he and the four other gsa officials were placed on administrative leave last month shortly after the administrator resigned and congressional hearings began revealing details of those 2,400 square foot hotel rooms and showing those videos that are famous around the world. tuxedo clad cocktail parties and government-funded clowns, a government source telling us he believes it's possible neely was allowed to resign, but gsa officials are telling us even if neely was allowed to resign, that would not preclude prosecution in this case. we just now are getting a quote many from the house transportation -- in from the house transportation chairman, john might car, a republican. he is saying -- john mica, a republican. he is saying mr. neely is no longer on the taxpayers' tab and will introduce legislation calling for immediate termination of senior officials who violate their oath of office. they're gathering more details and will have it as it becomes available. >> obviously all this

information just coming in. for the second time in three days top aides to d.c. mayor vincent gray's 2010 campaign have pled guilty in court. this time it's part of a federal probe into illegal donations. our ken molestina is live at u.s. district court with more on howard brooks. ken? >> reporter: simply put, this is yet another black eye on local government here in the district, specifically on the vincent gray administration. today in court howard brooks admitted to a laundry list of wrongdoings, but what he admitted and pled guilty to was lying to fbi investigators and making false statement to them. under the scream outlined by the u.s. attorney -- the scheme outlined by the u.s. attorney's office this all began back if 2010 when brooks allegedly made payments to sued mon brown to keep brown in the race so -- sulaimon brown to keep brown in the race so he could attack mayor incumbent adrian fenty. brooks is the second gray

staffer to plead guilty to federal charges. earlier today here's what his lawyer glenn ivey had to say about all this. >> i think he hit the point where he realized that it was time to accept responsibility for what he'd done. he realized he'd made a very serious mistake in the way he'd gone about handling this initially. he wanted to get it back on the right track. today was the first step in that direction. >> reporter: part of the plea agreement here for brooks, his guilty plea would give him between zero to six months in prison or he can simply get probation. of course, he hasn't been sentenced yet. that's to happen later in the coming months. back to you. >> another hot and humid day has more storms popping up all over the d.c. region. topper is tracking them now. who's in the bull's eye? >> west and southwest of town, not as numerous as yesterday and no warnings, but they are still capable of producing very

heavy rain. let's look at live doppler 9000. we're looking at most of the storms on the west side of 95, some actually straddling 66 as you go out and we have a few up north out toward winchester. we'll zoom into this one storm. these are some of the same areas that have been sit with 4 to 6 inches of rain -- hit with 4 to 6 inches of rain monday night. you're headed out 66, once you're past fairfax, you'll have heavy downpours and more activity toward boston, very heavy activity, 1 to 1 1/2 inches per hour rainfall rates and anywhere from 1 to 2 inches of rain has fallen in these areas just tonight from these storms. they're going to continue drifting off to the north ever so slowly, go through chantilly, weaken a bit and head into leesburg. if you're going out 7 or out route 50, get ready for some heavy downpours. we'll come back and talk about the holiday weekend and the hurricane outlook. it was released today.

>> thank you. ward 8 council member marion barry did his best to apologize to the asian american community today. it came after recent offensive comments he made about asian business owners and filipino nurses in his community. barry met with leaders at matthews memorial baptist church in southeast. >> when i make a mistake about something, i'm the first to say maybe i could have said it differently, but by saying it differently doesn't negate the problem. >> today is the day to mark the beginning of an intentional effort on the part of the asian american community in d.c. to be shourd diversity is viewed as an asset -- to ensure diversity is viewed as an asset rather than a source of conflict. >> during that same apology barry used a term some considered offensive to describe people from polands. opponents to the recently passed same sex marriage law in maryland have one week left to

get a referendum on the issue. by next thursday petitioner's have to submit more than 18,500 signatures to get a voter referendum. organizers claim they've already collected more than 35,000 signatures. those will have to be certified by the state. that as a new poll shows a surge in the number of marylanders supporting same sex marriage. it was released today by public policy polling and it shows 57% of maryland voters would support same sex marriage if it was put on a referendum in november. that's up 5% in just the last two months. tomorrow an estimated 900,000 people from the d.c. area will hit the road for the memorial day weekend. lots of traffic and for many that means sand between their toes at the edge of the ocean once they get there. 9 news now is giving you a sneak peek at what's new at the beach this summer. yesterday it was the new boardwalk in ocean city, maryland. today we head north for a look at the delaware beaches.

