fog is southwest and west of town. 65 at national up wither 70s by noon. by 5:00 83. we'll have highs today 84, 85. maybe 86 in a few spots so a warm day. just a spotty thunderstorm this afternoon. had some heavy rain makers last night. caused some flooding in spots off to the south of d.c. this morning we have some leftover moisture, lighter winds. some areas have cleared. southwest and west is where we're seeing some fog. dulles has gotten better from man fan sas -- manassas, quarter mile or less. cumberland is down to zero. locally we're not too bad here in the metro but watch out for those areas with your early morning temperatures in the 50s in the shenandoah to 65 here in washington. 5:00 a.m. monika santami with time saver traffic. for the most part everyone is behaving themselves. there are no big issues to report. i think if you're headed out the door right now you'll be

okay. no problems to report coming in from the west on the dulles toll road or i-66. we're good along the west side of the beltway between 270 and tysons corner. gw parkway as well headed inbound inside the beltway. great time to head on to the gw parkway. we'll look live at the american legion bridge. you can see just a timey bit of volume but again no big problems to report. let's go back out to the maps and this time head to the south side of town northbound 95 coming up from dale city to woodbridge to springfield you'll be okay. we'll take a live look inside the beltway on 395 heading into shirlington and the 14th street bridge. all lanes are copy. coming up in my next report, we'll go over to the bw parkway at 5:09. the battle between higher taxes or fewer government services plays out today in maryland's house of delegates. >> here we go. that's where lawmakers are going to debate the budget passed yesterday by the senate. 9news now reporter delia goncalves live in bethesda with more on all this wrangling and how it is going to affect you.

cool live shot. i like where you are. >> reporter: it's a great live shot. lots of lights behind us. that's rare at 5:00 in the morning. you've seen plenty of my live shots. let's say this is not good news for a lot of folks despite how pretty this live shot looks. if you do end up shopping here in bethesda chances are you're probably going to have to pay more taxes if the senate gets its way. the tax increase would raise taxes a quarter percent for anyone making more than $100,000 a year. the $260 million tax package would be the first increase in five years in maryland. and it would tie the district's at the fourth highest rate nationwide. some lawmakers say the hike puts an unfair burden on folks in montgomery county who only make up 18% of the state's taxpayers but they stand to pay the most, up to $955 more a year. >> from the tax proposal that's

on the table right now, 40% of the money comes from montgomery county. that doesn't seem quite fair. and it doesn't raise enough money to really meet our needs as a state. >> we aren't raising taxes to do something to people but something for people who happen to be even worse off than we are. >> our jobs don't vote but we do vote. >> reporter: meanwhile, pit bull owners rallied outside the statehouse. they're upset about a proposal that would define their breed as dangerous dogs. following a recent court ruling under the proposed measure, landlords and homeowners would be liable if a pit bull on their property attacked someone. so lots of owners are fearful that their landlords will throw them out of their homes but the leadership has already said despite the noise that was made yesterday, they are not going to take up this pit bull

measure in this session which actually ends today. however, they may take it up in a second special session later this summer. coming up at 5:30, why some lawmakers here in montgomery county actually want the tax hike. we'll have details on that in a half-hour. mike, jess, back to you. >> looking forward to it. thank you, delia. delia goncalves live in bethesda this morning. we now know who will be replacing harry thomas jr. on the d.c. city council. kenyan mcduffie won the seat in yesterday's special election getting almost 45% of the vote. second place finisher got 20%. there were 11 candidates in all. as you may remember thomas resigned in january after pleading guilty to stealing city money. a toddler dies after following his mother out of her car. the mother told charles county deputies she got out of her car to hand a letter to the mailman yesterday. standing on sugar berry street in waldorf. but the woman's son got out of

his car seat and walked into the path of an suv. investigators say the car seat was properly installed and the boy was buckled in but he managed to release that buckle. his name has not been released. the suv driver stayed at the scene. hundreds of young people showed up at a spot where three of their piers -- peers died one year ago. a vigil was held in honor of haeley mcguire, spenser datt and johnny hoover. friends wore bright green shirts in honor of those lost. kevin coffay had his sentence reduced from 20 years to eight years. a couple metro cars are out of service after the doors opened on them while the train was moving. this was on the red line yesterday morning between van ness and tinley town stations. no one was hurt.

