the amtrak prices will fluctuate depending on the day and how full the train is. right now one-way fares from lynchburg to washington range from $38 to $74. >>> some new improvements coming to special education in d.c. public schools. mayor adrian fenty announced today that the district has increased the efficiency and quality of services for special needs students and their families. the new initiatives include competitive employment training and improvements in special ed services for incarcerated kids. >>> when news 4 at 4:00 continues this afternoon, seven years after her kidnapping, elizabeth smart is testifying for the first time about the harrowing night she was taken from her home. >>> plus, we all know candy's not good for us, but now there's startling new information about what happens years after kids eat junk food. >>> and the story of the dog that survived a sinking boat by living underwater for more than a day. >>> following the success of cash for clunkers, auto dealerships are now experiencing a slump in sales. gm, chrysler and ford all reported se

also now illegal to write or send text messages behind the wheel. >> amtrak will begin its daily rvice between washington and virginia today. each morning a train will leave lynchburg and make five stops before arriving at union station. those stops include charlottesville and alexandria among others. >> this morning, negotiators are in jen nooef a, switzerland, for talks with iran about the nuclear program. this comes after last week's revelations that iran had been secretly building a new uranium enrichment plant. that's led the u.s. and its allies to consider additional sanctions against iran. >> the pilot behind the miracle on the hudson will return to work today. captain chesley sullenberger will fly his first commercial flight since he safely landed a plane on the hudson river in new york back in january. sullenberger is credited with saves the lives of all 155 people on board. >> you may have noticed changes on the labels of some cereal boxes over the past few weeks. some cereal makers are putting a green check mark on the box as part of a new program to get people to buy health

the new service amtrak has launched that has extended the meaning of the northeast corridor. >>> amtrak's northeast extension is headed south. today kicks off its new service that starts in lynchburg and makes five stops before arriving at union station. those stops include charlottesville, culpepper, manassas, burke and alexandria. after it leaves, it will continue north to philadelphia, new york and boston. the pilot program is scheduled to last three years. >> listen to this story. a dog that wandered away from his home in northern virginia more than a decade ago may finally be coming home. brindle was found two weeks ago 1,300 miles away from home. his owner owes it all to an 8-year-old girl. news 4's craig melvin has the story. >> reporter: today, chelsea keeps her company, but long before her kitchen stunts, there was brindle. >> he was smart. he learned tricks really well. like i said, he learned how to open that door by himself. he would hook his toenails into the side of the door, and he opened it. >> reporter: on super bowl sunday in 1999, the door-opening dog got out and never

amtrak sponsored a whistle-stop tour to welcome this service. one of the stops was in burke. >> what this pilot program does is it brings a transportatatn -- a new transportation option to us here in fairfax. whether to go into the central part of the state right now we don't have a rail option at all or get the midday downtown dc option which we haven't had. >> this is scheduled to last for three years. >>> the swine flu may be wreaking havoc with some businesses but it's creating a boom for others. demand for flu-related products is sky rocketing. bertha coombs has a look inside a flu mask plant where the work keeps on coming. >> reporter: they are fighting the flu around the clock at the mask factory in salt lake city. since last spring's outbreak, demand for the mask soared. the company increased production to 24 hours a day. >> when h1n1 hit in april, whatever stock we had in this warehouse was shipped immediately on the 26th of april we didn't have a case left in stock. so we then had to gear up. >> reporter: health officials recommended p

. >> reporter: so far there are no plans to enforce this policy aboard greyhound buses or amtrak trainsansit agencies in large u.s. cities, including washington, d.c., are posting signs reminding customers to keep their mouths covered when they cough and sneeze. you can learn more by going to our website at wusa9.com. we have a special page set up both in english and spanish on h1n1 and you can get to both by going to the living well section. >>> organizers say that thousands will rally today to denounce last week's dc layoff of teachers. the washington teachers union is sponsoring a rally this afternoon at freedom plaza. students and other protesters rallied earlier this week in front of city hall and school chancellor michelle rhee's office. the teachers union also reports it has now filed a lawsuit against last week's dismissal of 229 teachers. the union claims that veteran instructors were unfairly targeted. >>> rockville native lisa nowak is fighting to get one of the charges against her dropped. she is the astronaut accused of attacking a romantic rival two years ago. her lawyers

