. this is 9news now. tomorrow is flag day. it honors the day back in 1777 when the second continental congress adopted the flag of these united states. more than 2,000 americans have given their lives in defense of that flag in afghanistan. but a statistic we don't know is the number of people impacted by those deaths back here at home. people like the family of nicolas curbin of fairfax.

david shows us their lives since the 21-year-old lost his. >> reporter: the number 2,000 only begins to tell of the story that's been lost in afghanistan. take douglas who was gunned down. it was his last mission before he was due to come home. there is his mother beth. she signed the papers for him to enlist in the marines right after 9/11. he was 17. >> he had to get my permission. i had to sign the form. >> reporter: then there is his stepfather michael, his younger brother joseph and older sister pride. >> she lost her best friend. joseph lost his big brother. >> reporter: that makes four people whose lives will never be the same. >> it changes who you were. it changes where your children fit. it really changes who you are. >> reporter: then there is lexie bastion whom nick fell in

love with while stationed in hawaii. >> it's hard for her. >> so another life. >> another one. >> reporter: the story of what was lost is all around you in the house where nick grew up. did that scarf come back with his personal effects. >> that was the first thing we pulled out of his box from afghanistan. >> reporter: you can tell its done some hard traveling. >> yes. beth wouldn't clean it off. >> reporter: and she wouldn't even clean it? >> no. that's afghan dust. it came back just the way he wore it, and that's how i wanted it to stay. >> reporter: there are pictures of nicolas all over the house. this is his mother's favorite because it answered the question she kept asking. >> are you really in a better place. are you really happy? and for the first time i saw herring to the side of his head -- lettering to the side of his head and i focused in to see what it says, and you can see what it says. >> reporter: it's great. there's a debate in the family about whether there are too many

reminders of nick. making their house more shrine than home. his combat boots which are more heart wrenching than his mother realized until this very moment. so i have to ask you, are these the boots he died in? >> yes. >> i didn't know that. >> well. >> okay. sorry. >> reporter: and then there is this hat. >> this is the hat he also died in. >> reporter: brought to them by a sergeant who was there. >> the sergeant really had a hard time with all of this. he sort of went off the deep end and had posttraumatic stress. >> reporter: 2,000 dead. they're the ones who sacrificed the most. but behind them are thousands more still reeling from the loss. david martin, as soon as news, fairfax, virginia. >> the story raises a number of

questions to injured soldiers and the family members of those who died. it has us wondering where can military men and women and their families go for the best help. matt jablow joins us with that part of the story. >> reporter: you're exactly right. nicolas's story highlights the hardships facing thousands of soldiers and their families. fortunately there are lots of resources available, especially here in the washington area for those in need of help. so get a paper and pen ready. we have a few names and numbers to get them started. first there is gold star moms, an organization for mothers whose children died in combat. their number is 202-265-0991. then there is gold star wives from military spouses who lost a loved one. they can be reached at 888-751-6350. next silver star families which helps wounded veterans and their family 812-847-7030. also tragedy assistance program for survivors which provides a

wide variety of services for soldiers families. and finally the national center for posttraumatic stress disorder, which can be reached at 802-296-6300. that obviously is a very incomplete list of wonderful organizations doing great things for soldiers, veterans and their families. for more information, go to our website at wusa9.com. >> grief can be hard but easier if more people understand it. and the pentagon did release a new report about how members of our military are dying outside of combat. it finds suicide is the second leading cause for death for our u.s. troops. in fact, one and four non-combat deaths last year was the result of service members taking their own lives. you heard the family talk about posttraumatic stress disorder, and today the defense department broke ground at a facility that will treat troops

with traumatic brain injuries and posttraumatic stress. the pentagon estimates as many as 1,000 service members a year suffer head injuries from the improvised bombs while serving in iraq and afghanistan. there are new questions tonight about whether lance armstrong used illegal drugs during his record shattering career. the u.s. anti-doping agency is set to bring charges against the seven time tour de france winner. kristen berset is here with the allegations. >> lance armstrong is no stranger to these allegations. he's been fighting them for over a decade. a two year investigation to alleged doping was dropped just four months ago. now the u.s. anti-doping agency has formal charges of their own. the us ada claims armstrong and five of his teammates used blood boosters and other drug enhancing drugs. they can't file criminal charges, but they could strip him of his seven tour de france