metro is inspecting the cars to see why the doors opened while it was moving. metro is park of a new bike facility. it has space for more than a hundred bicycles. cyclists need a personal access card to get in but there are no monthly or annual fees. the one time $5 charge is applied to new customer i.d. verification. it is 5:06. i am watching your money on wall street. fingers crossed this morning. asian stocks have been heading lower yet again in overnight trading. european stocks are falling as well. you can blame greece against. its future in the euro is in doubt after last-ditch efforts to form a new government have apparently failed. concerns about the state of the eu economy keeps sending wall street lower, too. now on pace for the biggest monthly loss since september, stocks closing out at three- month lows yesterday. checking the number,s, the dow

losing 63 points of trading yesterday. nasdaq down by 9. s&p 500 down by 7. a disappointing earnings report from jcpenney. the struggling department store chain says profits and sales were much lower than expected last quarter. it will also stop paying a quarterly dividend in order to save money. you've seen this. people texting and walking, maybe even crossing the street texting seemingly oblivious to the world around them. some communities want that to stop. so they're handing out fines for distracted walking. our partners at "u.s.a. today" report the fines are ranging from 50 bucks all the way up to $85. research from ohio state university shows that cell phone use by pedestrians led to more than a thousand emergency room visits nationwide in 2008. you see this all the time people walking in front of your car, texting. >> when you see it you think this sounds a little goofy they would give somebody a ticket for that but how many times have you seen somebody this

close to a car or smack into a pole on the sidewalk. >> or found yourself in that situation before. >> i'm never growing to admit to that. what's coming up in the next half-hour? >> cutting the cable bill. we want to do it. we're helping you out. still ahead, a couple new reports that might sway the opinions about the trayvon martin case. that story coming up next. a string of dangerous incidents leads to new rules of one type of military fighter jet. >> not so almighty was the righty for the nats yesterday. a little rain delay might have something to do with stephen straussburg's troubles -- strasburg's troubles. dad look, you can get eggs,

bacon and pancakes for $4. umm. in my day, you get eggs, bacon and pancakes, and it only cost you $4. the $4 everyday value slam. one of 4 tasty choices for $4 off the 2-4-6-8 value menu. only at denny's.

5:10 on this wednesday morning. we're doing much better than yesterday evening when we had the heavy downpour thunderstorms. this morning fog in spots west of town. we are expecting sunshine today when some of the fog burns off. maybe a storm or to this afternoon but a warm day. high temperatures shooting up possibly into the mid-80s. full forecast in just a few minutes. right now monika is in with time saver traffic. we're taking a live look on the northbound side of i-95 here in springfield. you can see that there's a bit of volume forming right now. but still no major delays heading up to the beltway and on to 395. coming up in my next report, we'll take a closer look at virginia roads at 5:17. making news now at 5:10 this morning, new information in the death of the trayvon

martin murder case. an autopsy shows the teen had injuries to his knuckles when he died. which might support george zimmerman's claim he shot martin in self-defense. zimmerman had two black eyes and a broken nose and cuts on the back of his head. defense secretary leon pan panetta has put limits on f-22 flight,. there have been 22 unexplained cases of pilot oxygen deprivation in the last few years. it will not affect the war in afghanistan because there are no f-22s deployed there. two more primary victories for mitt romney. he won in nebraska and oregon yesterday. in a speech in iowa, he accused president obama of driving the country into the debt crisis. well, get ready to share the road with more two-wheel commuters. we're going to review bike to work day coming up at 5:48. >> at 5:22, we'll show you whether the nationals could overcome a subpar start from

their stephen strasburg. >> howard has a great looking seven-day forecast. you'll want to stick around for that.

