caroline tucker, abc 7 news. kimberly: ahead on saturday news extra, it is one of the most famous and arguably most intimate buildings in washington. when the watergate hotel will reopen coming up. and eileen is back with your sunday forecast. ♪ deidre & the dark - classic girl plays in the background ♪ a great entrance never goes out of style. dresses start at $25. the eva mendes collection. exclusively at new york and company. kimberly: one out of 10, 10 being the best obviously, first day of full spring, what do you think? eileen: i think i would give it a solid eight. kimberly: yeah. eileen: what would you say? kimberly: i agree. eileen: awesome. some clouds this morning. kimberly: yeah. eileen: but yeah. the sunshine was still light fall. we -- really just a nice day and even now. at 11:51. it's 51 degrees. outside. not too bad. notice the southerly wind component. that's the thing that's going to change. the winds are going to shift out of the northwest so going to usher in some cooler air for the day tomor

caroline tucker is live at national harbor to explain. caroline? caroline: you can see the cranes behind me here in austin hill. these massive cranes hovering over what will be known as the m.g.m. national harbor casino and resort. now, today, governor larry hogan said this is one of the most important economic drivers here in this state. but some are accusing the project of not using specifically minority-owned businesses. >> this will be a place where travelers across the globe will come to be inspired! caroline: just off the potomac river, m.g.m.'s c.e.o. says the casino at national harbor will be unlike anything else. a $1.25 billion investment with more than 3600 jobs. >> this feels like it's really coming. caroline: the construction itself has already produced at least 1,000 workers like thomas turner, a grandfather who lives in prince george's county. >> has been amazing to me. i mean, to be a part of it. caroline: he heads up the maryland business partnership and he says not enough of the project has been awarded to minority owned businesse

caroline tucker took a walk to see what's the problem and what's being done to fix it. >> most obvious thing is the surface of the concrete is simply flaking off. caroline: bill morgan wants to know why the sidewalk in front of his arlington home is crumbling. it was replaced in the summer of 2013. then there was a change. >> the fall and winter of 2013 we were beginning to see that something was wrong. caroline: morgan is not the only one who noticed problems. a number of people in arlington started to report even more flaking sidewalks to the county in recent months. >> we've identified about half a dozen to a dozen locations. caroline: from the commercial corridors in clarendon to south arlington, the concrete is tearing away. >> what we've learned so far if there's elevated water content in the top millimeter top surface, and that's combined with salt especially in recently poured concrete it can lead to this type of flaking. caroline: the county says the sidewalks are safe and will wrap an investigation in the coming weeks. it's not clear yet what fix will happen or how much. >> i

caroline tucker met the woman behind the idea. a cafÉ filled with cats in the heart of georgetown. >> this inspired crumbs and whiskers. caroline: she embraces her cat fancy. so she quit her finance job to pursue her real passion. >> get the animals out of the shelter and put them in the cafÉ which becomes their home and becomes more playful. caroline: about 10 to 15 cats will come from the washington humane society. >> it's a great way to get the animals and cats exposure. >> every single cap that makes their home at the cat cafÉ is adoptable, which means that you can have your cake and cat too. caroline: the department of health is figuring out how to have animals alongside food and drink. crumbs and whiskers got zoning approval this week and is working out a lease on the property on o street. feline supporters have donated more than 30 grand through kickstarter. >> this keeps the fun part. i just want them to have fun. caroline: but they will have to wait until at least the summer to have your cat fix.

caroline tucker, abc seven news. maureen: the university of maryland wants your stink bugs. the insects will student -- wilson start coming out as the weather -- the warmer weather begins. if that doesn't make you feel good there is some news coming out of this. researchers will study the bugs to come up with an effective method to control them. they will march to their deaths. doug: can you tell the weekend is almost here? here is what we have, a cloudy sky in fairfax that will stay there through the evening. that is going to continue across most of the area. when skies clear route we are going to see temperatures start to drop. they are dropping close to freezing. we have a little break and late afternoon sunshine. temperatures are going to be chilly as we go through the overnight hours. 51 in reagan international. 29 in columbus ohio. we have major change in 24 hour temperatures. colder now across the mid-atlantic and it was this time last night. quite a bit of cloudiness. low-level moisture coming across the lake. we could see a few snow showers in some of the higher ele

caroline tucker has more on the debate. >> so all this soil, all of this comes down and this is the hillroperty here. caroline: jennifer dwyer is worried that plans for a new wal-mart store will further erode her property. that's a couple hundred feet from the proposed site of the duval shopping center and that's not all. >> we're worried about having trucks coming through basically 24 hours a day. also worried about crime. caroline: she is not alone. >> it is too big. not the right fit. >> something that's not feasible for that space. >> property down. caroline: these neighbors have been speaking out for more than a year and the prince george's county council told the planning board to take a second look at wal-mart's site plan. >> simply want to add 21,000 additional square feet already approved on that d.s.p. for that area. caroline: there are a number of businesses that remain in this shopping plaza. some of those businesses tell me this decision will directly affect them. the barber shop has been waiting five years for something to replace the vacant grocery store. >> and i understa

