coast of florida. this is the storm right now. it's about 100 miles east, southeast of nassau moving due north at least the time being at 20 miles an hour. that will change later as this storm moves more to the northwest and then moves back to the northeast over the weekend. essentially the whole east coast of florida is under a tropical storm warning. the good news is i think the heaviest rain bands may stay just offshore of florida, but you'll still have tropical storm force winds. now the track, okay, category 2, category 1 by friday. notice it curves back north and then over the within and this has really not changed -- it's been very consistent pretty much all week -- it parallels the east coast saturday and sunday, eventually becomes extra tropical which means it's a cold core storm as it moves towards northern new jersey tuesday. for us our timetable would be tuesday or late monday night into tuesday as this storm goes into new jersey and we get the wrap around moisture and winds

maybe 20 to 40 miles per hour. of course, the mention of hurricane approaching the east coast anywhere is freaking people out, more on that with scott broom. >> reporter: pepco spokesman marcus beale here at headquarters of pepco told me this afternoon company workers are on stand-by and throughout the weekend because of the storm potential. >> we've activated all of our emergency teams. we're already holding calls to basically plan for holding contractors currently working on our system in place so they're available immediately to help with restoration efforts if we need to do them. >> reporter: but at this lowe's in laurel there were plenty of utility customers voting no confidence with their wallets. >> i'm getting a generator for my house. the last storm we had the power was off for five days. we don't want to do that again. >> reporter: how much you spending on this thing today? >> $800. it's better than losing all your stuff in the house. >> i had lost food, had to empty out my refrigerator and just not going to do that this

time around. >> reporter: are you ready? >> i guess so, as ready as a person can be. >> reporter: the other big sellers, flashlights and batteries and supplies to clean leaves out of gutters and drains, a key to flood prevention around the house. one of the region's other big utilities bge warned customers today to be ready for the potential of hundreds of thousands of customers out of service. they are urging preparedness. in downtown washington, scott broom, 9 news now. >> of course, we'll track sandy the rest of week and over the weekend and next week here on channel 9 and our website. a couple things you can do. you can track it on your ipad. download our weather app. you can track where it goes are even see surface temperatures. that's pre -- goes, even see surface temperatures. that's pretty cool. we'll come back and talk about again the timetable and also some different scenarios as to

whether she tracks further south or north, what that means to us. i guess the good news tonight the election is actually the week after next. battleground virginia now heating up in the second to last weekend of campaign 2012. on saturday vice president joe biden and his wife will appear at events in virginia beach and lynchburg. sunday republican nominee mitt romney will be at rallies in haymarket, richmond and virginia beach. today, though, president obama kicked off the push through the old dominion with an appearance in richmond and there he thanked a prominent republican for his endorsement of the democrat's reelection. >> i was proud and humbled to learn that we have colin powell supporting this campaign. [ cheering and applause ] >> i'm grateful to him for his lifetime of service to his country both as a soldier and as a diplomat. >> at the same time the president spoke in richmond republican running mate paul ryan was addressing a crowd an hour away in bristol.

>> this is an important election of a lifetime. we are picking the trajectory, the destiny, the path of this country for at least a generation. >> the most recent poll out of virginia comes from rasmussen, a sample of 750 voters yesterday giving romney a two- point edge. however, that poll has a four- pointer roar margin. there is new -- four-point margin of error. there is new information about a criminal probe in arlington one day after a conservative group released an undercover video of patrick moran talking about a plan to cast fraudulent ballots. moran resigned as field director for his dad's campaign last night. in maryland the question of gambling is dominating the debate before election day. >> reporter: i'm matt jablow in prince george's county where with less than two weeks before

the election the question 7 debate is ramping up its campaign. in forest heights, maryland, state controller peter franchot led a rally against the referendum which if approved would allow table games at the existing casinos and pave the way for construction of another casino on the grounds of national harbor in prince george's county. >> the promise of 12,000 jobs both permanent and in construction is something that we can't overlook. >> those opposed to question 7 vigorously disagree saying most casino jobs pay very little money and that, in fact, even though casino revenues have been added to the education trust fund, state spending on education has not changed. >> any dollars coming from the casino into education in maryland only replace existing school dollars netting no change for education funding. >> matt jablow, 9 news now. >> there are other maryland ballot questions. one in particular is causing a bit of a response on the campus

of a university in washington d.c. >> when do we want it? >> now. >> reporter: i'm surae chinn at galludet university where people both for and against gay marriage came together for one common cause. mount eden baptist and southern baptist church bussed in members for the rally. their leaders reverend delmond coates. >> the university is the one that is wrong here. >> reporter: and reverend daunte hickman. >> no one should need permission to sign a petition. >> reporter: the two have been outspoken on maryland's question 6 on equal rights for same sex marriage on the november ballot. on the other side of campus -- >> because we don't believe in same sex marriage. >> reporter: -- there are differing views standing on common ground. >> we want her to get her job back. >> reporter: while some accuse angela mccaskill of being anti- gay marriage when she signed a petition to get the question on the ballot she has not made her position known. >> we'd like to have her come