hello, friends. 5:14. wednesday. you're halfway there. if you suffered through the rain and truthfully some of the pollen lately, you got some relief coming. >> it cleansed it out. >> it was a big difference at

our house. >> no itchy eyes. >> let's enjoy it while we've got to because when we dry out, unfortunately the mold spores will probably shoot up and the pollen. yes, grass pollen season, got to love it. some fog a problem. that's west of town in the mountains of western maryland and west virginia where some of the visibilities are close to zero. we're okay here in the metro for the most part with partly cloudy conditions. sunrise at 5:54. it will start to get light very shortly with temperatures running in the upper 50s to upper 60s. a good looking day planner. lots of sunshine. spotty thunderstorms this afternoon. i don't think we'll see anything like we saw yesterday. by noon upper 70s with a west to southwest wind 5 to 10. pretty nice lunch hour. 3:00 83 if not 85. that will be close to the high for the day with low 80s still at 6:00 p.m. going to the nats game tonight, pirates are coming to visit for a couple. 81 at game time. 7:05, falling into the mid-70s

in the latter inning, southwest winds at 7. we should be in pretty good shape weather wise for that the last six hours toward midnight, 11:30, you can see we had some big storms well south of us. some of that rain clipped southern maryland. this morning we've cleared out. fog a real problem. stafford half-mile, culpeper. we're down a half mile in martinsburg and zero in cumberland. the problems are west. the metro points east and south not too bad. a little haze across parts of southern maryland. temps running in the mid-60s at the parks naval air station. tappahannock is 63. we're in the 50s out west with the cooler temperatures. a little bit of the fog formed. culpeper 61 and winchester 59. outside on the michael & son weather camera, we're generally good. a few clouds out there. good visibility. 65 degrees. still a little muggy. humidity is up there at 90%. but i expect us to dry out some today as the west and southwest

winds kind of take some of the moisture we have, get it out of here. we're also watching this front toward detroit. that be diving off toward the south and east. by noon it gets toward the erie, pennsylvania area. a few clouds south and east nor so than north and west. in the middle of the afternoon relatively quiet. we'll watch to see if the front can bring us anything later on this afternoon or this evening. one thing it will definitely bring us is cooler, drier air starting tomorrow. today 84. maybe 85 or 86 in a few spots. just an isolated storm or two. down in the 50s tonight. we'll be 76 tomorrow. very nice tomorrow and friday. by friday morning there could be a few 40s out there. the weekend looks good, too. upper 70s to around 80. some showers and storms return early next week. it is 5:17. we need some traffic information. here's the lady with the answer. with the exception of just some slow traffic forming which is normal for this time of the morning, we really don't have any big problems to report i'm happy to say and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays

that way. no problems on 66 in from manassas to centreville. all of your lanes are open as you head for the beltway. the beltway looks good the entire western stretch it 270, tysons and annandale. we'll take you live on 395 inside the beltway. here's what it looks like at edsall road. no brake lights through landmark, up towards shirlington and the 14th street bridge. we'll head into downtown and show what you it looks like. nice and light across the 14th street bridge into the downtown area. all of the corridors are looking good as well. we'll take you live to the sousa bridge inbound on pennsylvania avenue as you head through this corridor. you'll be fine as well crossing the river. in my next report we'll go over to 270 at 5:24. stephen strasburg talked about his less than stellar performance on the mound yesterday. >> plus, we'll jump into the the american league east and check in on the orioles taking on the yankees. that is coming up in sports. before we head to break, another look at the question of the day. here it is. three out of ten of us refuse to use one of these things.

is it a, a seat belt, b, social networking websites or c, a public toilet seat. >> here's a look at a response you posted on the wusa9 facebook fan page. jeane wrote it's a, a seat belt. click it or ticket it in maryland, i'm an offender of the seat belt because i had an ought mat nick my 1994 nissan. now i have to reach around and do it. come on, jeane. >> log on to our facebook fan page. love to hear some of your comments. we'll have the answer in our 6:00 show. we'll be right back.

you know chase freedom gives you 5% cash back at grocery stores this quarter. thank you. happy shopping! activate your 5 percent cash back at chase.com/freedom. and now, new cardmembers get 100 dollars bonus cash back after they spend 500 dollars within the first three months. visit chase.com/freedom or your local branch today.

