but overall a decent tuesday across the region. once again another hot afternoon. a little sticky. high temperatures are going to make 90 if not 91, 92. let's show you what's going on with the day planner this morning. we've got good visibility under high clouds. 85 by noon. 88 at 5:00. highs upper 80s to low 90s with a slight chance we'll see a shower or thundershower in a couple of spots. but most of us most of the day are going to be dry. look at storms yesterday south and east. this morning a little tough to see but we had a little shower activity, even a rumble of thunder toward fredricksburg. that pulse has moved into charles county and this is all it's producing. a lone shower just northwest of faulkner right now east of welcome. that's all that is showing up on live doppler 9000. temps are running in the 60s north. very comfortable. down to 65 in frederick. we're 77 and a sticky 77 here in washington. and your highs later today in the upper 80s to low 90s. perhaps a degree or two cooler

in the shenandoah valley. 5:00 a.m., beverly farmer, we've got problems. >> absolutely. problems south of town. the 95 corridor, you're okay between fredricksburg and springfield. but between fredricksburg and richmond, i-95 is closed each way close to the 104 exit. that's the exit for carmel church 207, the exit to cut over to 301. however southbound traffic is being detoured at the 110 lady smith exit, nobody at the kings dominion exit. it was an overnight crash that took out a utility pole and wires. ongoing utility work could last for hours so keep that in mind and how many more folks will be using the 301 corridor. if you're traveling out of virginia you're all right. 395 headed for the 14th street bridge and downtown. no early troubles in your pact. should fine everything open northbound 395 headed for the bridge. look at the light volume there. gw parkway checks in all right. no early troubles maryland, beltway across the american legion bridge, i-270, beltway

oxon hill alexandria you're doing already as well. that's a look at timesaver traffic. back to you. >> thanks, beverly. our top story at 5:00 police in wisconsin are starting to learn more about the man who gunned down worshipers at a sikh temple. wade michael page murdered six people before officers shot and killed him. >> while page did not leave a man nesto or other evidence he was planning an attack, investigators have uncovered ties to white supremacist groups. delia goncalves has more from our satellite center. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. according to the f.b.i. leading the investigation now, page became a white supremacist back in 2000 and even saying in a white power band it's called with local ties. according to the f.b.i. they say the 40-yard suspect had no -- 40-year-old suspect had for connection to the temple and said nothing when he caulked into the temple and -- walked into the temple and

began shooting. he's accused of shooting after officer at least eight times outside the temple and killing six worshipers inside. >> standing there, everybody, all the girls with me, i said pray for my husband. >> not a surprise he's somebody who would have risked his life for others as did the other officers who were worked. this was a gentleman that took the challenge, took the oath and took it seriously. he did everything he could to stop this from being an even worse situation. >> reporter: that of course is the mayor of oak creek, wisconsin talking about the lieutenant who was first on the scene and described as being ambushed by the suspect and was shot at close range. we're now told he's in serious condition fighting for his life at a local hospital. the suspect was shot and killed after he tried shooting at a second police officer. coming up at 5:30, we'll have more reaction and much more on

that white power band based right here in maryland. back to you. >> thank you, delia goncalves reporting live from our satellite center. a judge has upheld the convictions of seven men in the murder of katherine fuller. back in 1984, a jury found the men guilty of first-degree murder. fuller had been beaten, robbed and sodomized in the deadly attack. the men appealed their convictions earlier this year but the judge ruled they did not present enough new evidence to shed doubts on the jury's guilty verdict back in 1984. no word yet if the men plan another appeal. a spokesman for d.c. mayor vincent gray confirms gray's staff held a meeting with a crisis management expert. she's a woman who wowns council -- once councilled monica lewinsky but they say she has no role in the gray administration or otherwise. some summer flee campaign aides have -- three campaign aides