titles. he's already been banned from competing in triathlons. in an interview, armstrong's former teammate tyler hamilton details what he saw lance armstrong do. >> he took what we all took. really no difference between lance armstrong and the majority of us. there was cpo. there was testosterone. and i did see a blood transfusion. >> now, armstrong maintained his innocence then and with these new charges saying in a statement i have never doped and unlike many of my accusers, i have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed 500 drug tests and never failed one. >> all right. thank you. now we're talking about growing body parts in the lab. it is no longer science fiction. in tonight's health alert, how

stem cells are part of this picture. in this case, a 10-year-old girl in sweden had a severe vein blockage to her liver. the doctors took a vein from a cadaver, stripped it and used stem cells from the bone marrow to grow millions more to cover the vein. it saved her from needing a liver transplant. she doesn't need anti-rejection drugs either. the team says this is the future of tissue engineering making tailer made organs for individuals. the disappearance of a girl in maryland 32 years ago is now solved but not the way her family hoped. it's now a homicide investigation. the 18-year-old disappeared after taking a bus from her home to a deli in silver spring. now dna tests show the remains found are hers. a man named mike or michael who was with her, cindy's family says he was her boyfriend and she may have broken up with him

before she vanished. anyone with information about the case is asked to call crime stoppers 1-866-411-tips, and there is a picture of the individual they're talking about. a controversial ban on abortions is not spending bill. the washington report says they passed a version that would give the city a budget of $676 million, 10 million dollars more than the bill in the house. the house version also includes the abortion ban. today the dc council named phil mendelson its new chairman. it was the first meeting since kwame brown was forced to resign for felony bank fraud and campaign finance violations. this comes just after harry thomas was forced out of office for stealing money from youth baseball programs. and today you can see the toll these investigations are taking on the remaining council.

>> please forgive me. but we have to stay together up here and stop fighting. we can agree to disagree. but i'm sick of it. >> it's going to take time. and we're going to work -- we're going to work ourselves and collectively to do what we can to restore the trust. >> councilmen brown was elected chairman pro tem during the hearing as well. herrmann high school seniors will walk across the stage to get diplomas tomorrow. all but six of them. surae chinn spoke with two of them about the senior prank that is keeping them out of the ceremony. >> it kills me that it's in this state right now. >> reporter: chris is deciding if he'll ever try on his red graduation gown. a senior prank seemed funny at the time. >> slip and slide, have a good time in the hallway. >> reporter: but now it's cost him and two of his friends graduation day. >> i wasn't trying to avoid punishment. but the fact that they think it's okay to take away really the only proud day i'm going to

have leaving high school, i disagree with that. >> reporter: schumaker says they hardly pulled off the prank. >> the prank we left 10 minutes before class to do it, and five minutes in i was caught. they violated me. they made me put my hands on the wall and searched me from head to toe thinking i was going to be hiding big bottles of oil. >> reporter: while no one was hurt, it caused a potential risk. but the star varsity basketball players and star students say they'll take the suspension but let them receive their knroem ma with their friends. >> -- diploma with their friends. >> i hope they cherish it, because i know i would do anything right now to be with them. >> reporter: often times kids can't wait for the end of the year. but all they want is to be here at school among their friends for tomorrow's graduation and

today's rehearsal. in herndon, surae chinn, 9news now. >> a tough lesson. schumaker appealed the ruling today but the suspension was upheld. fairfax county has not commented on the case. new at 11:00, word that the bus driver charged in last year's deadly crash along i95 in virginia may be getting more freedom. the richmond times dispatched a judge pushed back a trial until november 8th. he ordered chunk be removed from electronic monitoring and be allowed to leave virginia. the bus he was driving overturned north of richmond last year. he admitted he literally fell asleep at the wheel. topper. >> 82 today. but the key was low humidity. winds are dying down. a very nice evening. here is your wakeup weather. maybe a light jacket. some of the kids are still in school. 56 and 66 at 5:00. in the 60s at 7:00 and then 68-74. pretty nice morning by about 9:00. good hair day too. we'll come back and tell you how long it can stay with low humidity. and we'll look ahead to the