we have patchy dense fog in toward western maryland, the mountains of west virginia and northern virginia. that's going to slow you down a bit. give yourself a few extra minutes. as we look at the future cast, other than a few clouds, we're looking at a decent amount of sunshine. upper 70s. we'll go through the afternoon, spotty shower. that's it or thunderstorm. highs going to make it up into the low to mid-80s. jess and mike, over to you. >> thank you, howard. the orioles fight off one of their division foes. >> the nationals hope stephen strasburg will not repeat what he did yesterday. kristen berset with your morning sports. good morning, everybody. after yesterday's loss to the padres, nationals skipper johnson made a revelation. stephen strasburg got kind of

the icy hot ointment in an area he shouldn't have, one that's sure to make anyone uncomfortable, let alone a starting pitcher. whether that affected his performance, that see yet will -- secret will remain in the clubhouse and the rain didn't help either. after an eighth-minute break he seemed to be off his rhythm. he went to four innings giving up four unearned runs, the shortest outing of the season. bryce harmer a better day, his second homer in a matter of days but that was all they could do. nats drop this one to the padres. >> tough to kind of get going again. you know, it's -- it's something i think i can learn a lot from this outing and i just got to find the positives and just remember that, you know, there's always going to be days like this where nothing is really going your way. >> birds hosting the yanks last night at camden yards. jj hardee an rbi for him last night. orioles looking good on the offense and pretty good on the

defensive side, too. nice double play. look at that. orioles split this series 5-2. that's a quick look at sports this morning. have a great wednesday. so how would you like to take on tiger woods? face to face. you have about 24 hours left to enter the tiger chipping challenge on our wusa9 facebook fan page. may 21 which is next monday, you get to play around at congressional's exclusive blue course. topper shutt and i will be there. before that you get to take on tiger woods. you'll also get passes to the tractor-trailer national golf tournament which is next month and again the winner will be selected tomorrow morning so go to our facebook page, click like, and you have a shot. great early father's day present. >> what an awesome contest. >> coming up in your next your money segment, i've got some ideas for trimming the fat from your cable, internet and phone bills this morning. >> plus, president obama will be talking about the economy

with top congressional leaders. later today his to do list he calls it. a quick check of the commute. >> on the west side of town here's what it looks like at the american legion bridge. you can see a bit of volume across the river but no issues to report coming in from the south or the north on the west side of town. coming up in my next report, we'll take a look at 270 at 5:29. you're watching 9news now. it was like a red rash... very sore looking kinda blistery.

like somebody had set a bag of hot charcoal on my neck. i was a firefighter for 24 years. but, i have never encountered such a burning sensation until i had the shingles. i remember it well. i was in the back yard doing yard work. i had this irritation going on in my lower neck. i changed shirts because i thought there was something in the collar of the shirt irritating my neck. and i couldn't figure out what was going on. i had no idea it came from chickenpox. i always thought shingles was associated with people... a lot older than myself. i can tell you from experience, it is bad. it's something you never want to encounter. for more of the inside story, visit shinglesinfo.com

welcome back. i'm jessica doyle in for the lovely and talented andrea roane. >> she has an allergy thing she could not shake yesterday. i'm mike hydeck. thank you for joining us. it's wednesday, you've halfway there. good morning, monika. >> good morning. how are you? >> good. she always looks good in white. howard bernstein. >> you have enough caffeine. >> he's only on his fifth or

something. >> i have five more to go. >> we're in pretty good shape. we do have some fog west and southwest of town that could slow you down. some of the visibilities are near zero in the mountains. we'll look at that in a moment but the rest of us are doing much better than yesterday evening. you'll see that we're getting lighter and lighter. sunrise here in about 25 minutes. that's a pretty shot of the u.s. capitol. temperatures running in the mid- 60s in town. upper 70s by noon with highs today in the mid-#s on in spots -- mid-80s in spots. we've got the threat for a thunderstorm or two. i think it will be much less than yesterday when we had the storms blow up to our south. heavy rainfall in spots. north and west quieter but that's where we find a lot of the fog this morning. generally west and southwest where visibilities in manassas quarter mile down in warrenton. zero in cumberland as well. around here decent visibilities and our temperatures from the

low to mid-60s in the metro. some spots i-81 mid- to upper 50s. you may need a little jacket for a few minutes. it is now 5:29. monika santami big smile on a wednesday. that's pretty good. >> it is pretty good although i have a bit of an uh-oh. that uh-oh is i just got word of an accident on the outer loop of the beltway. crews are looking for it between the 270 spur and river road. i'll get to that in just a minute. if you are planning to head south on 270 coming in from the north you're going to be okay. no problems to report out of frederick into clarksburg and to the point where the lanes divide. that's where it may get a little tricky and a cruiser looking for that accident. we'll take a live look outside on the spur. it doesn't look like anything is here. it may be a little further south toward river road. i'll keep you posted on that situation of course. let's take you back over to the maps this time all the way down to southern maryland. looking good on all the major thoroughfares. route 5, route 4, 301. we'll take a live look outside and prove it you to. route 301 at route 5 looks

