chris: chris papst, abc 7 news.

chris papst has the story from alexandria. chris: is this a good idea, a bad idea, it depends on who you ask. this is a battle that has been going on for years. people who moved to old town alexandria come here because they like the feel of it. now the silly counsel -- now the city council wants to develop the waterfront, including tearing down this building, built in 1920, which would change part of the feel. they said this is a situation that has been going on for years, but it kicked into high gear in march of 2013 when the alexandria city council approved by a vote of 6-1 a zoning change to develop the waterfront. that bill was taken to court and made it all the wayo the virginia supreme court. it approves up to two hotels with up to 150 rooms each. people have a concern about the traffic plus the 95-year-old old dominion boat club will be torn down to put in a park. >> we would not have moved, that would not have been our choice, but now that is what we have decided to do. i think it will be a good thing for us and for the

he reached out to "7 on your side" investigator chris papst. chris: two people being issued th social security number is not something that happens often. in fact, it's so rare the social security administration doesn't even keep statistics on it. but as you're about to see, it does indeed happen. now, this man right here this is kendrick williams jr. of d.c. this other man's name is kendall williams jr. of ka lena, texas. these men have never met. they have a lot in common. they have their father's name and the same birth date march 21 1989, and also for 19 years, they shared a social security number. the error was discovered when the two were 18 years old and applied for college loans. soon after that williamson got his number changed but williams' request was denied by the fed. >> i want a new one. i want a new social. he had the opportunity for a brand new start. i feel like i should get the same opportunity. chris: coming up tonight at 5:00, we'll tell you why the feds will not give williams a new social security number and we'll tell you h

chris papst, abc 7 news. alison: the police are searching for suspect after a woman was sexually assaulted at gunpoint yesterday in northeast. it happened about a block from the capitol heights metro station. the police say the suspect had a gun. if you have information, d.c. police want to talk to you. leon: new surveillance footage of an attempted robbery sunday on missouri avenue. the two people are trying to steal the atm, then taking off after it would not budge. the police are trying to track down the suspects. alison: a man has life-threatening injuries after being hit by a car in capitol heights, the 8400 block of central avenue this afternoon. the victim was taken to a trauma center. no word on the circumstances of the crash. leon: a plea for answers from the widow of a murdered d.c. lawyer. she said she lost everything when her husband david messerschmitt west at last month. the police found a computer, cell phone, lubricant, and condoms in the hotel room. she said that her husband was a good person

chris papst is monitoring the situation from the live desk. what have you found out? chris: as of right now, the new york city fire department is reporting that 12 people have been injured in this explosion and this apartment fire. look at the video right here. you can see how intense this really was or still continued to be. very thick smoke and firefighters are trying to battle up to 200 firemen originally had gone to this fire and still remain there. one person so far, according to the nyfd has been critically injured. now, abc 7 has been doing a little bit of digging here. this building is in the east village of manhattan and according to the greenwich village society of historic preservation, it was built in 1834 as a single family home five stories, huge single family home later renovated. right now into four apartments and then they're -- there are at least two businesses on the first floor of this apartment. the flames have been moving over to the next building over. two very old historical buildings in the east village of manhattan will be lost due to this exp

live in arlington, chris papst, abc 7 news. leon: all right, chris. alison: see you again soon, chris, with that. thank you. meanwhile, check your kitchen. we'll tell you why wegman's is recalling some of its nuts leon: from the classroom to a jail cell. reaction from the sentencing of a local university professor for arson and burglary. alison: we weren't the only ones dealing with a little bit of spring snow around here. a look at the winl leon: an american university professor was sentenced today for setting fires and breaking into a pharmacy. a judge sentenced him to two years but suspended all but one year and one day of that. sam ford now with reaction from her husband. >> i think the symptoms was probably as good as could be expected based on the reality of the situation. sam: friends leaving the court did not complain about the sentence. the 38-year-old received. he was an american university professor last september when he was arrested in a bizarre case where he set fires, perhaps to distract authorities so he could burping lashize a new mex

