, the redskins are going to get an up close look at the ruins of bounty gate in their first game of the season. it has to do with the saints.

kristen berset has your morning sports. >> good morning, everybody. redskins fans, time to make your travel plans. the n.f.l. released the full schedule and the redskins have some exciting matchups, including a thanksgiving day showdown in dallas. the first time for the skins on turkey day since 2002. but that is just one of the few great matchups. the redskins open up at post- bounty gate, new orleans. the home opener is september 23 against the bengals. individual play starts october 1 against the g-men. bye week is week ten. ten days later they play monday night football at fed ex against new york. then december 9 they host the baltimore ravens. nationals astros in action. gonzalez has yet to give up a run at home and the streak continued last night. seven scoreless innings striking out eight. fans gave him a standing ovation as he left the mound. bottom of the 4th, adam la

roche, shallow left. the nats win 1-0. as the capitals prepare for game four, they'll have to do it with nicholas backstrum. he was suspended after this cross check. the league called his actions excessive and reckless. game four against the bruins is thursday. that's a quick look at sports this morning. have a great wednesday. virginia's governor has some harsh words for lawmakers who ditched a budget deal at the last minute. that story is coming up. >> plus, ddot crews pay not have to work nearly as hard during this year's pothole palooza. here's your delay from dale boulevard heading up to the prince william parkway where an accident was quickly moved to the shoulder. more coming up at 5:30. you're watching 9news now. we'll be right back.

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good morning. welcome back to 9news now on this wednesday morning. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. here is monika santami. good morning. howard has weather coming up. good morning. rain gear today. we are happy. it's been a while. >> i've been cheering for rain. >> my grass is happy about that. >> we need the rain. we've had .16 the entire month for comparison. 1.76 is where we should be. that's 9% of normal for april, almost five inches in the hole for the year. we'll saturday to make a dent in the numbers the next few days. today some showers around on and off, perpds of rain. -- periods of rain. it will be a cool day, much cooler than yesterday. temperatures will be somewhere upper 50s to low 60. they're really not going to move with a northeast wind 5 to 10 miles an hour. you can see the rain coming at us from southern virginia where there's been a little lightning across the north carolina,

virginia border. there are the lightning strikes. heavier showers have been confined to south of interstate 64 this morning but they are coming. some of them starting to get north. they'll be headed toward maybe colonial beach and fredericksburg the next couple of hours. we see the lighter showers in the northern part of the shenandoah valley. keep the rain gear handy. your temperatures now won't be moving much from this afternoon's highs. right now in the mid-50s to a couple of spots in the low 60s. it is 5:30. monika is in. time saver traffic. busy already? >> it's been busy already on the northbound side of i-95 we had an accident just above dale city but before the prince william parkway and crews are able to move it to the shoulder fairly quickly. it left some slow traffic trying to get past the accident. you may still see some flashing lights although all of your main lanes are open trying to get past that to the okay quain rough. a little further north 395 has been incident free. still going about 61 miles an hour inside the beltway. 55 at fairfax drive on 66. we'll take a live look outside

right now. here's what it looks like at duke street. as i said traffic is moving at or above the speed limit to the 14th street bridge here along this corridor. we'll go back to the maps this time to the north side of town where things are looking great between 270 and i-95 up here on the north side of the beltway. both loops are fine, no problems through college park heading down toward the bw parkway and route 50 in prince george's county. a quick look live as well. here's darnestown road route 28 at the great seneca highway. another look into virginia at 5:39. a project to make a commute easier is actually a roadblock when it comes to lawmakers agreeing on a state budget. >> democrats in the state senate blocked the latest budget proposal last night. they're holding out in an effort to get more funding for metro's silver line to dulles airport. the two-year, $85 billion spending plan was the result of tough negotiations in the special session. republican governor bob mcdonnell expressed his displeasure. >> to get to this point, some

95 to a hundred days after the commencement of the session and still have no budget and have it all because of one project in one area of the state is simply not responsible. >> the senate will resume its sessions today in hopes of a reaching a deal. if lawmaker don't pass a budget, virginia could face a partial government shutdown starting july 1. the investigation is expanding exponentially in colombia. initially 11 secret service agents were sent home accused of hiring prostitutes. that number seems to be going up now. 9news reporter delia goncalves is live outside the white house with the latest details. good morning, delia. >> reporter: good morning, mike. we can tell you the 11 secret service agents are on leave and their security clearances have been revoked. but as you had mentioned the scandal is growing. we now know 21 men are involved in this controversy and up to 21 prostitutes.