great here. another look at the west side of town at 5:39. back to you. today president obama will be meeting with top congressional leaders. >> the president plans to push for passage of a set of bills he says will create jobs and build a stronger economy. but republicans have their own to do list. with another battle looming over the debt ceiling, the g.o.p. wants deep cuts in federal spending. >> allowing the debt ceiling to go up without addressing our fiscal challenge would be the most irresponsible thing that i could do. >> the american people have had enough of this brinksmanship. they want us to get things double. >> last year's debt ceiling battle dragged out so long, it triggered a downgrade of the u.s. credit rating. the treasury secretary predicts government spending will hit the current borrowing limit 16.4 trillion by the end of this year. spending cuts versus tax hikes. also the subject of debate on the state level today at the

maryland house of delegates. the senate has approved a budget which includes a tax hike and now the house will be taking up the measure. 9news now reporter delia goncalves is live in bethesda. she has what we can expect from this. good morning, delia. >> reporter: good morning, mike. some folks are not going to be happy, but as you know, the shops here at bethesda row are really mixed. there are some very high end shops, others reasonably priced. lawmakers say that's a good example to bring home the fact that not everyone making $100,000 a year or more is considered rich. still under a proposed plan, those folks stand to pay higher taxes and that plan was passed by the senate yesterday. the package would help the state avoid a doomsday budget and $500 million in service cuts, but montgomery county delegate charles barkley says it puts an unfair burden on his constituents here in the county. he proposed a higher sales tax instead but that was quickly voted down.

however, other montgomery county lawmakers actually voted for the tax hike saying listen, even an extra $900 a year in taxes for a family is far better than a college student paying an extra $3,000 in tuition. >> the majority party says $150,000 is rich. president obama even doesn't say that. he says $250,000. but here in maryland we've gone way below $250,000. we've gone down into the working people. >> the question is who do you kick off the train? nobody is going to kick anybody off the train. >> reporter: meanwhile pit bull owners rallied against a measure that they say would kick them out of their homes. a proposed bill would make landlords and homeowners liable if a pit bull on their property attacked someone. but lawmakers have already said that measure is not going to be taken up in this session. it will likely be discussed in a second special session later

this summer. that's when lawmakers will also take up the gambling issue. later today, the house will vote on the income tax issue, and the session will wrap up tonight. back to you, mike. >> thanks, delia. delia goncalves live in bethesda row in maryland this morning. well, for the second time in two years, the montgomery county council has passed a bill that would charge a fee for calling an ambulance. county lawmakers say the measure would generate between $16 million and $18 million a year and they insist that fee would be paid by the insurance companies in most cases, not you for dialing the phone. the council pass add similar bill in 2010 but voters overturned that in a referendum. an investigation is under way into what caused a house fire last night in potomac, maryland. the first firefighters got a report that somebody might be trapped inside the home. however, a search found no one inside. no one was hurt in the fire. there were no bid contracts and take expensive trips

overseas. those are some of the findings of a federal audit of the metropolitan washington airport authority. the report was requested by virginia congressman frank wolf and it shows several board members have taken troops using mwaa money, including a three- night getaway to hawaii with a $4800 dinner bill. the board is scheduled to meet this morning and their agenda is calling for the ongoing project of metro's silver line to dulles. they're going to talk about whether or not new rate hikes are needed on the dulles toll road to help pay for that construction. at 5:39 i'm watching your money. all of that money you're paying to the cable company. of course you've heard of all the old ways to cut your cable, internet and phone bill each month but the new gadgets you own may bring new opportunities to slash your costs with some simple steps. >> reporter: over a hundred bucks to the cable company every month? ouch. but there are simple ways to save. bundling your home own, internet and cable often gives