. >>> starting today, people in virginia will be able to catch a ride on amtrak to the northeast. the trains northeast corridor service is expanding from the district to lynchburg. the line runs along route 29. police are asking for help in locating two men who attempted to lure three children to their truck. it happened 6:45 last night at fair lawn avenue in laurel. the children were playing outside when a man called them to his truck. one of the mothers happened to be outside and yelled for the children to come to her. >>> quarter main break led to tieups this morning. it happened on queens chapel road in hyattsville. alex trevino reports. >> reporter: we can blame this mess on a water main break this morning. washington suburban sanitary commission spokesperson lynn riggins says the small pipe that connects the water main to the fire hydrant broke. >> along queens chapel, they expect it to be in 1933 and without being able to dig down and see what the problem is, it is a safe guess that aging infrastructure and old pipe is certainly a possible cause at this point. >> reporter:

attorney david bono immediately purchased an annual space in the indoor bike rack adjacent to amtrak and -- >> i can park it here. >> reporter: tourists can rent bikes and drop in customers can get their bike tuned up or repaired in a small shop on the premises. >> people that rent the slot on an annual basis can get to their bikes any time they want because they will be given an electronic key card. they can get to their bikes 24- 7. >> the biggest, best and coolest bike station in the entire country. >> reporter: well, it's certainly the newest and most expensive indoor bike facility in the u.s. the project's price tag $4 million. >> with the cure v and glass, every piece of glass is a unique shape. that drives the cost. but we didn't want to go cheap here at this spot, the nation's capital. >> reporter: the bike station is now open seven days a week, john henrehan, fox 5 news. >>> a lot to talk about the ten miler there. you have been focused on the weekend for several days now. >> yeah. i'm amazed how many people in this building are running that army ten mile, not me. that's not

. >> reporter: so far, there are no plans to enforce the policy aboard greyhound buses or amtrak trains. transit agencies in large u.s. cities including here in washington are posting signs to remind customers to keep their sneezes and coughs to themselves. learn more about h1n1 by going to wusa9.com. we have a special page set up both in english and spanish. get the vote by going to the living well section. >>> in other news, the war in afghanistan continues to be the focus of the president's attention this week. president obama is considering whether to raise troop levels in afghanistan based on the recommendation of the nation's top commander there, general mcchrystal wants 40,000 additional troops to fight the war. the president is expected to discuss the request with war advisers. >>> one of the 8 u.s. soldiers killed last weekend in afghanistan was from loudoun county, virginia. 21-year-old stephon mace last visited his family in august and grieving relatives say he was apprehensive about returning to combat. mace and the seven other soldiers killed were in the same unit based in

starting today, people in virginia will be able to catch a ride on amtrak to the northeast. the service is expanding from the district to lynchburg. the line runs along route 29 with stops in charlottesville, culpeper, manassas, burke city and alexandria. >>> police are asking for your help in locating two men who attempted to lure three children to their truck. it happened 6:45 last night at thomas drive and fair lawn avenue in laurel, maryland. the children were playing outside an apartment complex when the men called them to their truck. a mother of one of the youngsters happened to be outside and yelled to the children to come to her. two of them ran to her while a third ran ablock away to their home. the men followed and sat outside of that child's home until her mother came outside. a neighbor prided a description of the vehicle. it was a beat up small, light blue pickup truck with a dent in the driver's side fender. a partial maryland license plate reads 41641 w. >>> president obama has still made no decisions on troop levels in afghanistan. he met with his national s