the additional ten men are all from the military. five soldiers from the army's elite forces, two high ranking navy sailors, two marines, and one member of the air force. all 21 men were reportedly drinking at a colombia strip club when they paid the women $60 to return to their hotel. officials say it's unlikely there was a security breach because the agents were not yet briefed on the president's trip two days later. >> the. has confidence in the director of the secret service. director sullivan acted quickly in response to this incident. >> they're all saying embarrassing, disgusted, we apologized, embarrassed the president. >> i have not seen it personally. has it happened before? i'm sure it has. is it endemic to the entire agency? no. that's not my experience with the secret service at all. >> president obama has made no secret that he is very angry about this controversy but says

that he will await the results of the investigation before deciding to fire anyone. mike, back to you. >> thank you, delia live outside the white house this morning. next month the occupy organization will take its protest to leaders of the world's eight largest economies. movements across the country are planning a protest, a summit next month to counter the g8 summit at camp david. it's called the g99% summit. it will set up in frederick maryland or near camp david in thurmont. occupy groups are holding it so show g8 leaders their policies don't work. we have new information from an ongoing 9news now investigation that stirred up quite a lot of buzz. richard kim, owner of town square market on mcarthur boulevard has turned down a plea deal. our andrea mccarren did a hidden camera investigation where teens claimed they had no trouble buying alcohol from kim's store but kim claims he's

innocent and want as trial. the trial is set for may 21. in the meantime the advisory neighborhood commission is asking d.c.'s alcohol control board to deny kim's license renewal. this year's pothole palooza could be a lot less busy than in years past and that's thanks to our mild winter. ddot kicked off the repair yesterday. last year 1300 complaints came in during the campaign. but this year ddot says it's only receiving about ten complaints per day. 5:35. time for another your money report. >> want to go on vacation? jessica has some affordable ideas for you. >> raise your hand if you want vacation. >> me, me, me. >> sounds good. we've got summer right around the corner. maybe you don't want to wait that long. you want to go right now. here's some vacation ideas that will feel like a splurge without breaking the bank. ever gone to phoenix? cnn money calls this city a great value option as well as a great place for outdoor pursuits.

it like other major cities is an airline hub so flights are usually cheaper and more frequent. running the numbers here now, the average airfare to phoenix $309 and the average hotel rate only $109. not a bad deal. if you're going outside, that's free. outdoors is free. another big city option for you here, san diego. the city offers family friendly attractions. you've got the zoo, seaworld as well as nearly 50 wineries. and the prices are good, too. average hotel rate $136. average airfare $323. not so bad. if you're dying to break out your passport, they say to head over to rivera in mexico. hotel rates are seriously reduced, even in the high season. you can find a four-star all inclusive resort for under $150 per person per night. the average is a little higher at $173. average airfare $050.

to -- $505. to save even more money, you may want to consider a rental instead of a pricey hotel. they can provide your family with more space, privacy, cost cutting amenities like a full kitchen. i did this in st. maarten about two years ago, saved about a thousand dollars for my family in the process because i got a two-bedroom for the price of one hotel room. and it was gorgeous. so i recommend that. >> you don't have to use the kitchen on vacation if you don't want to. >> but it saves money on meals. >> definitely like cereal in the morning when you don't want to pay for breakfast. >> jess will be back in just a couple of minutes to unveil the daily deals. even more money to save you. >> plus, a very special anniversary this week at the national zoo's giant panda habitat.

5:39 on this wednesday morning. i've got the umbrella with me because we're going to have some showers around today. keep the umbrella or rain jacket. temperatures due to the cloud cover and the showers not going to move much. here's a look at our day planner. calling for readings which will be kind of where they are now. upper 50s to perhaps 60, 61 with occasional showers, on and off periods of rain. not too much today. maybe a quarter inch in spots but could be a lot more rain here by later on in the weekend. that forecast coming up in a few minutes. right now inside to monika with time saver traffic. on the inner loop of the beltway in alexandria between route 1 and telegraph road, an accident on the shoulder in the local lanes. vdot is on the scene so be aware of that on the south side of town in alexandria. more on what's going on on virginia roads coming up at 5:49. >> thank you, monika. i've been combing through the day's daily deals and e- mails and retailer websites and here are some of the best. google offers has a deal with

hiden brook winery in leesburg. you'll pay $15 for a wine tasting experience for up to two people. this is a $35 value. you're getting two souvenir glasses to remember your visit. your computer going portable with this deal on a usb flash drive. this is amazon's deal of the day. you're going to pay $19.99 for a 32 gig flash drive from transcend. we want to clarify a daily deal from yesterday. maryland's blue crab express is offering four crab packages ranging in price from $59 for 12 crabs to $144. that includes lobster in that deal. this deal is through groupon and is available for two more days. if you have an offer you've seen or if you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i'd love to hear from you on facebook. the chesapeake bay not as healthy as it used to be. that's according to a university of maryland center for environmental science.

