. hello. thank you for joining us. franconia road in alexandria is finally open after a deadly car accident that occurred this morning. it involved fairfax county

police officer. we'll get more information on that in just a moment. we thank you for joining us because the race for president is focusing now on a handful of battleground states. the president is spending a second day in iowa, and his challenger mitt romney is in ohio. randall pinkston has more. >> reporter: it's day two of president obama's bus tour through iowa. >> the reason i love this state is because all of you gave me a chance. >> reporter: monday he visited a drought stricken family farm in the key swing state and announced the government's plan to buy $170 million worth of agricultural products from farmers and ranchers. >> we can't make it rain, but this will help families like the macintoshes in states across the country. >> reporter: his challenger mitt romney is wrapping up his own bus tour in ohio. the republican white house hopeful is working to keep the focus on the struggling economy,ike he did in miami

monday. >> if i'm president, i will actually cut spending and get america on track to a balanced budget. >> reporter: the republicans also announced new jersey governor chris christie will be the keynote speaker at their convention later this month. it's a high profile spot for christie who is the favorite among fiscal conservatives for his cost cutting measures and colorful personality. christie was much discussed as a possible vp pick. romney chose paul ryan. the wisconsin congressman had to confront hecklers at the iowa state fair. >> you must not be from iowa. >> reporter: a new poll shows that americans are split over ryan. 39% call his selection excellent or pretty good. while % say it's only fair or poor. but ryan has strong support from republican voters whom romney will need to turn out in big numbers in november. randall pinkston, cbs news, the white house. >> the g.o.p. also announced that florida

senator marco rubio will introduce romney at the convention. well, the republican controlled house wants the federal government to force attorney general eric holder to hand over records related to the botched fast and furious operation. the house oversight and government reform committee led by republican representative daryl issa of california filed a civil contempt of congress lawsuit against holder. the suit wants the court to reject the claim by president obama asserting executive privilege. in june holder was held in civil and criminal contempt. a measure to expand gambling in the state of maryland is expected to come up for debate shortly on the floor of the state house of delegates. the measure has been bitterly dividing lawmakers and citizens around the state. just last night, a key house committee approved a plan to guarantee deeper tax breaks for

some maryland casino operators. the senate passed the gambling measure last week and the voters will have to approve any gambling expansion. we are under a yellow alert today due to the weather we had not only this morning which certainly slowed down the commuters, but the potential for strong to severe storms this afternoon. we may have to upgrade it to a severe weather alert day depending on how things shape up. behind it a lot of sunshine here. so that's heating things up. that's going to destabilize the atmosphere and we still have energy in areas like ohio and west virginia. that will be arriving later this afternoon into the evening hours. those conditions together may produce strong to severe storms. right now over toward cambridge we're watching some strong storms there and over toward salisbury but nothing near the washington metro at the moment. with the sunshine, though, temperatures are starting to heat up easton 84. we're up to 83. fredricksburg 84. so now we're starting to --

looks like boil and water. starting to boil up things. we'll have the energy come through. the storm prediction center out of norman, oklahoma almost has the entire area except for parts of the northern neck under the slight risk of severe weather. they think we've got a chance of severe weather. not just severe storms but maybe isolated tornadoes, especially from d.c. up through philly, harrisburg and ocean city. this will be the area we'll have to watch late this afternoon and this evening. i'll be back in a few minutes with the full seven-day forecast. now back to jc. we now know the identity of the man who was killed in yesterday's crash involving a fairfax county police cruiser. he's been identified as 52-year- old jeffrey woods of alexandria. woods struck a police cruiser head-on on franconia road near gum street yesterday morning. the officer survived the crash and investigators are trying to determine if speed or alcohol were factors. montgomery county's energy tax could end up on the

november ballot. former delegate robin ficker submitted signatures to get a referendum on the issue. his proposal would make it harder for the montgomery county council to increase an energy tax bill. yesterday on 9news now at 7:00, ficker explained why his proposal is so important to county residents. >> they announced they were going to have a 30% increase in the energy tax. when we came to the hearing, it was 60%. later on they increased it to 256%. >> ficker needed 10,000 signatures to get his proposal on the november ballot. he claims he has more than 14,000 signatures. prince george's county police are trying to locate a missing girl and they're asking for our help. 12-year-old maurisha davis has been missing since yesterday afternoon. investigators say the girl was last seen near her home in temple hills, maryland.

