but in chinatown she was a popular figure. people were watching the case closely, and she had a lot of support in chinatown and also in china. that sort of disconnect was part of what appealed to me initially. this idea that here was this person who was providing a service. she was bringing people out of china without the proper documentation and around t rld through a whole series o different way stations from thailand to keny to guatemala, and then to the united states, and these journeys were often incredibly perilous, hazards you journey. one of the ships, the golden vee, hat been at sea for 120 days by the time the passenger goes here. they had been in the hold of the ship for 120 days. that didn't mean anything to me but if you think about it, 300 people in a space, probably if we started at the shelf and over to the wall would be smaller than this pace, f 120 days. i was trying to find other ways to describe it, andhat about the mayflower that came to plymouth will the pilgrims. they were at sea for 60 days, and the peo

this is our second chinatown. the first chinatown pennsylvania avenue, 4 1/2 street. >> reporter: the $300,000 renovation project paid for by the district may be complete soon enough to reopen the arch this weekend. tom sherwood, news4, washington. >> g street was closed for several hours while a major piece of marble important the arch was moved into place. 48 feet high, 75 feet wide. it is one of the largest chinese arches in this country. >>> a group of office workers from our area claimed a powerball lottery prize, pool of 27 employees at d.c.'s hilton hotel played the powerball last week. they matched all but one number and won $10,000. after taxes, that's a cool $259 each. when the woman that organized the pool told her co-workers about the win, at first they didn't believe it. >> i thought initially she was maybe just fibbing little bit to get excitement. >> many of the hilton 27 are company naturing their wintion to a nonprofit group called tourism cares. it provides scholarships and helps preserve histori

darcy spencer joins us live fm chinatown with more. >> reporter: it really does happen. people say they are getting parking tickets though they're using valet services. their cars are not being put in the right place. d.c. government officials are saying that's about to change as new rules are going into effect to regulate valets for the first time. it's a saturday night and people are taking in the d.c. night life. bars and restaurants are packed and parking is a premium. for many, paying a valet to park your car is ideal but for some the service costs more than advertised. the district is receiving complaints that valet customers are unknowingly racking up parking tickets. >> from the resident who says somebody is parking in their neighborhood or from a person who has gone to an event and perhaps got a ticket because they were parked in an area that was not designated legal. >> reporter: some residents and tourists are complaining that valets are parking their cars illegally and they're getting ticks. but they don't find out until they get a court summons in the mail.

megan mcgrath is joining us from chinatown. for some it could be more convenient, and others it could be inconvenient. >> reporter: i would go for convenient because there are a lot of people out the just frustrated because they can't place ahone call in the underground areas of the metro system because their carrier doesn't have the hardware they need to provide that service. well, that's going to be changing here. soon you'll be able to place that call from inside the tunnel, from inside the underground areas within the system. over the next two months, sprint, nextel, at&t and other companies will have service available to the underground stations. right now there is only one company that works in the tunnel areas. installation will be done when metro is closed, so don't worry about disruptns to service. they are going to do it when the system is not open. you can expect to see large cabinet-like structures to house the electronics at the end of platforms. they are also going to install new cables and antennas. you should be

. >> it took a long time to get from chinatown to stadium armory. it took a half an hour. >> we are less than 48 hour as way from the first day of school, by the way, for d.c. public schools. kristin fisher has the latest on back to school prep. >> reporter: hi, surae. many are all set for the first day of school. one school in the district parents say will not be ready by monday. volunteers at emery elementary school took a break during d.c.'s annual beautification day. thousands of volunteers helped out at over 100 schools in the district putting on the finishing touches for the first day of school. less than three miles away, there is a much bigger project taking place at john burrows elementary. >> reporter: it's brocationen. >> reporter: lacy would like to go to the first day of first grade on monday at burrows elementary. lacy's mother is having second thoughts. she's one of many parents angry at the district for not finishing a summer long renovation project on time. >> the work started late so they are traying to squeeze three months of work

like gene did in real life, his character moves from san francisco's chinatown to a mostly white suburben he moves in, he's only one of two asian kids that are at his school. and immediately, all his classmates think that they're related. it may sound funny, but it's not. it's stereotyping. that means judging people based only on unimportant things, like their looks. gene's sensitive exploration of ethnic identity earned him praise and recognition. but he's not just an artist and writer. gene also teaches computer science to high school students. and that's an important lesson, too. >> you can choose to be an artist without choosing to be it as a career. you don't have to worry about using your art to feed you, and that actually gives you a bit more freedom in terms of what you want to do. >> reporter: but whether or not it's your career, art takes discipline. almost every night, gene devotes two hours to his craft. to find out more, follow the link to his website at teenkidsnews.com. for "teen kids news," i'm sam. >>> our word this week doesn't show pleasure or pain. it's "stoic." s-t-