. >>> number three, amtrak launching its new northeast regional service today. starting tomorrow the service will begin in lynchburg with stops in charlottesville, culpeper and manassas. the trains also serve burke, alexandria and lafante plaza and they'll run as far north as boston. >>> metro taking extra steps to top the spread of the swine -- stop the spread of the swine flu. they're disinfecting rail cars weekly and stations daily. they typically do disinfect during flu season but they're taking extra steps this year because of the h1n1 virus. >>> the economic stimulus plan at work. president obama touring n.i.h. today. he announced $5 billion in new government grants. the money will help researchers better understand and cure diseases like cancer, autism and aids. it will also create jobs. >>> we've posted tonight's top five on myfoxdc.com. as always just click on web links. >> laura, thank you. >>> the pilots from the miracle on the hudson are reuniting in the cockpit. captain chesley sullenberger will pilot a flight from laguardia for charlotte tomorrow.

driven by amtrak all across the country. we have 40 in total. we'll actually end in new york in about a month. >> reporter: nice talking to you. >> thanks for being here. >> marty and mary, bring the kids, this is fabulous. it's disney's a christmas carol train tour at the b&o railroad museum. today, tomorrow and sunday. i'm telling you, it's going to blow you away. >> what's amazing is they've wrapped the outside of the train. you know how you see buses wrapped in an ad now? the entire train. >> reporter: music, it's just fabulous. have a great weekend. >> we're looking at video of the actual train itself. that's wild. we'll see you sunday. >> reporter: you got it. c'mon down. have a great weekend. >> i love the fact you can morph your face on that train. kids will love that. >> have you seen the previews for this movie? >> i've seen one and it looks fantastic. >> in 3d. awesome. >> this is one of those kids movies that an adult will want to go see. >> absolutely. and speaking of the holidays, the radio city christmas spectacular starring the w

bono immediately purchased an annual space in the new indoor bike rack which is adjacent to metro, amtrak, marc and vre. >> i can park it here. i have business in philadelphia. get on the train and change into my suit and stitt get my biking? >> reporter: drop-in customers with get their bikes tuned up or repaired in a small shop on the premises people who rent the slot on an annual basis can get to their bikes any time they want because they'll be given an electronic key card to get to their bikes 24/7. >> the biggest and the best and the coolest bike station in the entire country. >> reporter: well it's certainly the newest and the most expensive indoor bike facility in the u.s. the project price tag is $4 million. >> the shape with the curve and the glass, every piece is a unique shape. that drives the cost. but we didn't want to go cheap here at this spot, the nation's capital. >> reporter: the bike station at union station is now open 7 days a week. john henrehan, fox 5 news. >> it appears an illinois woman of digging up buried gold will remain just that, a deem. patty sent out after

. >>> people in virginia can catch a ride to the northeast on amtrak. expanding from the district to lynchburg. the line runs along route 29 with stops in charlottesville, culpeper, manassas, brook center and alexandria. >>> this morning police are asking for your help in locating two men who attempted to lure three children to their truck. it happened around 6:45 last night at the intersection of thomas drive and fairlawn avenue in laurel, maryland. the children were playing outside of an apartment complex when the man called them to his truck. >> trying to get them near the truck. they are about the same way. >> a mother of one of the children happened to be outside and yelled at the children to come to her. two of the children ran to her and the third, a 7-year-old girl ran a block away to her home. the man followed her an sat outside until her mother came outside. it was a beat up small light blue pickup truck with a dent in driver's side fender. >>> turning to the race for governor in virginia, a new poll shows a zero restle of fortune. the rasmuss

today amtrak launched its newest northeast regional service with a ceremony at the burke center station. service will begin in lynchburg starting tomorrow with stops in charlottesville, culpeper and manassas. the trains also serve bke, alexandria, lafante plaza and go as far north as boston. >>> metro istaking extra steps to stop the spread of swine flu. metro usually does extra cleaning during flu season but they're stepping up this year because of the h1n1 virus. stations will be cleaned daily. rail cars will be cleaned weekly. >> we're trying to clean all the typical hand contact places. so we do encourage our riders to protect themselves also. if they don't have soap and water, use a hand sanitizer. >> the workers are using an environmentally friendly disinfectant. >>> the swine flu vaccine is due to start rolling out next week, and doctors are encouraging everyone to get the h1n1 and the seasonal flu vaccine. they also want you to get a third shot. the pneumococcal vaccine. the cdc says nearly 30% of swine flu victims who died had a bacterial infection. the shot protects against th