back and talk through this to resolve this issue. >> we are of general consensus that she should return and the issue is how? >> that debate over same sex marriage has drawn protests and demonstration all over the world and the actions of two straight women at 1 rally in france going viral on the web tonight. these two women photographed kissing right in the middle of an anti--same sex marriage protest and you can see some of the looks on the faces of the people in the foreground going what the heck? the women told a magazine reporter she just wanted to draw attention to the issue with a simple gesture of solidarity. animal right advocate want a federal judge to stop the national park service from killing deer in rock creek park. earl several nearby residents joined the group to file a complaint in u.s. district court today. they claim the man violates the law requiring the park -- the plan violates the law requiring the park to preserve wildlife.

the sharpshooters would use bow hunters to thin the herd. what do you think of the plan and the lawsuit? too many deer causing a problem or are they cute and bambi and should they be preserved? share your thoughts in an e- mail to mcginty's mailbag. that is mailbag@wusa9.com or you might want to post a comment on our wusa9 facebook page. i can imagine they already are into that. still ahead tonight hurricane sandy conjures memories of that perfect storm. we'll compare the two as we track where this october monster may end up. >> but first a local swim coach turns himself into the cops facing charges that he abuse an underage swimmer.

upa dates tonight on two stories -- updates tonight on two stories we have been tracking. first a prominent local swim coach turned himself into montgomery county police today to face child abuse charges. a 43-year-old woman said rick curl started abusing her when

she was just 13 and that went on until she was 18. >> then later this afternoon prince george's county announced charges against two men in connection with the death of a police officer. kevon neal and kenneth mitchell were already in custody on other charges. now they face vehicular manslaughter charges in the accident that sent officer adrian morris' cruiser off the beltway and killed him in a crash. still ahead tonight topper tracking sandy and the cold front that could make it let's just say more interesting. >> but first an image said to have inspired hundreds of thousands to vote may not count for anything. we'll explain what we mean by that. it's up next.

there is new information tonight about that 92-year-old veteran who died just days after casting his absentee ballot. the pictures of frank tanobi went viral on the web and people said it inspired them to make sure they vote this year, but now we are learning that his vote may not count. according to hawaii law if a person votes by the mail and dies before the polls close november 6th , the vote doesn't count, but that means that somebody in the office of elections needs to receive that death certificate and then find the ballot and that's something the office equates to finding a needle in a haystack and perhaps they won't try all that hard. some wounded warriors are the first to see the newly

renovated statute of liberty. they were treated to a tour of the $30 million worth of renovations including a new elevator to the observation deck. lady liberty is set to reopen to the rest of us sunday. that also landmark the 126th anniversary of the statue of liberty, gift from france. >> yes, indeed. i thought foolishly apparently we were all done with this type of thing until the snow might come in the wintertime. >> ironically you say that because last year at almost this time we had the snowstorm and for some of our weather watchers north of town that was our biggest snow all winter. not the case. hurricane season continues through november. you get 13% of the storms in october. so it's not crazy unusual. let's start with a track of sandy, category 2, winds 105 miles per hour, gusts 125 and location now about 100 miles east, southeast of nassau. ma'amering the bahamas. it will continue on its

northerly track another few hours and then turn more to the northwest and then go back north. it will spare the coast of florida, at least a direct hit. they'll have some tropical storm force winds. anything over 39 miles per hour is a tropical storm force wind. then it parallels the southeast coast and that really hasn't changed. so saturday and sunday it kind of works its way up the carolina coast and as we get into monday it starts to bend back around to the north and west. this is what we were concerned about. it retrogrades to the north west, becomes extra tropical. don't get hung up on that because extra tropical storms can still have hurricane force winds. in this case its winds are forecast to be about 65 miles per hour. if it takes that particular track, we'll probably have winds here 20 to 40 miles per hour. if it dive yates farther south, especially into southeast -- deviates farther south, especially into southeast p.a. say philadelphia, that would be really bad for us. if it goes up to new york like

new york city, just some showers and clouds for us. each of those lines represent a computer model forecast. a couple of them take it harmlessly out to sea, but you can see some con fluents taking it north and west. remember we're four days out. we won't be able to pinpoint it just yet. this would be a disasterous track by philadelphia. anything north of new york would be pretty much their problem. it would be a big problem for new england tuesday and wednesday this. storm reminds us a little of the perfect storm. here's more on that with erica grow. >> it's a very rare movement for a tropical system called retrograde and it looks familiar to new englanders who survived the perfect storm of 1991. the storm was so destructive and unusual that a book was written about it followed by the release of a movie starring george clooney.

