this is 9news now. >> the home of d.c. government activist destroyed and she's hospitalized after seeing it fall to the ground. that home has been a fixture of gerard street northwest for more than 140 years now. >> tonight, it's gone with city officials praising officials for keeping adjacent buildings from being destroyed. gary is as close as they'll let him get, gary. >> let me try that again. seven hours after this fire began. smoke still permeates the air in this columbia heights neighborhood. you can easily see why because smoke is pouring from the building that was destroyed. you know the cliche, it's a miracle no one was hurt, well, it's a miracle no one was hurt. firefighters got the call after 4:00 and found the fire raging on the upper floors of the three story building.

immediately called in a second alarm and began pouring water on the fire from several spots on the ground and eventually from ladders and buckets in the air. at first, it looked as though the first floor was not as badly damaged. but the fire was persistent. an inner wall collapsed, rupturing a gas line and increasing the hazards. one firefighter did receive minor injuries and was taken to a burn center. brazil was not home at the time and arrived to watch firefighters trying to save her home. it became apparent that the building was going to be nothing more than a shelf shell and the home collapsed. mayor gray arrived, but her blood pressure spiked and she was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. >> that's your life, that's your history, probably not too many more to stabilizing feelings than having an experience like this. >> continued to be a safety

concern. the street was blocked for hours. but given the intensity of the fire and given worries it couldn't realistically be done, firefighters did manage to keep the two adjoining homes from catching fire. >> proximity of the home is something to think about. the guys and ladies did an outstanding job. when the collapse o curded, no one was injured. >> the building has been contention, which has put it on a condemned list and forced repairs as brazil accused city leaders in the past of retaliating for her watchdog activities. gerard street is still closed because the work is not done. that white you see is water that firefighters are still putting on the building which continues to smolder. the very good news is there were no serious injuries. her friends hope that her blood pressure will soon come down and a new home for her will soon go up. derek and anita. >> let's hope so.

gary, thank you. the d.c. city council is about to decide whether to continue at a cost of about $20 million, a program that provides free health insurance to low income residents, many of whom who are here illegally from other countries. providers, which run this clinic see many of these patients. d.c. councilman says many vacant but funded positions in city government provide the money to pay for it. >> whether they are documented or not work in this city, they work hard, they provide vital functions and they are our neighbors. i'm going to do everything i can to mike sure they are treated just like anyone else. >> he simply rewarding illegal behavior. he's encouraging more and he's engaging in what i think is fund mentally and unethical and unfair, redistribution of scarce assets from legal washington residents to those who have no legal right to be

here. >> mayor gray opposes the plan, but this week it easily won approval in the d.c. council help committee. this story has been brewing up a lot of heated debate on our wusa9 facebook page. join the conversation. anita. a couple hot button issue have a lot of people fired up. start off with disappointing news. 115,000 jobs were added in april. hiring slowed down in the past two months and more americans have given up their job search. with less people looking for work, the unemployment rate fell from 8.2 to 8.1%. now the white house says the report is still evidence the economy continues to heal, but slowly, mitt romney blames president obama's policy for the slow down in job creation. >> there's a lot of folks out of work, which means we have to do more. >> this is a sad time in america.

when people want work can't find jobs. >> there could be some good news ahead for president obama. the job market is going to keep improving and will be in much better shape by election day. and the other big issue we're talking about, that battle over student loan interest rates. if congress doesn't act by july 1, interest rates on federally subsidized student loans will double. president obama called on congress to find the funding before it's too late. >> so we can't price the middle class out of a higher education. we have to make college more affordable. >> i am worried about debt, especially going into the navy. i'm worried how i'll pay for everything. >> the senate will vote on the issue, but there's going to be opposition in the house of representatives. there are some bold thieves out there taking advantage of people with disabilities. residents at an apartment complex in suitland say they were hit pretty hard this week and as ken explains, these