. >> and caroline tucker shows us why. >> 290 fields, one of our biggest investments. >> so when snowak havoc on montgomery county's athletic fields -- >> ground is probably frozen probably four to six inches deep. >> you have to protect that investment. >> this year, it was kind of easy to make the call early given the cold temperatures and the amount of snowfall we've had. we knew there was no chance we could have the fields ready by march 15th. >> field openings will be delayed until at least april 1st including here at meadowbrook park. >> soccer program won't start until the 8th. we've got seven days to hope and pray that the weather is good. >> but the county's recreation department isn't too worried about delays and neither is this soccer captain. >> get outdoors been inside too long. >> he has faith in field preps. >> montgomery county is actually really good at taking care of the fields. >> these kinds of conditions can be found throughout all of montgomery county's playing field. there's more than 200. we need an ice pick just to find home plate. baseball is the county's big

caroline tucker, abc 7 news. >> and "7 on your side" now with the health matters report. the nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager says prescription drugs rose 13% last year. that's the largest annual increase since 2003. express scripts said they were filled by pricey specialty drugs. specialty drugs are advanced medications that treat complex or chronic conditions like hepatitis c and m.s. and that's it for abc 7 news at 5:00. >> all right. now at 6:00 clearing a traffic mess and a massive effort to right an overturned tanker truck and the fight to reopen i-95. plus plus -- >> the laws and regulations that were in effect allowed me to use my e-mail for work. that is undisputed. >> there is reaction tonight as hillary clinton gets her side of the story in that e-mail scandal. >> and a big move for the 6-year-old who was critically injured in a sledding accident. his reaction as abc 7 news at 6:00 starts right now. >> right now at 6:00 several southbound lanes of i-95 are still shut down tonight almost eight hours after a tanker truck overturned spilling fuel across

kimberly: caroline tucker tells us why it's happening right now. caroline: it's a sign of victory for scott mclean who can sell his dodge truck curbside in the city of alexandria. >> i'm really gratified that every time now i think when i see a for sale sign i give myself a little pat on the back. caroline: on saturday the city council voted unanimously to pull a 1960s ordinance that ticketed street parked vehicles with for sale signs. it was originally designed to keep cars from blocking the road. mclean along with the pacific legal foundation sued the city for violating free speech. >> we're delighted that the city has finally decided to do the right thing and repeal this unconstitutional statute. caroline: alexandria officials say a review of the law started before mclean's october lawsuit but the city did temporarily suspend handing out tickets amid the case. >> when they looked at the ordinance, they wound up recommending to city council that the ordinance was no longer needed. caroline: during the discovery period, the legal team found out fro

caroline tucker tells us what happened. if you've traveled on the metro escalators at dupont circle south, yellow gates flank the middle escalator. >> it's not necessary. i don't understand why they can't keep them fixed and operable. i don't understand. >> just three years ago new ones were installed at a cost of $12 million in 8 1/2 months of work. metro says they seem more durable. >> not a big deal for you? >> for old people can be a problem. >> the middle escalator has not been working since about december. >> really slow things down for sure.etro officials say a replacement chain is on the way from germany after an object came into contact with the escalator's chains. that should go in within a week. still, metro says these escalators are more reliable than the old ones. >> there's no problem. it's only when you know, you have two of them down and then, you know. a lot of people can't walk down a long escalator. >> it will be a $100,000 fix and repairs later in the year will once again close the escalator for a couple

in gaithersburg caroline tucker, abc 7 news. >> that's it for abc 7 news at 5:00. >> all right. coming up right now at 6:00 -- >> it's sad that it took this long to get here. >> abc 7 fights for answers after a stabbing victim is left bleeding for 40 minutes waiting for an ambulance while one sat idle just a mile away. >> plus new accusations against the alleged serial shooter police say nearly killed a man on the icy sea. >> and the race to repair damaged roads that left dozens of drivers stranded this morning. abc 7 news at 6:00 starts right now. >> outrage in a d.c. neighborhood. southeast d.c. after a stabbing victim was left bleeding for 40 minutes while waiting for an ambulance. it's the latest in a string of slow respons involving d.c. fire and e.m.s. in the story you'll see only on abc 7, d.c. bureau chief sam ford is live in southeast to explain what went wrong. sam? >> maureen it happened two evenings ago in the 5100 block of f street southeast. paramedic engine company 30 arrived, police arrived but residents say a young man who had been stabbed lay on the floor of th