. >> reporter: parking attend ants in chinatown are much appreciated inside the restaurant but the servicenot cheap. >> reporter: now it is about to get more expensive. the city is charging $50 to apply and $50 to renew and there is a rental fee. those signs that designate spaces, those will cost $400. >> we are trying to cut back as much to make sure that all our staff is taken care of as well as the guests without losing more money and it seems that dc is going to charge us more to actually run the business. >> reporter: the added costs not to mention the hassle doesn't surprise anyone who is familiar with making money here. >> dc does not seem like it is business friendly. they try to make things very difficult for you to actually get your job done. >> reporter: long time business owners offer this tip to city officials. turn back the clock. >> we remember when there was a down time when there were no restaurants and nobody out here. now all of a sudden we have people out here. why do we want to do anything to hurt their business? >> reporter: officials will start enforcing the permit r

. >> reporter: it is kid eats free night at austin's grill in chinatown. >> you never know how much he is going to eat. >> reporter: freebies like this are welcome just like no cost play dates. >> we do a lot of parks and the zoo what story times at the library. >> reporter: because let's face it, from their first birthday to their middle school years and well into their teens, kids cost money. >> it is worth it but expensive. >> reporter: and getting even more expensive according to a new report from thuse toda ntce chree foses a erund arfamily th earns less than $57,000 a year will spend of $1of $160,000 on one kid by ofthe i for a leddmico inme family that co inst goes ,0$20020d an to $220,000 and mecoin r inco e fami could dish up out to $370,000 to raise one child. >> i wish i had known that before we had two, i guess. >> reporter: single largest expense housing. >> i think the second largest chunk especially for working parents is daycare. >> reporter: that's exactly right. along with food and education costs. what the study doesn't account for it college tuition. a thought many

so i'm not trying to kind of talk, put chinatown.but that kind of thing happens here people think that somehow, you know. >> can you speak briefly about how you first became acquainted with chinese culture? i am assuming you speak mandarin given all the quotations and such. and just have you introduced to it. >> yeah, i do. i speak mandarin. i went to boarding school, and they had chinese class and i decided to take it. and then i went to china for the first time when i was 16. as an exchange student. and i really liked it. i would back a couple of years later and did part of my university degree there in beijing. and i really like the country, the people. china is just so, it is changing so fast and has been for the past 10 or 15 years. it is kind of, it is really disorienting and kind of addicting because no one really knows what's going on. there's the kind of consensus that everything is fluid, and i think it's just really kind of an amazing feeling. and then after i finished university, i moved to china and lived there for sever

. >> highman gained note rye for his photos of volunteer models posing nude from times square to chinatown and his pictures generally sell from anywhere from $2,000 to more than $9,000. >>> new study out shows many doctors have been negative feelings about their obese patients. the study is from the new york university school of medicine. researchers surveyed about 400 colleagues who practice all types of medicine. more than 40% of the doctors who responded say that they have negative reactions to obese patients. and most of the doctors described treating their overweight patients as, quote, very frustratinfrustrating. more than half of the doctors said that they were qualified to treat obesity but less than half of them fell that treatment was successful. >>> still ahead on "news4 at 4:00," the details of recall affecting thousands of stoves. >>> he didn't make the cut first time. mao britain's newest singing sensation talks about why he decided to try out for the e otish re "the xto-fncr"ac ag n. >>> coming up tonight on "news4 at 5:00" -- >> good afternoon. i'm wdy rieger. modify your m