you the best price but don't stop there. consumer reports says to start by keeping tabs on what you really use. >> when you come around to looking at your telecom needs, look at how they are changing perhaps because you may not be using the home phone very much. >> reporter: stay flexible. try to avoid contracts with early cancellation fees. if you're watching more and more programming on your computer or tablet, consider dumping the dvr. your cable provider may include a video on demand service with your tv tab. ask about basic plans. local free channels plus 20 or so in the basic tier. or cut the cable cord completely. go back to free tv with an antenna. haggling still works, too. >> some of these companies are really pretty oriented towards keeping you happy for the day when a competitor may arrive. they want you to be as happy as you can be. >> reporter: of the consumer reports readers surveyed who bargained with their provider, 90% got a break ranging from

price cuts to waived fees to free premium channels. if you are a mazed by how expensive your cable bill has gotten, you are not alone. npd group says cable prices have been jumping by 6% every year recently. at this rate it expects the average cable bill to hit $200 a month in the next eight years. huge, huge expense every single month. >> trim around the edges any way you can. some of those tips are great. a group of volunteers making life a little easier for those who are struggling with mental problems in our area. more on that story next. >> plus, we'll tell you about changes in the design for the eisenhower memorial.

comfortable out here. looks like a decent sunrise. watch out for some of the fog west and southwest of d.c. and

a decent day. it's going to be warm actually. temperatures are going to climb into the 80s today. upper 70s by noon. slight chance we'll see an afternoon thunderstorm and then cooler, drier weather moves in tomorrow. those details in about five minutes. right now monika is in. she's looking at the roads for us. well, on the outer loop of the beltway, i had given you a heads up about an accident. you can see the slow traffic leaving the 270 spur before river road. the two right lanes are blocked with the accident. i'll keep you posted on in situation coming up in my next report at 5:49. i've been combing through the day's daily deals, e-mails and retailer websites to find you deep discounts. if you're a bargain hunter, head to classy kids consignment in fairfax, virginia. it's kicking off a five-day sale of gently used clothing, books, toys and videos. on certain days ever the megasale, classic kids will offer deeper discounts. we'll have the schedule on

wusa9.com. balance gym in d.c. helping you get in shape for the summertime. pay 25 bucks and you'll get five boot camp classes valued at $120. you can find this one on google offers. and then take that new bikini body to the skyline capital -- the capital skyline hotel, rather. $195 will get you a season long pass to one of the most famous party pools in the district. a savings of 41 bucks off the normal rate. you can find this one at living social. if you have an offer you've seen or you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i'd love to hear from you on facebook. today a big renovation effort at more than a dozen area mental health service homes is wrapping up. the homes in prince george's county are run by a group called volunteers of america chesapeake. bb&t picked the organization of the beneficiary of this year's lighthouse project. the crews are making repairs by putting on fresh coats of paint

to the homes and trying to make them a little more palatable for residents there. the eisenhower memorial commission has unveiled a new design from famed architect frank gary. many parts of the memorial are the same. a large metal tapestry showing a kansas landscape will still run along the boarders but in the middle he replaced two large stone sculptures with statues of dwight eisenhower as president and world war ii generally. some members objected to the original design saying it focused too much on his kansas roots instead of all of his accomplishments. you may be sharing the road with a lot more cyclists this friday. that story is coming way. >> plus a new way to enjoy one of america's most speck regard sites. you -- spectacular sites. you can do it from your computer. it's pretty neat. >> let's see who's celebrating a birthday today. happy

birthday if it's your day. we'll be right back. and it only cost you $4. the $4 everyday value slam. one of 4 tasty choices for $4 off the 2-4-6-8 value menu. only at denny's.

get your cash back! oh, hi. which cash back booth looks better to you, chase freedom or the largest cashback card? oh, i'll try the largest. oh, that is too bad. apparently you don't know chase freedom guarantees you 1% cash back. 4 times more than the largest cash back card, which only gives you a quarter percent until you spend $3,000 every year. but have fun. bob and weave once you're in there. don't get short changed. get your cash back. chase freedom.