. >> caroline tucker takes us to gainesville, virginia to meet the latest milken educator award winner. >> yesterday, i was talking about hockey, right? >> it's just another day at buckland mills elementary for this second grade teacher. >> need a basketball. >> or so she thought as she sat through a schoolwide assembly meant to celebrate the prince william county's excellence until she heard this. >> i'm shocked and very surprised and very grateful. i did not expect this when i got up this morning. >> she is the latest to win the national milken educator award known as the oscars of teaching. >> i'm speechless. >> i think she's amazing! >> she thinks her students are amazing. >> love working with students. i love seeing the growth in them and this is the one job that you can see and truly make a difference. >> buckland hills elementary has more than 700 students and 26 languages are spoken here. >> if all the schools could be like this one in virginia today, america would be in great hands. >> last year 75% of her classroom was below grade level. within a half a year they all met thei

and caroline tucker is live in that gaithersburg neighborhood with those first responders and their first-hand accounts. caroline? >> well alison it is quite an eerie scene here in this gaithersburg neighborhood. you can see two of the homes affected by that crash they remain condensed to this day. meanwhile, the third home that bore the brunt of the crash is leveled. meanwhile, there is a memorial that still sits here and you can see the teddy bears and first responders saying this is why this is one of the most horrific accidents they have been to in years. >> got probably one of the most unusual calls you'll get in law enforcement. respond to a jet into a house. you don't hear those very often. >> the memories of december 8th are still very clear in the minds of first responders. >> airplane parts everywhere. jet fuel on the yard and on the street and the driveway. >> a small plane crashed into a home in gaithersburg around 10:40 that morning. >> we did, myself and firefighter daugherty made entry into the house and advanced about 10 or 15 feet in and the heat was too intense. and we had to

. >> caroline tucker spent the day at some businesses out there that kept the doors open. >> this dineraple. the old school diner advertises that it's open 24 hours a day. >> we actually called them but they were like yep, we're open. why not? >> even on a snow day, you can find plenty of people trudging through the snow to get a taste. >> i'm taking a little bit a break. it's a snow day so, you know. >> across the street pedro and vinny is getting ready for the lunch crowd. richard arnez wasn't sure what business would be like. >> lot of people can't afford lunch. we decided to be open. >> how about you guys? >> even through the snow the people came for the burrito. >> wasn't far from our house. >> i come here like i don't know, a lot. like at least three times a week. >> on snow days like today, businesses here along columbia pike rely on the foot traffic and people working from home. >> definitely a plus not having to drive into the office and then drive home at the end of the day as well. >> some folks were told to go home early from their jobs. >> i look out the window about an hou

caroline tucker explains how the law could impact you. >> navigating a restaurant menu can be tough for some parents. sometimes even the children's menu has temptations. >> like i said it's more of like a treat. sometimes we'll be able to do like a lemonade or a juice. and we're ok with that. from time to time. >> she is a mom of two who usually takes milk for her sons. soon, that might always be on the menu in maryland for kids. lawmakers will decide on the healthy kids bill that would replace soda with other options in kids meals. >> last year similar legislation was proposed and it included water and milk. this time, they're adding juice to the mix. >> the only drink that could be automatically included would be those healthy drinks. >> the group sugar free kids is pushing the proposal. >> if a family wanted to order another beverage unhealthy beverage they certainly could. they would need to ask. >> a bethesda pediatrician is not taking a stand on the legislation but says she's concerned about childhood obesity. >> healthy drinks would be low-fat milk for kids over 2. and water. and

. >> good morning, i'm caroline tucker. checking our top stories this morning.crash this morning. you see that car there. it happened around 3:30 in the morning in the 9500 block of green belt road between nasa and good luck road. that portion of the road is shut down to traffic while police take a look at what happened. we're hearing reports the accident was fatal but a spokesperson for prince george's county police would not confirm that at this point. we'll bring you more information as soon as we have it into our newsroom. another crash happened in green belt along the northbound baltimore-washington parkway and that one involved a snowplow and closed the road a short time but the b.w. parkway is open and no word on what happened or if there were injuries and will update you as soon as we get information on that as well. >> for the first time in four weeks no winter weather advisories out there. we have sunshine but it is very cold out there. here's a live shot. you can see 21 deese. there's snow on the ground, not much melting yesterday but we'll see meltin