have pleaded guilty to charges sting from an ongoing -- stemming from an ongoing investigation. lawmakers will convene their second special session of the summer and will address expanding gambling. but not all current casino sites are doing a booming business. casino owners in perryville are going to return about a third of their slot machines. -the-say their revenues have declined since the state's largest casino maryland live opened in june in anne arundel county. time for the latest your money report of the morning. headline times. >> fingers crossed the rally on wall street continues. we saw the positive job news last week lifting global markets. they were trading yet higher again today. wall street was up again yesterday. checking the numbers the dow stands this morning at 13,117, added 21 points in trading yesterday. nasdaq had an even better day up by 22 and the s&p 500 was up by 3 points. >> international food services giant may be looking to take

its 500-plus jobs out of gaithersburg. according to the building owner, cbre, the company is exercising its option to terminate its lease early. it says they're exploring all options including free negotiating that existing lease and looking at sites in montgomery county and northern virginia. a new report shows a thieve stole $5.2 billion in fraudulent refunds from the i.r.s. the agency failed to prevent one and a half million potentially phony tax returns from being processed in 2011. the i.r.s. says crooks often steal the identity after dead person, child or infrequent tax flyer to submit these fake returns. it's amazing sometimes how complicated these scams are and if they would just use the efforts toward legitimate purposes, they could be making money that way glz. >> what do you have for us in the next 30 minutes? >> we'll save you money by finding you some of the best values in local colleges.

we'll have that. >> thanks, jess. top members of syrian president assad's -- [ inaudible ] ahead in sports, the nationals let the astros get back in the game with a crazy play. you don't want to miss it. stick around. we'll be back. 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.

gldz we're coming up on 5 -- we're coming up on 5:09. muggy south of town but north we dried up just enough for a comfortable morning. it is going to be a muggy day. lots of high clouds expected. we may see just a break or two in the cloud cover. lots of high thin clouds. 58 by noon. the 5:00 temperature of 88. we'll have a high 90, 91. could be an isolated shower as well. i'll come back in the next five minutes talking about some heat and a break from the heat. here's bev with timesaver traffic. we've got a crash on the prince william parkway near holdley road. a major closure on i-95. details coming up in your timesaver traffic update at 5:16. back to you. it is coming up on 5:10.

and the highest level defections yet in syria. eight top officials including the prime minister have abandoned the government of president bashar el-assad. the prime minister released a statement saying he is joining rebel thorses trying to overthrow -- forces trying to overflow assad. the f.b.i. says it will take several days to determine whether or not someone set fire to a mosque in joplin, missouri. another fire on july 4 at the same mosque was ruled an arson. a reward is already being offered in that case. nasa scientists are pouring over more images from the mars curiosity rover. the low resolution images show the rover kicking up dust as it settles into a crater on the red planet. now nasa is waiting for more detailed images to arrive. it takes longer for the rover to transmit full resolution images. residents will have a chance to sound off about pepco. we'll have more on a hearing into what happened after the

big derecho storm coming up at 5:42. >> in sports at 5:23, we'll have an update on a couple of area teams competing in the little league world series. >> howard will tell us when we get out of the 90s. he has the seven-day forecast right after this. keep it here.

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good morning. welcome back to 9news now. coming up on 5:14 this tuesday

morning. and there is a light or at least a fan at the end of the tunnel. we're dialing back from the 90s. >> the next few days will be hot, sticky, a couple of storms but as we get into the weekend, that's where i think we'll be in the 80s for the weekend. >> sounds great. >> mid- to upper 80s. that certainly is where we should be. the high has actually peaked, for the average. 87 is the average high. >> that's tolerable. >> it's been a long summer. like today we're going up to 90, 91 degrees. north of town very comfortable but d.c., points south still kind of humid and sticky. we're looking at lots of high thin clouds, probably not as ominous looking as the icons would have you think. 85 by noon. we'll call it partly sunny but you may see overcast reports because of the high thin clouds. 89 by 4:00. high today around 91 with that isolated shower, rumble of