particular crooks are after a very specific item. >> come out, come out. his window is broke. >> i got a call that my window was broken. >> i was devastated. >> their stories are almost identical. neighbors in suitland say they awoke wednesday morning to sew their car windows smashed. >> the glass is broken. >> it's what was taken that has them the most upset. the crooks didn't take car radios or electronics. instead, it was something else they were after. >> they were missing the handicap sticker. >> each of the cars had the blue handicapped plaquers taken. >> it's extremely frustrating. >> the neighbors being victimized are convinced they are selling them on the street. >> they sell everything. >> they are taking the stickers and selling them to people who want to get that

free parking and close parking. >> these residents depend on the handicapped plaquered every day. they have a difficult time finding parking everywhere they go. now they and others are stuck nearly $200 in the hole with window repair bills and asking for help in putting an end to this. >> people need to step up more and say look, don't be buying it from them. when they come to you. >> we reached out to prince georges county police who said they are aware of the problem and looking into it. however, they weren't able to provide details. >> one of the two women hit in that church city in ellicott city last night remains in critical condition tonight. st. peter is online support and her family says they plan to provide the gift of life through organ donation. brenda brewington died last night and investigators say a homeless man shot both women and turned the gun on himself.

chinese activist may be heading to the united states. american and chinese diplomats are working on a deal that would allow chin to study abroad and take his family with him. the blind lawyer was in the middle of a diplomatic battle between the u.s. and china over his whistle blowing on the government's forced abortion policy. a maryland man in prison in cuba is pleading to see his dying mother. he was convicted of transporting communication equipment into cuba. he has been in jail since 2009. he told cnn that his request to visit his mom have been ignored. >> requesting permission for me to visit her. i will return to cuba, you know. you can quote me on that. >> he went to cuba in 2009 to work for a u.s. government funded international development group. his family says he wanted to bring the internet to cuba's small jewish community. two drivers climb out of their vehicles and start to argue. one of them ends up dead.

the other disappears. tonight, police are looking for that other driver in a black chevy suv with temporary tags. the argument took place on harrison lane in fairfax county and right now, police have not released the dead driver's name or how she died, but we do know she was 21 years old and she did live in that area. he was 1/3 of the band who fought for their right to party. but now, adam, better known as mca of the beastie boys has died. he lost his battle with cancer. in addition to making music over the span of three decades, he produced movies and founded a film production company. adam, 47 years old. new tonight, the 911 call made by junior seau's girlfriend when she found his body wednesday morning. >> what's going on there? who shot himself? >> junior seau, my boyfriend. >> seau was pronounced dead at the scene from a single gun shot wound to the chest. suicide was ruled the cause of

death. his family agreed to donate his brain to science so they can study the long-term effect of sports related injuries. tainted dog food. 14 people in nine states are infected with sal salmonella after coming in contact with the food. people can become infected by handling the dog food and not washing their own hands before eating or handling their food. this plant has a history of problems, including an incident with toxic mold that killed dozens of dogs in 2005. after the break, a group of friends locked inside a restaurant because they argued over the tip. we asked, could the gratuity be removed? could we have our own, give our own tip? >> more on this bill battle coming your way. also ahead, irreplaceable memories lost and then found. five years after the wedding,

an answer to a riddle. top. >> 84 today. more like late june. still warm summer-like out here. we are looking at the potential for thunderstorms overnight and we wake up weather, some left over showers. 60s to start. 60s and 70s by 8:00 and also by 10:00. we'll come back and talk about how widespread those showers will be and where we could see a heavy storm overnight. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable

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fans of naughty romance novelist got a chance to meet the writer at the barnes and noble in bethesda. james is known for her 50 shades trilogy. the book's deal with a racy love affair between two characters and fans can't get enough. these novels fly off the shelves. they are nearly sold out all over the place. all right, a family in houston says the restaurant staff locked them inside the place and called the cops because they made a big fuss about paying the tip. >> the tip was 17% added automatically because they had more than five people in the party. they say the wait staff was rude. their food orders were mixed up so they didn't want to pay 17%.