bono immediately purchased an annual space in the new indoor bike rack which is adjacent to metro, amtrak, marc and vre. >> i can park it here. i can get on the train, change into my suit, still get my biking in. >> reporter: tourists can rent bikes at the bike station and drop-in patrons can get their bikes tuned up and repaired some a small shop on the premises. people who rent a spot on anage basis can get to their bikes any time they want because they'll be given an electronic key card so they can get to their bikes 24/7. >> the biggest, the best and the coolest bike station in the entire country. >> reporter: well, it's certainly the newest and the most expensive indoor bike facility in the u.s. the project's price tag? $4 million [ inaudible ] every piece of glass is a unique shape. that dres the cost. that drives the cost. but we didn't want to go cheap here at this spot, in the nation's capital on the doorstep of the u.s. capitol. >> reporter: the bike station at union station is now open seven days a week. john henrehan, fox 5 news. >>> swine flu vaccine should start arriving in

. >>> starting today you can take amtrak from lynchburg to northern virginia and on to new york and bostonere was a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the burke center vre station. one of the stops on the new line. the first northbound train leaves lynchburg one hour from now. >>> they are showing off a new piece of green technology on captiol hill. check out the delivery check. it is made in indiana and runs on electricity completely. it can go 100 miles without a charge and has zero tail pipe emissions. indiana senator says this means more than just being eco friendly. >> initially we anticipate this will create 400 jobs. over time, if successful, 700 good paying jobs in indiana. >> reporter: 400 of these trucks will be in service by next year. >>> in sports the capitals begin their defense of the southeast division tonight. the regular season begins in boston with a game against the bruins. the puck drops at 7:00. >>> redskins coach zorn insists portis will be ready to play on sunday. he sat out practice yesterday with that ongoing soreness in his ankles. albert haynesworth, roger and sellers s

amtrak says more than 27 million people have traveled with them over the past 12 months.highest number in the company's history. that is down about a million passengers from last year when numbers were up because of all those high gas prices. we don't miss that. >>> a traumatic shootout caught on tape. but what's more crazy about this thing, the injury toll. zero. look -- really listen to this. this is what happened after a fist fight turned into a gun battle at a toledo ohio bar. people had already scrambled out the door. and then this is another camera. this camera captured people outside firing into the bar. would you believe, after all of those shots fired, no one was hit? the police found at least 17 -- 17 shell casings. they are still looking for the gunman. michael jackson's new single made its debut last night. here is a clip of "this is it." ♪ this is it here i stand ♪ ♪ in the light of the world love is grand ♪ >> his brothers sang back-up. this will be featured in the upcoming film of jackson's never-realized tour. a double cd expected at the end of the month.

. >>> amtrak will begin it's new daily service between washington and virginia.n will leave lynchburg and make five stops before arriving at union station. those stops include charlottesville, culpepper, manassas and >>> good morning. clear and chilly. a fog over the potomac river. all around, lots of sunshine. the chilliest morning since last may. highs reaching near 70 by mid afternoon with lots of sun. increasingly cloudy on friday. near 50 tomorrow morning. 70 in the afternoon. could have showers late friday night. drying out saturday afternoon. sunny on sunday, highs mid 70s. should stay dry monday. how is the traffic, ashley? >>> outer loop at the beltway, still slow. at new hampshire avenue, we have an accident blocking the right lane. slow on the top side as you make your way from greenbelt through college park into silver spring. if you are traveling out of the district, constitution avenue between 7th and pennsylvania is shut down due to an accident. there are significant delays in both directions. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, ashley. >>> tonight