. want to hit the beach without leaving dc. storms are possible this holiday weekend. topper is tracking if you should change any outdoor plans. but first two stories serving our nation that will touch your heart. this is 9news now. and we start the memorial weekend with a story of a man who is trying to honor his high

school friend fighting in iraq. gary nurenberg is here to show us how. gary. >> reporter: anita, the marine lieutenant was only 23 when he was killed by a sniper 2006. left behind a wife and a child with another child on the way. now an old high school friend is looking for an assist for some of the thousands of rolling thunder writers who are here this weekend to honor men and women like josh booth. the guy on the bike is andrew pollard from boston to honor his friend who is buried now in a grave in bedford, virginia. >> i'm doing it because i wanted to thank him in perfect for his service. he's a really patriotic person. he loved the ideal of what an american is and what an american stands for. and he really felt strongly freedom isn't free, which i agree with. and because of that instead of just sitting there and not doing

anything about it, he wanted to defend it. >> reporter: they became friends in high school in massachusetts. so he returned there for an idea for the school's current students. >> they want to write a thank you note to josh and we had 150 thank you notes. 150 plus thank you notes within an hour or so. >> reporter: he's hoping writer here for rolling thunder will accompany him to bed ford saturday for the ride down sky line drive to hand the letters over to josh's dad at josh's grave site. a tribute to a schoolmate who was a patriot. >> he lost everything. in a way. but i probably don't think that's how he would think about it. >> reporter: anyone who wants to go on the ride to josh's grave is welcome. they leave at 10:00 tomorrow morning in the 1200-block of 22nd street northwest. anita. >> what a tribute. gary, thank you. vice president joe biden and his wife jill spoke at the annual caps national military

survivor seminar in washington today. this program for survivors offers emotional support for those grieving the loss of a beloved service member. biden shared something personal. he told the crowd about how his first wife and daughter died in a car crash when he was only 30 years old. now, most of the time when you hear sound bites from politicians at the news, you get 10 or 15 seconds at best. but it touched so many of you, we wanted to share a little more of it with you. take a listen. >> i got a phone call like you guys got. with someone walking up to me. on december 18th, i was down in washington. i'm the first united states senator i ever knew. and i was down in washington hiring my staff and i got a phone call saying that my family had been in an accident. and just like you guys know by the tone of the phone call. you knew. you knew when you walked up the

path. you knew when the call came. you knew. you just felt it in your bones something bad happened. and i knew. i don't know how i knew. but the call said my wife is dead, my daughter was dead and i wasn't sure how my sons were going to make it. they were christmas shopping and a tractor-trailer broadsided them. it can and will get better. there will come a day, i promise you, and you parents as well, when the thought of your son and daughter or your husband or wife brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. it will happen. >> biden's two sons survived the accident and they made full recovery. we have more from the emotional

speech on our website wusa9.com. a stark and somber milestone in afghanistan as we approach this memorial day. 3,000 coalition troops have now lost their lives since the war began. the death toll hit this number with a passing of officer if tirs class ryan jay wilson of calf -- first class ryan jay wilson of california. almost 2,000 troops have been killed. people all across are hitting the road to spend memorial day at the hot spots. more people will travel this year than last and the majority will drive rather than fly. take a look at this picture from the bay bridge. that's at the tolls. and the backups are still there looking kind of jammed up. a drop in gas prices is likely the reason for a busier travel weekend but vacationers aren't going far. maybe 50 miles an average. people who do take to the

air this weekend may notice security lines moving along a little more brisk lee. that's because the transportation is easing the screening process for elderly passengers. it allows passengers 75 and over to go through the checkpoints with their shoes, belts and light coats on. >> they'll have a better opportunity to get through the process without having a pat down. but, again, this is not a free pass. >> the tsa tested the program this spring. federal officials have not yet revealed which airports will feature the program this weekend and beyond. and for those of you not leaving town this weekend, a bar in northwest dc is bringing the beach to you. reporter ken molestina live on new york avenue tonight. ken, is this right, the bar is biment on 70 tons of sand? -- built on 70 tons of sand. >> reporter: it is. you can see what a huge hit the bar has been. the owners thought they would

