i don't understand it. >> reporter: instead. >> instead of fining pepco for below acceptable levels of service, you have rewarded them year after year after year for failing to maintain the power infrastructures in our communities that are to serve us. >> reporter: the overwhelming sentiment? >> fix it soon but not on the backs of our ratepayers. thank you. >> reporter: the public service commission holds hearings in baltimore in september to hear pepco's side. gary nurenberg, 9news now. a 25-year-old man is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 6-year- old girl in hyattsville, maryland. an officer spotted charles amofa walking the girl in a park around 1:30 yesterday afternoon. he is also accused of kidnapping and assaulting an 8- year-old girl on july 8. both children are now with their families. amofa is being held without bond. police in fort washington, maryland are searching for a person who killed a young woman

and dumped her body in a creek. 22-year-old chavon philips was last seen on security video on july 30 dropping off one of her children at a day care northeast. her body was found days later. investigators weren't able to identify her till monday. an autopsy will be performed to determine a cause of death. arlington county police are investigating the deaths of two men. the bodies were found yesterday morning at an apartment complex along north culpeper street. 41-year-old carlton moton was a chef in falls church. 59-year-old kiki springs lived in an apartment. the men were friends and former classmates. right now police are only saying their deaths are suspicious. in wisconsin the question investigators are still asking is what filled wade michael page with so much hate and venom that he desecrated a religious temple with innocent

victims. >> page's stepmother is asking the same thing. lori page says she can't believe the young man is the same. she last saw him in 1999. >> he was gentle and kind and loving and he was a happy person and a happy child and what happened god only knows because i don't. >> funeral services for the six victims are planned for friday. hundreds of local sikhs and their neighbors gathered last night to remember the lives lost in sunday's massacre. >> photo journalist kirk brooks has more on the gathering from rockville, maryland glrs close to a thousand -- >> reporter: close to a thousand people gathered here in rockville tonight. though it was the shooting in oak creek, wisconsin that sparked this vigil.

the candles, words and prayers sought to bring a light to something else. >> i really like the fact it was very integrated and a lot of people from the outside were here. it gives me hope that america is on its way to kind of becoming more unified with its minorities. i like it. >> reporter: six here in rockville wanted to remind america that, well, frankly there are a lot more americans -- american than many might first believe. >> we believe in one god. equality and justice for all. what really distinguishes our religion is equality and women and men are completely equal. there is the -- the pure religion says men and women are purely equal. there's no differentiating factor. that was very revolutionary at the time that this came out. >> reporter: revolution, liberty and justice. sounds pretty american.

in rockville, 9news. the security contract company formally known as blackwater will pay $7.5 million to settle a federal armed smuggling case. the company which is now called academy llc accepted the settlement as a deferred prosecution on 17 violations. they include possessing automatic weapons in the united states without registration, lying to federal firearms regulators about weapons provided to the king of jordan, passing secret plans for armored personnel carriers to sweden and denmark, and illegally shipping body armor overseas. the company has made billions of dollars from u.s. security contracts in iraq and afghanistan. the u.s. has promised to improve its counterterror ties with egypt. this comes a day after 16 egyptian soldiers were killed by suspected militants along the border with gaza and israel. secretary of state hillary rodham clinton made the offer during a conversation with evipt's prime minister. -- egypt's prime minister. more and more looks like

the race for the white house will come down to a few key states. >> a new poll suggests there's a leader in three of those states. manuel gallegus has the numbers. >> reporter: president owe imam ma is head -- obama is heading to the battleground state of colorado today to promote his economic plan. the president won the state in 2000 #, but he when -- 2008 but he has more work to do if he hopes to win it again. the latest swing state poll from quinnipiac university, cbs news and "new york times" shows mitt romney with a lead. there's better news for the president in virginia where he has a four-point leadoverrual and in wisconsin where the lead bumps up to 6. >> there's nothing like a good job. >> reporter: the majority of voters say the economy is their number one issue. on that issue romney has a decisive lead in colorado and a slight edge in virginia. only wisconsin voters prefer president obama's handling of the economy. >> there's not another country