thunder. winds becoming southeast at 5 to 10 miles an hour. even at 8:00 there could be a stray shower still. the best chance for showers today is going to be south of town where the moisture is a little richer. notice the showers this morning. lighter ones down toward southeastern virginia. right here, you see that? we had some showers over the last couple of hours coming through the fredricksburg region and moved northeast, easton to charles county. right now that's it. this is the last time unless something new pops up we're going to look at live doppler 9000hd because the shower is dieing in charles county. 71 now in bethesda. gaithersburg is 68. up here, these areas, you get north into lovettsville and loudoun county feeling much more comfortable than in fairfax where they're 72. it's 75, sticky 75 in alexandria over at andrews this morning 74 and 72 for upper marlboro. outside on the michael & son weather camera, good visibility. still quite dark with an hour to go before sunrise. 6:15 this morning. feels like 78 with the humidity

at 84%. and the winds currently at national southwest at 6 miles an hour. you see all the high clouds. see how they're streaming northeast on top of us? this is what's going to filter the sunshine for a while today. maybe a long while today. but we'll still manage to poke up well up into the 80s if not low 90s with just a pop-up shower or storm. at noon still looking quiet, looking good for your mid day plans but isolated stuff will pop this afternoon. should be a quiet night tonight. then as we head into wednesday, you'll notice how we pop some showers. here's noon south of us. then they're going to work their way closer i think in the afternoon. couple of showers or storms there. looks like showers and storms increase especially on friday. friday could be the most active day this week. 91 today, just an isolated stray thunderstorm. tonight about 75 in town. 70ish in the suburbs. tomorrow 92. chance of an afternoon storm. a couple of afternoon storms thursday, 94. so yellow alerts for those

storm chances. friday 89. a better chance for storms. some could be strong. maybe a leftover storm saturday, 87. sunday looks good also at 87. 5:16, time for beverly farmer timesaver traffic. 95 south of d.c. is closed. >> yes, southbound and northbound lanes have been blocked for quite a while and the stretch between fredicsburg and richmond. we're -- fredricksburg and rich monday. we're looking live in springfield where we're doing okay. if you planned on traveling toward richmond, we're just getting word from virginia state police that some traffic is able to get by on i-95 southbound near the 207 carmel church exit. that is going to be right about the 104 mile marker. northbound still detoured back at the kings dominion route 198 exit or mile marker rather. that's an ongoing crash and ongoing utility repairs from that damage. got a crash on the prince william parkway. the westbound lanes are blocked near holdley road. if you're traveling in on 66,

no troubles for you as you make your way out of manassas and getting into falls church and across the roosevelt bridge. i-270 building has been -- volume has been building. got reports after vehicle fire on 28 at new hampshire avenue in montgomery county. that's a look at your timesaver traffic. next update at 5:24. back to you. caused quite a stir in 2011. the maryland terrapins unveil their new uniforms for the 2012 season. >> they're going to be great. i can tell. >> preseason debut coming up thursday night. rg3 talks about taking his first n.f.l. hit. that's next in sports. >> we want to take another look at our question of the morning. according to men's health magazine, 98% of women surveyed say they want this from their significant other. is it a, a little pda, b, a home cooked meal, or c, a date night. >> our facebook friend maria wrote b, a home cooked meal since most men think it's a woman's job.

we want the same thing back. what do you think? put your guess on our facebook page. we'll have the answer in our 6:00 show. release me, momigus!

that's mom to you. and you should eat something that's good for you before you go outside. never! come on james. it's a new fiber one chewy bar.

chocolatey and delicious. fiber one chewy bar, huh? mmm. refueled space captain james. [ male announcer ] new fiber one chewy bars. great taste kids love plus calcium and fiber kids need. a good tuesday morning. i'm meteorologist howard bernstein. we're looking good this morning, especially north of town where the air is cooled into the mid-60s as it's dried out. we had a slight shower south of town, isolated shower. that has dissipated. want to show you the

futurecast. through 9:00 mostly cloudy but high thin clouds. 79. we'll head toward lunch time in pretty good shape. north and west of town somewhat sunny. this afternoon we'll pop an isolated shower or storm. highs upper 80s to low 90s. mike and andrea. >> thank you. 5:226789 the nationals led -- 5:22. the nationals led a lead -- let a lead slip away. tied at 4 into extras. at the top of the 11th, the astros made two costly throwing errors on a bunt. roger bernadine that scored on the play giving the nat as 5-4 win. here's dave owens with the rest of your morning sports. >> good morning, everybody. in football lingo, they call it first contact. it's the first hit you take in a real game and you never forget it. it sort of knocks you into a sense of normalcy. afterwards you feel like you belong. well, robert griffin iii is about to get hit for real for the first time. can he with stand the physical contact in a couple of days? on thursday against buffalo.