i'm chris papst. coming up, we'll tell you why fights with the water company is leon: a scary police car crash caught on dash cam video. take a look at this. corporal brandt roberts was chasing a speeding suspect when his car flipped over on an exit ramp. police say that the good samaritan came to roberts' car and broke out a window to get him out of there. >> i wanted to get out and first thing that was going was afraid the vehicle might catch on fire. leon: the suspect was never caught. slick roads played a role in that accident. we're learning tonight the investigation into this deadly scaffolding collapse in raleigh, north carolina is going to take months. three people were killed a fourth seriously hurt in this construction accident. we're told that crews were trying to disassemble that scaffolding when it suddenly peeled away from the building and then just toppled over. alison? alison: leon, for the first time in a 50 year history, a local community pool may not be open in the summer. back in j

as for now, live in the newsroom chris papst, abc 7 news. alison: keep us posted on that. thank you very much. meanwhile, we continue to follow just stunning developments in the crash of that germanwings flight in the french alps. a french prosecutor now says the co-pilot apparently wanted to destroy that aircraft. ryan nobles has the latest on the investigation. ryan: dramatic details are emerging about the 28-year-old german co-pilot who officials believe purposely crashed the germanwings flight. officials say andreas lubitz was alone in the controls when it plunged into the french alps on tuesday killing all 150 people on board including three americans. the french prosecutor leading the investigation says information from the aircraft's mangled cockpit voice recorder revealed that the captain left the cockpit probably to use the restroom. >> the most plausible likely interpretation, in our view is that the co-pilot through deliberate abstention refused to open the cabin door. ryan: the prosecutor says he does not know if lubitz planned this in advance saying only that

chris papst learned while crunching the numbers, despite a $ 250 million deficit, the city is spending $350,000 on that, that is cut down from $475,000 that was originally budgeted. the mayor plans to recruit people for jobs in the city. and registration for this year's marine corps marathon lottery opens friday at noon. thousands are expected to register for the 40th year of the race. that will be october 25 in arlington and washington, d.c. the american basset or to south korea is hoping to be released from the hospital tomorrow. -- the american ambassador to south korea. his stitches were removed today half of them. he has been hospitalized since a slashing attack thursday. >> we need an ambulance, fast. scott: the police say the suspect was testing joint military drills between the u.s. and south korea. investigators are trying to determine if he has ties with north korea. the state department is reviewing security procedures at the time of the attack. they had only one guard, who was not armed. ahead, the ringling brothers circus announces a major change. they will no longer use e

chris papst, abc 7 news. alison: really interesting. keep us up to date on that chris. thank you. ahead tonight at 6:00 how the secret service is handling both internal mistakes and a new potential threat to t white house. and we're 100 days from the start of a major international sports competition. it's going to bring is00,000 people to fairfax county. but have you ever heard of it? i don't know. a look inside the games and the preparations and the financial boom it could bring. that's new tonight only on abc 7 news at 6:00. leon: there are three rare events coming together this weekend. this is really crazy, folks. a solar eclipse is going to plunge parts of the earth into darkness. but once the moon rises, it's going to be what they call a super moon. that's what happens when the moon comes closes to the earth making it look larger than normal. on top of that it's going to be the spring equinox when the day and night are exactly the same length. alison: what's going on? leon: isn't that weird? a lot going on at one time. alison: we need to ask doug about that. doug? doug: it h

chris papst joins us with this story. chris: two people being issued the same social security number is so rare, the social security administration doesn't keep statistics on how often it happens. when it does happen it creates all sorts of problems. for 19 years, these two men shared a social security number. one is named kendrick williams jr., a native of d.c. the other is kendall williamson jr. of kilene texas. not only do they have very similar names, they also have the same birth date, march 21 1989. now, the error was first discovered when the two were 18 years old and applied for college loans. soon after, williamson got his number changed but williams' request to do the same was denied by the feds. now, he says he's having major issues with getting loans, building credit and having his tax returns withheld. >> i want a social security number. i want a new one. i want a new social. he had opportunity for a brand new start. i feel as though i should get the same opportunity. chris: coming up at 5:00 we'll tell you wh