on earth that wouldn't gladly trade places with the united states of america. >> reporter: a new mitt romney ad is drawing sharp criticism from the white house. the ad claims that president obama is trying to get rid of the work requirements needed to collect welfare. >> under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check. >> reporter: the white house says the changes to the law will give states a waiver from the work requirements but only if the state can prove more people will move off welfare with the change. >> this advertisement is categorically false and it is blatantly dishonest. >> reporter: romney defends the ad saying president obama is fostering a culture of dependency. manuel gallegus, cbs news, washington. >> one area the president has been winning over voters is the issue of taxes. the new poll shows a majority of voters in all three of those states believe taxes should be raced on house -- raised a households making more than $250,000 a year. here's a look at some other

things making news now. jared lee loughner has pleaded guilty to killing six people and wounding 13, including congresswoman gabriel giffords. his plea allows him to avoid the death penalty. however, he is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without parole. his sentencing is scheduled for november 15. last night was the 29th annual national night out. more than 37 million people in 15,000 communities across the country and internationally participated. this is an event which was held last night in maryland. the idea is to increase crime awareness and create relationships between police and the community. the time right now is 4:37. expect it to be a warm one today. at 4:39 howard will let us know how high today's temperatures are expected to get and also about the possibility of storms. at 4:41, the european debt crisis is being blamed for one company's bad quarterly profits. at 4:51, the faa suspends a

policy which nearly led to a disastrous outcome at reagan national. >> we're back in two minutes with your weather first. you're watching 9news now.

4:40 on this wednesday morning. we have a shower west. right now cloudy skies. 70s in many areas. 89 by noon. . seven-day forecast in the next five minutes. beverly farmer is taking a look at timesaver traffic. right now in decent shape picking up road work on the beltway. this is the beltway at

eisenhower avenue looking great in alexandria south of the beltway alexandria, the southbound lanes of the gw parkway remain closed. that's a look at timesaver traffic. back to you. the time right now is 4:41. i'm watching your money. cautious consumers have been pulling back on their credit card use in june. the federal reserve says total borrowing rose 3% to $2.5 trillion. that's less than expected. most of the rise in borrowing came from auto and college loans. more borrowing generally viewed as a healthy sign for the economy. this is suggesting that consumers are gaining some confidence and growing a little more comfortable taking on debt. as for wall street, hopefully the winning streak goes on. fingers crossed. strong corporate profits led to the third up day in a row for stocks. the dow stands this morning at 13,168. added about 51 points in trading yesterday. nasdaq was up by 26 and the s&p

500 past 1,400 for the first time in three months adding 3 points. disney's quarterly profits rose by a better than 25%. it was thanks in part to attendant at its theme parks and latest movies. the. consumers in europe are putting off travel amid the economic crisis and that forced -- [indiscernible] -- for this quarter, something we'll see more of. >> the european market, i wonder if the domestic market is taking advantage of the euro being lower against the dollar and stuff like that. >> the down side of course is airfares are so high right now. so even though you're going to get a break on the currency conversion overseas, you still got to get there. that's tough. >> can't walk there. five metro passengers are injured while riding an escalator. >> coming up, we're going to

try to find out exactly what happened after two very different accounts of the event are released. >> we're back in two minutes with more on that story. plus, your weather first.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now. it's 4:45. howard is here. he has an allergy update. and jessica has an update of her own with her eyes and her nose. >>it's been rough. despite the drought conditions that are expanding on the eastern shore, we've had enough rain showers around that things are greening up a bit and it's driving the mold and the grass pollen. we'll start with the allergy update. we'll get the bad news out of the way first. let you know why you might be doing some sniffling and scratching of the eyes or rubbing the eyes. hopefully you're not scratching your eyes. grass pollen is one of the culprits. we're getting to ragweed season. that's moderate. the mold spores are high as well.