she's described as being 5'3" tall, weigh abouts 120 pounds. she was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, jean shorts, and black shoes. if you see maursiha davis, please contact prince george's county police. their phone number is 301-868- 8773. later today we could learn what caused a deadly fire in a cheverly, maryland apartment building. prince george's county fire crews found a woman inside the burning apartment on landover road near 63rd place yesterday. medics rushed the woman to the hospital but unfortunately she died. there was smoke and water damage to three nearby apartments. montgomery county voters will not have a say about the recently passed ambulance fee.

that is because the county's volunteer fire rescue association will not seek a referendum. they announced an agreement on the fee with county executive ike legal g.t.e. it will -- ike leggett. it will now take effect on january 1, and residents will be charged when they call for an ambulance. county residents will not see a bill. instead it's going to go straight to their insurance. but everyone else will. the county expects the fee to bring in about $16 million to $18 million. some of that money will go to fire and rescue staffing and other resources. >> the improvements with this last bill are outstanding. and, therefore, because we feel this enhancement is going to benefit not only the public but career and volunteer personnel as well, we will not go to referendum. >> the exact same proposal did not go through a referendum --

or did go to a referendum actually in 2010 and at that time, 54% of the voters rejected that fee. still to come when 9news now continues, if you own a chevy or a gmc van, there is a recall that you need to know about. we'll tell you about that. plus, find out which luxury vehicle made the grade when it comes to crash tests. we have new results. stay with us.

city officials in denver, colorado are cracking down on billboards that agessively market marijuana. the ban would apply to billboards and other street ad campaigns. however, up in and radio commercials would -- newspaper and radio commercials would still be legal. advertisements would have to include a disclaimer saying that marijuana should only be used for patients registered to receive medical marijuana in colorado. one-third of american adults are obese. that's according to the centers for disease control and prevention. the rates vary by state but no state had an obesity rate lower than 20%. and the lowest was in colorado. while the highest is in mississippi. nearly 35% of adults in mississippi are obese. and then it's followed by louisiana and west virginia. virginia ranks 15th on the list of most obese states.

maryland is 22nd. washington, d.c. is near the bottom. they're at number 47. coming up next, howard with the forecast. >> jc, still considering the threat of severe weather for the afternoon. i'm going to let you know when that may happen and when you should be paying attention the most. let's talk about the allergy update as we go to break. that really hasn't changed from yesterday. the numbers are down ever so slightly. tree pollen, grass, weeds, mold are all moderate. i'm looking ahead to some nice changes over the weekend when 9news now returns. [ male announcer ] the choice on debt...

mitt romney's plan: huge tax cuts for millionaires, tax breaks for oil companies and corporations that ship jobs overseas, adding trillions to the deficit. president obama's plan: a balanced approach that asks the wealthy to pay a little more, eliminates tax breaks for outsourcing and oil subsidies, cuts government spending, and reduces the deficit by four trillion. two plans. your choice. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

an elderly australian man was driving the wrong way down the street for eight miles and it was all caught on video. the man is in his 80s. dehave his license taken away. his lawyer says this was his client's first driving offense in 30 years, and he says that the man was suffering from some health issues. highway safety experts have rolled out a much tougher crash test. the new test developed by the insurance institute for highway safety is designed to replicate a front end accident. they tested luxury or near luxury models because they have the latest in safety technology. and only two models overall

earned the highest rating of good. most of the other vehicles tested rated marginal or poor. in contrast all of the cars earned good ratings in older frontal tests. >> we call it a small overlap crash because it looks at what happens when just the front corner of the vehicle hits another vehicle or tree or object. and we looked at the real world data and this is a very important issue for frontal crash safety. >> volvo proved to have the safest car of all the luxury and near luxury vehicles tested. the volvo s60 and acura tl both got the highest rating of good. the infinity g was rated one step down at acceptable. four other cars earned poor ratings. the mercedes c class, the

lexus, is 250, the audi a4 and the lexus es 350. by wait, if you own a full size gm van, you need to take it back to your dealer for repairs. the fuel filter pipes can rust or leak and that can cause a fire. general motors is recalling more than 10,000 chevy express and gmc savannah trucks, vans, from the 2003 -- savanna vans from the 2003 and 2004 model years. the vans have left side cargo doors, and they were sold in 20 states and also the district of columbia. a wildfire is burning out of control in washington state. the fire in a rural area outside seattle has actually destroyed dozens of homes and it's continuing to spread. manuel gallegus explains why investigators think that the fire was set on purpose.