we'll see. he says he plans on doing more passing than running. that's good but he might have to use those legs more than he wants. another offensive lineman down. guard chris chester sprained an ankle so rg3, you looking forward to tag that -- taking that first hit? >> if i don't get hit in the preseason i would be very okay with that. it's football. you play it. hits are going to hurt. sometimes guys are going to until load on you. just got to be ready for that i'm not going to go into the game saying i hope darius hits me as hard as he can. that's not going to come out of my mouth. >> maryland football becoming the new test kitchen for uniform changes. this is what they'll wear this season. home red, road white. new helmet design with a streak of the maryland state flag. birds stadium got a makeover too. grass gone. field turf in. easier on the joints. a new look and the ed coach says he loves it and his team has a new attitude. we shall see.

finally great falls, virginia looks to be a legitimate threat in the little league world series leading -- beating west virginia 13-0. on to the regional semifinals for them. big ups for northwest d.c. too. they beat new jersey 8-2. they'll play new york later on today. that's a quick look at sports. have a great tuesday, everybody. a new study finds big response problems for one of the area's biggest fire departments. that story coming up. >> if you're a fed up montgomery county pepco customer, you'll have a chance to tell state utility rate regulators exactly what you thnow here's beverly telling us what's happening on the roadways. >> got a crash that's tying up the westbound side of the prince william parkly west of i- 95 near hoadley road. there's a stretch of 95 between fredricksburg and richmond tied up by a crash. details are coming up in your next timesaver traffic at 5:29. you're watching 9news now. we'll be right back.

good tuesday morning.

good morning. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. it's tuesday. beverly farmer is in for monika. she'll have traffic momentarily. >> and howard has your weather first. >> a little bit of relief from the humidity north of town. it does feel decent out there. maybe pop the windows in frederick, gaitestburg for now, for the next few -- gaithersburg for now, for the next few hours. >> only in the north. >> here's your day planner. a lot of high clouds out there with clear skies or partly cloudy skies right now with good visibility. 85 by noon. 5:00 88. i think we're going to get to about # 91 for the high -- about 91 for the high today. there could be a stray shower

or thunderstorm like we've seen this morning south of town. you can see it here on the doppler loop going back three hours. as we zoom in, had a little lightning for about ten minutes. the storm died into charles county as it approached 301. temps mid-60s in a few spots up north and the shenandoah valley. we're in the mid- to upper 70s in d.c. and annapolis, down to pax river, prince frederick 76. bowie 72 along with manassas and 70 from charlie in catlett. beverly farmer in for monika with timesaver traffic. right now the big story of the day is the issue we've been having down on 95 between fredricksburg and richmond and that long stretch near the exit for carmel church, route 207. that's the 104 mile marker. southbound and northbound lanes have been closed after an overnight crash took out a utility pole and wires. police estimate it could be 10 or 11:00 this morning before they can reopen all the lanes so detours are in place. more people using 301 as your

cut-through there between kings dominion and the bridge. westbound on the prince william parkway there's been a crash. it's closed at hoadley road. 95 only building volume getting into quantico. getting into springfield is looking good. 66 new crash for you inside the beltway eastbound before you get to balancesston fairfax -- ballston fairfax drive and police on the scene so early delays heading into falls church. if you're traveling on i-495, the west side of the beltway into silver spring, only volume delays to report. next timesaver traffic at 5:38. back to you. >> thanks, beverly. if you report a fire in prince george's county, the response you get could fall well short of national standards. >> a study by the county government points out problems some firefighters say have been virtually ignored by prior administrations. one example? a four-alarm apartment fire in suitland on expt eve 2000 -- on christmas eve 2009. half the equipment on the first alarm was understaffed and the entire second alarm failed to