and many allergy medicines. the difference is claritin clear. claritin gives me powerful relief that won't make me drowsy like zyrtec can. in fact, it warns drowsiness may occur right on the label. non-drowsy claritin. live claritin clear. howard bernstein is here. no boomers in the forecast like last night. >> there may be an isolated one but yesterday we expected heavy ones. we were under the slight risk for severe weather. we certainly had some of it. >> rocking and rolling last night when i was in arlington. it was crazy. >> the storms kept going till about midnight. >> north and west of town very little. i hood to run up to -- i had to run up to frederick, maryland yesterday afternoon. nothing going o. south of town

they got it. this morning west of town and southwest of town you're getting the fog. the rest of us are in pretty good shape. here's a look at the bus stop forecast. we've got the patchy fog. otherwise we'll call it partly sunny. sun is up here in just a few minutes. temperatures running from the upper 50s to the upper 60s. a few spots out way west toward i-81 have dipped to around 55 or so with our sunrise at 5:54. we'll see a good deal of sun today. winds out of the west and southwest will help boost temps into the 80s. in fact low to mid-#s on the way it looks -- mid-80s the way it looks like. upper 70s by 8:00 p.m. there's that chance, isolated chance, we'll call it 20%, maybe 30% of a spotty thunderstorm later on. a few hours ago we were still watching the storms coming out of virginia through southern maryland and the eastern shore. there's a little ground clutter. this morning it's really quieted down on the radar. the fog though is a problem. you can see it. these are the numbers of visibility. zero in cumberland. a quarter mile from warrenton

down to stafford. fredricksburg and quantico are fine. manassas a little fog by you as well with half-mile visibility. as we look outside, we're doing fine here. temps running in the 60s this morning. low 60s in great falls. the rest of us 60. it's 62 for college park and crofton. it is 57 at lovettsville one of our cooler spots. fort belvoir this morning at 61. now we're looking outside on our camera. just a few clouds out there. good looking morning. 65 at national. partly cloudy with a wind out of the south, southwest at 5. humidity still high at 90% so it is kind of muggy out there. as we go through the day we warm up. it will become less humid. front up here, see these showers coming through detroit? that front is going to move south and east. out ahead of it perhaps a few clouds south and east. a line of showers mid afternoon pennsylvania. may approach western maryland. i don't think it's going to have too much with it. as it comes in tonight it will definitely pass us tonight. that will mean a very nice

stretch of weather for the next few days. 2k58 4. spotty -- today 84. spotty storm this afternoon. some areas could be 86. 50s tonight with mid-70s tomorrow and friday. a couple of great looking days to finish out the workweek. even the weekend looks good. if you have any plans, going running or just want to get the yard taken care of, saturday looks great, 78. sunday also very nice with highs around 80. 5:49. monika santami is in. she'll goes to update us on what's happening on the outer loop. we do have problems on the outer loop, howard. it's off the 270 spur but before river road. you see this delay here. the accident blocks two right lanes again on the outer loop of the beltway twf river road. -- before river road. we'll take you over to a map so you can kind of see where it is and the location. it is going to affect the outer loop as well as you come around from old georgetown road. so be aware of that. scoot around to the left to get by. i'll keep you posted on this situation coming up in my next report once again at 6:00.

we have a special report this morning about the cyclists many of us see on our commute. this friday is bike to work day. the washington area bicyclists association is inviting more cyclists to join them on the road. joining us this morning to talk about bike to work day is the director of commuter connections and greg billing of the washington area bicyclists association to tell us more. i'm going to start with our nicholas. it's a great morning. it's going to be a fun day on friday. give us some details about the event. >> we're expecting over 10,000 cyclists to join us at different locations what we call pit stops. there will be fun event types of things, entertainment at the spots, food, drinks. there will also be bicycle tuneups and checkups and in some cases there will be some demonstrations on how to get your bike on to transit. so if you want to get it on to a transit vehicle, if you can't

bicycle all the way in, we're encourage folks to cycle to the transit locations. >> reporter: a buys transit center just opened up in college park yesterday which is great news. tell us more about the pit spots. there are 58 pit spots as far out as frederick and far south as dumfries. you don't have to tart there, do you? -- >> start there, do you? >> you don't. there are bicycle convoys that are also going to be forming at some of those locations. cue just cycle right into the district if this makes sense now and then there will also be locations where folks will congregate throughout either the district or in maryland and virginia and you basically could just join in in those groups. >> reporter: sounds great. i'm going to scoot over here to greg. greg you bike to work every single day rain or shine. for a lot of people especially on friday, there's going to be over 10,000 participants, especially with the weather being good. safety is a big concern. talk a little bit about that especially knowing that this month a woman from olney died