>> reporter: i'm scott broom along the delaware seashore where visitors this memorial day weekend will find a lot of new things to talk about. it is a frustrating welcome to rehoboth beach, no place to park with all that new wide just refurbished sand calling. rehoboth today unveiled park mobile, an app for smartphones you can pay for parking with the touch of a finger. you think it will help? >> definitely. i pay a lot of stuff by phone. >> reporter: now down to dewey beach where it's partying on everyone's mind. this year the town tightened up its noise ordinance. farther down the coast a dramatic new landmark to see and cross, the new $150 million indian river inlet bridge finished and finally open this week to all four lanes of traffic. >> people that travel up and down this road from maryland, delaware, virginia, pennsylvania and new jersey like it. >> reporter: in rehoboth beach, delaware, scott broom, 9 news now. more good news this holiday weekend, prices at the pump

continue to drop. the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in the d.c. metro area is now $3.65. that's down six cents from a week ago. prices fell in maryland, too. there you pay about 3.61 a gallon and in virginia the average price is now just 3.49. you can fine the lowest price for your trip -- find the lowest price for your trip at www.wusa9.com. click on features and then pump patrol. still to come on 9news tonight a local police department launches a new physical fitness program and helps one of their own drop 100 pounds and keep it off. >> reporter: a possible break in the case of a child who disappeared decades ago. i'm dick brennan in new york city. i'll have that story coming up.

the bodies of a missing father and two sons have been found on a kent county dairy farm where they worked. maryland state police say they appear to be the victims of a terrible accident. the father and sons were last seen wednesday afternoon working at the farm's large manure pit. their bodies were discovered this morning submerged in that pit. the victims, 48-year-old glen nolt, his 18-year-old son kelvin and 14-year-old son cleason all from peach bottom, pennsylvania. 33 years ago tomorrow 6- year-old etan patz disappeared in new york city while on his way to school. police have arrested a new jersey man after a supposed

confession. dick brennan brings us more. >> reporter: the nypd announced a possible break in the disappearance of 6-year-old etan patz. the boy vanished 33 years ago on may 25th, 1979, and now a man named pedro hernandez is in custody. >> he alleges that he lured the boy, killed the boy and disposed of the body. >> reporter: cbs news senior correspondent and former deputy director of national intelligence jon miller says it's unlikely that hernandez can lead them to etan's body. >> the description of how and where he disposed of the body they say does not appear it was disposed of in such a way it will be able to be recovered now. >> reporter: hernandez was arrested at his home near camden, new jersey. a woman who answered the door refused to talk to reporters. >> i said no comment. >> reporter: etan was last seen on this block walking to the school bus alone for the first time. etan's parents still live down the block from where he disappeared and have kept the

same phone number in case their son ever tried to call. dick brennan for cbs news, new york. >> once again police have now arrested that man. etan was one of the first kids to ever appear in a missing child alert on the side of a milk carton. his disappearance led to the creation of national missing children's day which is tomorrow, may 25th. sure can't beat today's weather, more sun, less rain. what's the trend look like through the holiday weekend? topper's full forecast is coming up. >> also the national park service teams up with local groups to keep people safe on the potomac river as the summer season gets rolling.

soldiers are placing more than 220,000 small u.s. flags at arlington national cemetery to mark the start of memorial day weekend festivities. the third u.s. infantry regimen also known as the old guard is planting a flag at each grave marker. they'll also place flags at the tomb of the unknown, a ra decision that dates back to 1948. 1948 -- a tradition that dates back to 1948. >> with the great weather many of us will head out for this memorial day weekend. it's going to be hot. the u.s. forest is teaming up with a kayak group and hiking club to try to keep folks safe along the potomac river to try to stop preventible drownings. >> reporter: from a rescue boat heading through mather gorge the potomac river is beautiful. >> the river is just about

normal stage. this is a very calm section through here. >> reporter: but moments later this same river can make you tremble. >> i didn't know what to do. i prayed and i called 911. >> reporter: betsy train's husband and best friend went kayaking last summer. they almost didn't make it home. >> jack was floating on debris and our friend was clinging onto a tree that had overturned. >> reporter: the pair were rescued by these same firefighters from montgomery and fairfax county. sadly others aren't so lucky. last year this section of the potomac claimed two lives. in the past 10 years 22 have drowned. >> lots of debris in it that you can't see, lots of rocks you can't see and you never really know how deep it is or how swift it's moving from the top of the water. >> reporter: now comes renewed fear that more may die this season. why? because more young people are diving off these tall canyon walls. >> this behavior is highly careless, reckless and life

threatening. >> reporter: just like other years, signs are up everywhere in the park warning of danger. rescuers in these boats and in this helicopter just hope the people heed the warning. >> i'm lucky and i'm grateful. >> reporter: at great falls national park in virginia, greg giese, 9 news now. >> the prince george's county police department has its own in-house physical fitness program and if you're wondering whether it helps, wonder no more. it's encouraged one civilian employee to lose 100 pounds and keep them off. that's tammy mcguire. she once tipped the scales at 250 pounds. then she decided to take advantage of exercise and nutrition programs run by the police force. >> there's a culture of wonderful support here. it took me two years to lose 100 pounds and i've been maintaining. >> tammy said she recently got a motorcycle license, something she never would have dreamed up when she was heavier. other people in the fitness

program say tammy is an inspiration to them. absolutely. hurricane season starts one week from tomorrow and virginia wants to help you get ready. the state is holding a sales tax holiday on storm supplies. that means you won't pay any sales tax on things like flashlights, tarps, bottled water, first aid kits, portable generators and other items needed to ride out a hurricane. the sales tax holiday starts tomorrow and runs through next thursday. today the national oceanic and atmospheric administration put out this year's hurricane season forecast. take it away, top. >> essentially average. the numbers are deceiving because it just matters what makes landfall. that's the key. back in '92 when we had hurricane andrew, only five storms that year, but the one that was pretty bad. let's start with their prediction and show you the arrives. they're predicting nine to 15 storms. average is 10, 11, 12 depending how far back you go. noaa is hung up on 30 year