bring in all of the sand and bring the beach to the city for those that aren't able to get away for the weekend. you would think this was ocean city or maybe even row the beach. >> wouldn't this be great if i could bring this home. >> reporter: tom brown and his business partners thought it would be a good idea to bring the beach to the city for those that couldn't get to a shore. >> if you can't go to ocean city, we bring ocean city to the city. >> reporter: 70 tons of sand line the lot. it isn't deep enough for volleyball games, but it's just right for almost everything you would want to do on a beach. >> i'm from california so this here brings home. >> reporter: i'm overdressed for the party, but thankfully i wasn't the only one. >> i think it's fantastic. >> reporter: even dc major vincent gray showed up at the party. he took a break to enjoy fun in

the sun. >> you look at all of the folks having a great time. a beach at home. >> reporter: they say forget the long drives this holiday weekend. the sun, drinks, sand and music are all right here. >> taking something that is minimal and turning it into something where people can drink and have fun. >> i think it's pretty cool just to be able to get drinks with your friends. you're on the beach. >> reporter: all right. back out live. you can see the party still going on. i hope you can hear me because the owners say they're going to keep this sand bar here, keep it going and open all throughout the summer. so this may be a place for you to come and check out, anita? >> absolutely. >> reporter: they want you to come over here. >> okay. i bet you're a big hit with the ladies, right, ken. >> reporter: absolutely. and they say you can skip the line. >> can i bring topper shutt. >> reporter: tell him to keep the rain away and he can come. >> on that note, thank you, ken. on that note what is happening

at the real beaches? >> i think we're going to be okay. the unofficial start of summer will feel like summer. the boating forecast; the good news, i don't see a small craft advisory all weekend. the only thing boaters have to be aware of are isolated thunderstorms. upper 70s, low 80s on saturday at the bay. and tidal potomac. winds south, southeast at 10. pretty much the same forecast for sunday and also for memorial day. waves of flood or less. so, again, with winds south, southeast at 10, that's not a big deal. so isolated thunderstorms and also don't forget the sunscreen. to the beaches we go. ocean city, only in the 70s by the shore. and isolated thunderstorms possible. winds still southeast at 10. and sunday the same forecast. 75-80. the water temperature, folks, is in the low 60s. and we have a blog on our website wusa9.com. you can check it out later in the weekend which day is going to have warmer water temperatures. is it warmer to swim on

thanksgiving day or warmer this weekend. you might be surprised. wakeup weather 62-72 with sunshine. 66-76 by 8:00. it warms up fast. we'll come back. let you know if there is any changes or differences in the forecast in the immediate metro area and the mountains as opposed to the beaches. >> sounds good, topper. okay. brace yourself. the field of space travel is about to take off. today one docked with the international space station. it's called dragon and it is owned by space ex in california. since the government put the breaks on the shuttle program, this is the future of space exploration. a local expert we spoke with today says this is only the beginning. >> well, it's going to get really exciting over the next 10 years or so with all these private companies. not only flying crew and cargo for the space station, but tourism and providing cheaper

access to space for the satellites and so forth. >> space ex has a $1.6 billion contract with nasa to fly the dragon on 12 missions carrying cargo to and from the space station. funny how things work out sometimes. consider this. it was exactly 33 years ago today etan patz disappeared. now on the anniversary, prosecutors have charged a man with his murder. the 6-year-old vanished from his neighborhood in manhattan. he was walking from school. pedro hernandez has now confessed. he lured etan into the store where he worked, killed the child in the basement and tossed his body into the trash. his disappearance led to a nationwide effort to improve methods of finding missing kids. president reagan even designated may 25th national missing children's day.