bicycling to work in the morning. >> safety is everybody's concern. so for bicyclists, make sure you're being predictable, staying on the right side of the road, following traffic laws, stopping at stoplights and signs. that's the law. if you're biking early in the morning, make sure you have lights on in the front and the back. for drivers, remember that today is -- on friday there's going to be many extra cyclists on the road. a lot of new cyclists so give yourself a little extra time. when passing a cyclist, make sure to give them at least three feet. that's the law. you slow down. you don't need to honk. they can hear you. and everybody is just trying to get to work safely. >> reporter: you mentioned the new sick lists. -- new cyclists. tell us about the fact they don't really have to wear all the gear. you're not wearing spandex. >> you don't need much to get to work on a bike. make sure to check that the brakes, everything work fine. but you're right, you don't need to wear much.

we see lots of people on capital bikes wearing suits and heels. you don't need special gear. >> reporter: it's going to abgreat day. we'll have more information on our websu abcan join. it's free and the weather is going to be great. back to you in the studio. >> thank you, monika. making news at 5:53, firefighters still have not been able to contain a wildfire in northern arizona. flames have scorched more than two and a half square miles. the good news is the winds are pushing the fire away from a historic mining town and surrounding vacation homes. john edwards' daughter cate is expected to testify in her father's defense later today. the defense attorney did not rule out actually putting edwards himself on the stand and possibly his former mistress rielle hunter as well. edwards is accused of misusing funds from his 2008 presidential campaign to cover up his affair with hunter. if you need a nature break, you don't have to log off your

computer. it might be nice if you do but you don't have to. the yosemite conserve vearns has started streaming time lapse of the tallest water fall in north america. the tax hike package that passed in the maryland state senate could face opposition when it comes to the house of delegates. more on that story next. stay at home moms say new credit card rules meant to protect college students are hurting them instead. we'll have that story. [ male announcer ] olympic tennis players bob and mike bryan

do a lot of sending... and receiving. sending...and receiving. sending...and receiving. sending...and receiving. sending...and receiving. [ bob ] i got the tickets. [ male announcer ] and with citibank popmoney, it's even easier to keep sending...and receiving. let me get you back. no, it's on me. i insist. no way. yes way. well let me chip in. [ male announcer ] send money from one bank account to another, with citibank popmoney. easier banking. every step of the way.

it's a federal law designinged to stop predatory credit card companies going after college students but state at home moms says it has sent women's rights back. >> a nonworking parent must have their spouse's permission to get a credit card. as kristin fisher reports, outrage stay at home moms are speaking out. >> reporter: as a-- >> as a mother who's chosen to be home with her children it's demeaning and devaluing that i can't get my own credit card. i started this campaign to fix that. >> reporter: holy is a stay at home mom who says she's a perfect credit score, a high household income and yet was denied when she applied for a target credit card last fall.

the problem? the application only asked for her individual income, not household. as a stay at home mom, her individual income was zero. >> credit cards need to look at an individual's income. >> we think the rule has been unfairly broadly interpreted. >> reporter: holly and ashley start add petition to try to fix the law they call unfair. they've recollected more than 33,000 signatures -- they've collected more than 33,000 signatures. >> they inspected the petitions and gave us every indication they are intending to look into this issue. >> reporter: just in case they left behind a few of these mock vintage flyers. it's 2012 and i have to ask your father's permission to get a gosh darn credit card? >> what about the woman who faces abuse at home? without the ability to secure her own credit, without the

husband giving permission, the abuser, where can she turn if she needs to leave quickly to protect herself and her children. >> reporter: kristin fisher, 9news now. >> supporters of the card act say its intention is good. it's trying to protect people from putting themselves in too much debt. the protesters say they understand that but they still want fair access to their own line of credit. unintended consequences. you are watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm jessica doyle. andrea is off today. >> thank you for joining us. i'm mike hydeck. it is wednesday. means you made it halfway there. a big change in the weather is coming our way, too. good morning, monika santami. >> good morning. >> she'll have the traffic momentarily and mr. bern teen, the good -- bernstein, the good news man is here. >> yes. today is going to be sort of a warm, muggy day. monika was outside with your bike segment. what did you say? it's really sticky outside, howard. a little sunshine out there now off the pi