it is now giving the bay a health grade of d plus. that's the second lowest since the reports were started being issued in 1986. the center says heavy spring and fall rains last year washed pollutants and sediments into the bay and a hot, dry summer led to low oxygen levels in the water. the national zoo is marking the 40-year anniversary of one of its most popular exhibits. in 1972 china gave two giant pandas to the national zoo in recognition of president nixon's historic visit to that country. lingling died in 1992 at age 23 after sing sing died in 1999 at age 28. the zoo was briefly without any giant pandas. but then tian tian arrived. coming up, students at one virginia college now know a lot

more about their peers and what they're doing thanks to a big mistake. >> crash is up for grabs in maryland if you can get the right kind of fish to take a bite on your line. >> birthday time now. let's see woz' celebrating. -- see who's celebrating. james woods went to mit. he's 65 today. actor rick moranis is 59. happy birthday if this is your day. achoo! nasal allergy symptoms

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it is 5:46. coming up on 5:47. we're celebrating rain. we're doing the rain dance. howard is here to tell us it starts today. >> showers in the forecast today. some of the showers south of town could be on the hefty side. over the weekend, especially late saturday and sunday, sunday could be a really wet day. some of the models are putting out an inch or more and we desperately need this rain for a variety of reasons, not just the dry ground, the crops, your lawn, but we've got to clean the air. the allergen count came in yesterday and rather obnoxious levels with the tree pollen not just high but very high at 1637. those are in grains per cubic meter. everything is relative. even grass at 6 is high. obviously it's not 1,600 but it's high for grass, weeds, and mold are low. can i get some water. i'm having a tough time with this cold, i've got to confess you to. it's been lingering. today cloudy and cool, spotty showers, temps in the 50s this morning. as we go throughout the day, we

are looking at the threat for some showers at times. on and off. 60 degrees here at 9:00. temperatures barely moving today. maybe even fall to the upper 50s, north east winds at 5 to 10 miles an hour. looking at the moisture coming up from the southwest, you see it there. south of charlottesville and over toward richmond. here's live doppler 9000hd. still quiet in the immediate metro. we've seen showers in the shenandoah valley as you head south and west toward interstate 64. that's where we're looking at the threat for the heavier showers right now. here we go. martinsburg out toward paw paw. here's route 50 north and west. some light to occasionally moderate showers out there. watch out for the ground being wet. i want to go back and show you this off to the south and west where we've got the heavier showers. you can see them not too far from culpeper now. this stuff is moving northeast. so culpeper, goldvein, fredricksburg, stafford, south of d.c. you'll have to watch this the next couple of hours as things could get wet for you. temperatures are in the 50s, low to mid-50s in the

shenandoah valley to 61 in town. fretd ricksburg 61 -- fredricksburg 61. 54 in catlett. 60 at pax river. and don't expect these temperatures to move very much. as we look outside on our michael & son weather camera, a quiet morning out here on wisconsin avenue with cloudy skies. north, northeast winds at 12 miles an hour. humidity 39%. big picture, here's the moisture. it's pouring this morning in atlanta. flying through hartsfield, don't be surprised if there's some delays there. there's the heavier showers down approaching richmond at this hour. a little disappointment. i think our mondays are underplaying the rain. it's got the heavier stuff here. it's actually over this part. as we go through the morning, don't be surprised if the green is more over us as opposed to the shenandoah valley here at 9:00 and the showers will be on and off through the evening hours. tomorrow looks pretty good actually. friday as well before things change by the weekend. 60ish today with the showers here and there. tonight about 50. some 40s north and west. tomorrow 70. sun returns, maybe a few morning clouds.

77 on friday. saturday morning should be okay. you got any plans, got a softball game, little league, soccer, want to get out and do some work, should be final. showers and storms approach the area. a wet sunday into monday as we cool down by tuesday into the 50s. 5:50. monika is in with time saver traffic. a couple of issues in virginia this morning. early on. i think crews were quick to move them out of the roadway. just left a bit of a delay namely on the northbound side of i-95 here near the prince william parkway. again, it was moved quickly to the shoulder but you had a bit of a slowdown early on from dale city. let's take a live look a little further north in springfield on the northbound side of i-95. if you're planning to head over to virginia, you shouldn't find any big problems on 95. this is a live picture from sky 9 right now. i believe that is heavy on the inbound side of i-66 coming inbound but no incidents to report luckily at this time. a live picture from our sky 9. let's go back over to the maps