that is when things got nasty. with the door being locked and the cops called in. >> i asked the police officer twice, maybe three times, is it against the law if we don't pay the gratuity? and he never gave me a straight answer. >> well, the restaurant says the 17% gratuity is clearly stated on the menu. the customers ended up paying it. i'm guessing that group won't be going back there to the fisherman. could the tragic suicide of beloved nfl linebacker, junior seau, mark the beginning of tough times? the national football league be in trouble here? you think it couldn't happen? derek says think again. >> anita, it will be weeks before we know if junior seau's tragic suicide had anything to do with getting too many concussions. what we already do know is 1500 former players are suing the nfl. they claim the league didn't do enough to prevent their brain injuries. it is perhaps the beginning of

the end say two economists, tyler cohen and kevin greer in a devastating article they call, what would the end of football look like? they say for one thing, it looks like more concussion lawsuits, but these will be against high schools and colleges. a few multimillion dollar judgments there and liability insurance is priced out of reach and therefore a lot of schools are out of the game. and more and more parents decide no more football for my son and suddenly the player pipeline starts to dry up and football becomes like boxing. something much smaller and only for folks who don't mind getting punched in the head. i know, football is the 800 pound gorilla of sports. a century ago, so was horse racing. no, the nfl could really be in serious trouble here and i think they know it. that's why we are seeing massive rules changes, not to mention the harsh penalties handed out in the bounty gate. let's be real. this is football, violence is why we watch. blow out your knee, that's part

of the game. but blow out your brain? if it were anything but football, we would already know the answer. anita. >> lots to think about, thanks, derek. >> irreplaceable memories lost and found again from florida to indianapolis and all the way to alexandria. this is one of those times when the media can do something good and in this case, it was a tv station in fort myers, florida. shows us the happy resolution of a five-year-old wedding mystery. >> it's a beautiful family. >> 185 photos. >> i couldn't -- >> stitched cot together in an album. a wedding on a beach in florida. >> a handsome marine, a beautiful bride. >> lost at an airport in fort myers. >> on the plane or at the airport. >> former airport worker could not bare to see it thrown away. >> it was a wedding album, which is like a bible, you don't want to throw it in the trash. >> she spent years looking for the couple. finally turning to a fort myers

tv station. we started scouring the photos. the marine is a sergeant and a good shot. the answer to this riddle here in this modest town home in alexandria. >> oh my goodness. that's just what it was. oh my goodness. i can't believe it. >> diana is the mother of the bride. >> it was really an amazing event. something that could never replace. >> jesse is the bride and bud is both the father and the pastor in the album. >> for something to happen like this, somebody greater than just you and me has to be in control. >> so much time has passed since they lost the album, the couple now has a 16 month old and twins on the way. >> got a couple of them in there. >> they will never forget the airport worker who refused to give up on their memories. >> patricia, oh my gosh, i can't believe she took the time. >> hopefully they can have it to hand down to somebody in

their family or be up in their 80s and look back on it and say, we almost lost it, but we have it back now because some die hard person decided not to give up on finding who it belongs to. >> bruce leshan, 9news now. a little detective work traced the couple to right here in alexandria, the tv station is hoping to fly the former airport worker and wedding album up here tomorrow for a reunion and bruce was saying earlier, they looked at the name on the back of the photo, traced that through indianapolis and to alexandria where they found the family. >> that is nice. a nice story. priceless, really. >> it is. you can't replace it. we're looking at a pretty good weekend. showers in the forecast. that is now changed. we were talking mainly south and west. they could be widespread, but not enough to wash anything out. the little league games will be played. we aren't going to have a severe weather alert night, but a couple thunderstorms are

possible. our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. temperatures are like summer. 70 downtown. it does not get below 60 tonight. winds light, the pressure 29.91 inches of mercury and it's still falling. here's a look at the radar. we're looking at big thunderstorms pulling into southeastern pennsylvania. these may just clip north eastern maryland and then these storms, they are moving south and east as well. they could get into hagerstown overnight. so some of the storms could still be rather heavy, although the threat has diminished overnight. it's a big storm, too, down across southern maryland and into the northern neck. some of those are producing heavy rain. nothing severe, but heavy rain. those storms in particular, in fact, we'll zoom into st. mary's county. we're looking at big storms in the northern neck. everything is pushing to the south and east.