. >> this isn't chinatown. it's one of those.research in motion is just okay. i cannot get in the way of apple. i think apple's data for the smartphones is so explosive that i am going to continue to say sell, sell, sell to research in motion and buy, buy, buy. i want to own so badly this apple for you instead of r.i.m. how about kathy in colorado, kathy? >> caller: hey, boo-yah, jim, from beautiful colorado. >> a mile high boo-yah. what have you got. >> caller: wind stream. how are we feeling about today? >> we had the decree co-on and the ceo said the dividend was fine. we're talking about a small yield. i'd like to get in touch with him again that was a while ago, last year. but as long as he said it was fine, i've got to say it's fine. i think the guy's a stand-up guy. who am i talking about? jeff gardner, president and ceo. how about bill in california? bill. >> caller: professor cramer boo-yah. >> oh, thank you for giving that, chief. what's up? >> caller: you got it. a couple weeks ago you were talking about an ipo called

. >> reporter: it's kids eat free night at austin grill in chinatown. >> this is wonderful, because with a 2-year-old, you never know how much she is going to eat. >> reporter: freebies like this are welcome. just like no cost play date. >> we do a lot of parks and the zoo and story times at the library. >> reporter: because let's face it. from their first birthday -- yay! >> reporter: -- to their middle school years and well into their teens, kids cost money. >> it's worth it, but expensive. >> reporter: and getting even more expensive, according to a new report from the usda center for nutrition policy and promotion. researcherfound a mifalymihat earns less tn ha earns less than ar a yell will spend an agavere an average of $160,000 on one kid by the timeh id mie faa middle income family, that cost es to $20020 fo20higher income a oumips, falyfacould dish out up to $370,000 to raise one child. >> i wish i had known that before we had two, i guess. >> reporter: the single largest expense, housing. >> i think the second largest chunk, especially for working parents is day care. >> report

. >> and it's not from chinatown. >> it's omega watches.hese guys are ahead of rolex. >> mohamed el-erian, the ceo of pimco made his case for why the best times have passed for the u.s. consumer. >> the key stimulus has come into the consumer. disposable income has gone up because of all the stimulus. but the real income of people is stagnating. so, don't underestimate how much stimulus has already made it to the consumer. and that has helped enormously in the last few months. >> uh-oh. sounds like trouble ahead for the retailers. >> first of all, mohammed is such a credible voice. you hear him this morning, i do believe it's one of the reasons why the market kind of pulled back off the highs. because he definitely believes, you can tell from what he said, that prices have reached a valuation level that are way beyond. but you have to go back. we had robert schiller on the show last friday. and he talked about a second stimulus. you look at what mohammed said today and you have to wonder, are we going to eventually go down that road where a

economic team and he has a distinctly american story. 100 years ago, his father chat -- traveled from chinatown washington state, initially working as a servant. his father was a small business owner of a grocery store in seattle. the secretary also worked there as a youngster. his strong work ethic and a termination eventually took him to the highest office in the state, where he served two terms as governor. during the eight years of the l ocke administration, they gain 280,000 jobs. like his grandfather, he traveled as an advocate, working across the country and this globe, to help advance economic prosperity, to help restore the american dream to people all across our great land. it is my distinct pleasure to introduce our united states commerce secretary gary locke. ♪ [applause] >> thank you very much for the introduction. i wanna say one thing about him. he as a -- is doing a great job as the deputy chief of staff and an adviser for the department of commerce. he is also doing an incredible job advocating on behalf of minority businesses. he is a participant on the vice- president is task

out of all china towns, san francisco chinatown. >> i agree with you. thanks for coming by.from sunnyd ! as much calcium and vitamin d as milk, and so creamy smooth and bold, they'll love getting calcium and vitamin d to help bones grow. ♪ bigger (look at me) ♪ ♪ better (see me go) ♪ ♪ stronger(let it show) ♪ (announcer) new smoothies from sunny d! vvo: when you can serve yourat family breakfast from walmart, ♪ stronger(let it show) ♪ vo: for a little over $2 a person. mom: just one breakfast a week and the savings really add up. save money. live better. walmart. and added a little fiber? sweet! sweet! (together) sweet! (announcer) now for the first time, a gram of healthy fiber in every packet. weet! (announcer) splenda® with fiber. announcer: say hello to the can-doers. - the budget masters. - ♪ yeah yeah the knock-out artists who are finding more ways to spread their dollar further. - to bolder color in less time. - ♪ are you feeling it? say hello to newer ideas and lowered prices, enabling more people to turn more saving into more doing. - that's the power of the home de