weekend, which includes father's day. >> i like it when you promise good hair days. still ahead tonight, we'll let you in on some behind the scenes video that show colin powell like you've never seen him before. why does the chesapeake bay suddenly look like the pirates of the kreeb yin. how you can -- caribbean. how you can check it out. those coming up next.

back on 9 news now, a celebration under way in baltimore. a fleet of ships arrived aft the harbor today to -- at the harbor today to mark the 200 anniversary of the war of 1812. they'll be joined by visiting modern war ships which will also be docked at thousand locus point. tours of the vessels will be available over the next several days. it looks like a day trip. former secretary of state and retired general colin powell is caught on camera today singing. it happened while the cbs morning show was in the middle of a break for weather but folks at home never saw this, but you will now ♪ i just met you, and this is crazy ♪ ♪ but here is my number ♪ so call me, ba

>> it was a walk. >> he is so in the now. powell had just wrapped up an interview. he was leaving the studio obviously in a good mood. tonight president obama presented the medal of freedom. the president praised jaw juarez praised him. president obama marked father's day early with an informal lunch today with two active members of the military and two local barbers. they met at a barbecue. the barbers are part of a program called fatherhood buzz. a campaign that reaches out to dads through barber shops about topics like financial literacy and job training and being good dads. these days a lot of city dwellers are raising chickens, and that can present a particular problem. you see, some chickens are

passed their prime by the time they're only three years old. a lot of families don't want to cook their retired friends, so where do you turn? well, folks in oregon can turn to farmer pete pores. he runs a halfway house. they have to be urban. he takes in as many as 100 each month. >> it kind of works out for everybody. and i don't -- we don't take money, but we do take donations if people want to give us donations. >> these chickens and roosters can live out their golden years in peace. now, speaking of which, earlier retirement are out there for folks playing powerball. i know we were doing it. tonight's estimated jackpot up to $230 million. your chance for matching all numbers is 1 and 176 million. the winning numbers were drawn just a couple minutes ago. they are 7, 10, 14, 33 and 57. the powerball is 18.

and i know our wonderful floor director went out and got some tickets. we haven't had a chance to check them. >> no. >> you're over a thousand times more likely to get struck by lightning. >> we can talk about that later. we can dream. >> we can dream. >> until the end of the newscast. all right. we can dream about the weather. it's very nice. low humidity. this is kind of a nice change of pace for june. and for the most part, it stays comfortable through the week and into the weekend. let's start with a live look outside. this is one of our new weather cameras. this is perched on top a tower in wisconsin avenue. you're looking north down wisconsin avenue towards b town, bethesda. this is brought to you by michael and son. high was 82. dew point much more comfortable tonight in the upper 40s and low 50s. winds calming down now to the north at 12 and the pressure responding. temperature -- pressure responding at 0.45 and rising. here is the deal. a good hair day again tomorrow, anita. i thought i would dloe that in. not -- throw that in. we had winds over 30 miles an

hour today. not the case tomorrow. it will remain comfortable in terms of humidity and it will be warming up over the weekend but not getting crazy humid on saturday. a little more so on sunday on the father's day. but still pretty darn nice. overnight, partly cloudy and cool. open the windows. 56-66. and winds turn a little bit north, northeast at about 10. now, by morning on thursday, partly sunny and cool. 50s and 60s. winds northeasterly at 10. air quality code green. that's good air quality. and the showers we had yesterday kept the pollen out. washed it out completely for today. by tomorrow afternoon, partly cloudy and pleasant. high temps near 80. most areas especially east of town will hold in the supper 70s because of the east -- upper 70s because of the east, northeast winds. that will throw a few clouds our way and keep temps cooler. zone forecast, all zones are on our website at wusa9.com, probably will not make 70 in oakland but 69. 78 in cumberland.