meet staffing standards as well. and that's not an isolated case. >> in 2010, prince george's county out of the approximately 130,000 calls, almost 30,000 of those calls for service, we responded with understaffed personnel. >> prince george's county is the biggest jurisdiction in the nation made up of both career and volunteer firefighters. some of those volunteers must spend more time at their other jobs because of the weak economy and the county does not have enough money to replace them with career firefighters. police in wisconsin are uncovering white supremacist connections as they look into the background of the sikh temple shooter. however, they still haven't determined wade michael page's exact motive. he was shot and killed by officers arriving at the scene. 9news now reporter delia goncalves is in our satellite center with more on this story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we know that page left no letters or manifesto indicating why he stormed into that wisconsin sikh temple and began

shooting. but of course his ties to the hate groups could be a clue. investigators say the 40-year- old joined the army in 1992. he was discharged in 1998. he was described as a frustrated neonazi who had long been active in the obscure underworld of white supremacist music. investigators believe he acted alone when he seriously injured a police officer and killed six worshipers inside the sikh temple. sikhs here at home in silver spring are reacting to the tragedy. >> the fact remains it is a white anglo saxon who did it. he was bald so can i say was' skinhead? all these thoughts do come into your mind. >> we're in america. we have freedom of religion, freedom of qee quality and this is all happening -- of equality and this is all happen glrg we discovered his music was backed by label 57 based in lithicum.

he's featured in a number of pictures on the label's myspace page but the label released a statement later saying they do not condone page's actions and removed all images of his band on the label's website. andrea, we just learned that the sikhs in the washington community, about 7,000 to 10,000 members of that community will be gathering at a rockville temple tonight at 7:00 for a vigil to honor the victims in wisconsin. back to you. >> delia goncalves with the latest from our satellite center. a university of maryland student accused of making threats is scheduled to plead guilty later today. that according to prince george's county state's attorneys office. police arrested alexandria sangh last month. the poster wrote he would kill enough people to make national news. police say they didn't find any weapons in his dorm room or at his parents' home. fed up with pepco service or do you think they're doing a great job? you can weigh in either way.

tonight the maryland public service commission starts a series of public hearings into the power company's response to that june 29derecho storm. it's opening hearing in the heart of pepco territory. in rockville is where you can go. customers will be allowed to share their power outage experiences with the members. many people lost power for a full week. to testify residents need to sign up outside the hearing room. it starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. just after this morning's rush hour, work will begin on the latest megaproject in northern virginia. it's the new express toll lanes along interstate 95. they'll go from garrisonville in stafford county all the way up to the beltway and edsall road exit on 395. governor bob mcdonnell will take part in the groundbreaking ceremony in dale city. the $925 million project will create 29 miles of express toll lanes. they should be ready by 2014. just about 5:35. time for another your money

report. >> jessica doyle is back with good values on our local campuses. >> that's right. with college of course costing so much nowadays, it's good to know where your money is going to go the farthest. forbes magazine has crunched the numbers. it's out with the list of best buys in college education in our area. james madison university came in number 38. it was followed by the university of virginia, the university of maryland comes in at 55, virginia tech comes in at 68 and george mason university at 81. american airlines is offering a new service that allows passengers to skip the baggage claim. the airline has teamed up with bags v.i.p. luggage delivery. for an extra fee passengers can opt to have their bags delivered to their home or hotel room. the fee for baggage delivery starts at 30 bucks for one bag and about $50 for up to ten pieces of luggage. one of the remarkable features of a gibson guitar is the beautiful woods the instruments can be made from. now gibson has agreed to pay a

hefty fine for illegally importing exotic wood from madagascar in india. the $300,000 penalty allows gibson to avoid criminal charges for breaking a lou that prohibits requiring plant products protected in other countries. it will be interesting to see how it's sourced from the company. >> it's been going on for a long time. >> we'll have to see if prices go up as well. >> jess will be back in a little bit. she'll have daily deals. >> plus, we'll tell you why metro believes more people are using two wheels to get to its rail stations. we'll be back.