lusby getting hit and st. leanard getting hit pretty hard. just with heavy rain. that's the yellow and rain. that's rain fall rates of 3/4 to an inch an hour. the future cast will put this into motion. by morning, you can see big thunderstorms pushing across the bay. but notice to the west, still some showers out in the mountains and that's going to be the best place for showers tomorrow. further west you go, the best chance you have. we'll have showers here and there across the metro area. all green, it's all going to be light. not going to cause any huge problems. they will be on and off again until we get into the evening hours tomorrow as the cold front takes much of tomorrow to sink to our south. when it does, it will leave us with a fantastic sunday. so a few thunderstorms overnight. a few showers on saturday. nothing crazy heavy. check out the full moon tomorrow night and check out my blog tomorrow morning. and we'll discuss just why it's so cool and nice on sunday. temperatures will be in the 70s and we'll have more sunshine.

so, overnight again, we're looking at a chance for a shower or thunderstorm. some fog. low temperatures in the 60s. winds north, northeast at 10. next seven days, nice on sunday. sunshine, mid 70s. mid 70s on monday. and looking at temperatures in the mid 70s tuesday with showers and thunderstorms and cooler next week. we may not hit 70 by next thursday. >> wow. >> lots going on. the festival, the flower march. bow ties and bells in alexandria. watching the derby. >> nationals in action. did the fans turn out? yes. natitude strikes on south capital. the numbers are in. which team fans represented the most? a lot of red being dawned. nats management a lot to be happy about. looking good in burgundy and gold. that's next.

and now, 9sports with dave owen. the best sports in town. >> got to admit, the nats take back the park campaign could have gone horribly wrong. what if fans didn't want to take it back?

what if philly fatefuls found a way to down out nats nation? if opening night is any indication, strike up one for the home team. 34,000 plus attending. mostly nats fans. our own high school producer who was there says it was 70/30. nats backers, how about that? it worked. how about to the game. there's your pitcher of the month, stephen strasburg. he said, i'm hitting this one to the super mono. first home run given up this year. nats down 3-2. can't make the dive, so we're tied. in extras, wilson ramos saying game winner, let's go home. >> a lot of times this year we have been awful quiet with the bats and this is, you know, i know it's coming. it was nice to see some quality at bats from a lot of guys. >> orioles and red sox.

this is mark reynolds here. 99 problems, but hitting ain't one. that made it 1-1. they are playing all night long. first rookie minicamp practice. undrafted free agents and guys trying out. none under the microscope. more than number 10. rg3 working out with offensive coordinator this afternoon. this camp about learning, but getting down the small details. all those fundamentals. players won't be available to the media until monday. after business, after that 4 1/2 marathon on wednesday, one by the ranger who's are up two games to one. one of the most physicalically demanding games of his career. puck drops tomorrow at 12:13. 18,000 votes for our game of the week. baseball, prince georges county

style. bowie, eleanor roosevelt, as roosevelt in white. they are 16-1. bowie, the bulldogs, 15-1 in blue. early on, that's an audio daily double. not much else going on for the bulldogs, it was all er. craig farmer working the line. the raiders stay undefeated, 9- 1. and finally, sound up. the shot heard across the county. this brave camera man getting nailed by a baseball. who is that brave soul? it's paul lester who stood right in there and didn't pull himself out of the game. how about that? he didn't flinch one time. >> yeah, i won't tell you where. paul went home on comp on that one. >> we'll be right back.

all right, caps, nationals, avengers, plenty of things to do this weekend. >> lots of traffic. everyone stay safe this weekend. we'll see you on monday. bye bye. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable

and enjoying it less and less? upgrade to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for just $99.99 a month guaranteed for two-years with no annual contract required. this is a limited time offer, so don't wait. get fios at this great price. act now and get $250 back, if you sign a 2-year contract.