today they teamed up with alexandria police to hold a safety program. many parents came out and got their children fingerprinted for safety's sake. >> i want to make sure that if we did get separated we would be able to find her. >> we want to make sure he knows the different between approaching strangers when he's with us and not with us. >> and here is another safety tip. if somebody other than a relative is picking up your child from school or an outing, have them connect using a code word. a tense hostage standoff ends with the gunman taking his own life. this happened at a real estate office in the small town of valparaiso, indiana. investigators say the gunman held an unknown number of workers hostage. the swat team busted in, traded shots before the gunman shot himself in the head. we're told that man believed somebody there owed him money. six days of deliberations and still no verdict in the john edwards trial. the former presidential candidate is accused of fun elling a million dollars in

campaign money to hide his pregnant mistress. if convicted on all charges, edwards faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine. still ahead tonight on 9 news, in case you hadn't heard, it's memorial day weekend, folks, and that means tons of fun around our area. we're going to break it all down for you. plus if you were a cow and you busted out of the farm with some buddies, where would you go? we've got the answer. that's coming up. don't go away.

s. many of you will be heading out this memorial weekend and all week long scott broom has been showing you what you can expect at some of our favorite resort towns. tonight scott is in delaware where 9 wants you to know the battle is on over the town's hard partying image. >> reporter: do you wee is a bewey is -- dewey is a beach town with homeowners that are tired of crowds and trash. they want a makeover, especially when it comes to under age drinkers. the police lieutenant is here at walter johnson high school at montgomery county where the largest crowd ever turned out to

hear his presentation about underage drinking hazards at the beach. >> you can tell something was definitely different this week. >> reporter: he thinks 9news's andrea mccarren for potting a spotlight on the issue -- putting a spotlight on the issue. >> this here is one of our busiest streets. >> reporter: on the streets, controlling graduates cause over time and headache. here is some advice to kids and parents. >> jaywalking is the biggest thing. they want to cross the highway and we stop them and then they've been drinking. >> reporter: and how about those house parties on back streets. >> all you have to do is play your radio loud enough for a police officer to hear it 50 feeted away. >> reporter: that's a -- feet away. >> reporter: that's a violation. >> that's a violation of the disorderly noise ordinance. we usually find whoever comes to the door is drinking. they appear to be under age. after speaking with them, they're usually placed under arrest. >> reporter: later he told me about the penalties. >> just for having an alcoholic

beverage in public is $235 and then under the age of 21 is under $230 on top of that. >> reporter: he now has the right to suspend a landlord after three disturbance calls. and landlords are eager to evict kids after just the first call. in dewey beach, scott broom, 9news now. >> also, noise restrictions on bars have been tightened up and the town council has put a lid on parking lot parties outside the bars by limiting the number of events they can hold a year. now, if you're staying in town, there is still plenty to do. tomorrow night at 9:00, take in the full dress rehearsal for the national event or come to the live show sunday night. during the day sunday watch thousands of bikers to turn the road into rolling thunder as the annual ride for freedom. monday at 2:00 p.m., it's the annual national memorial day

parade marching straight down america's main street constitution avenue. i can't think of a better place in this nation to be than right here. >> the place. speaking of local events, we have a stable and strawberry festival. >> stable in upperville and then you go to delaplain if you want to have strawberries. >> but that's not a real horseshoe. >> i think it's a cookie. we're going to find out a little later on. >> exactly. we couldn't have scripted a better weekend. we have a chance for a few storms, but it's going to feel like a mid summer weekend. this is the unofficial beginning of summer. it's going to feel like it. this is our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. average high is 79. it's still kind of a sticky 75. good news, we have clear skies. dew point still in the upper 10. that's not that -- upper 60s. that's not that comfortable. so here is the deal. we're looking at a rapid warm up on saturday. 60s to 70s to start.

by lunch time low to mid 80s. and really more like mid summer. temperatures in the upper 80s is more like average for early july and even mid july. it's going to be hot and fairly humid weekend. especially by may standards. and just a few p.m. storms. okay. so i don't think that's going to change anybody's outdoor plans really, considering weekend's past. memorial day is past. this is going to be pretty nice. overnight clear skies and mild. some patchy fog again. not a huge problem. low 62-70. winds south, southeast at about 5-10. and then by morning, mostly sunny and warm. grab your sunglasses. 60s and 70s to start. but, again, in the low 80s to mid 80s by lunch time. and then by afternoon, partly cloudy, hot, maybe a thunderstorm. remember the sunscreen. we've been kind of harming on this all week -- harping on this all week. it's don't fry today.