welcome back on this tuesday morning. it's kind of muggy out here. 5:38 on the weather terrace in northwest washington. we've seen drier air move north but we're still kind of sticky. we may just see a shower today but most of the day will be try. here is a look at your day planner. temperatures are going to be rising pretty quickly.

upper 70s in many areas in town and by the bay now. 85 by noon. mostly cloudy skies but a lot of high thin clouds. we'll see filtered sunshine, slight chance after shower later on, highs upper 80s to low 90s. beverly farmer 5:38, she's in with timesaver traffic. 95 corridor has been the trouble spot. minor delays heading into prince william county, the stretch between 95 -- 95 between fredricksburg and richmond shut down. eastbound into ballston declays coming -- -- details coming up at 5:48. i've been combing through date's daily deals to find you some deep discounts. here of some of my favorites on this tuesday. dailydeals.com reached out to me with a back-to-school deal for you. pay 135 bucks and you're going to get the complete reading program from hooked on phonics. these packages are available for pre-k through 3rd grade.

normally you way $299. you're getting 55% off and free shipping. macy's has a deal on back- to-school uniforms, clothing and more. it's offering 20% to 50% off plus free shipping on ready ons over $50. -- on orders over $50. gilt city has a deal, $39 for a consultation, haircut and blow dry, 40% off the normal price. there are four d.c. and 11 virginia locations and other deals are available as well. if you have an offer you've seen or if you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i would love to hear from you on facebook. andrea. >> thanks, jess. metro reports a 3% increase in the number of bikes parked at its train stations. the bicycle census was taken over a six-week stretch if may and june. metro says the increase is due in part to adding new bike racks. they'll start tagging bikes that appear to be abandoned such as those with flat tires

or missing parts and auction them off if the owners don't remove the bikes. you ready to say ah this morning? two committee take cubs at the national zoo now have their names. the zoo waited for the ruts of the 100 meter races in the london olympics this week. the 3-month-old cubs are named carmelita and just continue. americans carmelita jeeter and justin gatlin won medals respectively. president obama may hold the office but mitt romney has a huge edge in campaign 2012. that story is coming up. >> plus, we'll show you how one local county fair is trying to minimize the risk of swine flu. >> at 5:41 let's see who's celebrating a birthday today. he pitched a perfect game in the 1956 world series, don larson is 83. millions have lost weight on her plan. jenny craig is 80. >> wow. >> "x files" actor david duchovny is 52.

>> oscar winning actress and all around stunner cher lien -- charlene turns 30. sydney cosby 25. if eight your birthday, have a great day. i'll have the $4 everyday value slam with... bacon. wait... yeah... well, yeah, bacon. and my eggs sunny side-up. no, umm, over-easy. the $4 everyday value slam. one of 4 great choices for $4 off the 2-4-6-8 value menu. only at denny's.

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good morning. welcome back to 9 news now. 5:45. everybody wants to be like howard. he has all the answers in weather. >> they're so nice. i like you guys. >> cannot tell a lie. >> weather wise -- [ laughter [ ?cht. >> i'll tell you the truth. it is going to be a warm to hot afternoon with high thin clouds. some filtered sunshine we'll call it. temperatures making it into the 90, 91-degree range. here's a look at your day planner for ow this tuesday morning -- for you on this tuesday more than.

i'm going to get you guys later. by noon 85 degrees. i know i have the mostly cloudy symbol but lots of high thin clouds. it will feel sunnier than the icon is showing you. by 5:00 there's an isolated chance for a pop-up shower or thunderstorm, 88 degrees. had a couple of showers overnight, places like fredricksburg trying to get in toward charles county. it made it for a little while but watch what happens as this shower moved into charles county. there is goes. it just fell apart before it ever got over to 301. the dew points, there is how we measure moisture in the air. another way other than humidity have dropped into the low 60s north. we're still low 70s so it's sticky here. up north of town you go 20 miles north, northwest of d.c. and it feels so much better in montgomery county where it's 70 in gaithersburg, frederick up to hagerstown, winchester, martinsburg. a nice morning from d.c. southward where we're in the mid- to upper 70s. yes, it is on the sticky side.