tree pollen not that much of a factor this time of year. day planner, we're going to be looking at clouds this morning, some breaks. we'll have more sunny breaks later this afternoon but also a spotty shower or thundershower can't be ruled out. like yesterday, any of these that pop have the potential to put down some heavy downpours. had some unofficial reports of three inches of rain in the lusby area from the numerous showers they were looking at. winds 5 to 8 miles per hour. this morning we've been watching a couple of showers. no real lightning here but we're watching them south of town. looks like one is trying to get going in eastern prince william county as we look almost toward 234, a little northwest of quantico, west of 95. from goldvein south toward wilderness, this is moving to the east, northeast. probably fredricksburg to stafford, you'll have to watch. not moving much. this could take another 30, 45 minutes potentially or longer to get over to i-95. other than that radar nice and quiet this morning but it's a

muggy morning. 77 at the pax river naval air station. 75 across the bay and salisbury to our west, we do have 68 in winchester. look at visibilities, no fog has formed but temps in the 70s now. 72 in bowie. 70 in stephens city. good visibility under those clouds this morning with 78 reported out at reagan national. no wind to speak of and the humidity at 84%. bigger picture, look at all the rain down along the carolina coast streaming northeastward. we've got the clouds blowing off that with an isolated shower near us. that's what i think we'll see throughout the day today. isolated spotty showers this afternoon, maybe a rumble of thunder, nothing too extensive. more sun west than east. as we go through tonight, partly cloudy. we'll see a little bit of clearing. tomorrow we'll heat up and boom, we'll start to pop the showers and storms once again, perhaps a better chance in the mountains on thursday. as we get it into friday, we'll

do to again. friday, look at this, by afternoon this front will be approaching so scattered showers and storms ahead of it. this front for friday night, even into early saturday may provide a few more showers and storms. ernesto came ashore last night as a hurricane. boy, just north of belize city toward tulum, can cue and -- cancun and cozumel were far enough north but still had some problems with wind and rain. this thing is still going to cause problems with a second landfall. today we've got 92 with the storm. 94 tomorrow. more storms on friday. then the weekend looks better, temps in the mid-80s. let's go to beverly. she's got traffic. right now not too much traffic wise to tell you about which is good news for your ride. we're taking a look at the trip on 95 in virginia trying to make your way north through fredricksburg, stafford and points north as you make your way toward dumfries.

all lanes open to 395. the george washington parkway south of the beltway alexandria, southbound lanes remain closed near cooling road. a crash investigation. if you're making the trip 066, that's been a -- 066, that's been -- on 66, that's been a good ride. the trip from front royal towards falls church getting past the metro and on toward ross lynn, checks in -- rosslyn checks in incident free early on. overnight work on the inner loop near university boulevard and kenilworth avenue should be pulling out of your path. that's a look at your timesaver traffic. back to you. >> thank you. as metro transit -- is metro transit doing enough to keep its escalators safe for customers? many are wondering about this after a sharp piece of metal

slashed five metro riders yesterday. there's some debate about how it happened. >> metro says a woman was dragging her bag along the side of the escalator and it got stuck in a crack pulling the panel loose. but as bruce leshan tells us one witness says the metal was already hanging. >> reporter: a transit worker mopped up the blood left behind after the sharp nasty piece of side panel spread all the way across the escalator steps gashing five people, three of them badly enough that medics were forced to rush them to the hospital. metro transit police snapped pictures as the transit agency tried to figure out what went wrong. one escalator expert suggested to a blog that someone must have forgotten to screw down the panel and said that there shouldn't be gaps in the metal in the first place that could snag bags or clothing. >> that's real dangerous. metro needs to do better.