>> reporter: the fast moving wildfire is burning through homes and hundreds more are threatened. more than 60 structures are gone in the rural area about 60 miles west of seattle. authorities are telling residents in the fire's path to get out. >> i think it's very frightening. people are pulling together and trying to help each other get by. because nobody knows where this wildfire is going. >> reporter: the fire started monday afternoon and spread so quickly, structures were in flames before firefighters could react. in hours it covered more than 20 square miles. farmers and ranchers rushed to get their animals to safety. >> their ranch is burning up all around them. so we're going to -- we already let them loose. they were trapped in the barn. now we're just -- we thought they would be better loose. >> reporter: helicopters are fighting the flames. that's helped crews stop the wildfire's forward movement saving nearby towns but it continues to spread in other directions. officials say they don't know when the fire will be under

control. manuel gallegus, cbs news. let's take a look at the forecast. >> the concern is we could be dealing with some severe storms later this afternoon into the evening hours actually. so we'll be watching that. right now, though, it's pretty nice outside. a little bit warm, a little muggy with light winds. here's the day planner. we're going to see temperatures climb likely into the upper 80s, maybe near 90 with enough sunshine but as we get into the afternoon and later in the afternoon, we'll see a few storms pop and some of these could be strong to severe. 88 by 3:00 with 86 at 5:00. then this evening we're going to be falling into the lower #s on. if you've owe lower 80s. if you've -- lower 80s. if you've got any plans this evening, you have to stay up on the weather. if we get strong storms rolling through, obviously you don't want to be caught in that. had some rain this morning. that pushed through. right now we're watching a couple of bigger storms on the lower eastern shore. here's a look at doppler. cambridge, you can see how this pops here in the last 20, 30 minutes. this is from cambridge north

and east. it may get close to easton or denton headed that way toward delaware and also toward the ocean city area. you're looking at some storms. temps in the 70s in the shenandoah valley to 80 in frederick. we have 84 in easton. 85 tappahannock with 83 outside in many areas. you look on our weather camera, lots of sunshine. we cleared out nicely. unfortunately that's not a good sign. we could get hotter and more unstable. anything that pops has the better chance of becoming strong to severe. wind calm. humidity high at 60%. it feels more like 86 degrees. the weather headline, some strong storms possible late this afternoon into the evening. maybe even the late evening hours. a few storms again tomorrow afternoon, although they don't look to have the same oomp as what we may say this afternoon. thursday looks nice. hot but not too humid. as we head toward the weekend, a cooldown coming. we will get some showers and storms on saturday but temperatures are going to be much more palatable. here's the set yum.

you've got -- setup. you've got all the sunshine. increase still out to the west. this is going to come through. it's going to hit the very warm humid air mass in place. the upper level winds are picking up a little bit with this upper level energy and we're likely to see some showers and storms form. by mid afternoon, the mountains, parts of northern virginia will be isolated to scattered about. what does form has the threat of going strong. looks like a better chance d.c. north and west and south of town will have some of those showers. here we're at 8:45 and storms still around this evening. things will quiet down overnight and we'll pop more showers and storms for you tomorrow afternoon. so forecast, got a yellow alert today. we'll tune in with topper later on because if it looks like the storms will be severe or more severe than what i'm talking about, we may go to the red severe weather alert today, 89. tonight low 70s. i know severer is not a word. right now green, that may have to go yellow if we think it's going to be more upper 80s. thursday i'm confident a good

day, 90. not too humid. friday a hot day. 90 to 95. some late storms. here comes the front into saturday. showers and storms saturday, 83. nice on sunday 84. we'll be right back. 9news now at noon continues in just a moment.

i am one on one with the benny hanna general manager.

she brought the sushi maker. she's going to start making california roll. i don't eat sushi but a lot of people do. they love yours because it is so fresh. actually, if you are a sus shh i eater, you should come monday through thursday. the hours are between 5:00 and 8:00 because it's happy hour and you get a discount on sushi. >> and a variety of cocktails, too. >> i like the cocktails. i love it when the men work with the knives and the shrimp and the steak and the chicken. it's so fresh. and the rice and the soup. of course you're located at dulles town center and also in bethesda on wisconsin avenue. oh, look. what is she doing? she did the rice. what's inside? >> crab, avocado and cucumber rolled into rice.

>> the california roll is for, you know, weak people like me. >> for beginners. >> the crab meat is in it. >> avocado. >> and cucumber. what do you put on top of that? what are the different-- >> you can put soy sauce. we have a ginger and wasabi. >> the green. you put that on. what are these? >> it's japanese dumplings. >> what's this one? what's inside? >> beef and vegetables. >> let's talk about the other sushi. >> we have our alaskan roll. the same california roll and on the top salmon. and then eel on the top. we call it dragon roll and then tuna on the top and avocado

inside eel. we call it caterpillar. >> i'm going to taste this because it looks so good. thank you. thank you, thank you, general manager, benijana, bethesda and dulles town center. thanks for being with us. come back and visit us at 5:00.