right now showing you the olympic stadium in london under mostly cloudy skies. but here in d.c. also mostly cloudy but not quite as bright out there. it's dark still till about 6:15 on the sunrise. winds southwest at 6. feels like 78 though. so a little bit of a warming effect due to the high humidity which sits right now at 84%. we do have a lot of high clouds coming in off the showers and storms off the carolinas. the upper level winds are blowing from southwest to northeast. at times it will be overcast. other times it will be partly sunny. you'll notice by noon still quiet. then this afternoon a spotty shower pops up across the region. that will be the case the next couple of days. want to show you ernesto. convection. the thunderstorms, see the dark red colors exploding near the center? that's a sign of a strengthening tropical system. winds at 65 gusting to 75. moving toward the west, northwest at 134. could -- 13. could make landfall tomorrow at

1:00 a.m. just north of belize city and then it will weaken ath bit over the yucatan peninsula but they have hurricane warnings up across the yucatan coast. 91 degrees this afternoon. just an ice laid storm -- isolated storm under the filtered sunshine. 92 tomorrow after starting out at 95. could be a storm tomorrow and thursday. the hottest day 94 with storms more likely on friday. friday could be an active weather day. then back in the 80s this weekend. 5:48. good morning, beverly farmer. >> good morning. not such a good morning on the roadways. early on 66 commuters trying to beat the hov rules got-up by -- got hung up by the crash in ballston. only the right shoulder squeezing by. that's why this lineup out of falls church on the right side of the screen. eastbound 66 is your big trouble spot. i-95 northbound volume to get into dumfries toward triangle coming past the prince william parkway but the stretch of i-95 between fredricksburg and

richmond still shut down near the 104 mile marker, the exit for carmel church. that's with an ongoing crash investigation and utility repairs till 10:00 or 11:00 this morning. outer loop of the beltway maryland drivers, you just got building volume as you head through silver spring. colesville road to georgia avenue the pace isn't bad. it's slowest getting through the work zone near university boulevard. the next check of traffic coming up at 6:00. back to you. the summer is here. that means it's county fair time. fairs kick off friday in montgomery county, prince william county but at least one county in ohio has banned pigs from its fair. >> that's because more than a dozen people in that state have contracted the virus swine flu. other cases have been reported from hawaii to indiana. our scott broom takes a look at the precautions taken at the howard county fair. >> reporter: it's called swine flu for a reason. a strain of flu commonly passed from pigs to people. >> you would have to be aware and ask questions.

>> reporter: here at the howard county fair kids and critters barn, there's no shortage of pigs or little hands and bare feet coming in close contact. >> my kids love the animals but they also like to lick their hands. >> i thought the swine flu was over and done with. >> reporter: not so. the u.s. center for disease control has reported a dozen cases of swine flu in recent weeks. all linked to contact with pigs at fairs from hawaii to indiana. >> pigs often carry flu. >> reporter: no reason to close the petting corral says howard county health officer peter but good reason to take some common sense precautions. >> enjoy the fair wherever you're going, whatever county, whatever state you're in but try to avoid touching pigs, particularly if you're in the vulnerable population group. if you do touch pigs as part of a 4h project, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water afterwards. >> reporter: thus, the hand washing station right outside

the petting corral. >> i think it's very important. there are lots of germs in there. >> this is a different say yanlts, not particularly -- different variant, not particularly is a veerp. what's unusual is it's happening during the summer. >> they're also issuing a warning about the west nile virus. the agency says 240 people have been affected so far this year. that's the most for january through july since 2004. four people have died from the mosquito transmitted disease. most cases are in texas, mississippi and oklahoma, but the cdc says west nile infections don't usually peak until august and september. it is 5:51 here. later this morning the defendants in the january 2011 tucson shooting spree is expected to plead guilty. jared loughner is accused of killing six people and wounding 16 others. however, the judge still needs to rule on whether or not loughner is now competent enough to enter a plea.