upper 70s in hagerstown, winchester. culpeper will probably make low 80s tomorrow but warrenton, manassas, fairfax, leesburg, upper 70s. still a delightful day. right around 80 in southern maryland and upper 70s in gaithersburg and up to 70 in frederick. a little cooler by the water. low to mid 70s and there are parts of the bay and tidal potomac still under a small craft advisory. we'll break it down. 55-66 to start. pleasant by noon. temps in the 70s. and then 77-81. a little breezy by evening but a fantastic day. next three days, our weather alert codes are green, green and green. i want to explain what this means. we're going to rate the next three days. so good is no worries. yellow is cautious. i mean, it could -- caution. it could be kind of part of the day, nuisance type weather, and red is severe weather alert day. that means life-threatening. for us, next three days is

green, green and green. 80 on friday. 83 on saturday with partly cloudy skies. next seven days, it stays pretty nice quite frankly. sunday we're up to the mid 80s for father's day but it stays dry. and, again, the nats are in town friday, saturday and sunday. for the yankees, that's a pretty good deal. monday upper 80s. a little hotter on tuesday and wednesday. we're back up around 90 on tuesday and wednesday. >> good weather for a team that keeps sweeping their opponents. this is unbelievable. i mean, they are just dominating interleague play. granted, the east is a tough division. this yankees series this weekend is really going to be a test for them. they picked up another sweep today. the al mighty righty with a stellar performance. but it was a rookie that stole the show. plus redskins wrap up mini camp with a gift from shanahan. sports is next.

now 9 sports with kristen berset, the best sports in town. >> here are the last three weeks of organized team activity. the majority of the players on the redskins roster showed up to practice even though they were

voluntary. robert griffin iii got plenty of quality time in with his new teammates. so this week when the last remaining few showed up, rg3 wasn't the wiser. it's a good thing too. because that's all the time they get on the field together before training camp picks up in july. mike shanahan cancelled the last day of practice pleased with what he's seen so far. >> he's done a heck of a job throughout the off season. so tomorrow will be more of a workout running and lifting. more of a meaning. but we won't go through what we did today, just so you know. so you get vacation one day earlier than anticipated. hopefully you enjoy your round of golf. >> i wish i was out there playing golf. the redskins were playing it safe the past few weeks. injured players participated in position drills, but stood on the sideline during team activity. mike shanahan says he fully expects everyone to be ready to go day one of training camp. all right. are you a believer yet?

>> yes. >> yes. >> yes. >> the nationals if you're not are making it hard not to be a believer. they're just sweeping through the al east during interleague play. both of those on the road as well. a breakout game for tyler moore. he drove in two runs in the second and then went off in the 4th and 6th with his first two homeruns of his major league career. 3 for 5 with 5 rbis for moore today. nats beat the bluejays 6-2 picking up their second consecutive sweep. natsz aren't the only ones -- nats aren't the only ones on a roll. the orioles are surging. chris davis with a broken bat homerun, nonetheless. the ball just gets over -- that brings in 2. the orioles win this one 7-1. they go for the sweep tomorrow. we have our first look at the

wizards next possible draft pick. dc native thomas robinson worked out for the wizards today for about an hour and a half. the six foot 9 could be there at number 3 when its washington's turn to pick. >> i was a lot more comfortable out there. i felt like i was at practice. that was a scary feeling but a good feeling to feel comfortable. being a kid growing up here, this is a dream. >> and the thing heard around the world will be investigating the boxing fight last week. it ended in a controversial split division favoring brandy. the majority of people not so happy thinking he should have won that one. >> taking a close look. >> we'll see what happened. >> we'll be right back.

and that is 9news for tonight. nice cool night. windows open. >> windows open. >> good hair day. what more do you need tomorrow. join our morning team tomorrow 4:25 am. don't forget we're always on. what is next? >> letterman. >> as always. good night.