they really do. makes you wonder about your safety here on metro. >> reporter: two years ago worn and oily brakes sent a heavily loaded escalator at l'enfant crashing toward the platform until an emergency system kicked in bringing it to a sudden tumbling stop injuring a half dozen people. >> a pile of bodies, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, running around. >> reporter: metro is spending around $150 million over the course of years to repair its failing escalators. metro's deep underground design has left it dependent on its 588 moving stairs. it has more than any other system outside moscow. since 1985, the escalators have claimed five lives, including 3- year-old melissa gilbert in 1995, daryl jackson in 1997, and glenda weeks a mother of three on thanksgiving day in 1998. >> she was a loving person who

would give you her all. >> reporter: bruce leshan, 9news now. >> should metro adjust its fares on days it has service problems? one maryland man thinks so. jonathan rice has launched a petition at change.org. minimal service? minimum fare. he says metro often fails its customers with service problems like delays and closings. rice proposes that customers pay the minimum fare when there is a major delay or problem. he's hoping 5,000 people will join this petition. the federal aviation administration has suspended the airport procedure which led to last week's close call at national airport. investigators say the three just got too close because of miscommunication while traffic was reversed at reagan. the agency is stopping the practice until it develops a national standardized plan to change the direction of takeoffs and landings. a new study finds people who are obese when diagnosed

with type 2 diabetes have a better chance of surviving the disease. researchers at northwestern university say normal people -- normal weight people with diabetes have a different genetic profile. this makes them predisposed to other illnesses and increases their risk of death. cholesterol levels are improving for u.s. children. 16,000 kids were followed for two decades. the number of children with elevated cholesterol levels dropped 3% during that time but doctors say there's still work to be done because one out of ten kids continue to have high cholesterol levels. 4:53. time for the question of the morning. >> a recent survey suggests that a majority of women believe this is the most romantic thing a significant other can do. is it a a candlelight dinner, b, a random text or calling her beautiful, or c, a surprise weekend getaway. >> log on to the wus59 facebook

fan page and post your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour.

welcome back. your weather first this wednesday morning. it's kind of muggy out there. we have a little shower west of fredricksburg toward wilderness watching that on radar. 87 by noon. still mostly cloudy. this afternoon more sun later o. high temperatures low 90s with an isolated heavy shower or thundershower. let's check in now with timesaver traffic and beverly farmer. pulling out the construction barrels and the building volume only. 95 drivers as you head up out of fredricksburg and through stafford headed for quantico past triangle, nice light volume. just the headlights no brake lights as you make your way past joplin road. got details on the gw parkway and more coming up in the next timesaver traffic at 5:01.

back to you. >> thanks, beverly. this is so cool. nasa's curiosity rover on mars has begun sending back new color pictures of the red planet. they feature the ain vent crater where the spacecraft -- ancient crater where the spacecraft landed. the nuclear powered curiosity will look for signs of life on the red planet. it won't actually beginning moving for a couple of weeks till all of its systems have been checked out. sad story this morning. the entertainment world is mourning the loss of an internationally acclaimed composer. marvin hamlisch died after a brief illness. he was 68 years old. his body of work is outstanding. the multioscar, grammy and tony award winner composed music for a string of broadway hits including "a chorus line." here in washington he served at the principle pops conductor

for the national symphony orchestra. >> so incredibly talented. >> we were lucky to have him here and the 9news studios and just a delightful man to speak to. >> and so young, 68. tim mcgraw and faith hill announce a series of shows in las vegas. >> reggae legend bob marley gets a big honor. teresa garcia has those stories and more in this look at entertainment. >> reporter: the los angeles city council declared tuesday bob marley day. two of the late music legends' children accepted a proclamation on the council on his behalf. >> i want to say thank you very much to the center for this great honor. we appreciate it. we have roots in l.a. now so we're a part of the city. so thank you very much. >> reporter: the event coincides with the dvd release of the marli documentary. -- >> marley documentary. the film was made with the family's support and features rare footage and never before

scene performances of the late reggae legend. the first trailer from the upcoming thriller "zero dark 30" was just released. the action packed movie is about the special ops mission to track down osama bin laden. the film is from katherine bigelow, the oscar winning director of "the hurt lucker." faith hill and tim mcgraw are taking their act to las vegas. they'll be performing for ten weekends at the v.a. nearby shan -- venetian starting this december. tickets for the general public go on sale monday. the author of the "50 shades" trilogy is issuing a companion album. she chose the pieces that inspired her to write the ear rottic best sellers -- erotic best sellers. that's your eye on entertainment. teresa garcia, cbs news action los angeles. good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. this wednesday morning. m