spf 30 or higher. high temps 86-90. zone forecast, i think even oakland will be flirting with 80 tomorrow. and then 86 in cumberland. now, if you go west of 81 into the mountains, you're going to have showers and storms pretty uch every day. not a -- much every day. not a washout but afternoon storms every day. 90 in culpeper. upper 80s in warrenton, leesburg, manassas and fairfax. downtown 89. 88 in gaithersburg. upper 80s to near 90 interior and southern maryland. you get by the water and temperatures will be in the low 80s. and the winds will be well below small craft advisory criteria all weekend. so next seven days, we stay hot. 90 on sunday. 90 on memorial day. just isolated storms. now, tuesday different story. a cold front approaches. that will give us a much better chance for showers and storms late tuesday and tuesday night. and then we're looking at a leftover shower next wednesday but not crazy cool at all. >> it certainly isn't. how about that. nats on the road and they do it

again. >> everyone keeps thinking it's going to slow down. it doesn't. >> they're for real. >> they are for real. >> that is a good thing. >> and first the nats, the memo to the atlanta braves. hey, guys, don't get mad about this beat down. washington has been doing this to everybody in the division. we'll check that out. another maryland northwestern classic for the right to go to the lacrosse championship. and i've got some fashion tonight, guys. pink pants. come on back. i'll explain in just a second. blam

and now 9 sports with dave owens, the best sports in town. >> the nats have dominated everyone in the nl east except the braves. that's because they haven't played the braves. tonight begins a stretch of 12 against the teams the nats know best. division rivals atlanta first. a great arm. a wicked bat too. big men do what big men do. off the wall and that's a triple. the nats score four runs in the first. now ross couldn't make it

through the first. he had an in injured hamstring. ryan zimmerman a lot of z pack snapped. nats win it 7-4. they take the series opener tonight. >> i'm glad we walked away with a win. these next few days aren't going to be easy schedule wise, so it was nice to get the first win out of the way. >> we're going against one of the best pitchers. to jump on him in the first inning and hold on is huge. >> all right. tim hudson tonight, the orioles have won every series except three hosting kansas city. chris david into the night. [ laughing ] >> how about that? [ laughing ] >> baltimore winning again. 8-2 on the sprint of that 2-run shot by big c davis. great story. baltimore keeps winning. by tomorrow night we'll know whether maryland can double dip or single dip or not dip at all of the men play duke tomorrow in

the final four. the ladies play northwestern tonight. that means kaity swarzmen right there. how about that one? rip it. and stick it. maryland up 6-4. but northwestern scoring three straight. lay see here with the score. -- lacy here with the score. lady terps heading home. northwestern wins it 9-7. time for our high school game of the week. championship night in college park. the 4 a championship baseball. run del versus northwestern -- arundel versus northwestern. this one a nice little smack to the corner. that scores a run. but a wild ending. a rally. jj john drives. northwest of germantown winning it 7-6. congratulations to them. all right. finally, dwayne wade had a great game last night as the heat close out the pacers. we know him well. 41 points. 10 rebounds.

he caused a stir with his game. he's causing a stir for this fashion statement before the game. how about paing skinny jeans right there. so -- pink skinny jeans right there. so we got to thinking about what would it be like if other guys wore skinny jeans. >> he can pull it out. >> we probably shouldn't. >> i can't. >> that's almost like a hot salmon color. wow. >> hot. >> we'll be right back.

finally tonight, party, animals, really. listen to this. six cows escaped from a farm in massachusetts after aimlessly wandering the streets they made a beeline for a party where there were beers and girls. >> they went right for the beer. when one was done, they knocked over another one. the cops came by and herded them back. bovines on the town. >> any cow sniffing. >> good night.