averages which i think is ridiculous. the more data you have i think we should include it all. we have over 100 years of hurricane data. four to eight storms will become hurricanes. average is six. they think one to three will be major, two is average. that's about on the button. category 3 or greater which means winds for major hurricanes have to be 111 miles per hour or higher. last year we just had one landfall hurricane irene, but that was a pretty strong storm especially in terms of rainfall. some of the names, alberto we've had, beryl, chris and debby will start the season. we're offering it yet again. go to our website wusa9.com. our 9 hurricane tracker is up. download it free. track storms with us and check out the history file. it is pretty cool. there are some upgrades since last year. it is on the weather page and also on the homepage in check this out on the right side. download it because things will start cranking soon. here's a live look outside, some clouds but quiet downtown.

it's our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. 78 degrees, winds south, southeast at 13. we cannot shake that easterly component to the wind. that's what's sort of fueling some of these storms every night. the pressure now rising over the past hour 30.04 inches of mercury. live doppler 9000, most of the storms are west of town, in some cases pretty far north and west. we'll zoom in. we have storms out 66 between leesburg and down across 50 to the west of chantilly and just to the west now of manassas. we'll zoom into this storm which popped up in the last hour. no warnings on these storms but much like yesterday some heavy rain possibly, small hail. that could be small hail just north of great falls. it crosses the river toward potomac going out river road heavy rain and route 7 heavy rain tonight, heavy downpours. remember if your windshield wipers are on, your lights should be on. we'll scoot west. this is middleburg south of

aldie, boom, down 15 toward the plains. a big time storm with rainfall rates about 1 inch per hour. then we'll scoot up north and west. this is a pretty heavy storm as well up near shepherdstown and they're slowly drug of north 10 to 15 miles per hour. -- drifting off north 10 to 15 miles per hour. so far we have no warnings on these storms just yet. charlestown is getting pretty hefty rain about now. temperature-wise 77 in great falls, 75 arlington, 79 college park, generally in the upper 70s across the metro. heating up, isolated storms tonight, late fog possible again and warmer tomorrow, hot on saturday but fewer storms in the p.m. and that is indeed good news. next seven days, looks like this, saturday we're talking about temperatures in the upper 80s, around 90 sunday, 90 on memorial day and even into next week we're talking about temps

around 90 or at least upper 80s tuesday with showers and storms possible tuesday night into wednesday with a cold front and just over the weekend some isolated storms. so the weekend all in all is pretty good for a summer weekend. >> it's going to be hot. >> unofficial beginning. you know how often we had the pools open and it's freezing? >> kids are going to love this. thank you. up next as spacex closes in on making space exploration history, a local company is still competing for nasa's business. we'll take you to orbital sciences.

the spacex dragon capsule one step closer tonight to making history. the world's first private space supply ship looped around the international space station this afternoon, a test run before tomorrow's docking. spacex is on a resupply mission for nasa now that the space shuttle program is over. the capsule will be first private spacecraft to ever try to deliver something to the space station. there is another company hot on spacex's heels, orbital sciences based in dulles. as kristin fisher reports, it's poised to put virginia on the map as a leader in commercial spaceflight. >> launch of the spacex falcon 9 rocket. >> reporter: spacex has taken the title of the first private company to launch a spacecraft to the space station. but orbital sciences based in dulles is just six months behind. their mission from nasa is the same, resupply the space

station. orbital has had less time and less money to get the job done. >> we've closed the gap with the spacex team. >> reporter: carl walsh has spent nearly 200 days on board the space station as a nasa astronaut. now he's helping develop orbital's antares rocket and the signal spacecraft that will sit on top. >> it's very exciting because we're developing something that has not been developed by the big government nasa before. >> reporter: this is orbital's mission control complex and this is where the cignes capsule will be controlled once it launches from a tear rest' -- a antares' rocket later in the year. orbital's aimed at space, but the payoffs are already being felt on earth with 2,000 jobs

and counting in the d.c. area alone. >> i believe it's a good thing for the state of virginia and the whole economy around virginia because it really propels this area into the human spaceflight area. >> reporter: kristin fisher, 9 news now. >> pretty cool. the first test launch of orbital's antares rocket is expected to take place in september and their first real launch to the space station is slated for the end of this year. keep our fingers crossed. that is our report. i'll be back here tonight at 11:00 with topper. good night.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment newsmagazine? -- in the world. was the "american idol" finale j. lo's last show? >> not because i don't want to be here -- >> i know. >> her sexy finale performance and why she may not be the only judge leaving. >> if she doesn't come back, i ain't coming back. will smith with his whole family. plus, a star spangled katy perry singing for the sailors. ♪ >> it's all about america today, boys. sharon stone sued by her former nanny. the disturbing claims inside these court papers. wand the oscar nominee is saying today. and nicole kidman in cannes and the new megan fox photo sparking pregnancy buzz. a rare sit-down interview with david letterman, sharing his johnny carson memories with regis.