chris papst is in the newsroom now live. cruz may be the first in officially but this really isn't an early move is it? chris: not all that much. we're less than a year away from the first presidential primaries and caucuses in new hampshire and iowa. with this first announcement leon, we can expect many more to soon follow. cruz made his announcement this morning in lynchburg saying he will lead the fight to "make america great again." like many other presidential hopefuls, he has been campaigning lately with stops in the key early swing states. now, cruz was first elected to the senate from texas just in 2012. this is his first term. he quickly established himself in congress as someone who is not part of the republican establishment. instead, he is more aligned himself with the tea party wing of the g.o.p. now, a little bit of a biography on cruz. he graduated from harvard law school. of course, he's a lawyer. he's a cuban-american whose father is a pastor. and politically, he may most be famous for that 21-hour filibuster

chris papst looks into this. what did you find out? chris: the image of a woman panhandling with an infant is a very powerful one. you want to help that woman and that child. in this case it might not be that simple. this picture of a woman panhandling on a metro train with an infant was taken about two weeks ago. she's on the red line with a sign that reads "help me please for food and rent. thank you, god bless." this man took that picture. says he sees the woman on a regular basis and he didn't want to be identified. but he's noticed this is happening more often with more women. >> were they giving her lots of money? >> with that money, they've noticed some red flags. she turned it down when she offered services and he noticed her carrying three different children when her sign says she has two. also "7 on your side" found this december report on panhandling moms from nbc in new york. it woman who looks very similar to this one. begging for money on metro is illegal. "7 on your side" contacted metro transit police which said panhandl

live in arlington, chris papst, abc 7 news. alison: thank you, chris. we have an update now on some closures along the appalachian trail in maryland. earlier this week, the department of natural resources closed all but one of the shelters and campgrounds along the 40 mile stretch of the trail. that was for tree inspections after that tree fell and killed a hiker last weekend. today, all but one of those shelters and campgrounds are back open. the pogo campground which is near south mountain state park will stay closed through the weekend. members of the maryland senate unanimously voted to repeal the state's stormwater fees. the measure known as the rain tax required nine counties to pay fees to help cover the costs of cleaning up the chesapeake bay. governor hogan vowed to repeal the bill and the measure heads to the house. leon: we got some rain today. soft rain. doug: a little rain, a little snow. if you got in the mountains as we told you, they had real snow there. frostburg and steve rude sin ready to give us the lowdown and numbers here. tell you

kimberly: "7 on your side" investigator chris papst looks into whether it's legal and he's live in the newsroom now. what did you find out chris? chris: it's hard to look at a woman who is panhandling with an infant and not want to help her. that's exact what these women are banking on and take a look at this picture right here. this picture is of a woman panhandling on a metro train with an infant. it was taken about two weeks ago. now, she's on the red line with a sign that reads "help me please for food and rent. thank you. god bless." the woman who took this picture -- or the man i should say who took this picture didn't want to be identified because he sees this woman on the train often. but he says recently, many more women have been panhandling with babies in hand. he says it's hard not to give them money. you want to help them. even though it is illegal to beg for money on metro. >> it's hard for me to criticize anyone's parenting but i think too often in these instances, it's a signal a larger problem. chris: coming up at 5:00 we'll tell you what he means by a larger problem.

chris papst will have more about that tonight on abc 7 news at 11:00. investigators in montgomery county want to figure out why a driver crashed into an apartment building. it happened around 10:30 last night in germantown. the car nearly hit a 12-year-old boy in the building. the driver returned to the home this morning and apologized to the family. today, the m.g.m. national harbor casino marks a milestone. the hiring of its 1,000th construction worker. casino officials and maryland governor larry hogan inspected the project today. but some question whether the $1.25 billion project is keeping its promise to the community. 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