and this time we'll head over to the other side of town on route 50 coming in from the chesapeake bay bridge all the way inbound to the beltway and beyond to cheverly. you're going to be okay. i'll leave you with a look look near st. margaret's coming off the bay bridge again. no problems to report this morning. another look around the area at 6:00. making news now at 5:51, nasa has released stunning photos of a gigantic solar flare. it happened monday afternoon. the good news is the flare is not headed toward earth but it is headed in the direction of nasa's rover curiosity which is on its way to mars. president obama will be talking in ohio this afternoon about the economy. he's scheduled to speak at a community college about job training and programs to help the unemployed. ohio is considered a key swing state in the upcoming general election. a big oops at virginia military institute. last week a secretary e-mailed the senior class president the names and hometowns of all 258

seniors. the class president forwarded the e-mail to have the seniors verify that information before graduation. but the e-mail had an attachment which listed every student's grade point average. >> that's not very nice. the fish we once feared is now turned into a sought after prize of sorts. we're talking about snakeheads. those ugly things behind me. they're also dubbed the frankenfish for its ability to live out of water and migrate over the ground. >> in maryland there are so many of these ugly things, there's a popular contest to catch the asian invader. >> reporter: fishermen it turns out like to catch snakeheads. they bite hard, fight fiercely, and they taste really good, too. in maryland now, they are the targets of a big contest that can win you money. >> i've caught them in here. >> reporter: mike wagner is among a growing crowd of recreational fishermen who specifically go after

snakeheads. >> actually they're pretty fun to catch. they do put up a good fight. >> reporter: this is a place colorfully named the bumpy oak pond in charles county. there are so many snakeheads here, you can actually see them swimming in a roadside ditch. that's snakeheads as in the toothy fish illegally imported from asia that maryland wildlife officials so feared, they poisoned entire waterways to try to get rid of them. it didn't work. instead snakeheads have spread widely threatening native fish. so now maryland natural resources officials are trying to control the population by promoting fishing for snakeheads as sport to a growing crowd of enthusiasts. this season an online contest where fishermen post photos to enter at the end of the season winners will be randomly drawn for gifts of tackle and gear worth hundreds. the photos are coming fast and furious and the fish are big. >> i think it's a great thing to try to get rid of them. they're eventually going to

kill everything. >> reporter: contest or not, the fact remains that snakeheads continue to spread and appear to be here to stay. so the state biology is are simply trying to -- biology is are simply tying -- biologists are simply trying to make the beps of a not so good -- best of a not so good situation. more details are emerging about what happened with the secret service team in colombia last week. that story is coming up. rocker tom petty is going to be reunited with his stolen guitar. find out how police cracked the case. >> the district is looking at some major tax incentives to keep one local company really happy. i'm tell you why and what it means for the local economy. that's coming up at 6:07. you are watching 9news now.

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the police weren't running down a dream but have caught up with a suspect in a high profile case. the theft of tom petty's guitar. >> now the rocker is getting his instrument back just in time for the next leg of his tour. >> reporter: you could say tom petty without a guitar is like a fish out of water. so when five of the legendary rocker's guitars were stolen from a soundstage in culver city last week, it was a heartbreaker. >> to a musician their guitars are everything. and in particular with tom petty, these are guitars that are part of musical history. >> reporter: norman harris owns norman's guitars in tarzana where petty purchased many of

his guitars, including this stolen 12-string which harris says shaped the rock star's signature sound. >> his music is very reminiscent of the old english sound, the british sound. that guitar really says it all. >> reporter: the guitar mystery was solved and all five instruments were recovered of the culver city police arrested this man, 51-year-old daryl washington, a security guard at the culver city soundstage. they say someone tipped off police after he sold one of the guitars at a hollywood pawnshop. >> the evidence in this case is overwhelming. it's extremely strong and compelling. >> reporter: it was no petty theft. harris estimates the guitars are worth more than $100,000. petty tweeted words of thanks. he says, extremely grateful to the culver city police department for a job well done and touched by the outpouring of good wishes and concern from our friends and fans. these music makers are in police hands soon to be back in

the heartbreaker's hands where they'll be strumming a happy tune. does this outfit look familiar? this is what tom petty wore when he was on tour about ten years ago. he's back on tour in colorado starting tomorrow. got news is his beloved guitars will be right on stage with him. you are watching 9 news now at 6:00 a.m. good morning. i'm andrea roane. >> left my top hat at home. i'm mike hydeck. thanks for joining us. here's monika santami with traffic in just a minute. >> howard is playing a new tune out on the ga -- not on the guitar but he has a different forecast with rain in it. not going to be warm. going to be a cool day. you need a jacket and something to keep you dry because we have showers in the forecast, especially south of town. could be leftier ones down there. temperatures won't be moving much at all today. 60 now. don't expect to see again a lot of movement. upper 50s, low 60s. we'll be bouncing up and down just a few degrees depending on