the perfect storm happened right around halloween in 1991. it was the result of hurricane grace getting swept into a large nor'easter type storm causing it to gain size and wind speed as it slowly moved westward toward new england. 75-mile an hour winds and waves as high as 40 feet were reported. today as hurricane sandy moves north, our forecast models predict a cold front will advance toward the east coast at the same time. as with the perfect storm sandy is forecast to rotate inland becoming part of a mega cyclone that will bring heavy rain and high winds. the current forecast predicts the hardest hit areas will be north of us and strong winds and heavy rain are the biggest threat to the d.c. metro area. luckily if the forecast stays on its current path, we won't have to deal with the storm surge on the oceanside beaches and western shores of the chesapeake bay. erica grow, 9news. >> we have to remember our timetable really is next week for the impact on the immediate metro area if it gets far

enough south to do that. live weather cam brought to you by michael and son, beautiful shot of the capitol, really more like september, 66 right now, pretty much your low downtown. temperature-wise, 61 laytonsville, 65 rockville, mid- 60s in great falls, fairfax and looking at 66 in college park. next three days our 9 weather alert green tomorrow, can't give it a yellow because it's just a couple sprinkles and 68. we'll go yellow saturday and sunday, 67 on saturday, some showers, some showers sunday, even cooler, low 60s. i think the games will be played on sunday, though, little league games i'm talking. about next seven days, temps going down, chances for showers go up and then sandy would be a problem on tuesday if it were to occur and we'll just have to monitor it and we will throughout the evening and, of course, the rest of the week and weekend. halloween chilly, 50s.

that's it. >> i hope sandy is gone by then. >> tell you what. wherever she goes it's going to be a monster storm like big problems in new england and long island and that area. >> we want to help you and your family prepare for anything sandy or any other storm. so post your questions to topper or us on our facebook page. you can get there easily on the web. let's get to the weird news file tonight, ladies. if your husband were to say he's headed to the tata massage parlor are you might do a bit of a double derek but it's not what it sounds -- double take, but it's. what it sounds like. in san francisco the massage parlor does face slapping. apparently it's part of an ancient secret thai technique passed down from generation. you have to get a teacher almost like kung fu or something. >> are you certified? >> exactly. it's 350 bucks a session. they only do half of your face

at a time that. lady has to come back for the left side apparently. the benefits? better circulation. they say wrinkles are reduced. the owners say they do think it will catch on. it's chemical free and noninvasive. next up they say is butt punching. seriously, they say that helps firm and tone your rear end, noninvasive, chemical free. maybe it ought to be free. >> we want to hear what you think. send your e-mail to mcginty's mailbag. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back.

in the mailbag tonight the political campaign rapidly building to a finale and susan from alexandria says we could use some perspective on those defense spending debates. the cry for more and more military mon comes from political neo cons and from

what eisenhower called the military industrial complex from corporations that make billions in profits from those contracts. it does not come from the military. bear in mind our defense budget has almost doubled in the past 10 years and no. 2, we spend more on military than the next 16 countries combined. then there was this from john in chantilly who is just glad the debates are over. the election is a mere two weeks away. yea! in all the talk and analysis of who won and lost the debates it seems the overarching criteria was demeanor, tone, body language, et cetera, fact checkers not withstanding. only the partisan apologists would seem to discuss substance and positions. i would like to think that we tried to flush out some serious fact checking and reporting. and finally this, debbie from arlington who really liked my commentary two nights back suggesting that in the popular

media anyway the bald guy is usually the bad guy. come on. hair is overrated. some evil people had hair. hitler, charles manson had hair and let me count the corrupt politicians that had hair and if we get to the comics, i think charlie brown is pretty bald and he's a hero. yeah, but charlie brown never did get to kick that ball, did he? kick us some e-mails. mailbag@wusa9.com is the address. that's our report. i'll be back here at 11:00 with anita and topper.

♪ "e.t." leann rimes out of rehab and breaking down in tears. >> is she afraid of losing her husband? her emotional new interview. then -- new video of alec baldwin as his alleged stalker drops more bombshells to us. >> texting me over and over again for months. >> is this a real-life fatal attraction? >> i'm not going to be ignored. >> i don't think we're garbage. then -- a hollywood's celebrity's cancer fight. shaving his head. >> i want to cry right now. >> it's the same cancer that took the life of farrah fawcett. >> oh, my god. zmrmpbts plus -- a star's car crash outside the beverly hills hotel. "e.t." is on the screen.