fema has approved more federal aid for firefighting efforts in oklahoma. authorities say they've now contained about half of the 50 wildfires that ravaged the state over the weekend. while arson is suspected in at least one fire, drought conditions helped the flames spread rapidly. president obama is losing a battle when it comes to campaign fund raising. the presumptive republican nominee mitt romney has raised more than $101 million last month compared to $75 million for the president. the romney campaign also has more cash on hand right away than does the obama campaign. 5:52. we want to take another look at our question of the day. according to men's health magazine, 98% of women surveyed say they want this from their significant other. >> a little pda, a smooch in public perhaps. b, a home cooked meal or c, date night. our facebook fan elisa says my hub by already does all the cooking. i say a, pda. >> we'd love to hear cha you

think. post your guesses and comments on our facebook page. we'll have the answer in about an hour. >> we'll take a look at a local scientist and what they're doing to help make mars curiosity a success. >> and a program that helps homeless people acquire new skills. >> a high flyer on wall street is flying even higher. at 6:07, i'll tell you why and if there's still time to ride the wave. you're watching 9news now.

5:55 on this tuesday morning. we have some high clouds. a little less humid up north where we're in the 60s this morning. by 9:00 frederick 74. winchester 71. but 80 down in southern maryland. we'll get you toward the lunch hour. still partly sunny, mostly cloudy south with high thin clouds, 85. this afternoon we'll be upper 80s to low 90s. notice the isolated shower or storm could pop. we'll be watching for that. over to you. today's hero central recognizes a program that helps homeless people connect with the community. and it also puts money in their pockets. >> jchayward.com shows us how street sense is training men and women to work as newspaper vendors. >> homelessness doesn't discriminate. it doesn't matter if you're

rich or poor. >> nine years ago james davis was homeless and depressed after a job loss and divorce. while staying at a homeless shelter, he was approached by founders of street sense and they suggested that he should sell a newspaper. >> there's more people buying for support of the vendor, the personnelling the paper. >> street sense sells the newspaper to vendors for 35 cents each. the vendors charge readers $1 and they keep 65 cents. >> i did pretty good. i averaged about maybe selling about a thousand papers a month. >> reporter: readers of the newspaper find stories on the homeless, area politics, and even poet friday. >> you become part of the -- poetry. >> you become part of the community once you sell the paper. once you become known to the people, they get to know your name, you know their name. >> reporter: a ritz camera manager remembered davis so

when an employee quit, the manager offered davis the job. >> in some respects we see it as an alternative to pan handling. >> reporter: street sense executive director brian carome says selling papers gives them an opportunity to move on with their lives. >> reporter: nine years ago davis met the executive director of street sense. now he trains others on how to become a success story. >> when you see that vendor out there trying to make a living or trying to get back on his feet from a situation that caused him to become homeless, just remember, you know, that it could happen to you. so just give from the heart. >> reporter: i'm jchayward.com, 9news now. >> it's good they wear those vests, too. you can identify them right away. davis today works for a contractor and advocates for the homeless as well. street sense is a 16-page

biweekly newspaper. for more information about street sense, go to jchayward.com and click on the hero central icon. >> really great program. it is 6:00 a.m. thank you for watching 9news now. i'm andrea roane. happy tuesday. i'm mike hydeck. monika is off this week. beverly farmer is going to have timesaver traffic momentarily. >> right now howard bernstein has our weather fir. things will eventually start to cool -- first. things will eventually start to cool down. >> i think by the weekend we'll only be in the 80s. maybe some strong storms on friday to get through. but 80s for the weekend. this morning high clouds are out there. one of the nice things about high clouds, you get some really pretty sunrises and sunsets if they're thin enough. we'll see some areas that will be too cloudy. other areas -- right now the sky must be looking nice and pink in spots because sunrise not until about 6:15 this morning. temperature 78 at reagan national. 85 by noon. got the mostly cloudy symbol but a lot of this is the high thin clouds. we could see a lot of filtered sunshine. it may be mostly sunny